Joseph Prince - Be Washed and Refreshed By His Word (01/21/2026)
In the Upper Room discourse of John 13, Jesus demonstrates that even now, from the Father’s right hand, He loves His own to the uttermost by serving as the humble foot-washing High Priest who continually cleanses believers with the water of the Word. Knowing all power is in His hands and that He came from God and is returning to God, He rises after the finished work of the cross to wash His disciples’ feet—showing that the one bath of salvation is complete and never repeated, while daily foot-washing (the cleansing of our walk by the Word) keeps us in living fellowship with Him. The great takeaway: receive His serving love, let Him wash you daily with the Word, and behold Him until you see yourself—and your spouse—as He already sees you: completely clean, glorious, without spot or wrinkle.
Good Morning, Church!
Good morning, church! Are you feeling good? Now, that verse that the Lord gave to us last week, that brother used to learn the second language, right? And his mind became sharper. Remember what the Lord said: If you’re suffering from any sort of mental decline or cognitive problems, to confess these scriptures. Do you all memorize it? Okay, are you ready? We’re going to quote it out loud. Amen!
We’re in the presence of the Lord, and we are believing God to confirm the word with signs and wonders, that even your children and your spouse will say, «Wow, how come you remember all these things and you’re so forgetful?» Right? That would be the manifestation. Are you ready? Now, I’m quoting mine from the Old King James. You feel free to quote from whatever version you have memorized from. Are you ready? It’s from Psalms 92. Let’s go:
«The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they shall still bring forth fruit; they shall be fat and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.»
It’s getting softer towards the last part. Okay, anyway, memorize that. Amen! The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. And I’ve said before, but you know what, I just feel like we have probably a new audience or whatever; the Lord wants me to say this again: The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. For no reason—it’s not for any reason that you know. God just says something and likens it to this or likens it to that. When God likens something, study it. The palm tree can live for a long time, and recently they experimented in Israel. They experimented with a 2000-year-old seed date from the palm tree, and guess what? It sprouted! They call that tree now—you can Google it, don’t do it now—alright, they call that tree Methuselah tree. Okay, so when God says that you are the righteous—who is the righteous? You—we are the righteousness of God in Christ—that we are like the palm tree. Guess what? Amen! You’ll be around for a long time. Claim it!
You know, there’s another verse in Isaiah that says, «For as the days of a tree, so are the days of my people.» God is saying, not the people of the world—my people. «For as the days of a tree, so are the days of my people.» We receive that, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen! How many receive that? Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Thank you, Lord Jesus! Hallelujah! And all the people said, Amen!
The Year of Living in the Upper Room
Alright, John 13, The Upper Room. I’d like to show you the video. The video is available on YouTube now. Alright, the year of living in the upper room. Okay, please watch the video because they put in a lot of effort to do the video. Alright, at least they know that it’s well appreciated. Amen! Okay, you want to see the video? No, the time has passed. So, um, I’m aware of the time, and we want to cover what the Spirit wants us to look at—nothing more, nothing less. Amen! Where the Urim and the Thummim lights up, okay, that’s where I want to preach.
So, John 13 is the beginning of the upper room. Amen! Living in the upper room—upper room is the idea: it is not touching the ground, okay. It is living in the heavenlies. Praise the Lord! And last week we covered: we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. I hope they’ve done that confession. So, what is good for you to just say:
Father, I thank you that I was crucified with Christ—your history in Christ. God put you in Christ—happened at the cross. The part of you that loves to sin, the part of you that is estranged from God, alienated from the life of God, that part of you that causes you so much problem, that you inherited from Adam—all right, that part of you was crucified with Christ at the cross. So, I was crucified with Christ. I died with Christ when he died. I was buried with Christ when he was buried. I was raised with Christ when he was raised, and I was made to sit together with Christ in heavenly places, right? That’s the upper room. Amen!
And then we have two attitudes, right? Two attitudes when we are seated here. The Bible says that in the ages to come he might show us the exceeding riches of his kindness towards us—the riches of his grace in his kindness towards us. Okay, so show them that verse, Ephesians 2 again. Notice: «together that in the ages to come he might show.» So, there’s a show coming, and he’s going to show you what? The riches of his grace in his kindness. So, what you look forward to—and you don’t say what that means, the ages to come means the millennial rule and all that. No, no, no—ages. Notice the word plural—even this age from now on. Look forward to the riches of his grace, amen, being displayed in front of you. Now, this is not a promise for the people of the world; it’s a promise for God’s children. And all the people said, Amen! Amen!
«That in the ages to come he might show"—I love it—"the exceeding"—he could have said just riches of his grace, but «the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.» Amen.
Jesus Loved Them to the Uttermost
So, when Jesus brought his disciples to the Upper Room, it was a large upper room that can take 120 people. And on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came—the birthday of the church—the Holy Spirit came, poured out, right? To show that Jesus—before that, Jesus ascended on the Mount of Olives and went back bodily. And the angels—there were two angels there, which I believe for an occasion like this it will be Michael and Gabriel—all right, the archangels. And they said to the disciples, «Why are you looking up to the sky? The same Jesus that you saw go up will likewise come back.» Come back! Well, likewise come back, which means likewise means you saw him go bodily; he will come back bodily, okay.
