← ArchiveSunday, December 29, 2013DateDecember 29, 2013SpeakerChris BurnsTextJohn 13Passages in this sermonJohn 130:25John 1734:27TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Well, did you have a nice Christmas, good Christmas, blessed, good, everybody had a wonderful time with their families, now all you got to do is figure out how you're going to pay Capital One, Chase, Visa, MasterCard, off. If you have your Bibles with you, I want you to turn with me to John chapter 13. John chapter 13, as we study from the Word of God and we look at how Jesus prepared for0:29this event of the Last Supper, Jesus had celebrated many Passovers but only one Lord's Supper, and He marked its importance for us, and as we gather as a church, there's a very significant event that we come together and realize how important it is when we hold the morsel of0:58bread in our hands and we hold the cup of juice that represents His blood in our hands as we take that in and remember the pain and suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I remind folks all the time about this, you know, there's so many things as a young preacher that you think about that you did that didn't, not necessarily wrong, but you come to understand1:26when you study God's Word that there are things that should be placed in rightful places and for personal reasons. We had a call, for instance, the Christmas Eve night as I was here in the office before the services, and they said, are y'all having services tonight? And I said, yes, we are. And we have a candlelight service, and it starts at five.1:52We try to end by six. By the way, I want you to know you got out 10 minutes early this year, thanks to my grandson. But anyway, he said, do you also have communion? And I said, no. And, you know, a lot of people, why don't we have communion on Christmas Eve? Why don't we have communion at weddings where just a couple? And the reason for it is, is if you look at the biblical illustration that the Lord Jesus laid down2:22concerning communion, or concerning what we as Baptists call the Lord's Supper, there's a specific purpose. And he said, you do this in remembrance of my suffering until I come again. And if we celebrate the birth of Christ, and at the same time we focus on his death, then we take away from the opportunity that we have to really focus on the celebration of his birth.2:46And as a couple comes to celebrate a wedding and a covenant relationship that they are making with one another and God, and it's a beautiful part. You know, there are a lot of things that are beautiful, but they're out of place. And there are a lot of things that we have some distinct biblical instructions on. And then I think there are some things that we just take liberties with because it's different.3:13And it's not that I want to be stubborn about it. I just like to maintain the importance of an event. And that way we don't get confused over what God's doing. Christmas was just passed. And it was a great time to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a great time to think about how awesome the miracle of God was3:38as the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary with Jesus Christ, who would be fully God and fully man. And what great celebration there was, and we talked about it in the last few sermons, the great celebration of the Magi, the celebration of the shepherds coming, the celebration of his birth, and yet how unique and interesting his birth was because it was in a lowly barn, in a manger, away from the crowds and the hustle and bustles4:03of what would rightly be considered a king's birth. But then as we come to the end of the year, I thought, man, it'd be neat to take the end of the year and celebrate the Lord's Supper and remember that we had this past year because he suffered for us. We enjoyed Christmas because he suffered for us. See, you can't take the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and put all your cookies in that basket.4:33You also have to take the sinless life of Christ. And then you also have to take the vicarious death of Christ. And by that, I mean you have to take the fact that he gave his life on Calvary as a sacrifice for your sins and my sins. And that as I read earlier from Revelation, he who is thirsty, let him come.5:02Because you're going to drink of the waters, the living waters of the Lord Jesus Christ that will cause you to never thirst again. If you go get a drink of this world's water out there, you're going to thirst again. There's nothing out there that the world doesn't offer you that you're not going to want more of when you get through with it and you're going to want it more and more until the point it eats you up instead of you devouring it. Let me just tell you, there's enough in the world to devour you over against you ever devouring the world.5:31But Jesus comes to this time in John. John chapter 13, beginning in verse 20, he says, Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing, Jesus knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart out of the world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. In other words, he's loving them right on up to his death. He has a passionate love for those who