Father, we do thank You again that You have not left us on our own in the study of this Book. You have given us the Holy Spirit and put Him in our hearts, continually giving us a revelation of the revelation, continually shining upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, we do fear our own wisdom, and we would ask You to deliver us completely from all that is flesh and blood and human. We know that Thou art, for our weakness, everlastingly a Gentleman. You never force Yourself upon us. You never impose, but You always present a revelation of our Lord Jesus.
We pray in a special way tonight that we might see Him again. Lord, if the truths we touch are not new, if they are old, then quicken us again to those old truths. Thrill us with the sight of Christ. Thank You. In Jesus’ matchless name, we pray. Amen.
As I was thinking about sharing with you brothers this weekend, before we get into what I would like to share, let me give you a Bible verse that ties in especially with the gathering of the brothers. It is Philemon 1:20. There is only one chapter—not even 20.
I am just going to make one little change in it, not to add to the Word of God, but I am going to make the word brother into brothers. I just want to make it plural. That is okay, I hope, for our purposes. Here it is:
Yes, brothers, let me benefit from you in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ.
Isn’t that a tremendous passage? “Refresh my heart in Christ.” That is our prayer this weekend: that we would all receive refreshment—refreshment from God, refreshment from each other, all the brothers refreshing one another in the Lord Jesus.
In a special way, that verse, that prayer, ties in with the first look that we have in the Scriptures, because we want to talk a little bit about refreshment: refreshment from God and refreshment to each other.
There is a section of Scripture that has been big on my heart in the last few months: five chapters, probably five of the most beloved chapters in the Word of God. I am talking about John 13 through John 17.
Everybody loves to share from John 13 through John 17. Bible teachers and earnest Bible students of every age have identified those five chapters, perhaps, as five of the most precious chapters in the Word of God.
As far as the record goes, as you know, all of the events and conversation in these marvelous chapters were one day before our Lord Jesus went to the cross. We will not get into the gymnastics of what day that was, because different people come from different positions. But one day, our Lord had completed His formal ministry to the world.
Now, according to John 13:1, He had turned to His own. In fact, that last week was given over to His own and His ministry to His own.
When we come to chapters like this, you know, for years I was sort of afraid of these chapters because everybody told me how wonderful they were, and how much was in them, and how deep they were, and how full they were. I felt like I was not adequate for these chapters, and so I always held back a little bit. Everybody had said such great things about these chapters, and I felt like, “What could I say?”
Well, I do expect this weekend to miss something—miss a lot. And I do not expect to give you what you have not heard before, to be honest with you. But I think it would be wrong of me to say that I have received nothing from these chapters just because I have not received everything from these chapters.
There have been some principles that God has burned into my heart, burned into my life, and I would like to share a little of that with you.
I do believe that it would help us, just to get a feel for these five chapters, if we could put ourselves back into that history, that night, and try to sense the emotion and what was going on.
At this point, the disciples had very little spiritual capacity. I mean, all things being equal, even if they had been doing very well, they had only been three and a half years with the Lord Jesus. Even if they were wide open and did not miss the train, they were only three and a half years old in the Lord.
In one sense, the Lord Jesus is unloading this night before He dies. He has a lot on His heart, and He says it all. That is why this has been such a tremendous section of Scripture. There is so much here.
Let me give you an illustration of it. I have a dear friend up in Rhode Island, and some time ago he came over to the house. He was facing what so many these days have faced: he was about to get divorced. It was a terrible time for him and for his family, and he had a nine-month-old daughter.
I do not think he wanted to talk about it. I think he just wanted me there. He did not want me to say anything. He came into my living room, sat down, and had his little daughter on his knee.
As I sat, I just watched. I tell you, I learned a lesson that day. That man began to pour out his heart to that nine-month-old baby. He knew there was going to be a change in relationship, that he was not going to be able to see that baby and spend time with that baby. You do not need the details of the divorce. That is always heartrending.
