                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                            Taking Up the Towel!

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By David Wilkerson
August 7, 1995
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          In a famous passage in John 13, Jesus took a towel and
          a basin and washed the feet of His disciples. He told
          them:

          "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your
          feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet" (John
          13:14).

          Some devout Christians take this verse literally. They
          have made it their custom to have "foot washing"
          services. This is commendable - yet, if it remains only
          a ritual, the true meaning of foot washing has been
          lost.

          After Jesus washed the disciples' feet, He put His
          garment back on, sat down and asked them, "Do you know
          what I've just done to you?" In other words: "Do you
          understand the spiritual significance of foot washing?"

          I believe the Lord's question is for us today as well.
          Indeed, something very powerful and profound was taking
          place; Christ was teaching His church one of its most
          important lessons. Yet, do we understand the depths of
          what Jesus did in washing the disciples' feet?

          Jesus was not instituting an ordinance to be carried on
          throughout the church ages, such as communion or water
          baptism. If that were so, He would have instituted it
          at the beginning of the disciples' training. And He
          would have submitted to a foot washing Himself, as He
          had done with water baptism.

          I pored over my Bible commentaries to see what the
          church fathers have said about this scene. Almost
          without exception, they wrote that its significance is
          in Jesus' example of humility. He took the lowly place
          to show us how to be humble. Yet I believe this
          interpretation misses the meaning of the passage
          entirely. After all, Jesus had already set an example
          of humility by taking on human form - by laying aside
          His glory and coming to earth as a servant.

          No - this passage says so much more than that! I
          believe Jesus was giving us an example of the kind of
          physical manifestation He desires most - that of
          "taking up the towel"!

          Today, when we speak of manifestations, we think of
          people in church meetings falling to the ground. To
          many, that kind of manifestation seems strange. Yet, as
          you study the Word of God, you learn that Jesus talked
          a lot about unusual physical manifestations.

          Jesus didn't talk about falling to the ground. But He
          did speak of falling into the ground and dying - to
          bear fruit! He spoke of the manifestation of taking up
          a cross - of cutting off an offending hand, plucking
          out an offensive eye, going an extra mile.

          Yet one of the most unusual of all the manifestations
          Christ talked about is His call to take up the towel.
          Throughout my years in ministry, many people have
          asked, "Why don't we wash each other's feet in church,
          as Jesus told us to? He said, 'If I do it, you should
          do it, too.'"

          I usually answered, "What Jesus is talking about is
          primarily a spiritual thing, and not just physical."
          Yet even as I said this, I had no concept of the
          spiritual meaning of foot washing.

          We gloss over certain truths in the Bible because we
          don't understand their meaning - and for years we miss
          the power of these passages. For example, Scripture
          tells us:

          "...by love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13).

          And:

          "(Submit) yourselves one to another in the fear of God"
          (Ephesians 5:21).

          How many of us really know what it means to serve one
          another in love? And how are we supposed to submit to
          one another in the fear of God? It's easy enough to
          understand how a wife is to submit to the spiritual
          authority of a godly husband. And the same is true for
          children submitting to godly parents. But in what
          practical ways do we serve and submit to one another in
          the house of God?

          I believe that if we understand what Jesus did in
          washing His disciples' feet, we will understand these
          concepts of service and submission. You see, serving
          one another in love and submitting to one another in
          godly fear mean much more than taking orders from or
          being accountable to a higher authority. Rather, these
          glorious truths are unlocked only in the context of
          "taking up the towel."

          While I was in prayer recently, the Holy Spirit gave me
          three words to open my understanding about this matter
          of taking up the towel. The three words are dirt,
          comfort and unity. Hopefully, as we examine these
          words, the Holy Ghost will unlock to us His truth:

                      -------------------------------

                      1. Let Us Begin With the Matter
                      of Dirt Clinging to A Christian
                            Brother or Sister!

                      -------------------------------

          The disciples were twelve men beloved of God - precious
          in His eyes, full of love for His Son, pure-hearted, in
          full communion with Jesus. Yet they had dirt on their
          feet!