have followed him6:02and those who have given their lives to him. During the supper, the devil, having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper and laid aside his garments and taking a towel. He girded himself, and we know that the rest of the passage was6:31that he washed the feet of the disciples as he partook of the Lord's Supper with them. A great sign and show of humility. He came in humbly with his birth, and he's going out humbly with washing the feet of his disciples. But he leaves us with a very important event, and that is the Lord's Supper.7:01As we read these passages, there are just a few things I want to point out, and they're very easy, and that's the knowledge. Notice Christ's knowledge. Christ knew the hour of his suffering was at hand. It's amazing to me that God, in his infinite love and his infinite wisdom, wouldn't at least hide that knowledge from his Son. But we already have seen Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane as he is beseeching on behalf of the Father that this cup pass from him.7:31But if not the will of God, let him take the cup. And the Bible, again, reminds us in John that God knows, Christ knows everything that is going on and taking place. Now, while that's very clear and very plain, and we read that and we say, well, he's Christ, he's God, he's fully God, he knows those things, that's just an attribute of God. Let me tell you how exciting that is for me. He also knows what my future holds as well.7:58That's exciting to me. When I read the Word of God, that not only is it saying that he knows that he's about to enter into a point in time of great suffering on my behalf. He's not going to the cross because he's liking what he's doing. He's going to the cross because he's going to glorify his Father with the complete obedience of following him all the way to Calvary's cross, dying on that cross. But before he gets to that cross, he's going to suffer horribly from the hands of those8:28that despise everything he's about and because of the work of Satan that has been done in the hearts of those that are seeking to thwart what God's plan is and God's purpose is. While Satan may not know what a plan and a purpose that is taking place, he's doing everything he can to bring all the havoc and harm he can on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible just simply reminds us8:56that as Jesus gathered with his disciples at the Passover, he knew what was about to happen. I want to tell you, I'm glad God withholds certain knowledge from me. Amen? You know, there are a lot of people that want knowledge. You know, there are a lot of folks that said, I'd like to know, you know, have some knowledge of the future. That way, you know, you could buy the right kind of stocks or if you had knowledge of the future, you could do this, you could do that. But what if God gave every one of us the knowledge of our death?9:24All right, you know, on January the 12th, you're going to die. What would your life be like? How would it change? You say, boy, this is a gloomy sermon, preacher. Well, it's not a very exciting, I mean, it's exciting because it's God's word. But I mean, think about this. Jesus is meeting for the Passover.9:54The rest of Israel is meeting for a time of celebration. They're going to take the Passover lamb that they've brought from their farms and from their byways and their houses from all over, their homes from all around, and they're bringing their Passover lambs to Israel so that the priests can slay them and the blood of those lambs can be applied to their sins because they've been doing it year after year after year after year after year. And how many lambs have to die before these folks' sins are once and all forgiven? Well, it's going to have to happen until this lamb, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ,10:22literally comes in human flesh, becomes that perfect, unblemished lamb, and is willing to go to the cross and become the ultimate sacrifice by the shedding of his blood. And the book of Ephesians tells us there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. And so he's going to go and he's going to shed his blood, and he knows that. He knows that.10:53Well, I just want to tell you something. I examine my life every now and then. I don't like to do it often, but every now and then, and I try to overlook the bad parts when I examine. You know what I'm talking about? You don't want to look at the blemishes too long, because that's all you ever focus on. But anyway, when you examine, I'm thinking to myself, I don't want to die for me, much less you. But God, in his infinite way,11:24with his knowledge, and Jesus, with the knowledge of being who he was, had full knowledge of his coming suffering. How many of us know we're going to suffer? Now, there are folks that do know about some of the sufferings that they're going to face in the coming days. They know they may have this particular surgery coming up. You know, have you ever met anybody with minor surgery?11:51There's no such thing with minor surgery when you're the one having the surgery. I had a person one time back years ago, you know, and I was just a young preacher, whippersnapper of a preacher, and