 Now, let's open up our Bibles to John chapter 13. The title of the message is Jesus kind of love. Now, the way this study came about was we have a class that we do on every other Friday at our church, which is entitled Getting to Know Jesus. And it's a study, not a study, but what we do is we go through the book of John and we just kind of try to look into the life of Christ, try to dial in in these conversations. We try to figure out why do you respond that way? What was it? We try to speculate what was going on in this mind and we're just trying to get to know Jesus, right? And I love that class actually. And one of the things that I told the class is this, I said, look, I'm not gonna prepare, I'm not gonna study, even though I already studied before and taught it, but I tell them that because I tell them I wanna prepare, I wanna kind of spend time with you guys in the word and let's see what the Holy Spirit shows us, right? So last week we were in John chapter 13 and as I was reading this passage, we were reading this passage and we were just kind of talking about things that there were catching from Jesus' words, some of the actions that were taking place there with Judas and Peter and all that. And I was really ministered by it, man. I was like, oh man, this really touched my heart. So when I was praying about what to teach today, I came back to this passage. So a lot of the things that I'm gonna say, I'm gonna be honest, I took it from the others people that were saying little nuggets right there, man. So you're gonna be blessed because of it. So let's go ahead and read John chapter 13, beginning in verse one, I'll read the passage, we'll pray then we'll get into our study, amen. It says, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from the world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end, that's deep. 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. And after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with a 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 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 feet. Jesus said to him, quiet and sit down, no, he didn't say that. He said to him, he who is bathed needs only wash his feet. But it's completely clean and you are clean, but not all of you, for he knew who will betray him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean. So when he had washed their feet, taken 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 watch 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. Lord, we ask that you will speak to our hearts this evening, that you would help us to understand the importance of loving the way you love, which is manifested to service. I ask God that you will convict, encourage, strengthen. Lord, just speak to all of us and meet us where we're at so that when we leave this place, Lord, we're left, we leave this place, not only encourage and strengthen, but determine to be faithful servants of you. We love you Lord, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So let me just give you a background of what's going on. Chapters 13 through 17, listen closely, are chapters before Jesus' crucifixion, where his devotion is to his disciples. Chapters one through 12 focuses on Jesus' rejection by the nation, while chapters 13 through 17 centers on who did receive him as Lord and Savior. Beginning in chapter 13, Jesus moves away from public ministry to private ministry with those who did receive him as Lord and Savior. Now, now that chapters 13 and 17 were spoken by Jesus as a farewell on the night of his betrayal and arrest to communicate his coming legacy to his followers, which is recorded in chapters 13 through 16. And in chapter 17, we see how Jesus prays for them. Now, the cross was only one day away and Jesus had some important things to do and to say to his beloved disciples. And that's where we pick up. So it says now, before the fees, verse one 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. I love this. He loved them to the end. Now, we note here, number one, that Jesus loved his disciples to the end. In this simple statement, listen closely, John tells us that Jesus knew he was going to die. But what's mind blowing here is that knowing, is that he knew those individuals who were right there with him. He knew exactly who was among the crowd. He had his 12 disciples, right? And one of them was his betrayer. One of them was a hater. One of them was a thief. One of them was someone who didn't really love the Lord. He didn't love the Lord. But yet the Lord we're gonna see how he's gonna love him too. He will be a recipient of the grace and love of Jesus Christ, which we'll focus in in a few moments. But again, we see how he was willing to still serve them even though he knew who they were and who this one was. Now, listen closely. Luke tells us in his gospel, Luke chapter 22, verses 15, as well as verses 24, that at this particular time, the disciples were arguing about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Now, and this argument took place right after Jesus just shared his heart with them and he tells them, listen, I wanna sit and eat with you guys, but then I'm gonna go and suffer. But in their conversation and discussing who's gonna be greater, they were not listening to what the Lord was saying. He's telling them, listen, I'm going to die. I'm going to suffer for you guys. They're so caught up, distracted by the conversation that is taking place. Now, listen closely. There were selfishly engaging conversation about position. All the while, Jesus was trying to selflessly minister to them about perpetuation, which John will later write about in his letter in first John chapter two, verse two and first John chapter four, verse 10. Now, there were focus on position. It was focus on the crucifixion. You know what's crazy is that sometimes that can happen, especially if you're someone who's serving, right? Sometimes we serve with a different agenda than that of God's. You know, there