John 13 on page 1456. John chapter 13, this is God's word. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from the world, or this world, to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. and supper being ended, the devil having already put it 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 had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself, After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean. This world is full of problems. and man tries to propose many solutions. There is the problem of guilt. When we do things wrong. When we know we should not have said the things we said. When we went to the places we should not have went to. And we try to have our own solution to deal with guilt. Deny it. ignore it, suppress it, try to put it away with entertainment, with alcohol, drugs, and yet it does not take away the guilt in our minds because the conscience is too strong and it condemns. There's also the problem of suffering and death, pain, Sorrow. Difficulties. Trials. Temptations. Heartache. Loneliness. And we try to solve that problem with other things. But it doesn't matter where we turn, here, there, or anywhere. There is no solution. There's still suffering. There's still pain. There's still struggle. There is good news. The good news of Jesus Christ. And the good news is that Jesus Christ and his love towards sinners truly solves these problems. The love of Christ towards sinners deals with our guilt. The love of Christ towards sinners deals with suffering and death. And when we truly look to the love of Jesus Christ towards sinners, then we will be more than conquerors. This morning I want us to look at this amazing and wonderful love of the Lord Jesus Christ towards sinners. Now what is the context here of the passage in which we read? It says here, now before the feast of the Passover. Jesus has taken his group, his disciples, and they've went into an upper room. And if you can imagine a table that's in the shape of a U. And they're all reclining around this table. And they're doing so because it is the Passover. The Passover was a special celebration of God's people. If you remember the story of Exodus, Israel was in bondage and slavery to Egypt. They were afflicted and they would cry out unto the Lord in their afflictions. And God is merciful. He heard their cries, He answered them, and He redeemed them from Egypt. So every year around about springtime, people would come to Jerusalem, flood the city to remember the Lord's redemption of His people. And it's a special time. In a few weeks' time, round here near the stadium, you're going to have the Super Bowl and multitudes are going to flood in. That's not even in comparison to what happened in Jerusalem. Jerusalem's population would increase by five times. So there's what, five million people give or take in the greater Atlanta area? Well imagine an extra 20 million people came this weekend to Atlanta. That's the idea of what's happening here. And all the people are excited. They're feasting, they're eating, they're speaking one to another, they're singing the Psalms, Psalm 113 to Psalm 118 to remember the Lord's redemption. And Jesus Christ is seated here in the upper room, reclining at a table, remembering the Passover, but something's very different. The people are thinking of the Passover, the lamb, the redemption. Jesus Christ is. the Lord's Passover. Jesus Christ is the lamb who would be slain for his people. The Lord Jesus Christ is our redemption. And he's 24 hours before suffering and dying on a cross. What do you think was on his mind that night? What do you think was in his soul as he knew within 24 hours something was going to happen? We don't have to imagine. John gives us a window into the mind of Jesus. It says here in verse one, Jesus knew that his hour had come. What does it mean, that hour? The hour just simply means an appointed time. where God has sovereignly decreed, he has appointed and says, at this exact time, this is going to happen. So for example, when people die, especially when they're older, we'll say, you know, their time come, their time has come. It was their time to go away, they've lived their life, and now is the time that they should die. What do we mean by that word time? It was their appointed time to die. Well, what is the appointed time of the hour? It is the appointed time that Jesus Christ should suffer and die. We know that because in the previous chapter, John chapter 12, it says in verse 23, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. And then he says, and using the illustration of dying, except, He says, grain should fall to the ground, it dies and is alone. But if it dies, it brings forth fruit. See what Jesus is saying here. He's like a grain that must fall to the ground. He must die. And this was no ordinary death. This is a death with so much horror. that Jesus Christ responds in a certain way. He's not a robot. He's not emotionless. He doesn't say, oh, my hour has come. I'm going to suffer and die. I'm going to get on with it. No. John chapter 12 again, verse 27, how does he respond when his