Would you turn back to Luke chapter
22? I've entitled this message, The
Servant. The Servant. Jesus of Nazareth. Y'all like
saying that. Jesus of Nazareth. is the second person of the Holy
Trinity, the Son of God, the great I Am, equal with the Father,
so much so that he could say, he that hath seen me hath seen
the Father, equal with the Spirit Almighty, the one in whom dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. God, manifest in the
flesh, the creator, the controller of providence, who upholds all
things by the word of his power, and by him all things consist. the brightness of God's glory,
and the express image of his person, the one in whom all things,
he has the preeminence, the one to whom the father said, thy
throne, oh God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom, the one of whom the spirit bears
witness, the one who doeth according to his will. in the armies of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Give an account of
yourself. Explain what you're doing to
me. He doesn't have to. He's the Lord. He's also the servant. That amazing description we just
heard of him in his glory. He is also the servant. He who is equal with God is God's
servant. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery, thought it not a thing to be grasped for, to
be equal with God, He made himself of no reputation
and took upon himself the form of a servant. The King of kings, the Lord of
lords, the sovereign of the universe, the one who doeth according to
his will, the one who's in absolute control is the servant. the servant of God and the servant
of his people. Now, I think it is amazing at
this time this strife comes up among the disciples. And no,
I don't think it's amazing. I think it's up to par. I think
it's just the way things are. I shouldn't even say it's amazing
because I can see me doing the same thing just as easy. A strife
among them over which of them would be accounted the greatest. Which one was used by God the
most? Which one was the holiest? Which
one was the most important? Which one was the most valuable?
And they were having this strife right while our Lord was getting
ready to go to Gethsemane. And this is not the first time
this had taken place. Look at chapter 9. Luke chapter 9, verse 46. Then there arose a reasoning
among them, which of them should be greatest? I think this reasoning
happened quite frequently with the disciples. Which of them
should be greatest? Now the Lord is getting ready
to go to the cross and this, how vain. How arrogant. How proud. How sinful. How stupid. How much like me. Now this issue is contrary to
love, wanting to have the preeminence over one another, wanting to
step on each other so I can be up higher. It's completely contrary
to love. Now the only word that seems
appropriate to use for this strife is flesh. Flesh. Sinful, weak, helpless
flesh. The scripture says man at his
best state is what? Altogether vanity. at his best state, there isn't
anything about him that's not altogether vanity. And we see this with the apostles.
Were these men saved? Having an argument like this?
Of course they were. They were the apostles. The Lord
said to Peter, thou art Peter, and upon this rock, this confession
of me, I'll build my church. The gates of hell shall not win
against it, prevail against it. These men were saved that were
having this argument, but they demonstrate how unlike Christ,
a saved man can be, don't they? This is so vain and petty and
childish, but I couldn't help but think of what Paul said to
the Corinthian believers. I could not speak unto you as
a spiritual, but as a carnal, as babes in Christ. Are you not yet carnal and walk
as men? Now, every believer has the new
man and the old man, and far too often, all that is seen is
the old man. I think it's interesting, though,
in Matthew's account of this, in Matthew chapter 18, verse
3, they were having the same argument. I don't know if it
was at a different time. But they were arguing over which
of them would be the greatest, would be the most recognized,
would be seen to be the most important and the most valuable.
And the Lord said, except you be converted and become as little
children, you won't even be there. Don't worry about being the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. You won't be there except you
be converted and stop this foolishness. Now, back to our text in Luke
chapter 22. And there was also a strife among
them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. Verse 25, And he said unto them, The kings
of the Gentiles exercised lordship over them. You got a boss and
you got the people under him. And they that exercise authority
upon them are called benefactors. That's the way the world works.
