Let My People Go

A kind of mission’s tradition exists among us, and I’m glad that, generation by generation, we have about 30 of our own people from this church directly involved in various sorts of missions ministry. However, I want you to know that when Steve sings, I am so grateful. I would just as soon preach after his singing as I would after anyone else I could think of.

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

It takes both of those aspects for us to become the people God wants us to be. Additionally, during the earlier greeting time, I forgot to mention one of the mothers in Zion who is a part of this church. Her husband was one of the first elders 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 please stand and let us express our gratitude to you? You are a significant part of this church.

It is wonderful to have you. I mentioned earlier that it’s glorious to be home. I dare not delve into what that truly means—soft beds, clean bathrooms, and toilet tissue. You wouldn’t believe how precious toilet tissue is until you’ve been in Russia. Nonetheless, it’s absolutely wonderful to be with you. I think you mean more to me than any reward I could possibly deserve.

Without a doubt, I am more weary after these trips. The bags seem heavier, and I don’t believe it’s because I pack more, even though Anita insists that I do. The days seem longer, particularly during these extended trips. I believe I will ensure, by God’s grace, that they aren’t quite as lengthy again, as it becomes more difficult in that regard.

I won’t attempt to debrief you fully at this point, considering it’s been almost a month now. Moscow, Siberia, Holland, Belgium—each of these times was incredibly strategic. I won’t brief you now due to time constraints, but I’ll have another opportunity to do so. My experiences are still swirling in my mind, and I need to organize them to determine what I can genuinely share and what I should share.

I was conscious of your prayers and the prophetic words that were spoken over me. The specificity of those prophetic prayers was truly remarkable. I’ll certainly draw attention to them at a later time. Every time I stood to minister, you ministered alongside me, and that was an invaluable resource.

I did not fall ill, nor did I miss an assignment. Once again, God is glorified through this. However, this morning, we gather to continue an unfinished assignment that God entrusted us with earlier this summer—the Holy Spirit’s leading to explore the book of Exodus during these days. If you would turn to Exodus 4 in your Bible, please. Our message today is from Exodus 4, starting with the 18th verse of the 4th chapter.

Please have your Bible or the pew Bible with you. There’s one available that you can use this morning. Let me begin by saying that I’ve never felt more directed, and I’ve never felt a greater sense of urgency about a message than I do this morning. I believe this urgency was heightened by the fact that our prayer room was completely full of people this morning—some seeking the Lord for the first time, and others grappling with pressing issues that stem from this passage.

Would you please stand with me now as I read Exodus 4:18-31 from the New King James Version? Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law. In verse 18 of chapter 4, he said to Jethro, “Let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro replied, “Go in peace.”

Then, in Midian, the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought your life are dead.” Moses took his wife and his two sons and set them on a donkey. He returned to the land of Egypt, holding the rod of God in his hand.

The Lord instructed Moses, “When you return to Egypt, perform all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have placed in your hands. However, I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” This is a predictive word, not a responsive one. We will delve into this aspect today.

You are to say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: Israel is my son, my firstborn. I command you to release my son, that he may serve me. But if you refuse, I will kill your firstborn son.” During the journey, at the encampment or inn, the Lord confronted Moses and sought to take his life.

Then Zipporah, Moses’ wife, took a sharp stone, circumcised her son, and threw the foreskin at Moses’ feet, saying, “You are a husband of blood to me.” So, Moses was allowed to go. Please understand that—God allowed Moses to go. Verse 26: “So, God allowed Moses to go.” Zipporah continued, “You are a husband of blood because of the circumcision.”

The Lord instructed Aaron to go into the wilderness to meet Moses. Aaron met him on the mount of God and kissed him. Moses shared all the words of the Lord with Aaron—the words that had been sent to him and the signs he had been commanded to perform. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the elders of the children of Israel.

Aaron conveyed all the words the Lord had spoken to Moses. They performed the signs before the people, and the people believed. When they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and seen their affliction, 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, illustrating a specific issue. 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. Remember what he did: Pharaoh appointed taskmasters, which were to bind the people to material and meaningless tasks of building treasure houses, to get their mind 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. A fourth plan emerged, a 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. However, 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.

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—the same Pharaoh who had tried to kill the people of God. This young Moses, whose name means “drawn forth” or “the one who will draw forth,” was educated and prepared.

