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.
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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 praise.
I am delivered in Jesus' name.
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.