Scripture: John 13:1-5

C.I.: Things We Need to Know!

Today we begin a new series… - Intimacy & urgency before His Passion & return to heaven. –
Importance of “recurring words”…!!! John wrote this, not only that we may learn what Jesus knew.

•  Six Things We Need to “Know,” (John 13:1-17)

•  …Our Time is Short, (vs. 1-2)

•  “Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved….”

•  Illust.: All of us need to have a short-timers mentality ( quote Jms. 4:14 ). – What to do?!!

•  Thus, there are things we should love, Mk. 12:31-32 , “You shall love the Lord….”

•  And there are things we should not love, I Jn. 2:15, “Do not love the world….”

•  Sadly, Judas loved what he shouldn't & hated what he should love – ( v. 2 ), “And during the supper, the devil already having put into the heart of Judas I., son of Simon, to betray Him.”

•  So if you knew you were going to die tomorrow – how would you live today???!

•  …Our Relationship with God, (vs. 3-5)

•  ( v. 3 ), “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God…” – Jesus knew some things…

•  Jesus knew and we need to know - how precious He/we are in the sight of God!

•  ( I Jn. 3:1 ), “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us … For this reason….”

•  ( II Pt. 1:3 ), “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us all things pertaining to life….”

•  Only when we know who we are & what we have been given – are we ready to do His work.

•  ( vs. 4-5 ), “…rose from the supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel girded Himself about. – Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” – The work of the lowest slave.

•  Arrogant people don't understand “humble service” – its all about them! (cf. Matt. 6:1 ).

•  When we are sure about Whose we are & what He has given us – we can serve with humility.

•  … the Power of Jesus to Make Us Spiritually Clean, (vs. 6-10a)

•  ( vs. 6-8 ), “He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, ‘Lord, do you wash my feet?' Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I do you do not know now, but you shall understand hereafter.' Peter said to Him, ‘Never shall You wash my feet!' Jesus answered, ‘If I do not wash you, you have no part..

•  Obviously NOT a physical cleansing, i.e., foot-washing, for Peter would have understood that!

•  Peter should have remembered the results of Jesus' “washing”

•  ( Jn. 9:7 ), “‘Go wash in the pool of Siloam,' (translated means Sent). So he went an washed and came back seeing!”

•  ( Jn. 5:37 ), “The Father who sent Me…” – Thus, we need to be “washed” in the One sent.

•  … the One Who will Seek to Destroy Us, (vs. 10b-11)

•  ( vs. 10b-11 ), “‘…and you are clean, but not all of you.' For he knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, ‘Not all of you are clean.'” (Notice He's talking spiritually )

•  Remember in v. 2 , “…the devil having put into the heart of Judas I. to betray Him….”

•  Judas was merely Satan's tool/pawn. – But the one who seeks to destroy us = SATAN!!

•  ( Eph. 6:12 ), “Our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces….”

•  As Christians – we need to see the war in Iraq is not about setting the people free from physical tyranny – but it is about setting them free spiritually!

•  People make two mistakes when it comes to Satan:

•  They under-estimate the power of the devil!

•  I Peter 5:8 , “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. – Your adversary, the devil, is prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

•  Several months ago, a keeper at the Denver Zoo became complacent – and left open the door to one of the big cats. – It killed her!!

•  In the same way, if we become complacent – and leave the door open to our lives – Satan will enter in and destroy us!!!

•  They over-estimate the power of the devil (“Woe is me! There is nothing I can do!)

•  I Jn. 4:4 , “…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

•  The Holy Spirit, in the life of a believer, - is truly one of the greatest gifts a believer is given!

•  … the Importance of Following Jesus' Example, (vs. 12-16)

•  ( v. 12 ), “And when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to You?'”

•  Again we see that Jesus isn't asking if they know what is physically obvious (i.e., foot-washing).

•  Jesus is asking if they understand the “sign” He is showing them, ( cf. 20:30-31 ).

•  “Sign” produce belief – ( Jn. 2:18 ), “The Jews asked, ‘What sign do you show us. Seeing that You do these things?'”

•  Therefore the question Jesus is posing – do you truly believe in Me – enough to do the difficult things to serve others???!

•  Vs. 13-16 , “You call me Teacher & Lord; and you are right for so I am. – If then the Lord & Teacher washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. – For I gave you an example that you should do as I did to you. – Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.”

•  Believing Jesus' Lordship means doing whatever it takes – to serve others.

•  ILLUST.: Examples of jobs (“beneath us”) – that God calls us to do…!

•  (CONCLUSION): … that Blessings Come not merely from “knowing” these things – but in DOING them! (v. 17)

•  “If you know these things, you are blessed if you DO THEM!”

