John chapter 13, verse 13. Here
the master is sitting either on a stool or on the floor, and
he has laid aside his robe and evidently clothed with only a
loincloth or a towel wrapped about him, a large towel, and
he's sitting on the floor on a stool and he's washing The
disciples' dirty, dusty, tired feet are in his lap, and he has
bathed them in a pan of water. And now he's drying these dusty,
tired feet that have been washed with a towel, and he looks up
at his disciples and says to them, You call me Master and
Lord, and you say well, for so I am. And my friends, faith accepts
great contrast. Here's the master sitting on
the floor, the disciples are seated on a bench, and he's washing
their feet, and he tells them that he's their master and their
lord. And I say that this is a great
contrast here, but contrasts are part of faith. When these
contrasts are set forth in the Word of God, faith not only accepts
them, but these contrasts become a part of our daily speech. Not
only do we accept them, but these contrasts become so real to us
and so personal that they become a part of our daily speech. I
say, I am a great sinner. And yet I say I am holy and without
blame. And I say that without explaining
it. And I understand it. And I know those to whom I speak
don't understand it. But it's so real to me that I
can say it without hesitation because it's a part of me. I
am a sinner, a great sinner. Paul said, chief of sinners.
But yet in Christ I'm holy, as holy as Christ. spotless and
without blame before the Father. I say that I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow." Those are the words of Paul. I have
great heaviness and continual sorrow, and yet I rejoice in
the Lord. At the same time that I have
a broken heart, I have a heart that's knit with love for Christ
and for His people. I'm glad, and yet I'm sad. And
people don't understand that. With the world, you've either
got to be sad or glad. You can't be both. With the world,
you've either got to have great heaviness or great rejoicing.
You can't have both. And then I can say I am kept
by the power of God. God keeps me. I'm secure in His
love. He will let nothing happen to
me. He hath redeemed me by His blood, and He's going to perform
or perfect that which He has started. And yet Jude says, and
I can say with him, keep yourselves in the love of God. Paul told
us that nothing could separate him from the love of God, and
then he turned right around and said, I keep my body and bring
it in subjection, lest while preaching to others I become
a castaway. I know that repentance and faith
are the gift of God. The goodness of God led me to
repentance. And I know that faith is the
gift of God and not of works, lest any man should boast. I
know that. But I also know that God commanded
all men everywhere to repent. If a man doesn't repent, God
will send him to hell. I know that God commands all
men everywhere to believe the gospel. If a man doesn't believe
the gospel, he'll be damned for not believing the gospel. Now,
these are contrasts. And the world says, explain them.
And I say, I can't. I just believe them. And I not
only believe them, but they have become such a part of my soul
and a part of my faith and a part of my experience that they're
part of my daily speech. And this example that we have
before us tonight, the name Lord and Master is inconsistent with
poverty, nakedness. The name Lord and Master is inconsistent
with a manger, a lord is not born in a manger, a master does
not live in poverty, lord and master is in great contrast to
humiliation, lord and master is in great contrast to shame,
and especially to death on a cross. And yet in all this, in the manger,
in poverty, humiliation, in shame, and even in death, Jesus Christ
is Lord of lords. and king of kings. These are
strange conditions for our Lord to be in, but they are not difficult
for faith, because faith sees him, turn to Isaiah chapter 9,
faith sees him born a child and yet a king. In Isaiah 9 verse
6 the prophecy said, unto us a child is born, Isaiah 9 unto
us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and
his name, this child, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
And Isaiah also said that when this virgin conceives and brings
forth the son, or you'll call his name God with us, Immanuel. Faith sees that he's poor and
yet he's rich in eternal glory. He who was rich for our sakes
became poor. Faith sees him on a cross, but
here God the Father say, He hath highly exalted him and given
him a name above every name that is the name of Jesus. every knee
should bow and every tongue should confess that he's Lord. Faith
sees him opposed by men. Men are called his enemies and
yet crowned by God. Listen to this. The Scripture
says over in Psalm 110, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at
my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Faith sees him in a grave and
yet exalted in glory. Now our trust in Him, our confidence
in Him, our identification with Him, our familiar love to Him,
and our bold approach to Him, and our marriage union with Him
still leaves Him our Lord. our Master. We trust Him. Without Him, we can do nothing.
