seeking the Lord's help once
again to grant me the understanding of his holy word. I would like
us to turn in the chapter that we read together, the Gospel
according to John chapter 13 and the text you'll find in verse
7. Now I know a few months ago I spoke from this text But I
felt that it was laid on my mind and I tried to think of something
else to come with but I couldn't get away from this one so I will
bring it before you again this evening and trust that Lord will
bless it for our encouragement. Verse 7, And Jesus answered and
said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter. Really I suppose the first part
of Christ's statement, what I do, thou knowest not now. We know
that this is the last moments really of the earthly life of
the Lord Jesus Christ as he brings his apostles together and as
he takes the Passover with them and he institutes the Lord's
Supper and he begins to wash their feet and as he begins his
teachings on various things in those last moments or that
last day of his life there are many things that the apostles
didn't know what Christ was doing and it would be revealed to them
at a later date and we know that the scripture teaches us that
God's ways are far greater than our ways and his thoughts are
greater than our thoughts and we know that he is an eternal
God, that his mind is unlimited, that he knows the future of all
events and he knows all things and that Christ also knew all
the things that he was going to do and he purposely raises
from a supper and begins to wash the disciples' feet as an example
to them of humility and as he would, he being their master,
stooped down and became their servant and he tells them that
they also were not to deem themselves greater than each other but they
were to mimic or to live out the teachings of Christ and we
looked at this morning how that they often argued amongst themselves
as to who would be the greatest and they had that tendency to
be proud and to self-elevate and to feel want to be important
yet the Lord Jesus Christ sets this example to them of that
humble leadership, servant leadership. And we know that Christ himself
knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that Simon Peter would
deny him. He knew that Judas also would
betray him. He knew he would be handed into
the hands of sinners and to be crucified and rise again the
third day. And so there were many things
that Christ did that he knew exactly what he was doing but
the disciples did not know. And so he says, what I do. As believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ, a Christian has surrendered their life to the Lord Jesus. We are redeemed, the scripture
says, by his blood. We have been purchased. We are
not our own. We have been brought with a price. In our unconverted state we had
our own will, our own nature and we did as we pleased. But when the work of grace began
and it was revealed to us that we were sinners and we laid hold
of Christ, we denied ourselves and took up our cross and followed
him. We no longer belong to ourselves. We are owned by the Lord Jesus
Christ. and we are his. The scripture tells us that we
are his sheep. He is the good shepherd and we
know that the illustration that is given to us in the olden times
is that the shepherd would lead the sheep. and that he would
take them to water. He would take them to get a green
grass and then he would lead them back to the place of safety
at the evening and there he would take care of them. And so there
was that close relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. The
sheep were to follow the shepherd and they knew that where he was
taking them was for their benefit and so they followed him. And
those sheep that wandered off, strayed away, would find themselves
in danger. And in difficulty, those sheep
who drifted off from the shepherd would find themselves in peril
of being attacked by wolves or lions or bears, as David tells
us. And so that relationship between
Christ and his church is one of him leading and them following. And so what he does, they do. They follow. They obey. And if
they don't, it's to their peril. The closer they can follow the
Lord Jesus Christ the more benefit and more safety that is for them. We're also called the disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are followers of Christ. We
have said before of how the disciple has that desire to become like
his teacher. And so they watch him very closely. They mimic his behavior. They want to listen to his teachings. And so what I do, what Christ
does, they do, and they follow him. He is set before us here. He says, I am your master. I
am the one in charge of you. I own you because I have brought
you. You belong to me. You are my
servants. And we know that the servant
looks up to the master. The master does not have to explain
everything that he does. He does not have to give a reason
why he does certain things because he is in charge. He is the one
that has overall control of the household. He is the one that
has his greater plan and his purposes for his kingdom and
for his household. Even in our own houses we do
that. We don't explain in detail to
our children the reasons why we do everything or the reasons
why we want them to do something. We have been as parents we are
given that authority over them and we do things and we tell
them to do things because we have that authority and that