this girl was going to go in the hospital, and she was going to have some carpal tunnel surgery on her hand. And so the word had gotten back to me that as the pastor, she wanted to make sure I knew so that I could come by12:18or go to the hospital and be there. Have you ever tried to go, listen, when you're in an outpatient hospital for outpatient surgery, you're hard to find. Usually I get there and they say, oh, they're already gone. Thank you. But anyway, I thought to myself, well, it's just minor surgery. Well, the word got back that it wasn't minor if it was on her. So I went with one of my deacons and we made the visit. We prayed for her hand and she went through the surgery fine,12:46but she really got her feelings hurt with me because I had said that her surgery was minor. And then I come to understand that phrase and that truth. Surgery is only minor on those that are not having it. What if we knew about our suffering to come? Some people try to. Some people literally try to prepare themselves for it.13:15Some people prepare themselves mentally. Some people try to prepare themselves emotionally. Some people try to prepare themselves physically. I mean, they get on the Internet, they study everything. Don't get on the Internet and read about your surgery. There are people whose limbs fell off. You know, I'm telling you, there are all these cures out there. Don't you just love it? Don't you read the cures that come up on TV?13:40If you have this problem and you take this medication, know this, that your nose may turn inside out, that your skin may come off, but guess what? Your head will quit hurting. You know, they do. They give you a whole list of things that potentially could happen to you if you do it. What if the doctor said, well, we're going to have to go in here, we're going to take your appendix out,14:10or we're going to go in there and take your gallbladder out. But I just want you to know that in the event that you have this surgery, we could clip a bowel. And if we do clip a bowel and all that leaks out, that could cause a great infection. And once you get an infection, we'll have to give you a lot of antibodies. We're going to sew it back up. But the antibiotics could shut your kidneys down. If your kidneys shut down, we may have to go in and you have dialysis. If you have dialysis, it may be for a period of time, if we can't find anybody that gives you a kidney, you could die. My gallbladder don't hurt no more.14:42God knows what you're about to face. You know, the greatest comfort that I have when I go in for minor surgery and they give me that medication that just literally puts you in another world. And then they wake you up and you're thinking, when are you going to do the surgery? You ever had that? I love it. You know, I ask God one day, give me a shot of that.15:11Just wake me up when it's over. Life. But there's a comfort in knowing that God knows. God knows how this thing's going to work out. And that's what Jesus is saying. And that's what he's telling us as he, as John writes these words and as the Passover has come15:40and as Jesus is about to initiate the Lord's Supper, he wants us to know that and as you look at the scriptures, Jesus knowing. Jesus knowing. Jesus knows. Sometimes we might question, well, God, if you know, why do I have to go through that? Well, let me tell you, you will never be everything that God wants you to be until you go through some of the stuff that God needs you to go through so that you can draw closer to him.16:09You know, as a parent, I know nowadays, we never had those kind of door handle covers that you could put on a door handle that keeps you from opening it. My daughter-in-laws do. I can't open the doors. They're good. You got to squeeze that thing and put your leg over it and hold on and push. But you know what I'm talking about. You protect your child from getting outside.16:38Guess what? I used to get outside. I ran away one time. I was six years old. I'm not sure my mother wanted me to come back. But anyway. But you follow me? We protect our children. Don't do this. Don't do that. We don't want them to, you know, they're running down the hill. Let them run. They fall. They crush their knees. They scratch them. Guess what they won't do next time? Run down the hill. Make sure the oven's not hot enough17:07to fry an egg on it, but the next time they want to touch a hot oven, let them touch it. You say, Brother Chris, that is terrible. Why would you do that? They won't touch it again. They won't kiss it. You say, did you really do that with your boys? Ask them. Unless we learn a little bit about life's pain,17:33we never grow up. God doesn't put us in a bubble, but God promises us that he knows where we are and what we're going through. God knows our pain. He knows the pain we're in. He knows the pain we're about to go into. God knows. He knew about his departure.18:04You know, sometimes the hardest thing we ever do is to leave. Amen? You know, it's always exciting, but you know, I can remember when we used to get together with family and some of our family and when I was growing up, some of them loved out in California, some of them loved out in Detroit, Michigan, and they'd come in