In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of waiting in God's presence and being saturated in His holy word. The message highlights the need to focus on God rather than idolizing evangelists. The preacher encourages believers to wash each other's feet, symbolizing humility and serving one another in love. The sermon references Ephesians 4:1-3, which urges believers to walk worthy of their calling and maintain unity in the Spirit. The preacher also references Malachi 3:1-3, which speaks of the refining and purifying work of God in the lives of His people.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. I want to talk to you about foot washing. Foot washing. You say that's unusual to preach. Well, I want you to... Father, I know that the word that you gave me this morning came from your heart. Lord, it came through prayer. I didn't get it from man. And Lord, I pray that the word you gave me will find a place in the hearts of the people here in Times Square. And I pray that it will awaken and stir and heal many, many pastors and their wives in these former communist countries where there's been such suffering. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that you quicken me this morning. I want to know your heart and I want to speak your mind. So, sanctify me and give me strength. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. For many, many months, I've been praying for hours for a message that I could bring to pastors like these that come to my ministers' conferences. And I've got a problem. I've been struggling for months. I've got a major problem. You see, I come to them from the richest nation in the world. I live in an apartment. The monthly rent, even though it's moderate compared to New York standards, my rent for one month is more than they make most of them in a whole year. I have suits in my closet that I bought when I held meetings in Italy, so this is an Italian suit. I eat like it would be considered a king's menu to many of these. Because when I was in Moscow, we paid for the expenses of all the pastors that came as far as the place to stay and where they stayed. It just overwhelmed me. I went to the bathroom and I couldn't handle the sight. And I have a problem because, you see, I drive a car that they couldn't dream of owning ever in their lifetime. And I have a problem because one of the pastors from Ukraine came to this church a number of years ago when they were still in great suffering. And he had one suit to his name. He has no car. He goes by bus. He couldn't even afford a junker car. And at that particular time, they were getting two to three eggs a week, no meat. And just trying to survive. You see, I come from this land of wealth and prosperity and I go to suffering pastors and I go to those who have come by train. And most of them have very little, if any, money on them. In some of these meetings, we provide the food and we pay for the venues. And I say, God, what do I have to say? What kind of message can I bring to men who suffered all their life? I've known nothing but prosperity all my lifetime. I've known nothing but fullness, nice clothes, good food, nice cars. I come from America and I come to these men. And what do I have to say? Because I've met pastors, godly pastors, men of God, even godly prophets that I've known that have gone to China, into the remote areas where people have nothing but rice. And they live in hovels and yet they meet in these house meetings. And they have such a revelation of Jesus. And they're so close to God that they think nothing of materialism. And then you come along and you're dressed in your nice suit and you think of how you live at home. And you say, what can I preach? What do I have to say? And how many have come back and said, brother, they asked me to speak and I was speechless because I had interpreted to me what God was showing to them, things I had never seen. What do I have to say? And that's been a problem for me. And I've wept over it and I've prayed and cried and said, God, what do I have? I don't know what other American preachers tell them when they go over there. Some of the evangelists that go over there, it's a crying shame and it's fencing God's nostrils. They come in with their entourage and they come marching in with bodyguards and then they walk out and nobody can touch them, nobody's near them. And I finally, this past week, I broke through to God. I said, Lord, I can't go. I'll have to cancel. I can't go because what do I have to say? And the Lord said, you go and do what I would do. And I said, what would you do? He said, I'd wash their feet. I'd wash their feet. And that's my message today, foot washing. Now, I want you to go with me, please, to John 13, 13th chapter of John. Start reading at verse 3. I'm going to read quite a bit of this. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God, he rises from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, girded himself, and he poured water in a basin, began to wash the disciples' feet and wiped them with the towel wherewith he was girded. He comes to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith unto him, He that is washed, neither is not saved to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and you're clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him, and therefore said to him, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I've done to you? You call me master and lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your lord and master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. I've given you an example that you should do as I've done unto you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Neither servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Now, when I was in Russia, a number of Pentecostals there still believe in literal foot washing. They wash one another's feet. Now, if I go to those meetings, I gladly join in because I think it's a beautiful experience. It's there very clearly, the washing of the feet. But there is a greater spiritual meaning that God wants us to lay hold of. You ought to wash one another's feet, he said in verse 14. But you see, there's a deeper meaning. In fact, these disciples didn't understand what Jesus was doing. In fact, the Lord told them, What I do you don't know now, but thou shall know hereafter. And they really didn't know the meaning until after Jesus ascended to heaven. And much of this revelation was given to Paul the apostle. Peter picked it up and he understood it and he preached it before he died. He preached the truer meaning. We'll get into it in just a moment. Now, why was Jesus washing their feet? Was it just to wash away the physical dirt? Was it humility? Most of the commentaries say that Jesus did this because of an act of humility. That's true. But folks, his real act of humility was giving up the very glories that were his. He came and humbled himself and took on human flesh. You can't humble yourself any more than that. This is not just about humility. You know, I have mentioned here during communion, many of you all need a foot washing. In other words, I pictured it as, you know, we walk through this world and there's filth on the job. We hear the cursing, we hear this. And so to speak, in our Christian walk, we pick up the pollutions of the world that stick to us. And we have to have them washed. But folks, the deeper meaning is far beyond that. When Jesus said, you're clean but not all, he's not talking about your feet. He was talking about Judas. He said, all of you disciples, there were 12 there, and he even washed the feet of Judas. He said, now you're all clean but not all. He's talking about Judas who was not clean. Now, I don't believe Jesus is suggesting that his blood has not fully cleansed them head to toe. See, when Jesus cleans you up, he also uses soap. Let me read it to you. Go to Malachi. My point is that if this were just a matter of washing sin away, he would have used the soap. Malachi, the third chapter. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. That's John the Baptist. And the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purify of silver, and shall purify the sons of Levi. But you see, refiner's fire and fuller's soap, that's a soap made with lye. The most powerful cleansing soap made with lye. The point that I'm trying to make right now, there's something deeper than Jesus just making this symbolic of washing away sins or those things that stick to us from this world. Jesus told Peter, when Peter refused, he said to Jesus, you're not going to wash my feet. And Jesus said, if I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Now, here, in a nutshell, is the door to open the understanding of what Jesus was doing and why he said you must do it, happier you if you do it to others. He said, I've set you an example that you should follow. Now, you know, there's no way a church with at least 8,000 people like Times Square Church that we can physically, logistically wash one another's feet. There's a great spiritual significance in this. He said, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part in me. Now, folks, what Jesus is really doing, he's beginning to build his body, his church. These are the 12 foundation stones. And by the time he gets to Peter, I don't know if Peter's the last one, but he's washed the feet of these disciples. They didn't understand. Jesus, the Holy Ghost would bring it back to them later. He turns to Peter and he said, now, if I don't wash your feet, you're not going to be a part of me. And what he's saying, it's not spoken, but in looking back through what Jesus taught and what we know now from the Scriptures, he was building a body, he was building his church. And he's turning, he says, now, all of these men, here's James and John, and all of these, I have washed their feet, they're now a part of me. They are a part of me. Now, I'm going to wash your feet, and if you don't allow me, you're not going to be a part of this. You're not going to be in the body, because I'm going to be crucified, is what he's saying, and I'm going to be ascended to my Father, and I'm going to have a body here on earth. I'm going to have a people that are all one. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and Peter, I want you to be a part of me, but it's not going to happen. This foot washing is symbolic of my building a church. I want you to be a part of me, because the time is going to come that you're going to need me to defend you, and the only defense my body is going to have is being in me, abiding in me. I'm going to protect my body. You're going to be without protection against your enemies, your human enemies, your diabolical enemies, you'll have no protection. He says, if you don't let me wash your feet, you have no part in me. See, it's all about the body, and the matter of needing one another, and serving one another, and esteeming each one greater than the other. Jesus knew what was in the hearts of these men. He knew Peter was going to deny him. He had washed the feet of James and John. He knew what was in their heart, because they had expressed it already. Lord, we want to be on each side of you. I want to throw it on this side, and I want to throw it on this side. They had argued who would be the greatest among them. Jesus knew what was in their hearts. You see, this is