We're identified with Him. He calls us His brethren. He's
not ashamed to call us His brethren. We have a familiar love to Him. We, like John, would like to
put our heads on His breast and make love to Him. Our bold approach
to Him in prayer and our marriage union to Him still leaves Our
Lord and our Master, and even sitting there on the floor in
front of these disciples, washing their feet, he looks up to them
and he says, you call me Master and Lord, and that's what I am. And that's what I am. And faith
accepts that contrast, and not only accepts it, but it becomes
such a living, vital part of the experience of faith that
it's part of our everyday language. And we have no difficulty with
the Lordship of Christ and the humanity of Christ. Now let me
point that out. First of all, in salvation we
have received Christ the Lord. Turn to Romans chapter 10. In
salvation we have received Christ the Lord. In Romans chapter 10,
verse 9, it clearly says, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth,
And every good Bible translation will render this in the following
manner. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, that's what it says, Jesus to be Lord,
and shalt believe in thine heart God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. Now one other scripture, Colossians
2 verse 6. In Colossians chapter 2 verse
6, listen to this. In Colossians 2, verse 6, it
says, "...as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him." Now, man or
woman is foolish, is foolish to claim salvation if he or she
has not received Christ Jesus, not only as prophet and priest,
but as King. If Christ is not your Lord, He
is not your Savior. That's the very doorway of the
Kingdom of Heaven, the Lordship of Christ. In salvation, we have
received Christ as our Lord. Now, I want you to listen to
two other scriptures. First of all, in Matthew 10.
In Matthew 10, verse 32, and as I said, a man or a woman is
foolish. to talk about having a home in
heaven, talk about their name written in the book of life,
talk about having salvation or forgiveness of sin if Christ
is not your Lord. Lord. Cut into the mind and you'll
find thoughts of Christ. Cut into the heart and you'll
find love for Christ. Cut into the affections and you'll
find devotion to Christ. Cut into the will and you'll
find submission to Christ. He is King. He is Lord. He is due all of our devotion
and all of our honor and all of our awe and all of our reverence. He is the King. In Matthew 10,
listen to this, verse 32, Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in
heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before me in him will I also
deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am
come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's
foe shall be there of his own household. He that loveth father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that
taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his
life for my sake shall find it." There it is. Christ is Lord. Christ is Lord. It says the same
thing in Luke 14. And the disciples, when they
were giving their own confession in Matthew 19, listen to this.
In Matthew 19, verse 25, now listen to this carefully. Matthew 19, 25, When his disciples
heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can
be saved? Jesus beheld them, and said unto
them, With men this are salvations impossible. But with God all
things are possible. Then answered Peter and said
to him, Behold, listen, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall we have therefore?
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which
have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit
in the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. that hath forsaken houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for my sake shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit
everlasting life." In salvation, Christ is Lord. Now listen to
this. Secondly, in the church, Christ
is Lord. Now this is something that most
churches have not learned, and I think this is a vital point.
I especially want to stress this. I looked over the message, and
I feel like this is one of the vital parts of the message. Turn
to Ephesians chapter 5. No, it's Ephesians chapter 1.
Now listen to this. Ephesians chapter 1. He's talking
about Christ here. Ephesians chapter 1. He's talking
about exalting Christ, and he said in verse 21, Ephesians 1,
21, "...far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come. And hath put all things under
his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all." And my friends, we are His church. We're a church,
but we're His church. We're a body, but we're His body. We're a people, we're His people.
We are sheep, but we're His sheep. It's His church. And then when
we come to the Lord's Supper, it's the Lord's Supper. It's
the Lord's It's the cup of the Lord, and the object is to show
His death till He comes. When we preach, it's His gospel. It is His message. We rebuke
men for sinning against Him. We invite men to come for salvation
to Him. When we worship, it is His presence
that we seek. It is Him that we praise. It
is Him that we worship. The visitors are not the honored
guests. Christ is the honored guest.
