I love to hear good songs out
of our hymn book that I forget about and don't ever hear. That
was a blessing. Turn back with me to Colossians
chapter 3. And while you're turning there,
when Claire was reading that Psalm 47, there was one phrase
that really caught my attention. He shall choose our inheritance
for us. I don't want to be left to a
choice about anything, do you? I want. And it says he shall
choose our inheritance for us. What a blessing. I've entitled this message whatsoever
you do. I think you can see where I got
my title from our text in verse 17 and whatsoever you do in word
or deed. do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him, whatsoever
you do. There is only one righteousness
that God will accept, because in reality, there's only one
righteousness. the righteousness and the merits of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His perfect obedience is all
that God will accept on judgment day, nothing more, nothing less,
and nothing else. You believe that? His righteousness
only. This is the fine linen, clean
and white, the righteousness of the saints. I won't be brought
into heaven because of anything that I've done, thought, intended
to do, or didn't do. I'll be brought into heaven for
one reason. The Lord Jesus Christ. Not my doings, but His doings. Now that does not take away from
the importance of what we do. What we do is our works. You'll remember, James said,
faith without works is dead, being alone. What was the first
thing the Lord said to each of the churches in the book of Revelation? First thing, to each, all seven,
first thing he said was, I know thy, what? Works. He didn't say, I know your doctrinal
persuasion or your position. He didn't say, I know what you
believe. He said, I know your works. On judgment day, when
Christ says to the sheep, come ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
What does he say after that? What was the evidence that the
kingdom had been prepared for them from the foundation of the
world? What was the evidence he gave as that being real? He said, for I was hungry and
you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. I was naked. and you clothed
me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came
to me. The Lord gave that as evidence
that he'd done something for them before the foundation of
the world. Now, obviously, he didn't do it for them because
he saw they would do this. They did this because he did
this for them before time began. And he said to the goats, I was hungry, you didn't feed
me. I was thirsty, you didn't give me drink. I was hungry,
I was naked, I was sick, I was in prison, all these things,
and you did not do these things. Now I think it's also interesting
that the righteous answered, when did we do this? We weren't
aware of it. If you hear that and think, well,
things look pretty good for me. I think I've got the works that,
you don't have any works. You don't even know what you're
talking about. But the wicked thought they had done these things.
When didn't we do them? We thought we did. The Lord said,
blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. Yea, save the spirit
that they may have rest from their labors, and their works
do follow them. Now, you and I are defined by
what we do. I will repeat that. I'm saying
that to myself, I'm saying that to you. You and I are defined
by what we do. In the context of our text in
Colossians 3, look what he says in verse 12. He talks about some
ways the elect of God are. He said, put on therefore as
the elect of God, holy and beloved, and that's what every believer
is, holy to God and beloved by God. He said, put on as the elect
of God, vows of mercies, kindness. humbleness of mind, meekness,
long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things, put
on charity. which is the bond of perfectness,
and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which you're
also called in one body. And be ye thankful. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by him." Now, these are the things
that God's elect do. And actually, what we do demonstrates
what we really believe. Now, I've said before, you don't
believe any more than you put into practice. Well, there's
a lot of things that I don't believe, that I do believe that
I don't put into practice as odd. I probably shouldn't make
statements like that. But it's still true that what
we really believe, we do put into practice, don't we? If we
really believe it, we put it into practice. How I treat you, how you treat
me, will demonstrate what we really believe concerning the
gospel. And what I'm feeding on in private,
if I'm feeding on the Lord in the secret of my soul, in my
closet where no man can see, you'll see whether it's so. And
I'll see whether it's so with regard to you. We're always doing
something. It may be good. It may be evil.
It may be destructive. It may be helpful. It may be
significant. It may be a complete waste of
time, but we're always doing something, aren't we? Now, I
found six places in the New Testament where it says in the same verse,
whatsoever and you do. And that's what I want us to
consider. I hope the Lord will give us grace, me grace and you
grace to hear this message. Whatsoever you do. Now, the first point is found
in our text in Colossians chapter three, verse 17. Whatsoever you
do. in word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus. Now what in the world does that
mean? Does that mean when I go to the grocery store and purchase
some item of food, do I tell the cash register person, I'm
doing this in the name of the Lord Jesus? No. No, that would
be offensive if someone acted that way and started using the
Lord's name. I've seen people do stuff like
that. And whenever I see people use that, that's called taking
the name, the Lord's name in vain is what that's called. That's
no different than cursing or swearing or anything like that.