We saw how he decided to identify with the true people of God. He acted presumptuously and killed one of the taskmasters. He was driven to the median desert and finally broken and ready. We studied how Moses, on the backside of the desert, was prepared by God. We watched as 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 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.”

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

God now has a champion. Pharaoh, a Goliath if you would, is soon to be felled, and deliverance will come to the people of God. 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, his life’s dependency. It spoke of all his personal gifting. 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. 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.

Many charismatic leaders have never learned this lesson. They’ve never been in that moment when God has shown them the serpentine quality of their natural gifts. 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 if you study it, the word “hardened” at the time God hardened it meant that God enabled him to stand.

If he had a purpose against God, God was going to ensure he didn’t die short of the purpose he had against God. God said to Moses, “I want you to stand full height, and I want you to say, ‘Israel is my son.’ 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 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. 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 enough time for a detailed exposition of this passage this morning, but you need to grasp 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 said, “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, 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 that God sees it, cares for it, and is concerned about it.

One of those moving passages in the Bible, and I’ve spoken from it several times, is the book of Jonah. It’s the story of a pharisaical, recalcitrant, evangelical prophet who’s sent to bring a message to a backslidden city called Nineveh. And 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. God remembered His covenant with Abraham and Isaac and with Jacob. And 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 is 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, and he turned aside at that 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.” And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God.

And the Lord said, “I’ve seen the oppression of, listen to the word, my people, who are in Egypt, and I’ve heard the 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, and 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. And it is in that light that 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, but to them who received Him, or as Paul says in Corinthians, that we were once separated, God reconciled us. And He 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 very futures are wrapped up with God, so that His identity is with us, and that we are His, and He is ours. And to the degree that everything which pertains to us and everything which happens to us is a part of God’s eternal plan and His concern. The possibility of that. Now I know. Not all creation. Not all people in church. But the covenant opens that possibility that we are so closely linked to God that everything that happens to us affects Him.

You 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.” And on the Mount of Transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John stood with Jesus, and 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. That Greek word, “archegos,” means he’s the first goer. He goes through and breaks open the door.

And by the way, it says in Romans 8:28, “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.” And the Greek word there, “adelphos,” means born out of the same womb. Now 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, become one with Him, and 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 mortal, 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.

As from the side of Adam sprang his Eve, more fair 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 as one may ever be.

Come, second Eve, endowed by me, with a bracelet, staff, and signet ring, with scepter, throne, and palace fair. 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. But secondly this morning, these verses of our text declare by God to Moses concerning this upcoming confrontation with Pharaoh, that not only identity and loyalty are issues, but there is purpose as an issue.

I say to you, “Let my son go that he may, 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. Many of you have been exposed to it. The entire emphasis is if you have trouble with alcohol, you have trouble in your life, your marriage, just turn to Jesus and God’s going to 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 a lot of preachers, and many of them are 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 somehow, have them confess Jesus Christ, that that’s a wonderful thing.

In fact, the popular word 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 up and take the cross and follow me.”

That was really seeker-sensitive.

We would 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 would say something to them like, “I know God has plans for your money. I mean, for you. Yeah.” Now, I’d be a liar and a deceiver this morning if I were to say to you that the purpose of salvation is that you feel good and your sins are forgiven, that you go to heaven if the rapture of the church occurs, that you’ll go with God to heaven, you won’t be 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 covenant not just to feel good and be saved, but to serve the Lord. In fact, the New Testament only has one creed: Jesus Christ is Lord!

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

They had to throw the incense into the fire and say these words, “Caesar is Lord,” before witnesses. If they didn’t do that, their citizenship was not maintained. Now, 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!

And built beautiful places of worship to 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.” And 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 to 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 much underlined in even 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 through 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 God is this? That’s right. I wish I could tell you I’d found a clever way in the Hebrew to get around this story.

I wish I could tell you through 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 his 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’s kind of a briefcase, you carry it conveniently on the right day. It’s not life and death to you. Ephesians says, however, in chapter 6, verse 12, “We’re not wrestling against principalities and powers, but against the rulers of the darkness of this present world, 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, and that the Pharaoh of this world is not a lion whose teeth have been plucked, but he’s a real force, and that in spiritual warfare, you’d better be sure you’re covered when you go.

