Let My Son Go

A kind of mission’s tradition among us, and I’m glad, generation by generation, we have about 30 of our own people out of this church directly who are in the mission field, involved in various sorts of mission ministries. But I want you to know, when Steve sings, I’m so grateful; I’d just as soon preach after his singing as anyone else I could think of.

However, Steve and Denise—Denise was also raised in this church—now keep our book. Steve has served on the board. This young couple has made a commitment to stay with this church, and I want you to know that’s as significant as being in the will of God and being ministers of God, similar to Stephen Keller going to Africa.

It takes both of those aspects for us to be the people God wants us to be. And then, I forgot during the earlier greeting time, one of the mothers in Zion who is a part of this church—her husband was, uh, one of the first elders that we appointed—and she and her husband have been such an encouragement in my life, especially during trying days in the early days in Redwood City.

Ruth Johanson, would you stand? Let us say thank you to you. You’re so much a part of this church.

It’s wonderful to have you. I told you it was glorious to be home. I dare not get started on what that means: soft beds, clean bathrooms, and toilet tissue. You wouldn’t believe how sacred toilet tissue is until you’ve been in Russia. But it’s just wonderful to be with you, and I think you are more than any reward that I certainly deserve.

Without question, I am more weary after these trips. The bags are heavier, and I don’t think it’s because I pack more, even though Anita says I do. The days seem longer, especially on these lengthy trips. I think, by God’s grace, I will ensure that they’re not quite this long again, because it’s more challenging in that way.

I’m not going to try to debrief you. It’s been almost a month now: Moscow, Siberia, Holland, Belgium. Each of those times was so strategic, and I wouldn’t brief you because time is limited. I will have another time to do so, but also because my experiences are washing through my mind at this point; so much happened, and I need to sort out what I can truly share and what I should share.

I was aware of your prayers and the prophetic words that were uttered over me. In fact, the specifics of the prophetic prayers were incredible, and I will certainly bring them to your attention at a later time. But you ministered with me every time I stood to minister, and that was a resource.

I wasn’t sick, I didn’t miss an assignment, and again, God is glorified in that. But this morning, we come to finish—not to truly finish, but to continue an unfinished assignment that God gave us earlier this summer: the Holy Spirit’s decision to lead us to the book of Exodus during these days. Today, if you’ll take your Bible, please, our message is from Exodus 4. We’ll begin at the 18th verse of the 4th chapter.

So, please take your Bible or the pew Bible; there is one available for you to use this morning. I can begin by saying I’ve never felt more directed, and I’ve never felt more urgency about a message than I feel this morning. I think this feeling was somehow heightened by the fact that our prayer room was completely full this morning with people—some seeking the Lord for the first time and others dealing with urgent issues arising from this passage.

Would you please stand with me now, and I’ll read Exodus 4, verses 18 through 31? I’m reading from the New King James Version. So Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law. This is verse 18, chapter 4. He said to him, “Let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.”

And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for all the men who sought your life are dead.” Then Moses took his wife and his two sons (at this point) and set them on a donkey. He returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all the wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Now that’s a predictive word, not a responsive word. We’ll talk about that this morning. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn.”

So I say to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, or as the King James says, at the inn, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah, Moses’ wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at Moses’ feet and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me.”

So he let him go. Meaning, God let Moses go. Please understand that. Verse 26. So God let Moses go. And then she said, “You’re a husband of blood because of the circumcision.” And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses,” so he went and met him on the mount of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, all the signs which he had commanded him.

And then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people, so the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

You may be seated. Keep your Bibles open, please. This is a dynamic section of Scripture. It is perhaps the most unusual in the Scripture to illustrate a specific issue. This is, if you were putting a title on this, this is the time when push comes to shove. This is the moment beyond recall.

It’s crisis time. For weeks before my trip to Russia, we were researching how Pharaoh had tried to keep the covenant of the people of God from going out to Egypt, and indeed how Satan wants to keep you from release from bondage. And remember what he did. Pharaoh appointed taskmasters who were to bind the people to material and meaningless tasks of building treasure houses, to get their minds off freedom.

And when that wasn’t enough, the Bible tells us that he had a plan to bruise them, to crush them, to break their spirit, to cause the spirit of hope within them to die. And when even that failed, a third plan was a demonic scheme to kill the very seed of Israel, the male children, on the birth stools. The future promise of Israel, by Pharaoh’s will, would die.

