Leaving A Better Example

John chapter 13, just the first five verses this morning.

John 13 · chapter mention

That's in the New Testament, kind of close to the front of the New Testament.

John chapter 13, this passage takes place near the end of Jesus's earthly life.

John 13 · chapter mention

He had been about the work of God for about three years.

He had been faithful to God, he had been obedient to God, but in order to carry out the plan

of God and the will of God and the mission of God, Jesus Christ would soon give his life

on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and my sins and all who would put their faith

in him.

Now Jesus had spent a lot of time investing into these apostles that were with him really

throughout most of his ministry.

We always see these apostles here with him.

Very seldom do we see him mention that they're not with him.

Jesus had really poured into these twelve men and eleven of these men remained faithful

to Jesus Christ.

However, there was one, as we will see here in this passage, who had not remained faithful

to Jesus Christ.

But this is a beautiful passage here at the end of Jesus's life, a beautiful example for

you and I this morning.

So let's read the text, then we'll pray, and then we'll talk about it.

John chapter 13 verse 1.

John 13:1

Before the Passover festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world

to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Now by the time of supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Simonus Cariat's

son to betray him.

Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God

and that he was going back to God.

So he got up from supper, laid aside his robe, took a towel, and tied it around himself.

Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet and to dry them

with the towel tied around him.

Let's pray.

Father God, we come to you this morning and we need you today, God.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would be among us this morning.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would be on me, dear Lord, that as I open my mouth, God, that

it would be you that speak.

Dear Lord, you know what we need to hear.

God, your word is so good.

Dear Lord, there's nothing I can say that's better than the words that we just read.

But God, I pray that as we look at these words today that you just would meet us where we

are, dear Lord.

I pray that we would listen today, God.

I pray that we would not be distracted by the worries and the stresses and the pains

of this world.

I pray that in these few minutes that we would hear from you, dear Lord, that you would hide

me behind the cross, that you would help me to preach and teach in a way that brings glory

and honor to you, that our hearts would be open, that our ears would hear, dear Lord,

what you have to say.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The time of the Passover festival had taken place.

This was something that God's people had done for hundreds of years when God was preparing

to deliver them out of slavery.

God gave them specific instructions on how to put the blood on the doorpost and how to

do everything just as He said.

And when the death angel would pass by, God would pass over those of His people who were

covered by the blood.

And so God's people celebrated this festival.

They celebrated this time that God had delivered them out of slavery and brought them into

a land that was their own.

And for hundreds of years, God's people had celebrated this.

And here we see in this passage that God's people were still celebrating this.

But it says here as we continue verse 1 that Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart

from this world.

Jesus knew that His time was up, that He had come to accomplish a mission, that He had

come to fulfill the Word of God, that He had come to be obedient to the Father.

Jesus' mission was a difficult mission, but a mission that He was willing to take up.

Jesus' mission was that He was going to die on a cross so that sins could be forgiven.

So that your sins could be forgiven, so that my sins could be forgiven, so that the sins

of the world who would put their faith in Jesus Christ, so their sins would be forgiven.

Because there is no other way that we can be forgiven.

There is no other way that we can obtain salvation.

There is no other way that we can be washed as white as snow apart from putting our faith

in Jesus Christ.

And Jesus knew that we could never earn the favor of God.

And so Jesus came to fulfill His mission, to live in obedience to the Father.

And Jesus did that to the very end.

But Jesus knew that His time had come.

He knew that He would soon be departing this world.

Perhaps that's important for us to think about.

Because there's a time coming in our life that we will depart from this world.

Perhaps for some in this room you say, my time is soon.

We don't know when our time is.

Perhaps we have another day, another week, another year, another 20 years.

But there's coming a point in time in our life that we are going to depart from this

world, that we're going to leave this world.

And can it be said of us that we have been faithful to God during our lifetime?

That we have seeked to live in obedience and follow the will of God as Jesus did?

Jesus throughout His whole earthly ministry is an example to you and I.

And everything that Jesus does, He's an example of how we are to live our life.

And one of the greatest ways that Jesus is our example is that He was faithful to God.

That everything He did, He wanted to do for the will of God.