appointed hour has come? Now is my soul troubled. stirred, shaken, inexpressible internal pain, agony, sorrow. He knows what he's about to receive and his soul is afflicted. Have you ever had so much sorrow and pain you just felt sick to the pit of your stomach? You felt like there was a 10 ton weight crushing you on your shoulders. That was Christ. That was Christ. Because as he would suffer in the place of sinners, God would be pouring out his wrath. And he did it in a way so that it would truly pierce the soul of the Savior. Christ loved his nation. Christ loved the Jews. Christ came, would teach them the truth. He would heal. He would heal the sick. He would heal the lame, the blind. He cared for them when they were weary, when they were hungry. He provided for them. He came to His own and His own received Him not. They rejected Him. They mocked Him. They would crucify Him. Pontius Pilate presents Jesus, perfect, righteous, good, Barabbas, evil, wicked, people of God. Who will you release, Jesus or Barabbas? And what do Israel say? We do not want Jesus. Crucify him, crucify him. And Jesus Christ, what do you think he felt that night? His own people rejected him. But what about his friends? You know, we can count on our friends, can't we? Jesus couldn't. Peter. Peter was a man of zeal, of passion. Jesus, you won't die. And if anyone comes and tries to kill you, I'll be there right at your right hand. No one will touch you, Jesus. I'll be right there. What happened when they came? He ran away. And when he's like a, he's at a, it's nighttime, it's cold, there's a wee fire, and there's a little girl. She's a little girl, just a maiden. Oh, are you not with Jesus? That's not a very daunting prospect, is it? No, I'm not with Jesus. He didn't deny Jesus once. He did not deny Jesus twice, but three times he denied his Lord. And then there's Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was Jesus' friend. Never miss that, never miss that. And what did, the Psalm 41 describes experience of Christ as he was betrayed. He says, my own familiar friend, my close friend betrays me. How do you think he felt with betrayal? It hurt him. But that was not even the tip of the iceberg. The greatest suffering of Christ and his soul was the father. He's always been in love, he's always been in fellowship, he's always been in good relations with the Father, but Jesus is going to be a substitute. Sin is going to be put upon him. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, and so the Father must punish the Son. And so Jesus Christ knew what all this meant, and he says, my soul is troubled. But that wasn't the only thing on his mind. Jesus Christ knew what would happen after he died. It says here in verse one again, Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father. Jesus Christ knew the Psalms. He knew Psalm 16. He knew that it says there that the Messiah, the Jesus, the Christ, God would not allow his son, his body, to see corruption. But three days after death, what would happen? He'd be raised from the dead. And where did he go? He went back into heaven to be with his father. And he knew that was a wonderful promise. He trusted in it, and he knew that would happen. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, he endured the cross. What motivated him? The joy that was set before him. It's a wonderful promise for you, believer, too. You may suffer, you may be tested, you may be persecuted, but in union with Christ, when we die, we go to be with the Lord in a better place. So he had these two things on his mind that night, the inexpressible sufferings with the hour coming, and that joy that was set before him as he would return to his father. That was on his mind. Now what was on his heart? His people. Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father. Now here's the heart of Christ. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. This what was on the heart of Christ, 24 hours before he would suffer and die, his own. The church, the people of God, believers, repentant sinners, his own. I can imagine me, If I know in 24 hours I'm gonna suffer, feel pain and agony, it's all about myself. It's all about what I'm gonna go through. How am I gonna deal with it? How am I gonna endure such pain? I'm scared, I'm afraid. Jesus is so selfless. He's so compassionate. He's so other. his own people were on his heart. Look at this word, his own. Something personal, something near, something close, something he loves entirely and completely. They are his own and that's amazing. Why would he love his own? Why? There's absolutely nothing lovable about them. They're sinners. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. And we don't just do some things wrong. We're not just, you know, sometimes I don't do my best. Oh, you're sure? Who's perfect? No, we're evil and detestable and wretched before God. Do you know how sinful we are? We're blind to it. Would put on a nice suit and tie, you know? Yeah, I'm a nice person, yeah. Aye, please and thank you. Hold the door. Thank you, ma'am. Yes, sir. You know, I try to be good. What nonsense. It's just clothing. It's a mask. See the heart. See the lust. See the hatred. See the anger. See the discontentment. See the covetousness. See the idolatry. See the self, self-righteousness, self-pity, self-love, self, self, self, self. And that's not even talking about what we do to others. The gossip, speaking behind people's backs, hurting people, physically assaulting people, stealing, breaking his Lord's day. Be more excited with the things of the world than the worship of God. Sinners, that's what I am, that's what you are. And yet God loves. God loves. Isn't that amazing? You see, we love things that are attractive to us. You know, when a man loves a woman, it's because there's an attraction. Physical, their gifts, their personality, there's something in them that has value and therefore they love. Our children. Our children are part of us. They come from us. There's a relationship. They have value to us. Therefore we love them. As foolish as it is, we're material fleshly beings. We love objects. Why is it some people just love their cars or love this object or that object? There's something of value in it. There's nothing attractive about us. Nothing lovable whatsoever. We're slime. We're sewage. And yet, God loves his people. Christ loves his own. How amazing is that, friends? How wonderful is that? He loves his own. And he's always loved us. Jeremiah 31 says, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. And you see, God is eternal. And we use that word and we don't actually know what it means. Because we're time-bound creatures, how do you understand eternity? No beginning, no end, just exist. I don't understand. I'm using these words and I don't even know what they mean, ultimately. But he is eternal. which means He has loved us with no beginning. He loves us with no end. He's loved us with an everlasting love, and in our sin, and our debauchery, and our wretchedness as evil sinners, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That's why Christ is here. That's why the hour is coming. That's why he's going to suffer. That's why he's going to die. For his own. And what motivates him? Love. Love. Love. He came and he loves his own. A preacher 150 years ago said, his name's C.H. Spurgeon. He says, the fact that you are truly Christ's is the fountain of innumerable pleasures and blessings to your heart. Jesus calls us his own, his own sheep, his own disciples, his own friends, his own brethren, the members of his body. What a title for us to wear, his own. That's who you are, believer. If you've repented from your sins and you trust in Christ, you are his own. and he says he's going to love you to the end. Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end. What does love mean? We use the word a lot, but we fail to define it. And that's why the world's in chaos. What is love? It's a warm, fuzzy feeling, you know. What does that even mean? That's why a man in one minute can say I love you sweetheart and the next minute go behind our back and commit adultery. Doesn't mean anything. Comes and goes. Love comes and goes. What is love? Love is laying a sign your own rights and your own needs for someone else's good and benefit. That's love. Having loved his own. How did Christ love his own? Christ is God. He's not a mere man. He's not a created man, nor a created angel, or a mere prophet. He is God. And as God, he is rich in glory, in need of nothing and no one. God, blessed forever. He didn't create because he was lonely. He did not create because he needed you, nor did he need me. He was happy himself. but to show the glory of his grace and love, God became man. He who was rich became poor on our behalf. Love, he denied himself. Philippians chapter two, he who's in the form of God became the form of man. and he came to love us to the end. The end, it's a word, an English word that doesn't really, the richness of the Bible here, the word end means so much more than end. It means an action achieved, the fulfilment of a task. fully, completely, wholly, to the uttermost, the limit at which a thing ceases to be, love to the fullest, love to the uttermost, the full extent of love, love that is forever. That's that word. That's that word. And the next stage in this story shows a picture of this love to the end. It's the upper room. Jesus is the master, the man of respect. He is the Lord. And what would normally happen in this situation is the people of God, they had sandals, and in the Middle East, it's desert, it's dusty, your feet get filthy, they're dirty. So someone would come with a bucket of water and wash the feet. And no one does it. Peter doesn't do it, John doesn't do it, James doesn't do it, Matthew doesn't do it. They don't do it. Why? Because they have a wee bit of pride there. They're waiting for others to do it. Can it be like us? Something needs to be cleaned up. Oh, someone else will do it. I'll not do it. Oh, chairs need to be put away. Oh, I won't do it. No, no, I'm waiting for, that's a sad job. That's that person's job. No, no, that's the wrong attitude, and that was the wrong attitude of the disciples. So