Seeking once more to need the
Lord's gracious help in speaking, I'd like to direct your attention
to the chapter that we read together, the Gospel according to John
chapter 13, and the text you'll find in verse 7. Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Obviously with all that has taken
place over this past week with Joshua Jemson and the family
and even with Anna over the last few days, my mind was taken up
really with the mystery of God's providential pathway in the way
that he deals with so many things and the trials that he brings
into the lives of his people and how he works in the midst
of those trials and how in whatever outcome that trial may bring
which may not be according to our own will, yet God is able
to do far more, abundantly more than we can ask or think, and
working through the providential pathway of his people,
he always works in accordance with his own will, and everything
that he does, it's good. God cannot go against his own
gracious and holy character, And therefore everything that
the Lord's people have passed through are for their good and
for the good of the church and those people around about them.
Though those things may be painful and difficult and very, very
hard, yet as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not
walk by sight or by feeling, but we must walk by faith. and faith lays hold of the of
the scripture and who God is. And by faith, we are able to
be encouraged in the midst of great difficulty and great sadness
as we lay hold by faith into lay hold of the promises of the
word of God. And we may not know why God does
what he does. we know that his thoughts are
far greater than our thoughts and he has an eternal purpose
for everything that he does, whereas we only have a timely
view of God's eternal workings. He is able to see the end from
the beginning or the beginning from the end and he does things
that may the consequences of those things may have an outcome
in many, many years to come. And so he acts now because he's
bringing about his purposes in maybe 50 or 100 or even 1,000
years from now. And we only view things as they
are at this moment, yet faith lays hold of who God is, and
we're able then to persevere by his spirit's help in the midst
of not knowing why, but we shall know hereafter. Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Jesus was speaking to Simon Peter. He was responding to a question. As the Lord Jesus was Sitting
there with his disciples, he gets up and he begins to remove
his outer clothes and girds himself with a towel and then he begins
to wash the disciples' feet. And Peter is surprised by the
way and the work in which the Lord Jesus Christ is doing. And so he asks the question,
Lord, Dost thou wash my feet? Are you
going to wash my feet? And so Peter is completely surprised
by what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing and what he is about
to do. He is surprised that his Lord and his Master is stooping
down to do a task which is so humbling and so humiliating. that task that would have normally
been done by a slave or someone of a lower rank, maybe a younger
person, to wash the feet of the visitors in the house. In Kenya,
something that we saw quite often when people walk around in bare
feet or when people walk around with sandals, as it was in the
days of the Lord Jesus Christ, feet get dirty. And so when you
enter into a house, it's not just taking your shoes off, but
it's also washing your feet so that you may enter into that
house without bringing the dirt in from the outside. Whereas
in our culture, there is no need to do that. We just remove our
shoes and enter in with our socks. And so there's no need in our
culture for washing people's feet. But in the time of Jesus,
it was the custom for those things to take place. And obviously,
it seems that those things had been forgotten this evening. And so Jesus takes that position
and humbles himself by setting an example to shock his apostles. And Peter is shocked. Does thou
wash my feet? He is surprised at the way in
which the Lord Jesus Christ is putting himself into that humble
position, stooping down to wash their feet. He should be surprised. He should be surprised, for he
knew who Christ was. Simon Peter had confessed Christ. We read in Luke chapter 5, when Simon Peter was fishing,
And he had been labouring all night. And then he meets with
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he tells him in verse four,
launch now out into the deep and let down your nets for a
draft, for a catch. And Simon asked him and said,
Master, we have toured all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless,
at thy word, I would let down the net. We know that they let
down the net and they caught a multitude of fishes. in verse
8. And when Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I
am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all
that were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken. And so he had witnessed this
miracle and he sees the Lord Jesus Christ and having viewed
Christ in a completely different way, he immediately sees that
there's something wonderful in this man. He's not a normal man.
He's the son of God. And that view by faith causes
him to see himself as a sinful person. Depart from me, O Lord,
for I am a sinful man. Matthew 16. And verse 16 or verse 15, he
said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Who do you say
that I am? He asked them the question. He
had already confessed Christ. He had already confessed that
he was sinful. And now Jesus asks them a personal
question. Who do you say that I am? It doesn't matter about what
everybody else says. What is going on with your heart?
