Principles of True Deliverance Exodus Series #14

Ministry this morning. Could you turn in your Bibles, please, to the 12th chapter of Exodus? The night of the death angel, the night of Passover, this is the second Sunday, even though we’ve had two Sundays in between. This is the second Sunday in coming to this chapter, which… is generally held to be the foundation of the New Testament and the foundation of redemption, the understanding of the truth of redemption.

Just by way of review, let us remember that God dealt with Pharaoh in Egypt in the first nine plagues, these illuminating and revealing plagues. We know about these. These are portrayed in movies and in plays that we have all seen. God was being merciful in these plagues when he actually answered Pharaoh’s question, “Who is the Lord?”

But now God himself intervenes. And the tenth activity, which is an intervention, really not a plague, is a stroke of awful judgment and punishment. God says in Exodus 11:4, “I will go into the midst of Egypt, and against the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment, for I am the Lord.” Let’s understand something this morning.

There is a moment when the Revelation and dealings of God end. There’s a moment when God’s conviction and illumination ends. And the thunderclaps of judgment, which must be released, come upon us. And that’s exactly as true for the believer as it is for the unbeliever. This specific night, of course, in Exodus 12, was the night of the slaying of the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:30 says, “There was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not one house where there was not one dead.” This, of course, was the night of the birthing of modern history, as one has written. It is the birth night of the Hebrew nation. It is the first national institution among the Jews, and the only one that comes out of Egypt.

And it is the first giving to us of the understanding of sacrifice as a divine institution. And that would forever mark Israel. And it forever marks us as a people for God. The Israelites and any Egyptians who would hear God’s merciful provision had to take the blood of the Passover lamb, according to Exodus 12:7.

And they needed to apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of the house in which they would eat the Passover meal. God says in Exodus 12:13, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Let’s not hurry too quickly over this review, my friend, that you miss this truth.

The application of this blood was a personal responsibility. I’ll guarantee you there were some Israelites who said, “This is stupid. You’ll never find me ruining the doorpost of my house.” The doorpost, of course, in every man’s house. Not the threshold. You don’t trample the blood of Christ or the blood of the Passover lamb.

But on the authority, the head, the lintel. And upon the going out and the coming in, the two doorposts. And you, of course, know what this means. Jesus Christ was, according to the New Testament, and is our Passover Lamb. He has already been sacrificed for our sins. The judgment on the firstborn of Egypt was simply a compression of what was inevitably coming upon the Egyptians through their lifestyle and practice.

The cross of Christ, of course, is the ultimate compression of judgment, in which in one discernible moment, the Son of God allowed all the sins of the world to be laid upon him. And the wrath of God, the holy, justified wrath upon our sins, came upon Jesus, compressed into that one, unique, unrepeatable moment. And Calvary covers it all.

Corinthians says, “In that moment, he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” First Peter says it this way, “You were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and spot, foreordained before the foundation of the world.”

I love the Message translation here. “It cost God plenty to get you out of the dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought, even though it is only lately, at the end of the ages, become public knowledge. God always knew what he was going to do for you.

My precious friend, before you go any further, you need to understand something. The ground of peace has nothing to do with nature or finding or with the resolution of who or what you are. It has nothing to do with your fears, your doubts, or your expectations. It has to do with an activity, an appropriation, a personal appropriation.

The blood is applied, and everyone within that house is saved. That’s the ground of peace. And that is the only security, and we need to understand that this morning. Two Sundays ago, when we introduced this series, we looked at the first two points.

First, the history, the actual beginnings of that night of world-changing activity. Secondly, the destiny of that night: the institution and memorial of the Passover, its typology and significance. However, we left uncovered—this morning, we will cover this third area—these important basic principles of how covenant people must first go out from bondage.

Always remember the hermeneutic of this passage, taken from Romans 15 and 1 Corinthians 10. Everything written in the Old Testament was intended for our understanding and learning, so that through patience and comfort from the Scriptures, we might find hope. As Corinthians states, all these occurrences that befell them are examples and were written for our earnest warning, upon whom the culmination of the ages has arrived.

Recall that “admonition” implies an earnest warning. It imparts understanding and fundamentally carries a corrective aspect. Therefore, when studying Exodus 12 or any other Old Testament passage, you must pose the question to yourself: What does this deliverance of God’s people from Egypt signify? What admonition does it hold for us?

