Just a few months after Shelby
and I were married, I got a call early one morning. Her brother next to her had been
murdered that night. And I had to tell her. And I immediately thought, What good can come from this? What good can come from this? How's this going to affect ministering
to her family? What good can come from this?
How's this going to be of help to her? What good can come from
this? How often We face personal difficulties,
what we call tragedies, calamities, how often we see things in the
lives of other people and in the world around us, and we just
can't help but to ask, why? What possible good can come from
this? What possible good can come from
it? Sometimes, angrily, we wouldn't
say it out loud, but in our hearts, we say, God, what are you doing? What are you doing? Is your mercy
clean gone forever? Have you forgotten to be gracious?
Have you shut up your bowels of tender mercy? Have you forgotten
your covenant, your promise, and your people? Lord, what are
you doing? What are you doing? If God the
Holy Spirit will enable me, I want to give you a message from our
Lord himself that will help to prepare you and carry you through
those dark, dark times. The title of my message this
morning is Dark Providences Cleared in Due Time. Dark Providences
Cleared in Due Time. Turn with me to John chapter
13. In verse 6, Peter was terribly
confused as our Lord began to wash the disciples' feet. And
he said, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? No. This is totally out of hand. No, you won't wash my feet. Not you. Not you, not you, my
Lord, my God, my Savior. No, no, no, this is too much.
You'll not stoop to wash my feet. In verse 7, Jesus answered and
said unto him, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter. What I do, thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafter. When Jacob awoke from his dream,
he said, surely God was in this place, and I knew it not. So it is with us often with regard
to God's providence Though the Lord is in all his work, we fail
to observe him, and we know it not. Specifically, this word
here in John 13, what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter, has regard to the Lord's washing the disciples'
feet, but certainly The Lord Jesus, by his word, gives us
many words of instruction. And I want to look at this both
with regard to this specific context, the Lord washing the
disciples' feet, and also with regard to its application to
the Lord's good providence. The fact is the design and intention
of our God in his works of providence Those things are often, if not
usually, hidden from us. Rarely does the Lord let us know
in the midst of difficulty what he's doing. Rarely does he declare
to us in the midst of heartache why he sent it. Seldom does he
give us light in the midst of darkness to understand his ways
in the darkness. But what he does now, he will
clearly make you to know and understand in due time. I love Calper's hymn. I suspect
you can bear to hear it one more time, can't you? Don't worry,
I'm not going to sing it. I'll just quote it. God moves
in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps
in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep, deep in unfathomable
minds of never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs
and works his sovereign will. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud, oh, it often has a bitter
taste, but sweet will be the flower. You fearful saints, fresh
courage take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy. and shall break in blessing on
your head. So judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the fouling providence,
he hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scare his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain. All right, let's read this portion
of scripture in John 13 together, verses 1 through 20, and then
I will come back and give you that which I believe the Spirit
of God would have us to learn from this passage this morning.
Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that
his hour was come, when he should depart out of this world unto
the Father, Having loved his old which were in the world,
he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
to betray him. Jesus knowing that the father
had given all things into his hands and that he was come from
God and went to God, he riseth up from supper. and laid aside
his garments, and took a towel, and girded himself. And after
that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples'
feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord,
dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto
him, What I do, Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter. 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. Jesus saith
unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. but
is clean every wit, and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew
who should betray him, therefore he said, ye are not all clean.
So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garment
and was sat down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have
done unto you? Do you understand what I've 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 If I
then your lord and master have washed your feet You also ought
to wash one another's feet For I have given you an example That
you should do as I've 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 If ye know these things,
happy are ye if ye do them. I speak not of you all. I know
whom I've chosen. But that the scripture might
be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up
his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come
to pass, that when it is come to pass, you may believe that
I am he. The Lord Jesus declares, then
he, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever
I send receiveth me, and he that receiveth him and receiveth him
that sent me. Now, here's the first thing.