When you look at me, what do you see? And Peter answers, thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. That is his testimony,
the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the one who we
have been waiting for. You are him, the son of the living
God. And Jesus answered and said,
blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah. Simon, Simon, son of Jonah, for
flesh and blood has not revealed unto thee, but my father, which
is in heaven. Now we can see why Peter is so
surprised at the work in which the Lord Jesus Christ is now
undertaking. He's confessed him as the Messiah,
the Anointed One of God, the Son of God, the Christ. He's seen him as a holy man of
God and himself as sinful. And now he is totally aghast
that this holy son of God, the anointed one, is stooping down
at his feet and beginning the work of a servant. And so he
says, why do you wash my feet? How could Christ have stooped
so low? Well, he was showing a deeper
meaning. You see, he was about to stoop
even lower. He had already stooped lower
than any man had ever done. And he was about to go a step
further. And so by him stooping down and
washing the feet of the disciples, he was showing them something
that was about to take place and something that had already
taken place in the life of the Son of God. In Philippians, it
tells us there in chapter 2 and verse 5. Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men. And being found fashioned
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death the cross. Therefore God also has highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth. and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord through the glory
of the Father. And so there it tells us that
Christ had already undertaken an act of humiliation by putting
on himself human flesh and being born, made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men. And so this very act of stooping
down to wash the feet of the apostles was a demonstration
of what he had already done in his act of humility and what
he was about to do in an even greater act of humility to die
the death upon the cross. And so there was then a deeper
meaning that the Lord Jesus Christ was
showing. Washing, we know, is an act of
cleansing the body. We go back into the time of the
Jews and the sacrificial system, and there was that ritual washing
of the external parts of the body. Ceremonial cleansing. When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus,
he tells him there in chapter three, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. For that which is born
of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind blows where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but thou cannotst tell whether
it cometh or whether it goeth. so everyone that is born of the
Spirit. And so as the Old Testament looked
at that external ceremonial cleansing, with the new covenant and the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is that internal
cleansing that takes place. And Christ, in his demonstration
of washing the feet of the disciples, is demonstrating something greater
that has to take place in the lives of those who follow. He says, and Peter says to the
Lord Jesus in verse 8, thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered
him, if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. And so we begin to see that he's
not just demonstrating an external cleansing. But he's speaking
of something far greater, far deeper, that has to take place
in the life of Peter. If I don't wash you, you have
no part with me. In verse 10, Jesus said unto
him, He that is washed need not save wash his feet, but is clean
everywhere. And ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray
him. Therefore, saith he, ye are not
all clean. And so the act is demonstrating
to the apostles and to us even today that there must be more
than an external cleansing. There must be more than an external
looking smart and fitting the picture. of what a Christian
should look like. There must be an inward cleansing
that takes place, the born again of the Holy Spirit of God. That's
why Jesus says, you are not all clean. He understood that Judas
Iscariot had not been cleansed. He was not indwelt by the Spirit.
His sin was still with him. And we see how that sad case
works itself out and he goes and he betrays the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so it's demonstrating that
cleansing, that example of the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he came down from heaven
to earth, put on flesh. Yes, he now stoops down at the
feet of his apostles and begins to wash their feet but then he
stoops even lower and gives himself up into the hands of wicked men
and is crucified upon the cross to bring about at the cleansing
of the heart for his people, as he cleanses the soul, as he
justifies his people, as he wipes all of their sin out by paying
that ultimate price. Not only then does he stoop down
and wash the feet of the disciples, he stoops down and cleanses all
of his people from all of their sin, that they may be enabled
to be to being able to stand before God himself as righteous
and sanctified and holy and set aside for holy use. So we can say maybe that it was
he was preparing himself as he stooped down at the feet
of his apostles to wash their feet. He was preparing himself
for that ultimate act of humility as he died upon the cross. Jesus did many, many things that
his disciples didn't understand. And even in this chapter, there
are many things where they are confused by what the Lord Jesus
Christ is doing. In verse 6, Peter, he doesn't
understand. Lord, does that wash my feet? He's surprised at what has taken
place. He didn't understand. Verse 22, then the disciples
looked one on another, doubting of whom he spoke. Jesus has just said, one of you
is going to betray me. They're confused. They look at
each other and wonder who it could be. They ask the question
to themselves, is it me? Is it I? Am I the one that is
going to betray you? So they don't understand. They're
confused by what the Lord Jesus Christ has said. Simon Peter
therefore beckoned to him. that he should ask who it should
be of whom he spake. They're confused. He, then lying on Jesus's breast,
said unto him, Lord, who is it? As they listen to the words of
the Lord Jesus, someone is going to betray me. They can't grasp
what he is truly saying, what is going on. And so they ask
the question, who is it, Lord? Jesus said, it is him to whom
I shall give the sop. Verse 28. No man at the table knew for
what intent he spake this unto him, Judas Iscariot. even though
Jesus had just explained, the one who I am going to give the
sop is the one who is going to betray me. And yet he gives him
the sop and he goes out and they still don't grasp exactly what
is going on. They can't understand what is
taking place. They thought it was because Judas
had the bag that they needed to buy something for the feast
or that he needed to go and give something to the poor people.