But ultimately, that did not work. And a fourth plan of genocide, in which Pharaoh included his own people, and all the male children were thrown into the river, drowned in the river of death. But God also had a plan. In the countenance of a recently born infant, as we saw, the word “countenance” there, that he was beautiful, means the stamp of the city was on him.

And this infant was nursed and hidden, raised up, and then released by his parents, Jacobet and Amram. He was a young man who ultimately, through God’s providential miracle, was raised in the very household of Pharaoh himself. This very Pharaoh who had tried to kill the people of God. There, this young Moses, whose name means drawn forth or the one who will draw forth,

was educated and prepared. And we saw how he decided to identify with the true people of God. He acted presumptuously. He killed one of the taskmasters. He was driven to the median desert and finally broken and ready. We studied how Moses on the back side of the desert was prepared by God. We watched how God brought this man Moses to a point of attention through an inanimate object, a bush that was on fire but was not consumed.

A type of man’s life who can burn with the fire of God, and yet not be destroyed in his individuality, cooperating with God. We’ve seen, we also saw how God revealed himself as the I Am, the eternally existent one. We saw the future tense of that word, which is how God said it. “I am the God who will be there when you yet come to the unknown experience of your life.”

And then we saw how God, having revealed himself gently to Moses, answered his fears by specific signs. And now, that same Moses, capacitated from birth, now readied by a personal encounter, empowered by almighty provision, receives a release through his authority, the authority in his life, which is Jethro’s father-in-law, and he starts towards Egypt.

God now has a champion. And the Pharaoh, Goliath if you would, is soon to be felled, and deliverance will come to the people of God. And so, Moses leads his sons and his wife on donkeys, and he begins to return to Egypt. According to verse 20 of the fourth chapter that we just read, he carries in his hand this rod of God, and we know what that is.

It was Moses’ old shepherd staff. It was his life’s dependency. It spoke of all of his personal gifting. And God had to prove to Moses the serpentine quality, the dangerous, poisonous power of his own natural gifting if it was not surrendered to God. And it was at the point that God would say, “Take his, take that snake by the tail,” that the rod of Moses would become the rod of God. And that’s what many charismatic leaders have never learned. They’ve never been in that moment in which God has shown them the serpentine quality of their natural gifts. And the rod of Moses becomes the rod of God.

Now on the road to Egypt, God begins to talk to Moses. He says, “When you go to Pharaoh, I’m going to tell you in advance. He’s going to harden his own heart,” and that’s not, again, an activity of God. It’s a prediction. In fact, some people who read Genesis or Exodus don’t understand this. The Bible says, Pharaoh hardened his own heart seven times. Then, God hardened his heart. And actually, if you study it, the word “hardened” in the time that God hardened it meant that God enabled him to stand. If he had a purpose against God, God was going to see to it he didn’t die short of the purpose he had against. God said to Moses, “I want you to stand full height, and I want you to say, ‘Israel is my son,’ and I want you to say, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me,’ and if you refuse to let him go, your son, your firstborn, is on the hit list.”

Here, then, is the arena of this conflict. Surely, even in hearing this story, you see the octave between this Old Testament story and the stories of your own life. Or you certainly see the octave between the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and His resurrection. I’m sure you can hear a personal cry in these words that God gave to Moses: “Let my son go.” I want you to hear them personally. I want you to apply them. I want you to memorize these words. God is wrestling towards a victory in your life, and the results of that victory will ultimately find their completion in His own purpose and in Himself.

Well, there’s not time for detailed exposition of this passage this morning, but you need to get some imperative things first. Here it is. I want you to note from these opening words that God has a sense of identity and loyalty. In this place, in Exodus 4, of course, it’s his identity with Israel, but the principle is the same. Can you hear me? I mean, can you hear this in the ears of the Spirit? Can you hear God saying, “Israel is my son, my firstborn”?

Well, Pharaoh understood that language. Pharaoh thought he was God, and naturally, his firstborn son would be a God in his place when he was released to go to the immortals. So he understood this language when God says, “Israel is my son. You let him go to serve me.” But God was talking about not a prince being raised in the palace. God was talking about a motley crew of a nation of slaves. Whom Pharaoh had ordered about, and appointed taskmasters over, and tried to crush their spirit, whose children he had put to death, and thrown into the very river upon which the sentence of death would come. And here is Almighty God saying, “These slaves, these people, this Israel, is my son.” What a drama.