was this guy, I'm not gonna name him because he's probably watching right now, but there was this guy who was doing ministry with us. When he came, he really wanted to be a pastor, right? In fact, I had problems with him because he kept telling me, oh, I'm a pastor, I was ordained by this person. I was ordained by this person. So I told him, hey, bro, I said, there's only one pastor here. Everyone else is just assistants. I learned that from my pastor, you know? But here's the thing, but he would always introduce himself, oh, I'm pastor this and I'm pastor that and so forth. And you know, after a while, I was like, man, he's just kind of getting irritating. So one day I was talking with him and not because I was power tripping it, don't get me wrong. It's just that, you know when someone is chasing position, right? There's times where some of my leaders are dressed as pastors, I don't mind. You know, because the guys called them pastors, I'm cool with it. But when someone is trying to force someone to call them pastors, now I have a problem with that. So anyways, it happened that I was sitting down one day with him and he said, pastor, can I talk with you? I said, yeah, let's go to the back of my, you know, in the office. Not like in the back of the room, so I can knock him out, none of that. It was to discuss something that was in his heart. So he sat there and he began to tell me, you know what pastor, I was ordained by this person. Again, this is like the fifth time that he shared the story with me. And for 45 minutes, he sat there, trying to convince me he was a pastor. After he was done, I looked at him and said, you know what bro, I just sat here and listen to you tell me for 45 minutes about your qualifications as a pastor. I said, first of all, I want you to understand something. A pastor has sheep that follows. Where are your sheep? Number two, I told him, you're so caught up in trying to convince me that this position is yours. I said, look bro, straight up, I want to be honest with you. You can have the title. I told him, I'm too busy trying to minister to the people out there that are close to losing their families and some of their lives. I said, listen bro, I said, and it was my old rebuke, you know, and oh no pastor, that's not what it is. And it's sad when people are chasing position, neglecting, you know, the real meaning of what ministry is and that is ministering to people, loving people, pouring into people, right? Helping people to get closer to Christ because no doubt people are affected by sin and they're struggling, right? So as ministers, we're called to serve them, to help them to turn from their sin and to get closer to Christ. Well, here we see the apostles were arguing when Jesus was talking to them about something that's important. I mean, this is talking about the death barrier and resurrection of Christ. How many times that we read that they were always caught up in this and Jesus would tell them and it just kind of went over their head. Well, we need to be careful that we're not chasing position but rather we're engaged in preaching the gospel, the saving mess gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And man, now Jesus went to the cross, he went through it with the cross, I'm saying, even though he knew what was going on with his disciples, even though he knew the person who was sitting there who would betray them. Now listen, Paul were right in Romans chapter five verse eight, he wrote, but God demonstrated his own love towards us and while we were still sinners, Christ died for our sins. So we read that he loved them, right? That's his own, his own, who were in the world and it says he loved them to the end. Again, Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of his guys, listen closely, he will be disowned by another of his guys and then deserted by all of them for a period of time and yet the Lord loved them. Now let me ask you a question. If you knew someone was gonna backstab you, if you knew someone was gonna betray you, you had that same kind of love that Jesus had that you were still willing to minister to them, to see past that and still not give up on the individual? Look, it's hard, it's hard and the only way you can do that, man, is if you're showing them or dependent on the love that God provides for us to be poured into them. Because if you try to do it in your own strength, trust me, man, I don't know about you, but if it was me there, I'd probably be like, man, forget two fools, man, you're gonna turn your back on me any minute now. So why even investing you guys, right? Not Christ, not Christ. Why? Because he loved them. He had a true love for them that he's willing to go through what he's going to go through just to reach them, just to teach them. You know, I had a brother, another brother who was in the security ministry at our church and there was some rumors going on in the church, right? And I'll be honest with you, it was against me and my wife. And this brother took it upon himself to use the privilege that he had to go to the back where most pastors will be prior to the service starting, just kind of review our notes, pray, make some changes and so forth, right? He decided to go to the back about five minutes, five minutes before I went up to go teach on a Sunday morning. He closed the door and he began to ask questions. And I said, oh my goodness, here we go. And then he got up and he got loud on me. And he started saying, hey man, you know? Hey homie, he called me homie. Hey homie, and I said, I ain't your homie, bro. I said, so don't call me homie. Okay pastor, I ain't your pastor either because if I was your pastor you would not be doing what you're doing right now. He says, well let me tell you, well what happened? I said, look, bro, I'm not gonna get into this whole gossip thing, but that's something that you have to talk to that person about. But I'll tell you this, I said, take three steps back and lower your voice. I got a little car in