So, there’s a lot of teachings nowadays: oh, there’s no Rapture; oh, the coming of Jesus is all figurative—it’s all, you know, like up there spiritual, you know. No, my friend, that is the devil not wanting you—trying to rob you of the blessed hope. Listen to the word of the angel: the same Jesus that you saw go up will likewise—bodily, you saw him what? Bodily—he’ll come back bodily. Amen! So, where is Jesus today? Bodily. I love the fact that once upon a time this second person of the Godhead, the Son—the Son who loved the Father—there was a time he says, «A body hast thou prepared me.» You know, he was never a man before, but he chose to be a man; he chose to have a body. And you know that body that he has is forever, just like the Hebrew servant, right?
After God gave the Ten Commandments, the next chapter it says about the Hebrew servant. And if a Hebrew servant—let’s say he’s supposed to serve—in those days they have this kind of thing; you just have to learn that in those days they have it—but then God gave them a law looking into the future when his Son will set everyone free from slavery. Slavery is more than just physical slavery to men; a deeper slavery is slavery to sin, slavery to destruction, slavery to depression. Even today we have people who are slaves to drugs; there are people who are slaves to the bottle; there are people who are slaves to their own ego—they cannot break it. They say, «I can stop anytime; I can stop this addiction anytime,» but they cannot. So, they are slaves to it. That thing that crust that they smoke has now dominated them. When God says in the very beginning man is supposed to have dominion over everything—even over the grass—and now we got to have that smoke, we got to have that bottle, we got to have that—you know, my friend, Jesus came to set us free by becoming a slave.
So, he was a slave, and when it’s time for a slave—they can only have a slave for seven years—but if the slave chooses to remain with the master, the master will pierce his ear to say that he willingly chose—instead of going free—he wants to stay with his family here because he loves the master. So, that’s what Jesus—Jesus took the body, and that body is forever. He says to the Father, «I choose to be a man forever that I might set mankind free.» Amen. And he was pierced, and forevermore.
Alright, you must understand that he is always God—I don’t have to keep on saying that, okay? You all know that; I know he is divine—but he went up as man, as one of us. He went into the holy of holies and sat down as a man, as a glorified man. Just as he came down to represent God to us, now he is there representing us to God as glorified man, as ascended man. Amen. And God’s prototype is there, alright, for all of us. We are no more the sons of Adam.
Okay, listen: we are now in the land of Narnia, alright. Though we are here, alright. The King—the Lion King—has died, amen, but because of his death, because of who he is, he’s destroyed death. Hallelujah! And he’s there as man, and our identity now is not based on the son of Adam, okay? You understand? We can say things like, «As a man we have to accept this, have to accept that,» but we are now sons of God. Amen. As he is, so are we in this world.
So, Jesus told his disciples, «Go follow a man"—just the night before the Passover. He says, «Go follow a man who has a pitcher of water,» okay. And he’ll bring you to a house. Usually women are the ones—so it’s a very unique thing; it’s a unique sign they look out for in those days in Jerusalem. The women will carry the water, or man has other works to do, alright. But women are the ones that are strong women—and all these women, right—to have a wonderful stately carriage, alright, carry water on your head. You see, you have a stately bearing. Amen. Oh, we are too easy because we are too busy watching drama—bend down like that always—then you wonder why you have neck pain. And still, in spite of the fact you have neck pain, Jesus still heals you. But in those days the women carry—you know, don’t think they, you know, is suffering, you know, because they really end up with a stately carriage. Amen.
And this time the Lord says, «Follow the man—a man who has a pitcher of water,» and he will bring you to a large upper room. So, we’re here now. Let’s follow. Now, before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come—they are now in the upper room—that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. I love it. I love the way the upper room opens up: «Having loved his own that were in the world"—hey, he’s talking about you—"he loved you to the end.» He loved you to the end. This word «to the end"—telos—is actually the word; the best word in English is he loved them to the uttermost—to the uttermost. And this upper room is a room of love. And that upper room is a picture of Heaven, yes, but the way it works out on Earth is that it is the local church, okay. The local church is God’s dream, you know. Hello?
The Mystery of the Church Revealed to Paul
You know, it was revealed to the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul says this—assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me—Paul is writing; Paul is saying, «God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles,» okay. Just let you all know, okay. All of you—unless there’s a Jew here—you are all Gentiles, all right. Now, strictly speaking, you are now a son of God, all right. You came up from Gentile background. Anyone who’s a non-Jew is a Gentile. When God looks down on Earth, God only sees three groups of people: Jew—either you’re a Jew or a Gentile, a non-Jew—or the Church of God, made of Jew and Gentile, one new man, okay. Are you listening to what I’m saying? But just to let you know that we all started as Gentiles; we were saved as Gentiles, and then we become part of the Church of God.
So, Paul is saying that God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles, as I briefly wrote earlier. God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me, okay. God revealed his plan to Paul. Now, that’s what I’m saying—Paul has a, you know, Paul has been honored with a special revelation that God chose him for this purpose. He even calls the gospel of grace «my gospel.» So, does that mean we don’t read John, we don’t read Peter, we don’t read the rest—Jude and all that? No, no, no—a thousand times no. John also—those are wonderful scriptures for us today, for the church. Amen. But you must remember that there’s a special revelation given to the Apostle Paul that even Peter says many things he wrote had to be understood, and part of it is like, how come we are seated with Christ but I’m here now? Amen. So, it’s a spiritual position which is more real than physical. Your spiritual can affect your physical, okay.