He began to pour into that baby the most amazing things. He told the baby how much he loved her. He told about his dreams for that child and about his plans. He gave her some tremendous promises. He promised that he was going to support her, how he was going to come and visit her, and how he was making up a little savings. You could not believe what he was telling this little child.
This child played with his beard and played with his buttons and did not understand a word of what he was saying. He was pouring out his heart and telling this little child with no capacity. This little child was looking up into him, not beginning to understand what her father was trying to communicate.
Well, I have an idea that John 13 through 17 is something like that. He had twelve little babies being bounced on the knee of the Lord Jesus, playing with His beard and His buttons. He was pouring out His heart, and He was telling them so much. They did not have that spiritual capacity.
Follow these verses, please.
Jesus answered and said to him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt understand hereafter.
—John 13:7
From henceforth I tell you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He.
—John 13:19
The disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spake.
—John 13:22
No man at the table knew for what intent He spake this unto him.
—John 13:28
Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, whither goest Thou?
—John 13:36
Peter saith unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee even now?
—John 13:37
Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; how know we the way?
—John 14:5
Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
—John 14:8
Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto Him, Lord, what is come to pass that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
—John 14:22
And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe.
—John 14:29
These things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you.
—John 16:4
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
—John 16:12
Some of His disciples therefore said one to another, What is this that He saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold Me not; and again a little while, and ye shall see Me: and, Because I go to the Father?
—John 16:17
They said therefore, What is this that He saith, A little while? We know not what He saith.
—John 16:18
That is pretty much the five chapters: “We do not know what He is talking about.”
Now, I know all of us think that our own life is unique. Like you, I have a very unique wife. In fact, on the wall in our room we have Song of Solomon 6:9: “My dove, my undefiled, is but one.” That is because she does some unique things.
One of the unique things my wife does is when we leave the children. Let us say we are going away for a weekend. It is amazing what those kids have to go through. They get a sermon from my wife: a sermon about meals, a sermon about pets, a sermon about friends, a sermon about telephones, a sermon about cleanliness.
After she is all done giving these sermons—and maybe she is not that unique—she begins to write notes. She leaves notes everywhere: notes on the refrigerator, notes on the cupboard, notes in the bathroom, notes on the light switches, notes on the bed, notes on the closet.
Then, as we leave, there are three more short runs she makes from the car. “Wait a minute. I have to tell them one more thing.” She runs in. Then we get going; sometimes we go around the block and come back, and she runs in again because she has to tell them something.
Why does she do that? She does it because she loves them. She is trying to anticipate every possible emergency they might face and have it all covered. She anticipates everything.
I think that is what you have in John 13 through 17. The Lord Jesus is leaving His little children. We are only going away for a weekend; He is only going three days, really. He is going for a weekend. He is leaving these notes all over the place because He knows their hearts. He knows what they are going to be feeling and what they are going to be going through.
He is leaving all these beautiful principles, notes everywhere, because they are little children and they cannot cope when He is gone.
One more thing about the five chapters as a whole, and then we will look at what is on my heart. I want to make one clarification in these marvelous chapters. I do not want you to get the wrong idea about them.
The Lord Jesus did not come to this night like I have come to this conference, with a podium and filing notes, having already prepared this. Most of this is table conversation. Most of this is initiated by one question and another brother’s thought, and they begin to talk.
Jesus did not come to this last night and say, “Now, this is My last night on earth. What shall I tell them? I think I will tell them one, two, three; A, B, C.” He did not give a lecture that night. This was table conversation.
That is amazing as you read this. You realize that it was His last night before He died, yet how in control He was and how relaxed He was.
I remember when I was at Bible school. It happened almost every semester. At the beginning of the semester, the instructor would be all excited, open up the Word, and begin to share. You could see so much of his heart and life. Questions would come up, and the conversation would carry on.
But as you got nearer the end of the semester, you could tell that he was running out of time. He still had a lot of curriculum he had not covered, a lot of material he had not gone over. I always hated the last week of the semester, because we covered a million things. He just began to dump it on us, and we had to take notes and all the rest.