Here's the first thing. Our Savior's love for us is an
immutable, incessant love. It is an immutable, incessant
love. We can't begin to fathom that. Having loved his own which were
in the world, he loved them unto the end. The love of Christ for
his elect, his love surpassing thought, he loves us in such
a way that there's nothing in the world to compare to his love. He loved these disciples before
he called them, knowing that when he called them, they would
be what they were. He loved us with an everlasting
love and therefore called us with loving kindness, knowing
full well what we were, what we have been, what we are, and
what we will be. Knowing all the corruption that's
in us, all the evil of our hearts, he
loves us still. So it was with these disciples,
having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end. His love for us is an everlasting
love. That means it is from everlasting
to everlasting. So Brother Don, that's redundant
language, isn't it though? Who can describe everlasting? It is from everlasting to everlasting. measure things by time because
we live in this time world in time frames, almost like frames
on a motion picture. But the reality is we live in
eternity and God Almighty loves us eternally. Eternally. What does that mean? That means
there's no beginning, no end and no change. God's love for
his own doesn't vary with our ups and downs. It doesn't vary
with our experiences. It doesn't vary with our good
deeds or our bad deeds. It doesn't vary with our feelings
or lack of feelings. It doesn't vary with our love
for him or lack of love for him. His love is the only love that's
always the same. He loved me from everlasting.
No measure to that love. No passion in that love. What
is love? What is it? You young people,
some of you are getting the age you're going to be courting and
considering getting married. Much to mama and daddy's great
pleasure if you do it well. Listen to me. Will you listen
to this old man? Just listen to him about this
very practical thing. Marriage must be a union of love. And
I'll tell you what that union involves. Total commitment. Total commitment. 41 years ago, this beautiful
blonde-headed lady walked down the aisle and everybody was stunned
by her beauty, almost as much as I was. I gave myself to that
woman as her husband in love. What's that mean? That means
my life, my life, whatever it involves, my life, the totality
of the strength of my life, my life is committed to her. Committed to her. I don't feel love. Love's not
something you feel. Love's something you do. I don't feel. Feel phooey. Love is the commitment of a person
to its object. Now, will you hear me? God Almighty,
before the world began, committed Himself in the totality of His
being to His people. Oh! God gripped my heart with
that. My Redeemer committed Himself
to me in love from eternity! And there's no variation, no
change, nothing in hell and nothing in earth will cause Him to change
it, much less anything here. Nothing in me, nothing done by
me will cause him to alter his love in the least. Number two. Learn this. God's dominion over
all things is absolute. Even the most base vile, despicable,
reprobate men and women in all their acts are under the absolute
rule of our God and our Heavenly Father. Even the work of Satan
himself is under the rule and control of our Redeemer, God
our Savior. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. What does
that mean? The Lord's absolutely in control
of everything. Ralph Erskine put it this way,
an old Scottish preacher. He said he employs the wicked
themselves to carry on his work and make their wicked designs
contribute to the advancement of his holy and glorious design. You mean he makes the wicked
themselves in their works and their intentions to fulfill his
purpose and his intentions for the saving of his people? That's
it. That's it. As he made the treason
of Judas, the sentence of Pilate, the malice of the Jews, to contribute
for the work of redemption. So our God makes all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Our heavenly father wisely and
sovereignly uses his enemies and our enemies. Contrary to
their will, contrary to their purpose, he uses his enemies
and our enemies to do us good and to accomplish his good purpose
of grace. When you have time, and I urge
you to take time, sit down and read 1 Samuel 5, 6, and 7. And when you read it, have in
your mind Dagen's Falls. The Philistines took the Ark
of the Covenant, and they set it up in the house of their god,
Dagon. And they went to bed, and got
him another god, and they woke up the next morning when Dagon's
fallen over. So they set him up again, and
he fell over and broke his arms. And they set him up again, and
he fell again. And God then smoked them with hemorrhoids. Smoked them with hemorrhoids.