What warning is contained within? What correction is directed towards us? The central admonition, of course, is the proposition of this entire series encompassing twelve messages up until today. The people of God in covenant must first experience deliverance before they can enter into their inheritance. “Exodus” signifies the act of departing, of leaving. This act of deliverance for those belonging to God is a constant theme.

These are God’s people, as He refers to them, “My son.” Yet, they must undergo deliverance before they can fully align with God’s purpose. In Exodus 12, the night of true deliverance, crucial general principles emerge from this instruction regarding the deliverance of believers. Above all, Egypt always symbolizes a land of bondage. Strangely, there is a recurring pattern—from Abraham and Isaac to later days of God’s people—of seeking refuge in Egypt. This even extends to the latter days of Jeremiah’s prophecy.

Egypt signifies ties that bind us to a materialistic culture. This point requires careful consideration, as the prevailing material culture imposes demanding masters upon us. God desires their bonds broken because they inflict wounds, crush spirits, extinguish hope, and sustain bitterness, resentment, and critical attitudes.

Egypt is where vision perishes. It is either slain at birth or surrendered to the river of death. Thus, the principle emerges that these barriers must be shattered for a believer or a covenant individual to be liberated for participation in God’s purposes. The specific Passover activities on this night of deliverance followed six to nine months of God’s intervention through plagues.

God contended with Egypt and even Israel, with the initial three plagues affecting Israel as well. This was a critical spiritual warfare, ending the dominion of bondage and aligning us with the dominion of freedom through our Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, these principles are replicable.

Principles exist for breaking bonds in our lives and severing connections that restrain believers. Foremost among these, I believe, is the principle we concluded with two weeks ago and should now revisit. A believer cannot break their bonds until they are willing to stand with God, based on His Word and His method.

To be clear, believers will persist in bondage, loved by God but ensnared in Egypt, until they embrace God’s method. This entails accepting God’s message and, inevitably, submitting to His Word. His Word challenges our rational human nature. God provides a Word that often necessitates humility, prayerful submission, confession of sins, expression of needs, and embracing vulnerability.

Release is unattainable until alignment with the Word of God is achieved, and one stands upon God’s method, whatever it may be. These methods are conveyed through His Word and, additionally, through His Spirit to us.

Regarding this night, F. B. Meyer commented, “The Israelites stood around the table, with sandals on their feet, staffs in hand, robes cinched, as if embarking on a journey, a race, or a battle; the radiance of immortal hope gleamed in their eyes. Their hearts brimmed with anticipation.” At any instant, the trumpet could sound on that quiet night, signaling their departure. God’s methods might appear foolish to the carnal mind—apply blood to the lintel and doorposts, consume dinner standing up, wearing sandals and grasping a staff. Ultimately, deliverance primarily entails attentive action.

Now Jesus said it clearly: if you can’t hear His voice, you’re not His sheep. One of the obvious signs that we are the sheep of God is that we hear His voice. And God always speaks to us, specifically about what we must do. Naaman serves as a case in point in 2 Kings 5, even though he was not a believer. He hailed from Syria and held the position of commander-in-chief of the army, but he had leprosy.

He had… one of God’s children as his servant in his household. She informed him about the prophet of God, Elisha. He embarked on a journey with great wealth to seek healing for his leprosy. However, when Elisha declined to meet him personally and instead sent his servant, Gehazi, to the door, Gehazi conveyed a simple message: Naaman was to be healed by dipping himself seven times in the Jordan River.

Naaman was taken aback and started to journey back to Syria in his chariot, pondering, “Are not Abana and Farfar, the rivers of Damascus, purer and better than the waters of the Jordan? Why should I wash in the Jordan to be clean?” Interestingly, Abana and Farfar symbolize strength, swiftness, and human agility, while Jordan signifies descent. The word “Israel” means to do battle with God, to wrestle with God. In essence, Naaman’s reaction mirrored our common inclination—to seek deliverance on our terms and resist humbling ourselves.

Wisely, Naaman’s servant advised him, “You would do a great thing if he asked you. You would do anything to be healed of leprosy. And he asks you a simple thing: Descend. Wrestle with God.” Obtaining instructions from God, specific to each individual, is crucial. Ritualistically adhering to those instructions is vital. The tragedy of the church world lies in attempting to impose a uniform set of rules on everyone.

