On The Brink: Preparing for the Promise Land | Kevin Wallace

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Hey family, Kevin Wallace here from Redemption to the Nation's Church. I've got a message for you today that I believe God gave me to bring strength and hope and joy to your journey. I want you to get your heart open. I want you to get ready to receive this word. I don't believe your life's ever going to be the same again. God's getting ready to take you to a new level. I'll see you at the end of this message and we'll pray together. God bless. Enjoy this word. I'm so thankful. Thank you, Lord.

Stay standing. Go with me to the book of Joshua, please. Joshua chapter one. [Music]

I love you, Lord. I, uh, I feel like for the next probably two weeks, maybe three, but I think the next two weeks, we'll see where we go. Today, I really feel like God's anointed me to help, um, provoke you to prepare. I talked about this the last time I preached. We had John Revere and then we had Tomi Ariomi, and how many know both those brothers blessed this house? Amen. [Applause]

Last time I preached, I talked about having skin in the game, and I talked about becoming a new skin for the thing that God wants to pour out. I, I feel more of that same sort of vein, and I don't really know how to explain what I'm feeling except to tell you, I, I just would take full advantage of the moments we have in this season of our life to prepare for the thing that God has in store for us. I don't say this loosely. I don't preach this lightly. I, I have plenty of other things that I could have brought to you, but I sense that it's, it's time for some of us to inhabit promised territory, but there's a preparation involved. And I want to preach for the next few weeks, uh, on this thought: On the brink.

Look at somebody, tell them, "God is moving us to the brink of breakthrough." Uh-huh. And some of you are on the brink of entering a place in your life of just occupying promised land, promised territory, places and promises that God has made for you. And I want you to know that that acquisition does not come without tremendous preparation. And I want us to talk about that for the next couple of weeks. And I'll start here in the book of Joshua, the first chapter, the first verse. And when you have it, say amen.

"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, 'Moses my servant is dead. Moses my servant is dead.'" Everybody say, "Moses my servant is dead."

"Now therefore, arise." I'm still in verse two. "Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel. Every place." Say, "Every place." "The sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given you, as I said to Moses. From from the wilderness and this Lebanon, verse 4, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." How many know that's good news?

Verse 6: "Be strong and of good courage, for to you, for to this people, you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to your fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do all the law according to Moses, which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may be able, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then," somebody say, "for then." "Then you will make your way prosperous."

How many know if you give heed to the word of the law, and you keep it in your mouth, and you obey its word, the word? How many know you will make your way prosperous? And then you will have good success.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Verse 10: "Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 'Pass through the camp and listen. Command the people, saying, Prepare. Everyone say, Prepare. Prepare provisions for yourself, for within three days you will cross over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess.'"

Father, I thank you for your word. I pray this assignment on my life today would be, uh, would be meaningful and fruitful in the preaching and the delivery. I thank you that the ability to receive the word today will be released and granted as a spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of God rest upon this house. Move us from glory to glory. Position people, people who are out of position, Lord, today, let them re-, let them recover their position in you. And I'm asking you in Jesus' name, Lord, to put our feet in places of destiny, places of promise. I ask in Jesus' name, individually and corporately, you would move us into the right place for this season. In Jesus' name. If you're not going to miss it, shout amen.

You can be seated in the name of the Lord.

