Discover the deeper messages from the Last Supper, where Jesus taught his disciples about joy, love, and humility. Through vivid illustrations like foot washing, understand the significance of forgiveness and how positivity can emerge even amidst betrayal. Learn how impersonal love leads to inner joy and how maintaining a fulfilling relationship with God requires daily cleansing from sins.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes. For the next few minutes, please stick around. It’ll be about 30 minutes of motivation, Some inspiration, a whole lot of education, and absolutely no manipulation, no solicitation, just 30 minutes of education, giving you the word of God so that you can learn how to verify and identify God’s plan for your life, hopefully, and hopefully you will orient and adjust to the plan. Remember, God gave you two ends, one of them you sit with and one of them you think with. And success in your life, my life, depends on which one we use. Heads will win and tails will lose. In 2 Peter 3.18, the Bible commands us to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The word grow is a verb. Oxano is the Greek verb. Oxano, grow. It means to increase, increase in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And that’s not a request. In the Greek New Testament, that’s what we call an imperative mood verb, which means it’s a divine command, not a recommendation. So the principle is simply this, that no one ever grew spiritually by singing praise songs about God or to God. Spiritual growth comes through 2 Timothy 2.15. Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Study is another verb, like grow. Grow was a verb, now study’s a verb. This word study was the Greek word spoudazo. Spoudazo, it meant to be diligent, to endeavor to learn. And again, an imperative mood verb, just like the word grow. This is a command. It’s not a request. So every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ must know and must understand the spiritual life if he hopes to glorify God to the max. That’s why we have a show like The Flotlines. I’m not a pastor. I’m not trying to be your pastor. My job is to point you to a well-qualified pastor to expose you to a way of studying the word of God that will prick an interest in your soul so that you’ll want to grow spiritually. You know, you have mentality in your soul. You have the ability to think logic and reason. You have volition in your soul. You have the ability to choose. You have a conscience and a self-consciousness. but the way we live the Christian life is in our soul. So we have to change how our soul lives before we can change the actions of our life. If we don’t change the way we think we’ve never changed the way we live is what I’m trying to say. So until we learn and apply the word of God, you continue to follow the same patterns, the same trends, make the same mistakes. What I want to share with you today, and maybe for the next couple of days, Our thoughts on this very thing as the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the disciples about changing the way they think. He recognized that the disciples were going to undergo tremendous persecution. And at the Last Supper, John chapter 13, 14, and 15, he gave them some tremendous information, information they were not even aware of that they were going to need. But this is what he said in John 15, 11. He said, these things I have spoken unto you so that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. These things is the antecedent to beginning in John chapter 13 and coming all the way up to John 15, 11. That’s what these things refers to. These things are a lot of different doctrines that the Lord Jesus Christ taught them. And he said, I’m speaking these to you so that my joy, plus H, is a problem-solving device. It’s one of the 10 unique problem-solving devices. It’s sharing the happiness of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is telling them they can share his happiness right here. So that my joy might remain in you. Might remain is a verb called minnow, and it’s a subjective mood verb, means it’s potential. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. If you learn these things, if you do these things, it will. The active voice means the subject produces the action of the verb and the subject are the disciples. So if you do what I’ve told you from John 13 to John 15, 11, my joy will remain in you, in you, in your attitude, in the way you think. What he’s instructing them to do is how to think, how to live. See, this is where you live your Christian life. Again, God gave you two ends. You gotta learn to think. That’s why the Bible says, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Thinking is in the soul, and what the soul says, the body does. So these sayings, again, the things that he taught, the antecedent to this verse, these sayings I’ve spoken to you so that my joy, the Greek word kara, C-H-A-R-A, something that he possessed, something that was his, And he said, my joy could remain in you. So the Lord Jesus Christ is now teaching them how to be happy. And then he goes on to say, with a conjunction, and, and what? That your joy, your kara, might be full, might be full. Another verb, the subjunctive mood, means potential. It could be full and it could be empty. The passive voice means the subject receives the action of the verb, and in this case, the receiving would be the Holy Spirit gives that joy. if they listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ said, and if they do what the Lord Jesus Christ told them to do. These things I’ve spoken to you so that my joy, plus H, might remain in you, change the way you think, stay in your attitude, and that your joy might be full. Plero is the Greek word, plero. And it means to be absolutely full, to be filled up. So these words of the Lord Jesus Christ spoken to the disciples after a lengthy dinner, which we call the Last Supper, It’s