Brothers, do not get the idea that that is what Jesus did that night. Jesus did not say, “Now I have so much curriculum and so many things I have not done, and now I have to dump it all out before I leave.” It was not that at all.
Our Lord Jesus was not rambling through curriculum He had not covered during His ministry. Yes, He was pouring out His heart. Yes, He had a burden. But it was not because of things He had not covered.
In fact, I think you will agree—I hope to show you—that what the Lord Jesus is doing in these five chapters is review. He had already covered all the material, and now He was giving them a tremendous review.
He had come to reveal God. He had come to reveal the Father. He had come to reveal the Father’s heart. Now He is going to leave the next day and accomplish the work, and what He is saying to His disciples is this: “For three and a half years, I have been revealing the Father. I hope you have seen this.”
He is reviewing. “I hope you have seen this. You want to see God’s heart? I hope you have not missed this.” He begins to lay down the tremendous unveiling of the heart of God that He had revealed all His life and all His ministry.
I think that is one of the things He is doing in these five chapters. By illustration, by conversation, He is giving us a complete picture of the heart of God.
I think if you could lay hold of all the principles in John 13 through 17, you would have it all. I think it is everything: God’s heart, what He wants you to know of the Lord.
God’s people have studied this with far more spiritual and mental qualification than I have. But as I have gone through this, I have found eight things that the Holy Spirit seems, in a special way, to underscore. I am sure it is probably not eight. There are probably more than that—or less than that, if they can be grouped together. It depends on how you look at it.
I was going to give you all eight, but you can relax. I am not going to give you all eight. I really feel before the Lord that instead of rushing through eight principles, we would be better off taking one with each session.
There are four—I do not know if they are more foundational than the others—but they have gripped my heart more. That is where I am. I would like, with you, as God graces us, to show you four unveilings of the heart of God which our Lord Jesus, the night before He died, was saying: “If you have seen anything in My life and My ministry, I hope you have seen this, and this, and this.”
Oh, may God give us eyes to see these things.
The first unveiling is right at the beginning, in John 13. Follow along, please, as I read.
Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own that were in the world, He loved them unto the end.
And during supper, the devil having already 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 came forth from God, and goeth unto God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside His garments; and He took a towel, and girded Himself.
Then He poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.
So He cometh to Simon Peter. He 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 understand hereafter.
Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.
Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For He knew him that should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean.
So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and sat down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call Me, Teacher, and, Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord; neither one that is sent greater than He that sent him. If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.
—John 13:1-17
For those who enjoy logical connection, here is what I would like us to look at. Then I hope we will see that first unveiling of the heart of God.
First, I would like to nail down, as much as we can, what is the principle—the truth, the reality—illustrated by foot washing. What is the principle?
Then I would like to spend a moment or two discussing why Peter, our representative, had such a hard time with that principle. Then, God gracing us, I would like to expand the principle a little bit. What does it mean to wash one another’s feet?
That is simple. What is the principle? Why did Peter recoil at the principle? Then, expanding the principle, what does it mean that we wash one another’s feet?
Some folks believe that this is literal, that it establishes a ceremony or ordinance in which they actually wash feet. Whether or not it is to be literal, at least underneath it there is a principle as well. We will just try to stick with the principle.
Some folks, because of Luke 22—because just before this, according to the record, the disciples were arguing about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom—say that the principle is humility. Here they are fighting about who will be greatest, and then the Lord Jesus humbles Himself, gets down, and washes their feet.
I do not doubt that there is a principle of humility in this passage, but I do not think that is the main idea. I do not think that is the chief thing. I think it is deeper than that. I think it is fuller than that.
I think Jesus was going to unveil the heart of God, and I think He said, in effect, “You know, I want you to know God. I hope you understand this tremendous truth about the heart of God.”
We can home in on the principle a little bit by looking at how foot washing is used in Scripture. The first mention is Genesis 18. Remember Abraham, when the three visitors came to visit him, and the Bible says that he washed their feet.
Then in Luke 7, when the Lord Jesus came to the house of Simon, He said, “Simon, thou gavest Me no water for My feet; but she hath wet My feet with her tears.” And in 1 Timothy 5, where God is describing the widow indeed, she has washed the saints’ feet.