You got those up here you got those down here and those up
here tell those down here what to do. That's the way the world
works. But verse 26 you shall not be
so. But he that is greatest among
you let him be as the younger and he that is chief as he that
doth serve. All believers are the same. You believe that? There's not
one up here and one down here. All believers are the same. Now
there's no doubt that the scripture teaches that some are more spiritually
mature than others. He said to the church at Corinth,
you're all acting like unbelievers. You're acting like men. You're
being carnal. Some believers are more spiritually mature than
other believers. There are little children. There
are young men and their fathers. There's growing in grace and
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But all
believers are the same. They're on the same level. There's
not one that's more important than the other. There's not one
that's more valuable in the kingdom of heaven than the other. There's
not one more significant. It's not like that. Not in the kingdom of heaven,
it's not like that. If you want to be great, you take the lowest
place. If you want to be the chief, you be the servant of
all. Now that's the way the kingdom
of heaven works. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew chapter 23. Verse 8. But be not ye called rabbi, for
one is your master, even Christ. And all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon
the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven. Neither be
ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ. But he that's greatest among
you shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. Now that's the way of the kingdom
of heaven. We have Christ and we've got the brethren. There's
no clergy laity. There's no one up here and one
down here. Everybody's the same. Wouldn't
the pastor more significant? No. Not in any way. Not in any way. Everybody say
amen to that. Agree with that. Not in any way. There you go. Verse 27, for weather is greater. He that sitteth at meat or he
that serveth? Now that's an easy question to
answer. The fellow sitting at meat waiting
for a servant to come and serve him is greater than the fellow
doing the service. The fellow that's a servant,
all he is is a servant. The one who is sitting at meat
is the one that's in charge. Now that's an easy question to
answer. Who's greater, the servant or the one who's in charge and
sitting at meat and the servant serves him? the one who sits at meat, the
one who owns everything, the boss, he's greater. But I am among you as he that
serveth. Now, I don't have any doubt what
he's talking about. At that time, he had just given
them this example in John chapter 13, where he washed their feet. And that's what he's referring
to when he's teaching them. Now, I want you to think about
the Lord Jesus Christ washing your feet. Turn on to John 13
for a moment. John chapter 13. This is his last time with his
disciples. Verse 4, And he riseth from supper,
and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and girded
himself. 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. Now we do not
read where a word had been said by any of the disciples while
this was going on. I bet they were sitting there
in stunned silence as this was taking place. What's going on?
What's going on? Why is he doing this? He's the
Lord. Why is he washing our feet? They were all thinking things
like that, but they didn't know what to say. So who's the first
person that would speak up? Well, you know, the first person
that would speak up would be Peter. Peter always had something to
say. He always had something to say. He couldn't just keep
silence. Look what he says in verse 6. Then cometh he to Simon
Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Something's wrong with this picture. 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. How would you respond to that? You'd respond the same way Peter
did, wouldn't you? Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my
feet only, but also my hands and my head. I want to have part
with you. I mean, Peter loved the Lord
Jesus. Jesus saith to him, verse 10,
he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is
clean every wit, and you are clean. Not all of you, for he
knew who would betray him. He didn't say Judas is clean,
but he said you are clean every wit. He that's washed, and that's
the same word that's used in Revelation 1 5 when it says He
washed us from our sins in His own blood. Think about that for a minute.
He washed us from our sins in His own blood and everybody He
washed is clean every wet. You know what that means? Completely
clean. If Jesus Christ washed you from
your sins in his own blood, that means right now you do not have
any sin. It's all been washed away. It's
been put away. It's been blotted out. It's been
canceled. It's been separated from you
as far as the east is from the west. It's gone. You are clean. Clean. Clean before God. You
say, I don't feel clean. Well, I don't care whether you
do feel clean or not. If Christ died for you, you are
clean. You are clean. When God looks at you, he sees
someone without sin. Jesus saith to him, he that is
washed needeth not save to wash his feet. Now, while you're clean,
you walk through this world. You know what happens? your feet
get dirty don't they? You cannot walk in this world
without your feet getting dirty. It's going to happen. Wish it
wasn't like that. But it's true. Through sin you'll
get your feet dirty and they need to be washed over and over
again by the hearing of the gospel. I need to hear over and over
again what can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. I get my feet dirty, and I need
to hear the gospel once again. And that's what this feet washing
is all about. It's given to represent that.
