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11:22. Thank you. My goodness, what a joy. What an honor to be here. I've been here all week long. I went to cls. Thank you for being a church that loves the church. Hey, lifetime leaders. That's what I am. And we're learning a lot from 1122 at Abundant Life. Thank you for being that kind of church that invest in other churches. And before I get going, guys, I just want to say thank you to the man of God, Joby Martin, for the privilege of preaching the word of God to the people of God at 11:22. I love Joby very much. I know you do too. But let me just share just for a moment. I'm going to make him really uncomfortable. He's going to get a little squirmy. I just need to say this. I love Joby, but not for some of the reasons you might think. Yes, he is leading what can only be described as a once in a generation move of God. 11:22. Yes, he is one of the greatest, most gifted preachers of our generation. Great gifted kingdom leader of our generation. But what makes a man great is not simply what he does. It's what he is. And let me tell you something. He's a real man. In fact, he should write a book something like stand firm and act like men. What are you guys saying? I'm telling you, he walks in integrity, has a heart of humility. He gives generously. He loves passionately. Been faithful to his family, leads courageously. I follow a man like that through fire. And I know that you will too. I'm so grateful for all of you. Thank you. 1122. I do have to get one thing off my chest though. I mean, full disclosure, I've been listening to Joby a long time. There's only one thing I've ever heard him say that I absolutely, unapologetically, completely disagree with. And he says it all the time. I just need to keep it real. Okay. My coffee drink of choice is a caramel macchiato. And I am still a man. A full grown man. Okay, I got that off my chest. Now I can preach. Joshua, chapter three. Here we go. Tonight, Joshua, chapter three. I want to tell you tonight about a funeral that I went to in 1989. A funeral changed my life forever. I went to a funeral in 1989 and my life has never been the same. I knew this man well, this man that died. He influenced my life deeply. And I grieved his loss. And it changed my life. But before I tell you about that funeral, I want to tell you about another funeral. It's Joshua, chapter three, and the children of Israel having a funeral in Joshua 3. They're dying to what was to be resurrected to what God always intended them to be. They're dying in the wilderness where they have wandered for 40 years. They're dying to being that band of liberated slaves. And on the other side of the Jordan, they're gonna become a nation of priests and kings. Now, why does this story matter to us? It matters to us because the apostle Paul tells us in First Corinthians 10 that their story, in some way, is our story. In other words, this is more than just history. It's a metaphor in some way of our journey. You see, it was the ancient Hebrews, the people that will one day give us the Messiah that was in captivity and slavery under Egyptian tyranny. And God sent them a deliverer by the name of Moses. And Moses said, let my people go. Pharaoh finally relents. He let his people go. But understand, his job wasn't done yet. He sets them free from captivity. And then it's Moses that leads them on a journey to the promised land that God promised would flow with milk and honey. On the other side of the Jordan was a land of beauty and bounty. It was a land that was fruitful and beautiful. And Paul tells us in some way that story is our joy. Now, what is the Promised Land? Spiritually, it's not that you and I have a piece of real estate in the Middle east, but we do have a piece of real estate. Our real estate is the promised Land. Spiritually, it's John 10:10. Jesus said, I've come to give you life, and you can have a more abund that is the promised land of the believer. Yet you guys know the Exodus story. Remember the Exodus story? First Corinthians 10, in some way is a picture of our story. What happens that first generation that leaves Egypt, no longer in captivity, no longer in slavery. They get stuck halfway. They don't make it into the promised land. They come to a place in number 13 called Kadesh Barnea. Now, it's important you understand Kadesh Barnea. It means wilderness sanctuary. It was a desert oasis. It wasn't slavery. It wasn't captivity. But it wasn't the Promised Land either. And it was in this place, Kadesh Barnea, that Moses sends 12 spies into the land to spy out the land. And you guys know the story. Ten of them came back and said, oh, no, we won't go. Them boys are big over there. I mean, we're like grasshoppers compared to them. I mean, they're like. They're big, and we're like. We're little. And they're gonna pour milk over our children and eat them for breakfast. And they got these iron chariots and there's no we can win. And that disbelief that unbelief cost an entire generation of Hebrews. And I want you to see the principle that we're gonna learn tonight. They chose to save their life and preserve their life instead of giving their life and surrendering their life. And consequently, they would all lose their life. They would die in the wilderness. They'd get stuck halfway in their journey. They would never cross over into the promised land. And that is a picture of so many blood bought, born again children of the living God. It's a picture of many of us. Tonight, they're unbelieving believers in numbers. 