Using his name that way. Well, what does it mean? Well,
the name of the Lord is who he is. The person behind the name. The name of the Lord represents
who he really is, all of his glorious attributes. And the
Lord said where two or three are gathered together in my name. Is that what we're doing here
tonight? We're gathered together in his name. Wanting to hear
from Him. I do, I want to hear from Him.
I want Him to speak through me. I want Him to speak to me. More
than I want Him to speak through me, I want Him to speak to me.
But I want Him to speak through me too. And I want Him to speak to you.
I want you to hear His voice in the Gospel. We're meeting
together in His name to worship Him. And to hear from Him. What I'm doing right now is not
in my own name. I'm not giving you my thoughts
or my opinions. What I'm doing is in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we're doing right
now. I'm speaking in his name. There was a woman who came to
a worship service, and her pastor wasn't preaching that Sunday,
and I'm not sure who it was. It might have been George Whitfield
that was taking over. I remember reading about this. She came
to the service and it wasn't her pastor preaching, it was
George Whitefield and she heard the gospel in such power. It
blessed her heart to where she was just so excited about the
way she was enabled to worship the Lord and hearing that message.
And he was going to be preaching the next day. And so she came
back all eager with anticipation about hearing him again. And
this time it came out totally flat. She didn't get a thing
out of it. She didn't hear anything. And
she thought, what happened? Last night, I felt like I was
in heaven. Tonight, I feel like nothing
happened at all. And she came up to the preacher. I don't know if it was Whitfield.
I'm thinking it was. And she said, I'm so disappointed. She said, last night, I heard
such a glorious message. And tonight, I heard nothing.
He looked at her and said, why did you come here last night?
She said, to hear the gospel. He said, why did you come here
tonight? She said, to hear you. He said,
you got what you came for. Isn't that so? We're meeting in his name. to hear from Him." Now, you think
about whatsoever you do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks unto the God and Father by Him. When you pray,
you know the way we end our prayers, we ask these things in His name.
You know what I mean by that? I mean, I don't want this prayer
to be heard by God for any other reason but for Christ's sake.
I want this prayer to be heard as if He was praying it, not
me. I'm not praying in my own name.
I know my prayers will not be heard apart from the intercession
and the mediation and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray
in His name. We understand that salvation
is holy for His namesake. I understand the only reason
that God saves me, the only reason that God looks in favor toward
me, the only reason He gives me His mercy, the only reason
He embraces me with His love, the only reason He allows me
to hear the Gospel, the only reason He gives me faith to believe
and repentance, the only reason I love the Lord Jesus Christ
is because of His namesake. Psalm 106 verse 8 says, nevertheless. I love that. He didn't save me
because of anything to me, but nevertheless, he saved them for
his name's sake. We're never going to get too
far from Ephesians 4.32. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake. have forgiven
you. There's only one reason God forgives
me. For his namesake. For Christ's sake. That's plenty
of reason, isn't it? I need no other argument. I need no other plea. His namesake.
So whatsoever you do, do in his name. If you Pray, if you read,
if you want to be accepted, if you want to witness to somebody,
whatever you're doing, you ask to be accepted for his namesake,
whatever you do. Now we're going to stay in Colossians
chapter three, look in verse 23. And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily. with all your heart, not half-hearted. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily
as unto the Lord." Now, understand this, there's nothing we do,
I don't care what it is, I don't care if you're washing the dishes,
I don't care if you're cutting the grass. I don't care if you're
going to work and doing whatever you do at work. I don't care
if it's what you do with regard to your family life. There's
nothing we do that's mundane or insignificant if we're doing
it as unto the Lord. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily
as unto the Lord. When you go back to work tomorrow,
remember who you're seeking to please in what you do. And this
puts significance in everything, you know, to a believer, everything
he does. Like, you know, people think
of there's secular work and there's sacred work and somebody's full
time in the ministry and somebody else, I'm just a lay person.