So, I do a lot of preaching, uh, from the book of Acts. And I do a lot of preaching in the Old Testament from the book of Joshua. And, and the reason I preach from the book of, I preach all over the Bible. And we have, and we, between the pastors and I and all those who teach on this, this pulpit, I believe the people of God deserve a full, balanced diet of the word of God. Amen. If you're going to be strong in the Lord, you got to have a balanced diet from the word of God. And so we do that. The teaching team here does that. We're committed to doing that. But if left just to my inclination and my proclivity, I do a lot of preaching out of the book of Acts in the New Testament because I believe Acts is more than a book of history. I believe it's a book of paradigms. It's a how-to manual of operation for the early church. How many know the book of Acts is not just created to tell us a story of how the church was birthed? It's a, it's a book that tells us how a living organism ought to live in power and authority and operate in victory in our generation. So when we read the book of Acts and teach from it, it's because there's something meaningful there. And if I had, if you had to twist my arm and ask me where I teach most from the Old Testament, I'd say the book of Joshua because I find more in common with the people in the book of Joshua in our acquisition, acquisition of the promises of God and the blessings of God. I just relate to the book of Joshua because God has great big promises, and there are great big enemies that try to steal those promises. And if the truth be known, all of us in this room at times find ourselves on the brink of the promises of God. And when we get to those promises, it seems like another wave of resistance or opposition comes against us. Anybody know what I'm talking about? If you've ever had a promise, and ever felt, if you've ever felt like God was doing something in your life, and God was moving for you, and God, God had blessings in store, and promises had come, but then you, you look at your land, your promised land, whatever that might be, whatever that looks like, if it's your family coming to the Lord, if it's your marriage being strengthened and coming into breakthrough, it's your financial picture, if it's whatever it is, whatever the promised land is for you, if you've ever gotten close to it and and felt like you were about to have it, and yet there was like this enemy that was occupying what God gave you and wouldn't get off your property. I want you to know you're not less spiritual. You're not crazy. There's not something wrong with you. In fact, an enemy standing on what belongs to you is probably a good indication it really is yours. Satan is testing your tenacity to see if you believe it belongs to you. Whenever you feel resistance and opposition coming against you, it is not, listen clearly, it is not an indication it is not yours. It is simply the enemy testing your tenacity to see if it really belongs to you. And sometimes when we get resistance in life and we see adversaries, the thing we want to do is pack our bags up and go to a land that has no enemies on it. But I'm going to tell you right now, there's no land worth running to if it doesn't have an enemy standing on it. Because the enemy is there only, only to test your heart and my heart to see if we really believe it belongs to us. Look at somebody, tell them, "Don't run." You got to make up your mind today that the promised land God gave you belongs to you. And let's just put something to rest this morning as we talk about the promises of God in the book of Joshua. Canaan is not heaven. Growing up, all my life, Canaan, the promised land, was a picture of heaven. But I'm going to tell you, when you get to heaven, there will be no giants in heaven. Come on, somebody. When you get to heaven, there will be no enemies to overcome in heaven. There'll be no, there'll be no enemies to defeat in heaven. So when we see this whole issue of conquest in the book of Joshua, it is not a picture of you and I enduring Egypt, coming out of Egypt, and then going to heaven. When we come out of Egypt, listen, family, that's us coming out of sin and coming out of the world. But when it flips over to the book of Joshua, inhabiting the promised land is about, it's a picture rather of what you and I will do in this life before we get to heaven. And you say, Pastor, are you, are you suggesting that when you think about the promised land, listen to this, do you really think it was God's will? I'm just laying a foundation. We're going somewhere. Do you really think it was God's will to bring them out of Egypt and let them die in the wilderness? No. And let me, let me correct something, because I hear people say this all the time, and it is unscriptural to say God's will, perfect will, is always done. God's perfect will is not always done. His sovereignty is always done. But His perfect will in your life and mine hinges upon our obedience to the word of the Lord. That's why there are hundreds of if-then blessings in the Bible. If you do this, then you will do this. If you do this, then God will do this. Come on, somebody. And we don't like this teaching because it, it, it forces us to accept responsibility for our apprehending the promised land. And we don't like responsibility because what we're raising in America is an entitled church rather than a church that understands inheritance. Where is my help? [Applause]

Entitlement is a dangerous thing because entitlement says, "Forget about what I'm doing. You owe me, God." I'm going to tell you right now, don't, nobody owes you anything. It is God that decides in His goodness and mercy to make provision for you and I to enter land and occupy houses we didn't build, reap from vineyards we didn't plant, come on, drive on roads we didn't create. What are you saying? I'm saying that some of you got to understand that the promised land in your life is a promised land you are supposed to inhabit in this life. But you have some things you must, some responsibilities you must meet. And you're not entitled to promised land, even though God may have promised it to you. He promised you something, but now you and I have to do what's necessary to enter the promised land. And as we're going to discover today, there's some preparation that must occur. I want you to hear me. Jesus brought you. He brought Israel out of Egypt to take them to the promised land. God brought you out of sin to bring you into a life of conquest and occupation. That's why the Bible said, "Occupy till I come." Come on, somebody. He didn't save you to sit on. Everybody stand up real quick. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Everybody turn around. Put your hand on that seat. Turn around. Put your hand on your seat. You feel that warm spot? That is not your contribution to the kingdom of God. Sit back down. Some people think that the only thing they do is come and sit and warm a pew. That's why it's called a pew. You sit there long enough, it starts thinking. Come on, somebody. [Applause]

You are called to occupy. I am called to occupy. We are not called to simply come to church on Sunday and pout over what the devil is doing in our generation. If you're fed up with what the enemy is doing in the educational system, then go to school, get a degree, become a teacher, and reverse the curse. If you're fed, fed up with what the devil is doing in Hollywood, then become a director, make a movie, bring glory to God, and redeem what the devil is trying to steal. You and I, touch somebody, tell them, "You're called to occupy." [Applause]

