I want to go back to the message
this morning, just a moment, just a moment. Some of these great old Puritans
and preachers of the past were great hymn writers also. Charles
Wesley, John Newton, Isaac Watts, William Gadsby. And one Joseph
Hart, Hart's hymnal, one of the great ones. But referring to
my message this morning, I want to give you a poem that he wrote
about election. I think it's great. And I lay
it up here if someone wants to make a copy of it. do so and
give it back to me the next time I come down. Joseph Hart. Why so offensive in men's eyes
does God's election seem? Is it because they think they're
wise and they have chosen Him? Why is Christ's righteousness
a point so little known Is it because men think that they possess
a righteousness of their own? Effectual atonement, limited
atonement. Why so angry are some to hear
or speak? Do they think it takes works
that they do to make His work complete? Not so. The needy, helpless soul cries
to God in prayer. and looks only to Christ, who
works the whole, and he finds salvation there. Election, grace,
Christ are words divine. For, Lord, I plainly see, had
not your choice preceded mine, I would never have chosen I'll lay this right up here.
If somebody would like to have it, make a copy of it. I think
it's just exceptionally good. Exceptionally. Okay, let's open
our Bibles tonight to John chapter 13. John chapter 13. I'm very hopeful that the Lord
will give me some liberty to preach tonight from this text. John chapter 13. The title of
the message is found in chapter 13, verse 17. That's the title
of my message, which says this, John 13, verse 17. Now, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them.
That's what this first 17 verses is all about. Let's look here
at verse 1. Now, before the feast of the
Passover, then when Jesus knew his hour was come, that he should
depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his
own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Let me note something here. This
is not the Passover supper. This supper occurred two days
before the Passover. This was a supper that was given
in the honor of Christ in the home of Simon the leper. Let me show you that in Mark
14. Mark chapter 14. Mark 14 verses
1 through 3. This is a subject that we're
dealing with here tonight. The supper in Simon's house. In Mark 14, verse 1, after two
days was the feast of the Passover, in other words, two more days
before the Passover feast would occur, and of unleavened bread. And the chief priests and scribes
sought how they might take Christ by craft and put him to death.
But they said not on the feast day, not on the Passover. lest
there be an uproar among the people. And being in Bethany,
in the house of Simon the leper, as he said it meet, there came
a woman having an alabaster box of ointment, a spikener, very
precious, and she break the box and poured it on his head. Now
this is not the Passover feast when our Lord break the bread
and bless the wine and gave to the disciples. This was a feast
given by Simon the leper. Who is Simon the leper? Well,
he was a man who was cleansed by our Lord earlier. Why was
he called Simon the leper? I'll tell you why. Very simply,
he was called and identified in that way to distinguish him
from Simon Peter and Simon the Pharisee and other Simon. This
was Simon the leper, and he had a feast for our Lord. So let's
look at verse 1 again. Now, before that feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew His hour was come, about seven times
in the book of John alone, our Lord uses this term, His hour. The first time he used it was
in John chapter 2 at the wedding in Canaan. When his mother came
to him, when Mary came to him and said, son, they're out of
wine. And the Lord said, woman, what have I to do with thee?
Mine hour is not yet come. Mine hour has not yet come. And
seven times he uses that statement. Mine hour has not yet come. Mine
hour has not yet come. And here though, when Jesus knew
that His hour was come. What hour? The hour of the cross. You know, He prayed one time.
He said, Father, shall I say, deliver me from this hour? For
this hour I came to this place. And our Lord, His hour was come. And that's when He prayed in
John 17, when He said, Father, glorify Thy Son that Thy Son
may glorify Thee. The hour has come. Glorify Thy
Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee. Jesus knew His hour was
come. Jesus knew His hour had come
to depart out of this world unto the Father. Christ knew that
it was time for Him to leave and go back to the Father. And
having loved His own, His sheep, His elect, His people, His church,
See, the Lord gave Him these people. He said, My Father gave
them thee, and all for whom He suffered and died. That's what
He's talking about here. Having loved His own who were
in the world. Some of His sheep had already
gone to be with the Father, but many of them were still in the
world, in this vain and unhappy world. Many are still there. And having loved His own, which
were in the world, he loved them to the end. Oh, the love of Christ
for his people. Our blessed Lord, who holds us
fast, keeps his love from first to last. Jesus, that's his name. An earthly brother, an earthly
brother drops his hold. Sometimes he's hot, sometimes
he's cold, but Jesus is the same. Having loved his own. Always
have loved them. How long has he loved them? Always
loved them. Always loved them. He loved them
to the end. What end is he talking about? To the end of his suffering.