          Jesus, in essence, was saying to these men, "Your
          hearts and hands are clean, but your feet are not.
          They've gotten dirty in your daily walk with Me. You
          don't need your whole body to be washed - only your
          feet."

          The dirt Jesus mentions here has nothing to do with
          natural dirt. It's all about sin - our faults and
          failures, our giving in to temptations. And no matter
          how dusty and dirty the roads were in ancient
          Jerusalem, no age was ever as filthy as ours!

          I wonder how many people reading this message right now
          have some dirt clinging to them. Perhaps this past week
          you fell into a temptation or failed God in some way.
          It's not that you've turned your back on the Lord. On
          the contrary - you love the Savior more passionately
          than ever. But you fell, and now you're grieving -
          because your feet are dirty!

          Scripture tells us:

          "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which
          are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of
          meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be
          tempted" (Galatians 6:1).

          The Greek word for fault here means "a fall, a sin, a
          transgression." We are to restore every Christian who
          falls into sin, if there is a repentant heart.

          And foot washing, in its deepest spiritual meaning, has
          to do with our attitude about the dirt we see on our
          brother or sister. So, I ask you: What do you do when
          you're face to face with someone who has fallen into a
          sin or transgression?

          What you do about the dirt on your brother or sister
          has everything to do with the ministry Jesus describes
          as "taking up the towel." It has everything to do with
          how you serve others in love and submit to others in
          the fear of God.

          Let me say very clearly: Christians can be very cruel!
          In fact, believers often are more vicious and
          destructive than the wicked in the streets. And Jesus
          knew that. He knew how we react to the sight of dirt on
          someone else - how we put on a holier-than-thou
          attitude, judging, gossiping and slandering. Indeed,
          carnal Christians delight in seeing dirt on others. But
          their spreading of the dirt is the dirtiest sin of all!

          In recent weeks, I've been trying to encourage a young
          pastor who resigned from his church after confessing a
          moral transgression. This dear man loves the Lord. He
          has a heart for people and for God's Word. But his feet
          got dirty! Yet he is totally repentant.

          As soon as I heard about his fall and resignation, the
          Holy Spirit instructed me to get in touch with him
          immediately. I knew this young pastor was still a good
          man. He hadn't suddenly become wicked. His heart wasn't
          hardened over his sin.

          Yet his best friends forsook him. Those who claimed to
          love him most now ignored him, as if he had an
          infectious disease. To top it off, his denominational
          leaders demanded he make a video of his confession -
          giving every vivid detail of his transgression.

          I called this dear brother - and I took a towel with
          me. I left a message on his answering machine, saying:
          "Brother, I want you to know I love you. God isn't
          finished with you. If you have a repentant heart, the
          Lord will restore you. And I'm going to stand with
          you!"

          Beloved, taking up a towel is an attitude, a
          commitment. It means doing all within our power to
          cleanse the dirt off our brother's feet. It says, "I'm
          committed to helping you clean off the dirt - to
          restore your reputation, your family - to do everything
          to keep you alive in Christ!"

          A friend of this pastor later called me. He said,
          "David, you will never know what your phone call meant
          to my friend - how blessed, encouraged and comforted he
          was. No one else has reached out to him. Your words
          gave him new hope."

          Scripture clearly states that whenever a brother or
          sister has been overtaken in a sin, we must restore
          that person - serving him in love, submitting to him in
          the fear of God. Yet, you may ask, how are we to do
          this?

          We are to take up the towel of God's mercy and go to
          that hurting one. In the special love of Jesus, we are
          to submit all of our human inclinations to ignore him,
          judge him, expose him, lecture him and find fault with
          him - and, instead, we are to commit to being his
          friend. We are to help wash away his sins by sharing
          the correcting, healing, washing, comforting Word of
          God.

          This is not overlooking or winking at sin. It is not
          calling evil good. We're talking about fallen saints
          who have repentant hearts yet are without hope. They
          know they have grieved the Lord - and they live with
          fear, guilt, rejection.

          It's a different matter entirely with those who have
          been warned two or three times yet persist in their
          sin. The Bible says we are to sharply rebuke such
          believers in public so that others may fear God. Often
          they must be disfellowshiped for a season, until they
          demonstrate godly sorrow. But those who acknowledge
          their sin - who confess it and forsake it - are in need
          of someone to bring the towel of mercy, to bring them
          cleansing and healing.