what does Jesus do? He shows them by example, love. He is the master, gets down on his knees, and he washes and scrubs the feet of sinful creatures. But that's a picture. of something else. Matthew 20, 28 says, using the word minister means to serve. The son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. That means he did not come all high and mighty to be served, but he came to serve. And he did this in this way, to give his life as a ransom for many. Ransom means, well, someone's kidnapped. and there's a ransom payment. We know what that means, don't we? You pay a million dollars and your daughter will be let free. Well, we need a ransom price too, because we've been kidnapped in a way. Slaves, bondage to sin. Our guilt, our shame, our law-breaking. And we love it. We love our lust. We love our pornography. We love our lying. We love our cheating. We love our gossip. We need to be ransomed. And what was the price? It wasn't silver, neither was it gold. It was the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And out of love for you, he would become a curse. Galatians chapter three, verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. How did he redeem us from the curse of the law? Being made a curse for us. A curse means God's wrath upon you for breaking the law of God. That's what I deserve. And the place he will ultimately do that is hell. he will eternally pour out his wrath. Revelation 14.10 speaks of the winepress of God's wrath. In the ancient world, to make wine, they would have a ditch in the ground and they'd put all the grapes in it. And you know, how easy it to squash a grape. Any one of our young children, I'm sure any of you boys and girls, if I was to give you a grape and I say, crust a grape, you'd be like, that's easy, squash. Well, put all these grapes on the ground and now have your feet stomping them. Easy, isn't it? God says that's a picture of my wrath. Squashing, crushing, bruising, punishing, tormenting for eternity. And here's love. Christ came in our place to take the winepress of God's wrath. He did that on the cross. where God had a sword of justice against sin. Jesus took the sin of his people upon him and God, with the divine sword of justice, pierced him. Do you remember the darkness? Three hours of darkness. That was God the Father bruising the Son. And the extremity of it all comes in the words, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then he's dead for our sake. He suffered the curse. He suffered the forsakenness of the Father out of love for his own. but it says love to the end, love to the utmost. Is that the end of the story? No. Did he remain in the grave and you can take a wee trip to Jerusalem, go to a graveyard, oh that's where Jesus lays? No. The tomb is empty, for He is risen. He ascends on high. He's at the right hand of God. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He has all power, all authority, all dominion, and He's a high priest with love and compassion in His bosom, and He's a prophet to teach us of God. He is the Lord of glory, and He will love us to the uttermost. Remember here it says, he loved them which were in the world. That's an interesting phrase. There are believers in heaven at this point. Abraham, David. Does he not love them? Oh yes, he loves them. But they're in the world. What's in the world? We. We understand the church in two ways. The church militant on earth. The church triumphant in heaven. In heaven, the church triumphant, there's no battles, there's no woes, there's no sorrow, there's no suffering, it's joy. But not for the church militant. There's pain, there's sorrows, there's trials, there's temptations, there's tears, there's heartache. Imagine you're a mother and you've got four children. One of those children are in Iraq. They're in the army. Now you love all your children, but there's a particular love for that child because they're in the greatest danger of all. You know you might never see them again. They're in the midst of a battle. That's Christ. He loves all his children, in heaven and on earth. But here on earth, we're in battle. we're in warfare. There's trials and temptations and therefore having loved his own which were in the world, he loves them to the end because we've got all these struggles and how are we going to get through it? When sin is coming to your door and defeating you, how are you going to get through it? When there's heartbreak in your home, when there's suffering and agony in your soul, When temptation is telling you to disobey God, don't trust Him, He doesn't help you, how are you gonna get through it? Love. Love. Jesus Christ, love to you. Because He'll come in His Holy Spirit by the Word of God, read or preach, and He will say, I love you with an everlasting love. My love is hot on your heels. My love will never forsake you nor leave you. My love will never go dim. My love is not like man's love. You're in love. You're out of love. You're in love. You're out of love. I love. It doesn't grow cold. It's fervent. It's fiery. It's hot. We read the Song of Solomon. It says love is as strong as