“Daily Cleansing”
John 13:1-17
1. Illus. of being stinky
• Had been out for a run, and smelled very bad.
• Started to give Joan a kiss, but she just said, “Whoeee. Not until you get cleaned up!”
• Sort of hurt my feelings until I smelled myself and thought about it. Why in world would she want to kiss somebody who smelled that bad?
2. So often we try to approach Christ with the stench of unconfessed sin hanging heavily upon us. We have ignored His instructions for daily confession and cleansing, choosing instead to hold on to the sin in our life. And then we are amazed when we are not able to have the intimate fellowship with Him we so desire!
3. I want to give you a New Testament principle: We will only be as close to Christ as our hearts are clean before Christ! In other words, if we are to be intimate with Christ we must learn to practice daily confession of sin.
4. The text we have read this morning must be interpreted on two levels.
Surface level = humility illustrated in footwashing.
Spiritual level = vs 7. There was a spiritual application Peter didn’t get at the time. That application had to do with the daily cleansing of sin.
5. Text: Jesus taught His disciples the principles of daily cleansing from sin.
6. Today: Christians who desire intimacy with Christ must practice daily confession and cleansing of sin
7. What does Jesus teach us about the daily cleansing of sin? Three lessons.
I. DAILY CLEANSING IS NECESSARY IN A DIRTY WORLD
1. See vs 3-5. Washing of feet was a common practice in Jesus’ day. Back then, all roads were dirt roads. People wore open sandals, when they wore shoes at all. As people went about their daily business, their feet would get dirty and need washing.
2. Jesus deliberately washed only their feet. It was an important part of the spiritual lesson He was trying to teach (see vs 10). Part of that spiritual lesson was this: Just like you get your feet dirty as you walk on these dirty roads, so does your spirit get dirty as you walk in a dirty world!
3. Principle: As long as we live in a dirty, corrupt world, we are going to need daily cleansing!
4. Illus. of cement room
• Was my job to handle cement room at North Gadsden hardware.
• Cement dust was everywhere. Would get in your hair, on your clothes etc. As you sweated, it would start to set up!
• Tried to avoid it, but there was no way! Some of it was bound to get on you.
• Jesus says we live in a dirty world. No matter how hard we try, some of the dirt is going to rub off on us! Because of that, we need daily cleansing.
4. Jesus is not the only one who taught this principle: See James 1:27. Why should that be such a problem? James 1:14.
5. Folks, here’s the bottom-line. Until the world changes or we do, we’re going to need a daily cleaning up!
II. DAILY CLEANSING IS USELESS WITHOUT SALVATION
1. See vs 8-10. Peter was offended that Jesus would do the job of a slave. When Peter tries to stop Him, Jesus says, “all who are mine need daily cleansing.” When Peter says, “then wash me all over” Jesus replies, “if you’ve had a bath, you don’t need an all over washing again, just your feet.”
2. Jesus reveals an important principle of cleansing here. If you’ve had the all over cleansing of salvation, you don’t need to be bathed all over again. You just need your daily sins taken care of. But flip that around a little and you’ll see another important truth: if you haven’t had the all over salvation bath yet, it doesn’t do you any good to try and wash your spiritual feet by daily confession and cleansing!
3. Illus. of Freddie the Freeloader
• Famous red Skelton character. He is just an old dirty bum, with filthy clothes, unshaved, etc.
• In one sketch I have on tape, Freddie is about to eat a fish he found in a garbage can. But before this guy with filthy clothes etc. eats his fish, he dips his fingers in a little finger bowl to clean them!
• That’s much the same situation Jesus is describing. Here is a guy with all these sins hanging off of him, a guy who is guilty, condemned, and under the judgment of God, who is confessing some little fib he told that day and saying, “well, now I’m right with God!”
• Daily cleansing is only for those who have had their all over bath!
4. See Exodus 30:17-21. When you entered the tabernacle, the first thing you did was to stop at the brass altar and offer a burnt offering for your sins. Then, as your hands and feet were defiled in daily service, you would stop and wash them at the laver. You didn’t have to offer another burnt offering, just wash your hands and feet at the laver. BUT: if you hadn’t made the burnt offering, stopping at the laver would do you no good.
5. “Tim, how will I know? 1). Did you repent and believe? 2). Did it change your life?
III. DAILY CLEANSING PREVENTS THE HARDENING OF OUR HEARTS
1. See vs 10-11. This is a reference to Judas. Why is the account of Judas interwoven with this story about Jesus washing feet? According to our text, Judas was not a believer. Nonetheless, he is an object lesson for believers. The Holy Spirit placed his story here to warn us that if we are not careful with sin, it will harden our heart just as it hardened his!
2. Look up the references to Judas in a good study Bible. Judas wasn’t always a callused reprobate who could sell Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and betray Him with a kiss. Sin hardened him over a period of time.
3. Principle: Sin hardens us when we tolerate it instead of confessing it!
4. Illus. of me as a young karate student
• Wanted to harden my hands for striking. Every day I would beat my fists hundreds of times on a home made makiwara (striking pad). My hands grew hardened until the fiercest blow would cause me no pain.
• If you wish to harden your hands, it will take much effort and pain. If you wish to harden your heart, it takes hardly anything. All you have to do is tolerate sin instead of confessing it! The hardening effect of sin will do the rest!
5. See Hebrews 3:13
6. When you realize you have sinned, you have two choices. You can immediately take advantage of I John 1:9, and experience full and complete cleansing. Or, you can ignore it. Sin will harden your heart. You’ll begin to notice that you aren’t as vibrant, as joyful, in your walk with God. Don’t worry, its only temporary. Do it enough and you will stop caring about your Christian walk!
Conclusion
1. Needed daily, no good without salvation, keeps heart from hardening toward God.
2. Illus. of watching TV
• See program, realize you have all the symptoms! Anxiously wait until end of program, when you find out common vitamin C will cure it completely!
• If you had some in your cabinet, what would you do? Rush right over and take some!
• Do you have the joy you once had? The vibrant walk with God? Sensitivity in your relationship with God so that the slightest break in fellowship is agonizing?
• Cure is simple, and readily available! Vitamin C- onfession.
3. Go home, get alone with God. Give Him search warrant for your heart, and have an old fashioned repentance and confession session! It just may be the cure for what ails you!
