Gestures of Godliness
Pastor David T. Elms 4/13/2025
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56:09
Summary
Pastor David T. Elms explores the theme of 'Gestures of Godliness,' illustrating how simple human acts of faith, like Moses casting down his staff, trigger divine power and point toward our ultimate deliverance from time into eternity.
Key points
- •The Bible is fundamentally a narrative of deliverance, moving from bondage and sin toward God's ultimate freedom.
- •True deliverance is not merely a past event or a temporary miracle, but the ultimate transition from time into eternity.
- •Human gestures (like raising hands, bowing, or Moses throwing down his staff) become divine edicts when offered in obedience and faith.
- •The staff of Moses represents how God takes the simple tools in our hands and uses them to demonstrate his silent supremacy over the enemy.
- •Deliverance can be experienced in three phases: anticipated, actualized, and remembered.
Scripture
Deliverance
Faith and Obedience
Palm Sunday
Spiritual Authority
Life application
This week, identify the 'staff' in your hand (the simple tools or situations you possess) and intentionally offer them to God through a physical gesture of worship or a specific act of obedience, trusting that he will use your small expression to perform his work.
Reflection questions
- What are some 'remembered deliverances' in your life that you need to stop and celebrate today?
- What is 'in your hand' right now that you have been hesitant to surrender to God's direction?
- How does viewing your praise as a 'divine edict' rather than just a 'human expression' change the way you worship?
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Full transcript
0:00to have you back the place of your birth
0:00in Jesus name. Amen. Turn to your
0:01neighbors, nudge them and say we're
0:03going to hear about gestures of
0:05godliness,
0:09[Music]
0:14gestures of godliness. You may be seated
0:16in Jesus name.
0:21Hallelujah.
0:26The Bible is a book about deliverance.
0:31It is
0:32insistent in telling the story of
0:36deliverance. How man was in bondage and
0:38God is pushing to set him free. how man
0:42embraces and falls in sin and God keeps
0:46showing up and cancelling the power of
0:48sin to save man from his headlong
0:52rendevous with death, hell, and the
0:56grave. And of
0:58course, sin keeps showing back up. The
1:02world that we live in is a fallen world.
1:05Man falls and God lifts. Man sins and
1:08God saves.
1:10Man is oppressed and God sets the
1:13oppressed captive free. Man is put in
1:17prison and the Lord makes a way to
1:20escape
1:21it. So the entirety of the scripture is
1:25about deliverance from Noah's floating
1:28zoo with its stories of rainbows and
1:31ravens, doves, and dry ground on top of
1:34Mount Ararat. If you've been following
1:37the archaeological pages recently,
1:39you'll know that they have uh pretty
1:41much confirmed that they've discovered
1:44Noah's ark. It's been a long process
1:46dealing with the litigation of the
1:48governments of that part of the world.
1:50But it has come out this this
1:54fable about an
1:56ark happens to be validated by
1:59archaeologist.
2:01Archaeologist. Isn't that something?
2:04And then the story of Daniel's den. Uh
2:07you used to call it the lion's den, but
2:09after you read the story, you realize
2:11it's not the lion's den. It was Daniel's
2:13den after all.
2:15Daniel or the lions were in Daniel's
2:18den. And then the story of three Hebrew
2:21children in a fiery furnace. It was
2:24about
2:26deliverance. The story of the demoniac
2:29known to live in a place, a graveyard in
2:31Gera. and reading about the liberation
2:34that he had from Legion's terrible
2:37demonic
2:38influence until when he gets up and
2:41leaves clothed and in his right mind and
2:43goes back
2:44home. It was
2:47deliverance. Prodal in the pig pin
2:50finding out that father still cares.
2:54Deliverance. Lazarus happened to write a
2:57song that we just discovered recently.
2:59He called my name and I came out of that
3:01grave.
3:03So we understand the Bible is about
3:06deliverance. And in our text we read
3:08about the tediums and the tantrums of
3:11Moses. Moses that great leader bringing
3:15the people of God out of
3:17Israel. Life is awesome. I love life.
3:23I love life. I love living.
3:26I thank God for sweet tea.
3:32I appreciate peach cobbler.
3:37I appreciate Cracker Barrel.
3:41I prayed that Cracker Barrel that you
3:43eating over Sheridan 75. That was a
3:45God's gift specifically to me.
3:49Specifically, I don't know if you know
3:51about that, but when I moved there,
3:53there was the closest Cracker Barrel was
3:54in West Palm.
3:57And there were some folks in South
3:58Florida who made a day to Cracker
4:00Barrel. They left up here and went up
4:03there just to get some.
4:07I pass by it all the time and say, "I
4:09know what's there.
4:10Calories are there.
4:16I really enjoy Cracker
4:19Barrel. I love living. Uh I hate
4:25death. But life is something that is uh
4:28very interesting. And the reason you're
4:30in church today is because of this thing
4:32called deliverance. Now what I want to
4:34tell you is that we have preached
4:35deliverance in many ways. We've talked
4:38about deliverance at many seasons. Um
4:41but deliverance as the scripture
4:45presents it has not yet occurred. It
4:48hasn't happened to you nor to
4:50me. Because the greatest deliverance of
4:53all is not the deliverance from my
4:56sin. It's not the deliverance from my
4:59faults and my
5:00failures. The greatest deliverance is
5:04when I am delivered from time
5:10and I am put into heaven's eternity.
5:14That hasn't happened yet. You see, I've
5:16got this this need to take vitamins in
5:19the morning. I don't know if you guys
5:20know this. As I begin to discover more
5:23of my youth, I need more things to add
5:25to my
5:26youth. Listen, I used to think that
5:29supersonic meant how fast the rockets
5:31fly up in Cape Canaveral. But now I
5:34realize that supersonic is just my
5:36decision on where I'm going to get
5:38lunch. Soup or sonic.