They didn't understand, they couldn't see what was going on
in the heart of Judas Iscariot. They didn't know that he was
the one that was going to betray the Lord Jesus Christ into the
hands of sinful men. He was the one that God was going
to use as an instrument or their predetermined counsel of God,
to have Christ handed over into the hands of sinful men. Even with Simon Peter, in verse
36, Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, where goest thou? I couldn't understand. I'd been
with the Lord Jesus Christ these three years, listening to his
ministry, him explaining to them the things that were going to
take place and how it was all going to, how the outcome was
going to be, that he was going to be killed and then raised
again the third day. And then when it takes place, the unfolding of the perfect
will of God. Christ knows exactly what is
happening, yet his people are left in complete confusion as
to what is taking place. Where are you going, Lord? Where
do I go? You cannot follow me now, but
thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why?
Can I not follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. Jesus answered him, Will you
lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me three times. They didn't know what was going
on, but Jesus knew exactly what was going on. Jesus knew what
he was doing. He says, what I do, you do not
know. What I am doing, you are not
able to grasp. What I am doing, you will have
no way of finding out until it takes place. What I do, You don't
know. And throughout this chapter,
we have this comparison of the ignorance of the disciples and
the all-knowing knowledge of Christ. Verse one. 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. When Jesus knew that
his hour had come, He knew exactly what was taking
place. He knew exactly what was going
to happen. He knew exactly how it was all
going to unfold as the Father revealed these things to the
Lord Jesus Christ when he knew that his hour was come. Verse
three, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into
his hands and that he was come from God and went to God, he
rises from the supper. Jesus knew. Verse 11, for he
knew who should betray him, therefore he said, ye are not all clean. Verse 18, I speak not of you
all. I know whom I have chosen, that
the scripture might be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with me
has lifted up his heel against me. Verse 19, I tell you therefore,
before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe
that I am he. And so he tells them, this is
what is going to happen. Although you don't understand,
although you cannot comprehend with your human mind, I'm going
to tell you now, so that when you see it all unfold, you will
know that I am he. Even when it did all unfold,
they were left in a panic. Even when Jesus was crucified
and laid in the grave, they could not grasp all that had taken
place and the reasons why. I tell you, before it came, before
it come, that when it is come to pass, you may believe that
I am he. And when, verse 21, and when
Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified saying,
Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you that one of you
shall betray me. Before it came about, before
it happened, Jesus knew exactly what was going to take place.
And even in the life of Peter. I'm going to lay down my life
for you, Lord. Before the cock crows. thou shalt
deny me three times. So in this one chapter we have
the ignorance of men and the all-knowing power of the Lord
Jesus Christ that everything took the disciples and the apostles
by surprise yet nothing took the Lord Jesus Christ by surprise. He knew all that he was going
to go through. What I do, you don't know, but
you shall know hereafter. And isn't that the theme of the
whole Bible? Doesn't the scripture reveal
to us the all-knowing power of Almighty God, that nothing takes
him by surprise? And even as we read through the
Old Testament and the twists and turns that take place, those
people that are woven into the providence of God for the good
of the, for the line of Christ, God never loses control of the
situation. Although those walking at that
time are unable to fully see all that God is doing, he says,
what I do, you don't know. But I am doing it. Therefore,
you need to trust me and look to me because I am working all
things out for the purposes of my own will. And so the whole
of scripture reveals to us the greatness of Almighty God in
his outworkings of providence in the lives of his people. John 6, when the Lord Jesus Christ
is about to distribute the bread and the fish to the people, he
speaks to Philip. And he makes out as though Jesus
doesn't know what he is going to do. verse 5, 6, verse 5. When Jesus
lifted up his eyes, he saw a great company come unto him. And he
says to Philip, when shall or how shall we buy bread that these
may eat? So he puts it to Philip, what
are we going to do? How are we going to buy bread
for all of these people? But verse six tells us, and this
he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. So he tested Philip. What are we going to do, Philip?
