We turn our Bibles to John chapter 13, and we'll read the first 20 verses, and then we'll focus our attention from verse 12 through to verse 15, or rather through verse 17. John chapter 13, and I commence reading from verse 1. Now, before the feast of the Passover, When Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Simon's son to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hand and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper, he laid aside his outer garments and, taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Someone Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, the one who has bath does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garment and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done, what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen. but the scriptures will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I am telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am here. Truly, truly, I said to you, whoever receives the one I send, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives the one who sent me. Amen. Continuing our studies through the book of John, we come to verse 12 through to verse 20 of chapter 13. And as we've been going through this book, I have often said and I repeat that the goal for John is that he picks elements or he picks events from the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and he puts them together. And as he does so, he wants to paint a picture for us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry. And the goal is that as we see what John and other Gospel writers put together concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, we too, like John, can conclude that truly Jesus is who He said He was. and in doing so, so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and in believing, we may find salvation in Him, or we may obtain salvation in Him. Our passage this morning highlights the need to follow Jesus' example and pattern of humble service. It's a call to follow Jesus' example and pattern of humble service. And the Lord Jesus Christ made that point, that what really matters is this kind of humble, sacrificial, and personal ministry he had provided. And so, as we've read, John recounts that when he had washed the feet of the disciples, he had asked them if they understood what he had done. And also John records for us that Jesus said this he had done as an example that we too must follow his example. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ was not really saying that since I've washed your feet, therefore, there must be this ongoing ministry of feet washing in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he was highlighting this element of humble service to one another. And what the Lord Jesus Christ calls us to do is to follow His example. But we cannot follow His example if we are still wallowing in sin. It is impossible because sin separates us from God. And this is why He came, that in His death, when we put our hope and trust in Him, we will be washed from our sins and will be given His Spirit, that His Spirit will enable us to implement and follow that which He, our Savior, had done. And as we open up this passage of Scriptures, The question must be, am I in Christ? Have I found life in Christ? And if I've found life in Christ, am I radiating that life in my day-to-day living as I save those whom God brings my way? And if that's not true of you, means you are still wallowing in sin. And the first point that John highlights for us is the example that he gives of this humble service. The example given, and we see this in verse 12 through to verse 15, the example given of humble service, verse 12 to verse 15. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have done? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. And we see there that the Lord Jesus Christ sets this example and pattern of humble service. And this is seen in His attitude and in His actions. Jesus set the standard by which every one of His servants is to live their lives. In the actions of Jesus, we can see him showing us, his followers, that we are expected to serve one another. Having washed their feet, he then poses a question, do you understand what I have done? And it is possible that one among the disciples could have easily given a theological answer. It is easy that one would have easily said, Lord, you've shown us that salvation requires that we be cleansed by you. You've showed us, Lord, that unless your atoning blood cleanses us from our sins, we have no part in You." And that answer would have been correct. But if we simply stop with the theological answer, we miss the full meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ. We miss the intent of the Lord Jesus Christ in giving us this example. And therefore, as we see in verse 15, he adds the words as recorded by John, for I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. As I say that the Lord Jesus Christ did not intend that we begin a foot washing ministry. The Lord Jesus Christ was not in any way saying that those who are in leadership in church or those who are high in society must stoop low to wash the feet of those who are lower than them or those who are considered inferior to them. But the Lord Jesus Christ says, this must be your life. And that's how John uses the word, the example in verse 15. Jesus employs a model for our sacrificial service in His name. And so the words in verse 15 example suggest a pattern of life. And this is how the New Testament authors use that word example. I'll just highlight a few verses that you could read in your own time. When you read in Hebrews chapter 4, in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 11, you will see that word example or in other version would be the way of life or a pattern of life. Hebrews 4 verse 11, Hebrews chapter 8 verse 5, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 25, And then 2 Peter 2 and verse 6, and then we'll quickly just read James chapter 5 and verse 10. James chapter 5 and verse 10, and this is what James writes, and James is writing about the need to be patient, and in verse 10 he says, as an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Now when you read all those portion of scriptures, what you will not miss is the fact that the authors are