Merry Christmas, everyone.
Thanks be to God that it's not just
one day a week, for those that know
Christ as Lord and Savior, but every day.
Exodus chapter 4, please, if you'll turn there
with me.
And for those who have come to Christ,
especially in this church during this holiday season,
we've had many, many who've made first-time
decisions to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.
And for those who have, we have New
Believers classes every Friday night in the Education
Annex, and that's at 7 o'clock in
the evening.
All you have to do is just go
to the main desk, the commissioner will help
you to find those classes.
No registration necessary.
There is no fee.
And if you don't have a Bible, we'll
give you a Gospel of John and help
get you started in your walk with God.
You have to get into the Word of
God.
It's wonderful to come to church, wonderful to
sing songs, but you must get into the
Word of God.
And even more so now as the day
of the Lord's return approaches us.
We've got to be in this book.
I'm believing, God, with all my heart that
I've heard from the Holy Spirit, that this
is going to be the year of the
Bible for Times Square Church.
Now, this has been a Bible-preaching and
teaching church.
And there's been great revelation has been spoken
from this pulpit, not just from the pastors
that minister here, but many who visit with
us as well.
But I'm not talking about the pulpit necessarily.
I'm talking about you.
This is going to be a year when
you get into the Word.
And the Word of God comes alive to
every person who is called by the name
of Christ.
We're believing God for that.
We're going to fast for it.
That you'll be delivered as it is from
just meaningless rote as it is devotional times
in the morning.
You get into this book because the Word
of God is alive.
It's a living Word.
And God's Word begins to speak to you,
begins to breathe into your deepest inner parts,
begins to change you, and you develop a
love for God's Word like you've never had
in your entire life.
I believe that with all my heart that
God is going to do that this year
for everyone who hungers.
He's going to open His Word to you.
I thank God for it with all my
heart.
I'm going to speak this morning about blood
upon the dry land from Exodus chapter 4,
beginning at verse 1.
And Moses answered and said, But behold, they
will not believe me nor hearken unto my
voice.
For they will say, The Lord hath not
appeared unto thee.
And the Lord said unto him, What is
that in thine hand?
And he said, A rod.
And he said, Cast it on the ground.
And he cast it on the ground and
became a serpent.
And Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth
thine hand and take it by the tail.
And he put forth his hand and caught
it, and it became a rod in his
hand.
Verse 5 says, That they may believe that
the Lord God of their fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, has appeared unto thee.
And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put
now thy hand into thy bosom.
And he put his hand into his bosom.
And when he took it out, behold, his
hand was leprous as snow.
And he said, Put again, put thine hand
into thy bosom again.
And he put his hand into his bosom
again and plucked it out of his bosom.
And behold, it was turned again as his
other flesh.
And it shall come to pass, if they
will not believe thee, neither hearken to the
voice of the first sign, that they will
believe the voice of the latter sign.
And it shall come to pass, if they
will not believe also these two signs, neither
hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take
of the water of the river and pour
it upon the dry land.
And the water which thou takest out of
the river shall become blood upon the dry
land.
Now, Father, I stand before you with no
desire in my heart but to be an
oracle of God.
I pray, Holy Spirit, that you lift me
out of the confines of the weakness of
my own flesh, my own thinking.
God, take me into that which is supernatural,
that which comes from your mind and your
heart.
Lord, the hour is late and your people
need to hear from you.
God, we need desperately to hear your voice.
And I'm asking you, Lord, now to speak
through me.
I'm asking you to animate my mind and
heart, my emotions.
I'm asking you to expand the borders of
my thinking.
Take me, O God, where you want this
to go.
Lord, I pray for the stamp of eternity
on this word this morning, that it not
fall to the ground but be deeply impressed
in the hearts and in the minds of
your people.
For this is your promise.
You said, I'll give you a new spirit.
I'll give you a new heart.
I'll give you a new mind.
God, that comes through hearing and understanding your
word.
Father, I pray that you take this word
now and cause it to have that which
you've intended from the beginning in your heart
for this day and for this people.
I thank you for it in Jesus' mighty
name.
Amen.
Now, the commission from the beginning has been
to go and deliver multitudes, multitudes who are
sorrowing and crying out in our generation.
Remember, the Lord came to Moses.
Moses was just tending his flock, the scripture
says, in the back part of the desert.
And as he was tending this flock, he
observed a bush that was burning.
And yet, even though there was this incredible
fire seemingly surrounding and emanating perhaps from within
this dry bush, this bush was not being
consumed by the fire.
And Moses stopped to consider this thing and
turned to look at it.
And when he turned to look at it,
of course, he was looking at what God
does in a person's life.
He comes as a consuming fire, yet he
doesn't destroy the vessel that he touches.
He will change us.
He will make us more and more into
the image of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
But he does not destroy us.
And, you know, of course, in those days
to see God meant to die.
And Moses turned and looked.
God was trying to show him something in
the physical realm that he was wanting to
do in his life and wants to do,
obviously, in the lives of all who are
called by the name of Christ in our
time and in our generation.
And as he stopped to consider this thing,
the Lord called him out of the midst
of this bush.
And he said, I've heard the cry of
the people.
Their sorrow has come before me.
And now I've remembered my covenant that I
made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
And I've come down now to deliver the
people out of their affliction and away from
their taskmasters.
