The Desire For Deliverance Series

Winston Churchill suddenly found himself a 25 year old prisoner of war. This was in

1899. He was captured by the South African Army in the Boer War, and he endured a

nightmare. He was the first prisoner of importance to be captured in the war. Churchill

roamed the prison camp in Pretoria, as he plotted an escape. Finally, he settled on a plan

to go over the wall. It was poorly guarded with only two officers.

The night of the escape began with his hiding in a lavatory. Churchill lead the way,

and was the first to go over the wall. He waited for the others, and heard the sounds of

frenzied movements and whispered warnings that the guards were coming. The escape

was off, but there he was alone on the outside, and he had no maps and no compass. He

did not know whether to climb back in, and wait for a better time, or go on his own. He

decided this could be his only chance, so he went to the railroad station, and caught a

freight train. He had no idea where he was going.

The words spread quickly, and the search was on. His chance of escape was slim. He

jumped off the train at dawn, and then made his way through the high grass and swamp.

He was miserable under the hot sun. He was weak, and near delirious, and at nightfall he

realized he would have to seek help, no matter how dangerous. Someone passed in the

darkness, and he called out. By the providence of God, it was the only Englishman in

hundreds of miles. Had he spoken to anyone else he would have been arrested, for the

whole country was looking for him. To make a long story short, this man was able to get

him smuggled out of the country. He eventually made it back to England where he

became a hero, and one of the most successful leaders in the history of England. God

provided a way of escape for what seemed hopeless odds against him, and that

deliverance made all the difference in the world for his future.

Deliverance determines destiny because, though not everyone gets into a mess like

Churchill, everyone at some point in life needs to be delivered from some evil. It may be

external, or it may be internal. Deliverance is a major theme of the Bible, and of history,

and of life, because there is a constant and continuous need in every human life to

experience deliverance.

Who are the heroes of history? They are the deliverers. Moses led his people out of

Egypt as a great deliverer. The great kings of Israel, like David, and the great judges,

like Samson, were deliverers. Over and over history repeated itself as the people became

ensnared by evil, and came under the bondage of an oppressor. The Lord would then

raise up a deliverer, and the people would sing, "Thou art my help and my deliverer.

The Lord is my rock and deliverer." You cannot think of a Biblical character that did

not in some way need deliverance, or provide it.

Joseph was delivered from the pit, Potipher's wife, and prison. He was raised up to be

a deliverer of his family, and the people of God. David was delivered from Saul, and

raised up to deliver his people from their enemies. Daniel was delivered from the lions,

and became a great leader. His three friends were delivered from the fiery furnace. Jonah

was delivered from the belly of the fish. The point can be illustrated endlessly.

Deliverance is no side street. It is a main road in the word of God. If you look in your

concordance the words deliver, deliverance, and deliverer are used so many times from

Genesis to Revelation that you will not even motivated to count them.

The greatest Biblical story of all: The greatest story ever told, is also a story of

deliverance. The Old Testament portrayed the coming of the Messiah as the Deliverer.

Paul quotes the Old Testament in Rom. 11:26, "The deliverer will come from Zion; he

will turn godlessness away from Jacob." The Greek word here for deliver is the one

Jesus uses for the last petition of the Lord's Prayer. The word is rhuomai. It is the same

word used in the cry of Paul in Rom. 7:24. "Who will deliver me from this body of

death." In II Cor. 1:10 Paul uses this same word three times. "He has delivered us from

such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us, on Him we have set our hope that He will

continue to deliver us."

Paul did not have any superficial view of life. He did not think of deliverance as a once