2022-5丨General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

General Subject：Loving the Lord and Loving One Another for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ

IV. For us to experience the washing, we need to spend time in the Lord's presence and with the saints who are full of the Spirit, the word, and the divine life—cf. Matt. 6:6; 1 Cor. 16:17-18; Acts 6:5, 8; 2 Cor. 1:15:

Matt. 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

1 Cor. 16:17 Now I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because these have filled up the lack caused by your absence;

1 Cor. 16:18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Acknowledge therefore such ones.

Acts 6:5 And the word pleased all the multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch,

Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

2 Cor. 1:15 And in this confidence I intended to come to you previously that you might have double grace,

A. If we remain in the Lord's presence, the Lord will come to us and wash us, not with the blood but with the Spirit, the living word, and the inner life:

1. Whenever we are in need of such a washing, we can just open ourselves up to the Lord as we spend time in His presence and allow the inner life to flow within us.

2. Spontaneously, something living will water, flow, and wash us, and we will become clean again; our spirit will be uplifted, and our whole being will be so pleasant in the Lord's presence.

1. In our experience, the Lord Jesus Himself and the saints who have much life can afford us such a washing.

2. It is the spiritual foot-washing ministered to one another that keeps us clean from the earthly touch; while we are walking and working on the earth, we not only need the Lord's foot-washing ministered directly within our spirit but also the foot-washing from the brothers and sisters.

C. Whenever we are about to wash others' feet, we need to follow the Lord's pattern by “laying aside our garments”; this is to lay aside our attainments, virtues, and attributes:

1. We must humble ourselves and empty ourselves; many wear a garment of spirituality and look down on others; they are proud of being spiritual.

D. To be girded with a towel means that we are bound and are willing to lose our liberty; we give up our liberty for the purpose of ministering life to our dear brothers and sisters.

V. Each of us must learn how to love the brothers and sisters by ministering the spiritual foot-washing to them to cleanse them from the earthly touch; this keeps them new, fresh, and living; our loving one another in this way is a sign that we belong to Christ—vv. 34-35:

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

A. We can summarize defiled feet as staleness in our fellowship with the Lord; clean feet, however, denote fresh fellowship with the Lord:

1. Not many can say today that they treasure and love the Lord as much as they did five or ten years ago; many people have to say that they do not have the same feeling that they had a year ago.

2. Their feet are defiled, and they have become weary; this is spiritual weariness; it is the loss of spiritual freshness and vitality.

B. The Lord is always fresh, and He wants us to be fresh all the time, not spiritually enervated; this is why He makes us lie down in green pastures, He leads us beside waters of rest, and He restores our soul; foot-washing sustains an intimate fellowship between us and the Lord and rekindles our spiritual vitality and spiritual freshness—Psa. 23:2-3; Acts 3:20; cf. Deut. 34:7.

Psa. 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; / He leads me beside waters of rest.

Psa. 23:3 He restores my soul; He guides me on the paths of righteousness / For His name's sake.

Acts 3:20 So that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that He may send the Christ, who has been previously appointed for you, Jesus,

Deut. 34:7 And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor had his freshness left him.

C. We should never allow ourselves to become old, which is to be set, settled, and occupied; we must keep ourselves empty, open, fresh, new, living, and young with the Lord; we need to pray that the Lord as the Spirit of reality would guide us into the reality of Psalm 110:3—“Your people will offer themselves willingly/In the day of Your warfare,/In the splendor of their consecration./Your young men will be to You / Like the dew from the womb of the dawn.”

Morning Nourishment

John 13:14-15 If I then...have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example so that you also may do even as I have done to you.

34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you... By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

You need to spend time in the Lord’s presence. Remain in the Lord’s presence, and the Lord will come to you and wash you, not with the blood but with the Spirit, the living word, and the inner life... Sometimes it takes only a few minutes to wash the dirt away; at other times it may take half a day. Whenever you are in need of such a washing, just open yourself up to the Lord as you spend time in His presence, and allow the inner life to flow within you. Spontaneously, something living will flow, water, and wash you, and you will become clean again. Your spirit will be uplifted, and your whole being will be so pleasant in the Lord’s presence. (Life-study of John, p. 333)

We need not only the foot-washing that is exercised directly by the Lord Himself but also the mutual foot-washing of one another. The Lord told us to wash one another’s feet...We must wash one another’s feet by ministering the work of the Holy Spirit, by ministering the enlightenment of the Word, and by ministering the operation of the inner life. In this way, I help you, you help me, and we help one another to be washed in the work of the Holy Spirit, in the light of the Word, or in the operation of the inner life. Whenever we brothers come together for fellowship and prayer, we need to minister the spiritual foot-washing to one another.

When the Lord washed the disciples’ feet, He laid aside His garments... In figure, garments here signify the Lord’s virtues and attributes in His expression,and...the laying aside of His garments signifies the putting off of what He is in His expression... Likewise, whenever you are about to wash others’ feet, you need to lay aside your attainments, virtues, and attributes. This is real humility, the genuine humbling of yourself. We need to humble ourselves to such a degree that we can wash others’ feet.

Many [believers] are so spiritual, but they are also proud... When they come together, they look down on others, thinking that the others have never seen a heavenly vision or known anything spiritual... If we take this attitude, it will be impossible for us to minister foot-washing to others. Whenever we come together with the saints, on the contrary, we must take off our garments and forget our attainments...We all have been guilty of this attitude... If we take this proud attitude, we can never help others...We must lay aside all degrees of spirituality and become simple and general, saying to ourselves, “I am nothing, and nothing within me is special. I have only a towel, a piece of cloth, to gird me.”... Sometimes people come threateningly with the attitude of a policeman wearing a uniform. Some come wearing a uniform of spirituality, while others wear the uniform of the deeper life, and still others are clad with the uniform of the so-called gifts. They all must lay aside their uniforms before they can minister any kind of foot-washing to others. We should not say this to others; we must say it to ourselves.

Whenever we have the sensation that someone has offended us, we always consider ourselves higher than that person, thinking that he is lower, that he owes us something, and that we have a claim upon him...You need to put aside your garments, lower your standard, and come down from your throne. In a sense, laying aside your garments means to dethrone yourself. Do not sit on the throne judging your brother, saying, “You offended me.” (Life-study of John, pp. 337-340)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 2, “The Fulfillment of the Tabernacle and the Offerings in the Writings of John,” chs. 33-34