TODAY YOUR FREEDOM BEGINS

The title of my message is “Today, Your Freedom Begins.” That’s “Today,” not tomorrow, not next year.
We’ll start in Exodus 4:29–31: “Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.”

The people of Israel were in captivity for 400 years. They'd never known anything but a dominant oppressive culture telling them when to wake and sleep and how to think and worship. I’m sure they lived under constant mockery, being told they were supposed to be the people of God: “If that is true, why are you being dominated by us? Where's the strength of your God?”

Today, we fight those voices all of the time. The Devil swoops in and says if we were a child of God, we wouldn’t be struggling. He asks us where our all-powerful God is. The signs in these verses were given to the people so they might believe God was with them. Aaron’s actions provided hope for freedom in Christ, and the people of Israel believed and worshiped because of him. I’m here for the same reason as Moses and Aaron—to tell you you can be free.

The people of Israel were held captive by one of the world's most powerful military nations of that particular era. One day, two men in their 80s walk in, and one has a stick in his hand. The other has a stutter so bad he can hardly speak. He needs his brother to deliver the messages that God placed on his heart. In other words, Moses and Aaron are not symbols of strength. These older men are not going to fight with the Egyptian army and free the captives. They’re weak. In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul the Apostle says, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God needs to get us out of the way so He can be God and show His power. When we’re strong, God gets no glory. When we’re weak, another generation can see Him be God one more time.

Exodus 4:1–5 says, “Then Moses answered and said, ‘But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, “The Lord has not appeared to you.”’ So the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A rod.’ And He said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail’ (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ‘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 to you.’”

Moses was afraid of snakes, and the fear sent him in the opposite direction. We all have fears that want to dominate our lives and make us run. God needed a man who was not going to run. God needed someone who was going to face his fears, so he told Moses to grab the snake’s tail. Immediately, when Moses’ hand made contact with the serpent, it became a rod. This story symbolizes that as believers, we don’t walk by fear; we walk by faith. We don't walk by natural strength; we walk by the fact that we have confidence in our Savior.

Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Verses 8 and 9 say, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

Face your fears. I know all about facing my fears; many of you know my story. I suffered from panic attacks for nine years, running away from this serpent, downing pills and whiskey. It was Hell on earth, even putting me in the hospital. One night, in the midst of one of these panic attacks, Christ came into my life. I went to my living room, and instead of running from the serpent, I moved towards it. I said: “Satan, you can only kill me if God allows you to, and if He does, Heaven is my home tonight. So either way, I win.” I've shared hundreds of times that I felt a heat hit my feet, go through my legs, go through my torso, through my chest, through the top of my head, and out of my body, and I was delivered in one minute from nine years of Hell. I took the snake by the tail, which became a rod in my hand. I've stood in places worldwide and told people, “You don't have to be afraid.” Until we face our fears, we have no authority. Your fear might be rejection, public speaking, or depression. I don't know what it is, but there's a point where you have to face it.

The people of Israel who walked into this camp of captivity weren’t special; they failed in much of what they were supposed to do. However, they faced their fears in the strength of their God. They declared to the world’s most powerful army leader: “Let my people go!” I think Pharaoh didn't kill them on the spot because the situation was such a joke. His disbelief let the fight get far enough that he couldn’t kill them. At that point, it would make Pharaoh look weak. It’s amazing how God’s plan works. The people whom the Lord healed in Exodus 4 are just like us.

Our opening verses mention the signs that were done before the people. The first sign is to face your fears. Everyone around you will see you are no longer being governed by what scares you. When God is with you, you are no longer afraid. You can take the serpent by the tail and let it become a rod of God’s authority in your hand. Then you can tell people, “You don’t have to be afraid. God will not fail you. God will not forsake you.”

Exodus 4:6–8 says: “Furthermore the Lord said to him, ‘Now put your hand in your bosom.’ And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. And He said, ‘Put your hand in your bosom again.’ So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh. ‘Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign.’”

Depravity, disease, and corruption in every human heart make us believe we cannot change. Remember, Paul said in Romans 7:18–20: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” In verses 24 and 25, he says, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The second sign is being a new creation in Christ. Our minds, hearts, and attitudes change. The old things that governed a life have passed away; behold, God's grace has made all things new. I'm not everything God's called me to be, but I thank God I'm not what I used to be. I've changed. I'm not controlled by fear anymore; a transformation happened in my heart and life that can only be attributed to God. This sign is for those on Earth who are not yet in a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Exodus 4:8–9 brings us to the third sign. The verses say: “Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the latter sign. And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.”

This message is ours. God came to get you 2000 years ago and went to the cross. The purest living water ever known to man is the words that came from the mouth of Jesus Christ. He promised those who turned to Him that we would become partakers of this living water out of our inward parts because of His presence in our lives. The Son of God was given for our forgiveness and redemption on a cross, and His blood was spilled on the dry land. Every drop of the Son of God’s blood must've been like a cannon shot in the years of the Devil as it hit the ground. He might've not fully understood what was happening, but something catastrophic was destroying his kingdom, and something wonderful was happening to people in captivity. They became free.

God was going to send to those people through the ages as He is doing for you today. He was going to send people who were not driven by their fears and whose lives were being supernaturally changed by the power of God. The presence of God is changing things they could not change within themselves, and they're going to bring you a message of how this all happened 2000 years ago. The Son of God took your place on the cross and suffered the punishment that you deserve for the way you have lived your life. The Bible calls it sin when you're living your life in rebellion to God’s ways. The blood that dripped out of Jesus’ body was the sacrifice paid so you might be forgiven.

The sin and darkness in your life can be broken. You can have a promise of eternal life the day you die and abundant life on this side of eternity. Praise the Lord! We’ll finish with verses 30 and 31 of Exodus 4: “And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.”

You may still be in captivity, and you may still need to leave Egypt. Even if it sounds like a faint whisper in the dust, God's promise to you is: “Today, your freedom begins.