[0:00] John chapter 13. Thank you so very much for the opportunity to be here tonight.
[0:19] And I appreciate you watching those slides. If I could do those slides just a little different, I made them a little shorter. But I feel like it's so important to know where someone comes from to know why they're going where they're going. And it's hard to wrap up your life in 10 minutes or seven minutes. And so thank you for watching that. And it's hard. It really is hard to sit there and watch it and listen about yourself. But we all know it's Jesus that does the thing through us. And it's him that's going to do the work. And we're excited about playing a church in Cincinnati, Ohio. And we're going to start on Easter of 2013. And God's been good. Let me tell you, George has been good. In the past eight days, we've been in five different churches and we have a church we're going to be in on Sunday. And so we're excited how we're raising support. The church supported us on Wednesday night, called the meeting right there and supported us. And we're thankful for the blessings of God, the favor of God. And we know that's his work. And we just pray God do what he wants to do. And he's going to build his church. And we're just glad we can have a part in it.
[1:16] John chapter number 13. And let's stand. I give you opportunity to stretch. And I'm looking at the clock here. And I think we'll have a good time tonight and we'll get it all in. And the Bible says in John chapter 13, verse number one, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world into the father, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them until the end and the supper being ended. And the devil had having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. And after that, he poured water into a basin, began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, dust thou wash my feet. Jesus answered and said unto him, what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. And Peter said unto him, thou shalt never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
[2:32] And Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. And you are clean, but not all for he knew who would be for. He knew who should betray him. Therefore said he, you are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what I have done to you. Ye call me master and Lord. And you say, well, for so I am. Isn't that good? He said for so I am. Don't, don't let somebody tell you that Jesus didn't know who he was, that he didn't know his purpose. He didn't know he was what he was supposed to do. Jesus says, you call me master and Lord. And you say, well, for so I am Jehovah God. Isn't that good? If I then your Lord and master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. Shall we pray? Heavenly father, God, you're good. And, uh, the fact that I'm here is a part of your almighty providential plan. And I pray heavenly father, Lord, you do what I cannot do. I pray you speak to the hearts of these men and women and Lord, I pray God. And when we leave, we'll, we'll say that you've crowned this place with your glory and we've got a fresh breath of heaven.
[3:58] And I pray God that Jesus would be lifted up and we pray it in his lovely name and all God's people said, amen. You may be seated. Thank you so very much. Let me give you three things tonight. First of all, let me give you a talk about the practice of washing feet. Now I know when we come to this subject, it's a little uncomfortable and let's just say it's a little awkward. Okay. To talk about feet. Uh, let me be the first one to tell you, I'm not a big foot person. You know, uh, it makes me a little nervous and uncomfortable to talk about other people's feet. And, uh, but no here, as we see the custom in the culture, uh, that the Lord Jesus, uh, came in as a man and put himself in that this was a, first of all, a customary thing. This is something they were used to there as they would walk the world, the roads of Palestine and the dusty and dry and dirty roads.
[4:48] And, uh, as they had sandals on their feet, uh, no doubt they would just travel a few miles and their feet would be filthy. And, and even if it did rain, uh, all that dust and dirt would become a quagmire of mud and muck. And, and so it was a customary thing, uh, when you got into someone's house, uh, uh, that you clean their feet even today in the middle East. And even today in Eastern culture, you'll go to someone's house and you'll see their shoes lined up outside the home. It's something that maybe even come, uh, to our Western culture. Now people are putting their shoes on the outside and they don't walk on the carpet. So no, it was a customary thing. Not only was it customary, but secondly, it was courteous. Remember the Lord Jesus and Luke chapter number seven, verse 44. And the Bible says he turned the woman and said to Simon, see us. Now this woman, I enter into thine house. Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she had washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of their head.
[5:42] It was a courteous thing. And, uh, it was something that, uh, it would be a much like, uh, being, uh, hospitality and, and, and showing a good Southern hospitality and, and being a good, uh, host or hostess. And it was a courteous thing. It was a welcoming thing to wash on one's feet.