We recognize Him and share His glory and fellowship with Him
is our aim. When we give our gifts, it is
to Christ that we give. When we bring the sacrifices
of praise, it is sacrifice to Christ alone whom we praise. When we present our bodies, they're
presented to Him. So in the church, He is Lord. In salvation, He is Lord. In
the church, He is Lord. Now the third thing, Romans 14.
In Romans 14, verse 7, in our daily lives, He is Lord. It says in Romans 14, 7, For
none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. And whether we die,
we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or
die, we're His. We're His in our daily life. He's Lord. It is His purpose
that we are accomplishing. It is His glory for which we
live. In turn to Colossians chapter
3, here's the same thing repeated again in Colossians 3, verse
17. Now listen to this. 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 watch this carefully. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your
wives and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents
in all things. Why? Because it's well-pleasing
to the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children
to anger, lest they be discouraged. And servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-services,
men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God." And whatever
you do, whether it's loving your wife, or subjecting to your husband,
or correcting your children, or working on a man's furniture
or car or yard, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the
Lord and not unto me." So when he says, you call me Lord, and
that's what I am. In your salvation, I'm Lord.
In your worship, in church, in your worship and in your Preaching,
I'm Lord. In your daily lives, whatever
you do, I'm the Lord. I'm the object of all these things.
Whatever you do, do it under the Lord. Now, in the next place,
turn to Colossians 1 verse 18. And in the resurrection, He is
Lord. Colossians 1 verse 18 says He's
the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning. He's the
firstborn from the dead. My friends, when the dead are
raised, there's going to be joy, and there's going to be glad
reunions, and there's going to be unparalleled rejoicing. But in all of it, the chief glory
will be the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it says over here
in the book of Titus, in chapter 2, verse 13, the chief glory.
is going to be unto him. In Titus chapter 2 verse 13 it
says, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself
for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify
unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. We're
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our
Savior. And then last of all in Revelation
chapter 5. In Revelation 5, in eternal glory,
he is worshipped forever as the Lord. In Revelation 5, verse
9, it says, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us
unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth."
Verse 12, they said with a loud voice, "'Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in
heaven and on earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say, blessing and
honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the
throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. He's the object of
eternal praise as the Lord. Now then, I'll give this to you
briefly. The believer who has been quickened
by the Holy Spirit, the believer who has been brought to a living
and vital union with Christ, He submits to this Lordship,
and He submits with great delight, and He submits willingly. In
Matthew chapter 23, I want you to look at this. And the believer
does this willingly. It's no strain for him. It's
not only a duty and responsibility. It's a glad occupation. In Matthew 23, verse 8, Christ
said, Be ye not 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. And neither
be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ.
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Now
the believer submits to that willingly. That's the way he
wants it. He yields to Christ willingly
as his only master, and then yields to him unreservedly, as
Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. As Job
said, naked I came into the world, and naked I shall depart. The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. And we yield to him in a trusting
manner, as Eli said, it's the Lord. Let him do what he will. And we yield to him without murmuring,
O man, who art thou that replyest against God? And we yield to
him forever, as the disciples said, Lord, to whom shall we
go? Now then, I'm going to close
with these references. There are one, two, three, four,
five, six of them, and I'll just give them to you briefly, but
I want you to look at them. I found in the book of Luke several
references to someone sitting at the feet of Christ. Now this
sitting at the feet of Christ is a posture of submission, and
a posture of humility, and a posture of reverence, and a posture of
worship. Sitting at his feet. And I find
that that's where we belong. because he's divine and we're
sinful and he's all in all and we're nothing and he's the Lord
and we're his subject. But this sitting at his feet
is a fitting posture for every one of us whether we be one of
these six or all of them. Now listen, in Luke, first of
all Luke 7 verse 38, I find sitting at his feet a weeping sinner,
a weeping sinner. In verse 37 of Luke 7 it says,
And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she
knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought
an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind
him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did
wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and
anointed them with the ointment. You see, she says she stood there.