The Bible doesn't talk like that. Everybody is sacred. No one is
secular in the Kingdom of Heaven. We're all God's clergy. There's
not a clergy laity. We're all God's clergy, God's
inheritance. And that makes everything we
do significant. May the Lord give us grace to
Believe that. If I'm out digging a ditch, I'm
to dig the ditch to the glory of God. I'm going to dig the
best ditch I can for the glory of God. Do everything heartily
as unto the Lord. Now in the context, he was talking
about family relationships. Look what he said in verse 18.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it's fit
in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and
be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in
all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke
not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants,
obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. There
he's talking about employee-employer relationships. with eye service
as men please. There's not just while you're
under their eye, but when they're not around, you're still doing
your job for the glory of God. But in singleness of heart, fearing
God in whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and
not to man, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward
of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he that
doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done.
There's no respect of persons. Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a
master in heaven. Now, see, he's talking about
all this. He's talking about marriage. He's talking about
parenting. He's talking about employers
and employees. He's talking about all these
things. He says, whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the
Lord. Don't ever be half-hearted in
what you do. Don't lack enthusiasm. Don't
lack effort. The wise man said in the book
of Ecclesiastes, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
all thy might. Now I'm called upon to prepare
five sermons a week if you include the TV message. And what am I
to do? I'm to give it my all to prepare
food for you. I'm not to be half-hearted about
it. I'm not to go through the motions. I'm to give myself totally
to that and never let myself be guilty of not giving my best. Now how it comes out, I don't
know, but I've got to know this. I've always given my effort.
I've not just gone through the motions. I've not just hurried
something out. I'm always to do my best. Whatsoever you do,
do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men. When you sing,
sing heartily. When we sing these hymns, oh,
don't go through the motions. Sing from your heart as God gives
you grace. When you hear, Come in with hearing
ears, asking the Lord to speak to you. Don't come in without
this hunger and thirst to hear the Word of God. Come with hearing
ears. When you give, give as unto the
Lord. Not paying a bill, but giving
as unto the Lord. Every time I give, may the Lord
give me the grace to realize I'm not giving this to the Todd's
Road Grace Church, I'm giving to the Lord. You know, when you
love somebody, you love to give to them, don't you? That's your
privilege and that's your honor. When you give, give as unto the
Lord. Now, if we're doing What we're
doing as unto the Lord, everything we do is significant. Now turn to 1 Corinthians 10.
Verse 31. Now first, whatever we do, we
do in the name of the Lord, don't we? We know it can only be accepted
for His sake. We wouldn't dare want anything
we've done be apart from the name of the Lord because we know
we get sent to hell for it. Our only hope is that he accepts
what we do for Christ's sake. That's it. And what we do, we're
to do heartily, as unto the Lord, and not to men. May the Lord
give us that attitude where we know we're serving the Lord Christ.
We're not serving men. We're serving the Lord Christ,
and therefore we give ourselves to that. Now, look at verse 31
of 1 Corinthians chapter 10. This is the third. Whatsoever
you do, whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you
do, do all to the glory of God. I suppose this point is similar
to the last point, but think with me. What is the highest
good? Why does God do what he does? Now you know the answer to that.
