I am often asked by congregations
who are just getting started, some who wish to change the way
they've done things in the past, about writing constitution or
church covenant rules. Everybody thinks we've got to
have rules and regulations. We've got to have rules so that
we can practice church discipline. And I always ask, why? Well,
just in case somebody does something. Well, won't you wait until they
do? If you make a rule, you'll find some excuse for using it.
Make a rule by which to put somebody out, you'll find some reason
to put them out. Why do so? Well, but don't we
have rules by which we are to live as believers? What is the
believer's rule of life? By what standard are our lives
to be governed as God's children in this world? How should we
behave? What principles do we live by
as we walk before God and men in this world? By what law are
we to live? Those are fair questions. They're
questions that concern all of God's people. You see, none of
God's people, I'm not talking about religious people, I'm talking
about God's people. None of God's people are rebellious
antinomians who desire to live in licentiousness and ungodliness. Many women who love licentiousness
and ungodliness don't know God. Is that plain enough? Men and
women who love licentiousness and ungodliness don't know God. It does not matter what you profess. If that's that which you love,
that's what you are, and you don't know God. All who trust
Christ seek God's honor. All who are born of God want
to do the will of God. We want to do what's right before
God and what's right before men. The grace of God that brings
salvation, the Holy Spirit tells us. That is the grace of God
that we've experienced in our souls as redeemed, regenerate
men and women. Men and women who have been given
faith in Christ. It teaches us. It teaches us
effectually. When God's the teacher, you'll
always get the lesson. When God's the teacher, you'll
always get the lesson. The grace of God educates us,
teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lust and to live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Know what
the book says? Grace teaches men to live soberly,
righteously, and godly right now in 2010 in this corrupt society. But Brother Don, you don't know
how things are out there. I do. They're just like they were in
1950. And just like they were in 1850.
The world is full of wretched, vile sinners like you and me. And we pollute everything. But
the grace of God teaches us to live soberly, righteously, and
godly in the midst of this crooked and perverse age in which we
live. We're admonished in Holy Scripture
as saved sinners to be blameless and harmless, the sons of God
without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation
among whom you shine as lights in the world. A man or a woman
who's chosen, redeemed, regenerated by the grace of God has a new
nature. And with that new nature, a principle
of righteousness and godliness created in him, created in her. And such people want to live
in a manner that pleases God and honors God. That's what love for God created
in our souls causes. We want to please him, we want
to honor him. If you don't love God's law,
you neither know God nor love God. And your religion is a refuge
of lies, your pretense of faith is a delusion, and it will fall
soon. And because we preach the gospel
of God's free Sovereign grace in Christ turn turn to the book
of Jude for just a minute For the book of Jude you can hold
your place in John 13. I'm gonna be just a little while getting
to my text this morning Because we preach the gospel of God's
free grace Declaring incessantly and declaring everywhere by every
means God gives us That salvation is free that grace is unconditional,
that God's elect are free from the law, that God will never
charge any believer with sin. He will not impute sin to his
people because he charged our sins to his son. Because we preach
these things everywhere declared in scripture, religious legalists
accuse us of being antinomians, promoters of licentiousness.
These workmongers had already crept into the church in Jude's
day, and they've only increased through the ages. Pretending
to preach the grace of God, these folks attempt to mix grace and
works. Now, they go by every kind of
religious name. So let's have a study in the
cults about all the religion I know is cultic. About all of
it is. About all the religion around
us, Baptist, Methodist and otherwise. About all of it is. It's just
paganism under the name of Christianity. They mix works and grace. Stand up and say we're saved
by grace but now. We're saved by grace but. Now we believe
in salvation by grace but. Somewhere put your works in it.
These folks, pretending to preach the grace of God, attempting
to mix works and grace together, blasphemously assert that if
you preach salvation free, salvation unconditional, salvation by grace
alone with no contribution from man, if you preach that man's
works do not in any way give him acceptance with God, why,
that'll lead to all kinds of evil. This is exactly what we
find right here in Jude verse 4. Jude says, when I wanted to
write to you about common salvation, I said, this is more urgent.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, slithering serpents
who slither their way into the good graces and favor of professed
believers. who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation. They didn't take God by surprise.