You're called to occupy. And most of the stuff we're praying about in the church in this generation is stuff we could have prevented had we got up off our blessed assurance on Sunday and went and occupied promised land that belonged to the people of God. Oh, I didn't have all this to say, but somebody needs to hear this. When the, by, in the book of Daniel, the Bible says that when Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego came to Babylon, do you understand that Babylon represents the world? Do you understand that when the king of Babylon and the leaders of Babylon saw Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego, they looked at these children of God and said, "These men excel greater than 10 times all of the people in Babylon." Don't miss this. They shifted their generation because they were greater than what the world was trying to produce. What we have now, I'm getting ready to preach because I feel my head on fire right now. What we have right now in our generation is a bunch of education going on that is really indoctrination, trying to turn our children and our sons and daughters into a product of the world system. But the devil is a liar. God is to raise up a people who are greater than those who carry the spirit of the world. Those who carry the spirit of the kingdom are about to shake things up in Washington, in Hollywood, in market. I better quit. [Applause] [Music]

Look at somebody, tell them, "You." Come on, talk to your neighbor, say, "You are called to occupy." Promises. Get, get, listen, get full of the promises of God. Ready. Your purpose is connected to your promise. [Applause] And some people are simply saved and waiting on heaven. I want to hear, I want you to, I'm glad we're going to heaven, for real. Come on, because there's only one other place to go. How many glad we're going to heaven? But hear me, you are not just called to get saved and wait on heaven. Occupy till I come. And the occupation of the promised land is connected to your purpose. I don't know what land, what area, what industry, what job market, what family thing God has promised you and your life, but I want to tell you this: It's time to get there. Let me tell you, let me ask you, let me ask you a rhetorical question that I hope wakes you up: If not you, then who? If not here, then where? And if not now, when?

So, God, God does not freak out when Moses dies. You know what God does? He raises up a Joshua. All these people come out of Egypt, millions of Israelites standing up at the Red Sea. Moses, you know the story, stretches right out, everybody crosses over, everybody goes crazy. Miriam breaks out in timbrel and, "Whoa, breakthrough, breakthrough, breakthrough!" They're supposed to head immediately to the promised land, and they begin to murmur in the book of Numbers, the 13th chapter, I believe it is. The, yes, the 18th verse. Your Bible says that God touched the heart of Moses, and I've taught you this before, but it's been some time ago, so somebody else needs this because we've grown since then. God touched the heart of Moses. He said, "You send 12 spies, one man from every tribe, into the promised land." Let me remember that story. He said, "And I want you to go see." Everybody say, "See." "Go see the land that I've carved out for you." And you know the story. 12 go in. All of them come to the conclusion, conclusively, so without one question about it, God is getting ready to hook us up. All 12 of them said, "This is a land flowing with milk and honey." Right out of the 12, all 12 of them knew the land was a blessing. All of the, all of the 12 knew the land was full of promises. All of the 12 knew this is what God was talking about when He told Abraham, "I bless your seed and give them a land." There was no question about it. But of the 12, 10 of them said, "We can't take it."

Now, here's some things I wrote down about this. Yeah, I'm trying, I'm getting the preparation. Just, just understand this. When five out of five, six, or 10 out of 12, when the majority say, "We can't," it is, you must always remember this: It is not the majority that moved God. It is the minority. I wrote it down like this: God will never allow the fear of the multitude to drown out the faith of the minority. How many have ever felt like you were one of a few, and the enemy wants you to believe that the many or the multitude have you outnumbered? But I'm going to tell you right now, God is patient with those who have faith, and God will allow you to live till your faith is made sight. Do you realize the only two out of the twelve that said, "We can take this land," were Joshua and Caleb? And by the time we get to the book of Joshua, Joshua and Caleb are in their 80s, and they remember what it was like being in their 40s when God said, "I'm going to give you this promised land." Don't miss this. They were in their 40s, and they saw it. They were not in the land until their 80s when they began to take possession of it. What is the point? God let every one of them, other, uh, spies die in the wilderness, and He kept, I'm getting ready to bless somebody, He kept Joshua and Caleb alive for 40 years until they entered into their promised land. What is the point? The point is, there's some people in your life who didn't have faith, they lived in fear, and they never, in your own house, you had some people who told you, "We'll never be anything. We'll never amount to nothing. Your daddy was a loser. Your mama was a loser. Everybody in this family has been a loser." But there was something down on the inside of you that said, "I'm not dying with the rest of them jokers, and I'm not quitting when the rest of them quit. I'm gonna hold on and see what the end might be." Is anybody glad you haven't given up yet? In fact, slap your neighbor and tell your neighbor, "You're about to be glad you did not give up." Whoo.