[6:00] But I also want you to notice it was a common thing. Now by that, I don't mean it happened all the time, but I mean by that it was reserved for the lowest of servants. And really, if we could put it the way it really is, it was reserved for the slaves. That's who washed people's feet.
[6:17] The second thing I want you to notice is the picture of washing feet. The Lord Jesus, uh, he rose up from, uh, off this table and they just eaten supper. I imagine, I don't know what they ate, but I imagine he was full and, you know, that feeling you get when you're full, you're a little uncomfortable and you know, your diaphragm is, is overloading. You hardly can breathe, you know?
[6:41] And, and so he gets up from the table and after he's already eaten a good supper, maybe he had chicken and dumplings and a sweet tea. Maybe he was, you know, uh, had that type of meal and, and, uh, and so, uh, he got off the table and, uh, uncomfortable, uh, he went down and he knelt and he crouched and he washed his disciples feet. I want you to see, it was a picture. First of all, it was a picture of companionship. You see, uh, it was a picture of fellowship and companionship.
[7:08] Remember, uh, Peter said, Lord, you're not going to wash my feet. And what did Jesus say? If you don't, if I don't wash your feet, I don't have any part with you. You don't have any part with me. It was a picture of companionship. Secondly, it was a picture of character.
[7:21] I want you to notice that the Lord Jesus says, I am your master and I'm your Lord. And, and, uh, if I've washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. What the Lord Jesus was saying is there is no higher promotion in my service than that of a servant.
[7:42] I like what James said. You don't have to turn there, but when James opened up, uh, his epistle, he said, James, the servant of Jesus Christ, he could have said James, the half brother of Jesus Christ. He could have said James, uh, uh, what some people thought his nickname was, was camel knees because he prayed so often. He could have said James, the half brother of Jesus Christ, also known as camel knees for my prayer line. He could have said possibly people think James was the first pastor at Jerusalem. So he could have said, uh, and they believe some people believe that the church of Jerusalem could have had a hundred thousand members.
[8:20] I guarantee they didn't have one big temple where everybody parked the donkey. But anyway, you know what I'm saying? Uh, I believe James could have said, uh, I'm James, the half brother of Jesus, a camel knees for my prayer life and, and the pastor of first Baptist church of Jerusalem.
[8:36] But James realizing the almighty example of Jesus Christ, he said, our name is James and I'm just a servant, just a servant. So Jesus gives us a great picture of character. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Listen to me, my friends. If Jesus being Lord, if Jesus leaving the lofty courts of heaven can kneel down and humble himself and wash dirty feet, don't you think we can?
[9:05] So it's a picture of companionship. Uh, it's a picture of character. I'm reminded of a well-known pastor in Alabama, wonderful, large church, great man of God. And when the visiting preachers and evangelists would come to his church, he would take them to the motel. He'd get them all settled in and he would say, brother, would you give me your shoes? And the evangelist kind of said, what in the world are you talking about? And the pastor said, I need your shoes. And they would say, well, what do you need my shoes for? He says, I need to shine them. I need to shine all your shoes.
[9:41] And the evangelist not understanding would, would question. And, and this great pastor, this great man of God would say, sir, I've got to get small in order for God to get big.
[9:53] That's the picture there of washing feet. It's the picture of humbling yourself to the point of smallness. Remember the Bible says, uh, humble yourself before the Lord and he shall lift you up.
[10:05] So it's a picture of companionship, a picture of character, but notice the disciples weren't too interested. I don't think in washing feet, because if you look at the parallel passage in Luke chapter 22, they were fighting on who was the greatest, huh? They were saying in Luke 22, four, they were saying, who's going to sit next to the son of man and glory. Uh, who's going to be the greatest stuff.