Ungodly men. Now watch this. Turning the grace
of our God into lasciviousness. They're saying grace promotes
lasciviousness. And anytime you hear someone
suggest that free grace will promote lasciviousness, read
Jude 4 and understand who he is. Anytime you hear someone
say, if I believe that, I'd go out and live like hell. Be understood
that that man does live like hell. Believers do not believe
the grace of God and walk in lasciviousness. Believing the
grace of God, we walk before God seeking his glory. But these
turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, denying the only Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of the grace of God
is called the gospel which is after godliness. It teaches all
who know it to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty. It's a shame this is the case,
but I meet up with religious folks in business, and folks
want to flaunt their religion. I kind of tend to back off. If
I walk into a car salesman's office and a used car salesman's
got a Bible sitting on the corner of the desk so he can show it
off in front of me, I believe I'd rather go buy my car somewhere
else. How come? Because I don't trust
him as far as I can spit it. His religion's all show. It's
all show. I just, oh, don't you think we
ought to show folks that we're Christians? Yeah, be honest.
You don't have to wave your Bible in front of them. Be honest. You don't have to brag about
it. God's people don't make a show of religion. They walk before
God in faith and in godliness. This gospel we preach is called
the wholesome doctrine, which is according to godliness. Now,
let me make three statements. I want to show you three things,
and I want you to see for yourself that they are plain in the book
of God. Three things we need to learn as we seek to live in
this world for the glory of God. Turn to Romans chapter 6. Understand this first. Believers
are not under the law, period. I'm not pausing because I'm looking
for something to say. I want you to get it. Believers are
not under the law, period. We do not in any way practice
Old Testament law, and we don't pretend to. We who believe God
are free from the law. Well, what's that talking about?
The ceremonial law, the moral law, the economic law, the political
law, or the Ten Commandments? What's it talking about? Yeah,
that's what it's talking about. Believers are free from the law. The law was given to Israel alone. Read this book. Just read the
Bible. It'd help a whole lot to understand
what the scriptures teach if you just read the book itself.
The law was never given to a Gentile. Nowhere in the world. In fact,
Gentiles were not allowed to observe the things that were
commanded in the law. Well, we believe in Sabbath keeping.
No, you don't. No, you don't. You just fake
it. You just fake it. Everybody who says they keep
the Sabbath these days, just fake it. It's a pretense. It's
a sham. I don't care who it is. They
don't keep a Sabbath day. Read the law. They don't do it. But the fact is, no Gentile was
allowed to keep a Sabbath day. Read the law. It was for Israel
alone. Their holy days were just for
them. Well, we believe we ought to do this, do that, because
the law says no. The day I start observing a day
of atonement, I'll start keeping a Sabbath day. The day I start
going to Jerusalem to worship on certain holy days, that's
the day I'll start keeping a Sabbath day. The day I start offering
a sacrifice on a Jewish altar in Jerusalem again, that's when
I'll say we're under the law. We are not under the law, period. The law was given for one purpose,
to point us to Christ. Read Galatians chapter 3. It
was our schoolmaster unto Christ. When the schoolmasters come,
you're no longer under the law. When the Christ has come, you're
no longer under the schoolmaster. The law leads to Christ, pointed
to Christ, showed the necessity of Christ, portrayed what Christ
would be and what Christ would do. Well, isn't the law our rule
of life? Didn't you hear me? We are not
under the law. No, the law is not our rule of
life. No. Well, I keep the Ten Commandments
posted on the wall in our kitchen, and I check those things off.
I keep it on my computer so it comes up on my screen. I check
it off. While you're checking it off, you're breaking it. No, we do not live by the Ten
Commandments. No. Those who pretend to live by
the Ten Commandments are fooling themselves. Which of you loves
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and being? Come on, tell
me. Well, I don't mean we do it perfectly.
That's what the commandments require. The commandments don't
require your best effort. They require perfection. God
doesn't require you to do the best you can. God demands perfection,
absolute righteousness. He won't accept anything less.
The law is not our rule of life. We have no commitment to the
law. We fear no curse from the law. And we are in no way constrained
to do anything by the law. Look in Romans chapter six, verse
14. Paul is talking about the newness
of life that's ours in Christ Jesus. He's talking about, he's
been talking about justification. Then in the first part of the
chapter, he talks about us confessing Christ in believer's baptism.