He does what he does for his own glory. If he saved you, if
he saved me, he did so not because of anything we did or what we
could do, but he did it to the praise of the glory of his grace. And I know this, beyond the shadow
of a doubt, when I stand before Him in glory, I'm going to be
a trophy of His grace. He gets all the glory in my salvation. If I end up among the redeemed,
oh how it will honor and glorify His grace. Here's a man that
was saved by the sheer free grace of God, for the glory of God. Colossians, or 2 Corinthians
chapter 4 verse 4 says, if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them
that are lost. Whom the God of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the gospel, the glorious gospel, or literally the gospel of the
glory of Christ, should shine unto them. That's what the gospel
is. It's the gospel of His glory. Now, The gospel is about the
beauty, the excellency, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
I want you to consider the blessings of salvation. What a blessing
it is to be chosen by God. To have God select you before
time began to be one of His. What a blessing it is, what a
blessing it is to have your sins washed away. To where you have
no sin before God, you stand without guilt. What a blessing
it is to be redeemed. What a blessing it is to be justified,
to actually stand before God just, without sin, without guilt. What a blessing it is to be born
of God. To have this new nature for Him
to give you a new heart. What a blessing it is to be preserved
by God so that you continue in the faith. What a blessing it
is to believe. When you're given faith, you
know it's the gift of God. What a blessing it is to be granted
repentance, a true change of mind. All these blessings, now
listen to me, all these blessings as great as they are, and these
are great blessings, aren't they? How could you face life without
these blessings? All these blessings still are
means to the end. They're not an end in themselves.
their means to the end. You see, the great end is the
glory of Christ. He is so glorious that for Him
to act in any way other than for His glory would be wrong. That's how glorious He is. So whatsoever you do, do all
to the glory of God. When I think of all these blessings,
think of the blessing of your inheritance. Think of the blessing
of being predestinated to be conformed to the image of His
Son. These blessings are so great, yet remember there are only means
to this end. The glory, the exaltation, and
the honor of Jesus Christ the Lord. What a blessing. David
said, In Psalm 115, 1, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but
unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy true sake. You know, any motive I have other
than the glory of God is a wrong motive. Now that's so. So whatsoever
you do, whatever it is, Whatsoever you do, do all. Oh, may God give
me and you the grace to do this. Whatever we do, do all to the
glory of God. I turn to Matthew chapter 7.
Verse 12. Therefore all things whatsoever
you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. And look at this next statement,
for this is the law and the prophets. Now this is how significant what
is known as the golden rule is. People call this the golden rule.
However you want to be treated, that's how you ought to treat
other people. And people say, if everybody lived by that, everybody
would be happy. Well, I guess that's so, but
let's consider what the Lord is actually saying. You would have men do to you,
do you also to them. This is the law and the prophets
and this is what God's grace does. Now hold your finger there
in Matthew chapter 7 and turn to Luke chapter 6. Here the Lord says this again.
Verse 31, as you would that men should do to you, do you also
to them likewise. Four, if you love them which
love you, what? And that word think is grace.
We looked at that last week. Where's the grace there? There's
no grace there. Unbelievers do that. If you just
love the folks that love you, well, that doesn't show any grace.
Love the folks that do not love you. That's grace. And then he
says in verse 33, and if you do good to them which do good
to you, what grace have you? Sinners also do even the same.
A worldly man does that. You scratch my back, I'll scratch
yours. Sinners do the same. Verse 34, if you lend to them
of whom you hope to receive, where's the grace there? For
sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again, but
love your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing
again. And your reward should be great and you should be the
children of the highest. For he is kind to the unthankful
and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful as your
father also is merciful. Now, with regard to everything
we do to others, This is a big, broad rule regarding how we treat
everybody else. How do you want to be done? Now,
do you want to be brought under the law? I don't. Well, don't bring somebody
under the law. Don't do that. Want the best construction put
on what you do? Sure you do. I don't want somebody
to tear apart what I'm doing and trying to judge the motors
and judge why I'm doing it. I don't want somebody to do me
that way, do you? I want to put the best construction on it.
Well, even if someone doesn't do that to you, you do it to
them. Do you want to be given the benefit of the doubt? I do. Well, then you give the benefit
of the doubt. Do you want genuine forgiveness
when you fail? Oh, I do. I want to be forgiven.
When I do, when I fail, when I do someone wrong, I want to
be forgiven. I desperately do. Well, what
am I to do? I'm to forgive. 70 times 7. Do you want to be judged harshly
and critically? Of course you don't. You don't
judge harshly and critically. As a matter of fact, the Lord
says judge not at all. Do you want to be treated with
fairness? Sure you do. You don't want to
be treated in an unjust way. You treat everybody with utter
fairness. Do you want to be included, not
held away? Of course you do. You don't like
to be pushed off or put on probation. Well, you include and you bring
that person to yourself. Do you want to be loved? Then
you love. Do you want to be appreciated?