[10:28] Listen to me. Let me tell you, my friends, a lesson we all need to learn that you're not going to go after a towel and you're not going to go after a basin. If you're looking for a throne, you're either going to be concerned with your seat or you're going to be concerned with dirty feet. That's what I'm saying. So we see the companionship, we see the character and we see the picture. Here's the good part.
[10:49] You're ready of Calvary. Oh, when Jesus took his disciples feed, he numbered, he humbled himself there, took that foot in his hand. I wonder if when he brushed off that dirt, he thought about when he made man out of dirt. And I wonder as he took that water and clean that old nasty foot of that disciple, I wonder if he thought about his precious blood that would cleanse us of all sin. I wonder there as Jesus washed the feet and he saw the picture of what he was going to do, the redemption for all mankind on Calvary. Oh, I'm glad that God cleaned my feet up. Like the psalmist said, I inclined unto the Lord. He heard my prayer. He brought me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock. He set me up and he brought me up. He fixed me up. He cleaned me up. Now plays God because of Calvary. I'm going to lift him up and I'm going to praise him up and I'm going to talk him up and the devil ain't going to shut me up. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying it was a picture of Calvary. Our, our hymns speak of the cleansing power of Jesus blood. And as Jesus washed those disciples feed, I wonder if a hymn came to the disciples heart. I wonder if they say there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's vein, sinners plunge beneath the flood, lose all their guilty stains. I wonder if they say what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
[12:20] What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, but Jesus washed it. He washed my feet white as snow. So the last thing I want you to notice, we see the practice of washing feet. We see the picture of washing feet. But lastly, we see the problem. Washing feet. You say, what's the problem of washing feet? Number one, I want you to notice it's cleanliness. Feet are dirty. Feet stink. Are you with me? Can I get an amen there? Huh?
[13:00] Feet are smelly. Feet are uncomfortable. And we know that these disciples were not just examples of cleanliness. Remember there in Matthew 15, when they were accused and the Sadducees, Pharisees, they said, well, they don't keep the tradition of elders and they wash not their hands before they eat. So, you know, if they wasn't washing their hands before they ate, they wasn't washing their feet. Are you with me? Are you with me now? I mean, that gross when you see these guys go use the restroom and then they don't wash their hands after when they walk out into the service. And you think you shook their hand, you know, who's got the hand sanitizer? I'm saying the problem with washing feet is that they're not clean cleanliness. Notice the problem. Washing feet is comfort. It's not comfortable. The Lord Jesus rising from supper, his belly fully took off his coat. The Bible says he he girded himself. He he took the the the the robe or the towel of a slave. Oh, would the God listen to me. We get a hold of that fact that Jesus he left the lofty courts of heaven and he wrapped himself with his old flesh of ours. He manifested himself in the flesh. And then he had to get down on a knee, sit down on the ground, wash feet. See, that's the problem. Wash your feet. You can't do it standing up.
[14:24] You can't look down at somebody and wash their feet at the same time. It's uncomfortable. Problem. Wash feet is cleanliness. The problem with washing feet is comfort. Aren't you glad that we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the filling of our firmities, but in all points was tender lives. We are yet without sin. Aren't you glad that Jesus was a friend of sinners? Aren't you glad he was accused of eating with the publicans in the wine bin? Aren't you glad?
[14:49] Don't you identify with the fact that one day you were a lost sinner and you were on your way to hell. You had no regard for God. God was looking for you long before you were ever looking for him. Do you ever remember the point when you were lost and you were enemy of God? The Bible says in the book of Romans, do you ever remember the fact that without him you were on your way to hell? But Jesus, Jesus came and he washed you. There was no sinner too dirty. There was no perverted mind too perverted.
[15:19] There was no person too low or too far away that God didn't reach his almighty great hand. Wash our feet. We see the problem with washing feet is cleanliness. We see the problem of washing feet is comfort. But lastly, I want you to notice this. The problem of washing feet is crooks.
