R269 Table Talk with Jesus

Table Talk! You know, around the kitchen table, that's kind of where we have the most honest conversations, don't you think?

Well, that's what today's about! Yes, welcome to The Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, pastor, evangelist, seminary professor, and today as he teaches us the Table Talk with Jesus, we'll gain some insight from John, chapter 13, that perhaps we've never seen before. As we open the Word together, know that we're open to connect with you, keyboard to keyboard right now on our website at www.tewonline.org.

That's our website, www.tewonline.org. Many folks are signing up online for the daily Encouraging Word email, devotional from Dr. Wilton. It is such a blessing, such an application of God's Word.

Again, you can sign up today online at www.tewonline.org. Now today's message, Table Talk with Jesus with Dr. Don Wilton. I want you to turn with me to John chapter 13 this morning as we continue our walk through John's Gospel and I hope that you have your Bibles with you. Very important that you have a copy of God's Word with you every time we meet together. It's particularly important today because the substance of this message is coming from the whole of John chapter 13. Our subject is Table Talk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Table Talk with the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a lot of bad habits, I'm sorry to tell you, but I do. My family will tell you and certainly agree and my brothers and sisters on the staff will readily agree and the deacons will probably agree more and more and others will agree.

You don't have to nod your heads gentlemen, just listen to what I'm saying. The choir will probably agree, we've all got bad habits. One of my bad habits is that I am the original fast food joint. In other words, I prefer to grab something at home and eat it on the run and one of my favorite things to do which is not such a favorite thing with my wife is for me to just simply stand there at the kitchen table or wherever I find a spot and enjoy my meal. Now Karen doesn't quite see eye to eye with me on this one and she quite correctly keeps on reminding me and has for the past 18 years that there's something very special about sitting down together as a family and there is, isn't there?

All the moms can nod like this. There's something special about sitting down, having your meal with the family and when you think about the content of one's conversation many times over the family meal, I think we would have a better understanding of what took place in John chapter 13. Hence our subject this morning, table talk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm going to read a few very select verses from this passage today and I will try and lead you as I do so and direct our attention. John chapter 13 and verse 1, it was just before the Passover feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and to go to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The evening meal was being served and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot son of Simon to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was now returning to God. So he got up from the meal and he took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and he began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I am doing, but later on you will understand. No, Peter said, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered, unless I wash you, you have no part with me.

Then Lord, Simon Peter replied, not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well. Let's go down to verse 18. I'm not referring to all of you, Jesus said to his disciples who were gathered round the table. I know those who I've chosen, but this is to fulfill the scripture that he who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.

I'm telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that I am he. I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me. And whoever accepts me, the one who accepts me accepts the one who sent him. After this, and he had said this, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and he testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. And then verse 22 just boggles the mind, just look at it.

His disciples stared at one another at a loss to know which one of them he meant. Verse 27, as soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. What you are about to do, do it quickly, Jesus told him.

Verse 30, as soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out and it was night. When he was gone, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once. Verse 34, a new commandment I give unto you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another, for by this all men will know that you are my disciples. If you love one another, may the Lord write his word upon our hearts this morning. Table talk with the Lord Jesus Christ, what a marvelous setting this was.

The night before Jesus was crucified in those precious moments of time that we as families have become so accustomed to enjoying over the days and over the years. There is a sense in which my friends that the Lord Jesus Christ, right here in the twilight of his ministry upon the earth, gathered together those who had meant so much to him. Those were his disciples and Jesus began to teach them certain things. And it was based on four fundamental issues that we read about here in John chapter 13.

Number one, upon a fact, it was based upon a fact. Jesus said in verse one, my hour has come, the time has come. You see, Jesus, despite his own predicament, was letting his disciples know that even though he found himself in the midst of an awesome predicament, in the midst of the Via Doloroso, in the midst of that unbelievable agonizing march down the highway to the cross, Jesus gave to them thought not of himself, but of others. It was based secondly not only about the fact that the time had come, but upon his feelings. Jesus made it very clear here in verse one of chapter 13.