there, okay? It's okay. But in my mind I'm thinking, boy, if he gets any closer, Lord, I'm gonna defend myself, right? I'm thinking, right, in the neck, drops. You know, call the other security, right? But as he's getting crazy, and in my, you know, he's a younger do so in my mind I'm thinking, I'm not as young as I used to. So I gotta make sure it counts, right? So anyways, I'm waiting there and when he starts talking, the Lord spoke to my heart. And he said, he's just a victim of someone else's sin. And I remember, I stopped him and I said, look, bro, I said, I'm not mad at you. I love you, man. And I said, and you're just collateral damage. I said, someone, you took what someone said, you know, and unfortunately you're believing it and you're hurt by it. I get it, bro. And I told, and I shared that story with Aiken. Remember the story in the time with Joshua when they went to war with AI and they were defeated and then Joshua is telling God, Lord, why did this happen? And he says, because they're sitting in the camp and you know, and he goes and deals with it. Remember that? But there was a price that was paid, right? Soldiers died. And but not only that, when they brought Aiken out, they punished them and they put him to death along with his family. Remember that? And I shared with them, I said, look, this was collateral damage. I said, you're just collateral damage. I says, I don't hold it against you. I said, I love you, bro. And I, you know, I kind of grabbed them, gave them a little hug. And, and you know, he was crying all that. And then afterwards, you know, he said, oh, thank you pastor. And he gets out and he walks away. He didn't even stay for church. So, but I'll tell you this, it was hard. It was one of the hardest things to do. And the only way I could have loved them, the way Christ loved them, is to remember that's how much he loved me and how he was patient, how he was loving to me. He didn't give up on me. See what happens sometimes when we get outside of God's love and we try to handle it our way. We give up on people, don't we? But can you imagine if Jesus would have given up on the disciples? Can you imagine that? If he would have given up, let's talk about, you know, Joseph of Armathea, who we consider a private disciple or Nicodemus, a private disciple, think about it. If Jesus would have given up on them because there were, you know, Christians that were, you know, kind of hiding and stuff like that, they, they would have never, their names would have never been written in the book. Number one, number two, think about what Joseph of Armathea did. He went and asked for the body of Christ so they can bury it, right? And Nicodemus, these men shined when everyone else were running, but Jesus didn't give up on them. They, Jesus loved them just as much. And when it was time for them to show their love to the Lord, they displayed it. So we need that love of God to be able to, to, to, how can I say, put up with these people that can be irritating or these people that can be frustrating, these people that we should not love, but rather, you know, jump them or beat them up because they're tripping, right? But yet the Lord showed us here by loving Judas that he's worth loving, worth reaching as we're gonna see as we move forward. But I want you to know that he loved them even though he saw their imperfections. Jesus was looking at a bunch of knuckleheads there that couldn't get it together until after the resurrection and he still loved them with no limits, even though he was totally aware of their past failures. See, remember how they wanted to call fire from heaven? Remember John and them and kill everyone in Luke chapter nine verse 54? Oh, what about those times where the disciples kept doubting the Lord? And yet the Lord never gave up on them, never gave up on them. Jesus saw their past failures, their present vulnerabilities, but he also saw their eventual victories and he still loved them and taught them. Turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 22. Here's a quick display of Jesus not giving up on someone. In verse 31, Luke chapter 22 verse 31, check this out. Here we see how Jesus predicts Peter's denial in this particular portion of scripture. But here in verse 31, he says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, now think about that. He says, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your face should not fail and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. He tells them, look, the enemy wants you. He's gonna try to destroy you. And think about what he's telling them. He says that he's been praying for him. And then he says, when you get up, guess what? You're gonna go straight to the board. That means that he's gonna fall and he did. We saw that, right? It's not to the book of Acts that you see him doing what Jesus commanded him to do after he gets up. But what we note here is that the Lord didn't give up on Peter, even though he knew he would deny him, not once, not twice, but three times. And yet the Lord still loved him to the end, of his life here on earth. Now the meaning to the end, as we turn back, is to perfection, which is perfect love. So God knows us completely. As Jesus knew his chosen 12. He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we are committing. And this love is still committed to us. God still loves us. Listen to what I just said. This is important because there are some of us that have committed sin, even today, or maybe yesterday, or the day before, willful sin. And you came here, right, to hear from the Lord. I want you to know that only because you sin doesn't mean that God stops loving you. He still loves you. And he still wants to work in you, but there has to be repentance. There has to be a confession and there has to be a turning away from sin. See, just like we've committed sins, yet the Lord is still committed to us because we're sin of bounds, grace of bounds, what? Much more. He still loves us. And it is that