about mercy, building a body of humble, merciful people who minister one to another. And Jesus knew what was in the hearts of those disciples. He knew every one of them would deny him and leave, and forsake him. But he didn't expose what was in their heart. He knew Peter was going to deny him. Here's Judas, he's washing the feet of Judas, and he knew Judas was going to be his murderer. The cause of his murder. He didn't do as we do in the Christian body today. So quick to expose the sins of others. So quick to expose. Jesus could have said to the other gentlemen, I'm going to wash this man's feet, but gentlemen, you need to know this man, in a few hours, is going to put a kiss on my cheek, and he's going to have me destroyed and crucified. He could have exposed James and John and said, these men act humble here, and they come, and they're part of our meeting, and they're having communion, but you ought to know what's in their heart. He could have exposed them. Folks, he could have exposed them at any moment, but that's not what the body of Jesus Christ is about. He humbled himself, yes, and he's washing their feet, and what he's saying, my body is not going to be about who's greatest. It's not about who builds the biggest church. It's not about who has the greatest talent, who is the most used of God. That has nothing to do with the body of Christ, and I'm telling you now, if you start seeing that stuff around, you're not seeing the kingdom of God. You're not seeing the body of Jesus Christ in operation. Where people exalt themselves, where pastors exalt themselves, where there are star evangelists that everybody is doing everything but idolizing them. We have evangelists today that are absolutely idolized. But you see, Jesus didn't expose anything that was in their hearts. And folks, if the Lord wanted to do that, he could expose every one of us. For what is in our hearts, for our thought life and all of this, and how quick we are to expose those rather than to wash their feet, and to remember they're part of the body, and to minister to them in and through their struggles. How do I wash your feet? It begins in Ephesians, fourth chapter. Fourth chapter of Ephesians, verses one through three. Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord beseech you, that you walk worthy of the location wherewith you are called, with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit, even if you're called in one hope, if you're calling one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all, and in you all. He said, with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another. Now look at me please. Here's how I wash your feet, and here's how you wash my feet. It has to do with walking worthy of our calling. Walking worthy of our calling. You say, well I'm walking worthy of my calling if I fast and I pray and I give and all that. No, no, no, no. That's part of it, but he said, with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Let me illustrate. When I went to Moscow, three different Pentecostal unions cooperated. One union believed in foot washing. Another union believed that women wear coverings, so they had white lace on their heads and others had any kind of covering, just usually white coverings, and they believed that that was what the Scripture asked of them. And then there was the Charismatic Union, and they were more liberal. Some of them worshipped with flags and marches and so forth, but they all came together. And folks, the word forbear means to put up with, to endure, to avoid confrontation. And for the three days that we were there, we worshipped together. One night, the Charismatics had their group. Next night, the covering people. Then the other night, the foot washing people. But we worshipped together. I had supper with all of the leading pastors of these various unions, and we ate together, we wept together, we hugged each other. And for a season, it was forbearing. Nobody changed. Nobody took off their... Because there were people with those coverings all through the meeting. There were others who knew that suddenly they'd go to their foot washing. Nobody changed that. But suddenly they came together as one body, because they were washing one another's feet. They were forbearing one another in love and loneliness, and forgiving one another, not judging one another, and not somebody saying, Oh, I can't go there, they're waving flags and they're marching. And I can't, as an American pastor, with our form of worship, go and say, We've got the best form of worship. I have to go over there, and I'm going to start judging them for what they... All they've known and all they've had, and it's what God has taught them, and what their pastors have taught them, and I'm going to go there and say, You're all wrong! No, no, no. With loneliness of mind and spirit, bowing just as Jesus did before His disciples, forbearing one another with long-suffering, in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Colossians 3.13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. If any man has a grudge against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. And above all things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which you're also called in one body, and be ye thankful. Folks, everywhere we go now, the one thing that God is doing in our ministers' conferences, it's one of the greatest things He's doing. He's bringing people together that weren't even talking. He's bringing whole denominations together, who up to this time had no contact whatsoever. I remember in Moscow preaching, I told you from this pulpit, in the middle of one of my messages, the Spirit of God came on me and I just