All right. Please open your Bibles with me to John chapter 13. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 17. If you're in a pew Bible, that's going to be on page 900. And as we're turning to our passage this morning, please remember that God said, this is the one to whom I will look. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. May God grant us that humility and trembling spirit as we open His Word now. John 13, verses 1-17. Hear the Word of the Lord. 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 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 back to God, rose from 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 wrapped around him. It 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. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, the one who is bathed 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 garments and resumed his place, he said to them, do you understand what I have 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've 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. Thus ends the reading of God's holy word. Let's pray. O Father, we thank You for sending Christ. We thank You for these words that He spoke this morning, O God. We thank You that He put on flesh and that He tabernacled among us. Lord, please give us eyes to see the incomprehensible condescension of Your Son this morning. Though he was equal to you, yet distinct, yet Jesus did not consider his glory something to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant. And it is on display here, Lord, on the eve of his crucifixion. Lord, forbid us from walking away from this sermon in such a way where we fail to see the absurdity of glory becoming a slave. and the absurdity of us not following in those footsteps. We trust in Your promise, Lord, that Your Son is with us always, even to the end of the age. And we believe that now, that You will be with us. We ask these things according to His holy and awesome name. Amen. Alright, you may be seated. John 13 marks a decisive turning point in our Gospel. Completing His public ministry, Jesus now turns to His disciples, where for five chapters, 13 through 17, He instructs them alone. And this long block of Scripture is bookended by on both sides by the love that Jesus has for His people. So let's look at the first bookend in verse 1. Now, before the feast of the Passover, so this is on the evening of Jesus' death, the eve before. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of the world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. You know, knowing what you know about the Gospels, statements like this should make us grasp and gasp for breath. Because the hour had come for Jesus to be crucified, to be taken away and suffer under them the righteous wrath of a holy God, and what is He thinking about? He's thinking about us, His people. If you belong to Christ by faith, He's thinking about you. That's unimaginable. If you were on the eve of being slaughtered, where would your thoughts go? To the pain? To the suffering? To the pitting you'd want to run away? Your soul would be horrified? And what is Jesus doing? He's thinking about His own. But there's more. It's not just that He has this looming death hanging over Him. Jesus in this first verse is said to also know that He's going to return to His Father. Very soon, He'd be sitting at the right hand of God with all the admiration of the angels singing, Holy, Holy, Holy. What anticipation! What joy! And yet, where are His thoughts and affections? On His people. On His people. Verse 1 says that Jesus loved His own. Don't miss that. Right away, John chapter 13 is opening up with this idea that Jesus has a particular people. By election, Jesus is going to pray in John 17, I've manifested Your name, God, I've manifested Your name to them, the people that You have given Me, Yours they were, and You gave them to me." Jesus loves His own. And this love that He has for us is not interrupted by the thought of suffering infinite wrath, and it's not interrupted by the thought of returning to infinite joy. That's the first bookend. That's how this upper room discourse begins. I love my people to the end, to the telos. That doesn't just mean chronological end, it means I love them to the full, complete. I can't love them anymore. We were in prayer breakfast on Friday morning and we were talking about the fact that God If you are in Christ, He never began to love you. There was never a moment where God started loving you. As long as He has been God, He has loved you. And there'll never be a moment where He will stop loving you. As long as He is God, He will love you. As long as God is God, from beginning to end, He loves His own. Forever. To the full. That's the first bookend. The second bookend is at the end of this Upper Room Discourse when Jesus prays in John 17, 26. He says, O righteous Father, I have made known to them your people, I've made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. I don't even know what that verse means. How can Jesus say, I want the love that you have towards me, infinite love, I'm the second person of the Trinity, be in my people. How do you even explain that verse? That's how chapter 13 and chapter 17 begins and ends. Loving them to the end, put the love that you have for me in them. That's the bookend of this Upper Room Discourse. Now as this discourse begins on this third Sunday during Advent, Jesus gives us a practical picture of why He came into the world. Jesus came into the world to wash away our sins. 3rd Sunday of Advent, 3rd Sunday remembering Jesus came, why did He come? He came into the world to wash away our sins. We're looking at the foot washing episode this morning. And this is not some random act of kindness merely meant as a moral lesson on how we ought to treat each other. This event is like the exodus out of Egypt. It's like the crossing of the Red Sea. It's like the manna coming down