You're going to get your feet dirty, and they need to be washed
again. And washing one another's feet
is preaching the gospel to one another. It's not telling me,
you ought not get your feet dirty. I know that. I shouldn't. I agree. Well, let me tell you what you
can do to keep from getting them dirty. Never has worked for me.
Never has worked for me. It just hadn't. What I need to
do is hear how I'm cleansed by the Lord Jesus Christ. I need
to have my feet washed over and over and over again. Don't you
find that you have to hear the gospel over and over and over
again? And that is what washes our feet. Now, if you want to practice
feet washing, I'm not going to tell somebody not to do it. If
somebody gets, you know, I know some churches do that. They'll
get together and everybody take off their shoes and socks and
wash one another's feet. And if you want to do that, I
don't care. Go ahead. I'd rather not participate
in that, though, because I don't think that's what the Lord's
teaching. I think He's teaching to wash our feet, we're clean
every whit, but we get our feet dirty through our walk through
this world, and oh how I need to hear the gospel. Verse 12. So after he had washed their
feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said
unto them, Do you know what I've done to you? You call me master and Lord,
and you say, well, for so I am. Now let me say this. Not one time do we ever hear
the disciples addressing the Lord Jesus personally as Jesus. Not once. They called him Lord,
they called him Master, but they had never addressed his name
as Jesus. Be careful the way you use his
name. He is Jesus of Nazareth. That's
who he is. He identifies himself that way.
But the disciples always called him Lord and Master. I remember
one time somebody said, why don't you ever call him Jesus? Why
are you always calling him the Lord? I quoted a scripture to
it. because he said, you call me master and Lord. You say,
well, for so I am. He's the Lord and he's to be
worshiped and respected as such. Now he says in verse 14, if I
then your Lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought
to wash one another's feet, for I've given you an example. You
see that? Not an ordinance, but an example that you should do
as I have done to you. 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 you know these things, happy
are you if you do them. You will only be happy by being
a servant. And if I'm not a servant, all
I'm going to do is be an unhappy person. The true way of happiness,
the true way of greatness in the kingdom of heaven is being
a servant. Anybody can be a servant. You
don't have to have a lot of money to be a servant. You don't have
to have a great education to be a servant. You don't have
to have a great personality or good looks to be a servant. You
just be a servant. And the scripture says that that
is greatness in the kingdom of heaven. Oh, I want to be a servant,
don't you? I don't want to serve myself. By God's grace, I want
to be a servant to you. Now that is greatness in the
kingdom of heaven. Now let's go back to our text
in Luke chapter 22. That's what he was referring
to. For whither is greater he that
sitteth at meat, or he that serveth. And they've just seen him perform
this amazing example. It's not he that sitteth at meat,
but I am among you as he that serveth. And he demonstrated
that. And then he says in verse 28, you are they which have continued
with me in my temptations. Now, even after this ridiculous
fight they were having, I want you to notice how gentle he was
with them and how he commends them. You are they which have
continued with me in my temptations. You haven't left me. You've continued. A whole lot of folks didn't continue. Most people didn't continue. You are they which have continued. If you continue in my word, then
are ye my disciples. Indeed, you've continued with
me in my temptations. And I thought about the temptations
of Christ. I mean, I can't even imagine.
You know, I'm sure that when he was a child, when he was a
six or seven year old child, he would have to withdraw himself
from the wrath of the other children because they despised him. You
can just see that. I mean, here's why. He said,
I've been afflicted from my youth. I think of the temptations of
being subject to men when he knew who he was. You think of
the devil, him allowing the devil to tempt him. If you be the Son
of God, command this stone that it be made bread. If you're the
Son of God, prove it to us. Let us see something. Jump off
the temple. The Bible says he'll give his
angels charge over thee. Now if you really are, prove
it. Show it to me. Now, if you're the son of God,
bow down and worship me and I'll give you all these kingdoms.