          A few years ago, an associate pastor of a very large
          church called me in tears. He told me, "Brother David,
          I can't keep my head up, I'm so broken." He described
          to me the pain he experienced when his teenage daughter
          became pregnant outside of marriage. The senior pastor
          of the church demanded that this associate go before
          the congregation and tell them what his daughter had
          done.

          This dear man did just that - and it devastated his
          daughter. It broke the family's heart. But the
          congregation wallowed in all the details of the poor
          teenage girl's sin.

          Then, a year later, the senior pastor's teenage
          daughter became pregnant. But this time, the senior
          pastor did everything in his power to cover it up.

          God, have mercy on us - because we destroy people who
          get dirt on their feet! When will we ever learn to take
          up the towel of mercy - to commit ourselves to
          cleansing and restoring, rather than throwing dirt into
          the wind and destroying precious souls?

                      -------------------------------

                       2. Those Who Take Up the Towel
                        Are the True Comforters Whom
                           the Holy Ghost Uses!

                      -------------------------------

          Do you know what it's like to be barefoot and have to
          walk through mud? The dirt that cakes on your feet can
          be truly miserable. You feel much better when your feet
          are washed and clean.

          When Jesus washed the dirt from His disciples' feet,
          they were comforted. But, spiritually speaking, Jesus
          was teaching the comfort of transgressions removed!

          In 1 Corinthians 5, we read of a man in the church who
          fell into the terrible sin of incest. Evidently the man
          was unrepentant, and Paul directed the church to turn
          him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh
          (that is, to the saving of his spirit). Paul was not
          saying the man was lost and going to hell. No - he only
          wanted him isolated from fellowship and given over to
          Satan's devices, so he would come to his wits' end and
          be driven to repentance.

          Later, in 2 Corinthians 2, Paul found out the same man
          had become repentant and that the church had forgiven
          him. Satan had brought him to despair, and the lust in
          his flesh had been destroyed. The man had come back
          repentant. And now Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

          "...ye ought rather to forgive him, lest perhaps such a
          one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
          Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love
          toward him" (2 Corinthians 2:7-8).

          Paul knew this man was absolutely overwhelmed with
          grief and sorrow. Those in the church had seen his
          brokenness and humility, and they were overcome with a
          spirit of mercy. They encouraged him, were
          tenderhearted toward him and washed his feet. Now he
          was clean - and he was being restored to the body of
          Jesus Christ. What a wonderful picture!

          There are many Christians today who are in the same
          condition as this man, after being overtaken by a sin.
          They say to themselves, "I have reproached my Savior.
          I've brought shame to His name!" Yet what they
          experience is nothing like what 2 Corinthians
          describes.

          I want to show you a passage from a book I received not
          long ago. It was written by the daughter of a pastor
          who was overtaken by a sin several years ago. And for
          all those years the family has endured a nightmarish
          hell. She writes:

          "...(The press) followed us to our homes. We got phone
          calls from famous gossip tabloids offering large sums
          of money for a story. We'd finally succeed in getting
          Dad out of the house and into a restaurant, only to
          find ourselves the subject of people's conversations.
          It was horrible.

          "But Reverend ______ was never ashamed to identify with
          us. Dad would literally sit by the phone awaiting this
          man's call. He was overcome with guilt and shame....
          Dad had sunken into deep depression.... People to whom
          he gave so much of himself were the ones who turned
          against him so harshly.

          "New rumors were spread daily. Ministers wrote to one
          another, spreading those rumors.... Only a select few
          proved true by showing Christian love and restoration,
          by calling us and remembering us in their prayers."

          I know the man this daughter is describing. He is a
          dedicated man of God, a good father and a caring
          pastor. His heart is still passionately in love with
          Jesus. In fact, he has been restored and is pastoring a
          growing church.

          Yet, can you imagine how he has felt all these years?
          Everyone he'd ministered to for years turned against
          him - including those he'd won to Christ! He was
          devastated, overwhelmed with sorrow. At one point his
          daughter suggested to her husband that they take the
          gun out of the man's house, fearing that in his
          depression he might be overcome by thoughts of suicide.