In those days, they did not have what we have today—paved roads and all. They had open-toed sandals, they did not wear stockings, and the roads were dirty and dusty. Foot washing in those days, everybody did it. At every house there were foot-washing vessels.
In fact, some, with reason, believe that the water Jesus changed into wine was foot-washing water from those vessels. Of course, that would add a little to the miracle, I think, if that is what He did.
But everybody had the special vessels, and it was an act of hospitality. When you came to somebody’s home and they washed your feet, that was not humility, saying, “I think I will be humble and wash your feet.” It was not humility. It was an act of hospitality. It was an act of refreshment.
I told you we would be there. That is the point: they were being refreshed. It is sort of like when you come to our homes today and we say, “Take off your shoes, relax, make yourself at home.”
If you are going to understand the principle of foot washing, you need to understand this refreshment that led to fellowship. The Lord Jesus refreshed them, and it led to this tremendous fellowship.
Christ was not saying, “Christians ought to be humble and serve one another.” Not here. He said that many times, but not here. It was deeper than that. He was trying to teach and unfold this truth:
I am the first Refresher.
I am the Foot Washer.
I am the Servant.
I will wear the slave apron.
I think, as we go through the principles—not only this one, but the ones we will look at—everything He shares now about the heart of God goes contrary to natural thinking. It is radical. It is backwards. It is upside down. That is almost how you know it is true, because the Lord Jesus so often takes His truth, and it runs contrary to the natural heart of man.
I think we will best see where Jesus was coming from if we understand where Peter, our representative, was coming from. Where was Peter coming from spiritually? Remember, he was representing all the others. I think where he was is where they were.
What Jesus said and did to Peter, Jesus says and does to us. He represented us. He is God’s object lesson of progressive sanctification. That is why it is so easy to identify with Peter, because I think we all progressively advance as he did.
Peter had gained a reputation through the years. It is not always accurate, but he was impulsive and excitable and zealous—very ardent, more zeal than knowledge, and so on. Do not think of Peter as a blundering idiot. He was not that.
In fact, he had come quite a ways in his knowledge of God. He had come quite a ways in his knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think he is a pretty fair representative of how far they had all come. What he says and does now, he says and does as a representative.
Let me show you from other passages how far he had come:
I will lay down my life for Thee.
—John 13:37Lord, with Thee I am ready to go both to prison and to death.
—Luke 22:33Even if all shall be offended in Thee, I will never be offended.
—Matthew 26:33Even if I must die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee.
—Matthew 26:35
Brothers, do not read that, “La, la, la.” That is a tremendous thing. It was deep love and deep affection. This was heart. He had come this far in his life. This was his present life.
He stood before Jesus. Christ was Lord of all; he was a servant. He just said, “Lord, I have seen that much anyway, and I am Your subject. I will die for You.” He meant that. That was his real heart.
Christ is absolute Lord; he is a totally dependent slave. You are not going to understand Peter’s resistance unless you understand Peter’s revelation of Christ.
Peter’s revelation of Christ was this: “You are the Lord. You are the Master. You are the destiny. You can ask anything You want; I will do it. Send me anywhere; I will go. Require anything; I will give it.”
“I believe You are Lord, and I am slave. I have given everything.” Peter had surrendered his family, his friends, his occupation, his fish, his boat, his net—everything. Christ was Lord of all.
If you were standing on the Sea of Galilee, you would have heard Peter singing George Stebbins’s song every time he went fishing:
Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way.
Thou art the Potter; I am the clay.
That is where he was: absolute surrender. It was in that light and from that understanding—if you want to call it theology, that was his theology—Christ is Lord; I am servant.
Peter was almost swept away that day before Jesus died by this revelation of Christ to his heart. I will tell you, one of the brothers prayed earlier that we would be changed in our theology and so on. The Lord Jesus blew a hole in Peter’s theology. He never recovered from this, as you will see.