I'm allowed to do this. They're delivered to me. I mean,
he had to subject himself to that when he could have so easily
just destroyed him. And the temptations of being around
people like me and you all the time. He said one time, how long
shall I suffer you? How long shall I be with you?
And he was saying to his disciples, that to his disciples. He said,
bring him hither to me. The unbelief and the silly arguments
they had over which one would be greatest. Think of the temptations
of being made sin. Knowing all of his life, he was
going to be cut off from his father, that he was going to
bear the full equivalent of hell in the room instead of his people.
Knowing he's no longer going to have communion with his father,
which he delighted in so much, he knew he'd be cut off. He said,
the cup which my father has given me to drink, this cup of wrath
and trembling, shall I not drink it? The temptations of Christ. And he says to his disciples,
you've continued with me. You've continued with me. You
haven't left. You haven't left. I think of those, that group
of people in John chapter six, after they heard that message,
the scripture said, then his disciples went back, went back
and walked no more with him. And he looked at the 12 and said,
will you also go away? Will you also go away? I love
Peter's answer. Where? To whom shall we go? You want us to go back to the
wall? It doesn't do us any good. Back to the wall. Thou hast the
words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. We don't have anywhere
else to go. It's not like we even have an option. That's the
way a believer is. There's nowhere else to go. You
are they which have continued with me in my word, in my temptations. Look what it says in verse 29.
To these same people, even after they've been making these ridiculous
fights and strifes over which one would be greatest, he's so
kind to them. He says, and I appoint unto you
a kingdom as my father hath appointed to me. Now that word appoint
is the word that's used for a last will and testament. This is my
will for you. This is my appointment for you.
This is what I'm willing you. A kingdom just like my father
has appointed unto me. I have this for you and there's
no way, there's no scenario in which you will not get it because
I've appointed unto you a kingdom. He says to every one of his disciples,
I've appointed to you a kingdom. It's not just talking about the
twelve at this time, this was talking about every child of God. I've
appointed to you a kingdom. You've got an inheritance that
no one could describe. Verse 30. that you may eat and drink at
my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel." Now here's what you get to do. You get to
eat at my table. Now who do you think of eating
at the king's table? Think of Mephibosheth, don't you? Mephibosheth
ate at the king's table continually. And you know what the scripture
says? It says, even though he was eating at the king's table,
he was still lame on both of his feet. And we find that to
be our experience. But you know what? Mephibosheth's
up there now eating at the king's table, and he's not lame on both
of his feet anymore. He's walking with the king. You're going to eat at my table.
You're not going to be shut out. You're going to eat at my table.
in my kingdom, and you're going to sit on thrones judging the
12 tribes of Israel. Now, does that mean that the
12 apostles are going to have this special place in the kingdom
of heaven where they're sitting there and judging the 12 tribes? Well, if it does mean that, great.
I mean, I don't really think that's what it means, but if
it does mean that, if that's what the Lord means by that.
Great. I'm glad. I'll be glad for Peter
and John and Paul and Nathanael and Thomas if that's what's going
on. Fine. Whatever the Lord does is fine
isn't it. Aren't you just totally OK with whatever the Lord does.
Do you like it. You like it. You rejoice in whatever he does.