He says, having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed to them the full extent of his love. Jesus was about to teach them some great lessons in life, based first upon the facts, based secondly upon his feelings, based thirdly upon the fact of the presence of his foe. There was someone sitting there that did not agree with the Lord Jesus Christ.

It seems apparently that nobody else knew about this. The Bible says in verse two and verse three that this was Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, who had already been prompted by Satan to do the unthinkable. There was a fact and there were feelings and there was a foe present right there in the midst of this evening meal. But then there was also the matter of his future. The Bible tells us right there in verse three, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and that he was returning to God. He was right at that moment in time.

He was on the precipice of setting in stone for all time and all eternity that unbelievable price that was paid upon the cross of Calvary, that all people might know him forever and forever. And so what was it that Jesus tried to teach his disciples? Three lessons.

Let's look at them together. There were three lessons based upon these facts. There were three lessons based upon his feelings. There were three lessons based upon the presence of his foe and there were three lessons based upon his imminent future that he was about to embark upon. Lesson number one, he gave them a lesson in humility. Can you believe that? I mean, can you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ at this delicate time of his mission would have given to those who were closest to him in his table talk a lesson in humility?

Let's examine it in four parts. Number one, what Jesus was trying to teach them is first of all that there is no limit to the extent of his love. That's the first thing that Jesus was trying to teach them right there in verse one, that there is no limit to the extent of the love that God has for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse one says it, having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

That word full there means the consummate extent, the absolute outer limits of his love, the absolute full blown story, the everything of his love, the allness of his love, the magnitude of his love, the greatness of his love, the boundaries of his love. Perhaps what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples right here at this delicate moment was that there is no limit to the extent of his love, but I want to show you in the second place as he gave them this lesson in humility that he tried to show them that there is no limit to the extent of his servanthood. Historians tell us that in that day and age you could always tell a slave. You know how you could always tell a slave? It wasn't just by what he did, it was more by how he dressed. The slaves had a very characteristic way of dressing.

They would have done rather well on the beaches of California, I should imagine. But Jesus took upon himself the absolute limits of true servanthood. The Bible says in verse four that he got up from the meal, he took off his outer clothing and he wrapped a towel around his waist. Now this towel had many functions. One of the things that historians tell us is that it was very characteristic for a servant in a household to always be filled with other people's mess. If there was something going on, they just simply took the towel that was wrapped around them, they would wipe the table, they would wipe people's feet, they would wipe spilled food and et cetera, et cetera.

This was one of the functions. Jesus here was trying to show his disciples, number one, there is no limit to the extent of my love and there is no limit to the extent of my servanthood. But there's a third thing that he was trying to say as he taught them this lesson in humility, there is no limit to the extent of my cleansing power.

There is no limit to the extent of my cleansing power. Isn't it ironic that Peter, I've called him many times the original Incredible Hulk. I mean Peter was a man's man. This would have been way beyond Peter's dignity. And Peter must have been horrified as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords stepped down and began to wipe and wash his feet and it was Peter who stood up with his apparent righteous indignation and he said, hey, wait a minute now, hold it, hold it, hold it, you're not gonna wash my feet, uh-uh, no sir. And what did Jesus say to him as he taught him this unbelievable lesson in humility? He said to him, Peter, if I don't wash every single part of you, you can never have any part of me.

Why? Because the lesson in humility that Jesus was about to teach his disciples and to write upon our hearts, my friend, was simply this, that there can be no limit to the extent of the cleansing power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the saving grace of God in Christ. Jesus cleanses men and women and boys and girls from head to toe. Every single part of us must be taken over and controlled by the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his consequent cleansing power. Please forgive the interruption.