in such devastating pain that they could hardly function. And
being the good worshippers of Ashdod and such godless rebels
as idolaters are, they figured that since they had these hemorrhoids,
somehow it had something to do with that Ark of the Covenant,
which was, they thought, the God of the Israelites. And the
way they could take care of this was they could make them some
other gods in the shape of hemorrhoids. And I guess there were a lot
of mice in the temple because they made some in the shape of
mice. And you know what they did? They took their hemorrhoid
stones that they had made out of pure gold. and their mice that they had
made out of pure gold. And they set them on the ark
of God and put it in a cart, hooked it up to some cattle,
gave them a whip and said, please go back to Israel. And so the
Israelites at last got their ark back and the mercy seat. And they had lots of gold. Lots of gold. And the Philistines
were conquered. And Israel prevailed. And an
altar was built to the Lord. And Samuel brought a young suckling
lamb and sacrificed it on the altar for the worship of God,
worshiping Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, the Lamb of God. And
God was given praise and honor, as is his due, because God causes
even the evil that men do. to bring forth good to his people. Here's the third thing. Learn
it and be warned. Nothing in all the world is so
corrupt and hard and brazen as the heart of a hypocrite. Here sits Judas Iscariot. with the disciples, sitting at the table with the
Lord Jesus and his disciples. He has already made his deal
with the high priest. He has already agreed to betray
him. Satan has already put it in his
heart. This deal is already struck. And Judah sits there with the
disciples as the Lord Jesus washes his feet just as he washed the
feet of his disciples. Look at verse two. Supper being
ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, to betray him. What a beacon to warn us of the
deep corruption that may be found in the heart of the most religious
people. Judas shows us that a man can
go very, very far in religious practice and be rotten at heart. He shows us how much a person
may know, how much he may know about the things of God and not
know God. The scripture speaks plainly
of doctrine and doctrine is good. Good doctrine is good doctrine.
But salvation is not doctrine. Salvation is a person. Salvation
is not knowing doctrine. Salvation is knowing the Redeemer.
Salvation is not knowing election. It's knowing the elector. Salvation
is knowing God and His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He sent. He shows
us how high one may be in the eyes of men. Judas is in a position
of high office, but more than that, he's in a position of high
esteem. The disciples seemed to follow
Judas' lead. They followed his lead. When
Judas, in the presence of the Savior, murmured against the
woman who offered that spikened and very precious, because he
held the bag, he said, this could have been taken and sold for
the poor. Why did you make this waste? The other disciples said,
yeah, why'd you do that? Why'd you do that? When the Lord
Jesus told them that one would betray them, and everyone said,
Lord, is it I? No one suspected Judas. No one
suspected Judas. Judas was high in the esteems
of men, but Judas didn't know God. It shows us how confident
a person may be. confident of God's grace and
God's salvation as he lives on the brink of hell. I have no doubt Judas never considered
himself a reprobate man until after he realized what he'd done
and he brings that money back to the priest and throws it at
their feet and he went out and hanged himself. He was confident. He's one of God's just as sure
as the rest of them. Just as sure as the rest of them.