Glance again at John 13:6-8. When Jesus girded Himself with that slave apron, I do not know the original languages. I praise God that He has given us men to write in English what they say it says in Greek and Hebrew.
I have studied some of those men, and they point out that there is a tremendous emphasis on the pronouns. We do not see it in English. It comes out like this:
Thou?
Mine?
“Thou? Are You kidding? You? Wash my feet?” Peter is saying, “Lord, You do not know my theology. I will wash Your feet, no problem. I will serve You, no problem. But Thou? Mine?”
Verse 8 is even stronger. The Greek scholars tell us that the Greek cannot get stronger than it is in this passage. Peter said, “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” He uses that form: never unto the ages of eternity.
Talk about dogmatism. “No, no, never, never. No matter what You say, Lord, never. If I live a million years, I will never let this happen. You do not understand good theology, Lord. You are the Lord. I am the servant. I will wash Your feet—never, never unto the ages of eternity.”
“I will lay down my life for You. I will die for You. I will not deny You. I will wash Your feet. Lord, please do not turn that thing around.”
It was at this point that the Lord Jesus said what I consider to be one of the most shocking things He ever addressed to Christians:
If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.
—John 13:8
Man, that is strong. No part. Now, He was not saying, “Peter, if you do not let Me do this, you will die and go to hell.” He was not saying that. He already said in John 13:10 that Peter was clean. Peter was already clean. He already was saved.
But He said, “Peter, if you do not understand this principle, if you do not understand that I serve you, that I refresh you before you can refresh Me, then you will have no part—no intimate relationship, no fellowship, no union, no oneness, no revelation, no ministry.”
That is pretty much enough to get that first principle before you. I think the Lord Jesus, the night before He died, was trying to review again. He said, in effect:
Brothers, I hope you have seen this much:
that it is God who wears the apron;
that it is God who ministers to man;
that it is God who serves.
Before you lift a finger to serve Him, He is already at your feet, washing your feet.
I remember when I first trusted in the Lord, I was taught for many years that I was saved to serve God. Not primarily so.
Here is the principle:
Saved to be served in order to serve.
You see the difference? I tell you, that is not just terms. That is not just language. That is not just semantics. That is a different direction, brother. Saved to be served in order to serve. There can be no other way.
Peter stood that day where thousands have stood since: sold out unto the lordship of Christ. “Dear Lord, I am Your servant.” And they have no part with Him. My, that is a tragedy—no part with Him.
It is so heartbreaking. We see some every now and then, earnest and sincere, laboring and praying and giving and going on year after year—so busy working, serving, washing God’s feet. In reality, they do not know the Lord. They are not having a part, an intimate relationship, with Him.
Saved to be served in order to serve.
Let me develop a little bit more why Peter had such a hard time with this. Yes, because his theology had not come that far. Peter had a bumpy road all the way along, as you know. As you know, he made it fine, and he made it fine because of his heart. He had a willing heart.
At this point Peter was pretty confused and puzzled. When he heard those words, “No part with Me,” I tell you, for that sensitive heart, that was like getting hit in the head with a four-by-two.
Poor Peter. “I am willing to die for You.” Jesus said, “We will have no fellowship.” Come on. Peter did not understand what He was saying, but there was no way he wanted to risk that.
His heart was saying, “Lord, wait a minute. No fellowship? No part with You? Okay—then wash my head and my hands and my whole body.” How quick he was to drop his dogmatism.
One minute he was inflexibly dogmatic: “Never, not unto the ages of eternity, never.” Then: “Okay, wash my whole body.” Peter did not run to that extreme in five months, or five weeks, or five days. This was in five minutes.
I used to have little hope for dogmatic people. I come out of a denominational group, and I tell you, we are dogmatic. “We know, and this is how it is. They will never change, and you cannot tell me.” I could give up on them and say, “Forget it. There is no hope for you.”
But then I read this. If you have a heart like Peter, it does not matter how dogmatic you are. This dogmatism can change in a moment if their heart is saying, “Lord, if it means no fellowship with You, then I am willing to change.”