And, folks, God hears a cry that you
and I don't hear.
We can be going about our business, especially
in this busy, busy season that we're in
right now.
And we can be all consumed with ourselves
and watching our watches, engaging our times and
looking at our ovens and everything else that
goes on around and about this time of
the year.
But there's a cry that doesn't stop.
And we may not hear it, but God
hears it.
And he is willing to let anyone who
wants to hear it as well.
And he calls us just as he called
Moses in his generation.
He calls us to be deliverers.
At the end of the Gospel of Matthew,
he challenged us to go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature,
to every person ever who was born in
our time and in our generation.
Now, God is about to move towards this
cry that he's hearing from his people.
And he's about to answer them.
Now, Psalm 107 shows us that this work
of God is an ongoing work continuously.
He hears the cry of all sorts of
people in our society.
Psalm 107 talks about those, in verse 4,
who wander in the wilderness in a lonely
way or a solitary way, finding no city
to dwell in.
Hungry, thirsty, their soul faints in them.
Verse 6 says, then they cried unto the
Lord in their trouble and he delivered them
out of their distresses.
And he led them forth by the right
way that they might go to a city
of habitation.
Or in other words, a place where they
might find life.
A place where they might be secure.
Those that are lonely.
Those that are despairing.
You might even be here today and you
might say, Pastor, that's me.
I'm wandering in the wilderness and I'm lonely.
And I'm hungry and I'm thirsty.
And I've not found in all of my
travels anywhere that I can put down roots
as it is.
Anywhere I can trust in.
Anywhere I can stay that gives me safety,
stability and security.
But God, in his mercy, when you cry
out to him, and some of you might
even be here in the annex today of
the main sanctuary.
Because there's been a cry in your heart.
And you are here not by chance.
Not just by happenstance.
God has heard your cry.
Nobody else knows it around you.
Your boss doesn't know it.
Your neighbors don't know it.
And even those that are most intimately acquainted
with you may not hear this cry.
But God knows the cry that's in your
heart every night.
When you put your feet up into your
bed and you sigh.
And you dread the thought of one more
day of walking the city streets alone.
Walking the city streets without hope.
Wondering, what is life all about?
Why was I born?
What is the purpose of my life?
And why do I even exist in the
first place?
You see, God hears your cry.
And he led you to this place today
that he might bring you to a place
where you can live.
You might find that there is a reason
for life.
You are created by God, for God, in
the image of God.
You are created out of the passion of
God's heart for fellowship and friendship.
And God loves you with an infinite and
an everlasting love.
The psalmist says, Oh that men would praise
the Lord for his goodness and his wonderful
works to the children of men.
For he satisfies the longing soul and fills
the hungry soul with goodness.
Verse 10 says, Such as sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, being bound
in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against
the words of God and condemned the counsel
of the Most High.
Think about our generation, how many now are
sitting in darkness and death is all around
them.
They are in affliction and in chains of
iron that they cannot break in their own
strength.
Therefore he brought down their heart with labor
and they fell down and there was none
to help.
And then they cried to the Lord in
their trouble and he saved them out of
their distresses.
And he brought them out of darkness in
the shadow of death and break their bands
and sunder.
Thanks be to God that we have a
Savior that breaks the power and the chains
of darkness over our lives.
Thanks be to God that we're not coming
to just a theory or a concept about
God when we come to the saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ.
But we're coming to the one who holds
the keys to our freedom.
He opens every prison door.
He gives sight to everyone who's been spiritually
blind.
He heals those that have been bruised in
heart.
He sets the captive and the oppressed free.
He breaks bondages of alcohol and pornography and
immorality and drugs and suicide and depression and
opens the prison door and sets people free,
those that cry out to Him.
And if you're crying out to Him in
this house today, I've got news for you.
Before you leave this day, you're going to
be set free from all that has afflicted
you.
Verse 15, he says, Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for His goodness and His
wonderful works to the children of men, for
He has broken the gates of brass and
cut the bars of iron and sunder.
Verse 17, he says, Fools, because of their
transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Their soul abhors all manner of meat, and
they draw near to the gates of death.
These are people who reject the Word of
God.
They reject all of God's counsel.
They put it away as if it's some
form of foolishness, even though it's God Almighty
Himself who is speaking to them.
And because they've denied the existence of God,
they're afflicted.
And they draw near to gates of death
that are reserved for those who do not
find Christ as Lord and Savior for all
of eternity.
But then verse 20 says, He sent His
Word and healed them and delivered them from
their destructions or from that which would destroy
them.
He sends His Word.
God is so merciful.
Amazing.
He had the right, He had the lawful
right just to take the whole thing when
mankind sinned against Him and just grind it
to powder and start all over again.
But God is merciful.
And the Scripture says He's not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come
to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And He sends His Word.
He sends His Word to you and to
me.
Thank God for His Word.
Thank God.
Do you remember the first time you heard
the Word of God?
Not just some thing that you could put
aside, but you knew that God was speaking
to your heart.
It caused a trembling in your inward parts.
And you began to understand this is not
just God or somebody speaking a theory about
God, but I'm actually hearing the voice of
God speaking right to the very deepest need
of my life.