emphasizing the lives of a Christian, and as I do so, they are pointing back to that life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see in James, and James is saying, if you want to have an example of patience in suffering, look at the lives of the prophets who spoke the word to you. And then in verse 11, he even says, look at the life of Job. And so here, the Lord Jesus Christ did not just intend that this would just be an example and then it ends there. But that look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at His humble service. Look at His attitude. Look at His actions and see how He conducted Himself. And therefore, if you claim to be His followers, This must be true of you because His grace is alive in your life and His spirit is living in you. Therefore, you see the attitude and the actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see right in verse 1 of chapter 13 what his attitude was. The attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ was that He knew what was prevailing. He knew the hour. He knew the circumstances. He knew the times. And that even as he washes the feet of his disciples, he is fully aware of what is prevailing. And we see this attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we see his attitude, what was paramount in his mind is the need to proclaim the Gospel. And he focuses attention to the Gospel. He centered his efforts on gospel priorities. And he says, just as I've done to you, you also must do to one another to show that you are his disciples. But also you see his actions. He says, you call me teacher and Lord, and that's true. And if I, your teacher, if I, your Lord, if I, your masters, have washed your feet, have assumed a humble position amongst you and have conducted that which you are not able to do, which you could not even think of doing, if these are my actions and you say, I am your Lord and master, this must be true of you. And this is the example that we see that the Lord Jesus Christ gives. If we are to embrace the lifestyle of humble, sacrificial, and personal ministry, Christians are to live in a way that gladly bends to perform even the humble tasks among them. And by doing so, we convey to those around and those seeing the love of Christ, which is a reality in us, to the world. And this is the lesson that John wants us to see, that as we look at the examples of the Lord Jesus Christ, it must not just be head knowledge, it must be seen in our attitudes and in our actions as we serve one another, as we embrace one another. As we live in this world, our attitude and our actions will be that will be familiar with the spiritual needs of whatever situations we find ourselves in, and we minister to that situation. In times of doubt, we will minister faith. In times of division, we will pursue peace and unity. And all this is for the sake of having our efforts centered on gospel priorities, not so that people can speak good of us, but that people may see the gospel in us. And as they see the gospel working in our lives, they will be pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself is the good news. We have this example of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if we love our savior, if we love our shepherd, we are bound to love his flock. And this means that out of love for Christ, we will gladly serve one another because of our love for him who loved us. But the second thing that John highlights for us, we see is the exhortation that he gives. The exhortation given for humble service. The exhortation given And this is in verse 16. Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. And that's an exhortation that the Lord Jesus Christ puts before all of us as his followers. And this is the reasoning that if Jesus was willing to be a servant, then all of his followers ought to be willing to save as well. Christians must never be ashamed of doing anything that Christ has done. We must not be ashamed to do anything that Christ has done. He is our master. He is our Lord. And in doing that which he himself has done, we are simply following his way of life. And it is quite possible that having done what the Lord Jesus Christ did, washed the feet of the disciples and then asked them the question, do you understand what I've done? And then He tells them that this I've done as an example to you all. It is quite possible that doubts began to rise in the minds of His disciples. And the Lord Jesus Christ, with His all-seeing eye, saw a rising unwillingness in the minds of His disciples. He saw this rising unwillingness to do just what He had done. Because remember, many of these men, or rather let's say the disciples, the early disciples, they were still puffed up with the old Jewish expectations of the Messiah. The Jews expected thrones and kingdoms in this world. And so these disciples still had that in mind. And also it is possible that they were content with the fact that they were friends of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, or the Messiah who's come to redeem them from the Roman captivity. And now to be told that the Messiah's Reign or the Messiah's task or the Messiah's pattern of life meant that you lower yourself and do that which they could not perceive within their minds. Just the idea of them assuming a role of a servant when they were expecting thrones and kingdoms and getting high positions in the kingdom of the Messiah. It is quite possible that as the Lord Jesus Christ began to perceive their mind, their doubts, as He sees their reasoning, He now challenges them and says to them, this is what I'm saying to you. A servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sent him. The Lord Jesus Christ was often criticized by the Pharisees for eating with tax collectors and prostitutes and other sinful people of the day, individuals who no one desired their company. And the Lord Jesus Christ's answer was always that those who are well are in no need of a physician. It is the sick who are in need of the physicians. And the Lord Jesus Christ responding in that way shows that the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are a community. And since they are a community, they therefore are different from a club. The difference between a community and a club is that in a club, you choose the people with whom you will associate