Don’t forget—long before you change, a lot of people are trying to change the physical, and that’s what the world has. The world has not a choice. Thank God for doctors and medicines and all that—without that, you know, a lot of Christians would not even live long enough to learn about faith, okay. But our source is God. God may use doctors; God may use secondary causes, all right, and God may use even medicine—because who to say that God never gave that first idea for that medicine, that revelation of that medicine to a person for the betterment of mankind’s ills, right? So, I’m not saying—but you’re putting your trust in medicine alone without seeing God as a source. If God leads you to do that, all right, then it’s okay. But if you are depending on medicine—you are self-medicating. A lot of people are self-medicating because they have the internet now, and they search this, search that, search this, search that—until they are so confused. Amen. No, no—go to the doctor and find out what is the right thing, okay, for you to take. Amen.
So, I believe in doctors—let me say this—but it’s confined to what is natural. With God, it is beyond the natural. God is a spirit world. In the spirit world—amen—the spirit world, God is the spirit that created the natural world. The natural world you can touch and feel—all these things you can touch and feel: your chair and all that. Your face was created by God who is a spirit. Whatever is palpable, whatever is natural is temporal. Even this body is temporal. One day we’ll have a glorified body. It is still matter that the spirit sees. The spirit body is still matter, but it is forever. What a victory over death!
I was telling the pastors again the other day; I said, «What victory over death!» Even the Book of Revelation says that all those who died in the sea—the sea—those who died in the sea—the sea will give up the dead, and God summons them. Think about it: you die in the sea. All right. If Mr. JW don’t come—we don’t know who else comes and takes pieces of you away, right? If you think about it—wow, that’s terrible, isn’t it? You’re gone in Mr. Jaw’s stomach, and through his stomach—it’s a horrible thought, right? Now, it’s all scattered everywhere. Even you—you throw ashes into the sea; it’s scattered, right? But the victory of death is such that God says in the Book of Revelation he will summon all the atoms of that man back into a body. It’s a victory that Jesus conquered death and rose again on the third day bodily. Amen. We hail that. We go back happy, man. Amen, amen. Praise the Lord!
I feel like saying like Jesus said to his disciples: «Blessed are your eyes for they see, and blessed are your ears for they hear. For many kings and VIPs wish to hear and see what you see and hear, and they cannot—because you have the Holy Spirit.» You can only be understood by the Holy Spirit. Those in the natural world—they only go by their senses, the knowledge comely by the senses. Amen.
Okay, so Paul has a special plan. «As briefly—um—God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. As you read what I’ve written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations"—he’s referring to the time of Elijah, all the Old Testament prophets, and even all of them did not know what God revealed to Paul, okay—"but now,» say now, «by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the good news share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.» This is the mystery.
And that’s why even the disciples—they thought, «When are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?» Their minds are all about Jewish. It’s a Jewish mindset with the nation of Israel being prominent. They didn’t realize that Jesus came—okay, yes, primarily to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, offering the kingdom, even saying the kingdom is so near you—it’s at hand. Amen. But they rejected him. So, in other words, there is a 2000-year parenthesis now where actually is a mystery of the church. God is now—not so much—all right, focused on—now, I didn’t say God has substituted Israel—no. It’s like a track—a, um, a train on a track—when there’s a caboose for a while, you know, they put a caboose to a site which will be used later on, okay. But it’s not on the side. God’s focus now is on the church, and it’s been 2000 years.
Now is long—the church—the grace—also known as the grace age, the age of grace. Do you realize the age of grace has lasted longer than the age of the law? The age of the law—from the time God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai until Jesus came—is 1500 years. The age of grace—from Jesus' resurrection all the way until now—until now—it’s 2000 years. Yeah, I suspect God is not willing that any should perish. Amen. God is waiting while the world is rebelling against him, the world is blaspheming his name, refuse to deny his existence, refuse his ways and all that—he’s still waiting like a father waiting for the prodigal son to come home. He sees any sign of the son across the horizon—he’s going to run towards the son. Amen.
Okay, «by God’s grace and mighty power I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this good news.» Amen. Now, he says, «though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, God graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.» Woo, can you digest that? It was kept secret. And what’s the secret? Grace and the church. The church is not a building. It’s not the Star. It is not the Star Building. It is made up of many-membered body of Christ. And God—you know—and the church is placed higher than even Israel. We are seated with Christ, and it’s a privilege of every Jew and Gentile to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord and come into this body.