Believers need to grasp the importance of personally discerning God’s instructions and adhering to them. Rejecting peer pressure and remaining steadfast in the established work of Calvary is crucial. However, it’s important to recognize that God’s intervention and deliverance will always be contingent on obedience.

It’s noteworthy that while the elders are more compassionate than the senior pastor, compassion alone isn’t sufficient. Financial struggles may persist until obedience to God’s specific directives is demonstrated.

The intervention of God is linked to obedience. A recurring theme in the preceding four chapters is the differentiation of God’s people. The passage emphasizes four times: “I will make my people different. I will separate them from the Egyptians. The world will see this difference.” Acknowledging and embracing this differentiation is essential for deliverance.

Many of us engage in a dual existence, a cat-and-mouse game, where we are closet Christians, yearning for freedom but reluctant to stand out. God’s intervention necessitates a distinct separation. Those who are of the world are on one side, while Christians are on the other. The distinction will be visible to all.

Now Jesus said it clearly: if you can’t hear his voice, you’re not his sheep. One of the obvious signs that we are the sheep of God is that we hear his voice. And God always speaks to us, specifically about what we must do. Naaman is such a case in point in 2 Kings 5, even though he was not a believer – he was from Syria, the commander in chief of the army, and he had leprosy.

He had one of God’s children as his servant in his household. She told him about the prophet of God, Elisha. He journeyed with great wealth to get healed of his leprosy. But when Elisha wouldn’t even meet him and instead sent his servant, Gehazi, to the door, Gehazi simply said, “You’re gonna be healed this way.”

You have to dip yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman started to head back to Syria in his chariot and said these words, “Are not Abana and Farfar the rivers of Damascus? Are they not purer and better than the waters of the Jordan? Why should I wash in the Jordan to be clean?” Now, Abana and Farfar actually mean this: strength, swiftness, human agility. Jordan means to descend. The word “Israel” means to do battle with God, to wrestle with God. In other words, Naaman was doing what you and I often do – questioning why deliverance can’t happen our way. Why can’t we determine the methodology? Why can’t it be based on our strength and logic? Why must we humble ourselves and go down to receive deliverance? The servant of Naaman wisely said to him, “You’d do a great thing if he asked you. You’d do anything to be healed of leprosy. And he asks you a simple thing. Descend. Wrestle with God.”

You need to receive instructions from God – specifically what he tells you to do. And you need to follow those instructions ritualistically and specifically. Those instructions vary for each of us. This is the tragedy of the church world – thinking we can impose a set of rules for everyone to follow. How foolish. Some shouldn’t golf, some shouldn’t bowl, and some shouldn’t even drink alcohol or go to movies. But making such rules church law is foolish. It’s important to help believers understand that they personally need to know the instructions from God. That’s what matters.

And you must ritually follow what God has said. Don’t let other Christians persuade you to do something you shouldn’t. Be ritualistic, specific, and stand on the established work of Calvary. However, understand that the intervention of God, his sovereign activity to bring you deliverance, will always be based on your obedience.

Now, we have a lot of very compassionate elders. I want you to know that the elders are much more compassionate than the senior pastor. Some of you have mentioned that in the past few Sundays, the elders have been discussing how many of you are facing financial struggles. It does seem to be a challenging time for many. But I want to make this clear: I won’t offer compassion if you’re struggling due to not obeying a specific thing God has said. I can pray for you endlessly, but the blessing of God won’t come upon your finances until you obey God. Isn’t that correct? Oh, you see, the message gets weaker each time.

You see, the intervention of God is tied to your obedience. An obvious statement in these four chapters leading up to this night is this: if you’re going to accept deliverance, you must accept God’s differentiation of his people. It is stated four times in this passage: “I will make my people different. I will separate them from the Egyptians. There will be Egyptians on one side and my people on the other side, and I will make a distinction.” The world will notice this distinction. Until you embrace this differentiation, there can’t be deliverance. In fact, that’s part of the problem for many of us. We’re playing a little double game – a cat and mouse game. We’re “closet Christians.” We like the idea of freedom, but we’re reluctant to stand out in any way. We don’t want to be truly separate or distinct. However, God says that when he intervenes in your life, there will be a difference. On one side, there will be the world, and on the other side, there will be the Christians, and everyone will see the distinction.