Of course you do. Will you be an appreciative person,
a truly appreciative person? Do you want somebody to hold
a grudge against you and always be remembering something from
the past? Of course you don't. You want them to forget it. Well,
you be the same way. Don't ever be somebody who holds
a grudge. That's so contrary to the gospel. Now, as you would that others
whatsoever, you would have others do to you. you do to them. That's a good rule of action,
isn't it? That's a good rule of thumb. May the Lord give me
and you the grace to do just this. That person that treated
me horribly, how should I treat them? The same way I want to
be treated. Oh, may God give me grace to
do this, to always do this under every circumstance, to do unto
others as I would want to be done by them. I turn to John
chapter 2. Verse 1, In the third day there
was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there,
and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage.
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him,
they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Now,
what did the Lord mean by that? He who honored his mother also
knew that he's God. And mother, you don't tell me
what to do or even suggest to me what I should do. You wait
on me. He wasn't being disrespectful,
but his mother had no business speaking that way to the son
of God. She knew who he was, and he at all time is to be worshiped. Oh, worship the king. Ain't that
interesting the way the Lord talked to his mother? And he
didn't do that in a disrespectful, harsh way, but he's saying, remember
who I am and remember who you are. You don't even suggest to
me what I need to do. I'm the Lord. I'm God. I'm the son of God. That's why
I said that to her. Now let's go on reading. And
his mother, she comes to her senses and she says to the servants,
whatsoever he saith unto you, do. Now here's our rule of action
right there. I don't need to understand it.
I don't need to comprehend it. If he says to do it, whatsoever, he says to you, do
it. If he says deny yourself, deny
yourself. If he says take up your cross
and follow me, take up your cross and follow me. If he says as
he said to that woman at the well, believe me, you know what
you better do? You better believe him. If he says, arise and be
baptized, you better arise and be baptized. Whatever he says
to you, do it. You don't need to understand
it. Just the fact that he said it makes it, you got to do it. Isn't that a glorious rule of
action? Whatever he says, I mean, the
authority comes with his word. Whatsoever he says to you, do
it. Lord, speak to me. Tell me to
do something and give me the grace to do it, whatever it is. Whatsoever he sayeth to you,
do it. I turn to John chapter 15. Verse
12. This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. Now, think about the
way the Lord loved you. I know this, in him loving me,
he didn't love me because I was
lovely. He loved me because He is love.
He loved me for what I am in Him. Now, the Lord says to every one
of His disciples, as I've loved you, so love ye one another. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Don't you earnestly crave to
be the friend of the Lord where he counts you his friend? I want that so desperately. I want to be a friend of the
Lord. I want to be like Moses. The Lord spake face to face with
Moses, as a man speaketh with his friend. Abraham was called
the friend of God. And this thing of friendship,
it's If you're a friend of God, that means there's something
in you, and it's what He's put in you, it's what He's caused
you to be, that causes Him to desire fellowship with you. You're
His friend. You know, your friends are the
people you can open yourself up to, you can make yourself
known to, you don't have to Watch your back. You don't have to
worry about how they're going to twist what you say and take
it. No, you can open up your heart to your friend. And the
Lord counts his people, his friends. He says in verse 14, you are
my friends. If you do whatsoever, I command
you. Look in John 14, 15. If you love
me. Keep my commandments. Look in
verse 23, the same chapter. Jesus answered and said unto
him, if a man loved me, he'll keep my words. He'll guard my
words. He'll preserve my words. And
my father will love him and we will come unto him and make all
bold with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. And the word that you hear is
not mine, but the father's which has sent me. Now, what is this
thing of keeping his commandments? Does that mean, does that mean
I need to keep the 10 commandments? Well, Number one, I've kept them. Because when my Redeemer kept
them, I kept them. So I don't have to worry about
the Ten Commandments. Number two, I've not kept one of them
one time. So if that means if you love
me, you need to keep these commandments, I'm in trouble, because I haven't
kept one of them one time, and neither have you. So what does
he mean when he says, if you love me, keep my commandments?