13. They're unbelieving believers. And tonight, maybe in this house, there's some unbelieving believers. Now that is like an oxymoron. That's like the ultimate oxymoron. What is an oxymoron? It's where you use two words together that are actually opposites. They don't really work together. Like jumbo shrimp. That's an oxymoron. Now, let me tell you something. I know a little bit about it. Cause I have eaten my weight and shrimp this week. I'm telling you, Church, you got some good seafood down here at Jacksonville. I live in Kansas City. We got Red Lobster. I'm telling you, it ain't the same, man. I'm telling you, I have eaten my weight in shrimp. I love me some seafood. I love shrimp, fried shrimp, baked shrimp, boiled shrimp, blackened shrimp. I have eaten all kinds of shrimp, but what I have not eaten is jumbo shrimp. I walk into one place, they're advertising jumbo shrimp. I have never seen a shrimp that qualifies as jumbo. It's an oxymoron. What's another oxymoron? Well, I thought about this one this week. Super bowl champion Jacksonville Jaguars. This just went off the rails. This is how you never get invited back to 1122. I know. I'm just having fun. All right, you guys, listen. You got a lot going for you in Jacksonville. I love this place. I really do. I mean, you got the beach. I don't have the beach. I got Taylor Swift. Okay, Oxymoron, unbelieving believer. The world is full of what is an unbelieving believer. Listen, that first generation that came out of Egypt, they had Enough faith to get out of Egypt. Just not enough faith to get in the promised land. It's like some of us unbelieving believers, enough faith to get into heaven, but not enough faith to get through that trial, that temptation, that tribulation, that addiction, that negative emotion. Enough faith to get into heaven. Just not enough faith to get into the promised land. The abundant life, the a life, the 1010 life. A life that's beautiful and bountiful, fruitful. And so many Christians die in the wilderness of mediocrity and captivity. And no longer are they actually in slavery. They've been set free from sin's penalty, but they continue living in fear and anxiety and captivity and complacency. Think about this tonight. What are the adjectives the New Testament uses that describes the normal Christian life? What ought to be the normal Christian life? Jesus said, I've come to give you life. You're gonna have it more abundant. 2 Corinthians 2:14. He always causes us to live triumphantly. 2nd Corinthians 3:17. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. First Corinthians 15. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory. What ought to be the normal Christian experience is a life abundantly with liberty, with freedom and victory triumphantly. Why then do we settle for mediocrity and apathy, complacency and yes, even captivity? Tonight we're gonna get to the other side. Tonight we're crossing the Jordan. Tonight we're pursuing the a life, the abundant life. The 10, 10 life. Joshua, chapter three. We're gonna learn how to do this. Verse one. It says these words. Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Chittim, and they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. Now, I wanna stop right there. I want you to notice something. Moses is not taking them into the promised Land. It is Joshua. Now listen, I know the reason Moses doesn't take him over. I know the story. You guys know the story. He struck the rock a second time. And that rock was a picture of Christ. And Jesus was struck once for sin, the just, for the unjust. And God looks at Moses, says, mo, I'm sorry, that's gonna cost you. You're messing up my picture. Hey, I love the Old Testament. You know why? Cause it's a picture book of the New Testament. And Moses messed up the picture God was painting. He struck it a second time, said, mo, sorry, this is gonna cost you. I'll let you see the land. But I will not let you go into the land. Next generation emerges. His name is Joshua. Now, I think there's more than simply what Moses did. God chooses Joshua. Specifically church. I am convinced there is nothing in the Bible that is coincidental. I am convinced it's all there. And it's providential. It's a man by the name of Joshua. You know why? Cause it's the same name as Jesus. Hebrew, Joshua, Greek is Jesus. Same name. Do you understand? Only Jesus can take you to the other side. You see, Moses was the Lawgiver. And we learned these words in John 1:17. That the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. You see, the law represents your works. You're not gonna work your way into the promised land. There's no part of your salv that is your works of righteousness you're going to do. For by grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Titus 3:5. Not by works of righteousness we have done, but by his mercy he has saved us. See, every part of your salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, only Jesus could take him into the promised land. See, it's not about self reformation. Behavior modification. Another New Year's resolution. No. We're gonna see how to get to the other side. And you're gonna discover it's the grace of God in your life. Approved by what faith? Why did the previous generation not go in? I'll tell you why. Because they did not believe God would perform what he promised. Faith is acting like something is so when it isn't so. So it'll be so. Because God said it's so. And that previous generation knew what God said. But they did not believe what God said. They did not believe that God would do what he said. And it cost them dearly. Joshua, now comes. I want you to see verse two. They're about to cross over. A new generation. All those