We'll be back with the rest of today's message in just a moment. But as you hear Dr. Wilton bring that to light, that every one of us must be taken over by the shed power of Jesus Christ and his subsequent cleansing power. Could it be that you feel at this moment taken over by something else, by grief, by loneliness, by lust, by shame? Oh, I pray that you would know that God is ready to break you free from that so that you literally can be taken over by his power and his cleansing. We'd love to speak with you and pray with you not just during the broadcast, but 24 hours a day if you jot this number down. We'd love to pray with you at 866-899-WORD. We believe God is moving already in this broadcast and many are saying we need to do business with God.

Let us pray with you about that. 866-899-WORD is the number. That's 866-899-9673. And if you'd rather, we're connecting online as well at tewonline.org.

That's tewonline.org. Now back to today's message and teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. But there's a fourth lesson that we learn here, that there is no limit to the extent of what we must do as a result of what Jesus did. There is no limit to the extent of what we must do as a result of what Jesus did as he gave them this lesson in humility.

I didn't have time to read it, but it's in verse 14 and 15. Here's what Jesus said. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. You see friends, I don't believe that Jesus was saying that we need to go out and get a basin and all begin to wash one another's feet. What Jesus was demonstrating here, number one, there is no limit to the extent of his love. Number two, there is no limit to the extent of his servanthood. Number three, there is no limit to the extent of his cleansing power.

And number four, there must never be any limit to the extent of what we do as a result of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Jesus sure gave them a lesson in humility, didn't he? But there was a second lesson that Jesus taught them. Jesus gave them a lesson.

Ready for this? Jesus gave them a lesson in the sadness of betrayal. Jesus gave them a lesson in the sadness of betrayal. This is one of the saddest passages in Scripture.

And it's sad for a very good reason. Because right here in the midst of these disciples, at this awesome occasion, right there at the moment, prior to Jesus' crucifixion on the cross, paying the price for all mankind, in order that we can all have life and have it more abundantly, there sat one by the name of Judas. I began to examine this passage, and I came to understand that what Jesus was saying in his table talk with these disciples, was not only was he trying to give them a lesson in spiritual humility, but he was trying to give them a lesson in the spiritual significance of the sadness of mankind's betrayal of the Son of the living God.

Look with me at three different ways. Number one, this is perhaps what Jesus was saying. Number one, never assume, never assume, that those who sit near the Savior have a relationship with them.

I believe that's the first lesson in the sadness of betrayal. Jesus was saying never assume that those who sit near the Savior have a relationship with him. Perhaps what Jesus was saying to his disciples was simply this, it doesn't matter if you belong to a church, it doesn't mean that you have a personal relationship with the Lord of the church. Perhaps what Jesus was saying is just because you're born in a garage doesn't make you a motor car.

That's what he was trying to say. Perhaps what Jesus was saying here, my friends, is just because you were born in the Western culture does not mean that you're a born again believer. Perhaps what Jesus was saying is just because you speak English or because you wear a suit does not make you a born again believer. Perhaps what Jesus was saying is just because you sing in the choir or because you play an instrument does not mean you have a relationship with the Savior. Deacons, just because you serve this church as a deacon does not mean to say that you have a relationship with the Savior.

Staff, just because we serve the Lord Jesus Christ as a staff person in the ministry does not mean we have a relationship with the Savior. Preacher, pastor, just because you're the pastor of First Baptist Church does not mean to say that you have a relationship with the Savior. What a lesson Jesus was teaching in the sadness of betrayal.

Do you know what I believe? Jesus was warning the church. Friends, watch me all across the congregation. He was warning us, He was warning the church that in the midst of the greatest revival movements, He was warning us that in the midst of the greatest outpourings of the Spirit of God that there are going to be those who apparently sit near the Savior who absolutely have no relationship with them and their behavior is going to match the character of their hearts. Jesus was warning the church. Jesus sitting around this table was saying, be careful.

Be careful, my friends. Jesus was saying to First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Carolina, be careful because the more God moves in this congregation, the more we need to open our eyes that from within the midst of the congregation, there could always rise up those whose names may be written on the books, who may be in ministerial rank, who may serve as deacons, who may be Sunday school teachers, but just because they sit next to the Savior, we must never assume that they have a relationship with Jesus Christ. What a lesson in the sadness of betrayal. But there's a second way of looking at it. Never assume that God cannot look upon the heart. You see, Jesus said it right there in verse 18.