[15:41] The Bible says that Jesus knowing all things you catch that he knew everything that was going to happen. In verse number 11, he said, for he knew who should betray him. So Jesus, he lined up Peter, Andrew, Andrew, James, and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew. He took James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, and Simon. He even took Judas Iscariot. The thief, the crook, the betrayer. And do you see the picture there as Jesus takes the feet of Judas Iscariot?
[16:23] He removes the sandal. Are you with me now? The man in just a few moments, a few hours, would kiss him, betray him, sell him out for money. And see, Jesus took Judas' foot and he poured the water. He took the towel and he washed the feet of that crooked man.
[16:49] Some people say, are you sure you want to go to the inner city? We were in a church on the outskirts. There's a lot of good churches on the suburbs of Cincinnati, and I'm thankful for them. Many of them are behind what we're doing.
[17:07] But some of them don't understand why we're doing what we're doing. There was a riot in Cincinnati. It was in the community where we're planning in the year 2000. And there's some people who just have a stereotype. They have a stigma of what goes on there and what happens there. And on several occasions, these are the words that have come out of people's mouth.
[17:26] So encouraging. Are you sure you want to go to Over the Rhine? Are you sure? And first of all, a little Holy Spirit bucks up in me and say, that's exactly why I want to go to Over the Rhine, because nobody else wants to go there. But really, when I get a hold of what God has done for me, to think that I grew up on the wrong side of tracks off Gettysburg Avenue in Dayton, Ohio, that my daddy was a drunk, a drug addict, and a gambler, that my mom was a teenage mother and had no hope for prayer for doing anything with her life, the fact that really today I should be a drunk or I should be a drug addict or I should be a gambler, the fact that I should be lost in my sin, or the fact that everything in me is wrong and depraved. But God found me. He found me in a little old house, a little old snotty-nosed three-year-old boy. He sent a local church to come and rescue my life. And I'm saved today. I'm born again. I'm called to preach. I've got purpose, purpose, something to wake me up in the morning, something to keep me going in the day, something to wake me up tomorrow morning. Listen to me. God's been good to me. I've got a beautiful wife and I've got a lovely daughter and we got one on the way. Listen to me. I'm telling you,
[18:38] God gives me every dream of my heart and I was just a dirty old rotten drunk. That's what I was. Jesus. Jesus left the lofty courts of heaven. He robed himself in this flesh and he humbled himself.
[18:52] He crouched down. He hid his glory. He took my feet and he washed them. Now, if Jesus can do all that, why in the world can't we reach this world? Why in the world can't we even love our own brothers?
[19:06] Hmm? What are we talking about? Reach the world. We can't even love each other. This is how you're going to, the world's going to know you're my disciples, Jesus said, for your love for one another. I'm saying what we need to do is put down our scepters, put down our thrones, start picking up some towels, start picking up some basins and we need to start to learn how to wash some feet. If they ever hit bowed, every eye closed, I'm going to turn over to the preacher in just a second. I just want to ask you this simple question.
[19:42] When was the last time you washed somebody's feet? I'm not talking about what the, you know, these foot washing Baptists do because that's not the picture. I guarantee you every time they have one of those foot washing, and I'm going to tell you the truth, I'm not against it. I don't think it's an ordinance, but I guarantee you every time they have a foot washing at one of these churches that everybody goes home Sunday afternoon and wash their feet real good, clip their toenails and get all the toe jam from in between. I guarantee you, and that's not the picture of what Jesus did.
[20:14] See, feet don't need washing unless they're dirty. Are you with me? And what I'm saying is, when's the last time you made yourself uncomfortable? When's the last time you went to a neighborhood you weren't comfortable going to? When's the last time you spoke to someone who didn't look exactly like you? When's the last time you found somebody that didn't make as much money or you, didn't have as much, a nice house of you, didn't have the clothes that you wore? When's the last time you spoke someone who spoke a different language or just had a different culture? When's the last time you found somebody with gazed earrings or tattoos up and down their body? When's the last time you found a dirty foot? That's what I'm asking. Would to God we leave our thrones and we find our towels?
[20:58] Preacher. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.