obvious he knew what was coming. It’s obvious that he knew what they would be facing, and when he left, he knew that. And so these things refers to everything he said to them during that meal, the Last Supper. And we learn that Jesus Christ was giving them the secret to happiness. The Greek word, makarios, happiness. And during the coming years after his departure, they were going to face the same thing he faced. They would be persecuted exactly like he would be persecuted. And they could have the same joy he had in the midst of all of that. That does not mean he ran around jumping up and down saying, I’m so happy. Like there’s a fellow that’s the duck commander that wrote a book called Happy, Happy, Happy. Well, I don’t know that you would say Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior was happy, happy, happy on that cross. But I can tell you this, the greatest joy in his life was fulfilling the Father’s plan. And the greatest joy in your life, the greatest joy you will ever have is when you know you’re absolutely in the middle of God’s wonderful plan for you and you have confidence that you are completing that plan. Until that time, you’ll always wonder what your life was about. You never will reach a personal sense of destiny because you don’t study and you don’t grow. You’re not under a well-qualified pastor. You’re not learning God’s word consistently. Maybe you’re just kind of going to church on Sunday and take it in and go home and head for the restaurant and forget about what he said. It’s a matter of growth. All 12 of these disciples were present for this meal, commonly called the Passover meal. The Apostle Paul called it the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, 20. And he gave specific instructions, the Apostle Paul did, not to partake of the Lord’s Supper with unconfessed sin in your life or you would get disciplined for that. So let’s examine what the Lord taught in these passages. so that we can connect it to the Greek word tata, tata, which literally means afterwards or once the meal was finished, what we’re told during that meal, these things, tata, these things, it’s the Greek word tata. And here’s the first lesson Jesus taught them. Now I’m gonna back up, back up, back up these things, back up to chapter, John chapter 13. They just got through eating, They’ve just had the meal, and here’s John now recounting what’s happening. He’s recounting the foot washing episode, which is something those disciples had never seen Jesus do or never even heard Jesus suggest that they would do. It’s obvious to the Lord that he was about to be betrayed by someone he had trusted. John wrote in John 13, 3, and after supper being ended, The devil now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him. Our Lord knew that. And so Judas bought into some reason, I don’t know why, Judas bought into this lie that he should betray the Lord. I don’t know who Satan used to put it in his mind, but he tempted him with something. He was tempted with something, some reason, some means. No one really knows why he betrayed the Lord. We know that he was the keeper of the money, you know, that he kept money and that the treasury of the disciples, he was the one that took care of that. And some people figure maybe he stole from it. Maybe he was pilfering off to the side. Who knows? But we know that the Lord Jesus Christ knew Judas was going to betray him. And now when the Lord starts washing the disciples’ feet, Peter was taken back by this gesture. And he let the Lord know about it. In John 13, verse six, Lord, you’re not gonna wash my feet. And then the Lord told him that he might not understand it right now, but that he would understand it later. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ teaching by an illustration. Peter did not seem to have this doctrine down yet, and so now he has to be illustrated what he meant by teaching him this. What I do now, John 13, 7, you don’t understand, but you will know it hereafter. And so then Peter balked about that and declared, well, you’re never going to wash my feet. That’s the arrogance of Peter coming out. I’m not going to let you wash my feet, Lord. And the Lord Jesus Christ said, if I wash thee not, you have no part with me. When Peter heard this, he changed his attitude completely. And he said, Lord, how about giving me a complete bath? The secret is in the words that Jesus Christ used in the Greek New Testament. The word nipto, N-I-P-T-O, means a partial cleansing of the hands and the feet. And Jesus taught the meaning of that foot washing in John 13, 10. Here’s what he said. He that is washed, and that’s the Greek word luo, L-O-U-O, and that’s salvation. That’s absolute at salvation, absolution at salvation. He that is saved needeth not except to wash, nipto, his feet. Two different Greek words. Now, you wouldn’t know that unless you had a well-qualified pastor that could explain that to you. But what the Lord is telling Peter is you’ve already had a bath, Peter. You’ve already been saved. You just need me to wash your feet. This is our need to be cleansed from sin on a daily moment by moment basis. This is exactly what Jesus Christ was teaching them. They have to have their feet cleaned. In 1 John 1, 9, the Bible says, if we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That’s the first problem-solving device you and I have. It’s called rebound. The problem we have was sin. We’re saved, we’ve accepted Christ as our savior, but we still sin because we have Adam’s original sin embedded in us. And so no one taught us how to hate. No one taught us how to lie. No one taught us how to be jealous. No one taught us how to lust. We just inherently knew that because we have a sin nature. And so when we sin, we have to be cleansed from that sin. And rebound is how you do it. You say, well, it’s impossible for me to remember every sin I do. Well, certainly it is, but listen again. If we confess our sin, the