5:44I'm going through these phases of life
5:46and adding things to me. Last night, I
5:48had a brand new thing added to my
5:51reality. I've had these unique
5:54sensations occurring. And I asked my
5:57wife and my children who are all medical
6:03practitioners. What's going on? And they
6:05discerned that I needed magnesium.
6:10[Applause]
6:11So if somehow there's vibrations of
6:14electricity that come off me today, I am
6:16now involved in taking magnesium.
6:24I have been healed of migraine
6:26headaches. God healed me from the kind
6:29of intensities that a few people in this
6:31church know about. And God help every
6:33one of you that still fight them.
6:35They're real. They're debilitating. They
6:39will absolutely lay you out to where you
6:42cannot even hardly carry conversation
6:44on. I had those and I remember as a kid
6:49needing deliverance from them and I did
6:50crazy things to get deliverance which I
6:53I'm not going to share with you. Then
6:55you'll officially know that I'm brain
6:57damaged.
6:59But the things that you'll do to get
7:01freedom from pain is crazy.
7:05And when you find something that helps,
7:08you'll find that uh you'll use that. But
7:11I remember uh telling uh hearing some
7:15preaching that the Lord will heal you
7:17and and it doesn't always happen in the
7:20prayer line. Sometimes it happens on a
7:22car drive or it happens before you go to
7:25bed. You don't realize it till two
7:26months later and realize
7:29I was healed
7:31right then.
7:35I've been delivered from migraine
7:37headaches. And the only way I know I've
7:38been delivered, it was one time when I
7:40had one so bad. I laid hands on myself.
7:45And I spoke to my headache and I said,
7:49"You don't have dominion over me. My God
7:52is a healer. I command you to be gone in
7:55Jesus name." It didn't go right then.
8:00Suddenly, all I know is that after that
8:03day, I have never had one since that
8:07day. And I say that
8:10publicly in Jesus name.
8:14I've been healed from that. I call down
8:16rain from
8:17heaven. I'm trying to get you to be
8:19impressed with me. You
8:21see, I will always remember when we were
8:24having a time of great great lack of
8:26rain in Charlotte, North Carolina, and
8:28we were building. My dad was building
8:29this church, uh, the church in Charlotte
8:32and the one they're still in right now,
8:33if you've ever visited that church, I
8:35was involved in that process. And, uh,
8:37we had just laid some grass and we were
8:39going to have to not get our, uh, uh,
8:42occupancy license unless the grass grew
8:45and we couldn't afford sod. Uh, you
8:47know, you couldn't just bring it in. We
8:49had to wait for the grass to grow. And
8:50there was no rainfalling, none. And I
8:53remember I would drive to to the church
8:55property after school at Garinger and go
8:57work there to get things moving forward,
8:59either shovels or digging or concreting
9:02or jackhammering or hammering. And we
9:05needed rain so bad at this point that
9:07the walls had gone up. I was getting
9:09pretty good at walking on studs. You
9:11know, you just walk and you put the wall
9:13up. I was I was throwing all that stuff,
9:15helping learning how to be a carpenter.
9:17Don't think I know how. Don't tell
9:18Sister Elms that. Okay.
9:22But I remember thinking we need rain so
9:24bad. And I was on my way to G to the
9:27property from Garinger going down Sharon
9:30Road. Uh not Sharon Road. That was right
9:32there on uh Shamrock, turning left off
9:35Eastway onto Shamrock. And when I got to
9:37that intersection from Eastway to
9:39Shamrock, I told the Lord, I said,
9:41"Lord, if that you could call down rain
9:44before, then I'm going to call down rain
9:47now. We need rain bad. I know it's hot
9:51and there's not a cloud in the sky, but
9:53I'm going to call down rain. I went
9:56parked
9:58my Chevy Monza with louvers on the back
10:02window and sheep skin covers on my
10:06belure seats.
10:12Y'all don't know how to appreciate
10:13goodness.
10:15I wish somebody knew how to appreciate
10:17this. This was fine ride. Square lights,
10:23not round.
10:28I have some witnesses in the house that
10:30realize when you got to the square
10:32lights, you were somebody.
10:38When I got to that the property, it was
10:40so hot. I always left my windows cracked
10:43so it wouldn't be so hot when I got
10:44back. But I said,
10:47"Lord, I told you I asked that it would
10:51rain and I commanded clouds and so I'm
10:54going to put some faith into action. I
10:58am purposefully not going to roll up my
11:01windows. I mean roll down my windows
11:03because it's going to rain while I work
11:05today." There was not a cloud in the
11:07sky. I lie
11:11not. While I was working about an hour
11:14later, the first drop that fell was on
11:17my shoulder. I literally thought someone
11:20had tapped me on the shoulder. I turned
11:22around to see somebody and about time I
11:24turned around, another drop went
11:29and it started coming down and they
11:31said, "Well, we we got to run close our
11:34windows."
11:38You're going to see this replayed at my
11:41presidential museum when you get to
11:44heaven. Everyone who goes to heaven is
11:47going to have, I believe, their own
11:49museum of how you got over.
11:53You're going to have replays and re
11:56remakes and moments that you thought
11:58nobody was watching, but God was filming
12:00in 3D 8K highdefin surround sound, Dolby
12:07sound, and it's going to blow your mind
12:09when you walk back through your life of
12:11how he brought you out.