We mustn't be surprised or overwhelmed or overly disturbed when we find
such hypocrites among God's saints. Not all who are washed in the
waters of baptism are washed in the blood. Not all who are
in Israel are of Israel. Jesus saith unto them, verse
10, saith unto him, He that is washed needeth not, save to wash
his feet, but is clean every wit, and ye are clean, but not
all. So examine yourselves, whether
you be in the faith. Prove your own selves, the Spirit
says. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Christ Jesus is in you? Except you'd be reprimanded and
the point of examination is just this not not what you do People
make people make works a basis of assurance because they believe
salvation is by works People make emotion a basis of assurance
because they believe salvation is in a feeling Examine yourselves
whether you be in the faith Do you believe on the Son of God? That's the only issue Make your
calling and election sure. And the way you make your calling
and election sure is by faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord. Here's
the fourth thing. I know some of you. Are without
God, my savior. You yet believe not. You yet
refused to bow to Christ. You yet refused to trust the
Son of God. Now listen to me. Listen to me. We must be washed in the blood
of Christ or we're going to perish. You must be washed in the Savior's
blood or you must be damned. You must be washed in the blood
of the lord jesus or you must forever Suffer the wrath of god
in hell look at verses 8 through 10 The only way we can be saved
is by being washed Not washed with the waters of baptism, but
washed with the savior's blood Peter saith unto him thou shalt
never wash my feet Jesus answered if I wash thee not thou has no
part with me if I wash thee not Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord,
not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith
unto him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but
is clean every wit and year clean, but not all. What can wash away
my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. All precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Turn to first Peter. First Peter. Zacharias said in that day, in
this gospel day, when God comes to sinners by grace, A fountain
shall be opened, a fountain opened to you experimentally. If the Lord God speaks to you
this day, by his grace, he will open this fountain to you for
cleansing, for sin and uncleanness, so that you may plunge in today
and be made clean in that fountain. And here it is, 1 Peter 1, verse
18. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation, you know
that the atonement money you gave back in the Old Testament,
you know that the silver and gold sacrifice and all those
ceremonies, that didn't redeem you. That didn't wash you from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God
that raised up, raised him up from the dead and gave him glory
that your faith and hope might be in God. You must be washed
in the blood That is, we must be cleansed by Christ's sin-atoning
blood and washed experimentally. Yes, we must be washed when he
died at Calvary. Yes, we must be washed when he's
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But we have no
salvation until the blood is sprinkled on our own consciences,
until we experience his grace. I'm beginning more and more to
understand something Heard brother may hand state when I was just
I was just a young fella. Hey He said rock Barnard used
to say used to tell us that somebody asked him said said brother Barnard
Do you believe everything in the Bible? And he said I don't
know hadn't experienced it all yet That was thinking after a while
That was thinking after a while I'm gonna tell you something
Merle We don't believe anything. We don't experience. I Until
we experience it, it's all academics and theory. It's all academics
and theory. I believe in election. I've experienced
it. I believe God's sovereign. Me
too, I've experienced it. I believe in effectual redemption. Me too. I've been washed in the
blood. I've been washed in the blood.
It's not a doctrine. It's life. we must have. It's
not a doctrine, it's a savior we must trust. You must be washed
in the blood. Let me show you this. Look at
1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. Now somewhere in there I got
you. And such were some of you. But ye are washed. Ye are sanctified. You are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. God comes
at this. This is what it does for Senator
Roddy. It gives you faith in Christ and giving you faith sprinkles
your conscience from dead work. So guilt is gone. Oh, for the first time they're
screaming, consciously tormenting your soul night and day is silent. Guilt is gone. And that declares
you're sanctified. You've been born again. And that
declares you're justified so that you have now experienced
washing by the blood and sanctification by the spirit and justification
by God's grace. But what's this talking about?
Need your feet washed. Need your feet washed. Down in
the islands, folks take sea baths. You be driving along the road
and, you know, you don't stop and look because folks are out
there bathing. They're out there bathing. They take baths in the
salt water. And then they get up and put
on whatever they're going to put on and walk out of the ocean
across the beach. And you know what they got to
do? They gotta wash their feet. They gotta wash their feet. So
it is with you and I, so long as we live in this world, bathed
in the Savior's precious blood, we must be continually washed
in his blood. I can't tell you how thankful
I am. The book of God speaks of the
blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth us. from all sin, constantly
cleanses. Well, you can't say that. That
was already done. I didn't say it. God did. God
did. He said it for our benefit because
Alan, we continually experience the cleansing and thank God for
it. He forgiveth all thine iniquities. Well, he already forgave us from
eternity. Yeah, but he still does. It's
a continual experience of grace. As we confess our sin, we experience
again the forgiveness of sin. He justifieth the ungodly. He is near that justifieth me. That's wonderful. He constantly
declares me just. And so the Lord Jesus continually
cleanses us with his blood. Fifth, there is in this passage
of scripture a blessed example of humility and love given by
our Savior. He washed the disciples' feet.