He sent His Word and healed them and
delivered them from their destructions or that which
was going to destroy them.
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for
His goodness and His wonderful works to the
children of men.
They go down to the sea in ships
and do business in great waters.
They see the works of the Lord and
wonders in the deep.
He commands and raises the stormy wind and
lifts up the waves.
They mount up to heaven and go down
again to the depths and their soul is
melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro and stagger like
a drunken man and are at their wits
end.
And then they cry to the Lord in
their trouble and He brings them out of
their distresses.
This is talking about business people.
He makes the storm a calm so that
the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they are quiet
and He brings them to their desired haven.
People are traveling through the world, buying, selling,
looking for security, not finding it.
The longer they go, the deeper the fear
begins to grip their heart that is this
all there is to life?
And if I do achieve the next step
in the ladder, as it is, and there
is not more there than there is here,
then what is the hope for my life?
What does my future hold?
And they are driven up and down by
these deep inward fears that always plague those
who are searching for security in a world
that does not offer it.
And so God sends His word, His ambassadors
to them and they find their desired haven.
In other words, He brings them to the
place that they have longed for all along.
They've longed for safety.
They've longed for security.
They've longed to know that they are going
to be provided for and that the end
of their lives is going to be a
blessing and not a curse.
He turns the rivers into wilderness and the
water springs into dry ground.
God, He says, let them exalt Him in
the congregation of the people and praise Him
in the assembly of the elders.
Thank God for His word that came to
us.
Thank God.
Aren't you thankful today that Christmas is not
just a concept?
It's a living relationship with the Savior this
morning that you have in this house.
Now, this is the work of God.
Please, if somebody could get me a glass
of water, I'd very much appreciate it.
He does this through frail human messengers like
Moses, like you and I.
Now, Moses, in Exodus chapter 4, he asks
a question.
Now, you see, because God is calling each
of us to be a deliverer, whether or
not you realize it, you're called to deliver
your family.
You're called to deliver your neighbors, the people
you work with in your office, all those
that are spoken about in Psalm 107 and
others.
God calls you and calls me to be
messengers of His deliverance to them, just as
He called Moses.
Moses was just an ordinary man, just doing
ordinary things.
He was 40 years just tending sheep in
the back parts of the desert.
And all of a sudden, the call of
God that was on his life, he becomes
aware of it.
Thank you.
And some of you slipped in to this
church today, thinking, well, this is going to
be a nice message about baby Jesus.
Only to find out that there's a call
of God on your life.
You thought you're going to sit in the
congregation and hear a nice, smooth message about
some angels appearing in heaven, saying glory to
God on earth, peace towards men.
You're going to go home.
You're going to have your ham or turkey
dinner, whatever it is you've prepared for this
afternoon.
And everything is going to be fine.
It's going to be a nice day for
you.
Only to come to the house of God
to find the pulpit is a burning bush.
And you are being confronted with something that
God wants you to do.
You've stopped in this house and you've turned
for a moment to consider what God is
speaking to your heart.
And just as He is sending Moses, in
effect, to his family, that's who Moses was
sent to.
This was his own family that was in
captivity.
Whether or not you understand that God is
sending you to deliver your family.
And He's going to give you the power
to do it.
This is the amazing thing.
You don't have to go into your house
with just a theory about God.
Moses asked a question that all of us
asked in chapter 4, verse 1.
He said, But behold, they will not believe
me, nor hearken to my voice.
And they will say, The Lord has not
appeared to thee.
In other words, Moses said, I'm going to
go back.
It's been a long time.
But I'm going to go back to my
family and distant relatives and such like.
And I'm going to say, Well, I've met
with God.
God's speaking to me.
And He wants to bring you out of
captivity.
And He wants to bring you into a
place where you can serve Him.
And you're going to begin to see the
miraculous.
And Moses says, Well, what happens now if
they say God's not appeared to you?
He's not spoken to you.
You've been to church.
You just got all excited about something.
But there's no reality to this thing.
And the Lord said to him, Now what
is in your hand?
He said, A rod.
Now he was a shepherd.
He had a shepherd's staff in his hand.
And the Lord said to him, Cast it
on the ground.
Verse 3.
And he cast it on the ground and
it became a serpent.
And Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth
thine hand and take it by the tail.
And he put forth his hand and caught
it.
And it became a rod in his hand.
Now, this was the reason for this.
In verse 5, he says that they may
believe that the Lord God of their fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob has appeared to them.
Well, most here would say, OK, if I
could do that, my family would probably believe.
If I could pick up a stick on
the way home, maybe a hockey stick or
something like that, walk into the house, throw
it down, it becomes a snake on the
carpet and pick it up again.
Most families would probably believe that there's something
going on here now.
But there was a reason for this.
And it was a type of something.
It was showing something to Moses that is
just as relevant to you and I today.
What do you have in your hand?
He takes this rod that is in his
hand and he casts it down and it
becomes a serpent.
And immediately, the scripture says he turns and
begins to run away from it.
And, you know, all of us have fears.
We all have a past.
We look in the mirror and there are
certain things about us.
There are things that people in our families
know about us.
There are things in our own character.
There are certain perceptions we have of deficiency
within ourselves, failings, limitations.
Can't go there, won't go there.
Nobody would believe it.
Can't do this.