12:15[Applause]
12:21deliverances. But right now, my mom's
12:23fighting a
12:25sickness that is
12:28real. She's healthy in her body, but
12:30she's fighting other
12:32sicknesses. Makes me
12:36mad. Makes me
12:38angry. Uh there's other situations that
12:43I don't have a miracle story for for you
12:45to give you right now.
12:48They just show
12:50up and
12:52uh you say, "Where's the
12:55power?" And you grab that old song,
12:57"Lord, send the power just now. Oh Lord,
13:01send the power just now." Well, you had
13:02it, didn't you? You called down
13:04rain. You had it. You've been healed of
13:06migraines. Yeah. But here's the thing,
13:08ladies and gentlemen. I've not been
13:10delivered yet.
13:13Shakespeare called it much a do about
13:15nothing.
13:17McBth's he said life is a tale told by
13:20an idiot full of sound and fury
13:22signifying nothing. The thing about
13:25deliverance is until you need it, you're
13:27kind of bored with it.
13:29Maybe not
13:31you, maybe not you. Maybe you're one of
13:33those that really celebrate everyone
13:38else's deliverances.
13:41you go out of your way and you take the
13:43time and you show how much you're glad
13:46that they were
13:49delivered. But a lot of times if it's
13:52not you that needs the deliverance,
13:55you're going to have to maybe take some
13:57time and schedule that in because you're
13:58not even sure whose birthday you can
14:01make. You're not even sure you can pause
14:03to celebrate an
14:05anniversary. You're you're so busy with
14:08the important things you've got to do.
14:10You're not so sure you can celebrate the
14:12coming of something magnificent.
14:16I mean, you don't even maybe remember
14:18the day you got the Holy Ghost.
14:20It's just somewhere back there it
14:22happened, but you don't really need to
14:23celebrate it because box check, deed,
14:26done, finished with that.
14:30Here's the thing. Until you need
14:32deliverance,
14:35you don't realize how great deliverance
14:37is.
14:39But when I'm the one that's bound and
14:41oppressed and locked out and shut off
14:43and chained down and banished away and
14:46my voice has been silenced and my breath
14:49is stifled and I need to be free. Now
14:55things change.
14:58When you were the one who didn't have a
14:59job and you needed a job and you did
15:02everything you could to get a job, when
15:04God finally gives a job,
15:12Either you think it was because of your
15:14resume
15:16or you know
15:18God got me through.
15:22Now, isn't it curious how some of us
15:24have already had that miracle and then
15:25now we're back in another need.
15:29So, you can't even remember the
15:30deliverances you had because of the
15:32deliverances that you presently need.
15:36So, here we are. We're free. We're part
15:40of the kingdom of God. Or you're in
15:43church today. You're healthy enough to
15:44be here. Maybe you just had a bad
15:46diagnosis and that brought you to the
15:48house of the Lord. That's okay. Many of
15:50us are serving the Lord because of that.
15:52There's nothing wrong with coming to the
15:54Lord because you're desperate. All of
15:56us.
16:01All of us were desperate when we came to
16:03Jesus. Anybody who's come and cool, come
16:06and
16:07[Music]
16:09collected. Sounds like my horn on my
16:11Cybert truck.
16:15No, you come to him because you need
16:19him.
16:23I need thee.
16:24Oh, I need thee.
16:30Every
16:32hour I need thee.
16:37Oh, bless me now, my
16:41[Music]
16:43savior. I
16:46come. See, see, see.
16:49[Music]
16:50Some people, that's an old song that
16:52just got dust on it. But to There's
16:54others of us who realize that there was
16:57something that happened on that day. If
17:00it's just a song to you, God bless you.
17:02I'm glad you're here. But there's some
17:04of us that it's not just a song. It goes
17:07to a different place because we were the
17:10one that was bound.
17:14[Applause]
17:17Now, yesterday was Passover for all of
17:20Israel. All of the Jewish people who are
17:23celebrating tradition or remembrance, it
17:26was Passover. And from dusk and uh on
17:30Friday to dusk on Saturday, they
17:32celebrated that moment that God
17:35delivered them from Egypt.
17:37Today for Christianity is Palm Sunday.
17:41And Palm Sunday was a celebration of
17:43when Jesus entered. They called it the
17:46triumphant entry when he entered on the
17:48back of a colt that had never been
17:50ridden. And he's riding this this colt
17:53into Jerusalem. This is seven days
17:56before he gonna he's going to resurrect,
17:58but he's going into Jerusalem. And there
18:01the people know he's coming. And they
18:03start gathering around him and shouting,
18:06"Hosana, hosana, blessed is he who comes
18:09in the name of the Lord." But their
18:11voice wasn't enough. So some went and
18:13got palm branches and took them down.
18:16And you know it's nice when we have
18:18these self-p pruning palms,
18:23but if you have ever had a tree that's
18:25not a self-p pruning palm, you know
18:28getting a palm off a tree is difficult.
18:33All of us palm owners, we know what
18:35we're talking about. The most of America
18:38that's watching online have no clue
18:41about the cost of pruning a palm.
18:45But I want you to know if you've ever
18:46had to deal with palms, even when
18:48they're dead, they're hanging on.
18:51Very few self-p pruning,
18:55okay? They go and get palm
18:58branches and then they take their
19:01garments off their back and lay them on
19:02the trail in front of the Lord.