ability and we don't have to explain everything we do to them. Theirs is to obey, to live in
obedience to their mother and their father and as a believer
ours is to live in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are not to fight against him or to resist him or to ask for
reasons why he is doing certain things because he knows best. He is the one who has a greater
mind. He is the one who has a greater
foresight. He is the one that has greater
ability and knows his own purposes in his eternal plan and for the
lives of his individuals. It is God who created us and
therefore we are his creation. And so he is far greater. As
we read in John this morning it is all the things were made
by him and without him was not anything made. And so Christ
as he looks upon his apostles they are his creation. They are
something like the work of his own hands. he doesn't have to
explain to them exactly what he is doing or why he is doing
it because he is far far greater than them but he reveals what
they need to know and he holds back what they don't need to
know. Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 45 in the prophecy regarding Cyrus
and as we looked at Daniel recently when that Lord was going to raise
up that king to bring about his purposes regarding the bringing
back of Israel from Babylon to Jerusalem to build the temple
and to build the walls. But during that prophecy in verse
9 it tells us there, whoa, Unto him that striveth with his maker. Let the potsherd strive with
the potsherd of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, What makest thou or thy work? he hath no hands. Woe unto him that saith unto
his father, what begattest thou? Or to the woman, what hast thou
brought forth? And so it is a woe, the opposite
to a blessing to those who strive with their master. As the master
he says, what I do you don't know. because he has that eternal plan,
that eternal perspective that greater power, that greater authority
that greater knowledge, that greater wisdom and we are subject
to him we have committed ourselves to follow him as our good shepherd
we have been brought with a price, we are owned by him and we have
rendered our will or surrendered our will to him And so we follow
him. But then when he leads us into
a place of difficulty that we don't like, we begin to resist
and to kick against him and to fight against him. And the scripture
says, woe! It is the opposite of a blessing. It's a curse that strives against
his maker. Does the pot say to the maker,
why have you made me like this? I don't want to be this type
of pot. I want to be another type of pot. He doesn't have
that authority. He doesn't have that ability
even to speak. And so when we have surrendered
ourself to Christ, we are not to resist his will to strive
and to war against him because it just brings problems, heartache
and difficulty. Think of Jonah. If Jonah had
just obeyed God, go to Nineveh, he wouldn't have entered into
the problems that he had and brought other people also into
those problems and difficulties. Because of his disobedience,
there came a storm. Because of his disobedience there
came fear and distress to those who were in the boat. Because
of his disobedience he had to be thrown out into the sea. If he had obeyed the first time
all of those things would not have happened. If he had followed the shepherd
to Nineveh He wouldn't have got himself in the trouble in the
sea. Woe unto the people who strive
against their maker. What I do thou knowest not. What I do. Jesus took control
of this situation. As he was sitting there taking
the Passover meal, the scripture tells us that he rose from supper
and he laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. And he says, what I do, you don't
know. And this is, like I said the
other day, that I, it makes all the difference. What I do. Who it is doing it makes the
difference and it's Christ that is saying it and that makes all
the difference. And we looked at John chapter 6 when Jesus was
walking to the disciples in the storm and he said in John chapter
6 and verse 20 it says, it is I, don't be afraid. It was that
I that made all the difference and I said it was like an iceberg
floating in the sea, just the top is seen yet underneath there
is a vast rock of ice underneath the water
and underneath that little letter that little word I is all the
promises of God all the power of God all the ability of God
in Christ Jesus it is I that's why they didn't need to be afraid
and it is that I again is speaking Christ what I am doing It is
me who has the control. It is me whom you are under the
authority. It is me you are under my care. It is me you are following me. It is I. And I know what I am
doing. But following can be difficult. Especially with our human nature. Our human nature always seems
to want to know why. If you're on a train and the
train suddenly stops and you're sitting there on the railway
tracks and waiting. People become impatient. They
want to know what the problem is. Has somebody come onto the
tracks? Has the train broken down? Has
some other train broken down? What's the delay? And we always
want to know why. What is the reason for this delay? If we had complete faith and
trust in the driver, that the driver knew exactly what he was
doing, he knew why he had stopped the train, he knew why he was
delaying the journey, we would be able to sit back and relax.