          This lonely, despairing man waited by the phone for a
          call from his faithful pastor friend. The loving,
          compassionate minister was the only one willing to
          bring a towel to his friend - a little comfort, a word
          of encouragement, a brief moment of laughter.

          Can you blame the fallen, dejected pastor for wanting
          just a little relief from the long years of pain
          inflicted by God's people and other ministers?

                      -------------------------------

                  The World Outside the Church Has Become
                    Demonized With the Spirit Of Hate -
                     Character Assassination, Slander,
                  Destruction of Reputations And Families

                      -------------------------------

          No sooner does a politician announce he's running for
          office than the press turns into a pack of vultures,
          digging into his past life just to find some dirt. And
          when they find it, they plaster it across the
          headlines, for all of America to wallow in.

          America has gone crazy with slander! TV is rife with
          talk shows featuring gossip, exposure, mockery. The
          wicked get their thrills from destroying people,
          families, good reputations. And the more lurid the
          dirt, the more the people love it.

          But this kind of thing has no place in God's house. The
          church ought to be different. It ought to be a house of
          cleansing!

          The Gentiles in Ephesus honored God's people by calling
          them "Chrestians," meaning, "kindhearted." They had
          seen how kindhearted these believers were toward
          others.

          "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
          forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake
          hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32).

          If you want to be kindhearted - to take up the towel to
          restore a brother or sister - you don't need to know
          the details of how that person got dirty. Jesus did not
          ask His disciples, "How did you get such dirty feet?"
          He wanted only to accomplish their cleansings - to get
          the dirt off of them. His love for them was
          unconditional.

          Likewise, those who walk in the fullness of Jesus
          Christ must also have this attitude of love toward
          those with dirty feet. We aren't to ask for details.
          Instead, we're to say, "Let's do something about the
          dirt!"

          But too often, this isn't the case. Many Christians
          want to delve into all the gory details. They come to a
          believer who has dirty feet, saying, "I want to wash
          your feet. But, tell me - what happened? How'd you get
          so dirty?"

          Then, at some point in the story of failure, the
          curious comforter realizes, "Oh, my - this is worse
          than I thought. I can't get involved in this. I can't
          handle it." And after two minutes of details, he comes
          to the end of his puny human mercy. He judges the
          person as too evil, beyond help - and chooses to ignore
          him. He drops his towel and goes his way.

          Beloved, you can't wash feet in a judge's robes! You
          have to take off your self-righteous garments - your
          holier-than-thou attitude - before you can do any
          cleansing. Like Jesus, you must lay aside your outer
          garment and gird yourself with love. Off with all
          self-righteousness - all pride, all thoughts that you
          could never stoop so low! You must have an attitude
          that says, "I don't care what you did. If you're
          repentant and want to hear God's Word, I'll be kind and
          tenderhearted to you!"

          Yet, you ask, what if the dirty person before you is a
          Judas - someone who has betrayed you? My answer to you
          is, Judas was in that room with the other disciples,
          and Jesus washed his feet too. Christ stooped to
          cleanse Judas' dirt, even though Satan had already put
          betrayal in his heart.

          Indeed, modern-day Judases can be saved because of the
          Cross. Often we think of certain sinners, such as
          homosexuals or lesbians, as being hopelessly hooked. We
          think they can never be delivered. Yet Paul says of
          them:

          "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
          kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators,
          nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
          abusers of themselves with mankind [homosexuals], nor
          thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
          extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

          "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye
          are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
          Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1
          Corinthians 6:9-11).

          Such were some of us - but we had our feet washed by
          Jesus! I ask you - if Jesus is willing to justify all
          sinners, why aren't we willing to wash those sinners'
          feet? Paul says we are to be gentle and patient with
          all people:

          "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be
          gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness
          instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
          peradventure will give them repentance to the
          acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover
          themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
          captive by him at his will" (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

          Paul is saying, "You've got to be tenderhearted with
          everyone, to be willing to wash their feet. God may
          have mercy on them yet - and deliver them from their
          sin!"