And what is God doing now—present tense? He is wanting everyone to turn around and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and be part of the body of Christ. So, you may have a lowly idea about the church, okay, but God has the highest thoughts. It was like for ages before—during the time of the Old Testament, alright—God was waiting: «I’m going to reveal this one day. I’m going to reveal this one day.» Amen. You have a big thing that you want to reveal. You said that, «I want to reveal this,» and you give hints here and there in the Old Testament. Like, for example, the longest chapter in the book of Genesis—you know what it is? The longest chapter is Genesis 24. In the Book of Genesis—Genesis 24. What’s Genesis 24? Genesis 22 is Abraham offered his son. That is Jesus being offered by the Father. Imagine—God himself provided a sin offering for us, right? What Genesis 24? Abraham told his servant—unnamed servant—"Go and find a bride for my son.» Come on, come on—he’s not named because he’s the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not call attention to himself but to the Son.
And they found who? Rebecca—a type of the church—is hidden there, even though it’s a mystery in the Old Testament—was hidden there, right? Amen. And she must say yes to the offer of becoming the bride of Isaac. And along the journey back—that long, long journey back to Father Abraham—she left her house, left everything, all right. She stood—I mean, she rode on the camel—but there’ll be candlelight nights. And the Bible says she brought her mates along, okay. And Abraham’s servant wasn’t alone also—so there are a lot of people—but those candlelight—you’ll say, «I’ve never seen Isaac. Can you please tell me more about him? Is he handsome? Is he kind? And most of all, does he love God?» And those nights—it’s like, «Tell me the story of Jesus.» That’s where we are now. We are Rebecca. Amen.
God sent the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit doesn’t call attention to himself. He calls attention to Jesus. He’s here to reveal the glories of Jesus—all the splendors of our Lord. Amen. And we are the bride. So, now he’s telling us the beauty of Jesus. We love him, having not seen him—just like Rebecca having not seen Isaac. She fell in love with him along the journey. And why is it the longest chapter? Because God is still moving, bringing forth a bride for his Son. You know, you just heard something that is worth going to a Bible college for the entire thing. You are seeing the purpose of God now.
So, whatever we do—your career, your ministry, your whatever you do in your life—it is all a picture of this beautiful relationship, this love relationship. God is calling us into the circle of love. Long before there was man, the Father loved the Son; the Son loves the Father, and the Holy Spirit is there in the spirit of love. Amen. And then God decided out of love to have man. And then it’s a picture of—God made man. It’s a picture of husband and wife—man and woman. And then it’s a picture of—in the book of Ephesians—Jesus and the bride. So, when God made Adam and Eve, he had in mind Jesus and his bride. His bride is what? Made of the many-membered body of Christ. Amen.
So, you see—"Oh, you mean Jesus' love for us is like a husband’s love for his wife?» No, no, no—husband’s love for his wife is like Jesus' love for us. He is the first reason. You know why God made you a father? You say, «Oh, Father’s love—thank you, Lord, heavenly Father, I worship you.» Until you have a child, then you realize you love the child—right after he soiled himself and you have to clean. Your wife says, «I do it all—it’s your turn now.» Ever had that, guys? And then you realize—as you’re doing it, you know, and the child is just looking at you—that cherubic smile, you know—and you realize, you know, you just soiled yourself, you know, and «I’m doing a sacrifice here, but I love you, Lord. I’ll not throw you away just because you’re dirty"—and all of a sudden you look at your child, and all of a sudden you wish your child would enter a world clean, holy, pure, lovely—not being warred, not growing up too fast, not suffering depression, not wanting to go out. No—you want him to grow strong in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man. That’s a father’s heart, isn’t it?
Wait—why did God give us parenting? He’s setting you up to know: this is what it means for me to love you. And yet a father’s love for a child is only a small inkling of that. You can multiply that thousand times—no, no, 100,000 times—no, no, a million times—it will still not come close to God’s love for you. Amen. Praise the Lord!
He Loved Them to the Uttermost — Even with Judas Present
So, it’s all about love. So, here: he loved them to the uttermost. One verse we have to bring up—whatever God has for us. Amen, amen. Okay, and supper being ended—and here comes a very sad and negative dark shadow on this whole thing. Who was there? Judas. And supper being ended, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him. Okay, God put that in so that we all know that Jesus knew he was there. In fact, a while later he says, «One of you shall betray me.» Remember that? «Verily I say unto you, one of you shall betray me.» It didn’t catch him by surprise. He’s showing you that in spite of this, he loved them to the uttermost. Praise the Lord—including Judas.
Next verse—verse three: «Jesus knowing"—I love this—"Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands"—the Father had given how much things? All things were into his hands—"and that he had come from God and was going to God, he rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself. After that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.»
Knowing All Power Is in His Hands, He Served
Now, think about this. The Bible doesn’t say Jesus just rose up. Obviously, they’re all tired. The disciples were all waiting for one another to wash, and the job back then of washing the feet of guests was actually the part of a slave in those days. And Jesus rose up—no, no, no—I got to backtrack. Doesn’t say that he rose up immediately. «Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands"—with those hands—"knowing that his Father has given all things into his hands, he held the soiled feet of his disciples in those hands.» Those hands where has all power. Why? Because the one who has all power in his hands is the one who has all love in his heart. All the power in his hands—he could destroy the betrayer with all power in his hands. What does love delight in?