started weeping, and I wept probably 10-15 minutes, just wailing and weeping. And for a moment I thought I'd have a nervous breakdown. I said, God, I don't understand this and I can't stop it. And I didn't know until later they told me that after I left the auditorium, that for half an hour, weeping broke out all over the place, and hundreds and hundreds of pastors from all of these various groups were hugging one another and weeping, and the tears had broken through all of those barriers. I washed their feet with tears. God's tears, not mine. You see, the Scripture clearly states that Christ is our only defense against our enemies. The only defense. What He was saying to Peter, Peter, I have to wash your feet because I want to be your defense, I want to be your refuge because I want you in my body. I want you to be a part of my body. This is a prophetic word. It's not my prophetic word, it's a prophetic word that was given from the very foundation of the world. I want you to go to the first chapter of Luke. The prophecy that I'm talking about was given from the very foundation of the world. Luke, the first chapter. Beginning at verse 68. This is Zacharias, the prophet speaking. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up a hoard of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began. Now, stop there for just a minute. There's a prophecy coming about what Jesus will do when He is born, when He comes to this world. Christ has yet to be born. And this is Zacharias prophesying, and he said, Here's a prophecy from the foundation of the world, from the beginning of time. Every prophet has said this about the coming of Jesus. Verse 71. That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all them that hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant, the oath that He swore to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. Hallelujah. That's the prophecy. When Jesus comes, He's going to deliver you from all your enemies. Now, there are two areas that I want to talk about. Your enemies in the church, and your enemies out of hell. And I want to tell you, my worst enemies have come out of the church, not out of hell. That's a strong statement. But I look back over my years, and I look over some of the things that I've written in my journal, and I can hardly stand to read it, and it wasn't the pain and heartache and suffering caused by some ungodly sinner, somebody outside, but it was in the church. My first church had 25 people. Half of them turned on me. Within a year. And I've never been so persecuted in my life, so gossiped about and hurt and wounded in the house of God. Think of what Jesus said to Peter in light of this amazing prophet, because I want to, first of all, talk to you about the enemies in the church. Think of what Jesus is saying to Peter in light of this amazing prophecy about coming to deliver us from our enemies. He said, I'm going to build my church, and he didn't say it, but this is implied, and I'll be your only defense. And if you're not in Christ, if you're not a part of me, you'll be left before demonic powers and before your human enemies, and you'll not be able to stand. When Jesus walked the feet of his disciples, knowing what was in their hearts, and he's saying, I knew what was in their hearts, but I didn't expose them. They were in my body, and I'm trying to tell you that in all your struggles, even though you have these battles in your mind, even though the enemy comes against you, you're still in my body, and you still have my love and my mercy and my patience and my long-suffering. And folks, when I pray, I walk around the room, and I say, oh God, I've got to stand before pastors, and what do I bring them? My nature is one to look in the dark side of life. I don't know why. I said, Lord, sometimes I get pretty hard in my preaching, but Lord, you have been so merciful to me. You have delivered me. I could have been a castaway. As he's washing these men, he could have exposed them, and he could have cast them away. I know what's in your heart. I know what's in your mind. I know what you're going to do. You're going to do disgraceful things. You're going to be things that disgrace my name. You're going to deny me. You're going to forsake me. And yet, he's looking at them with love, and he says, you're in my body. Amazing grace to wash the feet of Judas. And it's an appeal of love. He looks in his eyes, and Judas knows he knows what's in his heart. David said, there are many that fight against me. Many. He's talking about people. David's greatest wounds didn't come from the battlefield, from the Philistines. His greatest wounds came from those who were closest to him, he said. You see, every meeting that I conduct all over the world, pastors come, their wound didn't hurt. Most of them pastor churches of 100, no more than 200 people. They're not into competition. How can I build a great church? They're not into all American junk and hype. The big battle is because their wives have been wounded. They're just a handful of people in some of these. And the enemy comes in, and somebody rises up and starts gossiping. And some of the dear pastor's wives, they're almost beside themselves because they struggle to hold on to what they have, and they minister and try to make disciples. And somebody comes in with a doctrine. Somebody comes in with some fresh new revelation, and off their people go. They've been wounded and hurt and gossiped about. You may say, well, I can't say there are many enemies that fight against me. You just haven't seen them. The demonic areas especially. David said, yea, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. He said, it wasn't an enemy