That Jesus wasn't concerned with His will or with His desire, but He knew that He had

come to serve God the Father.

And that's why Jesus prayed as His death was approaching.

God, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me.

But God, not my will be done, but your will be done.

There's coming a time in our life when we will depart from this world.

But before we depart from this world, have we put our faith in Jesus Christ, the one

who came to be our example, the one who came to die and give His life for us?

Can it be said of us that we have loved like Jesus loved to the very end?

That we have kept the faith, that we have kept obedience to God up to the very end of

our life?

There's coming a day that we are going to depart.

There's coming a day that we are going to depart this world.

And we need to realize that things of this world are not important.

Things of this world are not important.

What's important is whether or not we are obedient to God, whether or not we have put

our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Now, there are things in this world that we love.

There are things in this world that we worry about.

But there's coming a day that there's something greater than this world.

And that is we are going to have to stand in the presence of God.

And Jesus gives us an example and He says, look, I'm coming to die on a cross for you.

I'm coming to give you an example on how to live.

I'm coming to you so that you can put your faith in me and so that you can have a relationship

with God the Father.

There's coming a day that we are going to depart this world.

But until that time comes, we must be on mission for God.

Until that time comes, if we have put faith in Jesus Christ, then we need to live a life

of service to God.

Verse two.

Now, by the time of supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon,

his chariot son, to betray him.

Now, as we live this life, as we seek to serve God, once we come to faith in Jesus Christ,

you need to know this, that the devil is at work.

Even Jesus himself, the son of God, was not immune from the attacks of Satan.

When Jesus first began his ministry, before he ever got started, the first thing that

we see in scripture is that the devil came and he tempted Jesus.

Now we can try our best to live for God and we can seek to live by His will, but we have

to be ready and we have to be prepared because the devil is at work.

He was at work in the plan of God here.

He was trying his best to thwart the plan of God, but the devil could not thwart the

plan of God.

He could not get Jesus to be disobeyed in the beginning of his ministry.

He could not get Jesus to give up here at the end of his ministry.

And even though Jesus would soon be killed, the devil would never succeed.

But the devil is always going to try.

The devil is always going to bring about temptation in your life.

He's always going to bring about sin in your life and he is going to do everything he can

to make the word of God look like it is not true and it is not good.

But God's word is good.

God's word is true and God's word is hard.

God calls us to a higher standard than the world calls us to.

God's standard is tough because Jesus tells us things like love your enemies and pray

for those who persecute you.

He tells us, look, there are things in this life that are bad, that are sinful, that are

wrong.

God's word says don't live in these things.

But so many times sin feels good to us.

It looks good to us and that temptation comes and we give in to the sin that the devil brings

before us because he wants us to get off track.

He wants us to deny who God is.

He wants us to think that God's word is old fashioned and irrelevant and not important

for our culture today.

But God's word is as good as it was ever.

Today God's word is better than anything else that we can see in our world.

Most of the things that our world wants to tell us are good today are evil.

And they would tell us the word of God is evil but it is the goodness of God.

So we must be on guard because the devil is always coming after us.

He's always tempting us.

And too many times the devil is successful in tempting us.

Too many times we compromise on God's word.

Too many times we listen to what the world says is okay.

But too many times what the world says is okay is sin in the eyes of God.

And so we need to be in the word of God to know what God says is good and to know what

God says is evil, to know what God says is righteous and to know what God says is sinful.

And probably today you even feel the Holy Spirit.

You may even feel before you came into this place.

We know when we are living in sin.

We know when we are doing what is evil.

And when we feel that sin and we know that that sin is in our life we must repent of

that sin.

That is we turn from that sin.

We say God I don't want to live this way anymore.

God I know that Jesus is your son.

I know that your word is good.

And God I know that there is forgiveness in none other but Jesus Christ.

And so God I repent.

God I ask you to forgive me.

The temptations come.

The sin is ever before us.

But he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

Verse 3, Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come

from God and that he was going back to God.

Even though the devil was hard at work, even though people were constantly coming against

Jesus, Jesus did not back down.

Why?

Because he knew that he was doing the will of the Father.

He knew that God was with him.