That’s why you don’t mind serving your family when you love them. Don’t mind serving the loved ones because you love them. See, service is born out of love. He wants to love them. Some—my wife would say, «Let Justin do it.» Now he’s already past 10—already past 10 years old. So, let him do it. But sometimes I just want to do it for him. Why? I still get a chance to serve. I don’t want him to grow up too fast. I want him—you know, right. I know, I know—let him learn and all. I do give him those times also, all right. But sometimes I just do things for him. Sometimes I’ll put the clothes on for him. He can do it himself—because I know that all too soon they’re up and gone. That’s it. Amen. Love delights to serve and to give.
So, with all the power he has, what is he delighted to do? He served. That’s a—you know—proud people cannot serve. They cannot give. The problem is it’s not that, «Oh, you are very stingy.» You’re not. It’s just that when people are proud, it tells us they are insecure—because Jesus knowing—knowing in the calm consciousness of knowing that he has all power in his hands, that he came from God and he’s going back to God—with that calm consciousness of all these verities, he stooped down and washed their feet. Only people who know who they are can be humble. Why are people not humble? Because they are insecure. They doubt themselves. They are actually insecure, but they try to cover up.
Okay, never mind—Pastor, please go on, go on. Okay, okay, okay. Don’t—don’t stay there. I don’t like—sh. Okay, okay—I just go on. All right. So, he rose from supper, laid aside his garments. He took a towel, girded himself. So, obviously they’re all looking one another and say, «Who will do this service? There’s no slave here.» All right. So, John—is it your turn? Peter—is it your turn? And Peter said, «No, no, no—see, I’m seated by Jesus.» John said, «I’m busy lying back on Jesus' breast.» And Judas said, «I’m busy counting money.» All right. So, how about Thomas? Thomas says, «I doubt it’s my turn.» All right. Amen.
And all of a sudden—with that wonderful statement—Jesus knowing—he got up, he took a basin, a towel, began to wash the disciples' feet, all right. Next verse: Then he came to Simon Peter, and Peter said to him, «Lord, are you washing my feet?» Jesus answered and said to him, «What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.» Now, stop. If we think—as is often taught—that what Jesus did is just to show us an example of humility—this being the last act in this upper room, is the last act of our Lord before he goes to the cross—and there’s something symbolic in this act—if we think it’s just, as it’s often taught, there’s just a lesson in humility, we are sadly mistaken.
Because what he said to Peter—when Peter says, «Lord, do you wash my feet?» And he said, «What I do now you do not know. What I do now you do not understand.» Right. Just be humble and accept it, right. Look at Peter’s response: «Then you will never wash my feet, Lord. You will never wash my feet.» Now, we can understand because he has real affections for Jesus. He has love. Love is real. The love is there. Come on, right. But still the flesh. Now, I think many of us—I don’t know about you, but it’s me for sure—when the Lord asks me to do something, I’m willing to show my love, all right. I want to show my love by doing a lot of things that he tells me to. But when he says, «Sit down—I want to bless you. I want to allow you to have this. I want to bless you with this thing. I want to bless you with that. I want to give you this. I want to bless you with this"—I find it hard: «Lord, no, no, no—Lord, you’ll never do that. No, Lord, you must not.» But who are you saying no to?
You know what hurts love? When you want to give and the person doesn’t accept. Now, you and I don’t understand fully because we’re not perfect in love. We’re not so full of love: «Don’t give, don’t give—I don’t take.» You see, we’re not full of love. But you know what hurts love? Perfect love. You know what hurts love? Some mothers understand this. You know what really hurts love? When the one you love rejects your gift. So, sometimes you know—you must allow your spouse when he wants to do something for you: «Yeah, I know, I know already—I know already.» Just let him do it. You want to share something: «Yeah, I know, I know—I know already.» Just «know already» and just still yet let him do it. It gives him pleasure—or the wife want to do something, right. And the husband—but if you see that it gives her pleasure, let her do it. «I want to make you something that is really something that you would love for your birthday.» «No, love, we can just go out.» No—learn to receive love somehow.
You know, there’s in us, right—we just reject love. It’s the flesh, you know. It is the flesh. And this is where I suffer from, okay. Like the church wants to bless me, and I say no, right. Yeah, but I’m not thinking what you are thinking—where the Lord has spoken to me, I must obey, right. But it’s like—like no, no, no, no, no, no. That’s the flesh.
Number two: then Jesus answered him, «If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.» Now, look at the flesh: Simon Peter answered, «Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.» Come on, Lord—lay it all—overhaul me. Come on—lay it on me. You see how extreme—at first: «This you cannot—no, no, no, no, no.» You know—he have a piece of cake: «No, no—you know, like someone—I know you know—in America—he was one of the first times in America, and they offer a piece of cake. You know, they don’t know our tradition, right. We must reject and number five or number four, all right. So, when people give you a piece of cake—our Chinese mentality—that can say, „Oh, thank you.“ All right—the Americans will say that, but we—we must say, „No, no, no—ah, no—ah, no—ah.“ Now, first no. All right—we—we are memorizing it—trust me, we are memorizing it—it’s a first no. Come on—it looks good, man—that cake looks good—then say no—have it—it’s delicious—in your mind I know it is, all right—but no, no, no—then really—are you sure—you’re the one—no—lot number three—really—come on—number four—number four—I’ll take at number four—come on—okay, you said so—say they don’t understand your culture, you know, right. Learn to say thank you—take it. Amen.
