Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from the book of
John, the gospel of John, chapter 13. And chapter 13 is the beginning
of what we call the upper room discourses. It's where Christ
had all, in John chapter 12, he had ended his public ministry
to the people at large, And he took his disciples as they came
into an upper room to deal with them and to teach them as his
disciples, the apostles and the disciples, one being false, which
was Judas. And he taught them the things
that he would accomplish on Calvary. And he used illustrations. And
one of the illustrations was washing their feet. And we're
gonna look at that. And I've entitled this message,
The Lord's Humble Servant. The Lord's Humble Servant. And
when I say the Lord's Humble Servant, I'm talking about Christ
himself who was the humble servant of God. And this is an amazing
truth because in things like this, we see the multifaceted
value of both the person and work of Christ. For example,
Christ himself, as the second person of the Trinity, co-equal
with the Father and the Spirit, one God with three persons, but
Christ as the second person of the Trinity, is the sovereign
creator and ruler of this universe. And that's, his power is limitless,
he's omnipotent, omniscient, every attribute of deity. belongs
to Christ, the God-man. And yet, at the same time, he
is a humble servant of the Lord, servant of the Father. And how,
in what sense is he the servant? Well, this is the covenant of
grace made before the world began, before God created anything. The Father, the Son, and the
Spirit covenanted together to glorify the Godhead in the salvation
of sinners by the Son, the second person of the Trinity, who willingly
submitted Himself to the Father to be His servant, to come and
to do for His people, given to Him before the foundation of
the world, the elect, to do for them what they could not do for
themselves. and that is accomplished salvation.
And in essence, making himself the servant of the Father, he
became the servant of his people. He's the suffering servant. And
in all of that capacity, what did he do? He served his people
to do what was necessary for their salvation. Now that's illustrated
in his washing the disciples' feet. And so let's look at this
in John 13 verse one. It says, 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 which were in the world, He loved them unto the
end. Now this is the issue of Christ's
work. Here they are coming before the
Passover, and of course you know the Passover was one of the main
feasts of the Jewish nation under the Old Covenant, and that Passover
pictured God passing over His people In other words, not bringing
his wrath down upon them for their sins, based upon the blood
of a lamb. And that lamb and that blood,
that was a symbol, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb
of God. And that's what that Passover
was all about. That spotless lamb. who was killed,
and the blood put over the doorpost. Remember God said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. And that's the blood of Christ
for His spiritual and eternal people. And it says here, Jesus
knew that His hour was come. He knew that He was coming to
the point where He would be arrested and tried and that he would go
to the cross and die and be buried and raised again the third day. So all of this, and he says,
this is precious. In verse one, it says, having
loved his own which were in the world. Who is that? That's his
sheep. That's God's elect. He said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. His own, those are
the people that He owns that were given to Him by the Father
before the world began. And having loved His own, which
were in the world, He loved them unto the end. That means unto
the finishing of the work. And what was the finishing of
the work? The cross, His death. on the cross was the finish of
the work. John 19.30, when he's hanging on the cross, he said,
it is finished. The Bible says in Romans 10.4
that Christ is the end of the law, the finishing of it, the
perfection of it, of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believe it. So having loved his own, not
everybody without exception now, he loved them unto the finishing
of the work. And then look at verse two. And
supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart
of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Judas was a false
apostle. Judas was not somebody who was
saved and then lost his salvation. That's impossible. But he was
a false apostle. The Bible says he was marked
out from the beginning for this task, to betray the Lord. And
now the devil, having now put into the heart of Judas, Simon's
son to betray Christ. Verse 3 says, Jesus knowing that
the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was
come from God and went to God. This is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily in the person of Christ. All things are given into his
hands. All of the salvation of His loved ones, the ones whom
He loved, for whom He was gonna finish the work, all of their
salvation was put in His hands. Not in yours, not in mine, but
in Christ's hands. All of it conditioned on Him.
That's what grace is all about. Salvation conditioned on Christ
alone. and understand that when you
hear preachers talk about salvation conditioned on you in some way
at some stage to some degree they're not preaching the gospel
the gospel of salvation conditioned on christ who by himself as the
surety substitute and redeemer of his people fulfilled all the
conditions required to ensure their salvation unto eternal
glory. And that includes the new birth.