from heaven. It's a gospel sign. That's what this is. Jesus became a servant, a slave. so that He could wash away the filth of our sins. Just as the ancient Israelites would lay their hand on the scapegoat, symbolically transferring their sin to it, so Jesus would lay His hands on the filthiest part of the disciples' body and He would receive their sins. And He has done that for you if you believe. So that's where we're going this morning. This foot washing is a gospel sign full of gospel substance that informs our gospel service. Three parts. The gospel sign of washing, the gospel substance of washing, and the gospel service of washing. Here's the big idea. The main theme to our text. Jesus became a servant to wash away all our sin. And therefore, we ought to serve and wash each other. There is a moral lesson in this passage. It's not devoid of it. And if we miss it, we're not the people that Jesus is talking to in this passage. What Jesus does informs our service to one another. But it comes in that order. Jesus became a servant to wash away all our sin and therefore we ought to serve and wash each other. So let's look first of all at the gospel sign of washing. Now historically there have been some in the church that have taken this foot washing account to point to baptism. Kind of wherever there's water in the scriptures of baptism. But I don't believe that's it. Others have taken this passage, such as the Roman Catholic Church. They see Jesus instituting a perpetual ordinance of foot washing. Literally, we have to wash the feet of others. And they would point to verse 14, where Jesus said, if I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. But both of these interpretations fail to grasp the deeper significance of what Jesus is saying. There are four clues, important clues, in our text that show that Jesus is giving us a gospel sign. Four clues in the text that show that Jesus is giving us a gospel sign. So here's clue number one. Jesus says in verse 7, as He's washing their feet, He says, What I'm doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Now think about that for a moment. Certainly the disciples knew what Jesus was doing at that moment. He was washing their feet. But what he's saying is you don't grasp the full significance of it right now. Afterward, that is when I go to the cross, when I'm glorified, then you'll know what I've done. That's clue number one. Clue number two that this foot washing event is a sign is found in verse eight. Jesus says to Peter, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. What an odd thing to say if Jesus's main point was literal foot washing. He hangs eternity on this event. Clue number three that this foot washing is a sign. Jesus says in verse 10, the one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. He's speaking about Judas here. And his point is not about Judas's hygiene. His point is that Judas is the betrayer. And that's why he's unclean. Clue number four, and this is the last one that this foot washing event is a sign. Jesus says in verse 15, For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. That word example in the Greek is the word hypodigma. And it means two things. It means a sign. that points to something else, and it means an example for us to imitate. Now, I don't believe that there's an English word that puts both of those meanings in one word. So what our translators did is they gave us one word, example, but it means both. It means a sign and an example. Jesus not only gave us a sign with this foot washing, but he gave us something to imitate. And so the question is, is what does this foot washing point to? So let's look at the gospel substance of washing. The gospel substance of washing. There are three different meanings of this foot washing sign. The first one, as I've already said, it's going to point to the gospel. That's the first and primary and deepest and most important meaning that this foot washing sign points to, the gospel. Secondly, it's going to point to the ongoing washing that Christians need in their lives. You need to be washed if you're a Christian. Thirdly, it's going to point to the service that we owe each other. Those are the three things that this foot washing points to. So let's look first at foot washing as a sign of the gospel. Look at verse 8 again. If I do not wash you, Jesus says, you have no share with me. In other words, your eternal destiny depends upon Jesus doing this to you. Verse 8 is the key to understanding all the verses that come before it. And even though the disciples did not understand this at the time, what Jesus was showing them through this foot-washing event is what He was going to accomplish at Calvary within 24 hours. So let's walk through the first few verses, starting in verse 2. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him." Now, we're going to come back to this, but just note that the devil is at the table. God is at the table, and the devil is at the table at the Last Supper. Verse 3, so Jesus knows something, Jesus knowing, what does He know? Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God, He rose from supper. Now, when the Apostle gives us clues like this, we shouldn't ignore them. John is stressing that Jesus knows something, and Jesus doesn't even say it out loud. Jesus, at this moment, is conscious of the fact that His Father has given Him the universe. He's given him the universe, He's given him all things. He's sitting at this Paschal meal, candlelight in the room, and between the flickering of the shadows on the walls, Jesus knows that He's the King. He knows that He has the right to condemn sinners to everlasting hell. He knows He has the right to forgive sinners and welcome them into His kingdom. He knows that He has the power to destroy all of His enemies with the breath of His mouth. He knows that He has the right to be worshipped and adored by every creature that has breath. And he knows that very soon he was going to return to the heavenly throne where the angels would admire him with unceasing song. John is stressing that Jesus knows this. Why? Because he wants to overwhelm us with what Jesus is about to do. Wouldn't it be shocking if you had dinner with the President of the United States of America, and he pulls out the vacuum cleaner and starts cleaning your house? That's nothing compared to what Jesus is about to do in this passage. Nothing. I own the world. Now watch what I'm going to do. Verse 4. He rose from supper. Why? To display His majesty? To cause His disciples to bow the knee in honor to Him? No. Verse 4, He laid aside His outer garments. Jesus laid aside the dignity of heaven. Taking on a towel, he tied it around his waist. Jesus dressed himself as the lowest slave imaginable. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that he wrapped around him. Can you imagine the astonishment and shame that the disciples felt at this very moment? They were so astonished, they were so shame-faced that they couldn't even talk until Peter finally spoke up. Astonishment because this act of washing feet was only reserved for the lowest of all slaves. Even Jewish slaves were not allowed to do this. D.A. Carson tells a well-known story in Jewish antiquity in which Rabbi Ishmael returned home from the synagogue one day and his mother wished to wash his feet. But Rabbi Ishmael refused on the ground that that act was too demeaning. Only slaves and the lowest ones wash feet. These disciples were astonished, but they were also shamed. You know that argument that the disciples have about who is greatest in the kingdom? That happened during The upper room discourse. Perhaps just a few minutes before this washing, they're arguing around the table. I'm the greatest! No, I'm the greatest! I'm going to be closest to Jesus! And then what does Jesus do? He takes off His clothes, and He gets on the ground like a slave. Who ever heard of such a thing? Whoever heard of a God who washes filth and feces off the feet of His creatures? Whoever heard of a God who became a slave? The old negro spirituals were born from such truths as these. During the First Great Awakening in the 1700s, when George Whitefield was preaching, he began to preach to the slaves in America. His biographer reports that Whitefield, because he was easy to understand, these poor black people heard his words and were led into a rich new realm. As the Gospel was unfolded to them, they discovered that this Christ, this God, had become a slave. Can you imagine the good news for a slave in America? That their God had become a slave to save them from their sins? No wonder they could sing! How could you ever sing when the whip is at your back? You can sing if you know that your God became a servant to save you from your sins. That's how you can sing. and that this world is temporary, and one day I will go and be with Him, and I will be set free from these chains. But these disciples were too astonished and shamefaced to sing. They couldn't even speak. Finally, one of them spoke up. Peter said in verse 6, Lord, do You wash my feet? And in the Greek, it's emphatic. He's actually indignant at this point. He's like, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him in verse 7, 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. And now Jesus' action comes into full view. Jesus is talking about the blood of the cross. Peter, if I don't wash you with the blood of my cross, if your sins are not forgiven, you have no part of me. You need to be purified because your sins have defiled you. You need to be justified before God, otherwise you'll be damned. If I don't wash you, you're like Judas. That's who you are. If you've not been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, you have no part of Christ. You have no part of the blessings of His kingdom. You have no share in heaven. And this is why this first sign has to be the Gospel. Because learning moral principles is not enough. Loving your neighbor is not enough. Being a law-abiding citizen is not enough. If you are not washed in the blood of the Lamb, you're damned forever. Jesus Christ became a slave, a servant, in order to wash away your sins. That's what His foot washing primarily points to. And you can have your sins washed away if you believe. Is there better news this Christmas season than that? But there's a second meaning behind what Jesus does. And this is a sign of the continual cleansing that we need. After Jesus tells Peter, if I do not wash you, you have no share in me, Peter responds in verse 9. He says, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. The very thought of having no share with Jesus terrifies his soul. And so he says, Lord, wash my whole body. Verse 10, Jesus said to him, The one who has bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. Now, in this gospel, we've seen Jesus change metaphors in different places. In John chapter 10, in one chapter, Jesus starts by calling himself the Good Shepherd because he is the one that enters through the door. But then just a few verses later, he calls himself the door. So when Jesus is telling these metaphors and giving us these pictures, it's not odd that he would change the meaning of the sign. And that's what he does here. He changes the meaning of the sign to accommodate Peter's response. He says, bathed, does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. In other words, what he's saying now is, is if you are united to me, if you've been born again, you are clean. You have been justified. That work never needs to be done again. Your debts are paid. But you do need your feet cleaned. We have been called In Scripture, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we've been called. To walk. To walk. And what happens in our walk? We become corrupted. We become defiled by our own sin. And we feel it in our hearts. And so John, not accidentally says in 