that reproached me. I could have handled that or borne it. Neither was it he that hated me did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself from him. But it was you, a man close to me, my equal, my guide, my acquaintance. We took such sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in company. He said, I have been wounded by someone close to me. I don't know about you, but I know what the Spirit tells me. The Spirit tells me to say it here as I'm going to say it in Riga, in Kiev, and wherever I go. There are those who come and sit in meetings like this with tremendous wounds, wounded either by a pastor. We have visitors here from all over the country. Or someone that's supposed to have known the Lord or should have known better, someone that was a friend. You've been wounded and you've been hurt. I'm going to tell you, this is what this text is all about. This is what this covenant promise of God is all about. God said, if you're in my body, if you're born again and you're trusting in me, I am going to protect you from all your enemies. Not one enemy can destroy you or ruin you or hurt you. No matter who that enemy may be, no matter what they have said. Folks, if there's any blessing on my ministry, I can tell you the secret. I can tell you why. Because when I was a young man, a young pastor, God taught me some things. God taught me never ever to try to defend myself. God taught me when I was a young preacher, you don't avenge yourself. Let them say what they want, because if you do what is right before the Lord, who is he that can harm you? No one can harm you. No one can touch you. God taught me as a young pastor to forgive and pray for those who've wounded and hurt me. And folks, when you go to the Lord and start praying for them, and then ask God to give you an opportunity, because they're going to need you. Believe me, anyone who touches God's anointing is in trouble with the Lord, and they're going to need your prayers. And then when they get sick, or there's some judgment, and you're going to say, Oh, I told you God would get you. No, no, no, no, no. No, it's forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, and coming and washing their feet, and getting on the phone and saying, If I offended you, did I do something wrong? And I've tried to help financially or any way I can. Every enemy I've known. And I stand here now, I don't know of any enemies. I don't have any. There are many enemies out there, but as far as I'm concerned, they're not my enemy. And they can't hurt me, because I've taken all that hurt to the Lord, and I pray for my enemies, as Jesus said. Pray for your enemies. Stay sweet. Don't let them take your joy. Psalms 55, 18. He will deliver your soul in peace from the battle that's against you, for there are many with you. God said, I'll deliver you in peace from your battle, because you trust me that I've got angels everywhere to move on the hearts of people. I'll fix something here, I'll fix it here, I'll fix it all around you. I'm a fixer. I'll fix all your problems. You just seek me first in my kingdom. I'll take care of everything around you. I'll take care of your enemies. Boy, could we get into it if I talked about your enemies on your job. But God said, I'm going to take care of them too. I'll take care of all your enemies. I'll take care of them. And you see, I'm going to be washing, I'm washing your feet now by bringing you this word, because the Bible said we are washed by the washing of the word. I wash your feet by bringing you a prophetic word from God's throne. At the same time, I'm washing my own feet by his word. Question. Think of your worst enemy in God's house. The one who divorced you. The one who told lies against you. Gossiped about you. Told false things. Falsely accusing you. Could you wash their feet? Could you do what Jesus did, just kneel before them, take a basin of water? You see, what I've done already, I've taken my basin of water, because I went to him and I filled it with water. And the towel is really the love of the body, one for another. And we are washing through a ministry of loving word that comes forth. But could you, if you think of those that have wounded you, could you wash their feet? And could you bring them, by just bringing them encouraging word, or send them a note of encouragement saying, I love you, I pray for you, God bless you. If you ever need me, call. Now, let me talk about the enemies out of hell. Very quickly. Demonic principalities and powers. Where was Satan when Jesus was washing the feet of his disciples? Now, you know he's not omnipresent. He can only be one place at one time. I've heard pastors saying, the devil's here tonight, we ought to chase him out. Well, the devil's there, the rest of the world could relax, because he can only be at one point. You know, he has principalities and powers of darkness. I'm not being facetious, but there are principalities and powers of darkness. But the devil himself was right outside the door, waiting for Judas. He was right outside the door. Now, I want you to think about that for just a minute. He wasn't in the brothels up in Ephesus at those false temples of idols. He wasn't in the thieves' den in Jerusalem. He wasn't in the emperor's palace of that evil emperor in Rome. No, he was in Jerusalem. And he's right outside the door. The devil himself, Satan, was there, and Jesus saw him. Satan desires you. He was standing right outside the door, ready to pounce. Where do demons congregate today? Where does the devil send his special agents, his most powerful agents, with the most potent seductions out of hell? Where does he send them? Where are their assignments? They're not