love, which is a part of the goodness of God that leads to what? Repentance. It's when you're able to see how much God loves you and that's gonna lead you to turn from your ways. You know, it was hard to fight off God's love when I was in sin. It was hard, one of the hardest things. To be honest with you, all I keep thinking is, no, I don't deserve you, God. How can I? Man, I keep blowing it. And God just kept telling me, I love you. I love you, David. It's gonna be all right. Draw back like a baby, rise up and do. It'll be all right. But there has to be repentance. It's the goodness of God that leads to repentance. And then it is that love that will motivate you to love him even more. To love him even more. So the first thing I want you to note is that Jesus, it says, John tells us that he loved him. He knew what these guys were gonna do. He knew that Judas was gonna betray them and he still loved them to the end. Just the way he's gonna love you to the end. To the end of your life. You will always be loved by God. If your parents, you understand what I'm talking about, right? Because regardless of how bad your kids may be, you still love them, right? How much more the Lord? How much more the Lord? Well, it is that love that will motivate you to love him back. We need to love like God loves. And that is with perfect love. We need to love God with this love and then with this perfect love and then love people as well, just like Jesus showed us. He loves us, we love others as well. Jesus said in Mark chapter 12, 30 verse 31, notice he says, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your souls, with all your mind, with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second like it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Now let me ask you a question. Do you love God with all that is in you? And do you love your neighbor as much as you love you? And yeah, I know you love yourselves because you brush your teeth this morning, right? If not, go out, you know. Right? You combed, right? You ironed your clothes, right? You took a shower, hopefully, right? I mean, you eat good food, you try to eat the best that you, you know, the best foods out there, right? Forget Jacks, you go to In-N-Out, you know what's up? Because you love yourselves. He's saying love your neighbor as you love yourselves. So the question is this, do you really, really love God? If you can honestly say no, that's cool, you're honest. God loves honesty. But here's the thing. Pray that God would increase your love for him. Ask him. That's one of the things that I was in my prayer. To this day, I still pray, Lord, help me to love you. I know I can't love you as much as you love me, but at least let me get close to that. Help me, Lord. And you know what God has told me? Cool, spend time with me. You spend time with me, you'll fall in love with me. And I've shared this with many people. The key to Christianity is falling in love with Jesus. Falling in love with Jesus. That's the key. You know, because when you love him, you will obey him, right? If you love him, you will serve him, right? If you love him, you will spend time with him. And as you're spending time with him and you're reflecting upon his love, guess what? That love is being poured in and it's gonna be poured out to those that you come in contact with. So loving your neighbor as yourself won't be as hard when the love of God, when you're a recipient of the love of God. Are you guys with me? Okay, cool. So, verses two and three. So we need that kind of love. The love of Christ, which is a sacrificial love as we're gonna see him displayed right here in this particular passage. Verses two and three, we read. And it says, and supper being ended. I love this. The devil having already put it in the heart of Judas Iscariot. Notice that this happened when the supper ended, right? Simon's son to betrayed him. Jesus knowing that the father had given him all things into his hands and that he had come from God and he was going to God rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself. Notice that. So Jesus loved even those that didn't love him back. Here we're talking about Judas Iscariot. Think about him. The devil finally got to him. Finally got to him. And now he's put it in his heart to go betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver as the other gospel tells us, right? This means that Jesus knew of Judas' betrayal and he still ate with him and served him. In this passage, we see that the disciples' feet were washed by our Lord. And if it wasn't until after that, if you keep on reading that he turns, remember that I had the conversation with someone who was going to betray me and then Judas, finally someone says who? And then the Lord says, well, I'll tell you who right now, I'm going to dip this. I'm going to give it to this person and he's going to be the one that's going to betray me. In verses 26 and 27. And Judas gets up and goes. So even in this moment, when Jesus knew his betrayal was right there, he's still going to wash his feet. Dude, that is insane. For me, that's mind blowing because it shows you how we lack that love that he has. It shows you how we still need to be that work that needs to be worked on. God still needs to work all the selflessness away from us, all the ugliness away from us so that we can have that heart of the Lord. So again, here's what's crazy is that Judas' heart was set to betray Jesus and Jesus still was willing to minister to him. Here's another thing that's crazy that Judas was present observing and partaking with the other 11 and Jesus himself. Now think about that for a moment. Judas was walking with Jesus. He was there when he saw the miracles. He was there and listened to the messages. He was present with Jesus himself. And yet we see him here. Jesus doing what he's about to do and he still betrays him. That is crazy. Just like there's some here right now that come to church how many times, how many times have you heard messages