See all of these people, how are we going to feed them? Philip
should have responded immediately, well, Lord, you are the king
of kings and lord of lords. There is nothing that can trouble
you. There is nothing that is too
difficult for you. There is nothing that is too hard for you. Your
character is good. You're holy. You're all powerful. You're almighty. But Philip answers and says,
200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them. And every
one of them may take a little. What are these amongst so many?
But he did this to test them for he knew what he was going
to do. The whole thing had been orchestrated,
brought together, brought about so that Christ would be glorified
in the distribution of the bread and the fish. And the apostles
would be encouraged by seeing the working out of the wonderful
miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he always knows what he is
going to do. Always. Nothing that comes into
our lives as believers is a surprise for the Lord Jesus Christ. It
may be a surprise for us and it's always in fact a surprise
for us, but it's never a surprise for the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is always working things out for the good of his people and
he always knows what he is going to do. John 11 with Lazarus. And we see there the confusion
that takes place in the minds of the apostles. But Jesus knew
what he was going to do. He delayed his coming so that
he would be glorified and God would be glorified. Chapter 11, verse 3, Therefore
his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said,
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that
the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Verse 6, When he had
heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still
in the same place where he was. He waited purposely for his appointed
time, for his time in which he would appear so that God would
be glorified the most in his appearing. He knew what he would
do. And so he delayed in his coming
so that God and Christ would be glorified. And he explains
to the disciples a bit more. And they're wondering, well,
maybe Lazarus is asleep. Jesus says, Lazarus is dead. I am glad for your sake that
I was not there to the intent that ye may believe. Nevertheless,
let us go unto him. And so even in that situation,
the delaying of Christ was for his own purposes and for his
own glory. What I am doing, he says, you
don't know. Who can know the mind of the
Lord and who can be his counsellor? He does all the things according
to his own will and for his own purposes, that he himself may
be glorified in every single situation that he brings his
people into. We cannot demand that he works
now. We cannot dictate to him that
he works in a certain way, but he works all the things for his
own glory and for his own eternal purposes. What I do, you don't
know. This is the mystery. then of
the providential pathway of the Lord's people. We sing the hymn,
don't we? God moves in mysterious ways. And when we were doing the prayer
meetings over the past week, Samantha, Joshua's mum, read
that poem of the tapestry. The tapestry from underneath,
if any of you have ever seen a tapestry, it looks a mess. Lumps of black and white and
red and you cannot work any picture out whatsoever. But it's when you look above
or on the face of that tapestry, you're able to see a picture. And so as we look up underneath
at the providential workings of God, it may seem like a mess. Our lives may feel like they
are in a mess, turmoil and twisted and turning and upside down and
stressful. But we don't know what God is
doing. We don't know his eternal purposes
in our lives and why he's saying this must happen to you and that
must happen to that one and this must take place here and there
and as he moves all of his people around and deals with them according
to how he wants to deal with them we don't know what he's
doing because every move that he makes has a eternal effect
on something that will take place later. If you think of marriage,
for instance, two people may have prayed and the Lord may
have brought them together. They may have children. Those
children may grow up to be a minister or a missionary. And that mission, that young
person may go off into some far-reached part of the world and preach
the gospel. And many people may be saved. Yet it came about because
God moved two people to come together. And he gave them children. And those children now have gone
forth to preach the gospel. It's a mystery. But God has his
golden thread of providence working through the lives of each of
his people. He works them with an eternal
perspective, an eternal plan. And we don't often see the reason
why. But what does that leave us with?