He knew that God was greater than the works of the devil.

And we need to know that today.

You need to know that today in your battle with sin and your struggle with sin and what

the world says is right and the things that you are doing that you shouldn't do and the

ways that we are living that we shouldn't live, we need to say, God I come to you because

I cannot overcome my sin on my own.

I cannot overcome my pain.

I cannot overcome my struggles.

I cannot overcome my worries.

But God I know you are greater than the devil in his tactics.

God I know you are greater than the sin that so easily ensnares me.

And we need to trust in God the way that Jesus trusted in God.

To know that sometimes life is hard.

It's not always easy.

Jesus would soon be beaten and mocked and nailed to a cross to carry out the will of

the Father.

To carry out the will of the Father is not always easy.

But we can do it.

Not by our strength, but by God's strength.

That the devil may come at us.

The devil may try to get us to stop what God has called us to do.

But God is always going to be victorious.

Jesus Christ settled that when he gave his life on a cross and when God raised him from

that grave.

It was settled.

The victory was won and Jesus wants you and I to have that victory today.

We share in that victory through Jesus Christ by putting our faith in him.

By saying Lord Jesus I choose you over the world.

You've seen what the world has to offer.

It ain't much good.

Look at the word of God.

Look at the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's beautiful.

It's perfect in every way.

God wants to give you something better than the world wants to offer.

God wants to give you hope.

We don't have any hope today in our world.

You turn on the news.

You look at politicians.

You look at conflicts wherever it may be.

There is no hope in this world.

But I want to tell you this morning there's hope in the word of God.

There's hope in Jesus Christ this morning.

That sin that you're struggling with, that sin that you're battling through the power

of Jesus Christ, you can overcome that.

He'll give you the strength.

He'll give you the power to overcome that.

But you must call out to him.

You must seek him.

You must say God I'm ready to live for you and I'm tired of living for sin.

I want to live for you God.

I want to put my faith in Jesus Christ.

I want to follow what the word of God says.

The struggle is hard.

If we seek to live for God and we seek to live a life of obedience to God, we better

be ready because the devil is always going to be tempting us.

He's always going to come after us.

But he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

If he who is in us is Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, if that's who our

faith is in, then we have hope this morning.

So Jesus knew his life was drawing to a close.

He knew what was about to take place.

He knew the devil was about to do his work in Judas.

He knew that Judas was about to betray him.

But even so, Jesus trusted in God.

He trusted in God and maybe we need to be reminded of that today.

Sometime in the midst of our struggles and our pains and our sin, we need to be reminded

to trust in God.

God is good.

He has not abandoned you today, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Whatever your struggle and your pain may be, he has not abandoned you.

Maybe you've not put faith in Jesus Christ.

I want to call you today to trust in the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul,

and strength.

Do not rely on your own understanding.

We trust in the word of God because there is nothing greater that we can trust in.

We trust in the gospel of Jesus Christ because that is the only place that we can find hope.

And as Jesus' life was drawing to an end, Jesus trusted in God.

Now if you knew your life was ending very soon, if you knew you only had a week or two

to live, what would you leave with those around you?

What would you want to do?

Perhaps you'd say, I want to go skydiving.

I want to go see this place.

I want to do this thing.

I want to experience something that I've always wanted to do.

I want to do this while I still have time.

And I suppose in some ways that those things aren't horrible in and of themselves.

But perhaps there are greater things that we can leave with those behind us.

Because one day we're going to depart from this world.

Maybe it's next week.

Maybe it's 100 years from now.

But one day we are going to depart.

And the question is, what are you going to leave behind?

And don't say, I'm going to leave behind a house and some land and some stuff.

That's not going to make a difference.

That stuff's going to be gone.

The one who comes after you, whoever gets it, is probably not going to love it as much

as you did.

They're not going to care about your stuff the way that you do.

One day when you leave this world, all that you have worked for, all that you have done

in a materialistic sense will be gone.

It will not be here.

And you say, man, that's kind of a bummer.

Well, it is kind of a bummer.

But it's reality.

And so we need to realize that we don't need to be so attached to the things of this world.

We need to realize that we need to leave better things behind than the materialistic things.