I need to say something to you very personally this morning, because there’s a doctrine in the world that’s called the universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of mankind. Now that’s very popular. In most churches you’d go to, you’d hear something like this. It basically goes like this: If you’re created, then we’re all brothers. It’s a very attractive doctrine. And I need to say this to you. God does identify with his entire creation. In fact, the word of God is filled specifically with the word that not even a sparrow can fall. But God sees it and cares for it and is concerned about it.

One of those moving passages in the Bible, and I’ve spoken from it several times. It’s the book of Jonah, the story of a pharisaical, recalcitrant, evangelical prophet who’s sent to bring a message to a backslidden city called Nineveh. When that prophet backslides himself because he can’t understand how God can be merciful to these people, God says, “Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who can’t discern between their right hand and their left?” Meaning there were a hundred and twenty thousand children in the city, and much livestock. Shouldn’t I spare? Shouldn’t I have pity? What a word from God! Not a word from us Christians, but a word from the heart of God. But lady, you missed the point.

Yes, God loves his creation. Yes, Jesus died while we were yet in sin. God loves the world, but this is not a statement of the universal fatherhood of God. Only Israel was God’s son, my friend, because they were in a covenant with Him. Now listen to Exodus chapter 2 verses 24 and 25. God heard their groaning, remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked upon the children of Israel and acknowledged them. What a word, because they were in a covenant.

Now get this straight. We all are part of God’s creation. God loves His creation. Jesus died for all the world before and while they were in sin. But not all the world are in a covenant relationship with God. Listen again to chapter 3, verses 6 and 7. While Moses, now aged, was tending his father-in-law’s sheep on the backside of the desert, he turned aside at the point of the burning bush. God said to him, “I’m the God of your father, the God of Abram, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

And the Lord said, “I’ve seen the oppression of my people, who are in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry because of the taskmasters, and I know their sorrow.” You who are here this morning need to understand, God does not say those words about all creation. He loves all creation, not a sparrow or human being is made without God loving them. The heart of God is grieved when anything evil comes upon them. But there is not a son relationship with all creation, because there has to be a covenant. There must be a covenant. In that light, John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God.” Not to all creation.

As Paul says in Corinthians, we were once separated. God reconciled us and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. What God opens to us in this Exodus passage is the possibility of a relationship so close that our griefs, hurts, and futures are wrapped up with God. His identity is with us, and we are His. To the degree that everything pertaining to us, everything that happens to us, is part of God’s eternal plan and concern. The possibility of that. I know, not all creation, not all people in church, but the covenant opens that possibility.

We are so closely linked to God that everything that happens to us affects Him. Remember what the Father said concerning Jesus at the point of baptism when John the Baptist was baptizing Him, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” On the Mount of Transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John stood with Jesus, Elijah, and Moses appeared, and the heavens opened, the disciples misunderstood the purpose. They wanted to build a tabernacle for all three. The heavens opened, and God said, “This is my beloved Son! Hear Him!”

The writer to the Hebrews says in chapter 2, verse 10, that Jesus Christ is the author of salvation. The Greek word “archegos” means he’s the first goer. He goes through and breaks open the door. In Romans 8:28, it says, “Those whom God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, so that the Son would be the firstborn of many brothers.” The Greek word there, “ad adelphos,” means born out of the same womb. That’s not true of everybody. It’s so obvious in this passage from Exodus.

It’s the possibility that we can identify with God by covenant and become one with Him that He takes His identity from us. There’s a poem written; it is one of my favorites. Some people misunderstand this poem because there is a popular hymn or song sung at Easter time about the father saying, “Arise, my beloved,” to Jesus in the tomb.

But this isn’t to him; it’s to you. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away with me. As I rose from the tomb in radiant victory, in the cloak of mortality, I was slain on cruel Calvary. In robes of heaven, I rose to immortality. Enclosed within my flesh, you were my precious bride to be. Released from me in a crimson stream, I paid to make you free.