And the moment this rod, which represents, in
a sense, the cross of Christ, or confidence
in God, is cast down and it becomes
that which he is afraid of.
And he turns and he begins to flee
from it.
And as he begins to flee from it,
God says to Moses, Stop.
Stop where you are and turn around and
take it by the tail.
Now, there is something very, very significant in
this.
You can't pick up a snake by the
tail unless it's going the other way.
You see, what Moses didn't realize is that
the enemy was already fleeing from him because
the hand of God was on him.
He was standing before God and God was
calling him.
And many, many people don't realize.
The moment you came to Christ, the moment
the Holy Spirit came, the Spirit of God,
God himself came and made his abode within
your physical body.
And you became the temple of the living
God.
The serpent began to flee from you.
He's going in the opposite direction.
Jesus said in Luke 10, 19, Behold, I
give you power to tread on serpents and
scorpions and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt
you.
Now, the devil knows this.
The devil knows that the least of the
least of the least of the least of
God's people has the same Christ within him.
The same one who triumphed over him on
Calvary and rose from the grave and took
all authority and dominion and power over him
and sits at the right hand of all
power and authority now lives in the heart
of those who have come to Christ.
The enemy knows it.
I give you power.
This is one of the greatest revelations that
a young Christian especially can have is that
you don't have to run from your past
any longer.
No matter what you did.
No matter who you used to be.
You are not that person any longer.
You have Christ within you.
And the Bible says you are a new
creation.
The old things within you are passing away
and behold, all things are becoming new.
You don't have to run from your fears
any longer.
No matter what it is that the enemy
captivated you with.
No matter how he lied into your mind.
No matter what he caused you to do
or convinced you that he was able to
do in your life.
The moment Christ came into your heart, the
devil began to run the other way.
You have authority now.
You don't have to fear your today.
You don't have to fear your yesterday.
You don't have to fear your tomorrow.
There is no fear in God's love.
Perfect love casts out all fear.
The Scripture says God has not given us
a spirit of fear, but a power and
love and a sound mind.
The day that God began to use my
life for his glory in the measure that
he has been using it, is the day
that I turned and began to face my
enemies.
And began to realize that my enemies were
already running away from me.
Already heading in the other direction.
And the Lord says, reach down and pick
up that which you used to fear.
And it will become a rod in your
hand.
It will become deeper abiding faith and confidence
in the authority of the one who has
everything under his foot.
And all things are in his control.
You will pick up these fears.
And no longer will you dance to the
tune of the devil in your life.
Now you think that would be enough.
But the Lord said in verse 6, the
Lord said furthermore unto him, put now thine
hand into thy bosom.
Now you see folks, I want to tell
you something.
When people see this authority, when they see
that you're no longer running away from your
past.
When they see that you're no longer afraid
of the future.
When they see these things, many, many will
begin to believe.
They'll see a courage in you that you've
never had before.
They'll see God giving you the ability to
walk by what used to ensnare you.
They'll see you taking captive what used to
take you captive.
And there'll be many around you.
Many, not all, but many will begin to
believe.
And in verse 6, the Lord said furthermore
to him, put now your hand into your
bosom.
And he put his hand into his bosom.
And when he took it out, behold, his
hand was leprous as snow.
And he said, put thine hand into thy
bosom again.
And he put his hand into his bosom
again and plucked it out of his bosom.
And behold, it was turned again as his
other flesh.
And it shall come to pass in verse
8, if they will not believe thee, neither
hearken to the voice of the first sign,
that they will believe the voice of the
latter sign.
Now, if they will not believe because you
walk with new authority, they will believe when
they see the miraculous change in your deepest,
innermost parts.
That's what this was a type of.
Reach deep within your own heart, Moses.
And he reached in and when he took
out his hand, his hand was as corrupted
as his inward parts would be.
This is the frailty as it is of
human nature.
There's an inward corruption that only God can
cleanse.
And he said, put your hand back in
again.
And he put it in and came out
and it was completely cleansed like the rest,
like his other flesh.
And verse 8, it says it will come
to pass if they will not believe thee,
neither hearken to the voice of the first
sign, they will believe the voice of the
latter sign.
You see, they will believe you when they
see the miraculous change beginning to happen in
your innermost parts.
When they see a man who used to
be selfish and angry, now gentle and kind.
When they see a woman who used to
be completely self-consumed, now reaching out, concerned
and compassionate about the needs of people, even
those that are strangers all around her.
When your children see fathers and mothers who
used to be fighting in their house all
the time, and all of a sudden there's
a tenderness.
The husband is loving his wife as Christ
loves the church.
The wife is respecting the position that God
has placed her husband in, in the home.
And when your children begin to see this,
when they see this miraculous change coming into
the innermost parts of their mothers and fathers,
the scripture says this will be a voice.
God describes it in Exodus 4 as a
voice that is calling out to people.
Did you know that?
Did you know that one of the ways
that God witnesses to the lost, is that
through the change that he brings about in
your life and in my life, he cries
out through you, he cries out through me
to people.
I remember when I was just a young
police officer, and a policeman came to my
house and started sharing with me about Christ.
I wasn't so much interested in all of
the things, some of the things that he
had to say were interesting.
