If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. John 13:17.
This ordinance of feet washing was made a religious service…. It was given as something to test and prove the loyalty of the children of God. When modern Israel observes the sacramental ordinance, this ceremony should precede the partaking of the emblems of the Lord’s death.
This ordinance was given for the benefit of Christ’s disciples. And Christ meant all that He said when His lips uttered the words, “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you…. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” He designed by this to test the true state of the heart and mind of those who participated.
Christ gave His disciples to understand that the washing of their feet did not cleanse away their sin, but that the cleansing of their heart was tested in this humble service. If the heart was cleansed, this act was all that was essential to reveal the fact. He had washed the feet of Judas; but He said, “Ye are not all clean.” Judas brought a traitor’s heart to this scene, and Christ revealed to all that He knew him to be the betrayer of his Lord, and that the washing of his feet was not an ordinance to cleanse the soul from its moral defilement.
When believers assemble to celebrate the ordinances, there are present messengers unseen by human eyes…. Heavenly angels … are present. These unseen visitants are present on every such occasion….
Christ by the Holy Spirit is there to set the seal to His own ordinance. He is there to convict and soften the heart. Not a look, not a thought of contrition, escapes His notice. For the repentant, brokenhearted one He is waiting. All things are ready for that soul’s reception. He who washed the feet of Judas longs to wash every heart from the stain of sin…. All who come with their faith fixed upon Him will be greatly blessed.
The Faith I Live By p. 299
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to keep me in prayer. I’m just not feeling well. Rose
—-Please pray for my friend and colleague she been evicted and go no where to go. She is asking for prayers please. Rosemary
—-please lift Bro J in prayer as he is in need of healing right now. He lost his wife of over 40yrs a few weeks ago. Also, 3-other family members were laid to rest within the last 4-months, (his mother-in-law, his sister, and a family aunt). as you can imagine, his family has been through much sorrow. Now, the focus is on Bro J’s health issues, ( respiratory/heart issues). I’m sure the shocking death of his wife is weighing heavy upon his heart. She was fine one day, the next she’s told she has pancreatic cancer, and a few months later she’s gone. It all was so sudden that many are still in shock. Monica
—Mother was complaining of pain in her leg on the 4th of this month. She had an X-ray on the 5th which showed she had a fracture of the left femur above the knee. Surgery was scheduled for the 7th. The surgery went well and it was so good that Jim and Craig could be here. Mother came back to the nursing home on the 8th. We knew that recovery could be problematic, but the signs looked good and we were encouraged.
Mother has not been rallying as much as we had hoped. She has been having more pain, beginning last Tuesday, the 12th. She was given Tylenol for that.
Last Wednesday Mother’s Doctor came to see her. He said he would call in hospice to help with pain management. That was done Friday, a couple of days ago. She now has a fentanyl patch. This has seemed to relieve the pain. It has, however, caused her to sleep more.
Partly because of that sedation, she hasn’t wanted or taken any fluids or food since last Friday. We have offered both numerous times, but she has refused them. John
—-Please continue to pray for seven-year-old Xander. He has had some setbacks and needs prayer.
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Dear Friends,
When I was in my middle teens, my mother and I often drove down to Indiana with some of her friends to a tourist attraction set up like a “wild west” town. Every weekend in the summer, various country music singers would perform there. It was nice to get away from the city and it was a pretty place with plenty of trees and a small lake, but after a few hours, I would get rather bored.
There was a museum (of sorts) there that had many “wonders.” I called them wonders because it was a wonder that people would believe that anything in it was real. I wandered from one exhibit to another, chuckling to myself because it was all so fake. The exhibit that made me say “you’ve got to be kidding” was a “petrified man” made out of cement. Whoever made it, did a very poor job. There was little shape to head, body or limbs, the arms had no elbows and the legs had no knees. One time as I was standing there looking at this fake “man” to my surprise, the people behind me seemed to believe that it was real. I was shocked and amazed that they could be fooled like that.
How easy it is to be as misled just as the people behind me were. Daily our “adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 On every hand, the evil one attempts to lure us into his deathtrap. Carefully, he chooses an allurement suited to our own particular weaknesses. For some it is TV programs that lead the mind away from spiritual things, for others it is sports, still others are led away by worldly music, some by relationships with those who would lead them into sin. Jesus tells us, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. ” Matt 7:13-16
Sometimes, even in the church the evil one has “tares” among the “wheat” to lead our mind into false theories. (Matt 13:24-30) We are warned that “many deceivers are entered into the world.” 2 John 7 These deceivers may appear righteous, but they are as Jesus declared of the Pharisees, “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. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” Matt 23:27,28 These tares may truly think they are wheat, but they are not. Jesus warns, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” vs 21-23
Paul tells us, “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim 3:13-17 Here is the key. Our Great Creator has given us His Holy Word, that we might not be deceived. For every truth, the devil has made a counterfeit.to deceive us. Only through studying without preconceived ideas God’s Holy Word, comparing what each of the Bible writers have to say on a certain subject, can we keep from being deceived. (1 Cor 2:13; Isa 28:10) Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17 Through a study of the Scriptures, “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:18 Wonderful Saviour! He has provided a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path, that we need not be deceived by snares of the enemy. Ps 119:105 We need not be deceived!
Let us proclaim as did David, “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” Ps 119:160 Let us hide its word in our heart that we might not sin against our Great Redeemer. (vs 9:11) Let us “study to show [ourself] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15
Rose
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A Proof of Loyalty