So, Jesus says, „If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.“ So, he says—no, no, no—now you go to extremes: not only my feet—my hands—my head.
The One Bath and the Daily Foot-Washing
Now, let me just tell you this—notice what Jesus said about this washing. I’m going to stop here right now and say that Jesus—the whole verses that we read just now—now tells us the background before he did this act: knowing his hour had come that he will depart from this world to go to the Father, knowing that the Father has given all things into his hands, and that he came from God and that he’s going to God—he rose from supper, right—which means what? As far as he’s concerned, the act of the cross and all that now is behind him. It’s a picture of—he rose from the Lord’s Supper, which means dead—he rose, and he’s showing us in the upper room—the third heaven—what he is doing right now for us all at the Father’s right hand.
Remember what he said one time: „The Son of man came not to be served but to serve,“ and he even says that those servants who are found faithful, „When I come again, I will put them—I’ll seat them at the table, I gird myself, and I’ll serve them.“ In other words, he still abides a servant. The gospel of the servant is Gospel of Mark—written by a servant who failed—about the servant who never fails. Jesus wants to be your servant. I know he is Lord—he is my Lord, hallelujah—but he wants to serve you. And just because you think that maybe, oh, he rose from the dead—now he’s right now in his amazing glorified body, and he is in heaven, you know—and he—you know—I just cannot perceive that he will care for me the same way anymore—that’s why he started by saying he loved them to the uttermost, which means in heaven now he still loves you. And what this act is all about—thank God this act wasn’t done outside the upper room; it was done after he said he’s going to God. Amen. This is what he’s doing for us now at the Father’s right hand.
You know what he is doing now? As a high priest—he’s at the Father’s right hand—he is our high priest. You know what he’s doing now? Washing your feet. He’s washing your feet. Have you availed yourself of this washing? Is the Bible a closed book in your house? Is it—what do you call that—airport or whatever you’re using to listen to the sermons—is it something that you’re not using anymore? Because how can he—the washing here is the washing of the water with the word, right. Come on—the picture here is that the water in the basin is a picture of the word. How does Jesus wash you today? With the word.
Ephesians chapter 5: it says, „Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church"—you see, husband and wife relationship is about me and my wife—is Jesus and the church—"husband, love your wife just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her.» Doesn’t say she give herself for me—it says I give myself for her. Husbands—all right—learn to sacrifice little things, you know, for her—even she doesn’t know about it. Give yourself for her, okay. Amen, amen. There are things I do for my wife—if I give myself—that I don’t want her to know also. Now that I share this publicly, she probably will ask me later on what is the thing and all that, okay. So, sometimes you do that, right. There’s a big piece of drumstick and a smaller piece of drumstick—all right—somehow you gave it to her first, right. No—amen—yeah, right—stop—your small things first. Amen. Learn to find joy and pleasure just in loving. Don’t find your joy only after there’s a response. Find your joy and delight in loving. Be addicted to loving—even if there’s no response. That goes for your children as well. Find your joy in loving, and if there’s any reward—whatever it is—look to the Lord. Amen. Nothing passes his eye. Amen.
He gave himself for her at the cross—for the church—that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Every woman wants to be holy—holy means complete, amen—unique, set apart—and without blemish and without spot. In the natural—am I right? I’m going to give an altar call for liars—every woman wants her face to be without blemish, without spot, right. You know who put it there? The Lord. Now you know—it’s scriptural. I believe that some things in instinct to care for—is all put there by God. Women want to look nice, beautiful—not—it’s not vanity. It is—now you go to the extreme—everything your husband is working, you know, every day so that to provide you the kind of beauty stuff that only the royalties can afford, you know—I’m not talking about that. That’s a desire to be clean, a desire to be presentable—that’s how God made a woman—because it’s a picture of the church.
And how does Jesus cleanse the church? With the washing of water of the word. Husband, love your wife like this—that Jesus gave himself for her—that’s one, the first thing—that he might sanctify and cleanse her—the washing of water by the word—that he might present her to himself a glorious church. Let me stop here and tell you how a lot of people preach—I’ve heard this preached before: Jesus is cleansing us by the word, but if you don’t receive the word—let me tell you this, okay—the church today is horrible. Look at the church today. I don’t think he’s coming back anytime soon. Have you seen the church lately—all natural—natural eyes, natural talk, natural things? Have you seen the church lately? I tell you this—if Jesus comes down halfway and looks at the church today, he will definitely postpone the marriage. I’ll tell you right now—the church is definitely not without spot, not without blemish.
The only problem with all these things is this—even in the Greek—it tells you this: that he might present her to himself—the preachers would like, you know, preach like that, okay—they say that, but the church without spot—God is raising a church without spot, without blemish—in the eyes of men or in the eyes of God? Obviously the eyes of men—he’s referring to men, right. One day he’ll present to himself a glorious church. But friend, check out in the original Greek—that «he might present her» is present active participle—which means right now he’s already presenting you in his eyes without spot, without wrinkle or any such thing. He sees you beautiful right now.