And by this baptism, we arise, professing that we arise to walk
with God now in the newness of life. And he's talking about
this new life, this new life, this new life in sanctification,
this new life walking with God in this world. If there's anywhere
in the book, I would expect him to say, now, now this is how
the law plays a part in our life. It'd be right here in Romans
chapter 6. Well, let's see what it says, verse 14. Sin shall
not have dominion over you, because you're under the law and God
will whip you hard if you commit any transgression. Sin shall
not have dominion over you, because you're under the law and God
will get you. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, because you're under the law and you sure don't want to
feel the whip of the law. Isn't it strange? There's not
anybody in here who's got a Bible who says that. I don't care which
translation you bought to try to escape it. It doesn't matter
which translation you got. Every translation in the English
Bible and any other that makes any attempt to translate this
passage says you, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you
are not under the law, but under grace. Wow! What then? Why, if you tell people that,
Adam, they'll just want to go out and sin, and commit adultery,
and get drunk, and all that. What then? Shall we sin because
we're not under the law, but under grace? Does that make any
sense to you? Does that make any sense at all
to you? God forbid! God forbid! Look at chapter 7,
Romans 7. The law promises reward for obedience
and threatens punishment for disobedience. But God's saints
aren't mercenaries. We don't serve God being motivated
by the promise of reward or by the fear of punishment. Those
are mercenaries who do that. The whole religious world practices
religion on the basis of mercenary service. Come to church, tithe,
pay your tithes. Come to Sunday school, witness,
read your Bible, pray, dress, do, go, don't. And the way they do it, they
threaten you with law. Threaten you with law. If you
don't pay your tithes, God will kill one of your children and
send you to the hospital for six months. You'll get it one way
or the other. What kind of God do you serve? What kind of God
are you talking about? Would you do that to your child? What stupidity! No, God's people
are mercenaries. We serve God because we want
to. We're motivated by love, gratitude, faith. God requires
and accepts heart obedience. Willing heart obedience. There must first be a willing
heart. Is that what the book says? A
willing heart. I tell people all the time. I
tell folks here and wherever I go, you don't want to come
to church. I'm going to be preaching here tonight. At 6.30 I'll be
preaching too, Song of Solomon. I have worked hard to prepare
the message. And I'm going to be here. I'm going to be here.
If you want to, come and listen. Maybe God will have something
for you. If you'd rather stay at home and watch guns smoke,
stay at home and watch guns smoke. I'm as serious as I can be. We just
received an offering. We do it every week. If you'd
rather keep your money and go to the beach with it, keep your
money and go to the beach with it. I'm as serious as I can be. If you'd
rather do that, I would rather you do that. God won't have it. No point in you pretending. God
won't have it. He accepts a willing sacrifice,
a willing heart. He will not accept mere outward
pretense. He will not accept the show of
hypocrisy. The Almighty sees through the
Pharisees' show. Did you hear the scripture? We
are not under law, but under grace. Law makes people slaves. It produces bondage. And do you
know how well slaves get along with each other? They fight and
squabble for every scrap. The law produces bondage and
bondage produces strife. Law work promotes pride, self-righteousness,
judgmental harshness. People, we're ever talking about
churches and their squabbles and their fights, that's because
they all believe in works. And of course, all believing
works, they fight and squabble and push and shove, because they
want to be the best. And they want you to see they're
the best. We're expressly and repeatedly warned not to be brought
in bondage to the law. Romans 7, verse 1. Know ye not,
brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the
law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the
woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband,
so long as she liveth. But if the husband be dead, she's
loosed from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband
liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.
But if her husband be dead, she's freed from that law, so that
she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Let me go to Medlin. Let me go
to Medlin. If something should happen that
the Lord took Bob Duff out of here tonight, took you home tonight,
in a couple of months, Mary Lou has met a man, and you fall in
love and marry him. Don't you say to me, it ain't
been long enough. He's been dead two months. He's been dead two months. She's
freed from the law of her husband. No more any obligation to the
man. He's D-E-A-D dead. And since he won't care, you
shouldn't, Linda. Dead. Dead. Dead to the law of her
husband. Read on. Read what it says. Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ. that you should be married to
Christ himself. We become dead to the law that
we might be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Galatians
3 says the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. Romans
10 says Christ is the end of the law to everyone that believeth.