He's got it under control. He knows exactly what he is doing
therefore I'm just going to sit here and wait until he's sorted
it all out and then when we've sorted it out we'll move forward
and get on with our journey. But we are not content to sit
like that. We want to know why. What is
the reason for this to take place? We're not content with Christ
just saying it is me. I am in control. I am taking
care of this. You are following me. I have
brought you with a price. I know what I am doing. In Psalms Psalm 77 It tells us
there about God's way. We know that
his ways they are past finding out. In verse 19 it says, Thy
way is in the sea and thy path in great waters and thy footsteps
are not known. Thou leadest thy people like
a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Obviously they're
speaking of the children of Israel but still we have that illustration
moved over into the New Testament that Christ leads his people
like a flock and he leads them to where he wants them to be
and he leads them in the way of the sea and in the paths of
great waters. If you think of the sea, the
sea is always changing. Always changing. It's never the
same. And if we look at our lives as individuals, though each believer
is following Christ on the narrow way to life, yet our pathways
are distinct. They are different from each
other. Some are down in the valley,
down in the depths, in the trough of the wave. Others are riding
on the crest of the wave. And our pathways, although on
the narrow way that leads to life, yet they are vastly different.
and he makes his way in the sea. And in the sea there are no roads. Have you ever been on a boat? It's just, isn't it, water all
around you. You don't have to follow a specific
track. And those that go out into the
depths of the ocean They don't follow road signs.
It's not easy to navigate. Maybe an hour a day with GPS
and all of that's easier. But in the olden days, it was
different. And Christ leads his people in
the sea. In the olden days, where did
they look? There was no roads, no landmarks. But they had to navigate by looking
up. By looking at the stars. And Christ leads his people in
the sea without any landmarks, without any encouragement, in
the darkness, in the waves, in the billows, and so that they
can look up. and they can be encouraged by
looking at the stars, looking up to where he is up in heaven
and communing with him. He lets them walk in the depths
of the sea so that they lose sight of self and fix their eyes
upon him. They cannot have any material
landmarks to lay hold of but just to fix their gaze up into
heaven and to look at the works of his fingers and to be encouraged
by his greatness. Also those old sailors they had
the navigational chart didn't they? That they rolled out if
you watch the old films they rolled out that chart and they
plotted their course then they go out and they look at the stars
and they compass if they're going in the right direction and that
chart is like the Word of God. Christ leads his people in the
sea and the great waters that they fix their eyes upon him
and that they chart their course and gain encouragement by his
holy word. And so we have Christ in heaven
at the right hand of the Father, leading his people by his Spirit,
guiding them by his Spirit, through his Holy Word, and that his footsteps
are, they are not known. He leads his people in unique
and specific ways that are beneficial for them as individuals, yet
they are all on that narrow way that leads to life. I was reminded in thinking of
the ship and the Apostle Paul. When the Apostle Paul was told
that he had to go to Rome gets onto his ship and he is
warned and he believes that the ship is going to be broken up. In Acts 27 they didn't want a
winter in a certain city and so they decided because of the
wind that the time had come to set sail. Acts 27 and verse 13. And when the south wind blew
softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing
thence they sailed close to Crete. But not long after then there
arose against it a great tempestuous wind called Euro-Clydon. And when the ship was caught
and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And it
goes on and on and it explains to us the various things that
they did regarding to secure the ship. And in verse 20 it
said, when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, no small
tempest lay upon us. All hope that we should be saved
was taken away. But after long abstinence, Paul
stood forth in the midst of them and said, Sirs, you should have
hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have
gained this harm and loss. Now I exhort you to be of good
cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among
you but of the ship. they're stood by me this night
an angel of God whose I am and whom I serve saying fear not
Paul for thou must be brought before Caesar in low God has
given thee all that sailed with thee. In verse 20 it said the
sun and stars they couldn't see them that was their means of
navigation and yet it was darkness the clouds and the rain had had hindered their natural means
of navigation, yet God was still with Paul. Though he had lost
sight of all earthly comfort, yet God sends his angel to him
to bring him comfort. Fear not, Paul, for thou must
be brought before Caesar, and lo, I have given all that sail
with thee. And as Christ says, what I do, you don't know. Paul was told that he must go
to Rome yet on his way to Rome he enters into a massive storm
that wrecks the ship that casts him on a certain island which
he preaches the gospel to those people there. As he lands in
Malta they preach the gospel and many are saved and so God
had his great plan and purpose in the life of the Apostle Paul
to shipwreck him for a purpose. What I do, you don't know. I am leading,
you are following, you cannot go ahead of me but you must go
behind me and I'm going to assist you in that pathway. Fear not, he says to him, fear
not Paul. And Paul gets to where? he has
to be and all of the Lord's people will get to where they have to
be but it is through much trouble and much difficulty but we can
bring a greater trouble upon ourselves by being like Jonah,
by resisting and acting in disobedience, trying to go ahead, trying to
reason, trying to fight with the leadings of Christ Instead
of letting him say what I do, we say no, what I want to do,
what I think is best, and not what he thinks is best. And we
end up bringing greater difficulty. Christ says, in other words,
what I do, just trust me. Isn't that faith? Faith is trust. This is laying hold of Christ.