19:07Now, why do they do this? Is there
19:10anywhere in the scripture that says you
19:13must get a palm frrawn and wave it
19:17before the Lord? It's not in the
19:18scripture. How about laying your
19:21garments down so that the donkey, the
19:24cult he's riding, can walk on cloth? I
19:29mean, the what's the deal? It was just
19:31merely gestures. That's really what they
19:34were. They were
19:37gestures for the Lord. They were symbols
19:41of the song of their heart. They had
19:44been delivered. Now, some who had not
19:47been delivered thought it was over the
19:48top and they said, "This is uh a little
19:52too much here. Um, we're not going to
19:54make your religion very attractive if
19:56you do this. We've consulted with the
19:58committees in Jerusalem and we need to
20:00pipe it down just a tad. This is too
20:03much. The palms have gone too much.
20:05upstairs. They did they get a Did they
20:07get a permit to pull those palms down?
20:10Uh and and then those putting garments
20:13on the road. Don't you know that's like
20:15littering? How are we going to get them
20:16back up? Are you going to wear them? We
20:19didn't get a permit for application for
20:21this moment. Then calm down. Your voices
20:24are too loud.
20:27The key is they have been delivered.
20:30That's right. And when you've been
20:32delivered, you don't always have a box
20:35to check and a list to make. You just
20:39have a gesture, a smile, a tear, a
20:43hallelujah, a waving of the hand.
20:46Sometimes a jump. Sometimes you're just
20:49nod your head. And to those who don't
20:52know, that's just a lot of nothing. It's
20:56just a lot of noise making. But if
20:59you've ever been delivered, it's not
21:03just noise. It's not just waving. It's
21:08not just hand clapping. It's not just
21:11singing. It's I love him and I got to do
21:16something about it.
21:20[Applause]
21:28Hallelujah. And so we have deliverance
21:32as the object and I want to be delivered
21:34one day. If I have preached to others
21:36and I myself become a cast away,
21:41then it doesn't matter how many times
21:42I've talked in tongues and been healed
21:44of headaches,
21:46been delivered from cancer or raised
21:49from the dead.
21:51If after I've been healed from
21:54lame lameness or some kind of crippling
21:58disease, if I am a cast
22:01away, I will not have been delivered.
22:05because nobody in this building has been
22:07delivered yet. For those of you that
22:10have a cocky confidence that you got it
22:12like that, would you please wake up and
22:14smell the truth?
22:19We haven't made it until we're delivered
22:20from time or Paul wouldn't have wrote
22:22what he wrote.
22:24That's the reason your praise still
22:26matters. Well, you don't know how I was
22:28praising in the 70s. I was in a better
22:31church at one time and I really shouted
22:33at that better church.
22:36I had a better pastor. He really was
22:38strong. So, I really obeyed then. Okay.
22:44God bless you. I don't know why you're
22:46not still there.
22:54Because truth matters.
22:57Are you true with yourself? or your
22:59truth with the person in the mirror. If
23:01you've talked in tongues, which by the
23:03way, if you're not born of the water and
23:04the spirit, you certainly won't be
23:06delivered.
23:08If you're not coming out from this world
23:10and being separate, you're not going to
23:13be delivered. I don't care how long you
23:16talk in tongues. He said, "Come out from
23:18the world and be ye separate, sayeth the
23:19Lord. Touch not the unclean thing, and I
23:23will receive you." Amen.
23:27So if you're living like the world all
23:28week long and you're acting like a
23:30Pentecostal on Sunday morning, you will
23:32not be received.
23:38It's about deliverance, not Pentecostal
23:41style. It's about deliverance. It's
23:44about being set free from
23:51time. So there's three kinds of uh
23:54deliverance. There's anticipated
23:56deliverance. There's actualized
23:58deliverance. There's remembered
24:00deliverance. Anticipated deliverance is
24:02what blind Barnameus had when he came to
24:04Jesus and said, "Jesus, Jesus, have
24:06mercy upon me. Thou son of David, have
24:09mercy upon me." Somebody told him,
24:16"This is my time to
24:18sing." Somebody told me about the joy
24:23they had.
24:26Somebody told me that in sorrow they
24:31could be
24:33glad. Somebody told me that they were
24:37blind, but now they
24:40see I didn't think it could be until it
24:44happened to me.
24:50I got to let y'all remember Andre
24:52Crouch. Okay. I don't want a church so
24:55new you don't know the old
25:00anticipated deliverance. When the Lord
25:04delivers me, really going to be
25:06something for you to see. When the Lord
25:08sees me through, he's going to make my
25:10life brand new. When the Lord brings me
25:14out, he really going to be something to
25:16shout about. I don't have no doubt that
25:19the Lord's going to
25:23anticipated
25:25deliverance. Then there's actualized
25:26deliverance. Somebody here remembers
25:28when you were bound and and now you can
25:30say free at last. Free at last. Thank
25:33God Almighty. I'm free at last. Look at
25:38you now. What once held you doesn't hold
25:42you anymore. What once bound you doesn't
25:45bind you anymore. You have ex actually
25:49experienced
25:51deliverance. Then there's remembered
25:53deliverance. You have been delivered.
25:56And since you have been delivered, you
25:58will never forget it. And that's really
26:01what Passover was all about. What they
26:04celebrated yesterday in all of Israel.
26:06And if you had a newspaper or you saw
26:08it, happy Passover. That was what it was
26:11all about. A remembering of deliverance.
26:13And you know I if you hear all of those
26:16anti-God people that talk about how they
26:19don't believe the Bible, they don't
26:21believe God, you know, and they have all
26:24their uh phrases about how uh the Bible
26:27is a mess, you know, that God's going to
26:30only save 144,000 Jews. I hope you know
26:33all of those things that people
26:35say that they're they they know their
26:37Bible. Don't act like they don't know
26:39their Bible. They're just not
26:40interpreting it with truth.
26:43Okay. And so I if you've been uh
26:46appreciation and all that people that
26:49celebrated Passover yesterday, they many
26:52say it was fables. It doesn't. But let
26:54me tell you what it's not. It's not
26:55nothing.