Just as from the side of Adam sprang his Eve, fairer than he, even so, my side, the smitten rock, brings forth again to me. The corn of wheat has fallen deep into the earth and died, but life anew has sprung from the tomb to blossom by my side. So come to me, my fair one, draw close to my side, that we may be one forever.

Come, second Eve, endowed by me with bracelet, staff, and signet ring, with scepter, throne, and fair palace. Your place is by the King of Kings for all eternity. Do you know this? God opens to you the possibility of an identity and a choice. Secondly, in these morning verses of our text, God declares to Moses concerning the upcoming confrontation with Pharaoh that not only identity and loyalty are issues, but there is also a purpose as an issue.

I say to you, let my son go, that he may do what? Let my son go, that he may serve me. And if you don’t let him go, I will kill your son, your firstborn. Now there’s a kind of blasé evangelical Christianity that many of you have been exposed to. The entire emphasis is if you have trouble with alcohol, trouble in your life, or your marriage, just turn to Jesus, and God will take care of everything.

The whole issue of salvation becomes God wants to do something for you. God is kind of a puppet; he’s a bellboy. You ring the bell, and he comes to do whatever you want him to do. But all those who’ve entered into the truth of salvation know that is not the case. I want you to listen carefully to these words.

They’re very important. In the 22nd verse of this 4th chapter, then you say to Pharaoh, “Thus saith the Lord Israel, My son, my firstborn, I say to you, let him go. Why? Let him go that he may serve me.” Now I’m sure there are many preachers, including a bunch of them close to this church, who think that if we can just get people to come to Christ, make some kind of commitment to Jesus, count them on the roster in some way, have them confess Jesus Christ, that that’s a wonderful thing.

In fact, the popular term today is Seeker-Sensitive Churches. Let me tell you something, friends. Every time Jesus confronted a man or woman about salvation, he confronted them publicly, and he always confronted them with the claims of salvation first. To the rich young ruler, he said, “Go your way, sell whatever you have, give to the poor, and then come and take up the cross and follow me.”

That was really seeker-sensitive.

We might have said something like, “Oh, I see you’re a very important, dignified person. We have a seat right here in the front, or if you prefer, in the back. Or, in fact, on the platform if you’d like.” And then we might say something to them like, “I know God has plans for your money, I mean, for you. Yeah.” Now, I would be a liar and a deceiver this morning if I were to say to you that the purpose of salvation is for you to feel good and have your sins forgiven, and that you’ll go to heaven if the rapture of the church occurs, and you’ll go with God to heaven, not being here in the awful, horrible tribulation period. If we offer that kind of presence to people, a package deal, a package plan, we are misguiding them.

Listen to me urgently this morning. True salvation finds its expression in purpose. You are brought into the covenant, not just to feel good and be saved, but to serve the Lord. In fact, the New Testament only has one creed. It isn’t the Methodist creed, it isn’t the Baptist creed, it isn’t the Presbyterian creed.

The one creed is, “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

And the word “Lord,” “kurios” in Greek, is the highest exalted word. By the time it was used here, it didn’t just mean a gentleman; it meant absolute master. In fact, let me tell you something you need to know. In the Roman Empire at the time, every Roman citizen had to take a pinch of incense once a year, go to a provincial palace or provincial place of worship.

He had to throw the incense into the fire and say these words: “Caesar is Lord,” before witnesses. If he didn’t do that, his citizenship was not maintained. Now, let’s get something straight. The Roman Empire did not kill 6 million Christians in the first 300 years of the church because they didn’t want Christians to say Jesus was God.

Hey, the Romans had all kinds of gods. They birthed gods on a daily basis. Fourteen of the last fifteen Roman emperors were homosexuals. The third from the end married a sixteen-year-old male prostitute publicly. And when that boy died of a plague two years later, the emperor made that boy — that former male prostitute — a god!

They built beautiful places of worship for him in every province of Rome. No, the Romans didn’t care that Jesus was called God by the Christians. What they cared about was when Christians said Jesus is Lord. To our seeker-sensitive people, I just want you to know this: the devil doesn’t care if people say Jesus is God.

But the devil cares a lot when people say Jesus is Lord. That’s what cuts across the grain. That’s where the issue becomes obedience and submission. And that’s why they killed six million Christians in three hundred years. Because no Christian could put a pinch of incense in the fire and say Caesar is Lord.