How Jesus Sees You Right Now
«Pastor, I got a lot of spot.» He does not see your spots—spotty. Oh, child of God—you want to see how he looks at you? Song of Songs is a picture of Jesus and the church, and this is how the bridegroom looks at the bride: «How beautiful you are, my darling"—music please—this one should be quoted with beautiful music—"How beautiful you are, my darling. How beautiful you are. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil"—it’s pure. Have you seen the eyes of a dove? It’s very beautiful—the eyes of a dove, all right. Not hawk, not vulture—I’m not referring to your husband or to you. See the dove in his eyes. This is not spiritual. «Your hair is like a flock of goats.» You know the flock of goats in Israel is very dark—the hair, right. It’s like your hair is shiny, and their hair—the flock of goats—their hair is healthily shining—luster, a shiny luster. «Your hair is so beautiful,» he says, «like a flock of goats descended from Mount Gilead.» And Mount Gilead is where the Bible talks about a balm in Gilead—healing, healthy hair—beautiful hair. The Lord looks at her and says, «You are beautiful—how beautiful! Not only beautiful—how beautiful you are, my darling.» You read Song of Songs—it goes on to say, «There is no spot in you.»
Let me ask you a question: if this is in the natural—at any time can the Lord say this to his people, whether it’s Israel or the church? Can he say that at any time if it’s in the natural? No. Who without us today can say we are without spot in experience? But in his eyes—the Bible says in Ephesians, Colossians—he presents you holy, unreproveable in his sight. Wow.
There was a wizard or a—I don’t know what to call him—okay, he’s a half-baked prophet. He’s not a real prophet, but the Holy Spirit allowed him to say something. One of the most beautiful prophecies over the nation of Israel—he was hired by King Balak, right. His name was Balaam. He was hired by King Balak to curse the children of Israel because he has a reputation: those he cursed are cursed. So, he cursed these people. He was about to curse them. He says, «God has not beheld iniquity in Jacob.» And king is saying—then he goes on—"Nor has God seen perverseness in Israel.» He’s going to say—he has not beheld iniquity. Say what? This people has no iniquity. Stop—he didn’t say that. He didn’t say they have no iniquity, no sin. He says God has beheld no iniquity. You see—his holy eyes—it’s because he is holy, it’s because he is righteous—that his holiness and righteousness saw Jesus carrying all our sins—the sins of our entire life. And that was when God judged and punished his Son and poured out his wrath in condemnation on his Son for every one of the sins that he carried—including all our sins. Amen. That was when God saw your sins—but in the body of his Son on the cross—so that today God sees you without sin.
Hear me out first—I did not say there’s no sin in us. Yeah, that’s right—I say in his sight there is no sin on us. When he looks on us, there’s no sin. Amen. It can happen to Israel back then through the blood of bulls and goats—how much more you and I? Imagine facing life every day knowing that—you know—you are the righteousness of God in Christ—even when you fail and all that. What is the number one accusation? «Hey, you didn’t say that properly.» «Hey, you didn’t—hey, you lost your temper here.» «Hey, you lost your temper there.» Before you know it, the whole day you are just crushed—if you’re conscious of your sins and failures. But if you go on saying, «Thank God"—it reminds you, «I’m the righteousness of God in Christ"—it will lift you higher and higher and higher. And just remember that righteousness is not of you; it is in Christ. Amen.
Amen. Boy, I just feel like I’m starting, but I got to let you go in a while. But let’s go back here to John 13. Then Jesus answered him, «If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.» Now, a lot of people think that if we don’t let Jesus wash us today—now, again, how do you get Jesus to wash us? Some people don’t avail themselves of this service. You know what I do before I read my Bible or whatever—I don’t—okay, not all the time, but many times I will say, «Lord Jesus, I place my hands, my legs in your hands.» It takes humility to—you know—because everything—me? No. How can I? He’s Lord, right. But he wants that. Wash my feet.
Now this—you see, um—he did not say that this is a washing of salvation—because washing of salvation—"If I don’t wash you"—he didn’t say, «You have no part in me.» No—he says, «You have no part with me.» The disciples were already in him. He says, «You have no part with me.» If you want to have a successful relationship, you must be with the person—flowing together, fellowship together. Amen—with like yoke together with, right. So, you cannot be with me—not—you’re already part—you’re already in me. He didn’t say «in me"—that means this washing is for salvation. No. What he’s doing right now is only for believers.
Then he goes on to explain—drop down: «Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.» He says, «He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.» For he knew who would betray him; therefore he said, «You are not all clean.» Let’s remove the last part because it’s not meant for us—it’s meant for Judas. «He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet.» He who is bathed—there is salvation. There’s one bath, and that bath is never to be repeated. When it comes to Jesus Christ and you are born again, he washes you clean. That’s the bath—the washing of regeneration—that never needs to be repeated. You are completely clean.
Let me tell you this—some translations put it this way: «He who is—okay—he who is washed and then needs only to wash his feet.» It confuses people. That’s the Old King James version. But the two words are different in the Greek. «He who is loued needs only to nipto his feet.» Lou-oh is all-over bath—that’s salvation—when we got saved, never to be repeated. But the analogy back then—even the Roman soldiers and all that—when they washed in Israel, they washed thoroughly. Yet they still have to walk outside, and their feet contract what? The dirt. Do they have to bathe all over again? No—they just take water and clean their feet. That’s the picture there.