The end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Look
at Galatians chapter 5. Galatians 5. How important is it that we recognize
this? Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. And be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Joe, that's the law. That's rules
and regulations. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Is there anybody here who's thinking
about going down to the hospital bar and getting circumcised?
Anybody? Oh, well, that doesn't apply
to us. I believe it does. What's he talking about? He's
not just talking about Billy being physically circumcised.
He's talking about doing anything. Doing anything. to gain God's
favor, to improve your standing in God's favor, or to keep God's
favor. Is that what it is? Plant his
nose on your face. If you do anything, read your
Bible, go to church, 10 Sunday school, say your prayers. I hate
that phrase. Preacher, would you say a prayer
for me? No, I don't say prayers. I pray. If you do something,
do something, anything to gain God's favor, to improve your
standing in God's favor, to keep God's favor, Christ shall profit
you nothing. Paul's saying you don't know
God. You don't know God. Read on. For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, he's indebted to the whole law.
You want to find acceptance with God on the basis of what you
do? Do it all perfectly. Obey God perfectly and satisfy
for sin perfectly. Then you can stand before God.
Christ is become of no effect unto you. Christ is useless to
you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, you've missed the gospel altogether. You've fallen
from grace. Look at Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2. Now I want you to see the scriptures
are plain in what they declare in this regard. Verse 14. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. That's what Christ did at
Calvary. Which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or the new moon,
or of Sabbath days." Don't keep these things. Well, I don't want
folks to think I'm not a devoted Christian, so I won't I won't
play ball on Sunday. Now please understand me. Please
understand me. I'm not suggesting that you do.
I'm not suggesting that you do. I think it's magnificent for
believers on the Lord's Day to spend their day worshiping God,
but don't you tell me I can't do something. I recall the first
time I was in England, back in 87, Shelby and I were there and
there were folks there from the As a matter of fact, what a crazy
thing to do. Somebody asked me if I would
come over there and preach for them at their Sabbath Day Observance Society. I said, I don't think you want
me. But we're standing out there after lunch one day, one Sunday
afternoon. I preached that morning, preached Saturday night, preached
Saturday morning, preached every night that week. And Sunday afternoon,
we're relaxing. And the kids were all standing
around. I'm talking about Brother Adam Jellett's kids were about
that high then. Janine Clark and these teenagers and younger
children, they're standing around like this. Just looking. Standing in an
open field, right behind us in a wall, me and Stanley were sitting
there talking about this, that, and the other, and those kids
were standing there with their hands in their pockets. I said, y'all want to
play some ball? You would have thought I'd ask them if they
wanted to strip off and go skinny dipping. I mean, everybody was
shocked. We can't do that, it's Sabbath
day. Didn't you know what you're doing?
Of course I knew what I was doing. I knew where I was. We don't
observe holy days. Christ is our Sabbath. We don't
worship God one day in seven. We worship God every day, all
day. Christ is our Sabbath. Not only
are we not under the Mosaic Law, we're forbidden to observe the
Mosaic Law, and we're forbidden to observe the religious customs
and traditions that the religious world would impose upon us because
we're free from the law. Turn to 1 Timothy 4. 1 Timothy
4. We have this notion. somehow
get this foolish notion that because other people do things,
and they think it's wrong if you don't do it, you know. I
don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't cuss, I don't chew, and I don't
do anything with the girls who do. Well, maybe you ought to.
Maybe you ought to. I was on a plane in Philadelphia
the other day, had to wait for a long time, and this snooty
gal was talking to somebody about going down to Black Mountain,
North Carolina. She said, oh, I was there. She said, you'll actually see
folks, you'll see men chewing tobacco and driving pickups.
I mean, made a deal of it. I almost called Shelby and said,
honey, did you chew all my Red Men or did you leave me some
in my truck? And I don't chew Red Men just
for you to know. What stupidity. What stupidity. You can't do
this. You can't go there. Can't eat
any pork. Can't eat any pork. Leave that
to the Jews and Muslims. You can have it if you want it.