You can’t have two Lords; you have one Lord. And so the Christians could not. And for that reason, they were torn apart by lions in the arenas of Rome. Listen, young lady, to say Jesus is Lord is not a song you sing; it’s a life you live. And you misunderstand the gospel if you don’t understand this.

When Jesus said, “Israel’s my son, my firstborn,” and when God said this to Moses, “I want my son free, I just don’t want him free so he can play games, I want him free so he can serve me.” You misunderstand salvation unless you understand its purpose. Israel had a covenant with God; it had been given to Abraham.

It involved three things: progeny, which means sons. God said, “sons and daughters.” God said, “look to the stars, you can’t number the stars. You can’t number your children.” It involved fruitfulness, the land of Canaan. They would receive it after the iniquity of the Canaanites was fulfilled. But the third part of the covenant was this:

“Through you, all the nations of the world will be blessed.” Please hear this. When this church stops, or should it ever stop, to release and involve itself in the world, God will stop blessing it. We are not who we are to receive; we are who we are to release, to give to the world. And that purpose is very underlined even in the judgments that came upon Israel.

So first is identity and loyalty to us; secondly is purpose upon us, but thirdly, God’s demand on us. Exodus 4:24-27 is probably the strangest words you’ve ever heard read on a Sunday morning in a church in your life, and I’ll guarantee you this: you’re an exceptional group of Christians because that scripture has probably never been read in most churches.

And most Christians have probably never even heard it. Moses and Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet and said, “You’re a husband of blood.” And she said this because of the circumcision. What kind of God is this? Isn’t this the God who just raised Moses up to be a leader?

Isn’t this the God who revealed himself to him? Isn’t this the God who reminded him of the covenant he had with his people? The man who would lead Israel forth, the leader, the agency that God wants. And now God’s trying to kill him! What kind of a God is this? That’s right. I wish I could tell you that I’d found a clever way in the Hebrew to get around this story.

I wish I could tell you by some interpolation that I could help you understand this story. But there’s no escape. The words in the Hebrew are absolutely true. Moses fell deadly ill, and he was dying at an inn, maybe the Holiday Inn, somewhere between Midian and Egypt. And he wasn’t just dying; he was being killed.

And there’s no doubt about who the agent was. He was being killed by God. And Zipporah, his wife, knew exactly what to do. Notice there’s no theological discussion. She wasn’t at all confused about what the issue was. Moses was dying because he had yielded to Zipporah’s pressure. And he had not circumcised the son, and the God who loved Moses was saying, “I’ll not let you go into this battle with Satan, because if you go into this battle with Satan, you’re going to be absolutely pulverized, unless you’re covered by the covenant.”

“I will not let you drag your children into this battle uncovered. I’ll kill you here first!”

Now, you see, some of you here this morning – and I don’t just mean visitors – I mean some of you who subscribe to this church regularly. Religion is like a kind of briefcase; you carry it conveniently on the right day. It’s not life and death to you. However, Ephesians says in chapter 6, verse 12, “We’re not wrestling against principalities and powers, but against the rulers of the darkness of this present world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

And this strange story is saying that the Pharaoh of this world controls the power of the air and death. The Pharaoh of this world is not a lion whose teeth have been plucked; he’s a real force. In spiritual warfare, you’d better be sure you’re covered when you go.

It would have been very unloving of God to send Moses into this kind of battle with a part of the covenant unfulfilled in his life. Do you know what God says to this church? Do you know what God tells every church to do when sending Christians? When sending Christians refuse the word of the pastor and the word of the elders?

The word of God says this is what you’re supposed to do. I’m quoting directly from 1 Corinthians. The Bible says you should deliver that sinning Christian to the devil for the destruction of their flesh, so that their body will be saved alive. Now, that’s not a nice little play. You don’t turn the spotlight on and speak those words in Shakespearean English.

This says that the church of Jesus Christ has protection over the people related to it through covenant. I want you to know this. Some of you don’t understand it because you’ve never really seen the picture. But some of you are alive today because you’re in the church. The covering of God protected you when death could have come.

Some of you are blessed beyond measure because the covenant includes the protection of God and His purposes. And I’ll tell you, when that protection is released, you may think it’s some Shakespearean play. But when the covering is torn, and the covering is broken, and all the heat of hell descends on your head without being broken by the church’s covering, you’ll discover what happened to that young man.