little baby Hebrews have grown up in the wilderness. They've all come of age. All their moms and dads have now been buried. They've died. They never got to the other side. A new generation emerges. And they're about to cross the Jordan on this day. Look at verse two. It says at the end of three days, the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, saying, as soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow It. Now, there's a clue embedded here about what it's gonna take to get to the other side. Again, I don't believe anything in your Bible is coincidental. It's not accidental. It is providential. I want you to notice it's on the third day they cross over. No, it wasn't on the second day. It wasn't on the fifth day. It wasn't on the tenth day. It was on the third day. Anytime you see in your Bible that phrase three days or third day, it should remind you of the great ever in human history. The day Jesus came out of the grave. Our victory is because the grave is empty. And listen, 1122, I expect you to know this. Anything is possible if the tomb is empty. If the tomb is empty, say it with me. Anything is possible. It was on that third day a reminder of our victory. It's in the resurrection that we get to the other side. But watch this now. Here it is. There is no resurrection without a crucifixion. There is no resurrection without a crucifixion. Jesus offers all of us resurrection power. The power of the resurrection. Ephesians 3:20. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think according to the power that works within us. That word power is the Greek word dunamis from which we get the word dynamite church. There is dynamite power in all of us. Supernatural power lives within us. The spirit of God came to live inside of us. And the same power that brought Jesus out of the grave is the same power that lives in you and I tonight. But most people never live in the supernatural power of God. They continue to live forever in the natural is to the supernatural power. Here's the reason why you don't get a resurrection without a crucifixion. See, there is a cross that has been lost in modern churchianity. I won't call it Christianity. I'll call it churchianity. There is a cross that has been lost. There is a cross that has been forgotten. It's talked about almost as much in the New Testament as the cross on which Jesus died. The apostle Paul talked often about another cross. There's the cross on which Jesus Jesus died for you. But now there is the cross on which you must die too. And over and over again. Paul wrote about it in the New Testament. Galatians 2:20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ who lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The apostle Paul announced that he understood his positional reality. One time in history, he was crucified with Christ. You see, 2,000 years ago, God saw you in Christ, which is why you died with him. You were crucified with him. And three days later, because you were in him, you rose with him. The Apostle Paul says, I'm crucified with him. It happened once in history, positionally. But check this out. The apostle Paul will then say in 1 Corinthians 15:31, I die daily. That's how you make your positional reality and your practical reality yours experientially. It happened one time in history. Galatians 2:20. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ who lives in me. You see, Jesus lives in you, but now he wants to live through you. And the only way he begins to live through you is when you embrace the cross. It's what Jesus said in Luke 9:23. He said, if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Now, today, we don't maybe fully understand the implications, but his 1st century Jewish followers knew exactly what he was talking about. You see, they had seen crucifixions all of their life. The Romans were good at this. And in their day, a cross is not something you want. It is something you bore on the way to your own execution. A cross was not something made of gold. That was a thing of beauty. No, a cross was something that was brutal, it was bloody, it was ugly. It is a place you were gonna suffer and sacrifice and eventually die. Jesus said, this is the cost. To follow me, you're gonna have to take up your cross. And this is the power of the early church. So many speakers this week has preached out of the Book of Acts. The same power available in the first century is the same power available today for you and me. But here's the difference. They heard what Jesus said and they took him literally, not metaphorically. They took up their cross willing to die. Acts 1:8. Jesus makes a promise. You shall receive power. There's that word again, Dunamis. Power. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be a witness for me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Check this out. That word translated as witness is the Greek word martis, from which we get the word martyr. And that was the source of their power. You see, today's 21st century church lacks power. Because today's church lacks martyrs. And only when we take up our cross and embrace the crucifixion, our crucifixion, do we then to live in the power of the resurrection Church. I found my one more for the first time. Spring of 93 in a police car, 31st in Baltimore, downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Man I'm still friends with to this day. We partnered up for the night and he began asking questions about Jesus. I'd never actually shared my faith before, never actually shared the gospel personally. Before he starts asking me about Jesus. You know, there's something