Peter missed it on both extremes. First, he rejected that which was indispensable. Then he required that which was superfluous. He missed it on both sides.
He could have thought he was being humble by rejecting the Lord’s offer to serve him. It is never humility when you reject the Lord’s offer to serve you. That is pride. That is always pride.
Peter had to learn this. Right away he jumped in and said, “Lord, if it means relationship, if it means fellowship, You have got it. I will take it.” At first, that was only words. Later on, the Lord had to make it come down into his heart.
When he said, “Not my feet only, but my head, my whole body,” there was no understanding in that statement. There was a lot of heart in that statement, but no understanding.
God had to take this truth. Peter jumped at it with his mouth: “All right, then we will do it Your way. You can serve me.” But he did not understand what he was saying. He did not begin to know.
The Lord Jesus said, “All right, Peter, I will tell you what we will do. We will go your way and see where we get. You want to serve Me? I am Lord; you are servant. Peter, there are certain things you do not understand.”
Let me mention just four. I will give you the references; I will not spend time on them.
The first thing Peter did not understand was that there was a personal devil who hated his guts and wanted to see him undone. Peter did not understand that.
It was almost comical to read the record in Matthew 16:22. Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke Him. He is yelling at Him, hollering at Jesus.
Then comes Luke 22:31-32:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.
—Luke 22:31
Peter did not understand, in the spiritual conflict, that there was a real devil. Later on, he understood, and he wrote about it: Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Where did he learn that? I will tell you where he learned it.
The Lord Jesus said, “All right, Peter, you want to serve Me? Here is your first assignment. You are ready to die for Me, right?”
Watch with Me one hour.
—Matthew 26:40
The greatest nightmare in the history of the world, one of the greatest conflicts ever going on in the spirit, and Peter was unconscious to the whole thing. What he did not know—and Jesus explained it to him—was that there was a real devil there. That is why he could not serve Him.
Then, Peter, Matthew 26:41:
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
“Peter, that is why you cannot serve Me. You do not understand that principle.” Peter said, “All right, Lord. Let me try again.”
John 18 and Matthew 26 record the story. All the soldiers come—five hundred soldiers, armed, ready to arrest the Lord. Peter says, “All right, Lord, I will show You. I will serve You.” He pulls out a sword.
Peter the fisherman versus Rome. “I can serve You, Lord. I can defend You. I have got it in me.” And Jesus said, “Oh, Peter.”
Then he cuts off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Scholars do not know how he did that. Some say he was trying to decapitate him and the sword went that way. Some think he was trying to split him down the middle. We do not know the truth. Perhaps he was just getting his sword out of its sheath and coming up.
Here is what Peter did not understand. The Lord Jesus explains it to him later, after He healed that man and put his ear back. He says, “Peter, you are not equipped to be a servant. I have angels. Now, those are servants. At any moment I could call twelve legions of angels.”
“If I wanted a servant, Peter—Psalm 50—if I were hungry, I would not tell you. You are not equipped. You do not have the capacity to serve Me.”
“Peter, there is a real devil. You cannot serve Me. Peter, the flesh is weak. You cannot serve Me. Peter, you are not made to be a servant. You do not have the capacity. I have made servants. They go back and forth like lightning. They do My bidding all the time. I know what a servant is. I did not make you to be a servant. You cannot even run a mile, Peter. You cannot serve Me.”
Well, he almost had it in his heart, but he said, “Lord, I know I can do it. Let me serve You.”
You know the record. It was a very humbling truth that Peter had to learn. The Bible records in Matthew 26:58 that when they all scattered, Peter followed afar off. After a while he got closer, and then you see him in the circle of the avowed enemies of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:69: a little servant girl comes up, and he denies Him. “I do not know Him.” Then another servant girl comes, and he denies Him with an oath. Finally, bystanders come up and say, “Thy speech betrayeth thee.” He curses, swears, and denies the Lord.
Luke 22:61 says, “The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.” He was in love with himself. He had vowed to give up his life for the sake of Christ. Instead, he saved his life and denied the Lord.