I’ll intervene in such a way that the difference will become obvious. And of course, this is preparatory. This is how God gets you really ready to set you free; He makes this distinction. Thirdly, there has to be a willingness to allow life to be reordered. I talk to many Christians who acknowledge their lack of freedom, whether it’s habits, soul ties, or connections with fear, doubt, resentment, and many other things that are characteristic of the old life. These believers say something like this: “I don’t like this bondage!”

“I want to be free from this bondage!” And so you say to them, well, one of the things you have to do is reorder your life, and they say, “Oh, no, thank you. I’d just love to be delivered, but I’d love to stay in Goshen, you know. I’d like to be delivered, but I’d like to stay the way I am.” Tough luck, turkey. It doesn’t come that way.

If you get deliverance, God reorders your life. He says, “Look, your whole life starts with this act. This is the beginning of a new you. And I’m going to reorder everything about your life.” And that means some of us don’t have the privilege anymore of running to the little personality bondage and saying, “Well, that’s just the way I am.”

In fact, I’ve often said to you, what would happen if God would heal some of you of migraine headaches? You know, when you get a little weary or tired, you say, “Oh, my migraine!” and everybody has to panic and walk on eggshells and close doors softly. I mean, it’s really pretty nice. It’s kind of a mini vacation.

But if God would heal you of your migraines, then you’d be without the excuse; life would have to be reordered. I’m not sure you’d want that healing, would you? I mean, at least think about it before you ask God whether you want that. This immense list of excuses that we have for the way we are, that has to go when we have deliverance.

And fourth, of course, there’s this marvelous thing, this personal identification with the substitution that is being made. It’s the principle here in this story of dwelling with the lamb. Now you know that the lamb they were to slay was taken away from the other animals and kept in their house from the tenth day.

It was selected on the tenth day and kept in their house until the 14th night at twilight when it was slain. Many commentaries have all kinds of interesting things to say, but I think almost all of them miss the truth. The truth of living with that lamb for this period of time is the principle of identification.

It’s the principle that someone, something is paying a great price because I’m a sinner. It’s a very interesting thing. One of my favorite ladies who’s involved in this church is a vegetarian. She won’t eat meat. She has magazines all over about cruelty to animals. And I think there is cruelty to animals, but I think that point is taken to an extreme.

But the point is, she said to me one time, “I don’t understand all of this animal sacrifice in the Old Testament.” And I said, “Maybe you don’t understand how severe your sin is. Because the real issue is, I deserve to die. The wages of sin is death. The death is upon me when the substitute is provided. In this instance, the substitute of a lamb. In Jesus Christ, it’s his substitute for my sin.”

Listen, I don’t think you’re saved. I don’t care how many formulas you’ve used. I don’t think you’re saved until you’ve stood under the cross. And you’ve said, as Paul did, “For my offenses, he was crucified. Not for the world. For my offenses.”

Now let me tell you something about how important this is. Because later on in the law, when the Israelites brought a sacrifice, they always had to lay their hands on the sacrifice and confess their sins on the sacrifice, whether it was a lamb, a bullock, or a dove, depending on their wealth. They laid their hands, and while they had their hands on it, the animal’s throat was split.

In fact, on three of the sacrifices, the priest gave the lamb to, uh, gave the knife to the offerer and said, “You slay it.” Three times, three separate offerings, they had to slay the lamb or the animal themselves. Let me tell you something, you never walked out of the place of sacrifice without blood on your clothes.

That’s why I have sincere doubts about most folks who go to church. 57 million people supposedly in this country who are evangelical Christians. Oh, really? Where in tarnation are they?

No, see, going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a Ford factory makes you a Ford, or going to the armor star factory makes you a ham.

Going to church just makes you uncomfortable.

Now, until the blood is on your garments. See, until you’ve become – that’s why you live with this lamb for four days. You feed it, you care for it, the children play with it. Because nobody’s going to get out of this without knowing how costly deliverance is. Fifth, of course, by the way, let me go over this again to be sure that dwelling with Islam meant the principle of identification.

In these three questions: How can you be free from bondage until you understand the curse of your bondage? How can you be free from bondage until you hate it and despise it because the price of your bondage brings this awful price to the heart of God? How can there ever be freedom until there’s identification with the issue?

Those are the questions. And I believe that God’s word is very clear. Lots of religious folk, in fact, everybody’s religious.

But not a lot of redeemed people. And that’s to dwell with the Lamb. Fifth, of course, is this appropriation and continuation of the blood. In fact, the word is very clear. When they killed the Lamb at twilight on the fourteenth day, between twilight, actually, and the coming up of the stars, they’d take the blood with the hyssop, as later instructed, and put it on the lintel and doorposts.

But they could not go out. Here’s a specific word. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. Because deliverance is based on not only knowing the value of that blood but continuing under that blood. I grew up in a family, I mentioned it two Sundays ago, in which talking about covering ourselves with the blood was a very practical thing.

It’s being said all the time. We’d never go on a vacation, you know, four o’clock in the morning, get up to get started on a vacation. My dad would pray; we’d be out there at four in the morning, putting our hands on the car and on the wheels and covering it with the blood. Now I had lots of images of what that meant as a kid; I’ll be very honest with you.

But covering means the authority, just like the covering of a woman is the man, the covering of the man is Christ. The covering of people living in the authority of a church is the eldership and the leadership of that church. It’s your protection. Now the blood is before the Father in heaven. But what it means is to stand under the authority of the blood of Christ, so that when I confront any issue, I confront that issue by appropriating my position under the authority of total acceptance, total payment, total security, total price, through the blood of Christ.

And it must be appropriation and continuation under that. That is exactly how I stand. That’s, that is my victory. It isn’t because I’m good or don’t do bad things or because I’m born into a Christian family. I stand under that place of authority, and I make sure demons of hell know that I understand where I must stand.

And of course, this brings up continually the question: Can a believer lose his salvation? And the answer to it is… Of course, absolutely, a believer can lose his salvation. There are three books of the Bible that would make no sense unless it’s a possibility: Hebrews, Galatians, and Colossians. There is biblical apostasy.

When I refuse to stand under the grace and provision of God, when I go back to the works of righteousness and law, Galatians declares, we fall from grace, and the place of authority under the blood is the only place of freedom, not for a one-time sense, but for continuation. And any freedom from the bondage means that I’m accepting God’s methodology, and his ultimate methodology is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

If I want freedom, I have to be tired of where I am, and I have to understand the price of that freedom. Sixth, of course, and it’s so clear in this passage, Exodus 12, freedom can only come by submission to the requirements of fellowship. On that feast night… The feast could not be celebrated by a solitary man.

The idea of keeping the feast of the Passover in loneliness is an absolute impossibility in the Word of God. And the principle of freedom comes through submission to the requirement of fellowship. If your family isn’t big enough for a lamb, you get together with other families. Each lamb for a household.

That’s the principle of fellowship. And I know we’re in a dividing rod right now in the Church of Jesus Christ on this subject. Lots of folks are “I’d rather do it myself” kind of Christians, independent, unsubmitted, and those are dangerous waters to be sailing in in this culture. We need to understand personally, through the Word of God, the deeper and deeper necessity of covenant relationship.

That is our safety net. I know there’s a lot of us who think we can crawl into our bedroom, kneel down by the bed, and confess the things to God. That’s really neat. And God does forgive us. But there’s no healing for us. The Word of God says very specifically that you should confess to a brother or sister, and that’s where the healing comes.

See, most of us are saying, like all this deliverance, God just doesn’t let anybody know it’s taking place. God says, sorry Charlie, that is not the way it happens. And in fact, in the very moments when we are the most embarrassed because something is exposed, those are the moments that ought to lead into true deliverance.

The seventh principle, which is in these whole two chapters (chapter 12, verse 15 and on), is the discipline of searching out leaven. Of course, it had to do originally just with the Passover feast. And then in Jewish law, it becomes a whole series of days they are to keep this particular feast. And, of course, you know as well, in this passage, those days are given.

But notice this. If anyone eats leavened bread, he will be cut off from Israel. And I said to you two Sundays ago, that’s not being cut off from God, it’s being cut off entirely from the fellowship that is ours through Jesus Christ. I’m not talking here about sitting around and studying your navel. I’m not talking about some kind of morbid introspection, some deep introspection.

But he’s talking here about a sincere willingness on your part to get rid of the leavening and influence of the world in whatever way it has affected you. If you want deliverance, you have to search that thing out, expose it, and let the word of God expose it. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

You love that verse, but I hope you don’t just quote that verse. There is no conviction for those who are not in Jesus Christ. There may be no condemnation, but God help you if there’s no conviction. And if you’re not aware of how a believer must walk under correction in searching out and removing leaven in his life.