I wasn't so much interested in all of
the theology that he was presenting before me,
because in a lost state you can counter,
even though it's a deceptive countering, you can
counter most theological arguments.
I mean, it's not a truthful countering, but
most people who are lost can put up
a pretty good argument.
That's really what I'm trying to say.
But this man was telling me, I used
to be a drunkard, I used to be
a gambler, I used to be this type
of person, I used to be angry, aggressive.
And I'm looking at this man, and he's
completely the opposite of what he's telling me
he used to be.
And the very testimony of Christ in him
was a voice crying out to me.
I was more intrigued by how this man
had changed than by what he had to
say.
And the Lord said to Moses, when they
see this sign, when they see this inward
corruption changed, when they see you becoming a
man that only God could make you into,
when your family sees it, when your sons
and daughters see it, when your mothers and
fathers see it, when your children see it,
your neighbors see it, it will be a
voice calling out to them.
I remember, I was thinking of a story
when I was preparing this.
I remember when I was a teenager, one
time my father asked me to pile some
wood.
We had a cottage in the woods, and
he asked me to pile some wood.
And I was rather lazy in those days
and didn't really feel like doing the work.
And so I did a little bit of
work, probably next to nothing.
And when he finally came, he said, did
you pile the wood?
Did you bring it out of the –
he had been cutting wood.
Did you bring it out of the woods?
Did you put it in a pile?
I said, did you use the wheelbarrow?
And I said, yes, I did.
And he said, come with me.
He took me up to the top of
the hill, and the wheelbarrow had spiderwebs from
the handles right to the ground on both
sides.
And I looked at it, and I said,
man, those things work fast, don't they?
And I remember how it stung me.
My father looked at me and said, you
are a liar.
Now, of course, I was a teenager, and
I held my ground, even as foolish as
it was.
No, I've been out there.
I've been working.
And he looked at me and said, you
are a liar.
And I remember how that stung, because it
was true.
And just the pride in my heart wouldn't
allow me to admit that I had lied
to him.
And I never forgot that.
It stayed with me.
There's something about when your father speaks into
your life that you just can't shake it.
And years and years later, I was visiting.
I was already pastoring here in New York
City.
This is probably five years ago or so
now.
And I remember I was visiting his house,
and my father was not one that dished
out a whole lot of compliments.
But I was walking into the living room
one day in his house, and he looked
at me and he said, you are a
man of truth.
You're a truthful man, he said.
And it's amazing.
I believe, because I was able to lead
him to Christ before he died.
And I believe the change that was coming
into my life over the years was a
voice that was crying out to him.
Much more than all of my theology, much
more than all of the messages he heard
me preach, or all of the times I
may have opened the Bible, talked about heaven,
hell, a redeemer.
Much more than this.
That is part of the voice.
But there was a deeper voice calling out
to a man who had arguments against everything
that I would say theologically.
But what could he say against this voice
that was calling out to him from a
son who had once lied to him as
a teenager, but now he knew and could
say, he's a man of truth.
There's a voice.
That's why you and I need to do,
as the apostle Paul tells us, we're to
put off the old man.
We're to put off, by the grace of
God, this old nature.
That's why you and I need to be
in this Bible like never before.
Because in this Bible are the promises of
God.
And the apostle Peter tells us that by
these promises we become partakers of the divine
nature.
We don't do it through self-effort or
human effort.
We do it by reading this book and
seeing what it is that God is speaking
to us.
And saying, Lord, if that's what you say,
then I'm believing that you're going to make
it a reality in my life.
My part in the new covenant is to
believe.
God's part is to make what I believe
and what he has spoken a reality to
my heart.
We need to be in this book like
never before, folks.
It's not going to be an argument that's
going to win the day in our generation.
It's going to be a people whose lives
have been changed inwardly by the power of
Almighty God, who day to day are being
renewed in the image of their Creator.
Day to day are walking in to their
families, coming to the breakfast table, going down
the corridors of their apartment buildings, walking in
to the places of their employment.
Day to day there is an indisputable change
going on inside of their lives.
Day to day they're becoming more like Christ
as they read these promises and are trusting
the power of the Holy Spirit to make
these promises of God a living reality within
their heart.
Day to day there's a voice within them
crying out to every man or woman who
may have a good argument against somebody simply
opening the Bible, but they cannot argue.
The voice of God crying out from the
heart of a man or woman who is
changing day to day, moment to moment, into
the image of their Savior by the power
of the Holy Spirit within them.
Though our outward man perish, Paul says, our
inward man is renewed day by day.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God that you and I
should never cease in this pursuit.
It doesn't matter how far we've walked or
how many people we've preached to.
You and I should never cease in this
absolute pursuit of Christ through the Word of
God.
God changed me.
Yes, I'm not what I was yesterday, but
there's more.
You have purchased your very life for me,
and God, I want this life.
I want everything about your life to be
lived inside of me.
I want your presence in me to be
a voice that calls out to my sons
and my daughter, that calls out to my
nieces and nephews, that calls out to my
neighbors and friends and family.
I don't want a single person that comes
in contact with me who knows me intimately
to be able to write off the voice
of God as being a non-reality.
Folks, we need people who know God to
be walking through this city in our generation.
There's been too many arguments, and the television
is full of religious confusion.
It is time for a people to rise
up who know their God.