with. A club is formed around certain projects or certain interests and therefore, if you are going to join a particular club, you know that you associate with individuals you want to associate with, individuals who feel have similarities with you. But the difference with a community is that a community is a place where even the person you least want to associate with lives. It doesn't mean that person you don't desire to associate with lives within the community. That's where they've taken their board. And therefore, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a club but a community. And a true church of Jesus Christ will exhibit a love of Christ or a love to those around them or to those within their community based on Christ's sacrificial love for them. It will not be because of their attractiveness to them. It will not be because of the common interest. It's not because these are the people that I want to associate with, but that these are the people that God has saved by His Son, Jesus Christ. These are individuals that have come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and because He saved them, and the way He saved them is the same way He saved me, and therefore we belong to one community, and as we save one another, it is based on the common love we have for Christ. our common salvation, I may not be attracted to you, we may have nothing in common, but we belong to the same community, the community of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, Jesus exhorts us to serve one another, because the servant is not greater than his master. nor a messenger greater than the one who sent Him." And this is what we see in the life of Jesus Christ. John records for us there that Jesus didn't only save the ones He preferred. He washed the feet of those who were present at supper. If Jesus washed the feet of those He preferred, perhaps we would have concluded, as we read, that yeah, it was possible for Him to wash the feet of John. After all, the Bible says He's a beloved disciple. rather a beloved disciple. So, it makes sense that the Lord Jesus Christ washes His feet. What about Simon Peter? The one was to deny Jesus three times. If Jesus did not wash His feet, and then we read later on, that he denied Jesus would have concluded that it makes sense. What about Thomas who doubted the report of everyone? I will verify it myself. It would have made sense if Jesus did not wash his feet. Oh, what about Judas, the one who betrayed him? But we see that He saved all of them. He did not save those who preferred. He saved all of them. He did not allow His knowledge is for knowledge of all things to cloud his service. The Lord Jesus Christ treated everyone at dinner equally. He washed their feet and then he gave them the message that I've done this, but not all of you are clean. And he was basically saying, not all of you have come to partake in my life. Not all of you have accepted me. Yes, you are with me to an extent. Outwardly, you are following my example to some extent, but not all of you are clean. That's exhortation to all of us, especially to Christians, to serve one another. The church is a community, not a club. As human beings, there are individuals we just seem connected with easily. We have no trouble serving those we feel connected with. And if we follow the example of Christ, we will find it easy. to save one another because we belong to Christ. We are not allowed to pick favorites and save those we love. We must not be quick to dislike those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must not even dislike them. We have one common interest. one salvation, one Lord. And as we save one another, we are showing the world that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and our salvation is real. It's causing us to see one another in greater light than ourselves. We are putting others before us. And in doing so, we are following the example of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is impossible if you're not a Christian. You can save others to an extent, but you get to a point where you give up. Because for you, All things revolve around you. It's all about you. It's not about saving others because of the love of Christ. It's either you're saving others because of what you can get out of them, or saving others for personal interest, or in an advent of social media, doing service so that you can be seen by the world. It's not what Christ is saying here. His pattern of life begins with you turning away from sin. And as you turn away from sin, you follow his way of life. If my Master saved, provided a service, I too must be willing to save others. And then in the third place we see the expectation that we are given. The expectation that we are given of humble service. Verse 17. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ expects of His followers. He's not just expecting His followers to have head knowledge, but to implement that knowledge into actions or to reduce that knowledge into actions. We've seen the Lord Jesus Christ giving us His example in His attitude and in His actions as we saw in my first point. But now the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Happy are you if you do them. The Lord Jesus Christ is saying we must not only know, we must do. In our academic age, there's always a tendency to be satisfied merely with knowing. That's academic age where I know and it simply ends there. But the Bible tells us that's not enough. It's not enough that you know. That knowledge must now cause you to act. You must act. You must reduce that knowledge into action. You must act on what you know. And Jesus says and assures us that if you know these things and you do them, he says, blessed are you. That's the assurance that he gives. And the assurance, he says, is that you will be happy. useful in his kingdom, but not just useful, but that this is the key to Christian happiness, saving others who are part of the kingdom of God. But also see, in the words of Christ, that we see the uselessness of religious knowledge if not accompanied by practice. It's useless to have religious knowledge that is not accompanied by practice. The disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ will never really be happy unless they practice what they've come to know. about… of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are