To the end of the shameful cross. To the end of their journey.
And to the end of the world. And forever. Having loved his
own. He loves them to the end. No
question about that. All right, verse two, and supper
being ended, they finished having their meal, our Lord and his
disciples. And the devil, having now put
into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son, could betray him.
It seems that Judas got up and left the feast. That's what it
seems to me and other people that I've read. Judas got up
and left the feast and went to the high priest. Go back to that
Mark 14 again, that first reference to this feast in Simon's house. In Mark 14, let's turn to that
again and see if I can make good on that. I'm saying that Judas,
when they finished the meal, he got up and left. He didn't
participate in the washing of the feet. He got up and left.
Now watch this, Mark 14, verse 10. Mark 14, 10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the
twelve, went to the chief priest to betray him. That's the very
time there in Mark 14 when we're talking about the supper in the
house of Simon of Bethany. And Judas got up and left. All
right. Verse 3. Now then, Jesus knowing,
our Lord knows all things. All things. He never learns anything
new and He never forgets anything. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. Our Lord knows all things. And
Jesus knowing, what's this now? Knowing His Father had given
all things all persons, all grace, all power, all glory, all wisdom
into His hands. He knew that. He knew that. And then, listen, and that He
was come from God. Our Lord knew that the Lord God
ordained Him. You know, the first time He went
down to Nazareth, when He came home from going out preaching
in Capernaum or another place, He came back home to Nazareth.
And as his custom was, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath
day. And they delivered him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And
he turned in Isaiah chapter 61. And this is what he read in Isaiah
61. He said, Isaiah 61, The spirit of the Lord God is
upon me. That's what he's saying here.
Jesus, knowing that God had given everything into his hands, and
he came from God. Jesus said, the Spirit of the
Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the
gospel of good tidings to the weak. He has sent me to heal
the brokenhearted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty
to the captives, the opening of sight to the blind, and opening
a prison to them that are bound to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn." He knew that. He knew the Father had given
everything into his hands. He knew he came from God, and
he knew this, he's going back to God. I came from the Father
and have gone back to the Father. That's what he said to his disciples
in John 14. He said to them, he said, let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. The Lord knowing that God's given
everything in His hands. He came from God. He's going
back to God. And I go to prepare a place. Somebody said one time, preachers
say funny things sometimes. A preacher said one time, you
know, the Lord's been up there in heaven 2,000 years. Think
about the mansions, how long He's worked on them. He's not talking about that.
He's talking about preparing a place for you. How did he go? He went to the cross. He went
to Gethsemane's garden. He went to the cross. He went
to the tomb. He went to the right hand of
God to prepare That place for you and me, the place of blessing,
mercy, grace, and everlasting life. I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place,
I'll come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am
there you may be also. Jesus knowing, verse 3, that
the Father had given all things into His hands, that He came
from God and is going home to God. Now I want you to listen.
He rises from supper. Here are these men sitting there,
they've had their meal, and they're sitting talking. And our Lord
got up. Eternal Son of God. God Almighty. Everlasting Father. He got up.
He got up from the table. He laid aside His garments. He
laid aside His robe. Now if you study some of these
old pictures and all about the Orient, about the Eastern people
there, they wore robes. Most of those men wear robes
now. But under that robe was undergarment. If you saw the film, the Ten
Commandments, those people that worked on the pyramids, they
wore loincloth and they wore an upper garment. When they dressed,
they put on the robe. And that's what our Lord did.
He got through with their supper. He took off His outer garment,
His robe, and laid it down. And that left Him clothed like
a servant, like just anybody off the streets. And He laid
aside that garment and took a towel, a large towel, And he girded
himself with that towel. Our Lord took a towel and covered
himself with that towel. You know, the disciples, I imagine,
about this time, they'd stop talking. I just feel sure they'd
stop talking. And they were watching. They
were listening. And our Lord took that towel,
wrapped it around him, and then he poured water into a basin. He went over and got the pitcher.
got the basin, and poured the water in the basin. And he began
to wash the disciples' feet. Our Lord got down. Those men
were lying on cots or something, or on pillows like they did,
and their feet. Now, when they came in, this
was a custom back yonder many, many years ago, a custom among
those people. This was a custom. that when
important guests came to the home, or when guests came to
the home, having walked the dusty streets, they didn't wear socks. They didn't have paved and paved
streets, and they didn't have paved walkways. They walked in
dusty roads. They lived in a desert cabin.