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is why Christians need the Gospel. It is insane in the state of modern evangelicalism to treat the Gospel as a thing that you only preach when visitors come. If I stop preaching the gospel, run, because you will die. Christ's work of washing needs to be applied to us daily. Daily. This is the mark of a true believer, is recognizing that we still need cleansing. If you feel dirty and you feel that you need to be cleansed, that's the mark of a believer. That's not the mark of an apostate. Apostates don't feel that. The one who is in danger is the one who feels no need for cleansing. And Jesus points this out. He says halfway through verse 10, And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That's why he said, Not all of you are clean. He's speaking of Judas. Judas was the son of destruction. He was unclean. And this provides us with a grave warning. Being around Jesus and being around Jesus' people cannot rescue you. We're going to have a baptism next week. I'm so excited about it. If Jesus were to come and baptize next week, that would not save Alex who is going to be baptized. Religious rites do not save you. Judas was walking with Jesus for three years. He performed miracles. If you've been in the church your whole life, that does not save you. If you were born of Christian parents, that does not save you. How many times is this gospel, John's gospel, going to preach the gospel? That's the challenge of being a preacher. Every week, oh, it's the gospel again. Oh, it's the gospel again. It's the gospel again. Apparently, God thinks that we need to hear the gospel again. Judas didn't feel the need to be cleansed like Peter did, and I am sure there are people in this room You can't wait for this sermon to get over because they are tired of hearing about the cleansing flower of Jesus' blood. And you're in danger. Thirdly, the gospel service of washing. Third sign that this foot washing points to is The service that we owe each other. The service that we owe each other. And that's found in verses 12 through 17. So let's look at verse 12. When Jesus 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 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. Now it's clear, Jesus changes the meaning again of the sign. Obviously, Jesus doesn't intend for us to atone for one another's sins. That's the first meaning. Neither does He intend for us to spiritually cleanse one another in the way that He does. That's the second meaning. He's changing the meaning again. And yet, there is something that Jesus did that He wants us to imitate. Jesus became a servant to all. And this is something that disciples then and disciples now need to hear. Especially American disciples. As Paul says in Philippians 2, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." The disciples were not doing that. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant." In spite of the fact that Jesus taught perfectly for three years with these men, they still had become puffed up and proud. And brothers and sisters, so are we. You and I are puffed up and proud disciples. How do I know? Did you fight this week? James 4 says, why do you quarrel amongst yourselves? Is it not because of this that your passions are at war within you? What passions? The passions to be first. The passions for me to reign supreme and everyone else to serve me. That passion. Is that passion at work, at war within you this week? What about backbiting? You talk bad about any other saints this week? What about jealousy? Did you have that in your heart this week? What about complaining? What about murmuring? What about any other sin that you committed this week? That's what Jesus is addressing here. These disciples were sitting around the table with Jesus, and they had stinky, offensive feet. And not one of them took the initiative to wash They counted themselves far too important for such a lowly task. Oh God, help us. Oh God, help us. But Jesus says this in verse 16, Truly, truly, most solemnly, Amen and amen, yes and yes. Listen, 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. Jesus is saying, no one has a higher rank than I do. I'm the master. And yet I stooped to be a servant of you all. That's what I did. Are you greater than that? But Jesus, you don't know how bad such and such a person is. But Jesus, you don't know how low such and such a task is. But Jesus, you don't know how patient I've abided with such and such a person. But Jesus, but Jesus, but Jesus, I wiped crap off their feet, is what Jesus is saying. Who do you think you are? Who do I think I am? Oh, good grief. Last night we were eating dinner. And the night before, my kids, are they in the room? I get pressed to the point of impatience, of unkindness, and I lash out. And this verse is ringing around in my head, oh, are you greater than me? Really, that's what you have to put up with? So convicting. D.A. Carson said that we need to be aware of that form of religious piety that ushers, that utters a hearty amen. to the most stringent demands of discipleship, but which rarely does anything about them." You hear what he's saying? I love church. I love being here with you. This is my favorite time of the week. But if we sit here and say, amen, amen, and then go out and refuse to serve one another, that is a false piety. And God forbid that we would act like that. Jesus said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Jesus doesn't give us this command to serve one another because He wants us to be miserable. He gives us this command because He's working for our joy, for our happiness. Look at verse 17. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. Happy are you. Happy are you if you become a slave like me. You'll never be disappointed. Whoever in this room has ever found disappointment from truly serving another human being. That's when you're not supposed to raise your hand. God is working for our happiness. It's not those who rise and rule who are happy in Jesus' kingdom. It's those who stoop and obey. So let's apply this to our lives. First, if you're new here, we have a three-fold application. We call it our doctrine, which addresses our mind, our duty, which addresses our will, and our delight, which addresses our heart. So first of all, our doctrine. And I want to revisit something Peter said, so I'm going to move away for a moment to what our duty is. Here's our doctrine. Christians need constant washing. Christians need constant washing. After Jesus told Peter, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me, this is how Peter responded. Peter said, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. And Jesus said, the one who bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but he is completely clean. Now, Peter responded wrongly twice in this event. I think that there are two responses that we can have towards our sin that are very wrong. The first response, when we sin, when our feet get dirty, is excessive guilt. Is excessive guilt. We know that we've done wrong this morning, last night, this week. We know that we've been sinning against God, and we get struck, perhaps some of you, with this overwhelming condemnation, and our spirit cries out like the leper, unclean, unclean, and we flee to Jesus like Peter, not just to wash our feet, but we ask Him to wash our whole body because we think we've fallen from grace. I know that some of you look around in this room and think to yourselves, I am the worst sinner in this room. And if people knew who I really was, I would not be welcome here. You're constantly feeling contaminated by your own sin and you walk around feeling guilty. Jesus has a word for you. The one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet because he is clean. Oh dear beloved, if you believed in Christ, then you are clean. You're clean. Forever. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you've been born again, Jesus loves you, and He loves you so much that He became a slave, so that He could take you and make you His possession. Be free from excessive guilt. Believe the Gospel. Believe the gospel. You're washed. You've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. You just need to come and confess your sins and receive that freshness of God's Spirit. Don't fall under the condemnation of the devil. That's not what God wants for you. But there's a second response that we can have towards our sin that is equally wrong. And that's flippancy. We can be very flippant about our sin. Christians can often look at the sin that they are committing and persuade themselves that it's not really a big deal. Ah, what is that sin? It's not really a big deal. F.W. Krummacher says in this case that Christians esteem their sins too lightly, because this type of person forgives himself instead of letting himself be forgiven. You have no business forgiving yourself. You're not God. Only God can forgive you. And if you're treating your sin like it's not that big of a deal, consider, Jesus loved you so much that He died for you, but He had to die for you. He had to be punished, because your sin is so vile before a holy God, that unless He died for it, you would forever suffer under the wrath, condemnation of God. It's not a flippant thing. So both of those paths are wrong when we're dealing with our sin. If you are overtaken by excessive guilt, but you've believed in Christ, then remember that Jesus loved you so much that he died for you. And if you are prone to flippancy about your sin, then consider that Jesus had to die for you. Our duty. Our duty is very clear in this text. or to wash one another's feet. Or to wash one another's feet. Verse 14, if I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. There's two ways that we can wash one another's feet. And the first way is the way of brotherly love in acts of service. The way of brotherly love in acts of service. The Christianity that Jesus is preaching here is not one of mere words, but one of self-sacrificial love and self-denial. Self-denial. The Christianity of Jesus is one that is willing to perform the most menial acts. What kind of people are we? Do we look for opportunities to serve other people? What kind of other people? Your boss? Christianity applies to your workplace. Do you serve your employer like a servant? Do you serve your spouse? Do you serve your children? Do you serve your enemies, the people you don't like? Guess whose feet Jesus washed? His spiritual enemies. But I would ask, why do you serve? Preaching is such a dangerous thing. I was talking to Ben Roll, our English brother, this last week, and he says he's at constant war with himself because he's a preacher. And he asks himself, do I preach because I want to be known or do I preach because I want Christ to be known? It is a scary thing coming behind this pulpit because that torments me every time I come up here. Why do I preach? Why do you serve? If nobody ever gave you recognition, would you still serve? If nobody ever said great is the name of John Smith, Would you lift a finger to love your neighbor? And let me just add that that type of service is not a blessing, it's a bondage. If you are serving so that your name can be made known, you are in bondage because you're constantly doing things to be seen by others. And so you'll either get burned out because that fuel of self-celebration stops flowing, or because you'll be so overwhelmed with anxiety because you can't live up to last time's performance. You always have to outdo yourself if you're looking for your name to be made much of. If you're serving from that motive, that's not serving Christ. That's serving yourself. Only when we desire to please Christ and put Him on display, only when we seek to be useful to His kingdom and esteem others more than ourselves, will our service be blessed. There's a second way to wash one another's feet, and that's to be an agent of the gospel. First one is acts of love and service. This next one is to be an agent of the gospel. Christians forget the gospel all the time. And that's why we sin. And so we need to be the type of people that can apply the gospel to each other. The Apostle Peter got this lesson cemented into his mind, and he writes about it in 2 Peter 1.9. He says, for whoever lacks these qualities, what qualities? Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. Whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Why do we sin? Why do we fail to have fruit in the Christian life? Because we've forgotten that we've been cleansed from our former sins. And so, We need to wash each other's feet, meaning we need to remind each other of the gospel so that we can fight against sin. So let me draw three of these out. If your brother or sister is lacking steadfastness, meaning they are starting to lose endurance, they're being discouraged, they want to give up, and there's people in this assembly that are like that. Wash their feet in the gospel. Remind them that their perseverance doesn't depend upon their own strength. Philippians 1.6, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. Remind them of that. Wash their feet in what Christ started, He will complete. Wash their feet. If your brother or sister is lacking brotherly affection, perhaps they're angry at another Christian brother or sister. Wash their feet. Remind them that Christ did not wait until they were lovable before He showed them grace. The disciples did not come to the table with their feet washed. They stank. He didn't say, clean up your feet before I clean up your feet. He said, I will clean your feet. Isn't that one of your favorite verses, Romans 5? While we were still weak, while we were still sinners, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. It is a contradiction to the gospel to wait for somebody to perform before you show them grace. If your brother or sister is suffering from anxiety, wash their feet in the gospel. And if you're like me, this is something that you need to remind them again and again and again about. If your brother or sister is suffering from anxiety, remind them that Christ's power and presence is an ever-present reality. Isaiah 41.10 says, Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. That's power and presence for the anxious heart. Wash their feet in the gospel. That's our duty. Our delight. Our delight. Jesus never grows weary of washing our feet. Don't you get tired of correcting your children over and over and over and over and over and over again about the same things that you already corrected them over and over again about yesterday. I've told you this a thousand times. Stop it! Jesus never gets tired of doing that with us. Isn't it wonderful that Jesus anticipates the need for our cleansing for the rest of our lives? Meaning Jesus has already factored in your sin. He's already factored in our failures. He knows that we will often desire to be the master instead of the servant. He knows that we will often, this day, today, act superior to another human being. He knows that we will be impatient and unkind. He doesn't endorse those behaviors. On the contrary, he's sought to speak with passion against these things, yet he has a remedy. Before I came out here this morning, I was praying through Isaiah 55 in my office. And God touches my heart in such tender ways. The prophet commands that the wicked would forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And verse 7 says, let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God. For he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord." That's the logic of God's grace. God shows compassion to the wicked. when they repent for God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. In other words, because God thinks infinitely higher than us, His ways are immeasurably greater than ours, He will show compassion on the wicked when they repent. God is telling us that this kind of compassion is due to the fact that He is infinitely glorious in His thinking. Let me ask you a question. If you traded places with God when you became a Christian, would you put up with yourself? Neither would I. The ground for your pardon, for your everlasting compassion, is the fact that God's thoughts are higher than your thoughts. And Jesus' remedy for you is He says, I've already provided every cleansing that you'll ever need. Keep coming to Me and I'll wash you. I'll wash you. I'll never get tired. I'll wash you in My blood. And you'll be clean. I know you're going to fail. I've already factored it in. I've already factored it in. You're My son. You're My daughter, if you believe. And I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. I'll love you to the end. Let's pray. O God, the fact that Your Son, the second person in the Trinity, God Himself became a slave, is unfathomable. God, there is no God like You. There is no king like you, there is no Lord like you, and there is no people blessed like the Lord's people. God, thank You for sending Your Son to not merely wash the disciples' feet, but to wash us in the blood of Christ. God, I pray You would convict anyone who has no part in Him this morning. Create faith. Create conversion. And for saints this morning who have discouraged hearts, God, wash them. Tell them, Lord, by the power of Your Spirit, that You are my Son, You are my Daughter, I accept You, I receive You, be clean. And God, empower us to serve. God, forbid that we would be arrogant, puffed up disciples. that would see tasks below our station and despise it. Lord, help us to immediately make the connection that if Jesus were to do that, we'd be damned. Create a people here, Lord, that would reflect Your Son. Help us to not have the attitude that says, I am greater than my Master. Oh God, we commit our souls to You. We ask these things in Jesus' holy name, amen.