Well, turn to 1 John chapter three. You know, a lot of times preachers,
when they, when they talk about, you know, if you love me, keep
my commandments and they talk about, they're talking about
the 10 commandments, you know, you need, you need to, you need
to keep them, you know, if you really love him and if you don't,
Well, that's hypocrisy is all it is. It's somebody lying. They
don't keep the commandments and they're telling you to, and that's
not what the scripture means. We'll look here in first John
chapter three. Verse 23, and this is his commandment
that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ. Do you keep that one? You know, I do believe on the
name of Jesus Christ. I believe He is who He said He
is, and I really believe His name is the only reason I'll
be brought into heaven. You believe that? Do you believe
we're actually saved for His namesake and only for His namesake? This is not only do I believe
this is true, I'm relying on this. I'm relying on judgment
day when my name is called. He's going to save for me, present
and accounted for. His name is Jehovah Zedkiddo. This is the name where with she
shall be called, the Lord, our righteousness. Now there's a
commandment I keep. I am relying on his name. I do
believe on his name. I believe he is everything he
says he is in his word. Do you believe that? That's a
commandment I keep. And notice what he says next. And love one another as he gave
us commandment. Everybody that loves Jesus Christ
I love that person. There might be a lot of things
about them I don't love. There might be a lot of things
about me they don't love. But if I love Christ and you
love Christ, we love each other. We're big fans of each other.
We really are. That's the commandment of the
gospel and that's a commandment that every believer keeps. We
love the brethren. He that's begotten of God loveth
him also that's begotten of God. It's nature. It's nature. It's
not something you gotta try to do. It's something that comes
naturally. We keep his commandments. Now, whatsoever you do, do in
his name. Whatsoever you do, do heartily,
as unto the Lord and not to men. Whatsoever you do, do for his
glory. Whatsoever you do, or whatsoever
you would that men do to you, do unto them. Whatsoever he saith to you, do
it. And we'll be his friends if we
do whatsoever he commands. Now I want to close by reading
a passage out of John 13. You know whenever a preacher
says, I'm gonna bring a practical message tonight, it always irritates
me. Is there anything in the Bible
that's not practical? I mean, what portion of God's word is
not to affect us and has practical, election is not, it humbles me. It makes me amazed at his grace. This is not theory. It's all
practical, isn't it? Somebody wrote a book called
Practical Christianity, and I thought, take it and burn it. Because
there's no such thing as unpractical Christianity. There's no such
thing as things that are just theory. It's all practical. And this is very practical. It's
to be put into practice. You know, just doing everything
in his name. That's the gospel, isn't it, right there. You know,
you pray in his name. That's from some understanding
of the gospel. I know that the only way I'll be heard is for
his namesake. And I really believe that. And it's the only plea
I have when I come into his presence is his namesake. Okay. John chapter 13. I don't know
where that came from, but it came out anyway. It wasn't part
of the sermon, but there it was. John chapter 13, 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 riseth from supper and laid aside his
garments and took a towel and girded himself. And after he
poureth water into a basin, he began to wash the disciples'
feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded."
Now, can you imagine how the disciples must have felt at this
time? I can't even imagine it. The Lord washing my feet. I mean,
I'm ashamed of my feet. I've got a toe that's twisting
in and curling, and I don't want anybody to see it. You know,
it's getting old. I mean, all these weird things
happening in my body. I sure don't like the way my
feet look. And to have the Lord Jesus Christ washing my feet,
I mean, the Son of God, the Creator of the universe. I'd have a hard time with that,
and I understand why Peter did. So look at Peter's response.
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.
I'm way too humble for that. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. And I understand this, 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
whit. You're clean, but not all, for he knew who should betray
him. Therefore he said, you're not all clean. Judah certainly
wasn't. So after he had washed their
feet and taken his garments and was sat down again, he said unto
him, do you know 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 ought also to wash
one another's feet. For I've given you an example.
This is not an ordinance, but an example that you should do
as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that sent
greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. May God give us the grace to
whatsoever we do, do as he said for us to do. Look.