They will be born again. He said, again, all that the
Father given me shall come to me. And all who are gonna, and
him that come to me, I will know wise Castiel. Only ones who are
gonna come to him are those who are born again. Are you interested
in that? You should be. Pray that the
Lord give you eyes to see and ears to hear. So he says in verse
four, he riseth from supper, laid aside his garments, that
is his outer garments, so that he could stoop down, and took
a towel and girded himself. And after he poureth water into
a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them
with the towel wherewith he was girded. Now that was an example
of his own humility to serve his people, the ones he loved. And he's illustrating a point
here. You know, back then, this was a common courtesy that when
they went to visit somebody in somebody's household, because
of the dusty land and they wore sandals, the first thing they
did is one of the servants of the house, not the master now
of the house, not the owner of the house, But one of the servants,
one of the lowliest servants, would wash the feet of the visitor
so that they'd be clean. And so, in the eyes of natural
man, this was unheard of. Listen, one who is God, manifest
in the flesh, in whose hands all salvation has been placed,
who's the sovereign of the universe, stooping down to wash a sinner's
foot, a man's or woman's feet, especially a sinful man or woman. Are you kidding me? I mean, that's
the kind of astonishment that's going on here. But Christ is
making a point. This is exactly what he would
do in order to save us from our sins, not literally washing feet
in water, but washing his people in his own blood. And I believe the washing of
the feet here is indicative of the way that we conduct ourselves,
the way we go, our walk. Because without Christ, our walk
is an unclean walk, from the head to the toe. But as we're
washed in the blood of Christ, our walk is cleansed by the blood
of Christ. And we'll talk about that in
just a moment. But he's washing their feet. And it was illustrating
how he must wash them in his own blood, not just their feet,
but their whole person. Look, it says in verse six, then
cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost
thou wash my feet? Peter was astonished, and he,
you know, Peter, sometimes he was kind of a big mouth, and
he spoke where his tongue went where his brain followed. And
it says, Jesus answered, verse seven, unto him, what I do thou
knowest not now. but thou shalt know hereafter.
I'm doing something, you don't know the significance of it now,
but you'll know hereafter. And it says in verse eight, Peter
saith unto him, thou shalt never wash my feet. And Jesus answered
him, now listen to what he says, if I wash thee not, thou hast
no part with me. Now this is a great example. A lot of times when we see Christ
speaking to different people, even to his disciples, he spoke
of spiritual things, but they had their mind on physical, earthly
things. That's what happened when Christ
approached Nicodemus about the new birth. Remember he said,
you must be born again? And he's speaking of spiritual
birth, birth from above. Actually, instead of born again,
it should be born from above, a spiritual birth. You remember
what Nicodemus said, how can a man be born again? Can he enter
into his mother's womb again and be born? See, Nicodemus had
his mind on earthly things. Well, it's the same with Peter
here. Even though he was a disciple of Christ and had learned much,
he still, like sinners saved by grace, sometimes we have our
mind on earthly things when we should have our mind on spiritual
things. And so Christ is said, if I don't wash you, you have
no part with me. Now he's speaking of what his
washing Peter's feet illustrated spiritually. And so 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. In verse 10, Jesus saith unto
him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean everywhere, and you're clean, but not all. Now he's
telling them they're clean. All right? And again, he's speaking
spiritually. And how do you know that? Because
he says, but not all. And who's he talking about there?
Who's accepted in this? Look at verse 11. For he knew
who should betray him, therefore he said, you're not all clean. He knew Judas was going to betray
him. Judas was marked out for that. Judas wanted no part. of this issue of the gospel. And so even though he washed
their feet, he did wash Judas' feet too. But he's using that
as a spiritual illustration of the cleansing of our sins by
the blood that he would shed, the blood of Jesus Christ. And
he humbled himself to do this. Let me show you another way of putting that and it's
found in Philippians chapter two beginning at verse five and
it says here let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus who being in the form of God that is and that literally
means that he is God not just a form as some kind of apparition
It means that he is God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He is God. He is God manifest
in the flesh. Emmanuel, God with us. The word made flesh, tabernacling
among us. But, even though he is God, and
even though he is equal with God, and that's not robbery for
him to say that. If any man said that, that would
be robbery. Robbing, trying to rob God of
His glory. It's idolatry. But Christ being
equal with God is not robbery. But look, even though He is God
and equal with God, verse seven, but made Himself of no reputation
and took upon Himself the form of a servant and was made in
the likeness of men. His very incarnation where he
was made flesh. Think about the humility of that,
the condescension of that. God becoming man, yet without
sin now, understand that. He didn't become a sinful man
and he wasn't ever made sinful. He wasn't ever contaminated with
our sin, but he subjected himself in submission as a servant to
all the sinless infirmities and weaknesses and limitations of
humanity, human life. He got hungry. He sorrowed. He grew tired. He wept. All of these things. He hurt.