We have said, take my life. We have consecrated our life
to Christ. Not my will, but your will be
done. I will follow you. He says, trust me. But we find it very difficult. especially when our eyes don't
see the way. But faith must take over. When
it is all darkness and we're unsure of the way, faith, as
I've said before, takes hold of the promises of Christ, knowing
that he knows best and that his way, it is perfect. It is difficult to allow Jesus
to do what he wants to do with us. Well, that is part of the
Christian life. Christ has to do what he wants
to do with us to make us more like him. My mind went to Jacob. Jacob tried to reason all the
Lord's dealings with him and he couldn't work it out. In Genesis 42. After Joseph had been in Egypt
and his brothers had gone to visit him and got corn and As they came back, they were
to bring the youngest brother with them. And in verse 36, after
they had given Jacob the news, Jacob, their father, said unto
them, Me have ye bereaved of my children. Joseph is not. Simeon is not. And will ye take
Benjamin away? All these things are against
me. That is what he thought. As he
looked at the present condition of his family and the things
that had taken place, he thought everything is against me, God
is against me. But little did he know that what
was taking place was the workings out of God. God's eternal purpose,
God's greater plan was taking place. But to Jacob, what he
saw, everything is against him. In Hebrews, speaking about Hebrews
11, speaking about Abraham. In verse 8, by faith, when he
was called to go out into a place which he could, which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went out not knowing
whither he went. He trusted God. Jacob looked
at the situation and lost all hope and said everything is against
me. Abraham listened to the voice
of God and left all that he knew, went to follow the word of God,
went to follow God and as he viewed the promised land he didn't
know where he was going. Just got up and he walked. He walked. Like Jesus says, what I do, you
don't know. But it's to see that Christ does
know and Abraham believed that God knew and he went out. Jacob lost sight of that for
a moment but he was able to see in a few days time that God was
still with him and he goes on to encourage him as he sees Joseph
You see there are moments in our life aren't there when we
do lose sight of everything. When we are clouded over by unbelief
and everything does come crashing down. We're unable to see the
way ahead. It's like we lose sight of the
shepherd. We forget that I know what I
am doing. in Dennis's 45. Verse 29, and Joseph made ready
his chariot and went out to meet Israel his father to Goshen to
present himself to him. And he fell on his neck and wept
on his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph,
now let me die since I have seen thy face because thou art yet
alive. Look at the difference. Everything
is against me. That's how he thought at that
moment in time. But then as he continued walking
out the will of God then he sees that those things weren't against
him. They were actually working for him. Although it was painful
for a little while yet God's greater purpose was being worked
out and that he was going to meet his beloved son Joseph. And they did meet and it was
a a wonderful reconciliation and they wept and they were reunited
and Christ was in control. As we
look at those Old Testament dealings we remember that those people
had to walk out their lives day by day as we do and yet we're
able to read you know their whole life in a few pages and we can
see how it all unfolds and oh don't worry Jacob it's going
to be all right in a few pages time you're going to meet Joseph
but he had to live it out and to walk it out and to experience
those things and we also have to do the same but we can be
encouraged by we don't have to have that self-pity that he had
Because we can read and we can understand that God is always
the same, working out his greater purposes. It is I. It is I. What I do, you don't know, but
Christ knows. And so he says, trust me. Trust
me and obey me and follow me. What I do thou knowest not. So it is difficult at times to follow
Christ. The way is narrow. It is through
much tribulation. But if we are following, if we
are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, It is wrong for us to
get angry and to question why Christ, who is His way is perfect,
does certain things. Our children are not allowed
to question us. Our governments, we are not allowed
to question when they do certain things. There are things they
do that we don't know why they do them. But they have maybe
internal information of things that we don't know and therefore
they act. But God is our creator. He knows the end from the beginning.