Well, I don't believe that I'll ever drink any wine, so people
don't even use wine at the Lord's table. If you want to have a
glass of wine, it's all right. Now, if you don't want it, that's
fine, but don't tell Joe he can't have it or tell Ron he's got
to have it. Who are you to judge another man's servant? Well,
doesn't the Bible say something about drunkenness? It says a
lot about drunkenness. It says nothing about using anything
with moderation. For whom do you think God made
this world? For whom do you think God made
this world? He created it for his people. And he tells us that
nothing is unclean of itself. Nothing. Well, I'd never do that. I won't touch that. Arise, Peter,
and eat! Nothing is unclean of itself.
We have no business making rules for anyone that God hasn't stated
in His Word. No business. Nobody has the right
or the authority to make a religious custom, a religious tradition,
a religious fad, or a religious rule, and say you must abide
by it. Nobody. Well, we don't say you
got to, but if you want to be really spiritual, then you have
to live like us. Dress kind of funny, and don't
wear any makeup, ladies. You fellas don't wear your hair
down too long, you know. Well, I didn't mean that. I know,
because you don't practice that. You practice that. It's exactly
the same nonsense. When I was in Bible college,
if I'm lying, I'm dying. I'm telling you exactly what
the rules were. When I was in Bible college, until the white
Bible colleges found out they couldn't get tax credit, the
students couldn't get tax credit going to school, and they couldn't
get the GI Bill things, they were all segregated. And then
suddenly they became integrated. And you know, Joe, they wouldn't
let us wear a mustache. I'm not joking. You could wear
a mustache. But when the black fellas came
to school, they could wear a mustache. I asked the dean one time about
that, the dean of men who made up rules. He said, well, for
them it's natural. I said, do you think I put manure
on this thing to make it grow? What stupidity? And you know
the next time I saw a picture of him after I got out of school?
He had a mustache and sideburns down to here. But you can't do
that. That's ungodly. Well, it's different
now because everybody accepts it. Oh, that's what determines
things. Everybody accepts it. Let me
tell you something. Anything that's right is always
right in any culture, in any age. And anything that's wrong
is always wrong in any culture, in any age. Well, Mother Donna,
you've got to give folks some rules. Okay, I'll give you one.
I'll give you one. I got it from Maurice Montgomery
a long, long time ago. If you love Christ, just do what
you want to. If you love Christ, do what you
want to. Man, I don't know whether to
live like that or not. I can't. I can't. If that lady loves me, and she
does, do what you want to. I've never placed any rules on
the wall in our house at any time. Say, well, I want to keep
these 10 rules here so I can show my love for my husband. I don't think I'd want that relationship
with you. I just don't think I would. Well, I keep the law
to show my love to God. Show it to who? Show it to who? To God? To God? You think you got to
show something to Him? If you're going to show it to Him, it better
be good. Well, no, no, I want other folks to see Jesus in me.
How many times have I got to tell you, the world didn't see
Jesus in Jesus in me, they sure ain't going to see me in you. Ain't going to happen. Ain't
going to happen. Well don't you think we ought to let our light
shine? Let the light of the gospel we preach shine! That's the light
we let shine in this world. People don't know God by you
praying in public or wearing certain kind of clothes or not
wearing them. People don't know God by the things that people
do in religion. All they do is they know you
and know what you want them to know about you. Look at me. I
ain't like you. I'm good. I'm holy. I want the world to know I love
Jesus. Then live for God and quit trying to show it. Live
for God and quit trying to show it. Read the 6th chapter of Matthew.
Our Lord specifically tells you, don't try to show your religion. Pray, pray in the private. You
give, you give in private. You work fast, you fast in private. But if you get up in the morning
and you say, No, I can't go to dinner today because I'm fasting.
You got what you wanted. You got what you wanted. No,
I can't go out for lunch because I'm saving my money up to give
to the missionaries. You got what you wanted. You got what
you wanted. Oh, isn't that good? Isn't he
devoted? He's a good Christian. He loves
Jesus so much. Go to the restaurant down here
this afternoon Now at home, at home is another story. Here at
our Fellowship of Believers is another story. Go to the restaurant.
