How to Listen to a Sermon continued
feet of the guests as they arrived. Finally, our blessed Saviour gird ed Himself with a towel, poured some water into a basin and pro ceeded to wash the disciples’ feet. When He came to Peter, he said, “ Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” The Lord replied, “ What I do, you don’t understand now hut you will know later.” Peter came out again in protest and said, “ Lord, thou shalt never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “ If I wash thee not, thou hast no part or fellowship with me.” Then in characteristic fash ion, Peter said, “ Well, if that’s the case, Lord, give me the whole treat ment. Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head!” Now notice what Jesus said to him, “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. Ye are clean, but not all.” In the English text there are two words translated “washed.” The first word means to wash the whole body, as in a bath. The second word means merely to wash the extrem ities, such as the hands or the feet. Behind this is an Oriental custom. They didn’t have bathrooms or plumbing facilities such as we have. Instead, they had public bathhouses. If they invited someone to come to their home for dinner, it would be their responsibility to go to the public bathhouse, take a bath and come home all prepared to entertain. When the guest ar rived, it would be the host’s re sponsibility to place a servant at the door whose job it would be to wash the guest’s feet. The guest had to walk from the bathhouse to the home w i t h open sandal s through unpaved, dusty streets. His feet would be dirty and it was com mon courtesy to provide for their cleansing. Jesus picks up this figure. He says, “ Peter, you don’t need a bath. You’ve had the bath o f regenera tion. But what you do need is to have your feet washed. If you don’t have your feet washed, you can have no fellowship with me.” The Psalmist once asked, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the
Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?” The answer came back, “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart” (Psa. 24:3, 4 ). It is impossible to put dirty hands and feet beneath the table of the Lord as it is spread every Lord’s Day and expect to get the maxi mum from the Word of God. Sin is a barrier to blessing. How wonderful to know the truth of 1 John 1:9, “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Be fore the sermon you have a respon sibility to prepare your heart by judging that sin, by removing it with the precious blood of Christ that keeps on. cleansing from all unrighteousness. Only then will your heart be open and ready to receive the truth of God. James goes on to say that there is another responsibility and that is during the sermon. He says “ re ceive . . . the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” Some times the believer goes to church as he goes to a cafeteria. In the cafe teria he walks down that beautiful line of food and picks out the things he likes. In church he does the very
That person receives it and looks around. “ That’s just the truth for Brother So-and-So,” he thinks to himself and passes the ball along. He does this all through the serv ice and somehow never manages to make a shot for himself. One church member attended church regularly and listened care fully to every sermon. He would greet the pastor at the door and say, “ Pastor, that was a wonderful ser mon today. Boy, you really told them!” The next week his comment would be, “My, you really combed their hair today.” One day they had a blizzard in the town. The only two people to show up at church that day were the pastor and this member. “ I sup pose we’re not going to have a serv ice today, Pastor?” the man que ried. “ Oh yes, we’re planning to have a service,” was the quick reply. This was the opportunity the pastor had been longing for and he could hardly wait to preach that message with all of the fire and fervency of his own heart. After the sermon the church member grabbed the pastor’s hand and prac tically shook it off. “ Pastor,” he said, “ you sure told them today. It’s too bad they weren’t here to hear it!” James says, “ Put out the wel come mat for the truth of the Word of God because any truth that’s preached has your name on it. It’s personally designed for you.” God wants His people to sit in church as though each individual were the only one there. Then when the sermon comes along He would have each one say, “ Lord, you’ve pre pared this truth for me •— not for someone else — just for me. I’m ready to receive it!” There is no room for a spiritual superiority complex that says, “ Well, I know it all.” James says, “ Receive it because it’s that Word that is able to save your soul.” What does he mean here? James is not talking about saving the soul from damnation. It is possible to save the soul in at least two different ways. These peo-
W hen Jesus is present all is well, but when Jesus is absent every thing is hard. — Thomas a Kempis
same thing — picks and chooses only the truth he wants to hear. If he doesn’t like something he passes it by. Sometimes the believer goes to church to play a little game of “ Church Basketball.” The rules of the game are very simple. The pas tor prepares the message and passes the ball — the truth — to someone.
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