Well, if you would, open your Bibles to John 13 as we continue our journey through the gospel according to John. We have a very interesting passage to consider this morning, and it is truly my heart's desire that this passage would just cause us to worship. it would inflame our hearts and invigorate us to worship. I certainly appreciated the worship time this morning and what Brother Jay shared in relation to Ephesians chapter 3 and how the great love of Christ works in us to cause us to respond to Him, to submit to Him. So I want to begin here in John chapter 13, beginning in verse 1. My text will be John 13, 1 through 17, and the title would simply be, Christ Loves His Own. Beginning in John 13 verse 1, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from 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. So when he had washed their feet, taking his garments and sat down again, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, 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 should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Blessed are you if you do them. Well, I had to think of 1 John 3.16. By this we know love. How do we identify love? What is the standard of love? Is it a fuzzy feeling? Is it, what is it? By this we know love because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That is his sacrificial death on the cross and laying down his life for his people. That's the standard. That's how we know what love looks like. We don't even, we're not able to necessarily comprehend what love is outside of an example for us. So we have it here in John 13 where he says in verse 1, Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Now I want to begin here in this first section. In verses 1 through 5, kind of that first section here, I want to notice what Christ knew. I want to notice what He knew. That'll be kind of in this first section. we had looked at this concept of this, my hour is at hand, in verse 12 of 27, in verse 27 of chapter 12, he says this way, now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say, Father? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I have come to this hour. And so, here in John 13 and verse 1, When Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from this world to the Father, He was here in a fellowship with His closest associates, His disciples that He had discipled for close to three years. And he was in a private meeting with them. And from here on in John, we have what they call the upper room discourse. And we have private, personal teaching from Christ to his 12 disciples. And so here, He knew His hour had come that He would give His life as a ransom for many. And He knew that He should depart from this world. He knew that His ministry was coming to an end, that His time here was very limited. His hour was literally at hand. This would have been Thursday evening before his Friday crucifixion. And so he was very close to being apprehended here. The scribes and pharisees, the council, were soon to arrive and they would arrest him and interrogate him. And so his time was at hand. He knew this. He knew that he should depart from this world, and in departing from this world, he knew that he would arrive at his father, or with his father. That he was leaving, and that is so true for all of us, isn't it? That when we depart from this world, we arrive in the next. We certainly do that. There's not an nihilism where we just vanish. No, we go from one to the next. And here, our Lord knew that as He would depart from this world, He would be in the presence of His Father. He would be leaving His own, as it says here, He would be departing from his own and going back to his own in glory. He had those who were his own here, and he had those who were his own in glory. And having loved them while in the world, he loved them, as the Greek says here, to the uttermost. That word and, he loved them to the end. This is an indication not just to the extent of his love, but to the nature of his love, that he loved them to the uttermost. He loved them to the end. That was the extent and the nature of his love. He loved them with the full knowledge of the cost of his love. He loved them knowing there was a traitor in their midst. He knew that. He loved them. Notice what he says in verse 11, for he knew who would betray him. And then, outside of our text today, but in verse 21, it says here that he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me. And so, As we look at this context of this foot washing, this example of Christ, we see what he knew. It's a full declaration to Christ. He knows exactly what's going on. He knows that there's a traitor in their midst. He knows that his enemy, that Satan has won among them. He knows that. Supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Now just because the devil had put it in his heart does not excuse Judas. He was willing to do this. Remember he had already made plans with the council to betray Christ. And here it seems like maybe that there was an added something here that the devil put into his heart that it was going to be this evening. And we notice that in verse 27, after Jesus had identified graciously, I might say, for the sake of his other disciples, had graciously identified the traitor, after he'd given him the bread that he had dipped and given it to Judas, it says, now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. You know, that is probably, that is a very unique, I believe, situation where someone is personally indwelt by Satan. That he is personally possessed by Satan. It is very unlikely that you or I have ever personally encountered Satan. We've probably encountered his ministers. We have, I believe, Satan can only be in one place at one time. And here he was that evening. We know exactly where he was. He was in the heart of Judas. So we see here that Christ knew all this. He knew that there was a schism among them. He knew that there was not full unity there. and that Satan had a loyal subject among them. He loved them knowing precisely who he was, who Jesus Christ was. Notice in verse 3, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God. That is a very clear statement about the deity of Christ. That He had come from His Father, Jesus knowing this, knowing exactly what His status was. Why is that