So Jesus, knowing that his time was coming to a close, that he would soon depart, he

left something better behind for his apostles and for you and I.

Verse 4.

So he got up from supper, laid aside his robe, took a towel and tied it around himself.

Next he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet and dry them with

the towel tied around him.

In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful passages in all of the Bible.

That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, left his place in heaven with God the Father.

And he came to this mess of a world that you and I live in.

That he suffered ridicule and people constantly coming after him and ultimately beating and

mocking and nailing him to a cross.

And here is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

If there was everyone who was worthy to sit on a throne, if there was everyone who was

worthy to be bowed down to, if there is everyone who has been worthy that we should serve him,

it is Jesus Christ.

Yet Jesus Christ came and he didn't come to this world to sit on a throne.

Instead Jesus came to this world humbly from the very beginning.

Jesus came to this world as a man just like you and I and Jesus walked on this earth just

like you and I and Jesus knows what it is to suffer.

He knows what it is for people to come against him.

And of all the things that Jesus could do and in all the ways that he could come, Jesus

came humbly.

And here the Son of God, as death is knocking at his door, what does Jesus do?

But he gets a bowl of water.

He gets a towel.

He gets down at his disciples' feet.

And the Son of God begins to wash their feet.

Now people's feet back then were a lot dirtier than your feet and my feet.

Our feet are relatively clean.

We wear socks.

We wear shoes.

We take a bath every day.

People's feet now are clean.

In those days they weren't quite as clean.

They wore sandals most of the time.

They walked on dirt roads.

They walked through all kind of stuff along the day.

And so when it got time to wash somebody's feet, that job belonged to the lowest of the

lowest servant.

That job wasn't for the master of the house.

That job wasn't for the king.

You wouldn't go into any other castle in this world at the time of Jesus and somebody come

in and you would see the king washing their feet.

Yet here Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, he gets

down and he begins to wash his disciples' nasty, dirty feet.

And as the passage continued, Jesus tells his disciples, he says, look, I'm giving you

an example.

I'm giving you an example.

For the Son of God did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom

for many.

Jesus Christ showed us how to live.

Jesus says, this is how you live out the will of God.

This is how you live in obedience to God.

You serve others.

And what a beautiful example that Jesus has given us today.

That Jesus could have said, God, that ragtag bunch of people at Enterprise Baptist Church

on March 17, 2024, ain't worth nothing.

God, I'm not going down there in that mess.

God, I'm not going to suffer.

God, I'm not going to wash a foot and I'm not going to die on a cross.

But Jesus didn't say that because Jesus was motivated by love.

And Jesus looked down on you and I and he said, that's a rough group of people.

And he said, if I don't go, if I don't go, they don't have any chance whatsoever.

So Jesus says, I'm going to go and I'm going to show them how to live and I'm going to

show them obedience and I'm going to give my life on a cross so that they can be forgiven

of their sins.

Jesus calls us today to serve.

Now, let me ask you, are you serving God today?

Are you serving God today?

Too many times, perhaps, our prayer lives are filled with, God, what can you do for

me?

God, this is what I want.

God, this is what I need.

God, give to me.

God, help me with this.

God, help me with that.

And we need to pray for God to help us.

We need to pray for God to give us our needs.

But we also need to pray, God, how can I serve you?

Maybe there are opportunities right before you and you have not seen those opportunities.

I can tell you today that if you pray to God, he will help you see those things.

Maybe today you say, you know what, I'm not serving God.

Maybe you say, but I want to serve God.

I don't know where to start.

Tell me where to start.

I don't know where you need to start, but God knows where you need to start.

And you need to be looking for those opportunities.

You need to pray that God will help you to see those opportunities.

What are some ways that we can serve people?

Well, it might be the smallest things that you overlook.

Maybe you're already doing it and don't realize.

Maybe you pass by things all the time and don't realize that perhaps that's a way of

service for God.

Maybe you drive down the road and see somebody with a flat tire and you pull over and help

them change their tire.

Perhaps that's a good way to serve God.

You say, well, that ain't much.

Well, perhaps it's not, but then again, maybe it is.

You see, because our world doesn't see much good.