By the way, that young man fell on his knees at the point when the church prayed that prayer and repented. If the church were a little more like this, we’d have more genuine repentance today. Buddy, this isn’t a play. This is a battle between eternal death and the forces of eternal life. It’s a battle that’s being waged in our world, and Christians who are playing games had better understand what it means to be a covenant person.

They need to understand what it means not to be walking in the full provisions of the covenant. Now this isn’t sinless perfection, please don’t leave this place with any misunderstandings. Moses knew fully well what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to circumcise every son on the eighth day after their birth to ensure they were guaranteed in the covenant.

Because he listened to his wife, he didn’t circumcise his son. God confronted him and said, “You won’t continue in this battle. I’ll take your life here before I let you face Satan in battle, uncovered, unprotected, unprepared.” Many times when people come and I start praying for them, God speaks to me. I don’t engage in a theological discussion with them.

I don’t stop and explain anything. I end the prayer as quickly as I can and send them back to their seats. But I know God has told me that their sickness is a result, it’s a consequence of God’s judgment on them for being unfaithful to His purposes. This isn’t an easy thing to say.

However, the Word of God says about the Communion, “Some of you in the room receiving the Communion are weak and sickly, and some of you sleep.” And that doesn’t mean the sleep I need; it means the sleep that occurs six feet under the ground. Some of you are asleep because you’ve taken the blessing of God, the cup of blessing, unworthily.

It doesn’t mean you’re worthy – none of us are worthy to receive it – but you’ve taken it in an unworthy manner. You’re aware of the issues, and you’ve persisted in it. I want you to know this: God identifies with you, which is good news. God is loyal to you, which is wonderful news. But there’s a responsibility to the covenant.

God loved Moses enough not to let him enter this battle. He would rather take his life at the Holiday Inn than send him to face Pharaoh, all the enemy’s powers, with an unfulfilled covenant relationship with God. Death is numbness; it’s anything that incapacitates us, atrophies us, and limits life.

It’s the lack of power to move and live in a troubled world with inertia. Death is the name for ultimate weakness. I spent a part of this past week after coming out of both Siberia and Moscow. I had planned to spend a few days with a young man I met last year – his name is Luka Ilic. Luka has a passport like I’ve never seen in my life.

It is stamped by almost every nation of the world, saying that this young man can never enter our country again. He was a drug dealer who escaped at the age of 12 from the horrors beginning to happen in Yugoslavia and his homeland. His father is a military general in that country. He went into drug addiction and became the leading drug dealer to rock groups that were coming through Europe.

Nation after nation has refused. In fact, he can only exist in one country, and he doesn’t even have a passport for that country. He exists only by the grace of that government. Amsterdam is a really small town with a lot of people, but it lives within a very interesting circular canal system, and you keep repeating yourself.

You’re not in a big city. You can walk across Amsterdam in a day. It was in that city where a contract was put on his life; it’s still on his life, by another drug dealer to take his life. He stumbled into a place and found the grace of God, marvelously saved. In less than four years, Luca Illich probably knows the word, has a greater sense of perception and identity than any young man I’ve ever seen in my life.

I didn’t know I was going there for a few days because I love to be with him. He’s one of the most comfortable people I’ve ever been with in my life. But Luca had to come back to face Amsterdam, and I did not know this was his first time, again, to walk those streets. We had walked it in one short night.

But it was his first time to really spend a concentrated time in the place where he sold drugs, pointing out the various establishments acknowledged by people on the streets and facing some of the greatest temptations of his life—some unresolved issues in his life. And I knew why God had me there. Let me tell you something.

God loves you enough not to allow death to atrophy the issues of life in your life. The last part of the story, of course, is God’s intervention. God says, “Look, Pharaoh. He’s my firstborn son. You’re going to let him go, or you’re going to pay where it hurts you most.” And you know that this is not just a prediction. This is like reading the future, because the rest of chapters 11 and 12 detail this, and you know these details. It’s like a Cecil B. DeMille story, isn’t it? Water becomes blood, fogs fill up the land, lice…

And then comes the final night, the Passover, in which God says not only to Egypt but also to Israel, “You better put the blood over the doorpost of your house because the death angel will pass only when it sees the blood. And in any house where the blood is not applied, the firstborn son of that house will die, as well as the firstborn of all cattle and sheep, and so forth.”