that are so moving and convicting or encouraging? You've experienced the spirit's move through worship, right? You've heard some multiple, how do you say, altercats given and you're still here participating. You're still here, right? Partaking. It shows you how someone can know about God and still not know about God. It shows you that you can be in the midst of God's people and still not be a part of his people. Are you guys with me? It shows that you can listen and be a part of it and yet not be a part of the family of God. How many of us today have set hearts like that of Judas? Hearts that are about to turn their backs on Jesus set on betraying him with relationships, money, political stands and et cetera. You're here observing and partaking with the body of Christ and yet you're still not right with Christ. Listen, there's some. I remember when I first got saved and I was struggling through my walk with God. There were times that I would go to men's retreat, men's conferences, right? But in my heart I was waiting for the preacher to stop so that I can still go and get drunk. So I can go still gang bang. So I can still go. You hear what I'm saying guys? You can sit and be a part of it and still have a heart set to going back to your old ways. Maybe not as crazy as my life but how about going back and still being a nagging wife rather than a soft-spoken, gentle spirit woman or a husband, right? You can go back home and you're not loving or being understanding, still provoking the kids to anger. Think about it. You're going back with the same heart. Listen guys, that's why I believe it's important that you understand that even in the midst right here, while Judas has a different heart than that, the disciples, the Lord allowed him to be there because he's trying to reach him before he teaches them. He's trying to reach Judas. And I really believe that the Lord didn't just give up on Judas. I really believe that the Lord tried to, even to the Garden of Gethsemane, remember when he came up and he was gonna, he gave him a kiss, he betrayed him and what did Jesus said? Friend, do you betray your passion with a kiss? In the original language it shows us that even then he was trying to reach out to him. It was not just like, oh really? Are you gonna kiss me like, come on. No, he was really trying to reach him but he was set in his heart to betray him. Some of us today, right now, have set hearts to go back to that boyfriend that is not even a believer, to that relationship that does not honor God, to go back to your own ways. And I believe the Lord brought you here this evening so that he can reach you before you end up on hell or if you're a Christian, you end up regretting and suffering the consequences of your sins. You got with me? Cool. Make sure you guys ain't falling asleep because it's Wednesday, I get it, I get it. So, we know the truth, we participate with those in their truth and yet we're here because of personal reasons. Like responsibilities, how's that? Rather than relationship. We're here because we identify as a Christian and Christians go to church for Bible studies and so forth but we're not here to hang out with Jesus. Responsibility, not relationship. Might be the reason you're here today but know that God used this to bring you here so that he can speak to you. But think with me for a moment, guys, listen closely. Judas wasn't there by accident but it was a divine appointment by God. You hear me? So that he can love him to the end as well. The same love Jesus displayed on all, including Judas, was meant to reach and teach the ones he loved so much. So in this case, Judas was there to be reached, to be reached. Maybe the Lord brought you here to reach you. And if you're convicted, don't ignore it. Don't ignore it because the more you say no to God's spirit, it'll be harder for you to say yes. Trust me, I've been there. I've been there. When God pointed out my sin to me that I was being mean to my wife, that I was still very violent, that I was still stuck in pornography, you know what I'm saying? All that, man. And grace, grace, grace, but it was tearing me apart. It was hindering my growth with God. It was keeping me from the peace and the joy that God promised every believer. And if you're not a non-believer and you just here because your mom or your dad brought you, guess what? He's speaking to you too. Trying to get your attention because you know why? You're worth it. You're worth it to him. And he wants you, he wants to bless you. He does, but sometimes we think that God just wants to spoil our fun. But he doesn't, guys, just like Judas here. He wanted to reach him, but Judas wasn't having it. His ways were set and it led to his doom, as you guys know. In verse three, I want you to know that Jesus also knew all that his father had for him. He says that Jesus had it all. Jesus knew who he came from and where he was going. Notice again, it says, Jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hand and that he had come from God and was going to God. It's important that we too understand the what, who and where in our relationship with the Lord. You hear me? We too have it all, right? We've inherited everything when we placed our faith in Christ. Ephesians one, 11 through 14. Ephesians two, six. James two, five. First Peter one, four. Where another thing is this, we are his. We are his people. We are his children. We are his ambassadors. John one, 12. Second Corinthians five, 20. And when we die, we're gonna end up with him. Ecclesiastes 12, seven. Second Corinthians five, eight. First Thessalonians four, 14 through 18. Say, why are you going too fast? I think I'm teaching at Sola because we usually put it on the background, man. So sorry. I like to give them scriptures so they can take it home and read it for themselves. And I do encourage the church at Sola, listen, make sure you have no pads and pens because I'm gonna give you guys a lot of cross references so y'all can do some homework. But here's