Daniel, the prophet, said there's a day coming
when knowledge is going to increase and people
are going to run to and fro, speaking
of the end days.
But the people who know their God shall
be strong and do exploits.
What do you think those exploits are?
The exploit is walking through this generation of
darkness, and people's eyes are being opened to
the reality of Christ.
Their prison doors are flinging wide open as
they begin to understand that the same Christ
who is in this person can set them
free.
Exploits against the powers of darkness that have
captivated the minds and lives of countless hundreds
of thousands of people in our time.
It's time for the church to be the
church of Jesus Christ.
It's time for the testimony of Christ to
be in the mouths and hearts, the eyes
and lives of God's people.
This is a voice that is much louder
than any preaching that I will ever do.
It's a voice that God speaks through the
surrendered life, beginning in your home, beginning with
your own children.
That's why so many people lose their families,
because their lives are not an indisputable testimony
of the reality of God.
They have a theological argument with their lips,
but their lives, as Paul says, in many
cases are a denial that God has the
power to change a person.
That's what he talks about in Timothy.
He says they have a form of godliness,
but deny the power.
They speak the things of God.
They may even have correct theology, but their
lives are a declaration that there is no
substance to what they believe.
But you and I are not to live
there.
We're to be a people who have to
be reckoned with, because the living Christ lives
within us.
Now he said, and it shall come to
pass, verse 9, if they will not believe
also these two signs, and neither hearken to
thy voice, that thou shalt take of the
water of the river, and pour it upon
the dry land.
And the water which thou takest out of
the river shall become blood upon the dry
land.
You know, an unusual sign.
He talks first about casting the rod down,
and then picking up that which you fear.
He talks about the change in the inward
nature of a man who has had a
true encounter with God.
And that change will be a voice that
cries out to a generation that need to
be delivered from the power of darkness.
Then he gives them a third sign.
He said, if they will not believe these
two, I want you to take the water
out of the river and pour it on
the dry land.
And the water which you take out of
the river shall become blood upon the dry
land.
Now, Psalm 46, verse 4, let me just
read it to you.
Verses 4 and 5.
Speaking of this water, which is a type,
it says, There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High.
God is in the midst of her, and
she shall not be moved, and God shall
help her.
And that write early.
Revelation chapter 22, verses 1 and 2.
John says, He showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of
the Lamb.
And then verse 2 tells us that life
was found on either side of this river.
Now you're beginning to understand what this water
is.
Ezekiel chapter 47.
Ezekiel, the prophet saw it as waters coming
out of God's house.
And it was giving life to every dry
and dead place that it touched.
Ezekiel characterized it.
He said, Now, this is not water that
you have to carry.
This is water that can carry you.
This is a force much more powerful than
an argument.
This is something so expansive.
It's something so vast.
Ezekiel said, I see a river coming out,
but I see it expanding.
God was giving him a view of the
church of Jesus Christ from the only perspective
he could understand in his generation.
A river that was going to come from
the throne of God.
And it was going to encompass, as it
is, the whole earth.
And everywhere this river would go, there would
be life would come.
There was healing for the nations to be
found in this water.
Jesus in John 37 and verse 8 brings
it finally to a close and a conclusion.
When he said, If any man believes in
me, out of his inward parts shall flow
rivers of living water.
Now, God said to Moses, Take the water
of this river and pour it on the
dry land.
In other words, take the promises of God.
Take what God says in His word.
And in your prayer time, don't confess your
situation.
Don't talk about what your son or daughter
is doing or not doing.
Start to speak what God is speaking.
Let the word that God has planted deep
within you start to come out of your
mouth in faith.
Begin to pray in faith.
Pray what God says.
As for me and my house, we shall
serve the Lord.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved and thy house.
Start confessing what God's word says.
Get a word in your mouth that comes
from this book and start to pray it.
And start to speak it to your children.
Folks, you don't have any idea what the
power of speech is.
We are the only thing of God's creation
that has the power to speak as God
does.
And God invited Adam in the beginning to
be a co-worker as it is in
the ongoing work of creation.
He would bring the animals to Adam and
say, Adam, what are we going to call
this?
And Adam would give it a name and
that's the name it's still called even to
this day.
Then Adam fell and this ability to speak
as it is became corrupted.
But when we come to Christ, we are
invited now back into this recreative power of
God as it is.
We're invited to speak what God is speaking.
We're invited to call things the way God
calls them.
He calls things that are not as if
they are.
We're invited to call the poor man who
comes into the house of God a mighty
evangelist.
We're invited to call our sons and daughters
what God says they are.
Not what we see with the natural eye,
but what the Holy Spirit is speaking to
us.
Mothers, fathers, get a word from God about
your children.
And pour it on the dry land.
Start speaking to them.
Not in anger.
Not in criticism.
But say this is what God says.
This is your life.
This is where you're going to go.
And there are things you can speak from
this word.
Take these promises out of the river and
pour them on the dry land.
Pour them.
Every day.
That's why Deuteronomy says when you stand up,
when you walk in the way, when you
go to bed at night, when you're walking
with your children by the way, speak of
these things of God.
Pour water on this dry land.
And he says the water which you take
out of the river shall become blood upon
the dry land.
I think of Calvary.