Eighth, there’s a preparation and acceptance of the journey and the pilgrimage that we are on, before God brings deliverance to us. He says, do you understand that this is just the beginning? So one of the principles I like about Alcoholics Anonymous (and I’ve heard many charismatics poke fun at this) is that the alcoholic will say, “I’m an alcoholic, but I haven’t had a drink for seven years.”

Charismatics will say, “Oh yeah, well if God really brings deliverance, you know, it’s all gone.” No, listen, let me tell you something. When God starts deliverance, He helps you understand that this is a pilgrimage. This is a journey that you’re starting something you’ve got to continue in. And so you eat this meal with your sandals on, and with your loins girded, and the staff in your hand, and you’re saying about this life that freedom from bondage means to serve God.

And so you’re beginning the journey. And everything about it speaks of that journey. Ninth, of course, in this godly expectation is total redemption. And I want to talk here, I’m going to slow down for a few moments, I want to make sure you understand this clearly. Because this is a principle that I believe we’re walking through as a body, and I believe we’re walking through it individually.

Three times in this passage (Exodus 11) and twice within chapter 12, God repeats what he said to Abraham. When the bondage is over, I’m going to redeem this. You’re going to come forth with great wealth. The expectation of people who come to God’s method for dealing with bondages is so often that they do not understand that he redeems the experience itself.

God takes that which has been the taskmaster, he takes that which has been the bondage, and he turns that into the wealth of our experience. Most of us want this newness. Like it’s a newly formulated computer disk, or like it’s a brand new leaf, and there’s no remembrance of the rest. We want to just move on like a nice little butterfly.

We’re brand new, and God has delivered us. Well, let me tell you something about that. That’s not a biblical experience. Biblical redemption attaches the wings to the caterpillar. And that makes the difference for you to understand. God redeems the lost years. He buys up what the locust and the cankerworm have eaten in our lives.

And a part of freedom from bondage is an association in some way with you so that the continuation of your life is marked by a new fruitfulness in which the very experience—the substantial new thing that God is doing—is born out of the old. The association is very critical. The intention of God was that Israel would go to the Egyptians and they would take the money which was from their bondage, and that the money of their bondage would be the very foundation of the new thing that God was going to do in their life.

I see you don’t want that. You want to fly away, never let anybody know that that was your problem. Oh, thank you, Lord! You delivered me and nobody in the church ever knew.

Because I’m not a caterpillar, now I’m a butterfly. Thank you, Jesus. No, he takes the caterpillar and he puts wings on it, and he says you can fly, but everybody’s going to know you’re a caterpillar.

And that becomes the expectation for true deliverance. In fact, let me say it this way: God puts an expectation within you for redemption because you believe that when God redeems you, the experience of the past will be the very foundation through which you will bless other Corinthians.

You will comfort others with the comfort by which God comforted you. Don’t rush into my life with your pat little Bible verses. Stay home and quote them on the telephone. If you’re going to come into my life when I’m struggling, you come out of the broken bread of your life. You bring me the encouragement and comfort by which you were comforted.

In the process of the experience. And so there’s freedom from bondage. For example, of resentment. You can’t be freed from resentment without God asking that experience of freedom to be translated to someone else. I’ll never forget being here in the office one Saturday. And I’m mostly, almost always, in the office on Saturday.

I shouldn’t probably confess this to you because the one reason I like Saturday is nobody else is around. And I never answer the telephone on that day. It’s hooked up with the connections, and people can leave messages or get the emergency number. But for one reason, I was there, and the phone rang, and I knew instinctively to pick it up.

And I did, and the voice on the other line sounded like a man from the grave. And he said, without even asking, “Rick, this is Dave.” And I knew instantly, though I hadn’t seen that man in ten years, I knew who it was. I said, “Dave, how are you?” He said, “I’m dying, I’m in the hospital, and I must see you.”

And I said, “Fine, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He said, “No, I have family members here, and it’s not an appropriate time.” I said, “Then I’ll see you Monday morning.” He said, “That’s fine.” And I hung up the phone. Within five minutes, it rang again. I knew again instinctively to pick it up. I picked it up. He said, “You must come now.”