I want you to know that when you’re linked with God, He will intervene at whatever level he must. He will intervene to make it possible for you to perform his purpose. We serve a miracle-working God who still heals the sick, raises the dead, and is still able to do anything and will do anything for covenant people who are walking in covenant purposes.

This isn’t a Mickey Mouse kind of bellboy God, but a God who has an absolute commitment to people who walk in covenant purpose. He will intervene. One of the great stories in the Book of Ezekiel is about Israel’s failure. They had failed God miserably, been put into captivity for 70 years, their temple torn down, their nation destroyed, and they were slaves in a foreign country.

But God, in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, says through the prophet, “This isn’t going to last forever.” God says, “I love you, my people. I’m going to open your graves, bring you out of your graves, put my spirit on you, and you’ll live. I’ll settle you in your own land, and your name will be the land of God’s delight. The Lord delights in you, and He will claim you for His own.”

Romans chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 clearly state that the resurrection of Jesus occurred because he submitted as a servant to the will and purpose of God. The resurrection was a result of the spirit of holiness upon his life. There’s tremendous power within God. In fact, Ephesians 1 says through the Apostle Paul, “I want you to know something.”

“I want the eyes of your understanding to be enlightened so you’ll know the hope of His calling and the riches of His glory, of His inheritance in the saints. What’s the exceeding greatness of His power, which He worked in Christ when He raised them from the dead, from all principality and power and might?”

Hear me. The covenant has a purpose. It is the purpose of releasing us into ministry and servanthood. But there are demands of that covenant, very specific and demanding, which come upon us in our relationship with Jesus Christ as a responsibility. God loves to intervene. He says to Moses, basically, “You can tell Pharaoh this because Israel’s my son, my people, in covenant with me. I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to free them.”

God basically tells Pharaoh that they can either make things easy or rough. They can choose to follow the instructions given or struggle, but God will intervene for their people. Soon, there will be a prayer, and a clear message is delivered. This isn’t a gentle, feel-good Sunday service, but a time when faith is tested and actions matter.

This is when God’s plans come into action. Like Moses, this is a defining moment for everyone. While it’s challenging to convey this message, it’s crucial, as the banner of love hangs over all. Some misunderstand this love, thinking it’s unconditional, while in reality, God’s unconditional love comes with the responsibility of being prepared for the conflicts ahead. Let’s pray with bowed heads, please.

Now, as every head bows and eyes close, it’s important that no one looks around. The urgency and personal nature of this moment require focus. The first question, as heads are bowed and eyes closed, is basic: Are you here without a covenant relationship with God?

You are a part of His creation, and Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is the good news. He loved you even in sin. However, if you haven’t made a covenant with Him, you remain unreconciled. You are a creation but not a son or daughter. So, with heads bowed, if you acknowledge not having a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, raise your hand briefly. Let it down. I’ll pray for you.

In the building, anyone? I want to pray with you. Bless you. Thank you. Is there another? Every head bowed, every eye closed. Keep them closed a few more minutes. It’s between you and God. Anyone else? Despite parental or church opinions, it’s about what God acknowledges. Raise your hand if you seek that acknowledgment as His son or daughter. Bless you. Thank you. And you. Wait about 30 seconds.

No rush. It’s about your decision. This is a candid presentation of Jesus Christ’s claims. There’s no softening here. You can tell the difference between knowing you belong to Jesus and being recognized as His child. Any others? Now, shifting focus, the Holy Spirit has made it clear – much of this message speaks to covenant people. You know Jesus as Savior and have grasped your purpose like Moses.

However, there’s an issue. A point in time when God says you can’t enter the battle without resolving covenant matters. It’s specific, not general condemnation. You’re aware of it, as Zipporah knew Moses’ issue. It’s like an unfinished transaction at the “holiday inn.” You’re a covenant child, but there’s an unfulfilled matter. If you recognize this and want it resolved, raise your hand briefly and put it down.

Throughout this building, I see it. Personal, between you and God. It’s about addressing a very particular matter, not about the preacher or others. It’s you, Lord, speaking to me about a specific issue. I know what needs to be done. Waiting 30 more seconds. Other believers present here.

This is an issue. God has spoken to you. You knew exactly when the Holy Spirit spoke to you this morning. May I see your hand? Anyone else? Just in this moment. God bless you. God bless you. Would you all stand with me, please? Everyone’s standing.

I’m going to ask all of those who raised your hand, either for the first issue or the second issue. You don’t have to do this, of course. You can go on out to the service and in just a few moments, at the end of the day, this whole thing will go away, I guarantee you, I promise you.

You’ll swallow it up in the Olympics and the rest of the things that are happening, and it’ll all be gone. God is speaking to you in this moment, and I’m not going to have any special singing or anything else. I just want you to come. Every head bowed now, let’s give these folks a moment. Just for this second, heads bowed, I want you to come and stand with me.

Whether you raised your hand in the first moment or the second moment, I just want you to come and stand here. Come and stand with me. God bless you. Come right up here at the front. Amen. Amen.

God bless you. Come on, right at the front, so we have room for everybody who needs to come. And I’m going to ask counselors to come, women with women, men with men. Just slip out from where you are, please. Give us that assistance this morning. Now, while the congregation keeps your eyes closed, I want all of you here at the front to look at me, okay?

Because you know, every single person who’s here knows what God is saying to you. I don’t. Isn’t it wonderful God doesn’t show preachers anything? I mean, preachers never have any idea what’s going on. I think that’s delightful. That’s why when God begins dealing with me, it’s such a personal moment.

And God, His Spirit has brought that conviction word to you very specifically this morning, and you know what He’s dealing with and what He wants to say to you.

We’ve invited friends to come forward to pray with you in a moment in the prayer room. You may want to be specific with them. I happen to feel that that kind of honesty and integrity is important. But maybe you don’t. You just want to say there’s an issue, there’s something I’m dealing with.

Or if this is the first time and you want somebody to pray with you, knowing for sure that you’re the son or daughter of God, this needs to be the morning in which that’s done.

The safest place in the world for that to happen is here. I want to pray with you, and then these brothers and sisters are going to agree with you. Lord, for my friends to whom you’ve spoken a clear word this morning, we thank you. This is your work. We love the work of your Holy Spirit. We never want to be without the convicting work of your Holy Spirit.

And we thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen. My friends, would you just turn and go follow with Ken there for a moment, as God has you in a time of prayer? And those of you who are here, would you just link across this aisle now for a moment and let’s take hands with the person we’re beside? And let’s just understand a very important concluding word.

This word that was spoken in Exodus 4 was a corporate word, wasn’t it? It was a corporate word. When God said, “Israel is my son,” he was talking about what? A whole lot of people who were united only in a rather absurd way, really, at that point. They didn’t even have a sense of national identity.

They had some genetic connections, but they were slaves. They’d been slaves for 400 years. And when God released this word to them, he was speaking to them corporately. I think there’s a very personal understanding of this word, but I also think there’s a very important corporate message in this.

We need to walk carefully in the things that God has called us to walk in. We need to be careful of the voice of the Holy Spirit among us, and when God urges upon us a word of conviction, restoration, or repentance, we need to be careful about that word.

We need to be glad that God loves us enough that he’d rather correct us than let us go into battle unprepared.

Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s how much he loves us. I’m so glad for that kind of tough love, aren’t you? How many of you say, “I thank God, that’s the kind of God I serve”? He doesn’t let me get into a battle unprepared. He loves me enough to stop me and ensure that the covenant is fulfilled before he puts me into a place of vulnerability.

I tell you, I’ve been in that place. I know what it is. And I’ve shared this with you. I know what it is to be overseas when the covenant has been torn over my life here in this church. And I’ve known the results of that. I’d say you come to really understand this, this isn’t game playing, this business of the covenant.

Being in submission to the sources of people that God has placed you under. So covenantly, God speaks to us corporately, and he speaks to us personally. God loves you, God has a great plan for your life, and God is going to reach this community. He’s beginning something. It’s exciting. We feel it happening on a day-to-day basis here at the church.

I’ve been filled with stories of what God has been doing in the last couple of weeks, what He wants to do in the future, what He’s beginning to do. It’s a new day in God. And we go forth with His armament, His preparation, and His spirit of conviction in our spirits. And that makes us whole. And that makes us capable.

Amen? God bless you. Share Christ’s love with someone beside you. You’re dismissed. Amen.