at Christmas time and I'm telling you, it was the crying, slobberingest thing you've ever seen because everybody would get together as everybody was leaving and we would cry like, we're never going to see them again. You know, and their little cousins,18:34we'd get there and we'd cry with all of our big cousins and other cousins and they'd go in this direction and go in that direction. Jesus is about to leave. But he knows that in his leaving that he's loved his followers with all the love that he has. How do we leave and leave comfortably when we've loved19:02with all the love that we have and we've held nothing back? How can we let our children go off to school knowing that the potentiality is there that they may never come home alive? We do because we know that we've loved them with all the love and that they know that we've loved them with all the love19:31that we have. You see, Jesus says, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. We must love with that love. The love there's, you've heard it a thousand times, it's like agapeo. It's God love. It's not the love that you give that you're hoping to get something back with. It's the love that you just give.20:00You give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you give and you say, well, I'm just tired of loving somebody that always smirks or never gives me anything back. That's not the God-gapé love. The agape love says you love your enemy as yourself and if your enemy is going to do you harm, you keep on loving them. Do you know, Jesus said, if you love those that do you harm and you just love them, they're going nuts over how you love them and it's heaping hot colds20:29on their head. So if you want to drive somebody crazy next time they pull out in front of you, pray for them and don't try to run up behind them and talk to them. You want to really show somebody something. The next time somebody does something really mean to you, do something really good back to them. You say, that's easy for you20:57to say, Brother Chris, you're married to Miss Gail.21:08That's right. That's right. His knowledge reinforced his actions. Well, in that he knew what he was going to do and he was going to do it. And he did it. You know, today the knowledge of God ought to reinforce our actions. It ought to reinforce our desire. You know, if you look back21:37in 2013 and you say, you know, I really don't see much of God in my life in 2013. I challenged my Sunday school class this morning. You know, just kind of look back in 2013 and see if you can spot times when God, you know God was at work in your life. A God moment that you had. You know, I'm not talking about when, you know, some, I'm talking about a time that you know you had with God. It was a, if you were reading your Bible or you were praying or you're just going down a road and God filled the car up22:07or you were at home and God filled the den up but you know God was there and you were there and you just had a moment and you look back on 2013 and you think, yeah, I had that one and I had it or you look back and you go, you know God, I don't see any of those moments and God said they were there and you weren't there. The moment was there but you weren't there. You see,22:38You see, God met in your closet you just weren't there. God's alive in His Word you're just not there. God is with us, Emmanuel. Sometimes we're just not there. I want you to notice that the Bible says that God had given all things into the Son's hand and so the Son had every opportunity and ability to end everything23:07that was going on but He didn't. So that's Christ's knowledge. But there's something else in this passage that we can't overlook and we don't need to leave out and that's Satan's actions. Satan was about his dastardly deeds to disrupt what God was doing. Now the thing that you've got to remember is that Satan is not going to overcome what God is doing. Satan has already lost. We've won. God has won and those in Christ have won. We've won. But that doesn't mean23:37that we're not going to constantly battle that one that's in the world. The evil one that is in the world and is about destroying and seeking to destroy and disrupting all that God is doing. And he did not stop or try that with Jesus. He did. He thought if he could disrupt what was going on here that's what he needed to do. He knew who he was but he may not have been fully or he may not have the full knowledge of what he was about to accomplish. And so he's working on behalf of God24:06but he thinks he's working against Christ and that is is that he has now entered into Judas and Judas is about to betray Jesus who is going to do exactly what God needs for him to do so that Jesus can be betrayed to the religious system of his day and then ultimately be crucified by the Romans but it's all God's plan. Satan's actions are constantly working to thwart24:36to thwart what God is seeking to do in your life but notice when God is at work and you're obedient to God he's turning around what Satan is doing to destroy your life and making it right in fall right into God's plan for your life. You know I tell you I pray I pray Lord I know there's some nasty people out there in this world my wife's going to