So if he means that they're going to have these 12 different thrones
judging the 12 tribes of Israel that's fine. I'm all for it if
that's what he says. Whatever he does is good. But
let me tell you what I think it means. I believe that this means that
the doctrines preached by the apostles, or the doctrine preached
by the apostles, is the rule by which all shall be judged. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. Let
me show you a couple of scriptures. Matthew chapter 16. Verse 18, Matthew 16, 18, And
I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. And I will give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose
or set free on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Now does that
mean that Peter could decide who'd be saved and who wouldn't
be? I'm gonna bind him here and he's
not gonna get away and I'm gonna lose this one and he's gonna
go to heaven. I've got the keys of the kingdom and it's up to
me who's gonna be saved. You know better than that. What
this is a reference to is whosoever is set free by the doctrine,
by the gospel that Peter preached, he's set free here on earth,
he's going to heaven. whosoever rejects the gospel
that Peter preached, he's bound here to earth, and he'll go to
hell. Now that's exactly what that means. It's not saying that
Peter has the authority and the ability to decide who'd be saved
and who'd not be. I don't want any man to have
that power, do you? I remember hearing Ralph Barnard
say this, he said, it's a good thing I'm not God, because I'd
send you to hell. And that's the type of guy he was, too.
He was a hard nose. I don't want to have some man.
Let me tell you something. If it was up to you, who would
be saved? You know how many people would
be saved? You say, well, I'd save everybody. No, you wouldn't.
You talk that way. Let somebody make you mad enough
times, and you'll say, I've had it. That's it. That's it. The fact of the matter is, if
it was up to me or you, who would be saved? Or if it's up to me
who'd be saved, it'd be only me. And you're that way too.
Let somebody cross you about a million times and see what
takes place. Salvation's not in a man's hands. Aren't you
thankful for that? Turn to John 20. Verse 20. And when he had so said, he showed
them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again,
peace be unto you. As my father has sent me, even
so send I you. And when he said this, he breathed
on them and saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever
sins you remit, they're remitted unto them. And whosoever sins
you retain, they're retained. Now, once again, is he saying,
If you say somebody's sins are remitted and put away, that means
they are. And then if you decide with somebody, no, yours are
going to stay on you. You've had it. You're toast. Is that
what it is? No. You preach the gospel and somebody
is going to find the remission of sins in this. And they're
going to rejoice in it. And somebody else is not going
to rejoice in it. Their sins will be retained. As a man lives,
do you live believing the gospel and find the remission of sins?
You'll spend eternity in glory. Do you reject the gospel? You'll
spend eternity in hell. Whoever sins you remit through
the preaching of your gospel, they'll be remitted. Whosoever
sins are retained, they're retained. Now, in conclusion, three statements. First, how wretched is our pride? How wretched is our pride? that
we would have this strife, because every one of this, this strife
has gone on in the hearts of every one of us at one time or
the other. How wretched, how inexcusable is this strife, and
how ambitious. Secondly, how ambitious we ought
to be to serve. How ambitious. This is greatness
in the kingdom of heaven, being a servant. how ambitious we ought
to be to serve. And thirdly, there is life-giving
and soul-damning power in the gospel we preach. To some, it's
a savor of life unto life, and to others, it's a savor of death
unto death. But this gospel we preach through
the preaching of the gospel, There are some men's sins who
are going to be remitted, and they're going to be put away,
and there are some men's sins that are going to be retained.
What a sobering thought, and may the Lord enable us to faithfully
preach the gospel in this generation and be servants, servants. Oh, may God give us grace to
be servants one to another. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
washing of our feet through your gospel. And Lord, enable us to
truly be servants and foot washers. Cause us to wash one another's
feet with the gospel. And Lord, how thankful we are
for what you've appointed for us. To be eating and drinking
at thy table in thy eternal kingdom. Lord, accept our thanksgiving. We're so thankful that you've
been pleased to make yourself known to us. Lord, give us the
grace to simply bow to whatever you do is what is best and glorious
and know that if you do it, it's best. Lord, as we face this coming
week, we ask that you would open up doors for us to preach your
gospel to others. that we might be enabled to see
people, believe the gospel. Lord, we pray that your will
would be done in all things. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Okay, Matt, what do you got?