And they wore sandals. And these people came into the
home to have a dinner. They stopped at the door. And
they take their shoes off. They shake up their shoes off.
And there'd be a servant. There'd be a lowly, poor servant
down there on his hands and knees washing those people's feet.
They'd put their foot out here and wash it. and dry it, and
then wash it, and dry it, and then they'd go sit down. Another
would come, and there that fellow sat. And he washed their feet
and dried them with the towels. Now only a lowly, lowly, lowly
servant would perform such a task. No one ever, ever performed that
task for anybody except a servant. Never a superior. Never, never. That's what shakti means. But
you turn to Philippians chapter 2. And this is a character of our Lord and the
work of our Lord, Philippians chapter 2. And the ministry of
our Lord and the work of our Lord in becoming a servant. That's what he was. He became
a servant. Listen to Philippians chapter
2, verse 5. Philippians 2, verse 5. Let this
find be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in
the form of God. He just got through saying, Jesus
knowing that all things have been given to him. Jesus knowing
that he came from the Father and went back to the Lord. He
is in the form of God, yet he thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, and made himself of no reputation. Took upon himself
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Being impassioned as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even even the death
of the cross, wherefore God is highly exalted. That's the character
he had to take. That's the character the Father
gave him, the servant. The servant. The servant. I am among you as he that serveth. The Son of Man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for
many. And this was no mere token symbol. This was reality. This was his
personal character. This is his personal work. He
washed their feet. He wasn't playing a game. He
washed their feet. He wiped them dry with a towel
about him. unto him who loved us, and washed
us, and washed us from our sin in his own precious blood. That's what he is, the servant. I am among you, he that serveth.
All right. Verse six. Then he comes to Simon
Peter. Bless his heart. That's what
they say down south when you feel sorry for somebody. Bless
his heart. Bless his heart. He could do the wrong thing at
the wrong time so many times. Simon Peter. The other disciples
were obedient to their Lord. He washed their feet. I don't
know what they understood or what they thought, but they didn't
object. But Peter, listen, Peter, he
came to Simon Peter, and Peter said, Do you wash my feet? Surprised? Astonished? I see
his objection, don't you? Peter thought, this is too much.
This is too much. This is too far below the dignity
and honor of our Lord to wash the dirty feet of worthless people. This is a servant's task. I wash
my feet and listen to the Lord. Jesus answered and said to him,
Peter, what I do thou knowest not now, but you shall know hereafter. You'll know. You'll know. Oh,
how we need to learn to be still, listen to our Lord, and wait
upon Him. Wait upon Him. to make spiritual
things clear to us, spiritual truth plain to us. Wait on the
Lord. Be still. Just follow Him and
wait. Another thing we need to rehearse
constantly, what I do now, you don't know, but you will. How many times have you thought
about that in the last month or so? I don't understand what
the Lord is doing. But we will someday. I don't
understand what's going on. I just don't. What I do, what
I do, thou knowest not now. Quit trying to figure it out.
Just be still, know that I'm God. And we've got to rehearse
these words ourselves frequently, especially under trial and dark
times and troubles. Be still. We still know that
I am God. Well, verse 8. Now, Peter ought
to be satisfied with that. Wouldn't you think? Wouldn't
you think that he'd be satisfied with that? With our Lord's reply. Peter, what I do thou knowest
not now, but you will. But no, then he spoke rashly. Rashly. And he said, listen,
Peter said, you will never, never wash my feet. And our Lord replied, if I don't
wash you, you have no part with me in the kingdom, in the covenant,
in redemption, in the cross, in salvation. If I don't wash
you, you have no part with me. What's he talking about, I don't
wash you? Well, he's not talking about
simply the act of washing feet. He's referring to the washing
of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Let me show
you that over here in Titus, Titus chapter 3. If I don't wash you, you have no
part with me in the kingdom of God. and the glory of God in
the hope of redemption. Titus chapter 3 verse 5. It's
not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according
to His mercy, He saved us by the washing, washing of regeneration,
the renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He shed abundantly through
our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. That you being justified by His
grace, we should be heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
That's what the Lord is doing here. Unless a person is washed,
cleansed from his sin, David said, Lord, purge me with hyssop,
the blood of the sacrificial lamb, and I'll be clean. I'll be clean. Turn to 1 Corinthians. Let me show you a couple of bold
verses on this. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6 verse
11. Listen. You know the Lord talked
about these folks. Paul talked about these folks
in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 10. Thieves, covetous, drunkards,
revilers, extortioners. None of them is going to inherit
the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. Such were some of you. But you're
what? You're washed. Wash me in the
blood of the Lamb. You're washed. You're sanctified,
you're justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You're washed. We're not redeemed
with corruptible things such as silver and gold from our vain
conversation received by tradition from our Father, but with a precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. All right, back to Peter here
in in John 13. If I don't wash you, oh Peter,
if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. And Peter said,
verse 9, now bless his heart if you want to. Listen to it,
Lord. Not my feet only. I've got a head problem too.