26:59Write it off. Explain it away. Say it's
27:01not real. Say it's not nothing. If you
27:04say what it's not, what is it then?
27:08Could Could somebody tell me what it is
27:10then? because it's not nothing. Amen.
27:13And that why Palm Sunday, we celebrate
27:15that day and those people shout on that
27:17day because one week from today is
27:19resurrection Sunday. He rose. Now you
27:22may say, "I'm a believer of fables, but
27:24let me tell you what it's not. It's not
27:26nothing.
27:29[Applause]
27:35How far did the Lord have to go to save
27:37you? Your filthy mouth.
27:41your filthy mind,
27:44your foul language. How far down did he
27:47have to go? You know, your Sunday
27:49mornings haven't always looked like
27:50this.
27:51The Jack you used to drink. The drinks
27:54you used to mix. The coke you used to
27:57snort. The weed you used to smoke. The
28:01pills you used to take. The slipping and
28:04a sliding. The peeping and a hiding that
28:07little Richard used to sing about that
28:10you yourself and you know about. You
28:15know you're a miracle.
28:17You know you're here by a miracle.
28:20You know, had it not been for the Lord,
28:23you would be broken, busted, and even
28:26more than a disgusted.
28:28You know, had it not been for the Lord,
28:30you'd be vertical and not horizontal.
28:33You know, the Lord kept you alive.
28:36Well, that brings me to our
28:38text. And I have this great story. In
28:41fact, I love that video that they
28:43presented about little kids telling the
28:44Easter story because if we would have
28:46turned brother Mike loose, we would have
28:48heard a little boy's edition of Moses's
28:51talk with
28:53God. Moses, I don't need to replay the
28:55whole story for you, but for 430 years,
28:58Israel had been in Egypt and arose a
29:01Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. And now
29:05they were slaves and slavery was their
29:08plight. And they had task masters, which
29:11is a fancy word to say slave drivers,
29:15people that were positioned just to make
29:18sure that they were on the edge of pain
29:21as they did what they were supposed to
29:23do. And of course, the story of Moses is
29:26long. He has been 40 years raised in the
29:30the education of Pharaoh, living in the
29:33palace of Pharaoh. At 40, he's forced to
29:36leave Egypt and he goes and becomes a
29:38shepherd. And for 40 years, he's a
29:41shepherd. Moses is now 80 years old on
29:44the backside of Sinai. And God starts
29:47talking to him from a fire in a bush and
29:51he's 80 years
29:52old. You grew up in Pharaoh's house.
29:55You're now shephering sheep. But I'm
29:58about to give you the biggest assignment
30:00you've ever had.
30:02I need you to go tell the slaves that
30:06they were not born for slavery.
30:09Now, I know we say that Moses was the
30:11deliverer, but Moses was not the
30:14deliverer.
30:16That Moses administered
30:18miracles, but the miracles were not why
30:22Moses existed.
30:24Moses is a messenger from God to tell
30:28his people you were not born for
30:32slavery.
30:33Tell my people that Egypt is not your
30:36home. Go tell the people that this world
30:40is not who you were created to be.
30:43Ladies and gentlemen, if you've ever
30:45gone out into this old world and all you
30:47got to do is go to the mall, go to
30:49events, go to shows, go anywhere, and
30:53you will feel a pressure from this world
30:57that is not in this house right here.
31:00And when you go, I'm not saying not to
31:02be in this world, be in it. But you got
31:04to understand something. This world is
31:06not your home. You're just passing
31:09through. Your greatest deliverance will
31:12be when you're delivered from time.
31:18Go tell Moses to let my people
31:24go. You're supposed to be my
31:27mouthpiece. Moses says, "Oh, but Lord,
31:30how in the
31:32world are they going to know that you
31:35said it?"
31:38Well, don't you know if you say it with
31:39the right phraseology,
31:43thus saith the Lord,
31:47he that seeth thee, then they'll believe
31:50you. No, no, no, no, no. I know all the
31:54phraseology of
31:55churchology, and some people employ it
31:58better better than others. Some use it
32:01as a leverage to make them have status
32:03among the saints.
32:05But let me tell you, it doesn't mean you
32:07have power
32:09because all of those things are cut
32:12through by truth.
32:15He had words, but it wasn't
32:17enough. Oh, God, I need more. And that's
32:21where this comes into
32:25play. Now, why does Moses have a
32:29staff? Everybody say he's 80 years old.
32:38I know the glorious version would be,
32:40well, he's got a heart of a shepherd.
32:43He's been, "Yeah, shepherds had staffs.
32:45I will
32:46agree." But at some point, the staff is
32:49more for me than for
32:52thee. I need this to help me get around.
32:56I don't have handicap parking everywhere
32:58I go.
33:01I don't have a ramp to move my way up
33:03the stairs.
33:05There's not elevators here in this
33:07wilderness.
33:09He is 80 years old. And God asked him
33:14this awesome
33:15question. What will I have, oh Lord? And
33:19God
33:21says, what is in thine hand?
33:26That's where brother Mike, if I turned
33:27him loose, there would be comedy in this
33:29place because what an amazing question.
33:34Moses, what you have is enough.
33:38I don't think you guys heard me
33:40correctly.
33:42Hey you guys, what you
33:44have is enough.
33:49But but I carve this. That's okay. But I
33:53no what you have
33:58it's just a shepherd shepherd's tool. So
34:00So Moses here's the
34:02thing there there's this story of
34:04Moses's staff and there's a grit and a
34:06cadence to it and a I've done some
34:08research. There is no prop in all the
34:11Bible of Noah's ark of David's sling of
34:15Gideon's sword of of Samson's jawbone.
34:20No prop. Not El Elijah's mantle. All the
34:24prop. Shegard's ox go. No prop. Paul's
34:27basket. No
34:31prop. Mentioned as many times as Moses's
34:34staff. Over 20 times. The closest prop
34:37ever mentioned other than that is only
34:39three times. But over 20 times, this
34:43staff thing comes into play. And so now
34:45you need to hear it a little different.
34:47what is in your hand
34:51because what you have and then so so God
34:55says all right throw it down now I'm not
34:57going to throw it down but if I did it
35:00would flop and probably come back up and
35:01hit
35:04me this was made for me by brother Harry
35:08scan and I believe it was probably in
35:101996 this was made for me I'm not sure
35:12it might have been
35:1397 he died shortly after we moved in
35:16this
35:17But I preached about Moses leaning on
35:20his staff and it moved him to build this
35:23for me. And it's one of my favorite
35:25props in my church office. This I use
35:29it. My wife gets out of
35:34[Applause]
35:37control. All you women that are upset
35:40right now, you could never have a man
35:42like me. Just deal with it. Deal with
35:44it. Go get you your soft, easy old
35:46pushover boy. You won't have a man like
35:49me.
35:59My wife just went scripture on me. She
36:01said, "Thy rod and thy staff, it
36:03comforts
36:09me." Still in love after all these
36:12years. still
36:15crazy. Uh, so he throws it down. Now,
36:20here's the thing. This is
36:24now Moses doesn't know it. But it's not
36:27just a stab.
36:30It's all God needed because he throws it
36:34down and as soon as he does, it
36:36becomes a bunny.
36:41It becomes a puppy dog.
36:46What does it become?
36:48A serpent. Now, I know I pastor some
36:51folks who love snakes. You see snakes.
36:53You don't run. You run. Not from, you
36:55run, too. I know. I love you. And I I'm
36:58glad you're in Florida. That's not me.
37:02Not running down the snakes.
37:06Moses is like me.
37:10When Moses sees this snake, is it all
37:12right? Am I doing okay right now? When
37:15Moses sees this snake, fear grips him. I
37:19thought I
37:22I thought I knew what I was holding.
37:27I thought I could
37:29predict what I had created.
37:33But the first thing that I think is
37:35important for us to learn is this. It's
37:37not a weathered ro rod. It's not just a
37:41weathered stick. This now is a divine
37:44edict.
37:47That is a moment of human
37:51expression. He didn't have to throw that
37:53down.
37:55But when Moses took what was in his hand
37:59and God told him, "Throw it down, it
38:03became a
38:05human
38:09expression that became a divine edict."
38:13And just that human expression now
38:16became power to God. Follow me.
38:21If you knew what you ought to know, you
38:24would have more trembling and more
38:26reverence and more respect for the
38:29things of God. If I knew what I ought to
38:34know, I would have more hope and more
38:37promise and more joy than I have right
38:39now. I'm telling you, I'm in the same
38:43predicament you are. When the Bible said
38:46Jesus was on that cross, he said,
38:47"Father, forgive them for they know not
38:50what they do." We've only many times
38:53seen that in the negative. He's must be
38:56talking about the bad folks. But have
39:00you ever thought that maybe he was also
39:03saying that my saints are doing what I
39:06wanted them to do, but they don't have a
39:09clue what it really means. So forgive
39:12them because they really don't know what
39:15they're doing. There are times I need to
39:18be forgiven for the things I did wrong,
39:22but there are times I need to be
39:23forgiven for the right that I did, but I
39:27had no clue just how good it was.
39:31[Applause]
39:33I don't know. I don't know. I don't know
39:36just how good it is. I don't know how
39:38great God is when I praise him. I don't
39:41praise him adequately because I just
39:44don't know how good he is. When I
39:46worship him, I don't really know what my
39:48worship means. And so I do it just going
39:51on my way. But the angels are saying,
39:54"You don't know what you just did. You
39:57don't know the fire you just started.
40:00You don't know the planets you just
40:02impacted. Would you, oh Lord, help me to
40:05realize how great is this kingdom?" Now,
40:09I know some think that I'm thriving in a
40:10land of
40:11fables, but I'm not talking about a land
40:14of fables. I'm building a sermon that I
40:17will not preach to you right now. I told
40:19Justin about it. Uh, but it somehow I
40:21don't know how in the world John got the
40:23description of the stones in the book of
40:25Revelation because I hardly know how
40:28what jasper looks like. I hardly know
40:30what a pearl looks like. I barely know
40:33what a onyx looks like, an amethyst
40:36looks like. I barely know. And I've been
40:38to a hundred museums in my life that had
40:40it in all of them. John was just an old
40:42sailor boy that did not have any palaces
40:45in Jerusalem that he had a open tourist
40:47visit to. But when he saw heaven, he
40:50sped out these stones that are so
40:51unbelievable. They break my brain and I
40:55see them and see the beauty of them and
40:56he sat them out and said, "Guess what?
40:58It's not countertops of Jasper. It's
41:05Listen, if I had a countertop of Jasper,
41:08I'd invite all of you over to see it.
41:11Just a countertop of Jasper. But Paul, I
41:15mean, John didn't say it's a countertop.
41:17He said they're walls, not sheetrock.
41:20The walls are Jasper. In other words,
41:23it's more in your hand. There's more
41:26there than you have a grip on.
41:33So throw the
41:35stick. We found out that God can hit a
41:38straight lick with a crooked
41:41stick. We found out that God can use
41:45anything
41:46because he goes to Pharaoh and Pharaoh
41:49says hogwash. And so Aaron speaks for
41:53God to
41:54Moses. And Aaron turns to Moses, says,
41:58"Take that is in your
42:00hand." Bubba wasn't there. What are you
42:02talking about?
42:04You weren't there, Aaron. You don't know
42:06what
42:06happened. Take what is in thine
42:09hand. Throw it
42:12down. Moses said, "I've seen this one
42:14before. I won't jump as far." He threw
42:17it down. It becomes a serpent. Wow. So,
42:21the devil showed up and they threw down
42:23their stavs and they became a serpent.
42:27Believe it or not, they became serpents.
42:30But a silent supremacy showed up because
42:35all of a sudden, I don't know how long
42:36it took. Have you ever seen a king snake
42:38eat a cobra? You ever watch that? It's
42:41one of the coolest things you'll ever
42:42watch. Check it out on YouTube one
42:44today. Go home today and check. Type in
42:47king snake. He eating a cobra.
42:51Everybody's afraid of a cobra. Not a
42:53king snake. King snake will walk up and
42:56take that baby down and kill it. It's
42:59dead. It's gone. I don't know how long
43:01this snake show went
43:04on. But the Bible says
43:06that watching the snake of
43:10Moses, it went and devoured every snake.
43:14And I I imagine it took longer than two
43:17minutes. I mean, what when it's done
43:19with one and there's still one over here
43:21curled. What happened in the heart of
43:22everybody else when that snake had just
43:24eaten one? It just pops up its head.
43:30[Applause]
43:31Next, and it goes over to that one. And
43:34after that one's done, you think, well,
43:35it's got to stop now. No, there were
43:37more staffs than that. Pops up his head.
43:40And about that time, Pharaoh's backing
43:42up. Wow.
43:44All of this you all think are fables.
43:47No, you don't. Or you wouldn't be here
43:48today. I'm telling you, living for God
43:51is all about deliverance. It's about
43:54understanding that this that we offer to
43:56him. Now, I'm not asking you to bring
43:58staffs to church, okay? But I'm telling
44:00you, there are human expressions that
44:03are divine edicts when you make a move
44:06toward the Lord. Whether it's coming to
44:09the altar, kneeling down, raising a
44:12hand, shedding a tear, giving heaven a
44:15smile, these are human expressions of
44:18divine edicts where you recognize it is
44:21more than just Passover. It is more than
44:24just Palm Sunday. I am in this thing
44:27because there's coming a day I am going
44:29to be delivered from time and I will not
44:32have any more crying, no more dying, no
44:35more tears, no more sorrow, no more
44:39shutdowns, no more backups. No, I will
44:42be delivered from everything. It's now
44:46in my hand. That day hasn't happened
44:49yet, but I have a church full of people
44:51that are living for that day when the
44:53the the Lord himself shall descend from
44:56heaven with a shout, with the divine
44:59shout, with the voice of the archangel,
45:02and with the trump of God. It's going to
45:04be the trio that you've been waiting for
45:07your whole
45:11life. Oh, I can't wait to hear the trio.
45:14It's two shouts and a trumpet. One of
45:17these days we may have to break out an
45:19imitation of that. I'll have to have
45:21Sister Susan get out her trumpet. She'll
45:25have to work on getting her lips back in
45:27shape. But if she'll get her trumpet out
45:30and then I'll position maybe brother
45:32Lynworth on one side, maybe brother
45:34Armando on the other side and she'll
45:37blast and these two men will blow. I
45:39can't I wouldn't put a woman there. I
45:41would love to put a woman there but
45:43biblically no women are angels. And so
45:46we got to stay in the Bible.
45:51I'm gonna preach the Bible whether you
45:52like it or not.
45:57Y'all don't know I love my wife and
45:59daughters and I appreciate all women.
46:02Okay. Just having fun.
46:07What a sound. Two shouts and a trumpet.
46:13Imagine it.
46:19The Lord himself descended a shout,
46:23the voice of the
46:25archangel, and the trump of God.
46:40That's why you're here
46:43today. You're not here because it's Palm
46:45Sunday or because Easter's coming. All
46:49of Calvary was about resurrection.
46:53All of Calvary, listen, he was wounded
46:57for our transgression.
46:59He was bruised for our iniquity.
47:02The chastisement of our peace was upon
47:04him. By his stripes, we are healed.
47:08But it was really about being delivered
47:09from time into eternity.
47:12And so every miracle somewhere between
47:15despair and deliverance, there are
47:17gestures you make that matter more than
47:21you know. Some people call a day of
47:24fasting when they're between despair and
47:26deliverance. Some people go on seven-day
47:29fasts. Some people just set aside a
47:31special time to go sit with their
47:33instrument and devote themselves unto
47:34the Lord. Some people just go with a cup
47:37of coffee to an out of the way tree in
47:39the backyard and sit there and have a
47:40talk with God.
47:43I don't care what you do between despair
47:45and deliverance. I promise you there are
47:47divine expressions that we make in human
47:50form that matter more than you will ever
47:53ever know. And that's why as
47:56Pentecostals, it's not a style, it's a
47:59substance. My shout isn't to make noise
48:02for you to hear. My shout is because I
48:06know deliverance is coming. I've been
48:09delivered a little bit, but I'm going to
48:11be delivered a lot bit. I'm going to be
48:14set free from this world, and it will no
48:17longer be my home.
48:19[Applause]
48:24So, you would think Moses knew musicians
48:27come. When he had gone through Passover,
48:32you know, the the rod was used to touch
48:33the river and the whole river turned to
48:36blood. The rod was used to touch the
48:39sand and all the sand became lice. The
48:42rod was used, he said, "Raise your rod
48:46to the heavens and the heavens become
48:48black with darkness." Do you think it
48:50was the rod? But 20 times he says over
48:5420 times he refers to the rod. Use your
48:57rod. So when they finally get delivered
49:00and they're delivered from Egypt, but
49:02they're not delivered from the
49:03Egyptians. Some of you are in the
49:05church, but there is Egyptians running
49:07you down.
49:10You're in the church, but you've been
49:12talking with Egyptians.
49:14You've been walking with Egyptians. I'm
49:15talking about communion. I'm not talking
49:17about visiting to win a soul. I'm
49:18talking about your soul starting to
49:19believe what they have to say, and
49:21you're starting to reconsider how good
49:23the food was back in Egypt. I'm telling
49:25you something. Moses finally got them to
49:27the Red Sea. And when he gets into the
49:29Red Sea, he's now trapped. Mountains on
49:32both sides, Egypt behind, the Red Sea in
49:34front. You know the
49:36story. Lord, what should I
49:40do?
49:42Stretch your
49:44staff and your hand over the Red Sea.
49:49What does that
49:51do? Does that part
49:54water? Is there any scientific
49:56attachment to parting that water?
49:59No. It was just a gesture, but it was
50:03tied to glory.
50:06And that glory was not because of
50:10Moses's goodness. It's not your goodness
50:13that's going to save you, folks. I'm not
50:15talking about get saved and stay in the
50:17world. No, you know better than that.
50:20I'm not talking about get saved and then
50:21stop repenting. Get saved and then stop
50:23coming to the altar. Get saved and stop
50:25your shouting, your soul winner. You're
50:28not saved until we escape time.
50:35But you may not think much of
50:37you. Elms, listen to yourself right
50:40now. You may not think that your hand
50:43raised means a
50:45lot. You may not think that your bowed
50:48knee means a lot.
50:51You may not think that your
50:55gesture to pursue
50:57God means a
50:59lot, but you have all you need to be set
51:04free. Shall we
51:06stand? All you
51:08need. All you need. All you'll need.
51:12What are you facing? You have all you
51:15need. You say, "But it's just a
51:17gesture." Oh, is it?
51:20Is it just a
51:21gesture when you decide I'm not staying
51:23in my pew, but I'm walking up during
51:25time of healing? I stood over here and I
51:28love time of healing. There's so much I
51:29love about our time of healing. I'll
51:31tell you, one of my favorite things is
51:33watching the teams
51:35pray. Not the people getting prayed for,
51:37but watching the people who are doing
51:39the praying. I can't tell you the joy I
51:41get watching the people who are doing
51:44the praying. You guys who do it, you
51:46know, isn't there miraculous in being a
51:49part of the team that does the praying?
51:52I'm telling you, there are miracles in
51:53being part of the team. The other part
51:55is I generally know most or a lot of the
51:58reasons people come. Not all, by far,
52:01not all. But I know what's behind this
52:04one and behind that one and behind that
52:06one, behind the other one. And I know
52:08this one may say special unspoken, but
52:11because of my trusted position to me
52:13it's not
52:14unspoken. And I know deliverance is
52:19there. Deliverance is there. They have
52:24made a gesture.
52:27whatever
52:29difficulties they had getting out of
52:31their
52:32aisle, getting down the middle aisle,
52:36going to the trouble to be seen. Some
52:39people, it's not a trouble at all. They
52:40want to be seen. That's all right. God
52:42loves them, too. But most of us, we'd
52:44rather not be seen. But you go to the
52:47trouble of being seen. Go to the trouble
52:49of admitting I have a
52:52need. I wasn't raised to tell you all my
52:55needs. Listen, if you knew mom and
52:59daddy, I've got stuff. I'm not going to
53:01tell you about it. It's just going to be
53:03me and God. And please allow me to stay
53:07in my place. All right? I'll allow you
53:09to stay in your place. But there's some
53:11things that you need to share one with
53:14another. You don't have to tell them all
53:17the
53:18nitty-gritty, but you make an
53:22expression and it becomes a tool in
53:26God's
53:28hand. That's all it
53:30was. Was never the
53:33stick. It was
53:35always an
53:37extended
53:39expression. That's all it was. and
53:42extend it. Throw it down. Yes,
53:48Lord. Lift it up. Yes,
53:52Lord. Touch the river. Yes,
53:58Lord. Touch the sand.
54:02Yes Lord.
54:04Some of you are feeling impressions
54:05right now of expressions you need to
54:08make to God. I'm telling you, Father,
54:11forgive
54:11you for you know not what you're about
54:15to
54:17do. I'm going to appreciate it. You're
54:20going to offer it, but neither you nor
54:23me will know the
54:27power attached to
54:29it. And for those of you who happen to
54:32be in a moment of need, it's your turn.
54:36This altar is open for you to make an
54:40expression to God that says,
54:43"Lord, I need you. I need you. I need
54:48you. I need your intervention. I need a
54:52deliverance. I need something to change.
54:56I need the sky to move. I need the water
55:01to part. I
55:04need joy to
55:06come. I need set free from bonds and
55:12chains. The python is trying to tell me
55:15it can devour me. But I'm going to offer
55:18God an expression that's more powerful
55:21than Satan's
55:24python. And God's
55:27supremacy is going to show out today. is
55:31going to show out
55:33today. Show out. I offer to you my
55:37praise. I offer to you my worship.
55:43[Music]
55:51Yes that's
55:54it. Shout it
55:56out. Shout it out.
56:00Shout out your
56:01praise. Shout. You don't know. You don't
56:05know. You think you
56:07know. You think you know.