It is an amazing thing, brothers. It is more amazing as you go on and realize: if you go the other way, if you say, “He is Lord, I am servant, I will serve Him,” where will it lead?
Every time, it is hard to believe, that approach will lead to a positive denial of Jesus Christ—a positive denial of Christ.
Many, many, many a Christian has ended up here, weeping, broken, saying, “Okay, Lord, we will do it Your way. I cannot serve You. You serve me. You refresh me.”
Then a servant is born. A servant is created.
Saved to be served in order to serve.
God is the One who washes the feet. He wears the apron. It is a marvelous thing when God begins to write in our heart that I am saved in order to let God refresh me, minister unto me, and bring me into that part with Him—that intimacy, that relationship, that fellowship, that oneness, that union.
Now we can talk about service. Not until now.
Oh, brothers, we need to see this great revelation of the heart of God. Everybody says, “Oh, surrender is so hard.” It is not hard. You surrender your family, your life, your vocation, and your future—that is easy.
But surrendering your surrender—ah, that is something else again. May God bring us to the place where we say, “All right, Lord. I have surrendered everything to You. Now I surrender my surrender, and You begin to wash me, minister unto me, in order that I might refresh others.”
Let me say a word before we close about this other side: saved to be served in order to serve.
John 13:13-15 says:
Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
—John 13:14
What does it mean? How do you wash my feet? How do I wash your feet?
If His washing my feet means God ministers unto me in order to prepare me to minister unto others, what does it mean that we wash one another’s feet?
Well, whatever it means, it has to tie in somehow with verse 8, would you not say?
If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.
—John 13:8
Somehow, when Christ refreshes us, we have a relationship. That refreshment—whatever He does in that refreshment—binds us together. It makes us one. We have a part when He washes us.
Would it not be logical to say that whatever it means to wash one another’s feet, whatever it means for you to refresh me and me to refresh you, when that is done it binds us together? We have a part. We have a union, a oneness, an intimacy.
You hear so much these days about unity and oneness and body life: “Let us all be one and love one another.” When am I one with Christ? The answer is: when He refreshes me.
When are Christians one with each other? When we learn what it means to refresh one another. When brothers and sisters in the Lord begin to refresh one another God’s way, I tell you, then there is a unity. Christian A is united with Christian B, and a team of mules could not pull them apart. That is unity. That is oneness. It comes from refreshment.
We do not need programs on unity, seminars on unity, tapes on unity, or books on unity. We need God’s people learning how to refresh one another. How can I refresh you? How can you refresh me?
Let me give three simple, practical suggestions, and then we will close. I will state them first and then illustrate them for you.
The first way Christians refresh one another is by letting the Lord refresh them.
Here is a marvelous illustration: 2 Corinthians 7:13-16. It uses the word refreshed. It says that Titus was refreshed by the Corinthians. In other words, Titus had his spirit refreshed by the Corinthians.
How did they refresh him? Titus went to Corinth and saw the Corinthians looking to Christ, and he was refreshed. They did nothing. They just looked to Jesus. They were being refreshed by the Lord, and they automatically washed his feet.
Paul contacted Titus and asked, “How is it going?” He said, “Whew, I am refreshed.” What did they do? They did nothing. They just enjoyed Jesus. When he saw that, he was so refreshed.
This is the key to all ministry, really: not that we run in a thousand directions trying to refresh one another, but that we walk in that unbroken relationship. Refreshment is spiritual.
Here is a brother with a problem, and Christian A goes up and says, “What you need is a verse.” Maybe he does not need a verse. Another comes up and says, “We need to pray about that,” and then he prays. Are his feet washed? Maybe. Maybe not.
“What you need is to come out to fellowship.” Is that washing his feet? Maybe, it could be. Giving him advice—is that washing his feet? Giving him a dollar? It could be, if you are doing that because you have been refreshed by the Lord.
Here is another Christian. He does not even know the other man’s problem; he is too in love with the Lord. He is walking around saying, “Man, the Lord spoke to my heart today.” The other fellow is trying to get his problem out, but this brother is enjoying the Lord.