What an incredible illustration of when Jesus was
on the cross and his blood poured out
to the last drop out of his veins
and the wounds in his body.
You can see the blood touching the dry
land at the foot of the cross.
And the power of this blood judged evil.
The power of this blood judges sin.
The power of this blood gives revelation that
the atonement has been paid for all who
come to Christ because God in his mercy
poured out his wrath on his own son
that all might be set free.
The power of the blood of Christ judges
all enemies and sets free everyone who's oppressed.
This water becomes blood.
This water leads as it is to the
blood.
This water brings an understanding of the blood.
This water brings you and it brings me
and it brings our families into an understanding
that God in himself judged sin.
God in himself judged our enemies.
God in himself broke the power of death
and hell in the grave.
God in himself gives hope and life and
causes our enemies to flee.
Pour the water.
Pour it on the dry land.
I don't personally care what any young person
says to me is in their heart or
where they're going or how they feel.
I only care what God is speaking.
And you'll see when you and I begin
to speak what God is speaking.
You will see this water lead to the
blood.
And then you begin to understand that there
is power in the blood of Jesus.
Power to forgive.
Power to heal.
Power to set free.
Power to open an entranceway into a life
that is only possible by the power and
the grace and the mercy of almighty God.
Now Moses, after all of this said what
you and I normally say.
I don't say it anymore.
I have to be honest.
Maybe did at one time.
But he said, oh, Lord, I'm not eloquent.
Neither before here to for nor since you
have spoken to me, spoken to thy servant.
But I'm of slow speech and of a
slow tongue.
You see why?
Why God became angry with this after all
that he had just revealed to him and
spoken to him.
And now he's presenting an excuse as to
why he can't do these things.
And, you know, it's the same for you
and I sit here and hear these types
of words coming to our heart.
We're being confronted as it is with the
call of God that's on our life.
And immediately after all of this revelation, we
come back to this argument.
Well, Lord, I'm not eloquent.
I don't make a mess.
You're telling me to pour this water from
this word on the dry land all around
me.
But I don't know how to do this.
I'm not good at speaking to people.
I get all tongue tied.
And Moses said these words to the Lord
and the Lord said to him, who made
your mouth?
Who makes the dumb or the deaf or
the seeing or the blind?
In other words, who creates all things?
God says, now, therefore, go at verse 12
and I will be with your mouth and
I will teach you what you shall say.
Folks, I believe that this is the call
of God for this church in our generation.
The Lord says, go and I'll be with
your mouth and I'll teach you what you
will say.
I'll be with you.
All folks, I remember when God began to
call me to preach the gospel.
You have to understand.
Now, I suffered nine years of panic attacks.
You have to understand you're looking at a
pastor who used to run out of a
classroom.
If attention would be drawn to me or
the room would focus its attention.
If I didn't run out the door, I'd
pass out.
You talk about grip with fear and then
coming to Christ and the Lord starting to
speak to my heart and saying, I want
to use you for my glory.
And every conceivable excuse wanted to rise in
my heart and say, no, not me.
Moses ends up saying, now, well, that's a
good idea.
Verse 12, verse 13, he says, that's a
terrific idea.
You want to deliver people.
I pray send somebody who can do it.
That's really what he said.
Send somebody who can do it, even after
all that God had spoken to him.
I remember the Lord calling me and by
simple faith and obedience, I began to open
my mouth and speak.
Sometimes I felt like I'd get up to
speak to a little group of people.
I feel like my head was in a
vice.
The longer I spoke, the tighter it got,
but I would keep on speaking.
And somehow, by God's grace, at the end
of it, all people would get saved and
filled with the Holy Ghost.
They'd walk away and say, how did that
happen?
Folks, those that have stepped out in faith,
you know what this is all about.
God is calling you to be a deliverer.
He's calling you.
It's as simple as that.
There are probably, I guess, guessing at about
3,300 people here this morning.
Between the sanctuary and the annex, somewhere in
that vicinity.
And everyone who's in this building, you're called
to be a deliverer.
You're called to bring freedom to your families.
You're not called just to work where you
work.
You're called to be a deliverer where you
work.
You're called to bring the grace of God
in places where nobody else can go but
you, because God has put you there.
And, you know, it's the same in every
generation.
It was this way with Isaiah.
It's this way with many who've followed since
the days of these men and women of
God.
God just looks for the man and looks
for the woman who said, Lord, I'll go.
I'll go and this is going to have
to be you.
Because it isn't going to be me.
I'll go and I'll read your word and
I'll trust you to change me.
I'll trust you to speak to people through
my lifestyle.
I'll trust you to speak to them through
the words you give me.
But I'll go.
I'll go.
I'm not coming to the throne of God
empty handed.
One day.
I'm going to come with the souls of
men and women and children who have been
redeemed from darkness by the blood of the
Lamb, Jesus Christ.
Now, Father, Lord, I know I have delivered
the word that you put in my heart
today.
And Jesus, I'm asking you.
Did you give courage today for those who
have come to this house?
This is Christmas Day.
This was a day about God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten
son.
And, Lord, you're calling us to be witnesses
of this incredible love of God.
You're calling us to go where you've called
us to go and to be what you've
called us to be.
And I pray today, Father, you give great
grace to those who are hearing these words.