work today I'm going to work today there are going to be people out there25:06that are going to want to do harm against I want you to turn it around like you did with Judas Judas was out there he was he was going to betray Christ he was getting his 30 pieces of silver Satan was going to get his betrayal everything was going everybody was going to be happy Jesus was going to be done away with but little did they know they were working right in the plan of God and sometimes we need to understand that while Satan might be very relevant in what we're doing25:36he's irrelevant in what he's accomplishing because he's not accomplishing anything that can harm us he's only going it's only going to be turned around to where he's working on behalf of God so we see Satan's actions it says there so it says in verse 2 during the supper the devil having already put into the heart of Judas is carried the son of something to betray him now26:05now Jesus knowing that the father had given all things in his name Jesus knowing that Satan had already gotten his job done with Judas Jesus knowing everything Judas was about to do says in another place he who betrays me is going to kiss me and he says whatever you do quickly and so out there in the garden they come by and Judas betrays him he points him out and they arrest Jesus and they're going26:34to take him off and they're going to nail him to a cross and guess what that's exactly what God planned and sometimes when we go through a time of struggle we say God get me out of this struggle God get me out of this mess God get me out of this this time and God says I can't I'm growing you while you're here I'm doing this for your benefit Satan has no power over your life at this point but then27:03but then there are always those Judases that are willing you know that's that's the ones that really scare me or maybe they're the ones that we really pity and they're the ones who really are out there they've learned to imitate we talked about that this morning they've learned to imitate the things that a Christian does they imitate the good that a Christian does you know there's just about every good that a lost person can imitate that a Christian does27:32I mean they can give to the poor they can feed the poor they can dress the poor they can they can build monuments to themselves they can do all kinds of things they can do all kinds of things that look good and still be lost they mimic and sometimes even mimic more than we can but I want to tell you something a lost person is not going to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the love and fervor of the work of the Holy Spirit in their life like we can I want you to notice Christ's actions not the first time28:02was he distracted from God's purpose do you realize that sometimes the world can distract us just like that I'll tell you how it can how many of us would honestly agree I mean you know I don't want you to raise your hand but I just want you to think about it but you'd agree with me if you could give more to the church you would I mean most of us say if I could give more28:31to the church I would if I didn't have my house payment I'd give more to the church if I didn't have my car payment I'd give more to the church if I didn't have my visa bill I'd give more to the church if I didn't have all these dead-burnt grandkids I'd give more to the church you know we'd give more if if if if if somehow we were distracted out there in life to the extent that Satan robbed us of an opportunity that God would afford us to be a blessing to others and to him but because we were distracted we're not able to do29:00what we really want to do or we're just not doing what we really could do Jesus never was distracted he wasn't distracted by Satan entering into Judas he knew that the cross was out there he wasn't distracted by what God was doing in the lives of those that surrounded him that were hollowing for his crucifixion he knew that he must suffer and die not one time was he distracted and yet sometimes it becomes29:30so easily for us to be distracted from the purpose that God has set forth let us have a bad day and we want everything to change I know I do sometimes I told you all about a friend of mine I called one morning about 7 o'clock on Monday morning he was a preacher I was on a committee up in Tennessee and this committee was supposed to meet and I had forgotten if it was supposed to meet for breakfast at 8 o'clock or we were going to meet for lunch at 12 o'clock so I called him thinking surely he'll be up and I called about 7 o'clock and old Jack29:59answered the phone his name was Jack and I said he asked me he said hello I said hey Jack I said this is Chris Burns I said I was excited I was a young preacher I was on this committee I'd never been on a committee like this before and I think it was like the finance committee of the association so I was going to get to tell everybody what they could do with their money and you know I can do in that don't you so I called I said Jack I said what time is that meeting today what meeting are you talking about Chris you know30:28you know you're on that committee and we're going to have an 8 o'clock meeting he said Chris and this is