the thing guys, you need to know what you have in Christ, who you are in Christ, and what's coming to you because of Christ. Those are the things that are gonna help you. Hear me? Fight off temptation. Those are the things that are gonna help you to be faithful to God. Those are the things that are gonna motivate you. That you are a child of the living God. That you're a person who has been forgiven. You're a person that is unconditionally loved. And then when you die one day, you're gonna stand in the presence of God and you're gonna spend eternity with him. Now think about that. Sometimes we forget about those things. So we hear so many times that you're like, I'm going to heaven, that's cool, huh? Dude, you're gonna be in heaven with Jesus and you're gonna be hanging out with him. Think about that. You're gonna be able to hang out with Elijah and all these guys and yes, you can pick on Adam for listening to his wife and biting that apple and destroying all of what God had planned for us, yes? But you're gonna be in heaven one day. So for me, when I'm going through some hard times and I'm angry because this world man slaps you with all kinds of ugly stuff, right? But that's why we gotta take our eyes off the world and put it back on the word and get our strength and our encouragement as we focus on the promises of our Lord. That's what keeps you going, man. That's what keeps us all going, amen? So he knew all that his father had for him. We need to know the same. Verses four through 11, we read that Jesus loved them and showed them. Listen closely, he loved them and he showed them by serving them and then instructing them to do the same. Now listen closely. Before Jesus teaches them, he first touches them. He touches the feet and he begins to say, listen, don't do what I say and I do. That's what he's telling them. And I love this whole thing here. Now notice again, it says in verse four, he says he rolls from supper and he laid aside his garment. He's talking about Jesus here. So try to picture with me, okay? He's putting, took out his garments, puts it to the side. He puts that down and what does he pick up? A towel and he girded himself. And after he had poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, this is Jesus who we're talking about as a creator. He wiped them with a towel 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 after this. In other words, just hold on a little bit. Let me finish what I gotta do. And then you're gonna get clarity. I love how the Lord is. Sometimes we want answers right now and God says, hold on man, just hang in there. Some of us jump ship and we never get to see God's completed work in our lives. Peter, he tells Peter, listen, relax. Just wait, you'll see in a few moments. And then he says, Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand, but you will know after this, Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash your feet, you have no part with me. And then again, he goes from one extreme to another. He says 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 it's 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 there's a few things I want you to note. I want you to notice that what he does. Number one, motivated by love, for them, Jesus rose up. Verse four, he rose up from supper and laid aside his garment. He rose up. Now listen to this guys, it's important. Before we can do any kind of service of love, first thing we need to do is get up. We need to rise up. Much service is ignored because of comfort, laziness and lack of love. What I just said? Most service is ignored, the service of God because of laziness, hear me? Because of comfort, we're too comfortable in life and lack of love. We should not be begging for people to get involved in the children ministry. We should not be begging for us as a parking lot servant men out there. We should not be begging for people to help clean the place of worship where you gather to worship. You should spontaneously just serve because God served you. But today I'm telling you man, churches are filled with a lot of people that say love God but they don't manifest it. They don't show it. Some of them won't even get up because you're too comfortable. Now I'm just gonna just hang out here. God is just worshiping me. That's not Christianity. Paul told Timothy if you decide to be godly, which means like God, you will suffer persecution. That persecution comes when you're serving God, when you're involved in his work. So there's laziness and I won't do it man, I'm too tired, I'll do it next time. And there's lack of love. You won't do it because you really don't love your brethren. These are the three things that have kept ministries ignored. Listen closely, there is so much need. There's plenty to feed spiritually and physically and many to lead. Jesus and Luke 2 tells us that the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few, are few. And it's sad, it's sad when there's only a few that really care, that really care. You know to you I would say, may the Lord bless you those who do care and are serving because I promise you, your labor is not in vain. And first Corinthians chapter 15, hear me read it to you right quickly. If you can turn there and you're quick with the Bible, that's awesome. If not, Nimodo, just listen. Here it goes. It says, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always, listen to this, always abounding in the work of the Lord, service. Knowing that your labor is not in vain, it's not for nothing in the Lord. If you can just tell yourself, listen, this has blessings attached to it, not only here on earth, but when you're in eternity with God, when you're being rewarded for faithfulness. Look, I don't know about you, man. At first, I'll be honest, I was a lazy dude. I didn't want to do much for God, I didn't. But one day I was, I decided, I'm gonna try it. So I said, okay, I signed up for the tape ministry here. It was way back. And what we would do, we would just peel back, you