He's ordered all things. He has brought us into fellowship
with his son And he does all things for the good of his beloved
people. We read this morning there are
times when we can say, don't you care? That's the most sad question
we could ask. Christ always cares for his people. And even when he seems not to
be caring, He is working out his purposes in our lives for
our good. What I do you don't know but
he does know and it will be revealed to us in his time and in his way why
he does certain things or sometimes it won't be. It is he as a sovereign
God to reveal why but we know that all the things do work together
for our good, that he is conforming us to the image of his son, that
he is teaching us and training us and weaning us from this present
world as he himself walked that pathway of separation from sin
and humility. So we have to follow that weaning
process, that separation from sin so that we will delight one
day to be with him. And just because we don't see
the way ahead It doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't
know where he is going. Just because we don't know the
way doesn't mean that he doesn't know the way. I remember we used
to drive from Harbinden up to Nuneaton to see our cousins.
And I would wonder, how on earth do mum and dad know the way?
They don't have any maps. They just get in the car and
drive, go on the motorway, turn this way, turn that way. We end
up at the cousin's house. I was thinking, well, how do
they do it? It was because they knew the
way. My job as a child was to sit
in the passenger seat and to follow and to go with them. And our job as believers is to
sit in the passenger seat and to go with the Lord Jesus Christ,
knowing that his way is perfect, that his way is best and that
he is doing all that he can for the benefit of his people. Even
though we can't see the way or don't know the way or we're in
the darkness, he is not in the darkness. And we need patience to wait
and to follow not to run ahead of him or to drag behind him
but to walk with him. As we look at the stars, as we
look up to heaven for our navigation, as we search the scriptures for
comfort and guidance, so Christ leads us. and his way is perfect. Trust me and fear not the hymn
says. Trust me and fear not thy life is secure. His wisdom is
perfect. He cannot make any mistakes.
He doesn't go the wrong way. He leads his people yes through
the valley of the shadow of death. Yes he leads them to green pastures
and he leads them to still waters. Often getting there the road
is rough. we still follow because his way is perfect. What I do
you don't know now but you shall know hereafter. What I do you
don't know but I know what I am doing. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen. Closing hymn for this evening's
service is hymn number 420 from Gaspers. I bless the Lord my
soul, let all within me join, and aid my tongue to bless his
name, whose favours are divine. Hymn number 420 to the tune number
69. I bless the Lord, my soul, all
that is worthy. ? And will of praises cry ? ? Tis
he who gives thy sins ? ? Tis he who leads thy prayer ? ? Tis
he that heals thy sicknesses ? When answered from the grave,
He that redeemed my soul from hell Has suffering come to stay. ? It gives us some profound rest
? ? The Lord has judged us, told the crowd ? ? And justly told
our friends ? ? His wonders, works, and ways ? Dear Heavenly Father, we pray
that Thou would lead us by thy Spirit, that we may walk closely
to the Lord Jesus Christ, that our eyes may be fixed up into
heaven, his dwelling place, we may be guided and be enabled
to walk closely to him. Do forgive us, we pray, of our
doubts and fears. Do forgive us when we try to
overtake and we don't have any patience, Do forgive us when
we grumble and complain about the pathway. Do remember, Lord,
that we are but the dust of this earth and very prone to walk
by sight and not by faith. We pray that thou'd dismiss us
with thy blessing. Do be with us as we go off on
our separate ways and others to work and such like tomorrow
during this week. We ask, Lord, that thou return
us here on Wednesday according to thy will. Now may the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with
the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with
us each now and for evermore. Amen.