He said, “I don’t think I have until Monday.” My son-in-law, Jeff, was here in the office. This was several years ago when Jeff was first beginning to work with us here at the church, and I thought I had to have someone with me, so I called Jeff and said, “Get in the car, and I’m going to give you some instructions as we go.”

I took the small communion, uh, portable communion set that I often use in these kinds of instances. This was a man who had not only been a member of the official board and leadership of this church but had never in his whole adult ministry not been on an official board. He came to this church having served 14 years as the treasurer of a major church in the southern part of the United States.

When I walked into that room, he began to confess to me. “I was a part of this thing that was done against you. It’s changed my life because of the bitterness and anger and resentment of that whole experience.” And then he said something that absolutely floored me. He said, “I have not had communion for eleven years.”

“I have not taken communion since I participated in that experience.” And of course, he asked for my forgiveness, and I for his. And there was reconciliation, and I said to him then, “David, I want to pray after we’d had communion and had a blessed time and praised the Lord. I said, I want to pray God will give you some extra years to make up for what’s been lost.”

“But I said, a part of that experience is you need to stand up before the people of this church and tell them the experience. It’s not enough that you tell me. God doesn’t redeem you in a closet. He delivers you so that that becomes the foundation of deliverance for other people’s lives. He sets you free from resentment and bitterness.”

“That you get on with helping other people who are trapped and enslaved.” Tenth and finally, there has to be an understanding of the true goal of freedom, which is worship. Chapter 12, verse 27, says the people bowed their heads in worship. What do you want to be free for? Because one day in seven you’re uncomfortable when you come to church with your bitterness.

Because one day in seven, do you find yourself uncomfortable with your lust? Is it because for an hour and a half on that day, you feel uneasy about the ties that bind you to this worldly system? If that’s your desire for freedom, I don’t believe God is interested. You must seek freedom for the sake of freedom.

To serve the Lord, to worship the Lord, to comprehend the ways of God, to allow redemption to be manifested in your life for the sake of others. Deliverance is always intertwined with God’s eternal purposes. I aspire to be free in order to serve Him. By the way, have you noticed that it was consistently a three-day journey into the wilderness?

A three-day journey to serve God — you cannot disregard its significance. Three days symbolize death, burial, and resurrection. True freedom emanates from a heart that not only longs to be free but is also free to understand God’s purposes and genuinely worship Him. “God, grant me the freedom to serve You wholeheartedly.”

I’ll never forget a man who was a part of this church. I continue to hold him in high regard to this day. In fact, I can honestly state, with God as my witness, that had it not been for this specific layman, I might not have successfully navigated the challenging early years of my ministry in this church.

The influence of this devout layman anchored me when many other factors could have driven me away. Eventually, circumstances led him to leave our congregation. He relocated to another part of the state but has maintained close contact. He belongs to a family of ministers and missionaries dedicated to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Similar to Nathaniel, he’s a man in whom I discern no deceit. At least, I’ve never witnessed any duplicity in his life. He possessed immense generosity, willingly investing all he had. I recall that Anita and I had just begun our time in this pastorate, perhaps within the first month. During that period, a district council meeting of the Assemblies of God took place.

In those days, I was naive enough to attend such gatherings. I stood in the middle aisle and had mentioned to this man that I intended to go. He was aware of the car I drove, which the church provided at that time. He advised, “Rick, I don’t think you should drive there in that car.”

He insisted I take one of his Cadillacs. Anita, who was standing nearby, responded, “Oh no, absolutely not. I can’t imagine going to Reno with Rick Howard behind the wheel of your Cadillac. I can’t allow that to happen.” I vividly recall Haywood’s response. He looked at her and said, “Honey, they manufacture 5,000 of these cars each week.”

He reassured her that if anything were to happen to the car, they would simply produce another one the following week. Anita found comfort in his words. And so, we ended up taking his Cadillac. I also have fond memories of his entire home, complete with a swimming pool and a luxurious jacuzzi, being generously offered to us.

Back then, staff retreats were held there — it was all we could afford. Haywood would be away, and we would utilize his entire house for our conferences. But one Sunday evening, during the early days of our ministry when numerous challenges persisted, God’s unique blessings were evident. New ministries were sprouting, souls were being saved, and a charismatic worship service unfolded, unlike any other.