And notice that once you are bathed, you are completely clean. Have you ever said, «I’m completely clean»? Jesus said so. «You are completely clean.» He who is bathed is completely clean. And you only have to wash—what? Wash what? Nipto is used for washing hands, washing feet—smaller parts—or washing face also. You only have to wash your feet. And that is your daily—as you walk through this life, the daily humdrum of daily life, the duties of home life, the responsibilities of business life, you know—and when you go out there, the things that you see on media and all that—it’s like dust accumulating. Dust accumulating—and dust accumulated too much, right—it can become a sin. And dust is the devil’s food. God said to the devil in the garden, «Dust you shall eat all the days of your life.» All right.
So, the way you wash away dust is by washing of the water of the word. Your feet represent your walk—your daily walk—while you’re waiting for Jesus to come. Amen. Your daily walk is washed with the water of the word. Isn’t it beautiful?
The Laver and the Washing of the Word
In the Old Testament—you know—they have a laver. You know—it’s a laver. A laver—show them a picture of a laver. Yeah—they have a laver to wash. They wash their hands there, okay. No one really knows how it looks like, but it’s made of copper, okay. So, the priests—they have to go in—they die. The verses say that God says, «You shall make a laver of bronze with its base also of bronze for washing. Aaron the high priest—a picture of Jesus—and his sons—all of us—shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it.» Drop down: «So they shall wash their hands and their feet lest they die. It shall be a statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout the generations.»
Of course, all this is pictures, by the way. Have you not—I just preached from the Old Testament, okay. Just letting you know in case, «Oh, he just preached on Paul.» All right. It is the whole counsel, bro. Okay. So, here: they shall wash their hands and their feet lest they die. I think personally why—why does God put «lest they die»? I believe that even this washing—whether you’re listening through a, um, you know, through—you’re watching social media and watching me or any other speaker who’s preaching the word of God—make sure it’s Christ-centered, scriptural, all right. Whether you’re studying on your own—make sure that you avail yourself of this washing—not only spiritually, all right. It will keep you in step with Christ—flowing or walking in the spirit, all right—having part with him. But it will also—I believe—"lest they die» means it will give you life. Isn’t there a verse that says this in Proverbs 4:22? «God’s words—they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh.»
The more time you spend in the word—and you know, it’s not just opening up, you know, legalistically and without prayer and all that—but knowing that Jesus stands ready to take the basin—the Bible—and the word—and speak the right word to you—then he can say to you—John 15:3—he says even in the upper room—he says this: «You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.» Amen.
So, just—you say, «Husband, love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it"—am I right? Go back to that verse. We close with that: that he might present her to himself a glorious church. Notice: he might present her to himself. It’s not for the church to be presented to some pastor or preacher or archbishop or whatever—it is for Jesus to present the church to himself. And it’s his prerogative to say, «I present you to myself a glorious church.» Present active participle—is right now how he sees you. He sees you what? Glorious church. Not only that—not having spot or wrinkle. Wrinkle is what? Oh, age. Now, I know it’s spiritual, but let’s not just keep things spiritual. Maybe the washing of the water of the word will keep you young—without wrinkle—or any such thing. What about sickness? Any such thing. What about depression? Any such thing. But that she should be holy and without blemish. Woo! If there’s a woman like that—wow. Amen.
But wait—what he’s telling us is this: talk to your wife and present her. Don’t have to present her to anyone else. Present in your eyes—always present her as without spot. You find—you don’t find fault. You’re not fault-finding. You are good-finding. Listen—don’t fault-find. Good-find, all right. Number two—when you talk to her, she doesn’t feel old: «Ah, you’re getting—» okay—because talking about husbands and wives as well is—hey, how do you wash her with the word? The things that you say—does it make her feel old, useless—and then make her feel like, wow, she’s glorious in your eyes? Amen. Amen.
None of us have arrived, but what we are seeing is the glory of Jesus. As we behold him, we become like him. Amen. You are the stronger one, husbands. You’re the greater one. It is your glory—glory is added to you. The Bible says it’s the glory for a man to overlook a transgression. You become more glorious every time you overlook a transgression. Don’t fault-find—good-find. Make it an assignment from the upper room this week. If you fail—what do you say? «I’m the righteousness of God in Christ"—and continue. If she does something that you feel like, oh man—well, that part—that one especially gets me—what do you do? «I’m the righteousness of God in Christ"—and find something about her. Yeah—"Oh, but—but my friend’s wife does this and all that"—but your friend’s wife does not do what your wife does, and that girl doesn’t do what she does. And what she does, the girl doesn’t do it. Everyone has their strength. Look for it.
You present her. Didn’t say she presents herself: «Hey, you better learn to be without spot now. You better learn to be without blemish. You better learn to be holy.» Unfortunately, that’s the approach of the church. No, my friend—he’s saying the way Jesus washes us is not by the law. Have you noticed that in the upper room he just demonstrated? «You are already clean by the word I’ve spoken unto you.» I’m closing now—finally close. Have you noticed that he’s not—that—listen: «Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not bear false witness.» That’s not the word that cleanses. The upper room—what’s the word that cleanses? «I am the vine.» It’s who he is.