I remember when I was 19 years old, Shelby and I had been out
to Asheboro, North Carolina. I preached for Brother Harry
Graham that morning. And he and his wife, Nola, took us out to
lunch. And we sat down, got our food. And I was sitting there
waiting on somebody to say their mumbo jumbo or their rosary,
cross it, do something to bless the food. And Harry knew what
I was doing, but he was smart. He just sat there and he looked
at me and said, well, Don, are you thankful? I said, what? Are you thankful for your food?
I said, yes. He said, God heard that eat. God heard that eat. What are
you waiting on? Somebody to see you showing that
you're thankful? You waiting to show somebody
else your gratitude? When you pray, go to your closet
and pray. Down a street corner. Down a
street corner. Yet, we're not left without law. Look at 1 John chapter 3. 1 John
chapter 3. We have a law by which to live.
Hold your hands here in 1 John 3 and then turn to 2 Corinthians
5. I want you to see them both side by side. All right, 1 John 3, verse 23. This is His commandment. Just one of them. There's just
one. There's just one. This is His
commandment. That we should believe on the
name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave
His commandment. Well, that's two. No, that's
just one. It is faith which worketh by love. This is God's commandment. Believe on the Son of God. The
whole law, the whole law says you must have a substitute. The only way to come to God is
by faith in a substitute. And that faith works by love. Look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse
14. For the love of Christ constraineth
us. The love of Christ pulls. The love of Christ molds. The
love of Christ directs. The love of Christ moves. The
love of Christ motivates us. Because we thus judge, that if
one died for all, then we're all dead. That is, when Christ
died, we all died in him. All for whom he died, died when
he died. And that he died for all, for what purpose? That moral
heart should henceforth not live unto himself. You see that? That they should henceforth not
live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose
again. Larry Brown, Christ died for
you so that you'd live for him. That's it. That's it. And you
wouldn't live for him without the sweet constraint of his grace
arising from blood atonement. Now turn to John 13, verse 15. Here's the text for that sermon. Here's an example of that law of love by which
all God's people live in this world. The Lord Jesus rose from
supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself
and poured water in a basin and began to wash his disciples'
feet. And he says, or tells us down in verse 15, I have given
you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Christ is the example by which
we live. We read that our Lord Jesus Christ,
our blessed Savior, suffered for us, leaving us an example
that we should follow in his steps. You want to know how to live
in this world? Look to Christ. What kind of father should I
be? Look to Him. What kind of wife should I be?
Look to Him. What kind of mother should I
be? What kind of husband? Look to Him. How much should I give? Look to Him. How should I serve
God? Look to Him. How much of this
world's good should I seek? Look to Him. How much should
I give away? Look to Him. Look to Him. And I mean it, Merle, I leave
that totally between you and God. Totally. Totally. I don't want to know what you
do or don't do. I don't want to know what you
give or don't give. I don't want to know. That's
not my business. I don't want to know. Look to
Christ. Look to Christ. And I promise
you, as you want to know God's will in this world, you read
the book of God, find out how Christ sought God's will, you'll
find out how to find God's will. You want to know how to pray?