She didn't stand very long or she couldn't have kissed his
feet. No way she could kiss his feet standing. There's no way
she could wipe them with the hair of her head while she's
standing. So here is a sinner. We find a weeping penitent, a
weeping sinner, where? At the feet of Christ. Now let's
turn to Luke 8, right in the next chapter, verse 35. I find
somebody else at his feet. I find a convert, a man who has
had the demons cast out of him, a man who has had Satan cast
out of him, a man to whom peace has returned and a quietness
of spirit. And in Luke 8.35 it says, Then
they went out to see what was done. You know, I hope that's
what's happened in this letter here that I read to you a minute This man, and he wouldn't mind
me telling you this, he's 53 years old now. He was drinking
when he was six years old. He was in prison in Ironton,
Ohio, when he was nine years old. And he's been in jail, he's
been in Alcatraz, Atlanta, San Quentin, Chillicothe, and now
Lucasville for two-thirds of his life. But I'm thinking, and
I believe, we've got a man now clothed in any right mind. Now
if he is, here's where you'll find him, listen. And they found
him clothed and in his right mind. This man out of whom the
devils had departed, where'd they find him? Sitting at the
feet of Jesus. Clothed and in his right mind.
And they didn't know what on earth had taken place, they were
afraid. But that's where they found him. They didn't find him
running around, popping off, giving his testimony. They found
him at the feet of Christ, at the feet of Christ. And then
the 3rd Luke, right on over, verse 41, I find another man
at the feet of Christ. In verse 41, it says, Behold,
there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.
And he had a little girl, twelve years old, and she was sick,
awful sick. And so he fell down at Jesus'
feet and besought him that he would come to his house. That's
the place for an intercessor. That's the place for somebody
who's praying for somebody at the feet of Christ. Then I find
in Luke 10, let's look over here in Luke chapter 10, verse 39,
Here's a young woman at His feet, and she wants to learn. She wants
to learn something about the Lord. And you know what position
she chose to study and to learn? It says in verse 39, And Martha
had a sister named Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard
His word. That's the place to learn. That's
the place to learn. Not the place of the arrogant
and the haughty and the high and mighty and the smart aleck.
The place to learn is at his feet. And then Luke 17, right
on over a few chapters, I find a man who had been healed. This
fellow had an awful disease. He had leprosy. There were ten
of them, and the Lord Jesus healed them and said, one of them, Luke
17, 15, and one of them, when he saw he was healed, He turned
back and with a loud voice glorified God and fell on his face at the
feet of Christ and gave him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And then last of all, in Revelation
1, at the feet of Christ I find the weeping sinner seeking mercy. I find the resting convert who
has been redeemed. I find the pleading intercessor
who's praying for his little girl. I find the hungry, willing
learner who just wants to know something about the Lord. I find
the grateful worshiper, this man who'd been healed, the leper.
And then I find in Revelation 1, 17, I find a powerful servant
of God. Here's a man who wrote some of
the books of the Bible. Here's a man who was one of the
chosen twelve, one of the disciples. Here was a man who was counted
worthy to suffer for the glory of Christ and be cast in exile
on a desert island. Here was a man who would someday
sit on one of the twelve thrones and judge the tribes of Israel.
And it says in verse 17 of Revelation 1, and when I saw him, well I
said, you know me, I'm John. No. When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. That's where you'll find the
saint beholding his Lord's glory. I don't care how many how much
he's graduated from, or how far he's come, or what he's experienced,
or what he's accomplished, you'll find him right down at his feet.
Find him there with a guilty sinner. Find him there with a
pleading penitent. Find him there with a weeping
convert. Find him there with a praising
intercessor. Find him there with a grateful
worshiper. You'll find him at the feet of
Christ. You call me Master. You call me Lord. And you say,
well, that's what I am. Our Father, bless the message.
We thank Thee that Thou hast revealed to us a little bit of
Thy glory, and we're praying for more. And if we know our
hearts, Christ is our Lord. meaning more to us than life,
the world, our family, meaning more to us than health and strength,
and even success, and even happiness. Christ is our happiness. Christ
is our victory. And Christ is our success, all
that we might know Him and the power of His resurrection. Make
Christ Jesus the Lord, not only the object of our faith, but
our faith itself. For it's in His name and for
His glory we pray. Amen.