Special Feet-washing Service by Bishop David Oyedepo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Every idle word a man speaks, he will give account of it; he means everything he says, and he says only what he means, according to Matthew 12:36. All scripture is equally inspired and profitable for our benefit, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, given for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction, so that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished for every good work. Every instruction of scripture is ordained for our profiting, though the word must be mixed with faith in the hearer for it to profit, as Hebrews 4:2 shows. Every statement of scripture is settled in heaven forever, and not one word of it will go unfulfilled, according to Psalm 119:89. But only what we can see from scripture becomes our lot; secret things belong to the Lord, and only what is revealed can belong to us, so revelation is what triggers our possession, and God reveals his secrets to those who fear him, per Psalm 25:14 and Acts 20:32.

The Mystery, Not Merely the Humility

Concerning feet washing, Christ told Peter directly that refusing the washing would mean having no part in him, in John 13:8. That statement could not have been a response to a mere illustration of humility; a lesson in humility does not carry the weight of having no part in Christ. He was unveiling a mystery. John 13:3-4 shows Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rising from supper, laying aside his garments, taking a towel, and beginning to wash the disciples' feet. Because of what he knew about his own authority and destination, he needed to release those realities to his disciples through this act. When he came to Peter, Peter refused, and Jesus told him that though he did not understand what was being done now, he would understand later. When Peter still resisted, Jesus repeated that without this washing, Peter would have no part in him. Washing your feet is connecting you to your part in him, releasing what you are missing in him. Once Peter understood the weight of it, he asked to be washed entirely, not just his feet. Jesus answered that one who is washed does not need further washing, only the feet, because the whole is clean.

Covenant Released Through Obedience of Faith

When your feet are washed, it imparts into every aspect of your life; whatever does not reflect the validity of the price paid for redemption is restored. God's word is God's covenant with the redeemed. According to Jeremiah 33:20-21, God will not break or alter what has gone out of his lips, and his covenant remains as fixed as the order of day and night. Every instruction of scripture is God's commitment to the redeemed when we engage it; whenever we do what the word says to do, we commit God's integrity to perform it. But it takes faith to move the hand of God. What we do is important, but what we do with faith is what produces results, since whatever is not of faith is sin, Romans 14:23. It is through obedience of faith to the instructions of scripture that we cut a covenant with God: every instruction revealed, embraced, and acted upon becomes a covenant between the believer and God. As at the pool of Bethesda, whoever first stepped in was made whole of whatever disease they carried; whatever disease came to this service tonight, as you step in with active faith, you are returning home. Feet washing is a spiritual medium through which we take delivery of our missing inheritance in Christ, and whatever pertains to life and godliness that has not yet manifested is available to be restored through this mystery. Jesus went to heaven and obtained for us a sevenfold redemptive package: power, riches, wisdom, strength, glory, honor, and blessing, according to Revelation 5:12.

What Feet Washing Releases

1. All-Round Cleansing Power John 13:10

   Whatever could bring shame or reproach is cleansed, the way Naaman's leprosy was cleansed in the Jordan. Every unwanted habit, every blemish, is addressed through this cleansing power.

2. Health and Longevity Deuteronomy 33:24-25

   Moses' blessing over Asher speaks of being acceptable among his brethren, of dipping his foot in oil, and of strength like iron and brass matching his days. As feet are washed, that same strength is released, crushing the works of the enemy underfoot for as long as the days ahead require it. Dipping the foot in oil also speaks of fortune, a reversal of misfortune, a walking out of every torment, spell, and siege that has plagued a life.

3. Supernatural Victory Over the Enemy Luke 10:19

   Power is given to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, so that nothing shall by any means hurt the believer. This includes victorious, triumphant living, an end to nightmares and torment, and every oppression turned to testimony.

4. Spiritual Breakthroughs and Open Doors

   Dipping the foot in oil also speaks of being made to walk on high places; every closed door, as you approach it, is positioned to open.

Three Pictures for the Water in the Basin

See the water tonight as a kind of Red Sea: as feet are dipped into it, every form of captivity and struggle for survival, as Israel experienced in Egypt, is meant to be over, the way the sea closed over Pharaoh and his army so that the Egyptians they saw that day, they would see no more forever.

See the water also as a kind of Jordan: as Israel's priests bore the ark into the river and the waters parted so the people crossed on dry ground, every barrier standing between a person and their promised inheritance is expected to clear tonight, along with any lingering leprosy in any area of life.

Finally, see the water as a kind of pool of Bethesda: as feet step into it, every manner of sickness and disease, including terminal and incurable conditions, is positioned for instant healing, the way whoever first stepped into the moving waters at Bethesda was made whole instantly.

Childlike Faith

Matthew 18:1-4 records the disciples asking who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus setting a little child in their midst, saying that except a person is converted and becomes as a little child, they cannot enter the kingdom's blessedness; whoever humbles himself as that child is the greatest in the kingdom. It takes childlike faith to maximize the provisions of redemption; complicated, overly analytical people find no place in it. A woman once said, "My problem is in my womb, I've carried this pregnancy for three years, what will washing my feet do?" She was told that when her feet were washed, it would affect every part of her body. Her feet were washed on a Saturday morning; labor began that same day, and she gave birth after three years of a pregnancy that had been supernaturally held back. Whatever doctors call impossible clears the way when this kind of faith is present.

A man in Atlanta once had his feet washed while lying in a hospital bed, afflicted with full-blown blood cancer. Water was brought to him in a basin, his feet were placed in it, and as the prophetic word was spoken over him he fell asleep; when he woke, the water in the basin looked as though it had changed color, and when he was checked afterward, the cancer was gone.