And mainly, he died. And that's the main thing. Now
God cannot do any of those things. God doesn't get hungry. God doesn't
sorrow. I know you'll see language in
the Bible that gives God what we call human traits, sinless
human traits. We call that anthropomorphic,
but I can say it. And what that means is it's not
giving a reality about God in the glory of his person, but
it's stating something about God on our level so that we can
have some idea of what's going on. But Christ, He was in a human
body without sin. And all of that, and look back
at Philippians 2. It says in verse eight, and being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Oh, I tell you what, the humility
there is, you can't even describe it. You know, no one took him
by force and murdered him, even though in the minds of those
who were instrumental in the crucifixion, it was murder, because
they wanted to kill him. But do you know they couldn't
have laid a hand on him unless he voluntarily allowed them to? That's what I mean by that. You
remember in the garden of Gethsemane, when they came to get him, Judas
came and pointed him out. And he came out and he said,
who do you seek? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am.
And you remember what happened? They all fell back. You remember
Peter rose up and cut a man's ear off and Christ took the ear
up and put it back on. He willingly went to the cross.
You've often heard probably preachers talk about how the cross that
he was nailed to, he made the tree that that cross came from. And all those things are true,
but he humbled himself. And he became obedient even unto
death, even the death of the cross. And it says in verse nine,
wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name. That's his mediatorial glory.
Well, that's what he was illustrating back over here in John 13 in
the upper room when he washed the disciples' feet. The servant
of the covenant. A lot of times in the Old Testament,
Christ is called the servant of God, the servant of the Father,
the servant of the covenant. In that covenant of grace, He
willingly volunteered to be the surety, the substitute, the redeemer
and preserver of His people, to come to this earth. God, in
the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law. And that's what he was illustrating. So he said to Peter, and look
back at verse 10, Jesus saith unto him, he that is washed needeth
not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and you
are clean, but not all. He's illustrating the power of
his blood. It's not just him washing feet. The whole person is washed in
the blood of Christ for salvation. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
And so he says in verse 11, for he knew who should betray him.
You're not all clean, he said, but he knew who should betray
him. Therefore said he, you are not all clean. But look at verse
12. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments
and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have
done to you? Know ye what I've done to you?
You call me Master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am.
The fact that he humbled himself to wash their feet did not deny
his lordship, his sovereignty. So I am, he said. But now he
puts the illustration towards them to teach a lesson. And what
is that lesson? It's humility. Humility. the grace, the gift of humility,
which begins in a sinner's life when God humbles him to be submitted
to the righteousness of God in Christ, but also works out for
us to try to be humble towards one another. And look what he
says. He says, so after he had washed their feet and had taken
his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, know
you what I have done to you. And then verse 13, you call me
master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. Verse 14,
if I then your Lord and master have washed your feet, you also
ought to wash one another's feet. You ought to be capable and willing
to humble yourselves to do the most menial task for each other. Verse 15, he says, for I've given
you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord,
neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. And if
you know these things, happy are ye if you do them. Now think
about this. When we consider, you know, back
over in Philippians 2, there was the same kind of construction
here. Back over in Philippians 2, listen
to this. Now, when Christ speaks of his
own humility, he's referring to the cross upon which he put
our sins away, the sins of his sheep, by his own blood. Now, there's no way that we do
that. Nothing we do can atone for our
sins or other sins. The atonement, or what we might
better say in the New Testament, the reconciliation between God
and sinners, can only and has only been accomplished by Jesus
Christ. No act of faith, no act of obedience,
no act of humility that we do by the power of the Spirit can
wash away anybody's sins, not even our own. But his humility
in accomplishing that task on our behalf should inspire humility
within us towards one another. Now I've already read the the
heart of Philippians 2 there about the humiliation of Christ. But look at what he says leading
up to that. In chapter 2 of Philippians,
verse 1. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, consolation means comfort and assurance. If any
comfort of love, the comfort of God loving us in Christ, And
if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, that's
compassion, fulfill you my joy that you be like-minded, having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. This is verse three. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, pride, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man on the things of others. And then he
says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
And then he goes in to talk about how Christ humbled himself to
become incarnate, to unite in his deity with a sinless humanity,
and to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
That was for our salvation. But our humility, which is a
gift of God's grace, a gift of the Spirit, one of the fruit
of the Spirit, is not so that we can be saved. It's to be done
in gratitude and grace and love for Christ, who humbled Himself
so low as to die for our sins. And that's what he's talking
about over here in John 13. You know, there are some people
who say that Christ established a church ordinance here and that
therefore we are to, at times, meet together in a church service
and wash each other's feet. Well, that's not what he did.
He didn't establish a church ordinance here. Foot washing
is not even mentioned as an ordinance in the church. Now, baptism and
the Lord's Supper is, but foot washing is not. It's the attitude
of humility that causes us to serve one another in praise of
the Lord who humbled himself to go to the cross and die for
our sins. That's the issue of the foot
washing here. And that's what he says. He says,
you don't know what I'm doing now, but you'll see it right
there. You'll see it on the cross. Hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.