06.23. Giving the Church a Bath
Giving the Church a Bath
Little Betsy had faithfully attended baptism classes. Her mother, wanting to be sure her daughter understood its significance, asked, "Honey, what does baptism mean?"
"Well, it isn’t the water that makes you clean ..." she began.
Smiling, Mother thought, Yes, she understands, "... it’s the soap." -- Verna Chambers, Willcox, Ariz. "Kids of the Kingdom," Christian Reader, In the Bible we find that washing was an important aspect of the priesthood and temple. From the beginning of the priesthood washing was instituted. Leviticus 8:6 "And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water."
When the tabernacle was built you find provision for washing there. Exodus 30:18-20 "Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD."
When the covenant was being given to Moses God instructed the people to "wash" their clothes in preparation for God to speak to Moses. Exodus 19:14 "And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes."
You will also find that parts of the offering that would be sacrificed to the Lord on the altar. It would be burnt as an offering but would be washed first. Leviticus 1:9 "But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD." In the temple there were ten lavers for washing the offerings.
John the Baptist came upon the scene baptizing and that Jesus was baptized. The washing of hands has been a part of the Passover ritual performed annually by the Jews since the beginning. As we enter our text we find that Jesus on the night of the Passover in which He instituted the Lord’s Supper. In the midst of that night we find our text. John 13:3-10 "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all."
Jesus told Peter a very profound statement that shows that salvation is exclusive to Jesus. "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." Next he makes a statement that seems to but in no way conflicts with this statement. Peter asks Him to not only wash his feet but all of him. Jesus said, "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean…" This told us and Peter that while we may be washed we still need a bath. Hebrews 12:1, "…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…"
I- Washing from Sin:
1- More than washing on outside. Some of Jesus disciples got into trouble because they ate without washing their hands. (Matthew 15:2 ; Mark 7:2 ff) in fact Jesus Himself was guilty of doing the same. Luke 11:37-39 And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Many people think that cleaning up simply means we make the outside look good. We put on perfume and all kinds of stuff to cover the stink. This is not what it means to be washed from sins. We have two classic illustrations in the Bible concerning this. First is the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:27 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness."
Then the next is found in the Gospel of Matthew in the context of Jesus trial by Pilate. Matthew 27:24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
We see from these that it is not the outside that needs cleaned but the inside. Jesus said this very thing in Mark 7:18-23 "Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
Today the world looks at itself and sees the outside as clean and therefore makes the assumption that all is well. Notice Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
2- Washed by the Blood: Revelation 1:5 says, "…unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood…"
The blood of Jesus washes us on the inside. How does it do this? It does it by the supernatural washing of the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost…"
1 Corinthians 6:11 "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
We know that the life is in the blood. The word of God stated this early in mans existence. Genesis 9:4 "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
To give life it takes a sacrifice of the very thing that is the substance of life, blood. We are washed by the blood of Christ as it gives life to a dead man. Isaiah said it well when he stated, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18 So the question is simply are you washed in the blood or are you trying to wash the outside hoping the stink of death will not come out.
May I say that the blood will never run out of cleaning power.
During our travels as a training team, my husband and I stayed overnight with a single lady in her mobile home. Before retiring, my husband thought he should check the hot water provisions since all three of us needed to attend an early meeting the next morning. He asked our hostess if there would be enough hot water for more than one shower in the morning. "I really don’t know," she admitted. "I’ve never taken two in a row!" -- Sally Middleton, Lansing, MI. Christian Reader, "Lite Fare."
3- Continual Bathing: Remember that Jesus said that Peter just needed his feet washed. He was saying that he needed to be continually bathed by the sin that contaminates us as we walk through the world. Is there anyone who is isolated from sin after they are saved? Not according to the Bible.
1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." This cannot be to anyone but believers.
We also see this necessity in Romans 7:20-25 "Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
II- The Other Baths:
So how do we bath the church? In His blood is the answer but I think there are a couple of other things we need to bath the church in. Allow me a moment please.
It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray. -- George Muller in A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Muller. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 5.
1- Bathed in the Word: One thing that we need to constantly bath ourselves in is the Word of God. Zephaniah 5:25-26 Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word…"
Psalms 119:133 says, "Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me."
2- Bathed in Prayer: Prayer will help us to understand the will of God and to understand others. I found a wonderful written prayer that I will share as we close. It is my prayer for me as I seek to serve you.
Grant me, O Lord, an understanding heart, that I may see into the hearts of thy people, and know their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes and their despairs, their efforts and their failures, their need of love and their need to love. Through my touch with them grant comfort and hope and the assurance that now life begins at any age and on any day, redeeming the past, sanctifying the present and brightening the future with the assurance of thy unfailing love and grace brought to us in Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. -- George Appleton in the Oxford Book of Prayer. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 16.