It would have been a very unloving God who would have sent Moses into this kind of battle with a part of the covenant unfulfilled in his life. You know what God says to this church? You know what God tells every church to do with sending Christians? When sending Christians refuse the word of the pastor, when they refuse the word of the elders, the word of God says, “This is what you’re to do.” And I’m quoting directly from 1 Corinthians. The Bible says you 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 the church of Jesus Christ has protection over the people that are related to it through the covenant. And I want you to know this. Some of you don’t understand it because you really have never seen the picture. But some of you are alive today because you’re in the church. And the covering of God protected you when death would have come.

Some of you are blessed beyond measure because in the covenant has come 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 rent, and the covering is broken, and all the heat of hell descends on your head and is not broken by the covering of the church, you’ll discover what happened to that young man.

By the way, that young man fell on his knees at the point the church prayed that prayer and repented. And 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 waging in our world, and Christians who are playing games had better understand what it means to be a covenant person.

And what it means not to be walking in the full provisions of the covenant. Now this is not sinless perfection. Please don’t anyone leave this place misunderstanding. Moses knew full well what he was supposed to do. He was to circumcise every son on the eighth day after their birth to make sure they were guaranteed in the covenant.

Because he listened to his wife, he didn’t circumcise his son. God met him at the end and said, “You’ll not go on in this battle. I’ll kill you here before I’ll let you go into battle with Satan, uncovered, unprotected, unprepared.” Many times, people come and I begin to pray for them, and God speaks to me. I don’t give them a theological discussion. I don’t stop and explain anything. I just end the prayer as quickly as I can and send them back to the pew.

But I know God has spoken to me that that sickness is a part, it’s an allowance of the judgment of God that’s on them for unfaithfulness to the purposes of God. And this is not an easy thing to say to you.

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

This doesn’t mean you’re worthy; none of us are worthy to receive it, but you’ve done it in a manner that’s unworthy. You’ve known the issues, and you’ve persisted in them. I want you to know this: God identifies with you; that’s good news. God’s loyal to you; that’s wonderful news. But there’s a responsibility to the covenant.

God loved Moses enough not to allow him to enter this battle. He would rather take his life at the Holiday Inn than send him to face Pharaoh and all the powers of the enemy, with a failure in his 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, “This young man can never enter our country again.”

He was a drug dealer who escaped at the age of 12 from the horrors that were 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 him entry. 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. It has a lot of people, but it lives in 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, found the grace of God, and was marvelously saved.

In less than four years, Luka Illich probably knows the word and 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 Luka 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 them in one short night.

But it was his first time really spending 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. 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, and 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 chapter 11 and 12 are all the details about this, and you know these details. It’s like a Cecil B. DeMille story, isn’t it? Water becomes blood, frogs fill up the land, lice…

And then comes the final night, the Passover, in which God says not only to Egypt but 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 whatever house the blood is not applied to, 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, God 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. They had failed God miserably and had been put into captivity for 70 years. Their temple was torn down, their nation was 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.” And 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, for the Lord delights in you. 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 purpose and will 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, through the Apostle Paul, conveys, “I want you to know something.”

“I want the eyes of your understanding to be enlightened so that you’ll know the hope of his calling and the riches of his glory, his inheritance in the saints. Understand the exceeding greatness of his power, which worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, from all principality, power, and might.”

Hear me. The covenant has a purpose. It serves to release us into ministry and servanthood. However, the covenant also comes with specific and demanding responsibilities that fall upon us in our relationship with Jesus Christ. God loves to intervene. He says to Moses, “You can tell Pharaoh this. Israel is my son; they’re my people. They’re in covenant with me. I’ll do whatever’s necessary to free them.”

God essentially tells Pharaoh that they can proceed easily or face difficulties. They can comply with what he’s instructed or struggle, but God will intervene on behalf of his people. I’ll soon ask you to bow your heads, and we’ll pray. I need to be clear with you. This isn’t just a feel-good, cozy Sunday service.

This is the time for actions, when the message translates into reality. Just as Moses faced such a time, so do you. It’s not an easy message to deliver, though it’s simple to declare, because as we sang, His banner over us is love.

Some of you interpret that as unconditional love—God loving you no matter what you do. Yet, you fail to grasp that the God of love, who is unconditional, also ensures that you are prepared for the challenges you face. Let’s bow our heads in prayer, please.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I would greatly appreciate it if no one looks around. This is a very personal and urgent matter. My initial question for you, while we maintain this posture, is fundamental. You’re present here, but lack a covenant relationship with God.