content with head knowledge, or let's put it this way, if you are content with unfruitful knowledge, head knowledge of duty, that knowledge will not produce happiness. It's just academic. No connection to your day-to-day life. And this is the challenge today for believers. There are so many professing Christians who will speak with excitement and joy about the doctrines they've come to understand from the Scriptures. They will talk about the doctrines of grace, the doctrines of God's sovereignty. But when the time comes to reduce that knowledge into actions, there is always this disconnection. And because of that, there is always this lack of joy in saving God. Because there's knowledge here, but there's no action in their life. There's no practice of that doctrine. And because of that, there's confusion in their minds, in their hearts, and in their lives. Yesterday we just put the remains of our dear sister Martha On one hand, there was a knowledge of the sovereignty of God. There is a knowledge of the fact that God hears prayers, and we prayed for a healing. And now, we come to attend a funeral. If that knowledge of God is just there, we begin to question God. How can a loving God take away a spouse, a daughter? How can an all-knowing God allow someone to go through sickness for almost three years, at the same time hearing the prayers of his children as they plead for a healing. But if you are here and you heard the testimonies of those that mingled with us, especially in the last moment of our lives, you could see that now God was bringing the two together. The knowledge they had of His sovereignty, of the fact that God hears prayers, and the fact that God has chosen to take her away at that time. where that in the midst of everything that the families were going through, God was working behind the scenes. And that it pleased Him that just at the right time, the parents, the husband, they were all together in the same car when Martha died. Same car, getting the news at the same time. And when you hear their testaments, you could say here are people that knew their God and their knowledge of this God did not cause them to condemn God for its actions, but to pray for grace. This is what brings confusion in so many Christians because our knowledge is simply head knowledge. We are satisfied with what we know and we don't practice them. We are satisfied with the fact that God hears prayers and we don't pray. We are satisfied that God saves sinners and we are reluctant to take the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who need it. And the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, blessed are you if you know these things and you do them. There must be knowledge accompanying the actions and the practice that we do. The two must go together. And we see this throughout the Scriptures. that the knowledge of God, what God chooses to reveal about Himself to us, He then causes His servants to reduce that to practice. When you read Isaiah chapter 6, when God revealed something of His glory to Isaiah, in the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah said, I saw the Lord. And when Isaiah saw that, he realized that he is a man of unclean lips. But when the Lord says, whom shall I send? His knowledge of what God had revealed, the fact that this God is so holy and there are these angelic beings that bow down to worship him. Isaiah concluded that whatever this God asked me to do, it's a great privilege because this God doesn't need me. He's got all the angelic hosts before him. And to do something of service to this God is a glorious privilege. It was the same with the apostles. When Jesus would tell them that he would die and would be raised from the dead and would return to his Father, there was always this head knowledge, but There was no practice. But when he rose from the dead, they saw him. And when you read the book of Acts, these men who are hiding, fearing for their lives, became as bold as a lion. And they would face the authorities, and they would tell them, who would rather obey God than man. Their knowledge was reduced to practice. But you who's here this morning and you're not a Christian, and you've got this knowledge that God is a God of love, He will not punish sin. Oh God is a God who is pleased with your religious activities. Oh dear friend, I say that knowledge will lead you into hell. Because that knowledge is not leading you into action. That knowledge is not showing you that this world that you are creating around you is useless. That when the realities of life dawns, when life is slowly heading away from you or away from your loved one, that this religious knowledge that is not rooted in salvation in Christ becomes useless. It will not bring comfort to you and later on it will not usher you into heaven because your knowledge is based on the the God of your imagination and not the God of the Bible. And that's why you don't see the need to turn away from sin, because the knowledge you have is not of a true God. all that you may come to the true knowledge of the God of the Bible, the One who created heaven and earth, the One who holds the world in the palms of His hands. the one who knows how long you will live on this earth, the one who created you, the one who knows your thoughts, who knows your actions, the one who knows everything that is going through your mind, oh, that God may bring you to the knowledge of the God of the Bible, and that that knowledge may lead you to find salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because happiness is knowing that your sins have been forgiven in Jesus Christ. And knowing that your sins have been forgiven, you joyfully give yourself to his service. And he gives us this assurance. If you know these things and you do them, Blessed are you. And, oh, friends, don't continue in sin, content with the knowledge of the God of your imagination. The God of the Bible demands that you turn away from sin and save Him today. Those of us who are Christians, our salvation in Christ must cause us to daily follow His example and His pattern of life of humble service. And as we do so, the world will know that we are the disciples of Christ because of our sacrificial love for one another. which is anchored in the love that is ours in Christ Jesus. Amen.