He stooped to wash his disciples' feet. And he still does. He condescended to come here
to wash us in his blood, to redeem us with his blood. But he stoops
to wash their feet. He stoops to wash their feet. When is it that he washes our
feet? Every time he shows us the foulness of our feet. Every
time he opens up these dark hearts and causes us to see something
of our sin, he opens up the fountain and washes our feet. The dying
thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away. When does he wash
our feet? When he enables us, with tears
of repentance, to wash his feet and kiss them. Then he's washing
our feet. You remember that woman in Luke
7, she came behind and stood behind the master. She had that
alabaster box of ointment, that precious spikenard. She had been
saving up for his burial and knowing that he's going to be
slain and rise again for her redemption. And as she heard
him talk, she began to weep and she knelt down and she broke
the ointment and she washed the savior's feet with her tears
and she pulled out the pins and she dried them with the hairs
of her head because he said that thou mayest remember and be confounded
and never open thy mouth anymore because of thy shame when I am
pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done. She's standing
there behind the master, falls down at his feet because she
knows he's pacified toward her. And she kissed his feet and kissed
them and kissed them. This self-denying loving service
is our responsibility and our great privilege to one another.
The Lord says in verse 14, if I then your Lord and master have
washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet. For
I've given you an example that you should do as I've done to
you. In all things, Christ's example
is our rule. And all who follow the Lord's
example find their happiness in doing as he has done. If you know these things, happier
ye if you do them. Oh, what a privilege it is to
live in this world as God's servant. What a privilege it is to serve
the interest of God, our Savior. And what a privilege to serve
his people. Oh, that's not the privilege
of a pastor. I had that high, high honor,
that great, great privilege of spending my life studying and
trying to pray and preaching the gospel. And I don't have
to be involved in all the things that you folks are involved in
every day. And I thank God for that. But I am no more God's
servant than Bob Duff is God's servant. And I am no more the
servant of God's people than Lindsay Campbell is a servant
of God's people. You see, believers are Jehovah's servants. And Jehovah's
servants serve Him by serving His people. Now, one last thing, I'll be
very brief. Verse 7, Jesus answered and said
unto him, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter. All the dark mysteries and painful
experiences of God's providence will be cleaned, are cleared
up, and made clear to God's saints at his appointed time. All of
them. All of them. Judge not the Lord
by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the frowning
providence, he hides a smiling face. Jacob talked about all his sorrows. He said, all these things are
against me. And he got down to Egypt, saw Joseph with the keys
to the corn house. God sent Moses, gave him a commission. You go bring my people out."
Well, what if they won't listen to me? You tell them, I am that
I am sent you, and you will surely deliver them. So he goes down
there and tells them, God sent me down here to bring you out
of Egypt. Well, we're going with you, Moses. And the next day,
the tail of the bricks is increased. And the next day, the taskmasters
get out their whips and they say, Moses, go back to where
you came from. But in just a little while, They're
marching across the Red Sea singing Jehovah's praise. Joseph went
through his imprisonments, his accusations and slanders, betrayed
by his brothers, sold into slavery, and the Lord made him to understand,
I'm in the place of God. You've been it for evil. God
meant it for good. I didn't understand it. He who
understood Pharaoh's dreams and interpreted Pharaoh's dreams
could not understand God's hand in his own life until he looks
back and he says, I'm in the place of God. You meant it for
evil. God meant it for good as it is
this day to save much people alive. His way. Thy way, O God, is in
the sanctuary. Here, we learn God's way. Thy
way is in the seas. He's talking specifically about
the Red Sea, that roaring sea, that raging sea. Thy paths in
the great waters. And thy footsteps are not known. Don't expect to look out in the
field and be able to track what God's doing. Don't expect it. It's not going to happen. You
see, the just shall live by faith. And God won't let us live by
sight. If we're his, he won't let us
live by sight. He sweetly forces us to live
by faith. And when he's done, he will make
all things clear. Farther along, we'll know all
about it. Farther along, we'll understand
why. Amen.