know, they would get the tape, they'll kind of recycle it, they'll bring it in, and we had to kind of take out the tape and then put a new one on there and pre-recorded over it. And at first I was like, oh, this is cool, I guess. But then the Lord began to minister to me. He would say, listen, David, what you're doing is you're doing a work preparing a cassette so that when they come and they take it, they're gonna be ministered at home by as they listen. And as they grow, guess what? You're gonna be blessed because you partook of that work. I was like, okay, now I wanna do more and more. And when you start seeing people change in your service to them and to the Lord, it becomes addicting. Because now you want, think about it, you're playing a big role in their part, in their life, I'm sorry, a big part in their lives because you're faithful in your service to them and to the Lord. So listen, we need to understand that our labor is not in vain. God recognizes it, he sees it, and he's gonna bless you for it. So he was motivated by love for his people, he rose up. First thing you gotta do is you gotta get up. Get out of your comfort zone and start doing something. Number two, he was motivated by love for his people. Not only did he get up, he got down literally on his knees to watch those stinky, dirty, nasty feet. Think about that for a moment. You have to get up, then you have to get down for the Lord. He poured verses 45 says he poured water into the baths and he began to watch the disciples' feet and he wiped them with the towel. Not did he just watch them and say, move on, no, child, he got a towel and he started washing, drying them up. You see, we don't just get up, we must get down and dirty for Jesus. There are those who get all pumped up, right? They get all pumped and then they end up being chumps. They don't do nothing for God. It kind of reminds me of the parable in Matthew 21, 20, 32, even though that particular parable Jesus is teaching about the non-believing religious leaders there. But I like the example that he uses and I'll share with you. Remember when he talks about the father and the sons and he calls one son and he tells him to do something and he says he didn't want to do it. But after he left, he said, okay, you know what? I'll do it and he comes back and he does it. But there was the other son who says, I'll do it, but he never does it. And then he says, who was greater than those two? And of course the one who said he wasn't gonna do it but does it? There's a lot of Christians like that. You hear a message and you get motivated, you get pumped. Oh yeah, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it. Then the dodging comes on, maybe next time, right? Guys, ladies, just do it. Investing what's important, invest in what matters, invest in people, invest in the Lord. But again, you have those that get all pumped up, but they don't do it. Some don't serve because they're so distracted with the cares and the worries of the world and Jesus made a parable. Remember about that? About the season where they land? And you hear about the one that landed on thorns and it grew, remember that? And then it says that the thorns, though, began to choke the seed and therefore they didn't produce fruit. And Jesus later goes on to explain that that seed was the word, of course, right? And the thorns was the words and the cares of the world. They're distracted. How many of us get all pumped up to do it and then we start worrying. Well, how are we gonna pay those bills? Well, how are we gonna do this? Oh, you know what? Oh, let's go to the family of the Quinceañeras and hang out. I don't want them to think that we're just ignored. You start getting caught up with the world and you become fruitless for the kingdom of God. Listen, guys, we need to not only get up but get down and dirty for our Lord. I love what John says when he writes in 1 John 3 18, little children, let us not love and word or talk but indeed and in truth, indeed and in truth. And Jesus is displaying that right here. He got down and began to watch their ugly, stinky, filthy feet. And they used to wear chanclas back then, not Nikes and stuff like that. And there were dusty roads. So they probably had like little black between the toes. You know what I'm talking about? Paligunas enterradas, ingrown tones, I don't know. But here's the thing. And yet the creator washes the feet of his own creation. See, for me, when I read it, it leaves me in awe. I'm like, what? Really? That's insane that he's leaving this example for us to follow. You see, you can say you love someone but you have to show it. True love manifests in selves and deeds and works. Why is, you know what I'm talking about? Your husband says, I love you. And you're like, man, shut up. You didn't even want to take out the trash, right? But when they start taking it out, they don't even have to tell you they love you. They just look at you and go, and you're like, right? You know it, right? Love is displayed through actions. I can't believe I just did that. Never again would I do it in my life. Hee-chee, wow. Here's another thing. But in order for you to get down, you gotta do what Jesus did. You know what that is? He removed his garment and he picked up a towel. Ministry, listen closely. Ministry is removing to get things moving. Ministry is removing to get things moving. We need to remove those things that will hinder us from serving God and serving these people. What is it? What is this holding you back? Relationships? Work? I'm not saying to quit your jobs, okay? I'm not saying, I'm saying things into priority. Before I went full-time in ministry, I'll be honest with you, man, it was hard. I was working, you know, part-times in different jobs. And back then things were a little bit different. Now you're accepted if you got tattoos, right? Back then you got tattoos, you were like an outcast, they didn't want to hang out. They wouldn't even interview you, right? But I'll tell you this, man, I