          Our church has spent almost thirty weeks now praying
          for revival in New York City. Yet, it doesn't matter
          how much a church prays; God will not plant new
          believers there if they're going to have to struggle
          amid a bunch of judging, self-centered Christians.

          You see, every new believer is going to get his feet
          dirty before he becomes established in the faith. And
          he needs people who are willing to go to him quickly to
          wash his feet and restore him. True revival reflects
          this spirit of kindness - a spirit that's willing to
          take up the towel to cleanse and restore dirty
          believers!

                      -------------------------------

                  3. Finally, We Come to the Word Unity!

                      -------------------------------

          I believe when Jesus washed the disciples' feet, He was
          teaching a profound lesson on how to obtain unity of
          fellowship in the body of Christ.

          As Jesus approached Peter to wash his feet, the
          disciple drew back.

          "...Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my
          feet?" (John 13:6).

          Peter asked in astonishment, "Lord, You aren't going to
          wash my feet, are You? Never, never!"

          Jesus answered,

          "...If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me"
          (verse 8).

          Jesus was saying, in essence, "Peter, if I wash your
          feet, we have precious grounds for fellowship, a basis
          for true unity." Likewise, no pastor can bring unity
          into a church simply by implementing programs or even
          by his fiery preaching. No - unity comes from taking up
          a towel!

          After Jesus washed His disciples' feet, He asked them,
          "Do you understand what I have done to you?" If they
          had understood the spiritual significance of what He
          had just done - taking away the stain and guilt of
          their sin - it would have produced in them gratitude.

          I ask you: What did Jesus do to you when He cleansed
          you? He wiped away all your fault and guilt - He
          cleansed the last remnants of sin - and you were made
          clean, whole. He put gratitude, thankfulness, joy in
          your soul. He filled you with such love for Him that
          you would follow Him anywhere and do anything for Him.
          All you wanted was communion with Him, because of what
          He did for you.

          Beloved, that is the secret of unity! When you take up
          the towel of mercy for a hurting, fallen brother, you
          encourage him by embracing him in his hurt - by
          submitting in godly fear, washing away his feelings of
          worthlessness, anguish and despair, and by loving and
          caring for him.

          Yet, what have you done to that person by washing his
          feet? You have constructed a firm foundation for true
          unity and glorious fellowship. You are one by your
          common experience - that is, by being washed by the
          water of the Word!

          Talk about gratitude - that Christian will be your
          friend for life! He will defend you, love you, do
          anything for you. He'll say to you, "You stood with me
          in my hard times. And now I'll never let anyone do
          anything to you!"

          Can you imagine a church filled with such caring people
          - who refuse to hear a single word about another's
          dirt; who hurt when another hurts; who rally around
          every despairing, fault-ridden brother or sister with a
          word of love and hope? That is why we moved our
          ministry to New York City - to raise up a holy, godly
          remnant who would make up a strong, unified base of
          comforters - people who carry a towel in their hands!

          You may ask, "But how do I find people whose feet need
          washing?" My answer to you is, "The same way you found
          them when you gossiped about them!"

          Now, whenever you hear anything negative about someone,
          merely ask, "Who are you talking about? Name only,
          please!" Then go to that hurting person quickly with
          your mercy towel - and start washing his feet! Tell the
          fallen one, "I care about you. And I want to pray for
          you - but I don't need to know any details. I just want
          you to know I still love you - and I'm going to stand
          with you!"

          This message is for me as much as for anyone else. I
          have just recently come into this convicting knowledge
          of what foot washing is truly about. And, by God's
          grace, I'll take up the towel of mercy along with
          others and seek out those hurting ones whose feet need
          cleansing from dirt.

          Jesus said,

          "If I then, as your Lord and Master, have washed your
          feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.... If
          ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John
          13:14, 17).

          Now that we "know these things," as Jesus said, we can
          do them. I ask you: Are you willing to do them? Are you
          ready to take up your towel in love?

          Hallelujah!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, USA.

          This material is solely for personal use and is not to
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          on its web page. You are free to download, copy, print
          and distribute this material, so long as you do not
          post it on a different Internet site. You may, however,
          link this site to reference these messages.

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