Our world doesn't see much love.

And you never know the least little thing that we do out of love and obedience to God.

You never know how it might change somebody's life.

That one little act of love, it may be an opportunity for you to share with them, look,

I'm doing this because I love you because God loves you.

There are lots of opportunities perhaps that may pop up into our life and we need to be

willing to serve.

And too many times God puts opportunities in our life and we are too good to do those

things.

We are too, well, I can't do that.

That's going to take too much time or that's going to take too much money or that's going

to take too much work or I'm going to have to get my hands dirty or I'm going to have

to miss something that I want to do.

And too many times we're too good to do the work of God.

But if we feel that way and we think that way, then we need to read this passage.

We need to read passages like these where Jesus talks about this very idea that we are

not too good to do any work that God calls us to.

Jesus shows us that.

He says, look, I'm going to show you how to live.

There is nothing that you're too good for.

There is nothing that is beneath you.

If we have an opportunity to serve, we need to serve in that opportunity.

We need to ask God to show us and reveal to us and help us to see ways that we can be

obedient to Him and live in service to Him just as Jesus Christ did.

What a beautiful story we see here of Jesus.

That as Jesus knew His time was drawing to a close, that He knew that the devil was giving

it his best shot, Jesus did not waver, but Jesus trusted in God.

And of all the things He could do, He left His disciples with this.

He said, look, I'm serving you so that you'll know what it's like to serve one another.

And when we serve one another, we're serving God.

Are you serving God today?

If you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ today, the one who came and gave His life

on the cross so that you could be forgiven, He came so that you could be forgiven so you

don't have to give in to sin, so that you can overcome those sins, so that you can say

no to those sins, so that you can say no to what the world says is right, but what God's

word says is wrong, so that we can say yes to Jesus Christ and no to sin.

Have you said yes to Jesus today?

Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ?

If you hadn't done so today, I pray that you would.

Maybe today you are in Jesus Christ, but maybe there's some sin in your life and you need

to deal with it.

I pray today that you would.

Maybe today you say, I want to serve God, I want to be obedient to God, pray to God,

ask Him to give you some opportunities to show you, to help you see areas that you can

serve and live in obedience to Him.

Let's pray.

Father God, we come to you.

We thank you for this beautiful passage, dear Lord.

We thank you for Jesus, for who He is and for what He has done.

Dear Lord, I pray that if there are any in this room that do not know Jesus Christ as

Lord and Savior, that today that they would.

God, your word calls us to repent of our sins.

God, that is to turn from the sinful thing to the world, to say we're not going to live

for our desires and our worldly desires anymore, but we're going to live for Jesus.

God, maybe there are some here today and they don't know Jesus, but maybe today, God, they've

put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Maybe today they've realized for the first time that there is no hope, there is no salvation

in any other than Jesus.

I pray, God, that if there are any that have made that decision today to put their faith

in Jesus Christ and repent of their sins, that in a moment as we have this song of invitation,

God, that they would come forward, that we can rejoice with them, dear Lord.

God, I pray for those in this room today, maybe they're yours.

And maybe they've wandered away from you, dear Lord.

Maybe sin has gotten the best of them, but God, I pray today that you remind them that,

God, you're greater than their sin, that you give them power and strength to overcome their

sin, dear Lord.

I pray that if there's sin in our life today, that we would repent, that we would seek you,

dear Lord, that we would trust you.

God, in the midst of our attacks, the devil is always at us, dear Lord.

He's always coming at us.

He's always trying to tempt us with sin.

But dear Lord, I pray today that we are reminded that in Jesus Christ, he who is in us is greater

than he who is in the world.

So God, wherever we may be in life today, let us not be discouraged.

Let us not give up.

Let us not be depressed, dear Lord.

But let us hold firm on your word.

Let us trust in you, dear Lord, with all of our heart and not rely on our own understanding.

God, I pray that you help us in our struggles.

They're tough and they're real, dear Lord, and we cannot do it apart from you.

God, I pray that you just bless each one here today.

I pray that as we have this song of invitation, God, that if you have spoken to anybody in

any way, that now is their chance to respond, dear Lord.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen.