Free Indeed

INTRODUCTION

It’s Memorial Day Weekend - our minds are the sacrifices made for our freedom

We enjoy freedom as Americans because of the sacrifices made and the lives given.

As believers, we enjoy freedom because of the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross.

No matter what you have believed or been told up to this point in your life

It is God’s will that you live in total freedom

It is God’s will that you develop into exactly who God has planned for you to become

People need freedom from so many different things:

ADDICTION: drugs, tobacco, abuse of prescription medication, sexual addictions

EXCESSES: spending, eating, working, hobbies

HINDRANCES: to your faith - unforgiveness, hurts from your past, an anger problem, jealousy, pride

DISTRACTIONS: that you keep you from your divine assignment - debt, wrong relationships, fear, inferiority complexes

There is a spirt of lack and bondage that is controlling many of God’s people today!

The Israelites experienced bondage when a new Pharaoh that didn’t know Joseph and the hand of God’s blessing upon Egypt that came as a result of his obedience

Exodus 1:8–14 (NKJV)

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.

9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;

10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.

13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

The children of Israel were in lack and bondage for 400 years. Their minds were in BONDAGE about who they really were. These were God’s people, the descendants of Abraham.

Pharaoh had control over their thinking. He had given them a SLAVERY MINDSET.

They had a mindset of NOT ENOUGH

Pharaoh might be long dead, but that spirit he carried - we’ll call it the Spirit of Pharaoh - still exists in the world today and it’s a tool of Satan to keep God’s people bound up and controlled

We need to be free from the Spirit of Pharaoh!

1. You must understand that it’s the enemy’s goal to keep you in a mindset of lack and bondage

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Some saints live with the mentality for much of their lives of “ya’ll pray for me that I hold out until the end

The people of God are destroyed for a LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

I want people to be FREE from the spirit of lack!

A mindset that says, “I can just SURVIVE, I don’t need that much, I don’t deserve ALL that God has for me

If everyone in here had just enough money to pay their bills, no one could give to missions

No one could give to Heart for the House

No one could help the poor

The Gospel could not be preached to the whole earth

If everybody here had just enough PEACE to keep them from punching out their boss at work, they wouldn’t have enough to share with other people!

The Israelites had a MINDSET OF LACK because they had been SLAVES for so long!

God was about to move them from lack - to needs met - to a land of MORE THAN ENOUGH!

More than enough means you are able to do whatever God tells you to do

More than enough means living with all the faith you need to move mountains

More than enough means living with all the joy you need to be strong

More than enough means having all the peace you need to keep a sound mind

2. You must believe that it’s God’s will for you to live in FREEDOM

A. People stumble over passages like Paul’s word to the Philippians:

Philippians 4:11–13 NKJV

11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:19 NKJV

19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

>>Paul is saying I have learned what to do when I encounter lack - I walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, my Provider!<<

B. The Bible is overwhelmed with evidence that God’s people are not to live in lack, but that He is their Provider

Abraham - didn’t have to sacrifice but said in faith: God will provide a lamb. God did and revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh

Isaac - In the year of famine, reaped 100 fold

Joseph - God prepared him so that famine in Egypt didn’t touch him

David said this: I have been young, and now old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread

Solomon’s court: and for all that came unto King Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing

Elijah - had ravens feed him in the wilderness when he lacked food, and had a widow woman feed him when she herself had nothing

Mary - the mother of Jesus, initiated the first miracle of turning water into wine because she knew that He could do something about her lack.

The disciples - Jesus asked them:

Luke 22:35 NLT

35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?” “No,” they replied.

The early church’s testimony:

Acts 4:33–34 ESV

33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold

Paul prayed for the church at Thessalonica:

1 Thessalonians 4:12 NKJV

12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.

James’ prayer for the church at Jerusalem:

James 1:4 NKJV

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

John’s prayer for the First Century Church:

3 John 2 NKJV

2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

God has not CHANGED HIS MIND!

His will is that you live in complete freedom from lack - that your needs be met and that you have some left over to share and meet the needs of other people!

Enough finances

Enough time

Enough patience

Enough wisdom

That we lack absolutely NOTHING!

Pray against the spirit of religion - this spirt and the spirit of bondage go hand in hand. They’re best friends. Religion just has a false spiritual sounding side to it.

“I’m broken in this area of my life because the Lord wants me to learn something” - over spiritualization of your problems

The Lord wants you to learn how to receive from Him all that you need!

What if Moses would have said to the Israelites, “The Lord is using Pharaoh to keep you in slavery so you can learn humility.”

There is no demonic spirit in hell that’s afraid of your religiosity

But when God’s people boldly declare things and are full of faith, they have no hold over those people

3. You must be willing to put action with your faith

If I’m believing for supernatural debt release: I must be responsible to be a good steward of my finances and use wisdom in spending

I need to be a tither (He will REBUKE the devourer for my sake when I tithe!)

I must be a giver

Luke 6:38 NKJV

38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

I can’t be lazy

I must ask in faith

I cannot live in rebellion against God

I must ask the Lord for wisdom and guidance

Q: Who is leading your life?

I want to show you how to be FREE from the Spirit of Pharaoh that is plaguing God’s people

It’s the spirit of lack and bondage

It blocks you from being where God wants you to be!

God had promised the tract of land known today as Israel to Abraham and his descendants. His descendants were not living in slavery. God needed to move them out of bondage into the land that they were supposed to be living in to fulfill his will for their lives.

God wants to bring you out of bondage for a reason - for you to live in the land of freedom (the land of promise)

It is THERE that you are in God’s perfect will!

In ancient Greece it was customary for peddlers who walked the streets with their wares to cry out, “What do you lack?” Their idea was to let people know they were in the vicinity, but also to rouse the curiosity of people who would come out of their houses to see what the peddler was selling. It might be something they lacked and needed, or simply something they desired. “What do you lack?”

Today, we’re going to be FREED from the Spirit of Pharaoh - all lack and all obstacles to freedom!

1. Receive God’s Word about freedom by rejecting the voice of fear

Exodus 3:7–10 NKJV

7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

MOSES HEARD GOD’S VOICE!

Moses immediately had strong, logical objections BECAUSE OF FEAR!

Who am I?

Why do you want me?

Why do you think they will accept me as a leader?

I can’t even speak well!

I’m wanted for murder

Let’s put this into perspective. The last time Moses was in Egypt was 40 years ago. He left because He was wanted for murder.

Now God tells him - I want to deliver my people out of that country and I want you to lead them.

Q: When God speaks to you about being completely free - what does fear try to say?

I’ve had this problem too long

Better people than me have tried to overcome this and still haven’t

I’ve tried this 100 times and can’t get past it

You’ve said: it must not be God’s will for me to be free

Christ brought you out of the pit of sin not just so you can be out, but so that you can LIVE IN THE LAND that He has for you!

There was a time in our marriage where, even though we were saved and even in the ministry, Lauren and I weren’t experiencing God’s best in our lives.

I was mad all the time…just a hot head

We were making some poor financial decisions

Not walking in wisdom

We made some mistakes early on in marriage that we had to deal with for years afterwards

There were times along the way where I thought, “Well, this just some stuff we’re going to have to deal with all our lives.” As if that was Jesus meant by giving us abundant life - that means we get coping mechanisms from Him that help us learn to accept where we are in life.

It wasn’t until we had a mindset change that those bondages began to break in our marriage. The Word of God CHANGED our lives!

If there is a bondage (stronghold) in your life - BREAKTHROUGH BEGINS IN YOUR MIND!

What or who are you listening to about your TRUE FREEDOM?

Your own rational thoughts?

The examples of people around you who have failed?

A doctor or therapist?

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 NKJV

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Carnal weapons - the thoughts and mindset we were given naturally at birth - don’t win spiritual battles.

BY FAITH we cast down arguments that say you can never be free

Cast down everything that exalts its ugly head against what you know about God (that He is greater than anything the devil has)

Control what you let your mind think about - don’t put a bunch of negative garbage in your mind that creates FEAR! Bring your thoughts into captivity!

>Every thought that says, you’ll never be free or that it’s not God’s will for you to be free - CAST IT DOWN!

2. Begin to speak God’s word over your life

Exodus 4:28 NKJV

28 So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.

Finally, Moses was ready to take the next step: Declare what God has put in your heart.

God sent Moses’ brother Aaron so that Moses could have someone he trusted to speak this incredible thing to

UNDERSTAND:

There is a strong connection between what comes out of your mouth and what is in your heart.

Psalm 19:4 NKJV

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

Ephesians 4:29 NKJV

29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

I am the first hearer of what comes out of my mouth!

Proverbs 15:23 NKJV

23 A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

Paul and Silas had the option of what they would say when they were put in the Philippian jail: “We’re never going to get out of here,” “We’re all going to die.” Instead, they sang songs of praise and the Lord set them free!

Lauren catches me sometimes saying things I shouldn’t. Thank God for a wife that keeps me accountable.

Then we have to bind those words!

They weren’t words that perpetuated God’s will

You need to continually speak God’s will of total freedom for your life!

It is God’s will for me to be free from this thing!

It’s God’s will for me to walk in complete freedom!

It’s God’s will for me to be able to do whatever God wants me to do!

DECLARE GOD’S WORD OVER YOUR LIFE!

Speak the Word of God over your life that says you are FREE!

I BIND EVERY SPIRIT OF BONDAGE TO LEAVE MY LIFE

I LOOSE LIBERTY AND FREEDOM IN MY LIFE!

John 8:36 NKJV

36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

> I DECLARE OVER MY LIFE THE SAME MIRACLE THAT HAPPENED TO LAZARUS - THAT NOT ONLY AM I RESURRECTED, BUT I AM LOOSED FROM EVERY BONDAGE!<

3. Be prepared for opposition

Exodus 5:1–2 NKJV

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

Exodus 5:20–21 NKJV

20 Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. 21 And they said to them, “Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Pharaoh (the world) rejects their message.

We can expect this!

Then, their own brothers reject them

Moses spoke God’s word to Pharaoh and of course, Pharaoh did not respect the Lord - Moses was not surprised by this.

However, Pharaoh got angry and ordered that one of the main ingredients for making brick (straw) no longer be supplied to the Hebrews - they had to get it for themselves.

This put the people in a great hardship and of course - Moses is to blame.

They asked the Lord to judge Moses and accused him of putting a sword in the hands of the Egyptians to kill them!

Exodus 6:9 NKJV

9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.

The children of Israel LOST COURAGE over this SETBACK and chose to focus on their problem and not on God’s will for freedom

We tend to become discouraged QUICKLY when we don’t see IMMEDIATE RESULTS!

There are many things that can happen to this WORD you’ve been TODAY. It depends on two things:

Is your heart receptive to the Word of God?

Will you care for the seed that has been planted?

If you do not understand what has been sown - it will quickly be snatched away

You receive it with joy but do not care for it and there is no root, tribulation or persecution will uproot it

You receive it but the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and it dies.

OR

4. You have a heart open to this and you CARE for this word by meditating on it and doing what this message talks about

DON’T QUIT!

Napoleon told his bugler to sound the retreat. The young boy showed nothing but confusion on his face. “You have never asked me to play that before and I do not know how to play it.” Napoleon, so moved by this answer, said, “then sound the advance!”

4. Expect the strong hand of God to deliver you

Exodus 6:1 NKJV

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

A. You must first be responsible for your part:

Hear God’s voice about freedom by rejecting the voice of fear

Begin to declare God’s Word over your life

Be prepared for opposition

B. Watch God’s hand begin to MOVE:

One by one, God began to send plagues against the Egyptians

One by one, Go dis going to begin showing you His power!

C. After Moses did his part by faith, it was the strong hand of God that delivered them!

It was Moses hand that held the outreached staff toward the Red Sea, but it was God’s strong hand that parted it

It was the Israelite’s shout around Jericho - but God’s hand that brought the walls down

It was Elijah’s hand that built the altar - but it was God’s hand that brought down the fire

It was Peter’s hand that reached down to the cripple at the Gate Beautiful, but it was the strong hand of God that lifted him up

DO YOUR PART IN FAITH - THEN WATCH GOD’S STRONG HAND!!

5. Depend on the blood covenant you have with Jesus

Exodus 12:12–13 NKJV

12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And 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.

A. God told Moses to initiate something new called the Passover. He told him that the death angel was going to kill the firstborn in every home that did not have a special marking on the doorpost.

Each family must kill a firstborn lamb and apply its blood over the doorpost. Then the angel would see the blood and “Passover” that house.

Their faith in God’s plan for the blood would save their firstborn and would be the last miracle before the EXODUS

Your faith in God’s plan for the blood ofJesus that was shed at Calvary is the KEY to making FREEDOM possible in your life!

EVERY home had to have the blood over the doorpost. Why?

The Egyptians believed in an eternal afterlife, and this affected their architecture. Egyptian archaeologists have discovered that the only structures built with stone were their temples and tombs. Because their present life was temporary, all their homes were built with a temporary material - mud brick - with one exception, the doorposts of the homes. The doorposts were also made out of stone because they could inscribe their names on their homes as a sign of ownership and so their name would go into eternity with them. When Jacob’s family moved to Egypt, they were tent dwellers, but it didn’t take long for them to adopt the Egyptian culture and then in slavery, they were forced to build their homes the same way as the Egyptians.

So when God required the Israelites to paint the doorpost of their home with the blood of the Passover Lamb, He was asking them to cover their name, their identity with the blood of the Lamb. It was a symbol of God’s DELIVERANCE from evil!

B. When you accept Christ as your Savior, the blood that Jesus shed for you was a covering over your ENTIRE IDENTITY! Your OLD IDENTITY IS GONE!

God doesn’t see your old name - He only sees the blood of HIS SON! Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.

Your old name over your house used to be SINNER - but now it’s covered by the BLOOD!

Your old name over your house used to be ADDICT - but now it’s covered by the BLOOD!

Your name was SLAVE TO SIN - but now it’s covered!

Your old name was SLAVE TO DEBT - but now...

Your old name was GUILTY, but now...

Your old name was DEPRESSED and DISCOURAGED, but now...

I DECLARE THAT THE SPIRIT OF PHARAOH, THE SPIRIT OF LACK AND BONDAGE IS BROKEN!