different about me. You know, I'm not cussing and you know, womanizing and you know, law enforcement is not really a biblical bastion of Christian morality. It's not. And he can just see there's something different about me. What I didn't know is that he's going through a divorce at that time. He's losing his family, he's losing his marriage, he has several addictions. I start sharing the gospel with him and two weeks later he prays in that police car and receives Jesus as Lord and Savior. Now check this out. It changed his life. And his was not the only life that changed. It changed my life. A changed life changes lives. He went home, he shares Jesus with his wife, she gets saved. God saves their marriage, shares Jesus with their children, they get saved. They've grown up today, missionaries all over the world. I'm telling you, a changed life changes lives. And this is what I began to learn about Acts 1:8. Do you want to be a powerful witness for your one more it's going to cost you more than a commitment is going to cost you a cross. And when you embrace the cross, your co crucifixion with Christ, it releases the power of the resurrection, the power of Acts 1:8. Little did I know that one day I'd be asked to preach in this little church. It was in Lee's Summit, Missouri called Liberty. I started going to this little church plant in the late 90s. I'm just a cop at the time and have no idea I'm ever gonna be in ministry. I think I'm gonna have a 30 year career in law enforcement. All of a sudden this little church plant loses their pastor. We were meeting at the time in a little kingdom hall. Now relax. We were never Jehovah's Witness, just a building. We bought it from the Jehovah's Witness. We had an exorcism, kicked out all the demons, started having church. Little broken down Kingdom hall and I will Never forget a phone call that changed my life forever. Member of that little church's board calls me up on a Tuesday night. I'm on duty at Metro Patrol Division in Kansas City, Missouri. He says, phil, I've got bad news. Our pastor just released design. Would you come fill in Sunday morning? Just one time. Man, I was scared out of my mind. Now understand I was. I mean, I was scared out of my mind. Church. I really was. Like, this was an out of body experience, like, right. I mean, it's one of those moments, I'm gonna show up, I'm gonna give it all I got. But understand, I have no training. I've never been. You know, there's a seminary class called hermeneutics. Never had that class. Homiletics. Never had that one either. I'm just a cop. I'm just a guy and I'm scared out of my mind. Now, the irony is, I'd been in scary places. Listen carefully. I was a SWAT cop. I'd been shot at at close range. That's scary. Winston Churchill said, there's nothing more exhilarating than being shot at and missed. It'll change your life. I won't suggest you try it, but it'll change your life. Had knives pulled on. I've been in scary places. But I had never been so scared in all my life. And to my shock, they asked me to do it again the next week. And then the next week and then the next week. And then to my amazement, they asked if I would actually interview for the position to become the pastor of this little church. And I did. And guess what? As soon as I interviewed, I pulled my name out. Why? Because I was scared. I was running from my life. Like, I'm not ready to be a pastor. Like I don't know what I'm doing. You want me to serve a drug war? I'm your guy. Pastor a church. I don't know what I'm doing and I'm running scared. I'm scared for my life. I'm trying to hang on to my life. I am fearful of failure. And literally, I pulled my name out. Guys, I'm honored you would ask, but I can't be your guy. I need to get some training. I need to go to seminary. Gave me all the reasons why. Do you know sometimes when God is moving, he purposely does things that don't make any sense? He loves doing things that don't make any sense. Because we're saved by grace through faith, not sense, not what we can see. But you can run From God. But you can outrun God. Some of you are not running from God. But you can't outrun God. Tonight you're going to get caught by God. I got caught by God. I couldn't sleep. Another phone call changed my life. Midnight, three weeks later, I called the head of the pulpit committee. I don't know what God is doing. I just know I need to say yes. I need to put my yes on the table. Check this out. That was 25 years ago. I'll tell you how I got over my fear. I got over my fear when I got over myself. See, courage is not the absence of fear. It's the absence of self. It's the crucified life. Self had to be crucified, self had to get out of way. As long as I'm trying to hang onto my life and preserve my life, I could not live the crucified life. Listen, if you want to be fearless, you gotta be selfless. And to the degree you are selfless, you will live a life that is fearless. Listen, being courageous. It's not the absence of fear. It's the absence of self. This is what I learned in those early days. Dead men aren't scared of anything. I'm a dead man. Dead men aren't scared of anything. That little church. I watched the resurrection happen. Listen, I'm telling you these stories. Listen for God's glory. I've watched this happen. I've seen the supernatural power that comes from the cross. Where there is a crucifixion, there is a resurrection. Last Sunday of 1999, I learned this week from Adam Flint, who's church planting Acts 29. Here's what he shared with me. Statistically, 50% of all church plants fail in four years. Wow. We were almost one of them. We're at the four