If we don't see the reason why God does something, If we can't see that reason,
then we have to remove sight and we go by faith. Not autopilot, but faith. Faith lays hold of who God is
as revealed to us in the scripture. When we are passing through difficult
times and we lose sight of who God is, it's then that we crumble
and collapse and become depressed by the pathway that
we are going through. Not just because faith has lost
sight of who God is, it's lost sight that God is in control
of every single thing. and that his very character stops him from doing anything
that is bad or cruel or unkind to his people. God is love. And we know that love doesn't
overlook sin. Love corrects. Love does not
allow children to do whatever they want to do. Love disciplines
and brings back. And so God is in his eternal
purposes of his eternal plans. Everything that he does is in
love to his people. Although it may be painful to
them, it is working for their good. God is good. and he is good all of the time.
And that character doesn't change just because we go through a
difficult situation. And when we are passing through
difficult situations and we can't see the reason why, then faith
must lay hold of who God is. And we encourage ourselves for
who God is. We say, the scripture says, God
is good. The scripture says that God is
love. And therefore, what is happening
to me is not because God hates me, it's because God loves me
and is being good to me. What I do, you don't know. When the way seems to be difficult
and full of obstacles and you cannot even see the way ahead,
what must happen? We walk by faith and not by sight. There's a hymn that says, the
mist, the mist is only for a while, my friend. And it's there in
the morning, but then when the sun comes out, the mist, it goes
away and we're able to see more clearly. We walk by faith and
not by sight. And the Lord Jesus puts us into
a storm, almost like a thunderstorm that erupts very, very quickly. We can't see, we're blown this
way and that way by some news that has just rushed in. What
do we do? who walk by faith, not by sight,
trusting in the unchangeable character of our holy God and
the wonderful promises which he has given to his people. What I do, you don't know, but
you shall know hereafter. That promise then is that it
will be afterwards. you will see the reason why you
have passed through all that you have gone through. Christ
explains to the disciples, do you know what I have done to
you? You called me master and Lord,
and you say, well, for I am. If I then, your Lord and master,
have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. For
have I given you an example that you do all that you should do
as I have done unto you?' And so he explains to them, this
is what I have done and this is why I have done it. And I've
done it to teach you a lesson that you may be more like me.
And every single trial and every single difficulty, every single
hurt, every single pain that Christ brings his people through
is done for that exact reason. To humble you and to prove us,
to test us, to know what is really in our hearts, that we may be
more like the Lord Jesus Christ. as he humbled himself, stooped
down to wash the feet of his disciples, as he stooped down
and lay himself upon the cross at Calvary and gave himself up
for the sacrifice of his people. And so there is then that hereafter,
afterwards, you will know why you have passed through this
pathway. to teach you to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ, to
humble you and to test you to know what is in our hearts. What I do, you don't know, but
you shall know hereafter. May our faith be encouraged to
lay hold of the character of God to know that all he does
is good, that he is never surprised by any event that we go through.
It is him that brings us into those events. And as he said
to Philip, as he said to Philip, what are
we going to do? How are we going to feed them? Knowing all the
time what he was going to do, and he always, he always knows
what he is going to do and how he's going to bring about his
eternal purposes in the lives of his people. What I do, thou
knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Amen. A message here from Margaret,
we give thanks for the collections taken last month which amounted
to £935 for the General Fund and £435 for the Pastors Fund. Also a message from Emily, the
food bank will be delivered the week of the 12th and thank you
for your continued support. This afternoon's service will
be at 3pm and during the ordinance, Jessie and Daisy will be received
in as members, Lord willing. Our closing hymn is hymn number
64 from Gadsby's, God's Decrees. Sovereign ruler of the skies,
ever gracious, ever wise, all my times are in thy hand, all
events at thy command. Hymn number 64 to the tune 517. skies, ever gracious, ever kind. All my times are in thy hands,
all ev'r sad like a man. If thick we heard from thee,
earth, It's my first and second birth There is native place and
time All appointed were by Him He that formed me in the womb
He shall guide me to the tomb All my time shall ever be Ordered
by His wise decree Times of sickness, times of health Times of penury
and vile, Times of trial and of gain, Times of triumph and
relief. ♪ Time to take the Savior's love
♪ ♪ All must come at last and end ♪ ♪ I shall place my heavenly
friend ♪ ♪ Waves and depths around me fly
♪ 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. Do rest and abide with us each
now and for evermore. Amen.