would go to work and I would take my laptop, I would take my Bible. And back then we didn't have Google where you could just say scripture on Jesus, walking on water, boom, it comes out, right? Easy. Now back then you had a concordance, you had your gricking to linear, you have all this. So I will be in my car and lunch with all my books like this, just doing my study, preparing to feed God's people. And God said, okay, there you are, no. Now you're going to, I'm gonna kind of release you from that so you can focus more on the people of God. Now, why did I say that? I have no idea. Oh yeah, you have to remove those things that are holding you, right? I'm serving. Put it down. Put down those garments and pick up the towel. We need to remove our pride, personal agendas or goals. We need to remove, I don't know, even those titles that you might be searching for and you need to put on Jesus. Doesn't matter who you are or what position you hold, learn from the Creator who did exactly what we're being told to do. Are you a Christian? Do you know what a Christian is? It's a follower of Jesus Christ. That's what we are and that's what we do. We do what Jesus did until the Lord calls us back. I mean, that's just the bottom line. So, verses 6, 3, 11, I'm gonna skip the lesson with Peter to remain focused on Jesus here. But I will quickly say, poor Peter, right? You can only imagine what was going on in his mind when he watched his Creator, his Lord, watching the filthy feet of his friends. He immediately reacted ignorantly by trying to stop Jesus from serving. And how many times, because we don't understand, we're quick to respond in a way that is ignorant or not knowing. But I love what Jesus does here. He responds quickly and lovingly. He didn't make him feel dumb, right? He didn't say, no salmán, so, right? He didn't say that. He didn't say, man, come on, Peter, are you overdoing it, Bo? You're acting dumb, none of that. He just said, hey, check this out. I'm gonna tell you, and he teaches him. Listen, I love the fact that Peter was teachable, therefore he remained usable. It's when you're not teachable that you can't be usable. You hear me? So may God give us that heart to be corrected by the Lord, that we won't get bitter and angry towards him, but that when the Lord corrects us, when we're doing something wrong, we take the correction and then do it his way, not our way, so we can become more fruitful for his kingdom. In verses 12 and 17 in closing, he says this, so when he had to wash their feet, taking his garment 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, so I am. If I, then, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to watch one another's feet. For, excuse me, for I have given you an example, a pattern he laid down there, notice, that you should do as I have done to you. Most surely I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent is greater than he who sent him. I love that. After touching their feet, he now begins to teach them. He plainly tells them, see what I've done? Do the same. Here's the pattern, mimic me. And if you do it, you're gonna reap the blessings from it. See, Jesus didn't wash the guy's feet just to get them to be nice to each other. He had a greater purpose. The goal was to extend his mission on earth after he was gone. These men were to move into the world serving God, serving each other, and serving others outside of their circle. You hear me? He was teaching them a lesson. Listen, and this is the same thing he's teaching us. We have to have his heart. Doesn't matter who you are, what position you hold. We're still servants. Minister, you know what that means? A table waiter. We wait on tables. What do you do when you go to the restaurant? Right? They wait on you. Literally, wait on you. You know what you're gonna order now, sir? Right? I'm holding on. You wait on them, right? That's what we are. We're table waiters. We're servants. And I close with verse 17. He says, I want, he says this plainly and simply. He says, listen. The blessing is in the doing, not just in the knowing. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. If you do them. So, I like another translation when it says, now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. Obedience will lead to multiple blessings. Disobedience will rob us of those great blessings. Are you hearing me? You wanna be blessed? Go and obey his word. Just try it. Get involved. Sign up for the children's ministry. Sign up for all these ministries that you just have a lot of ministries here. Trust me. And I bet you this, they're lacking servants. Don't you be those that are lacking, are part of that lack family, right? Be those that are not wack but are, you know, intact, ready to go. I don't know. I like to rhyme. I couldn't find one that quick. I wore that quick. But do it all in love. You see, Jesus here displayed a love that never fails. And Paul writes about that in 1 Corinthians 13, right, love never fails. So when we serve, use the love that God gave you. Love people unconditionally. Because I draw your attention back to Judas. Guess what? Jesus washes his feet too. Can you imagine that I contact what was going in their minds? I wonder if Judas was saying, I can't wait to get my money. And Jesus is thinking, I hope he sees my love. I hope you see Jesus as love too. Because you brought you here today. And I'll go back when I said to either reach you or to teach you. And right now, if you're here and you're maybe not a 100% Judas but a 50% Judas, that means you're a believer but you're kind of like in sin. Maybe the Lord's trying to reach you to tell you, hey, look, I'm serving you here by sending my serving to talk to you. To warn you of the sin that you're committing. If you listen, you'll be blessed. I said this before, but if you don't, you'll be a what? A mess, see it rhymes, blessed mess. So I pray that God will give us that kind of Jesus love that we need, amen? That's all I have for you guys, let's pray.