Go with Christ to Gethsemane and pray. You want to know how
to obey God? Go with Christ to Calvary and
see Him obedient unto death. He's giving you an example. Walk
in his steps. Follow him. Do as I've done to
you. Now, we do not observe any kind
of physical ordinance of foot washing because our Lord did
not here establish such an ordinance. There's no instruction anywhere
in the Word of God for such. Historically, there have been
folks who, on an annual day, would make a pretense of observing
this. The papists and kings wash somebody's
feet once a year. But the Word of God doesn't teach
such. Our Lord is teaching something
else. He's showing us two things here,
just two things. Our Lord washing his disciples'
feet is a picture of his constant love and care for his own. Our Lord Jesus tenderly cares
for all our needs. as a constant, watchful, caring
host, performing all things for us. Our Savior looks after the
smallest cares and concerns of our souls with great interest. He washes feet. He washes his
disciples' feet. Our Lord Jesus tenderly provides
Refreshment for his children whom he loves dearly. Just as
these disciples had their feet washed, Joseph, you remember,
had his servant to bring a bowl of water and wash his brother's
feet. Nothing more refreshing when
you've been on a long walk and a hot day than to have your feet
washed, even to this day when we wear shoes and socks. Refreshing
to sit down and have your feet washed. And the Lord Jesus, our
great savior, constantly stoops to refresh our souls with the
word of his grace, the promises of his word, the presence of
his spirit teaching us and guiding us. And then there are specific
seasons when he does it. Somehow, before we enter into
some hard labor or trial, he prepares us, washing our feet. He prepares us for the trial
ahead of time, sustains us in the trial, and brings us through
the trial, and thereby refreshes our souls. In the midst of our
journey, our Savior comes to us like He did those disciples
on the Emmaus Road. He opens the Word to us and causes
our hearts to burn within us as He speaks to us by the way. And when we finally arrive at
home, we're told in the parable in Luke 12 that He, the Lord,
He, the Lord, will gird Himself make us sit down to meet and
come forth and serve us. Imagine that. Imagine that. Imagine that. You mean the Son
of God here portrays what He says in the parable He will do
in the end of the world? When we finally reach heaven's
glory, I think so. My friend, Robin Locke, some
of you know this, some of you don't. I've known Robin almost
all his life. He and his parents and his grandparents
have been members of Katy Baptist Church for as long as I've been
going up there preaching, nearly 38 years I've been going up there. Robin went over to Pikeville
last Monday. He and Marvin, some of the men,
helping to clean up things. Tuesday morning, he dropped dead. Heart attack. That was devastating for the
time, but oh, what a way to go. What a time to go. But I tell
you what, you meet first in heaven. Revelation 8 verse 1. Silence. by the space of a half hour. When first we meet the Master,
we will be utterly speechless before Him, astonished at His
goodness and His mercy. Our Lord Jesus carefully kins to our spiritual welfare all
through this world and washes our feet, and he will at last
bring us safe to glory. This example, our Savior says is an example
for us to follow. After he washed his disciples'
feet, he said, I've given you an example that you should do
as I have done to you. What's that? Tenderly watch over
each other. Tenderly care for one another. Constantly love one another. Constantly exercise kindness
to one another. Constantly seek to refresh and
encourage one another. Then in verse 17, he said, if
you know these things, if you know these things, happy
are ye if you do them. Happy are you. Oh, how blessed are you who walk
in love and faith, trusting the Son of God with that faith which
works by love. Ministering to one another, ministering
to the needs of God's people in this world. Caring for the
cause of Christ, seeking his glory. Happier ye if you do them. What rules are we to follow? Follow Christ. Follow Christ. Godliness In this book, when
people talk about practical godliness, practical religion, I know what
they're talking about. Let's talk about practical things. That means give us some rules
and tell us how we can make ourselves look better than other people.
And people talk about godliness. When they talk about godliness,
they always talk about something you can see. Something you can
stick your finger on. Something that'll make you stand
out. Always. They talk about smoking and drinking and chewing
and dancing and pictures and TV and wearing long dresses or
not wearing long dresses, wearing shorts, not wearing shorts. You
know, all the stuff you find in barnyards. Oh, I didn't mean
to say that. Read Philippians Chapter 2. That's
what Paul called it. Just done. Nothing else. Nothing else. Read this book. Our Lord says to those on His
right hand, I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you
clothed me. I was sick and in prison and
you came to visit me. I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink. And all of His disciples said, well, when
did we do that? When we do that, you see folks
who walk in godliness never realize it. Never. Because they recognize
they've never done anything. What'd you do for God? What have you done for God? My
God, nothing. He said, when you visited one
of my disciples, when you gave a cup of cold water to one of
my disciples, when you put some clothes on back of one of my
disciples, when you had one of my disciples over for a bologna
sandwich the other day, you did that for me. And these on the
left side, the Pharisees and the religious hypocrites, he
says, I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. and I was
thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink, and I was naked, and
you gave me nothing to wear, and I was in prison, and you
didn't visit me, and I was in the hospital, and you didn't
visit me. Well, Lord, when didn't we do that? We've always served
you. And that's the difference between
law religion and grace religion. Christ is the example. Follow
Him. Amen.