He might not say anything. He is just knowing Christ. Christ is manifesting Himself to him. He is thrilled in the Lord.
Then that troubled brother goes home to his wife, and his wife says, “What changed you? Did he give you a verse? Did someone pray with you? Did someone drag you to fellowship?” “No. You should have seen that Christian. Man, he was enjoying Christ. It was a joy to him.”
That is what washes feet. Brothers, get into that union with Christ. Let Him wash you. Let Him refresh you. Have a part with Him, and you are going to wash everybody’s feet.
What a great day we will have—a shower of foot washing around here this weekend—if we are all letting the Lord wash us. That is basically what foot washing is: the byproduct, the overflow, of being washed by Christ.
There is another illustration, and it is very practical. The principle is walking in the Spirit, being available to the Lord, being in the Lord.
There is another illustration about refreshment in 1 Corinthians 16:18. Paul said he was refreshed when Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus arrived, because God used them to meet his personal needs.
It was in the Lord. It was not that they went around looking for needs to meet. That is why the expression in the Lord is in that verse we shared before we started here, Philemon 1:20:
Let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my heart in Christ.
It is not that we are out trying to find needs, but that we are available to the Lord. As we walk in that union and God brings things into our life, as we provide for needs and minister physically to people, that washes feet. That refreshes them, as Paul was refreshed.
One other, and we are done. It sort of ties in with John 13. It is quite beautiful—the heart of Christ here. He was so concerned with cleansing feet.
He did not come in and walk around saying, “Dirty, dirty feet! My, I have never seen feet like that.” He was not interested in dirty feet; He was interested in clean feet. That is the heart of Christ.
I know my son Stephen is here. He came to dinner one time, and honestly, I had never seen hands like that. They were dirty hands. I had not had this passage yet, Steve, so I am free.
He came in, and I said, “Look at those hands! Did you ever see—? No, you are not coming in here.” I grabbed him by the wrist. “Look at those hands!” Then the girls came in: “Let me see, let me see, let me see.” I showed his hands to everybody.
That is not how the Lord Jesus did it. He was not trying to show everybody their dirt.
Brothers, in our attitude toward God’s people, when they fall, when they slip, rather than exposing them and talking about them and showing all their faults, love covers a multitude of sins.
Oh, how we could wash feet. Oh, how we could refresh, if we would not expose. If our heart was set on cleansing, if our heart was set on purity, if our heart was not set on exposing, then we could ask, “How can I wash your feet?”
I can wash your feet by delighting in the Lord. I can wash your feet by being available to my God, and as God engineers the circumstances, if I am able to help, I can wash your feet by helping you.
I can wash your feet by having a large veil over your mistakes, over your sins, and you over mine. Walk in love, and cover a multitude of sins.
One of the big portions of this chapter has to do with this:
He that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.
—John 13:10
I know the usual thought: once you are saved, you do not have to get saved again, and all you have to do is get your feet cleaned as you go through life—confess, and all of that. Maybe that is there. I do not know.
But I know this: here is another principle from that. Once you are bathed—let us take that to be salvation, typical cleansing—once you know the Lord, what is your only need after that? No other need.
“He that is bathed needeth only…” That is one need. What is your only need after you are saved? It is to let God minister to you. That is your only need. You have no other need.
Oh, may God show us. Jesus, the day before He went to the cross, said, “I have some things to show you. I hope you have not missed this. You want to know God’s heart? I came to reveal God, and here is the big thing about God: He wants to serve you. He wants to wash your feet. He wants to minister to you.”
You are saved to be served in order to serve. That is your only need. There is no other need once you see.
Then He says, “Have you seen that? You have not seen anything. Look at this, and this, and this.” May God grace us to see it.
Our Father, we do thank You so much that You have not called us first to serve You, to minister unto You.
Lord, we know our natural heart, as Peter recoiled at the thought that the Creator would be at the creature’s feet, that You would minister to us.
Enable us, Lord, to have that heart that would just allow You to refresh us, in order that we might refresh others. You work it in us, we pray, in Jesus’ name.