You’re part of His creation, and Jesus Christ died for you. That’s the good news. He loved you even when you were in sin. But you’ve never entered into a covenant with him. In Paul’s words, he’s reconciled to you, but you haven’t been reconciled to him. You lack that covenant. You’re a creation but not a son or daughter.

While we keep our heads bowed, if you acknowledge, “Pastor, I know I lack a relationship with Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I understand you’re not asking about church membership. I desire to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, to have a covenant relationship with God where He declares me His son, His daughter.”

If you desire that today and lack it in your life, would you raise your hand? Quickly raise it, then lower it again. Let me pray for you. Is there anyone anywhere in this building? Thank you. God bless you. Is there another? With every head bowed and every eye closed, you can maintain this posture for a few moments.

It’s not your concern now; it’s God’s concern. This is His place and His moment in time. Anyone else? Pastor, I lack that relationship with God. It doesn’t matter what my parents or the church say. I know that God wouldn’t refer to me as His son or daughter. I want that to change this morning.

May I see your hand? God bless you. Thank you very much. And God bless you. Thank you. I’m gonna wait just about 30 seconds. No pressure. It’s not the point of it. It’s decision time. And I want to be very honest. You’ve never heard a preacher be honest with you, more honest about the claims of Jesus Christ.

This is no kind of soft peddling. But you know the difference between knowing you belong to Jesus and He acknowledges you as a son or daughter, anyone else? Now let me turn just to focus for a moment. I know, you know, the Holy Spirit made it very clear, a large part of this message is to people who are covenant people.

You know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Like Moses, you’ve come through a process of really coming to know what your purpose is. But there is an issue. There is an issue. There is a point. There is a moment. There’s a Holiday Inn for you. And God is saying, I can’t allow you to go into this battle because there’s covenant unfulfilled in your life.

There are specific issues. Again, this isn’t some general condemnation issue. You know Zipporah knew. She wasn’t even a believer in our sense of the word. She knew immediately what the issue was. The circumcision had not been carried out, and Moses was about to enter into a conflict, totally unprepared. And that’s where you are this morning.

You’re a covenant child of God, but you know, and God knows, there’s an issue at the inn with you. And you say, Pastor, that is where I find myself this morning, and by God’s grace, I want that issue taken care of, so that I can go on with the purposes of God. May I see your hand? Quickly raise it and put it down again.

All of this building, I see it. Very personal. Not the preacher or the deacon or the elder. It’s me, oh Lord. And there’s a moment when you are speaking to me. Very specific. Not a general word of judgment. A very specific issue. I know what needs to be done. I’m going to wait for 30 seconds. Other believers 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 at 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 in the first moment or the second moment. You don’t have to do this, of course. You can go on with the service and in just a few moments into the end of the day. And I’ll guarantee you in just a few hours, this whole thing will go away. This thing you feel in your—I guarantee you, I promise you.

You’ll be caught 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 gonna 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 to 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’s 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, so that you know 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 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’s 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, and I believe God has confirmed there’s also a very important corporate dimension to it. We need to walk carefully in the things that God has called us to walk in.

We need to be attentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit among us, and when God impresses upon us a word of conviction, restoration, or repentance, we must handle that word with care. We need to be grateful that God loves us enough that he would rather challenge us than allow us to engage in an unprepared battle.

Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s how much he loves us. That’s how much he loves us. I’m grateful for that kind of tough love, aren’t you? How many of you can say, “I thank God, that’s the kind of God I serve”? He doesn’t allow me to enter a battle unprepared. He loves me enough to intervene and ensure the fulfillment of the covenant before placing me in a position of vulnerability.

I assure you, I’ve experienced that situation. I understand what it’s like. And I’ve shared this experience with you. I understand what it means to be overseas when the covenant over my life in this church has been strained. I’ve witnessed the consequences of that. I’d say you come to truly grasp the significance of this—it’s not a game—this concept of the covenant.

Being submissive to the leadership that God has placed over you. So, God speaks to us both corporately and personally through the covenant. He loves you; He has a wonderful plan for your life, and He intends to impact this community. He’s initiating something new. It’s an exciting development. We can sense it unfolding in our daily experiences here at the church.

I’ve been hearing inspiring stories of God’s recent work during the past couple of weeks and His intentions for the future, the new beginnings He’s ushering in. It’s a fresh era in God’s plan. And as we move forward, we’re equipped with His armor, His preparation, and with His spirit of conviction within us. This makes us whole and capable.

Amen? May God bless you. Extend Christ’s love to someone beside you. You may now leave. Amen.