year mark. And when I did not think things could get any worse. I mean things were bad. We're meeting in a kingdom hall and there's a cop preaching. I mean that's just weird. You know, Cop, you know, six days a week, preacher on Sundays. It was just awkward, okay? When I didn't think things would get any worse, I stand up. Last Sunday of 1999, guys, it was a bad, blizzardy, wintry Sunday morning. It is the last Sunday of the year. It's that kind of Sunday that people won't come to church anyway. I mean it is just nasty. And that Sunday this cop stands up and has to announce our one staff member left. And this little church has had to resign that week. Worship use Pastor. Because of an immoral relationship. I think of the time this could be the nail in the coffin. Will we ever even make it? Will there even be a next week? I don't remember what I said that day, but here was the altar call. Maybe 25 people were there. I said, if you will come today and get on your knees with me today, and if you will beg God today to come save our church and dig in and not let Satan win, I'm asking you to come today. I didn't think anybody would come. 25 people came. We got on our knees and on that day, 25 people died. Jesus said in John 12:24, Except a grain of wheat fall on the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. And I'm telling you, something happened from that crucifixion and that. That desperate prayer of desperation from that crucifixion. And out of that desperation, God brought a resurrection. And God multiplied that seed in the last 25 years thousands and thousands of times. That's what God wants to do with your life. You can hang onto your seed and try to preserve it. I'm talking about your life. Or you can let go of it. You can choose the cross and bury it. And I will promise that's how you get to the other side. I want you to see what it now says. Verse 5. Then Joshua said to the people, watch this. Commit yourselves. Like, what translation is he reading? I know what you're looking at. Cause I'm looking at. I'm making a point here. It doesn't say commit yourself. It says, consecrate yourselves. Then Joshua said to the people, consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Do you want to see the wonders and the miracles of God in your life? It says, consecrate yourselves. Now, here's what I want you to see. Consecration is not vernacular we use very often today in modern English, but commitment is not the same as consecration. See, the problem in the modern church is it's full of committed Christians, but not consecrated Christians. Consecration is what these ancient Hebrews would do with one of their offerings. The five offerings of the ancient Hebrews. You can read about them in Leviticus. They would bring an offering and they would consecrate it to the Lord. And then guess what they were gonna do with it. They were gonna kill. Was gonna die. See, you're consecrated to whatever it is you're willing to die for, whatever you're willing to give your life for. That's the nature of consecration. And it's more than a commitment. I want you to notice, nowhere in the New Testament did Jesus ever ask us to make a commitment. What he asks us for is to take up a cross. You see, crucifixion is the same as consecration. And the problem of modern American church is it's full of committed Christians. But the problem is commitments come. Commitments ebb and flow. Think about how many things you were committed to five years ago that you're not committed to now. Think about how many things you're committed to today that you won't be five years from now. Commitments come and go. There's the problem. Commitments ebb and flow. And you don't get to the a life, the abundant life, the 10, 10 life through a commitment. It demands consecration. It demands crucifixion. I'm committed to a lot of things, but I'm not willing to die for very many things. Church. I'll just say it out loud like I have blood and sweat equity in the Kansas football program. Yeah, you guys are laughing at me down here in the sec. Hey, it's my cross to carry. I played football at a basketball school, okay? All right. But I'm committed to my team. Hey, I'm gonna cheer them on anyway. They're my team, and we will wallow in mediocrity. But I'm committed to Kansas Jayhawk football. And just like every year, we can't wait for basketball. That's what we do there. But I want you to notice something. I'm not even that committed. You know why? Cause when they're not doing very good, I don't watch them as often. I'm not as good a Christian. When they do really, really good. I'm more committed. I watch them more often. See, commitments come and go. Consecration is different. It's about a cross. It's what the Apostle Paul talked about in Romans 12:1. I beseech you. I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Hey, there was a time in my life as a young man, as a prodigal son trying to come back to Jesus. So Luke 15. That is my story, story of the prodigal son. And I'm trying to come back to Jesus. I had lived for a long time in the pig pen of sin. And there was a time in my life. Guys, listen. And there is nothing wrong if you want to have a beer. But problem for me is, if I had two, I was gonna have 12 in about 10 minutes. That's all I did. That's all I knew. I don't know that I was an alcoholic, but I was becoming one. Somebody once said, phil, I don't even know why anybody wants to go out drinking. I thought to myself, spoken like somebody who never went out drinking. I know why. Fun. But all I did was get drunk. I didn't know you could drink and not get drunk. That's why I drank, to get