death. It overcomes anything, everything. It says my love is jealousy as cruel as the grave. A grave never fails. Guess how many people out of 10 die? 10. Love, Christ's love never fails. Many waters cannot quench this love. It will always be with you. My friends, nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Even on your deathbed. As you're dying, that love is immediately there. And as soon as you die, my love will receive you into glory. And in the future, in the resurrection of the dead, at judgment day, for those who have trusted in Christ, love. They'll go to heaven. What is heaven? A preacher many years ago, Jonathan Edwards, he described heaven as a world of love, where Christ and his infinite divine love will communicate his love to your soul for all eternity and you will be satisfied forever. This is Christ's love. And I wanna speak first of all to you who are not believers in Christ. You're bored. You don't pay attention to religious things. You come because of whatever. You go home, you're different to where you are here. You're very religious here maybe, but very unreligious at home. That's not true faith. I have two options for you. The love of Christ or the wrath of Christ. Because the Bible says when Christ returns, the wrath of the Lamb will consume you. Hell is a real place. It's not a burger place, it's not a TV show, it's a real place. And if we are still in our sins when we die, Christ's wrath will be poured upon us forever. And then there's love. He loves sinners. You know, people didn't go to the Pharisees, but they came to Christ. He is meek and lowly and hard. It says of Christ, he receives sinners. He receives tax collectors. He receives prostitutes. He receives the most debased, sinful man or woman with an open arm saying, I love sinners. And if you turn from your sins today and trust in Jesus Christ, you will know his love more than I can explain. We've got a saying in Scotland, it's more felt than telt. Some things you just can't describe. Words cannot give meaning. Write poetry, write song, and yet they cannot experience love. But when you know Christ, it is felt. And you know the love of Christ. all your sins will be washed away, that guilt will be gone in the blood of the Lamb, and now you're free to live in a holy life, pleasing to God by His grace. Turn to Christ today. And you who are Christians, know how much Christ loves you. He loves his own. He will always love you. I don't know what you're going through right now, but he loves you. I don't know what's gonna happen to you to the rest of 2019, but I know this, his love will be with you. Oh, my dear friends, love. Do you struggle with obedience? Are you struggling to follow Christ? The answer is not just obedience, my friends. You just say, right, I need to obey more, I need to sort this out. It's not gonna work, my friends. Jesus says, if you love me, Keep my commandments, love. The more you think and read your Bible how much Jesus loves you, oh my friend, your heart will respond to how much you love him. And those difficulties and challenges of obedience, you'll see they're nothing compared to the love of my saviour. And out of my love for him, I will deny this, I won't do that, I won't go there, I won't say this, I won't act like that, but I will act like this and that because I love my Saviour. And lastly, this love of Christ to us as an example. He says later in verses 34 and 35 of this chapter, John 13, 34 to 35, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. I'll end on this. I wasn't brought up in the church. I don't have Christian family. I don't know anyone who's a Christian where I come from. And by God's grace, as he led me to the church, there was something radically different about him. Yeah, they're sinners, yeah, they have struggles, but they truly loved Christ, and I saw that. You know, they wouldn't talk about each other behind their backs. That was not where I came from. They denied themselves to serve others. That doesn't happen where I come from. It was different. Their kindness, their compassion, their relationships between one another, they were a family. This was a witness to me. and I have many years and many testimonies of the witness of the church because of the love they would show one another. Why? Because they love Christ. Make this place a place of love, Christ love, so that in this community, in the darkness of sin and selfishness and hatred, there's a shining beaking of light that loves and cares, is kind, is patient, is considerate, that serves others. And I tell you, if you truly live like that, the gospel will explode. People will come in. It will be word and deed together. And they will see the love of Christ towards sinners. My dear brother, my sister, my friend, know Christ's love towards sinners. Let us pray. Our Lord God, We are amazed at the love of Christ towards us all. Grant saving faith to those who do not know thee, and grant much encouragement and strengthening to thy saints. Be with us, O Lord, and may thy love be known. In the Saviour's name, amen. Let us sing a song of love. Psalm 103. Psalm 103A.