He said, I'm not referring to all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. We must never assume that God cannot look upon the heart. God's word puts it like this. Man is limited in that he can only look upon the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. Perhaps what Jesus was saying to his disciples, you could get away with everything under the noonday sun, but I want you to know when it comes to God, God sees the very depths of our hearts.

But there's a third lesson. Always know, always know that betrayal will always end in darkness. Always know that betrayal will always end in darkness. Did you notice there in verse 30? Look at verse 30 with me.

As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out and it was night. What was Jesus trying to teach in this lesson of the sadness of betrayal? What Jesus was saying to me is simply this.

Pastor, even though you appear to sit near the Savior, if you don't have a relationship with him, you are destined for destruction. He was saying deacons, even though you give the appearance of being a spiritual man, if you are one of these who fall into the characterization of betrayal, your life will end in darkness. What Jesus was saying to the church in America today is that unless we rise up and unless we stop all this garbage about blaming everything else and get back to basic morality and the basic facts that God has laid down upon his word for each one of us, we are going to end in darkness.

We're going to end in darkness. Jesus taught his disciples a lesson, a lesson right here in his word in humility. Jesus taught his disciples a lesson in the sadness of betrayal. But there's a third lesson he taught his disciples. He taught them a lesson in love. Verse 34 is what it's all about. And you commandment, I give you that you love one another.

And there were two dynamics in this lesson called love. Number one, he gave them a reason. He gave them a reason. He said, just as I have loved you, that's the reason. He said, disciples, look to me, I'm the reason. I'm the reason why you should love. I'm the reason because I'm the epitome of love. I'm the reason because I have laid down my life.

I've taken upon myself the sin of the world. He gave them a reason. But then in his lesson, in his lesson in love, he gave them an insight into the significance, not only of the reason, but of the reward.

The reward. He said by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another. How much I thank God for our church, for the love that is in this congregation because of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. I could get all of you right now and just put my arm around you and just give you a big hug and say thank you, Lord Jesus, for the love in this congregation. Are you ready to say yes to Jesus this morning?

Would you bow your heads with me? As some are bowing their heads in our worship center, I pray that you would take a moment and perhaps bow your head and open your heart to not just the teaching of Dr. Wilton you've heard, but the message that's coming not from Dr. Don, but from the Lord himself who loves you and is using this broadcast to pursue you with that love so that he can help restore you to a right relationship with him. Just know that I know many of you that are followers of Christ every day at this time that at the wrap-up of this broadcast are praying for God to do something. You have friends praying for you right now as you hear these next words from Dr. Don Wilton. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. Welcome to the family of God. I'm convinced some of you just prayed along with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Christ for the very first time. And some of you, I believe you've restored a relationship that was broken with Jesus. You've come home.

You've rededicated your life. You need to know that we would love to talk with you, pray with you, to encourage you in the next steps. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Of course, we'd love to connect online as well at www.tewonline.org. That's tewonline.org. And when you drop by our website now, you'll see an exciting new book we are so, so pumped about. On our new website, you can reserve a copy of Dr. Wilton's brand-new book, Saturdays with Billy. In Saturdays with Billy, Pastor Don shares heartwarming stories of his times with Mr. Graham. Just as Billy's words changed Don's life, they can change our lives today, a testament to a man who leaned on God's grace into eternity. Discover their powerful friendship at www.tewonline.org.

Again, we're so excited about that. The number to call and pre-order yours is 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or visit us on the website, www.tewonline.org. And I really pray that while you're at our website, go to www.tewonline.org. If you haven't, please sign up for the daily devotional from Dr. Wilton. It is a powerful way to launch your day. It comes email-a-phonically to you about 6 o'clock every morning Eastern, and it's a powerful, applicable part of God's Word. Again, I believe we'll bless you in a great way. You can sign up online today at www.tewonline.org.