drunk and everything that comes with it. All the other sins that comes with getting drunk. I mean, I'm deep in the pig pen of sin. I'm trying to follow Jesus and to make all these promises. You know, on an all night binge, I'd come back to my room and God, I promise I'll never do it again. Big crocodile tears. I really mean it this time. And two weeks later, there I'd be again. Binge, repent, repeat. Binge, repent, repeat. You know why? Because I was trying to manage my sin. White knuckle it. Listen carefully. You cannot suppress your sin. You can't manage your flesh. Your flesh cannot be managed, it cannot be contained. It's gotta be crucified. It can't be sanitized. And all of a sudden I ran across Romans 6 and verse 6. You wanna overcome sin, that besetting sin. And for some of us, we live consistently with inconsistency. That's the only thing we've ever known in our Christianity. That was me. But it says these words in Romans 6, 6, knowing this, that the old man, the old self was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we shall not be a slave to sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. I don't have to sin. I've been set free from sin. But you can't manage your sin like I used to try to manage. Dandelions. You got dandelions down in the south. I don't know if you got them down here. We got them up there like somebody should have just declared a long time ago, these are beautiful yellow flowers. Cause my yard was always full of them. You know what I do with them? I just mow them over. My yard looked awesome for a day. 2 I just mowed them over. And all of a sudden, after two or three days, guess what would happen all of a sudden? Dandelions again. That's how some of you are trying to overcome your sin. Just manage them, contain them. No, you got to get to the root of the problem and the Problem for the human being is a problem of the human heart. It demands a cross. Listen carefully. If anyone be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. But if you want to live out that new creation, it demands consecration. That means in the heat of temptation, I choose a crucifixion, an act of presentation. My body belongs to Jesus. It does not belong to sin. And as long as I'm submitting to Him, I cannot submit to sin. See, it's not by way of suppression. It's by way of submission. That's consecration. Now look what happens next. Watch this. Verse 6. And Joshua said to the priests, take up the Ark of the Covenant and pass on before the people. So they took up the ark of the Covenant and went before the people. The Lord said to Joshua, today I'll begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel. That they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant. When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. God is gonna do a miracle. He's gonna part the waters. And tonight, for some of us, he's gonna part the waters of your life. But there's always a condition, and I want you to see what's happening. Faith in action is obedience in motion. He was not told. Hey, just have them stand on the banks of the Jordan and just sing hymns and raise their hands and believe God. We believe you can do this. We really do. We know you can do this. As soon as you part the waters, we're going over. That's not what God said to do. Put your feet in the water. Faith in action. Obedience in motion. Hey, for some of us tonight, it's your marriage. Your marriage is on life support. It's in the icu. So is mine. So is mine. Krista and I will have 34 years of marriage in October 5th. But understand, had there not been a year 14, there would never been a year 34. I don't have time to tell you all the backstory. I lost my innocence on the back of a middle school bus in the eighth grade. Was sitting next to an older woman. She was two years older than me. Let's just say she knew what was about to happen. I had no idea it was about to happen. And what happened that day on the back of that bus would set things in motion that this kid wasn't ready for. I didn't even have hair on my legs yet. And on that day, something in me was awakened. But something in me was also broken. I didn't know it then. I do now. Had no idea then. What my wife didn't know is that she married a broken man. Outwardly full of confidence. I mean, I've highly decorated Swatkops Division 1 scholarship athlete. I mean outwardly, I mean, by 2006, year 14, I'm pastoring one of the fastest growing churches in Kansas City. People would have looked at me and said, oh, he's the picture of confidence. He could not have known that. Inwardly, when it came to my wife, I'm full of insecurity and anxiety. Gentlemen, listen carefully. You and I, we have two mirrors. Every day we're looking at these two mirrors. Our work and our wife. And we're saying, mirror, mirror on the wall. Am I doing any good at all? You know it's true. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Am I man enough at all for you? I didn't know then what I know now. And ladies, you need to know that for your husband, his number one emotional need is to feel strong and powerful. God made him that way. He made him strong and he needs to feel strong. He needs to feel good about being a man. And Satan wants him to feel weak. Because Satan knows if he feels weak, he cannot love you the way you need to be loved. And a man will retreat from anything that makes him feel weak. And by year 14 in my marriage, I was retreating continually from my mirror. She had no idea what was going on. It wasn't cause something was broken in her. It was. Something was broken in me. And she'd hit a trigger. It would happen, you know, once in a while in the early years. But as the years wore by, this pattern, this dysfunction would emerge more and more often. She would hit a trigger, she'd make me feel weak, disrespective whatever it was. And all of a sudden, you know what? I might not talk to my wife for three days. Some of you going, pastor Phil, Something tells me I'm not the only one that's run that play. See, instead of surrendering my life, letting go of my life in those moments, I'm trying to hang onto my life and persevere, preserve my life. I'm retreating from pain. I didn't know what I was doing then, but I know now what I was doing. Till something changed. March of 2006, year 14. I don't remember what was said. I don't remember what Krista did. We were in bed Light goes off, I roll over and I am mad. And I'm gonna give her the silent treatment when I wake up. I had run that play over and over again. Only this time, I heard my wife sobbing in the blackness of the night. I knew how bad I had been hurting. I had no idea how bad I'd been hurting her. I had been taking life from my bride. Something happened that day. Something was broken in me, but a different kind of brokenness. The blessing of broken by the Holy Spirit. I heard the Holy Spirit say, if you don't take care of her, you can lose her. And that night, I did something I had never done before. Instead of turning away, I turned in that night. I chose the nails. And for the first time in 14 years, I became an Ephesians 5:25 kind of husband where I actually understood what it means now to bear the cross. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. You see, before, I was taking myself and trying to preserve myself and hang onto myself instead of being willing to give myself and surrender myself. And that night, I turned into her and I said, honey, I don't care what you do to me. I don't care how bad you might hurt me. I will love you unconditionally with everything in me till the day I die. And that night, something began to happen. God began to resurrect a marriage that was slowly dying. We are dying a death by a thousand cuts. And from the Crucifixion of Ephesians 5:25, God ran a resurrection and a second honeymoon that's lasted 20 years later. It's never been the same. Gentlemen, listen carefully. I got the wife I always wanted. When God got the man he always wanted. When God got the man he always wanted, I finally got the wife I always wanted. And it began when I surrendered my life. I gave up my life to live exclusively for Jesus Christ and my bride. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. For some of us here, it's your marriage, and you're just barely hanging on. And I'm trying to tell you, marriages only die when two people choose to live like they're alive. Do you understand? The day you took your vows and you said, I do. What you're really saying is I die, too. Hey, if you're single, do not take that vow. I do. Until you're ready to die, too. Because marriage is about a cross. It's about a crucifixion. It's about dying for yourself to live for another. And marriages only die when two people choose to live. But when two people choose to die, you give life to your marriage. And all those years I've been taking life from my bride by trying to hang on to my life. And for the first time, I began to give life. Ephesians 5:25. You see, the cross has the power to change every area of your life. He says this in verse 8. As for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant. When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan. Faith in action, obedience in motion. And Joshua said to the people of Israel, come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, here is how you shall that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the parasites, the Girgashites, the Amorites and the Jebusites. Might I say it another way? Tonight the living God is among you. And he will without fail drive out from before you that idolatry of pornography, that merry go round of sensuality, that captivity to worry, anxiety, that spirit of fear, depression, dejection, that spirit of suicidal ideation. He will 100% drive it out from among you. Because if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. But you gotta put your faith in motion. They could have stood on the banks of the Jordan all day long and nothing was gonna happen. It was not until they put their feet in the water and understand the water was at flood stage can you imagine how scary this would have been. See, most of us in the Christian life, we'll just kind of test the water. We'll test it. We'll put one foot in, try to keep one foot in and you know, one foot where it's safe, just, you know, kind of test it. You gotta get in the water until you realize it is so deep you can't save yourself. Only then God parts the water. It's risky, it feels dangerously. But will you believe God will perform all that he has promised? You see, all the power of God, all the promise of God, are appropriated by faith in the word of God, faith in the promises of God. And this generation is now embracing their true destination. On the other side, there's gonna be a resurrection. No longer a band of liberated slaves, now a nation of priests and kings. And that is God's destiny for you and me. What are we? A band of liberated slaves. We have been liberated by Jesus. No longer in Satan's slavery and sinned penalty. We are A nation of priests and kings. Revelation 1:6. Revelation 5:10. The a life is your life as a child of God. Now look at this now, verse 15. As soon as those bearing the Ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the Ark were dipped in the brink of the water. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks. Throughout the time of harvest, the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away. Watch this. At Adam, the city that is beside Zaretham, and those flowing down toward the sea of the salt sea were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jordan. You know what amazed me about the Bible? It has to be inspired by God. Cause men are not smart enough to make this stuff up. He parts the waters from a city called Adam, 1 Corinthians 15:22. As an Adam, all die. It is the dead City. He parts the waters from Adam, the dead City, from the waters that flow into the Dead Sea. Yeah, I'm sure that's just coincidence. I'm sure it is. Now watch this. That city of Adam is by a region, a region known as Zarathan Zarethan. In the Hebrew it means piercing. Hmm. I wonder. Isaiah 53. 5. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. He was bruised for our iniquity. He was pierced to ease our pain. He was flogged by our freedom. He parts the waters from the city of Abba, the Dead City, to the Dead Sea, and they walk across on dry land. Do you understand the implication, according to the apostle Paul, that previous generation, their baptism was when God parted the Red Sea. The second generation, their baptism is when he parted the waters of the Jordan. What is baptism? It's a picture. Of what? A death, a burial. Into resurrection. They're going through their baptism as God parts the waters. And on the other side, there's a resurrection. Listen carefully. God can resurrect whatever in your life has died. Jesus invites us to come and die. And only once you've fully died do you finally come fully alive. Jesus said, whoever will seek to save his life will lose it. But whoever will lose his life for my sake and the Gospel, the same shall save it. I told you about a funeral in 1989. It changed my life. A funeral was mine. 21 years of age, driving home from Lawrence, Kansas, for Christmas break, I'd been the prodigal son, running from God, wrestling With God. Wouldn't give up, wouldn't give in. I was on a pathway of self destruction, probably a life of addiction, wrestling with God. Wouldn't give up, wouldn't give in. I'm driving home from Lawrence, Kansas. 4:35 and state line in Kansas City, Missouri. I get ran off the road by an 18 wheeler semi. The tracks in the snow told the story. I crossed into oncoming traffic. I'm coming into the oncoming lanes of the interstate. I'm completely out of control, doing three circles. 360s in the snow, completely out of control. I go back across the median, completely out of control. I'm doing 360s at 70 miles an hour. I look up, there's another 18 wheeler coming. I see it coming and it's amazing. Just like you hear in those life and death moments how time seems to slow down and what takes only microseconds seems to take forever. Your life really is flashing before your eyes. And the things you have time to think about in those microseconds. I look up, I see the 18 wheeler coming. And in that moment I know that I'm about to die. I literally resigned my life. I still remember the last thing I thought right before colliding with that 18 wheeler semi. I know there's a heaven. I know there's a hell. I don't know where I'm going, but I guess I'm going to know now because I knew I was about to close my eyes in time and I was going to open them up in eternity. And I did not know for sure what I was about to see. Well, we did collide that day. That 18 Wheeler took out my 78 Camaro. I should have died that day. By God's grace, I walked away. Well, that's good news. Church, somebody, please. I mean it's a happy part of the good news for me anyway. But listen carefully. I walked away that day. I lived. But that is the day I died. I drove home, the home I had grown up in. I went to the bedroom that I had grown up in. I got on my face on that bedroom floor, that same bedroom floor. I had been face down over and over again my senior of high school. Stone cold drunk, passed out on the floor. That same floor. I'm now face down. But I'm not drunk. Not this time. I repent of my sin. I surrendered my life completely to him. And somebody died that day on that bedroom floor. Somebody died. A young man died. I went to a funeral and it was mine. And when I stood up, a resurrection took place and my life has never been the same. And church, I'm telling you tonight, for some of us, you need to come to a funeral tonight. I'm talking about yours. Tonight is the night to come and die. Jesus says these words in Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. That's the abundant life. But to dine with him, you must come and die with him. And if you will, there's going to be a resurrection undeniable, yet unexplainable. Everything's about to change. Jesus, I pray tonight for every person under the sound of my voice that not one person tonight would leave this place without knowing the joy and the power of the resurrection upon their life. Tonight there's a husband needs to take his wife by the hand and say, honey, will you please come with me? Together, let's die. To let Jesus bring a resurrection for somebody, it's captivity to unforgiveness and bitterness. How does this young lady d forgive the man driving drunk that killed her brother? That's not normal. I'll tell you how it's possible. She chose the cross, she chose the nails. It's what Jesus does. He sets people free. He resurrects what has died. He restores what is lost. He rebuilds what is broken. Tonight I pray Jesus that we would have a funeral at 11:22 and a resurrection to follow in Jesus name, Amen.