Because you've placed the call of a deliverer
on many, many of our lives.
Help us to respond to this.
Let it begin even today as we go
home and we sit at a table with
our families and friends.
Help us, God, to be that which you've
called us to be.
Father, I thank you for this in Jesus'
name.
Now, my other call this morning is very,
very simple.
The Lord says, go and I'll be with
your mouth and I will teach you what
to say.
I want to give an altar call for
those who are still running from their fears
and have not yet realized that your fears
are running from you.
I want to give an altar call today
for those not only running from their fears,
but they've not yet fully understood the change
that God wants to bring about in your
life.
And then lastly, just for those who are
fearful, to step out and be the testimony
for Christ that God is calling you to
be.
Folks, not time to be embarrassed about the
name of Jesus.
It's time to stand for the name of
Christ in our generation.
If God is calling you, if you're backslidden,
you're always welcome to come home to God
in this house.
If you're lost, I encourage you to come
to this altar and give your life to
Jesus Christ.
Receive him as your Lord and Savior.
He promises to forgive your sins and cleanse
you from all unrighteousness.
Let's stand as the orchestra leads us to
the song.
If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you,
would you join me at this altar today,
please?
Balcony, you can slip out, either exit, make
your way to this altar.
And we're going to pray together that this
be a year of deliverance for our families.
Deliverance for our own lives, deliverance for our
workplace.
This be a year when you and I
are soul winners, not just in a pulpit,
but privately in our day-to-day lives.
Come join me here.
We'll pray together.
Thank you, Lord.
I want to speak first to the people
who are here this morning who say, Pastor,
you read from Psalm 107 and that was
me at the beginning.
I'm not even ready to be a testimony.
I'm not free yet myself.
I'm not even sure that I belong to
God.
But you say in your heart today, if
I'm hearing right, I believe that you're telling
me that God loves me and that he
became a man and died on the cross
and paid the price for all the wrong
things that I've done so that I might
be forgiven through his sacrifice if I will
trust in him.
You're telling me that God is willing to
take my life and change me and so
supernaturally give me and make me other than
what I am so change me that I
will be an undeniable testimony to my family
and friends that, God, you do live.
You did rise from the dead, Jesus.
You do sit at the right hand of
power.
Folks, I remember the first time I heard
this, how incredible it seemed.
Could it be true?
Is it possible?
I remember going home one night thinking, is
it possible that I could have another life?
Is it possible that I could be a
different man?
Is it possible this fear and despair could
be taken away from me?
That I could be changed?
And, of course, today I know it to
be a reality.
And if you're here and you're not sure
that you're a Christian and you'd like to
give your life to Jesus Christ today, that's
what Christmas is all about, folks.
God gave his life for you that you
might come back to him and be his
for all of eternity.
That's Christmas.
That's the meaning of Christmas.
God so loved the world he gave his
only begotten son.
Whoever believes in him should not perish but
have everlasting life.
If that's the desire of your heart today,
to receive him as your savior, to trust
him for a new life that will give
you the power to turn away from sin
and to begin to live a life that
is pleasing to God.
If you're looking for fulfillment that you believe,
you've heard a message today that has directed
you to where it can be found.
It's not in a place.
It's a person.
I want to ask you unashamedly right now
just to join me and just raise your
hand up wherever you are.
Just go ahead all through the sanctuary, the
balcony, wherever you are.
Just raise your hand nice and high and
say, Pastor, I'm coming home to Christ.
I'm giving my life to Jesus today.
I want to be a Christian.
I want to be saved.
Thanks be to God for so many who
are responding.
In the annex, I can't see your hands,
but the Holy Spirit sees your hands.
God will receive you.
Give a moment.
Does anybody else who just wants to join
the many now, who made a declaration saying,
I want to come home.
God bless you.
I want to come home to God.
I want to be saved from my sin.
Thanks be to God.
What a difference your life is going to
make today.
What a difference.
Wherever it is that you go, you're going
to be a different person.
I promise you this.
Because when you open your heart to Christ
and confess that you're a sinner, Jesus promises
that the Holy Spirit, who is the third
person of God, is going to come and
he's going to live within you.
And your change becomes, your salvation is a
gift.
And the change becomes a supernatural outworking of
the presence of God within your life.
You simply believe him and he makes it
a reality.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner.
Jesus, I'm sorry that my sin nailed you
to a cross.
And you had to pay a terrible price
for the wrong things that I have done.
I'm thankful that you loved me so much
and you wanted me back so much that
you were willing to pay this price that
I might be forgiven, that I might be
guaranteed that when I die, a place in
heaven will be reserved just for me.
I believe, Jesus, that you are the Son
of God.
I believe that you died to pay the
price for all the wrong things that I
have done.
I believe that on the third day, you
were raised again by the power of God
from the dead as living proof to me
that my trust in you is not in
vain.
I open my heart.
Jesus, I ask you at this very moment
to receive me and to come into my
life and be my Lord and my Savior
because I do this in faith.
And according to your promise to me, I
believe that I am now forgiven.
I believe that I am a child of
God.
I believe that heaven and not hell from
this day forward is my home.
I believe, Jesus, that you and I are
one.
You will use my life for your honor
and for your glory.
I believe at this very moment, I am
saved.
I am saved.
Thank God I am saved.