ones we’re aware of, he’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all the ones we’re not aware of, all unrighteousness. So when we go to the Father and admit, I lusted, I lied, I cheated, I stole, I did this, I did that, then not only will God forgive you, even he’ll forgive you for the ones you don’t even remember. That’s amazing. So when you go to the Lord Jesus Christ, to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, when you go to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ and confess your sin, you are in essence having your feet washed or cleansed from sin. That’s our need. And this is the basis for problem-solving device number two, which is the filling of the Holy Spirit. It’s impossible for us to serve God, to learn about God, to worship God, if we’re not filled with the Holy Spirit. And that’s why we’re mandated to be filled with the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5.18. Because without the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life, you’re going to go nowhere spiritually. You see, when you accepted Christ, the Holy Spirit came to live in you and he sealed you until the day of redemption. And then you’re told by the Apostle Paul that you need to be filled with the Spirit. And this happens when you rebound. When you confess any known sin, you subdue the sin nature and you allow the Holy Spirit to regain control. But when you sin, then you quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, the Bible says. And so the flesh wars against the spirit. The spirit wars against the flesh. And these are contrary one to the other so that we can’t do the things we want to do. Paul said, I don’t understand myself at all. Sometimes I wanna do what’s right and I inevitably do what’s wrong. It’s because we have sin. And so the filling of the Holy Spirit is mandated. And here is some of the first principles we need to learn from this foot washing episode. Principle number one, sometimes the people you trust the most will let you down. There had been a lot of trust in Judas. He had been, as I said, he has taken care of the treasury, the money, made sure they had food to eat, made sure they took care of the poor, and he was trusted, and yet he let them down. And secondly, remember this, he did wash Judas’ feet. We must forgive them just as the Lord forgives us. Listen to Ephesians 4.32. You’re never allowed to hold a grudge. You’re never allowed to get even with anyone. I remember a friend of mine used to say, I got a black book. I’m going to put your name in it. I’m going to get even with you. That’s not allowed in the Bible. Listen, Ephesians 4, 32. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God, for Christ’s sake, forgave you. Every one of those disciples watched Judas get his feet washed and trusted Judas with the finances. And every one of them had to forgive him. They could not hold a grudge. They could not be bitter. They could not seek to be vindictive and get revenge. They had to forgive him. And that’s exactly what the Lord was teaching. Not only am I going to wash your feet and forgive you for your sin, but you’re going to have to forgive those who sin against you. Point three, there’s a difference between being saved and being cleansed. Nepto and luo, the difference between being saved and being cleansed. Luo means you’ve had the bath, you’ve been saved. Nepto means you gotta get your feet washed. So the difference is between positional truth, your relationship to God through Christ, and experiential truth, your fellowship with God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be in fellowship with God with unconfessed sin in your life. It quenches and grieves the Holy Spirit. And you have to learn this, principle number four. You have to learn not to be bitter when you get betrayed by those you trust. I know I’m meddling now, but listen to me carefully. You have to learn, don’t be bitter when you are betrayed by those you trusted. Some of you trusted doctors, some of you trusted lawyers, some of you trusted friends, and they betrayed your trust. Listen to Hebrews 12, 15. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many are defiled. The word defiled is an interesting word, the Greek word meino, and it actually means what’s in the bedpan pot beside the bed. They didn’t have indoor plumbing. They had bed pots, and so if someone got up in the middle of the night and had to use the bathroom, they used the pot. And if a woman went out in the morning to empty the pot in the street, she would say, me I know. In other words, get away, here it comes. That’s what happens when you get bitter. You defile your soul. Your soul becomes a septic tank. You can’t afford to let that happen. And so the root of bitterness, if you are bitter right now against a person, against a pastor, against a deacon, against a friend, if you have that hatred and bitterness, that is sin. And that is quenching the Holy Spirit. And you must confess that sin to God. Get rid of it. Don’t let it control you any longer. So in John 13, 14, the Lord emphasized this. They must learn to forgive one another. Here’s what he said. about forgiving one another he said if i your lord and master have washed your feet you also ought to wash one another’s feet now he never taught them to go about washing feet that’s an illustration the disciples never talked about it they never did it no there’s nothing in their bible about it anywhere else this was all an illustration about forgiveness and so if i can forgive you you have to forgive one another And then in John 13, 17, here’s the word again. If you know what I just taught you, you will be happy. Makairios, it’s a different word than kara. Kara is the word joy and makairios is the word happiness. If you know these things, know what things? The things I just taught you about foot washing. You will be happy doing them. The happiness he’s speaking of here is the central essence of your