Wash it. I've got a hand problem. Wash
them. Just wash me. washed me in the blood. And the Lord said to her, Peter,
he that's washed, he that's washed, he for whom I died, he that's
washed in the blood of the Lamb, he's clean. He's clean. He's ever wet clean, completely
clean. When Christ died for us on the
cross of Calvary, all for whom he died are cleansed. in the
blood of the Lamb. All who, for whom our Lord suffered
and bled and died were clean, were clean, every whit, every
whit. Now what's he saying here? He
that is washed needed not save to wash his feet. Can I give
you an illustration? Back to those days of the In
fact, I've used this when I was on a trip to Spain. They had
public bathhouses, and we didn't have a motel room with a shower
and all that. We walked down the street, took
our towel, walked down the street, and went in the bathhouse and
washed, and then walked back, back to the room. Clean, except
one place, my feet. So I had to sit down, get the
towel, wash my feet. And that's the way it is with
us. We're clean everywhere. But when we walk through this
world, and you live there, all these places where you work,
and the people you associate with, and the things that go
through your mind, and things that come out of your mouth,
and you just, when you, at the end of every day, We bow our
face before God and say, Lord, wash me from my sins. Cleanse
me from my sins. Forgive me of my sins. Our Lord
taught us to pray that way. He said, you pray. When you pray,
pray this way, Lord, forgive me of my sins as I forgive those
who sin against me. If you can't forgive them, He
won't forgive you. But there's a daily forgiveness.
There's a daily sanctifying. There's a daily cleansing. That's
what He's saying here. He that's clean. He that's washed
in the blood. He that, for whom Christ died.
He's clean. He's washed. He's ever went clean. Just needs to wash His feet. Just needs to renew. Just needs
a reconfirmation. You come back here every Sunday
and every Wednesday and other places just to refresh your memory
and your heart and your mind and your soul. Wash me. Now wait a minute. There's Tina. Jesus said to him, he that's
washed needeth not say to wash his feet. He's clean everywhere. And you're clean. But not all
of you. One just left, named Judas. He's not clean. He's not clean. But they were. You see, Christ died for his
sheep. He loved his sheep and laid down
his life for the sheep. Our Lord Jesus Christ didn't
suffer on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the whole world.
He suffered for the sins of believers. I preached a sermon one time
here, American Avenue. I preached it on television,
and I got mobile response, 120 letters the first week about
this sermon. Preached it at American Avenue.
Brother Todd and I both thought it was a pretty good sermon.
But here it is. What does the world believe?
about the death of Christ. Number one, the world believes
that God loves everybody the same. You know what they say? God loves everybody the same.
Well, if that's true, then the love of God has nothing to do
with my salvation. Number two, they believe that
it's the will of God to save everybody. He's not willing that
any should perish, they say. Well, why don't they perish?
if he's not with it. He couldn't do anything about
it. Well, now, if that's true, if it's the will of God to save
everybody and he doesn't save them, then the will of God has
nothing to do with my salvation. Here's another thing the world
believes. Christ died for everybody. He
shed his blood for every member of the whole human race. Now,
if that's so, there are a lot of people in hell for whom Christ
died. And if that be so, then what
does the death of Christ have to do with my salvation? And
then the fourth thing that the world believes is the Holy Spirit
calls everybody. He knocks on every heart door.