recounted here in this passage? Why do we have it here? He knew exactly where he had come from and where he was going or rather who he had come from and to where he was going and to who he was returning to. He knew that the administration of the kingdom was in his hand. Think about that. He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands. Complete judgment was given over to Christ. The administration of the Father's kingdom was in His hand. That He, Jesus, was sovereign God. And that the Father had laid the government on His shoulders. You see, the backdrop of this Christ taking the garment of a slave. We see that. Here he was, equal with his father in every way. And he knew his own in this world. He knew their fallibility, their weakness. He loved them in spite of it. He knew all of this and he arose from supper and he laid aside his garments of glory and took up a slave's attire and served them in the lowest place of all. I was intending to read an excerpt from Matthew Henry's commentary, and I forgot my commentary, so I didn't write it word for word. But he made the point that many commentators take this occasion as a symbol of Christ's whole work, where he arose from the tables of his glory, and he laid aside his divine garments, his divine glory. He took upon him the form of his servant, closed himself with the servant's towel, and he poured out his blood, so to speak, so that we could be brought to him. He rose from supper, and as it were, he laid aside his garments of glory, and girded himself with the attire of a slave because he loved his own, because he did love his own. And so we see that what we have here in this evening, this last evening that he had with his disciples, he truly sought to serve them. In this second portion, as we look at verses six through 11, we consider that Christ loved them by teaching them about their spiritual cleansing. Notice here that Of course, Peter was in the thick of it, wasn't he? He was right in the thick of it. Peter, as Christ was ministering to his disciples in love serving them, and by the way, This was a very practical need of the hour. A lot of times in Palestine and in the Middle Eastern environment, they were going up and down the dusty roads in open footwear, and the need for a foot washing was often accomplished. That need was often met by a slave in the host's household. And it was a very practical need as they didn't have air-conditioned cars to drive around. And even we don't even, we rarely stir up dust anymore when we drive up and down the roads. And so this is a somewhat foreign concept to us that if you would have invited someone to your house, And you as a host would have provided a basin, a towel, and your servant would have washed the feet of the guests. Well, here we see divinity. Divinity, none other than Christ who had created all things. who bowed down in front of them, who humbled himself to this point of service where he was washing the grime off of these men's feet. Can we bear with Peter just a little bit and say, What would our reaction have been if you would have followed someone that you truly admired and respected for three years, up and down the streets of Jerusalem, the shores of the Sea of Galilee, wherever, throughout Judea, and you had a great respect, and you seen his works, his miracles, the marvels that came forth from it, his wonderful teaching, and you understood that he was, as has already been, I believe Peter had already, not in this text, but he had already identified Christ. For Christ to come and wash his feet, to humble himself to this place of service, would it not have been in our hearts to say, As John the Baptist said, Lord, it would be more fitting for you to baptize me than me to baptize you. You see, Peter had not It was his nature, I believe. And he, it seems like he had started washing, in verse five, he began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded, and then he came to Peter. It says, then he came to Simon Peter. I do not believe that Peter was the first. I think he was wherever in the lineup. And when Christ came to him, Peter could not keep his mouth shut. He said, Lord, and notice that's how he addressed him, Lord, are you washing my feet? And this is an emphatic statement. Are you washing me? You know, see, it's the you versus me concept here. This emphatic statement, how can this be? Lord, are you washing my feet? And so, it seems that Peter was horrified, or at the very least embarrassed, that their leader should be washing their feet. You see, Peter had to learn, as all of us must, that God's ways are not our ways. They are not our ways. Peter's perception about what was right in an authority figure, Peter's concept was, Peter's perception was influenced by the fallen culture around him. And his view of leadership was corrupted by sin. And Christ gently cleansed them by meeting a practical need in their lives. Now, I want to point out the setting here. If you would, flip back to Luke 22. I want to just point out something that really helped me as I worked through this passage many years ago. It's coming out from a culture that literally made a sacrament out of an example. And for me to understand this passage, it was very helpful to me to understand the setting. I mean, what do you do with this verse 14? If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet. Is that literally or figuratively? What is being taught here? And as I was working through this, I came to great rest in understanding the setting that was going on. What was happening prior to this? And if you go to Luke 22 and verse 24, notice how it says here, and they were en route. I believe it is here that they were en route That may be the mark account on this, that they were en route to Jerusalem. But here it says, Isn't that interesting? And he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors, but not so among you. On the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger and he who governs as he who serves for who is greater, he who sits at the table or he who serves. Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I, he says, am among you as the one who serves." And then you have it in Mark 10. If you would flip back to Mark 10, we even have the sons of Zebedee's mother getting in on it in Mark 10. Just finding this this setting, and here it is that they were, in verse 32 it says, they were on the road going up to Jerusalem. This would have been like a day or so before the triumphal entry, if you remember that happened in the previous text in John 12. Now here he says in Mark 10, 35, Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him, saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us what we ask." Now, I'm mistaken. This Mark 10 is not where their mother came. Well, Mark 10 doesn't recount it. I think it's the Matthew or the Luke account that does speak how their mother came and said, we would like for you to do this for my two sons. But here it's them coming, shows it as them coming, but in another account of this, it was their mother. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? They said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to him, we are able. So Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism I am baptized with, you will be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those to whom it is prepared. And notice verse 41, and when the ten heard it, the ten other disciples heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. And see, what seems like is happening here, is that James and John were looking for an advantage in this coming kingdom. And they wanted to be seated on the right hand and on the left of Christ when Christ ascended to his throne. But he said to them, but Jesus called them to himself and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles, lord it over them. And the great ones exercised authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And so time and again, in all these different accounts, you have Christ falling back on his own example of how the Son of Man came and how this teacher and Lord in John 13 related to them and how he served them, how he came to serve them. The setting is one of a dispute. We want to know, Lord, who is the greatest among us. And we may not think that we would do such a thing. But listen, it is in our fallen nature to to glorify ourselves in whatever, in so many different ways. We tend to do that. God forbid, it's a possibility that we even preach for that purpose. And it's always something that we have to deal with. But brothers and sisters, that is the setting that they were dealing with. Who is the greatest among us? Notice how Christ gently washed them, how he dealt with them. Now I want to just get into the text a little bit here. specifically the Greek word that is translated here for wash. And I don't want to bore you with, but it is important for us to get the details here, that the Greek word translated wash here, washed and washing, is the word nipto. That is used in verses 5, where he began to wash the disciples' feet. Verse 6, Lord, are you washing my feet? In verse 8, you shall never wash my feet. You shall never do that. And then in verse 12, he had washed their feet. That's the word Nipto, the Greek word, and it refers to a partial washing, as in the hands or feet or maybe even the face. Now, when it comes to verse 10, have you noticed here in verse 10, Jesus said to them, he who is, old King James, washed. The new King James says, he who is bathed. That's a different Greek word. It is the word lao. which means a complete bathing. There's a complete different Greek word used in verse 10, and it's the only place here in this account that that word lao is used. The other times it's always nepto, where it's referring to a partial washing, as in Exodus, I think it's Exodus, 28 or 30 where the the the command for the priest was if you came into the temple Courtyard you had to wash your hands and your feet before you began to serve the Lord in in the capacity that the high priest was used to you had to wash a Ceremonial washing washing your hands and your feet. That's the that's the idea there. I But verse 10, there's a complete bathing going on. Jesus said, but he said to him, he who is bathed needs only to nip toe his feet. He needs only to wash his feet. I believe this is a very helpful understanding of this for us. And I have a, there's something that occurred in our family many years ago. And actually, in 2002, Joanne and I took our four boys at that time on an extended Western trip. And we did a lot of tent camping. And so we came to Yellowstone National Park And it was a super dry time of the year. And there was like an inch and a half to two inches of dust everywhere that we were wanting to tent camp. And we had four little boys at that time, 2002. And we tried every evening to take them to the bathhouse, you know. Well, the idea here is bathing. We took them to the bathhouse, but we literally drove the car up to the bathhouse, loaded them in the car, drove them back to the campground, packed them all into the tent, so that if they walked through the inch and a half, two inches of dust, they would have soiled all their bedclothes. and all their bedding so we packed him literally into the tent because he who is washed is altogether clean but when we go out here and walk through the dust you see Now his feet need washing. That's the different kind of washing. If you go to the public bathing house and you get bathed, you're completely clean. But when you arrive back at your house, you have just defiled your feet again. Now you need to have your feet washed. That's the difference here. The one is a complete bathing, the other is a partial bathing. Bathed in verse 10 is Titus 3.5. That's the idea of, and I'll read that for you. Titus 3.5 is this washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Notice what he says, breaking into here. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, in other words, It says, verse 3, For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by Washing our feet, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us through what? The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. That is that complete washing that Christ is talking about here in verse 10. Listen, notice what this beautiful verse says in verse 10, this beautiful truth. Jesus said to them, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. Hey, did you catch that when we read this at first? Do you know that in the eyes of the Lord, we are completely clean. That is a glorious truth for us. We are completely clean brothers and sisters. He who is bathed, or he who has been washed, has this renewing of the Holy Spirit, this washing of regeneration. That is what it means to be regenerated, is to be made new, to be regenerated. Generated again. As we were when we were first created. So, bathed in verse 10 is that passage in Titus 3, 5. Justification and positional sanctification. That's what we're talking about in verse 10. A one time to be instantly, instantly separated from the penalty of sin. That's the reality, brothers and sisters, of being cleaned. You're clean. It's a instantaneous separation from the penalty of our sin. That is justification and positional sanctification. The washing of feet in verse 10 now, when it says here, He only needs to wash his feet. The washing of feet in verse 10 is Ephesians 5, 25 through 27. If you would flip back to that. I want to show you this, Ephesians 5, 25 through 27. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Verse 26, that he might sanctify That word sanctify is to set apart. That he might set it apart, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. That is the washing of feet. This is now a personal or practical sanctification. We have it in John 17, 17. Sanctify them through thy word. Sanctify them by your truth, rather. Your word is truth. John 17, 17. Sanctification by the washing of water by the word. Now listen in John 1, the same writer in John 1, I'm sorry, 1 John 1, in verse 7, it says this way, But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ's Son cleanses us from all sin. A cleansing as we walk in the light. You see, There is this concept here of needing to be refreshed, to keep our feet clean. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, I believe He is teaching us here in 1 John how that our fellowship is maintained as believers. How that we relate to one another. We have fellowship, how? One with another, you see. This concept of foot washing, what Jesus is teaching in John 13, is how do we live together? How do we fellowship together? How do we maintain our fellowship with Christ? Even in a corporate setting together, you see. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. You see, there's this concept of we are his children, but we still do sin, don't we? Sadly, we do. But he writes this so that we may not sin, yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ to righteous. And so, Personal holiness is one of the reasons that you're still here Why doesn't he just convert us and take us To glory Well, he's preparing us for glory That's what he's doing. He's getting us ready for that and so that is one of the reasons why we are still in this world believer and personal holiness, to be gradually separated from the pollution of sin, not the penalty, because you will never be delivered from the penalty of sin through sanctification, through your exercising your works. That's not what we're talking about. But here, To be gradually separated from the pollution of sin, that is practical sanctification. That is personal holiness. That is personal sanctification. Because you have a positional sanctification where you've been set apart by Christ. You are His. But your life is not very salvaged yet, is it? Not always. Especially not as young believers. Our lives need a lot of salvaging. We need our headlights changed. We need a new hood. We need a new set of tires, you see. That doesn't change the fact that he has the title. He owns us. But personal and practical sanctification is what Jesus is teaching here in John 13. Here in relation to having your feet washed. I am leaving, Jesus says, my love for you is of such a nature that I will tell you, I will show you how you can maintain our fellowship. Not just with me, but with each other as well. Sanctification is the process by which the pollution of our sin is gradually washed out of our lives. Justification is the process or is the happening of delivering us from the penalty of our sin. This is speaking more about the pollution of our sin. Sin pollutes us. And so this sanctification is that daily washing, that cleansing that must go on in our lives. It's that practical sanctification. And Peter literally had to learn what this humility is. Humility is not condemning what we don't understand. Isn't that what Peter did here? He said, wait a minute, you're not washing my feet. But as soon as Jesus said, oh, if I don't, You can't have part with me. He said, well, let's just go all in then. Let's just go ahead and let's get a bath. And then Christ taught him what was needed here. And notice, if you remember, Peter writes later, be clothed with humility. You see, Jesus had said in verse seven, You will understand this later, Peter. Trust me. But Peter thought he knew better than Jesus. Now, there were a few different thoughts on verse eight, where 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. Now that is still the word nepto, I believe. If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. I believe what this is teaching is not that Peter didn't believe or didn't belong to Christ, it's that there's not going to be fellowship if you don't let me wash your feet. And I think this is an application for us, brothers and sisters, is that What contacts the earth or the world that we live in? In a spiritual sense here, if you are walking through dust, it is your feet that are making the contact. You are making contact with the world or with the earth and your feet need to be washed. And it's the same way with us spiritually, brothers. As we walk through this world, our feet come in contact with its defilement. We know this to be true. We underestimate what gathering together in a corporate environment... Okay, can you wash your own feet? Not in this sense. I do not believe you can wash your own feet in this sense. There is a sanctifying effect of brothers and sisters coming together and corporately we are worshiping. Time and time again, this has been our experience, has it not? We come to a Sunday morning gathering, a Sunday morning worship, the meeting of God's people, and we are invigorated. We are cleansed, brothers and sisters. The same thing happens on Wednesday evening. We gather together in a corporate environment and the Word of God is that washing influence. And we as brothers and sisters, we engage one another and we talk about the things of God in these corporate settings. And we don't realize that what we're doing is we're washing away the influence of the world that we've gathered throughout the week. We're washing one another's feet. We're blessing one another. We are literally getting rid of the grime that is coming into our lives as we live in this world. There's no avoiding it, brothers and sisters. You can't walk through this world without getting your feet a little dirty. But once you are clean, you're clean, you see. We come from this glorious place of being clean. And we fellowship together in the glory of our cleanliness. But we know that the grime of this world is affecting us, and it does pull us down. It does greatly influence our fellowship. Our fellowship with Christ is greatly influenced by the worldliness that is in our lives. I want to ask you, do you recognize that? Do you recognize that? Do you recognize the importance of the corporate work of the church or two brothers talking about the things of God? How that is literally pushing back on the influence of Satan, of the world, even of your own flesh and blood, your own flesh that is still unredeemed, See, this is one of the reasons why the writer of Hebrews says that we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but we're to exhort one another. As we see the day approaching, we're to exhort one another daily. Let me ask you, do you recognize What is worldly influence and what is feet washing? Do we recognize the difference? Do we recognize that as we engage out here in the world, we become entangled with some things? But listen, we need to be engaged with one another here. washing one another's feet as Christ did this for the disciples. Are we keeping our feet clean? Are we doing that? Or are we constantly wading through the muck and the mud of this world? We do that a lot. You know, we have this thing that we pack with us. It can't be used, I think, to some extent, to cleanse. But most of the time, that computer that we pack along with us, it's, on a very personal level, it is sullying our feet. Maybe not always. Maybe not always. Let me challenge each of us to consider what are we doing that is getting our feet dirty? What are we doing to cleanse our feet? To come together and wash one another's feet? Jesus says in verse 12, in this last section, so when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to them, do you know what I've done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. For so I am. Notice that he doesn't make any bones about that, does he? I am that. He says, if I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. You should be ashamed of yourselves, as he says there, as he implies in a sense, that you were arguing over who was the greatest. And you were embarrassed that I needed to be the one to wash your feet because I am your Lord and teacher. Well, you ought also to wash one another's feet if I did it. For if I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you, most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master. You should be just as willing, he says, to serve one another as you are to serve your master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. So we have a great lesson here given to us by Christ. I have given you an example. I do not believe that we make sacraments out of examples. I mean, we have people who literally make this a sacrament, that you must observe this. The spiritual teaching is that we wash one another's feet, we minister to one another, and we deliver one another from the world in us that wants to hang on to each of us. That is how we minister this principle to one another. If you know these things, this is the way our text ends, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. You know, it doesn't help to know them unless you apply them. We sang this hymn this morning, Blessed Assurance, and the second line goes like this, Perfect submission. Perfect delight. And that's what Jesus is teaching here. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. There's a happiness. There's a state of happiness. That's the word here. Happy are you if you do them. That's the same word that's in the Beatitudes. Blessed. It's this place of blessing is this place of obedience. Perfect submission, perfect delight. And so we have this great exhortation here to serve each other. How can you meet this principle in the lives of this congregation? Is someone struggling? Do you know if somebody's struggling with whatever? You come alongside of them and you encourage them. Maybe you take a meal, maybe you help somebody out with a job or whatever it is. There's ample opportunity for us as we know and get to know each other and are in each other's lives that we can apply this principle to wash one another's feet. And of course we have a great lesson here on leadership. Leadership, Christ indeed was their Lord and their teacher. If I, then your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet. You know, a servant leader, that's what we're called to, to lead by service. to pour out our lives in service, whatever that is for the good of another. Whatever that is for the good of another. That doesn't mean that just Chris and I are supposed to do this. That is how the church relates to one another. But indeed, this is the kind of leader that you want, is a servant leader. You know, a servant leader must not say go, but he must say come. You see, come, that he would not ask you to do something that he's unwilling to do himself. Christ showed this to them, didn't he? The meanest, most menial task of washing the grime off somebody's feet. He did this, and then he says, you should do likewise. You see, come, come to this, join me in this. Servant leadership. Happy are you if you do this. You see, most times we trouble our own spirit. We're troubled because we're not doing what we're called to do. I want to close quickly here with a reading out of John 15, and we'll just close with this passage. John 15, verse nine. Just consider what he says here, John 15, nine and following. As the father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends for all things that I've heard from my father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another. Thank you for your kind attention, and we'll close with those words.