what I thought was pretty funny because at that time I was kind of offended by it but now that I've been in the ministry for 37 years it's kind of coming and rings true he said Chris Burns listen to me he said it's 7 o'clock in the morning he said I don't even know whether I'm saved at this hour much less what time a meeting is30:57and I said Jack when you wake up and find out that you're saved and you're still pastoring Black Oak Church would you give me a call yeah and he called me back in about 15 minutes he said the meeting is at 12 o'clock and I said okay I said are you saved yet but you know if you ever woke up on a Monday morning you thought God I can't be saved not the way I feel but Jesus wasn't31:25distracted and his actions were forthcoming he was not deterred from what God was about to do in his life he was focused notice what he was focused on 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 he got up from supper31:54from supper he laid aside his garments and he took a towel and he girded himself let me ask you how many of us if we knew we were going to die in a couple of days would come to me and say brother Chris I know my life is coming to an end could we meet this Thursday night I'd like to wash everybody's feet in the church before I die32:24I don't get any wild ideas but I want you to think about it there's so many things that we would do and Jesus said let me wash the feet of those I love when we come together at the Lord's Supper let's not be distracted by the fact that we just came off of a Christmas that was good32:54or bad or however it was let us be focused on this Lord's Supper as being a moment that God was focused on us and would not be distracted from his purpose notice his focus is still on us and this is our closing I'm going to read first Peter I'm going to read a few verses blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according33:24who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various33:54by various trials didn't take you out of the troubles so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ and though you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory obtaining as the outcome of your faith34:23faith the salvation of your souls John 17 as Jesus is praying to the father he says while I was with them I was keeping them in your name which you have given me and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition so that the scriptures would be fulfilled I do not ask on behalf of these alone but for those who also believe in me through their word that they34:52that they may all be one even as you father are in me and I knew and they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me in a moment we're going to take up the cup we're going to take up the bread and in unison once it's handed out we're going to take and put it in our mouth and in35:20and in unison we're going to feel the texture and we're going to realize as should this is an example of the body of Christ this is an example of the blood that was shed for me let us also be united in our purpose when we leave here that we'll not be distracted that we'll35:49that we'll not be deterred that we'll be focused focused on the Lord Jesus Christ focused on the purpose that he has set for us focused on the life that he has given us for his glory and not be distracted by the struggles and the various trials but be enriched by the fact that God allows us those struggles36:18struggles to help us become more like he is today I challenge search your heart do you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior if you died today do you know where you'd spend eternity do you have a desire that God bless your life and that you would bless God's life maybe this36:44maybe this morning you're looking for a church home even though we're about to share in the Lord's supper we invite you to come just a moment we're going to have an invitation if you don't know Christ I want you to come if you do know Christ and are looking to examine your life right where you are examine and clear up the malice the hatred the falseness indifference that the world37:14has pushed into you that you might truly pick up the bread and take up the cup without sinning against the body of Christ let's pray fathers we gather here today we thank you that Lord you have prepared this moment this event this time long ago that we would sit here and that we would hear this God you even prayed for us knowing us before we ever37:43we ever even knew one another ourselves God you've come to fulfill your purpose and you did not let the things of the world the beatings the cries the cross distract you you did everything you were supposed to do and so God we thank you we thank you Lord that you wouldn't let those things distract you38:12distract you now Father keep us from being distracted help us be focused on your purpose God I pray for anyone here today that does not know you Lord your Holy Spirit would truly speak to their heart or God if there's a family looking for a church home an individual looking for a church home Father today they'd come become a part of what you're doing God we ask these things that you might be glorified in Jesus name AmenMore sermons on John →