People stood around, fervently worshipping, hands raised in adoration. Individuals gathered at the altar, responding to God with heartfelt worship. Haywood motioned me over from the back of the room, tears streaming down his face. He said, “You know, it’s difficult for me to participate in a setting like this.”

He expressed his struggle, how he was bound by his culture. Though others worshiped joyfully and raised their hands freely, he felt constrained. Even raising one hand halfway seemed like a significant challenge. He longed for the freedom to worship without hindrance. His desire wasn’t merely to feel good; he understood that God wanted him to glorify Him through such unrestrained worship.

Why do you yearn for freedom? To wholeheartedly serve the Lord, to bring glory to God, to sever the soul ties and attachments that bind you to your culture, all for the purpose of God’s divine plan.

Do you long to be broken so that the freedom of your life will be met by worship of the Lord? God hears that kind of heart. God will change world destiny. He’ll change national history. He’ll even change the events of nature to respond to a cry like that. I long to be free so that God may be worshipped, and God may be glorified.

We used to sing a chorus a lot, but we seldom sing it anymore. “Lord, make me an instrument, an instrument of worship.” And the third verse of that little chorus, “Lord, make us a symphony, a symphony of worship.” It’s not enough to just say, “I’d like to be different, I’d like to be free.” It’s about the purpose of freedom. What are you going to do with it?

How are you going to let God use that to glorify Him and to reach others? Would you please bow your heads with me? Every head bowed and every eye closed in this moment. And I want to ask a simple question. I know we’ve come to this question maybe half a dozen times in this series, but I ask it again this morning.

Are you aware of the need for deliverance in your life? You, as a believer, are very aware of a tie, a struggle that needs to be set free in your life. And you say, “Pastor, I want you to pray for me.” Would you just raise your hand anywhere in the auditorium? If you know a specific area God speaks and confirms it to you, put them down again.

Let me ask you a second question. I’m asking this from a heart of desire to know. How many of you, either those who raised your hand or those who didn’t raise your hand, but you know what God has said to you must be done? In other words, He’s spoken in your heart about the way this freedom needs to come. He’s given you, at least partially, the first step of the method of deliverance.

May I see your hand? You know what God’s saying; you’ve heard His voice. Okay.

Obviously, the question that follows: are you willing for God to use the deliverance? Are you willing to stand before the people of God and let your life and your deliverance be a part of the understanding for other people? That’s a real quandary, isn’t it?

For me to understand that redemption means that God attaches the wings to the caterpillar. I may still look odd to folks, but God has set me free, and the redemption of that is what I want God to use in my life. How many will say that with me this morning? I’m willing for God to use my life in the way that He has redeemed. I want to see it released in other people’s lives.

May I see your hands? That’s your heart this morning.

Amen. Stand with me now and let’s sing together. “Lord, make me an instrument, an instrument of worship. I lift up my hands in your name. Lord, make me an instrument, an instrument of worship.”

“Lord, make us a symphony together, Lord. A symphony, a symphony.”

“Lord, I lift up my hands in your name. Lord, make me a love song, a love song to Jesus. I lift up my hands in your name.” Just once more, “Lord, make us a symphony together. Lord, make…”

“Make us a symphony, a symphony of worship. We lift up our hands in your name. Lord, make us a symphony, a symphony of worship. We lift up…”

Would you just take someone’s hand beside you? You don’t have to move from where you are, but just one person at least. United, Lord, we thank you that deliverance is a possibility, and the entering into our full purpose is a possibility. We can come into the inheritance you have for us, the posterity you have for us.

You want to make us a blessing to the world, personally and corporately. But Lord, we know we need to have ties and influences and things broken. There needs to be freedom, true freedom spoken in our life if we’re to enter into what you have for us. And Lord, with that comes the understanding of its cost, of its purpose.

The redemption of even where we are now, in the setting forth of our life. Lord, you want to take from Egypt, all! You want to rob Egypt in order that the foundation of the future will be established, Father. We claim it with excitement, joy, privilege, and opportunity. We participate in what you intend for us.

Bless these folks, Lord. Grant the absolute truth of your word to be spoken to them individually. Thank you that we hear the voice of Jesus. We are sheep who know the voice of the shepherd. And may your Holy Spirit make that so obviously personal. There’ll be no doubt in our lives. We ask in Jesus’ name.

And everyone said, Amen. God bless you. Turn to somebody, share Christ. See you this evening at 6 o’clock. Bless you.