If you don't answer, he'll go away. But he knocks on every
door. He invites everybody. He calls
everybody. If that be so, then the Holy Spirit has nothing to
do with my salvation, nor the will of God, love of God, nor
the blood of God, nor the Spirit of God, then what saved me? I'm
not saved. Or else, my works. That's the
truth. People start writing in, wanting
to hear some more about that. Well, it's not deep, it's just
so. There's nothing deep about it,
it's just so. Christ died for our sins according
to the Scripture. He was made sin. He was made
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. That's the gospel. You're clean,
but not all of you. Look at that next verse. Far,
verse 11, he knew who should betray him, therefore he said,
he's not clean. Never has been and never will
be. Lord, we preached in your name,
I never knew you. We cast out devils in your name,
I never knew you. We did many wonderful works,
I never knew you. If he never knew you, you'd never
been known. All right, after he'd washed
their feet, let's see if I can finish it. So after he'd washed
their feet, he took his garments and was
set down. And he said to them, Know ye
what I've done to you? He's given us the example of
His being the servant and the Savior and the Redeemer and washed
us from our sins in His blood. But there's another lesson that
He's taught us here. What I've done to you. Read it. He said, Do you know what I've
done to you? Now, you call me Master and Lord. And you do. He is our Master and He is our
Lord. Olather Pink wrote a beautiful
track on Is Jesus Lord? And he kept, in that track he
talked to people about stop calling our Savior Jesus. Now the disciples,
when they were writing the story about Jesus of Nazareth and his
earthly ministry and his works and so forth, they were talking
about Jesus, the servant Jesus, the Savior Jesus, the man Jesus,
the God-man. But when they spoke of him and
to him, they called him Lord. He said, you call me Lord. You
say, well, so I am. Don't run around here calling
our Lord Jesus. You know, I never did call my
father by his first name. Other people called him John.
I called him Dad. I had too much respect. I had
too much respect for my father. I didn't call my mother Eileen. I called her Mom. Respect. And I don't call the Savior of
the world Jesus. Call his name Jesus, he'll save
his people from their sins, yeah, but he's wrong! And if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be, what? Lord of your life,
thou shalt be saved. But it's not sweet little Jesus,
boy. So I read something the other
day, I wish I could remember it. Maybe I can. See if I can
reach back in the old computer and dig it out. Somebody said
preachers today are just nice little fellas. He said they're
like surgeons who are afraid to operate. They're like doctors
who are afraid to prescribe. They're like parents who are
afraid to correct. They're like teachers who are
afraid to instruct. Is that not good? That's just
so. I want to be a nice little fellow.
I want to tell the truth. Got to tell the truth. Now, you call me Master and Lord,
you say, well, for so I am. If I, your Lord and Master, have
washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's. Now, he's
not talking about us having a foot washing down here because I washed
mine before I left home anyway. Last night and again tonight
and so forth and most of you got pretty clean feet. But what
he's talking about here is a service that was rendered to people at
that time which they needed and showing humility. He's saying, if I, your Lord
and Master, if I wash your feet, you ought also to wash one another. And this is what he's saying
here in verse 14. If I, your Lord and Master, have
not shown to render to you the lowest service and the simplest
menial task out of my love for you, you should be willing to
perform any service in the kingdom of God, perform any service in
the house of the Lord in a spirit of humility, as your Lord did."
That's what he said. Somebody said this one time.
If two angels came down from heaven, God sent two angels down
from heaven to perform a task. One of them, he would give him the responsibility
to govern a kingdom. But the other, he'd give him
the responsibility to sweep the streets. Those two angels of
God wouldn't care which did the other. It's the same thing to
him. It's God's streets that I'm going
to sweep. It's God's kingdom I'm going
to rule. And that's exactly what our Lord said. If I, your Lord
and Master, have rendered to you that type of service in my
love for you, compassion for you, you ought also to do the
same thing. Verse 15, For I have given you
an example to do as I have done to you. And verily I say unto
you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that
sent greater than he that sent him." What is true greatness? True greatness is not to sit,
it's to serve. True greatness is not to have
servants, it's to be one. True greatness is not to be minister
unto, but to minister. And then verse 17, if you know
these things, If you know these things about His grace and mercy
and love and compassion and blood, if you know these things, happy
are you, if you do. All right. Brother Clare, thank
you for you folks inviting me, and I'll come again if you let
me.