assigned to the gay sodomizing bars here in New York or San Francisco. They haven't been assigned to Las Vegas gambling casinos. They're not assigned to those sexual orgies in the French Riviera. No, no, no, no. His greatest ones are assigned right outside the door of Times Square Church. Right outside the window of a praying preacher. A man seeks the face of God. That's where the devil is, and that's where his demon agents are. They're right outside the window. They're right at the door with the greatest temptations. Because, you see, the devil came right into the communion room. Jesus saw him. Jesus didn't drive him out. Jesus sees him now standing in the very room, right behind Judas, ready to enter into him and possess him. And just before, Jesus knowing that, he takes a piece of bread that represents his body that would soon be broken, dips into the wine which represents his shed blood, and hands it to him as if saying, you understand this is the body of God. And I still say, I love you. I've loved you to the end, Judas. I've loved you. I've never exposed you. Jesus didn't even expose him in that room now. His disciples didn't know what it was about. They thought he was going out to do something that he'd been assigned by the master. And after the sop, Satan entered into Judas. I'm going to ask you, has the devil succeeded? Has this agent of Satan succeeded in getting into your heart? Has he injected into your mind some evil, besetting sin? Are you flirting with adultery, for example? Thank goodness. Pastors' homes have been broken up all over the world through adultery, flirtation. Some of you hearing me right now, you're on the brink of a flirtation right now, and God's giving you word right out of heaven saying, stop it now and get back to your wife, quick. Get back to your husband. You're in a flirtation that's going to kill you. It's going to destroy you. I've warned you and warned you now. This was the final warning to Judas. If he succeeded, and you're here this morning, and you hate to get up in the morning because you hate your sin, or somehow you got hooked into pornography, or you couldn't break the drinking habit you brought into when you got saved. You were drinking, and now you tend to go back. I want you to know something. And that's what this foot washing is all about. Do you remember what the prophecy was? He said, Jesus came to save us from all our enemies. And there's an enemy out of hell that came against you to try to destroy. I want to tell you something. The enemy out of hell is trying to destroy your marriage right now. I don't care who you are. I don't care how long or how... I don't care if you were married last week. I don't care if you were married 50 years like we've been. The devil's out to kill and destroy. He's coming at you. You think that because you have such a walk with God that you can't be tempted? That you can't get curious on internet? Or bring some filthy thing through television into your mind? And the enemy sees it, and he gets a hook? You see, the message here is Jesus said, if you will trust me, I'll deliver you. You're a part of my body. I'm not out to expose you. I'm not out to cut you off from my body. And what he's doing right now, he's offering you a loving message. He's washing your feet. Saying, I still love you. If you will trust me now, ask me to give you a hatred for that sin. Ask me for wisdom. Ask me for power to swallow my hurt. Swallow this need to be right. Take the hurt from the job or whatever it may be. Take the lowly place. Because that's what it's all about. It's serving one another and not thinking about self. I tell you, God has been so merciful to me. He's been so forgiving along suffering. Delivered me from snares of the devil. Ever since I was a teenager. And I can't stand here and judge you. And say God is mad at you. Because that's not what it says. Jesus said, I came to deliver you from all your enemies. Whether they're from the church, from the job, or out of hell itself. And the devil himself, I'm here to deliver you. I'm here to set you free, if you will trust me. And call upon my name and believe my covenant promises. And I'm going to close with this. You see, Jesus kept coming to Judas. And Jesus said finally, don't turn to John 17, 12. Lord, Father, I kept them in thy name. Those you gave me, I've kept. You see, I've protected them from all their enemies. None of them is lost, but the son of perdition. Jesus said, only one was lost. And I'm going to tell you something. I've met that man. I've met that one that was lost. I met him after one of my crusades. The Judas type. Pentecostal pastor of a church of over 500. Never had a homosexual thought in his mind, he said. He's walking down the street one day. With this I close. And there's a homosexual theater. Showing homosexual themes. He said, I'm curious. I wonder what that's like. And he walked in and sat through two or three of these films. Came out. Changed. He said, a thought hit me. Why not try it? Just see what it's like. Never thought of it. Curiosity. You see, the agent of hell. And you see that whole time, after he came out of the theater, Holy Ghost convicted him, but he shook off the conviction. Had loving words from the Lord and rejected every loving appeal. Time after time after time. When he came to me, he said, Brother Dave, I'll tell you something. I've lost my wife and my two children. I'm so into debauchery, you couldn't believe it. I'm a debauched man. I'm deeply into homosexuality and all kinds of evil. And he said, what I do, I've got every book you've written that's here in our country. And I read it and reread it. I said, have you read The Word? And he said, no. He said, I read books and I listen to tapes and I can't reach God. I can't find him. And I tried to reach out in such love to this man. And I said, wait a minute, you read all my books and you trust my word, and you won't go to the Bible. He was afraid to go to The Word. You see, the Word of God is called the washing of the Word, the apostle said. We are washed by the Word. And I'm going to tell you something. No matter what you're into, no matter what secret sin you've been hiding, and all the lies you've had to tell to cover it, it's not just coming here and being in the presence of God. It's not just getting down and praying and saying, well, I've touched Jesus now, and I've got his forgiveness, and I have his presence in my life. If you have just his presence and not his word, you'll never make it. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they had his presence. Suppose Jesus, when he came on the scene, and they're depressed, and they're saying our Master is dead and gone, and if all he did was put his arms around them and walk with them in total silence, they would never have been delivered from their doubts. It was Jesus beginning in Genesis and going all through the Word, speaking of himself. It was his presence and his word. If you want to be delivered, you have to get on your knees and seek his face with all your heart and get into this Word. You'll find all the love and forgiveness, but you'll also find the power of the Holy Ghost to cut every chain. God said, I'll deliver you. Let's stand, please. Hallelujah. Beloved, I serve a Jesus who's not mad at you. I don't care what your battle, what your struggle is. Now, if you excuse it and try to justify it, there's no hope. But if you come to him now and repent, I'm not bragging about my preaching. I cry enough over it as it is. But I know you've heard from heaven. God spoke into your heart. He spoke to my heart while I was preaching. And the Lord wants to heal you once and for all. He wants to deliver you. He wants to deliver you from the spirit of fear. He wants to take a grudge out of your heart, if that's what it is. He wants you to walk in freedom. You wake up every day with joy in your heart. No part dark. Nothing hidden. An open book before God in the eyes of any prophet. That's what he wants for you. You've got to humble yourself before God. Say, Lord, I need you. Nobody needs to know why you've come. Nobody exposes. I got a call from a denominational headquarters. Someone had brought a report about one of their pastors. And they called me and said, we're going into his town and investigate. I said, what? A denomination investigating one of their preachers? I said, don't touch him. Don't touch him. Leave him alone. You don't know what's in his heart. It's just you haven't established it in the mouth of two or three witnesses, first place. The second place, he'll probably sue you. And the third place, it's not scriptural. You first go to him and offer him love and repentance. You're not exposing him. You're trying to restore him. And I thank God they listened. The last time I knew this man was restored. God wants to restore you. He's not out to hurt you. He's not trying to expose you and put you to shame. And I know that God put this in my heart. I thought it was only for Kievan Riga. But it was here too. Heavenly Father, help us to be honest with you now. Holy Spirit, speak. Move and breathe and let healing power come to this house. In Jesus' name. Do you want me to pray for you? The Holy Spirit speaking to you. Just get out of your seat and come and stand here. And I'll tell you what. In the annex, I want you to just go and stand between the screens. You need to step out and say, I'm making a decision here. This is a decision time. I'm going to respond to the word of God to my heart today. Lord, I pray for these in the annex and those in this auditorium that stand before us and before you. Lord, I don't know what's in their hearts, but I know what's in your heart. I know that you're reaching out in the greatest love that you have ever shown us. You're saying, I'm here to deliver you from all your enemies. From fear. From temptation. Deliver you from your besetting sin. Deliver you, my beloved child, the Lord says, to deliver you from everything that's come against you. Those who've risen up against you out of this world and out of hell. Fear not, for I am with you, because there are many with you. All the hosts of heaven are with you now. God, you will deliver and you will forgive. I want you to pray this with me now. Lord Jesus, I believe your word. I've been washed by your word this morning. You've washed my feet with the washing of your word. And I receive it. You made me a promise, a covenant. You swore by an oath from the beginning of time that Jesus would come. And when he comes to abide in me, he would be my refuge, my strength, and my deliverer. And he would deliver me from all my enemies. I accept that. I believe it. Forgive me, Jesus, for my unbelief. As I stand here now, I claim and I say to the world, I am free and I'm delivered from every devil, every demon, every power of hell. I am free and I'm delivered in Jesus' name. Give him thanks. Give him thanks. Give him praise. I am delivered in Jesus' name. On the authority of God's word. On the authority of God's word. Hallelujah. On the authority of God's word. Not how I feel, but what God has promised me by oath. I'm forgiven, I'm clean, and I'm going to believe God. I'm going to go after his presence and after his word. The presence of Jesus says, I pray and wait in his presence, then to be saturated in his precious holy word. Lord be to God. God is good. This is the conclusion of the message.