Christian life. We know it as problem-solving device number nine, sharing the happiness of God. It’s a life with what I call objective optimism, plus a relaxed mental attitude produced by inner joy and confidence that comes from the word of God that’s stored in your soul. You will never have any more joy in your life than when you’re in the middle of the plan of God for your life and you understand your mission as an influencer for Jesus Christ and the devil’s world. This was never, point six, a mandate to establish foot washing. as any sort of ritual, but rather it was a teaching tool to reach the thick-headed disciples who seemed to learn best when the Lord gave them practical illustrations. And their future happiness was now being linked to being obedient to the principles he taught them. They are part of these things mentioned in John 15, 11, foot washing. Another one of these things the Lord taught, it’s found in John 13, 21. Here he identified the trader that would sell him out for 30 pieces of silver. one of you will betray me john 13 21 judas was identified by jesus when giving the piece of bread that he dipped in the wine and he told him this he said in john 13 27 what you do do quickly get it over with go ahead now here’s what’s weird those thick-headed disciples still didn’t catch on In John 13, 29, some disciples thought Judas had, because Judas had the money bag, and I’m quoting the scripture here, that Jesus was telling him to go buy merchandise for the feast or that he should give something to the poor. They still didn’t get it. However, the Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly what was in that man’s heart because he had the ability as God to read his mind. He can see what you’re thinking. He can see your motives, your intentions, and your desires. So the principle is learn this, pay attention to what the Lord says. It’s obvious they weren’t paying much attention. They had just eaten a fine meal. They were fellowshipping with one another. The Lord had just washed their feet, and they were probably yik-yacking, talking back and forth with one another and not really paying attention when they should have been. You should have been. There are times when if you’re around your pastor and he’s not in the pulpit, you might better pay really close attention to the small details, the things that he tells you. So another one of these things found in John chapter 13 is what we call the new commandment. He gave them a new commandment. Listen to this. John 13, 34. This is these things I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you. that you love one another as I have loved you, and that you love one another. By this shall all men know you’re my disciples if you love one another. Well, do you think they had a problem with each other? Certainly they did. These were all type A personalities. They were fishermen. They were strong individuals. They fought and bickered about who was the greatest. I’ll show you that here in a minute. And so they had to learn to forgive each other and to actually love each other. Jesus knew the tactics of the enemy, a.k.a. the devil, was going to be to divide and conquer. And these disciples were all plus-A personalities that constantly had disagreements. During his last evening with the apostles, Jesus said, has provided them with a fine lesson in humble service by washing their feet. Why was that fitting? Because of a weakness they had shown already. They’re devoted to God, and yet they’re still concerned about which one of them is the greatest. You can read it for yourself in Mark 9, 33, 34, Mark 10, 35, 37. That weakness resurfaced this evening. They became involved in a heated dispute among them among which one was considered to be the greatest. Listen to Luke 22, 24. However, there arose a heated dispute among them over which one of them was considered to be the greatest. There it is. You’ve got to learn that’s not what greatness is. The doctrine of impersonal love was being taught by the Lord Jesus Christ, demonstrated by the Lord Jesus Christ when he washed their feet, but they missed the whole thing. Remember, personal love for God is your motivational virtue in life, and impersonal love for others is your functional virtue in life. You have to learn how to love based on your character, not someone else’s character. They missed it. They missed it. They didn’t ever get it. And so the Bible says, from there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know about it. For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, the Son of Man is to be delivered to the hands of man, and they will kill him. And when he has been killed, he will rise on the third day. They did not understand this statement and they were afraid to ask him. And then they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house, he began to question them. What were you guys discussing on the way over here? But they kept silent for on the way they had been discussing with one another about Which one of them was the greatest? Sitting down, he called the 12 of them together and said to them, if anyone wants to be first, he needs first of all to be last and a servant to all. Thick-headed carnal Christians can destroy a church quickly through this sort of inordinate competition. Arrogance motivates the believer to strive for success inordinately and to compete with his friends and to use people to control people and accept approbation. The believer’s arrogant lust for ascendancy and success destroys his true scale of values. You must learn to have impersonal love. I’m going to have to come back to this next week because there’s a lot more to be said about these things. I hope you’re learning something. Hope you’re listening. I hope you’ll go read John 13, 14, and up to 15, 11, and see the things that Jesus talked about. Until then, next week, Sunday, same time, same place, I’m your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