•  Review the 5 things Jesus wants us to KNOW

•  In I Jn. 4:4 , “…He who is in you…” – One of God's great gifts to us is His Spirit. We receive Him at the moment of our salvation – Acts 2:38 , “Repent…”

•  So if you are one of our guests – and want victory over Satan in your life…!

“A Conversation in an Upper Room”

Scripture: John 14:1-4

C.I.: The Way We Need to Go!

Last week… - We as a nation have lost our way! – My greater concern is that so have the Lord's people!!!

•  (John 14:4-6)

•  Introduction

•  Arnold J. Toynbee (1889-1975), a British historian, 12 volumes, “A Study of History,” wrote…

•  “Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state America is in today. The failure of a civilization to survive was the result of its inability to respond to moral and religious challenges.”

•  Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), 6 volume masterpiece, “The History of the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire,” chronicled the 5 leading factors which lead to Rome's demise…

•  The rapid increase in divorce, with the undermining of the sanctity of the home; basis of society

•  Higher, higher taxes; spending public money for a growing welfare state.

•  Mad craze for entertainment; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal

•  The building of gigantic armaments, when the real enemy was within; decadence of the people

•  The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form, leaving people w/o guidance.

•  ( II Tim. 3:1-5 ), “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. – For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these.”

•  When We have Lost Our Way…

•  Thomas' Question, (v. 5)

•  ( v. 5 ), “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?'”

•  It is truly sad – when those who are closest to God – don't know the way!

•  Today throughout this land – we have churches that are questioning many things.

•  They are questioning God's plan for marriage, the home, His church, His worship, His word!

•  And the leaders, like Thomas, who should know the answers, are shrugging their shoulders.

•  If Jesus' disciples didn't “Get it,” what chance in the world - do non-believers have?

•  ( I Cor. 2:14 ), “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, for they are spiritually appraised.”

•  ( Jn. 3:3 ), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the K. of God.

•  Clearly, the days of Toynbee, Gibbon & II Tim. 3:1-5, are upon us!!!

•  Jesus Answer, (v. 6)

•  “I am the way”

•  In each of Jesus' responses to Thomas – He uses the definite article (explain “the” vs. “a” ).

•  Jesus is telling us it is not enough to simply show someone the way (map, Bible) – or to point someone to the way (church worship, Bible class). – For what Jesus said was, “ I am the way!”

•  ( Heb. 10:19-20 ), “…we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.”

•  Thus, the way for us to get to heaven – is to follow the pattern of actions Jesus left us.

•  Indeed, the Gospel of John begins & ends with that message – ( Jn. 1:36-37; 21:20-22 ).

•  The command is for us to ACT as Jesus acted, ( I Cor. 11:1; I Jn. 2:6; etc. ).

•  “…and the truth”

•  Jesus did not just “know the truth” and simply explain it to His disciples. – Jesus is in this verse telling us that He is the embodiment of truth – and thus He was living it before His disciples.

•  When people want to learn the truth of God – in any area – they need look no further than Jesus!

•  ( Jn. 1:17 ), “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through J.C.”

•  Since He is “truth” – then anything He says or tells people – is truth, ( Jn. 8:31-32 ), “If you abide in My words then you shall know the truth , and the truth shall set you free.”

•  ( Jn. 17:17, 20 ), “Sanctify them in truth… I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for….”

•  In the same way, the best thing we can do for others – is to share with them “the truth”:

•  So we share JESUS with them, ( Acts 8:35 ), “…and beginning from this scripture….”

•  Those who will listen to truth belong to Jesus, ( Jn. 18:37 ), “…I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth . Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

•  So, we are not only called to ACT as Jesus acted – but also to SPEAK as Jesus spoke!

•  “…and the life.”

•  There are 2 Greek words for “life”; Bios ( bios ) physical life, Zoa ( zwh ) spiritual life.

•  While all mankind has physical life – Jesus is the only source of spiritual life!

•  ( Jn. 1:4 ), “In Him was life , and the life was the light of men.”

•  ( Jn. 10:10 ), “I have come that you might have life , and have it abundantly.”

•  ( Jn. 11:25 ), “I am the resurrection and the life ; he who believes in Me shall live even….”

•  So (in a very non- P.C. statement) the only way to God is through the actions, words, life of Jesus!

•  ( Jn. 14:6 ), “I am the way...; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”

•  ( Acts 4:12 ), “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under….”

•  Sadly this nation has lost its way! – Unless the church rises up and begins proclaiming JESUS AS LORD – then America will go the way of the Greeks and the Romans!

•  God has called for us to live different lives & to make a difference ( Phil. 2:15; Mt. 5:14-16 ).

•  If we do not speak up – what sort of world will we bequeath our children, ( Matt. 28:19-20 )?!