Listen to this. When the, when the ten came back and said, "We can't do it. We can't take this land." You better be careful who you hang out with. You better be careful who you let in your circle, because the report of the Lord and the report of the enemy both come out of the mouth of people surrounding you. And I have learned in my journey the value of making sure I surround my people who know the report of the Lord. Now, write this down. If you're taking notes, in Numbers 13, verse 18, when the 10 of the 12 came back and said, "We cannot do it." Everybody write this down: That was, that happened on the ninth day of Av. Taking notes? Write it down. Av is a month on the Hebrew calendar, okay? On the ninth day of Av. I was born on the 16th day of September, so I'm trying to make sure you understand when I say the ninth day of Av, this is a particular day on the calendar. They said, "On the ninth day of Av, we cannot take this promised land." Do you know what happened when they said, "We cannot take this promised land"? They began to murmur and complain. Let me tell you what else happened on the ninth day of Av. Throughout history, both temples were destroyed on the ninth day of Av. Israel, pardon me, the Jewish people were expelled from England on 12, in 1290 A.D. on the ninth day of Av. Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 on the ninth day of Av. Romans plowed over the temple on the ninth day of Av. Both World Wars started on the ninth day of Av. Look throughout history. Talk to Jewish people, and they will tell you the most dreaded day on the Jewish calendar throughout history, not just Numbers 13, but throughout history, the most dreaded day is the ninth day of Av because of all of the horror that happens on that day. What's the point, Pastor? The point is, those first fathers of Israel jeopardized the future of their offspring by cursing their promise and their blessing. They literally opened their mouth and murmured against God and opened a door for perpetual curse to invade the lives of them people, their people. I will say this to fathers in the room and mothers in the room: Be careful what you speak in fear. Be careful what you cannot speak in faith, because sometimes you open the door for the enemy to have access into your home and your family by speaking curses over. Oh, I, I'm getting some nervous looks right here, but I'm going to tell you, the power of life and death is in the tongue, and there are a lot of people who walk around trying to figure out why they can't see the blessing on their life, and their mouth is full of nothing but curses. I don't know about you, but you've got to make up your mind and align your life with the kind of report that positions you to take the promised land. I am not telling you you will not have a giant. I am not suggesting to you that you won't have an enemy. I'm saying he doesn't matter as much as the promise. The issue and the question is not, "How big is the giant standing on my property?" The question is, "Why is he on my property in the first place?" My dad and I used to go fishing in, in forbidden places. I didn't know what "no trespassing" meant. True story. Saw that black sign with orange letters, "No Trespassing." I'm like, "Dad, what is that?" I'm a nine-year-old kid. He's got a shotgun and a fishing pole. I'm like, "What are we doing with a gun?" "You never know who's gonna show up on property you're not supposed to be on, right?" So we go fishing, and when we hear people start hollering at us, we take off running. Why? Because we were on property that did not belong to us. Now, we threw the fish back, but we had a good time. Amen. The issue is this: The enemy will challenge your promise by simply showing up. And for some people, all the enemy has to do is show up, and the first little hint of an adversary, and we take tail and don't go to church, and we don't, we don't give, and we don't pray, and we don't love people. And why? The enemy trying to destroy my family. And some of us have not put together the fact that the closer you get to God, the more you are tested by the enemy. And he's testing your tenacity. But somebody is about to break through a cycle and a routine that your whole family line has never been able to break through. And I feel like there's some people in here. [Music] Who am I talking to in this church? There are some people in here who say, "Come hell, come high water, I will possess the promises of God that are yes and amen over my life." [Applause] [Music]

Okay, let me keep going. I'm doing good. Let me keep going. Watch this. Okay, so the fear of the multitude will never drown out the faith of the minority. Now, God tells Joshua, "Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed." Which means, don't have a panic attack. Don't freak out. Take a chill pill. "Everywhere you go, so long as you go where I promised." Let that sink in. "So long as you go where I promised belongs to you, everywhere you go, I will give you that land." There's only one thing, Joshua, don't miss this. I need you to walk through the camp and tell everybody, "Get prepared." Look at somebody, tell them, "Prepare."

Now, this is what's crazy. Joshua tells a group of people who have been in the wilderness for 40 years. Wait a minute, Lord. I've been through this whole thing for 40 years, and I haven't been getting prepared. Can I tell you something? That sometimes there is one more place and season of preparation. And you can't look back on seasons that were challenging and difficult and assume, "I'm ready." Well, I waited. I waited 40 years, Pastor. I waited 40 years. Isn't that long enough? It's not about how long you waited. It's about, are you ready? Because I know some people who wait but don't get ready. I know some people who wait but don't get ready.

Now, watch this. He says, "Prepare yourself, for in three days we're crossing over." Now, we're crossing over into the promised land, and we're going to occupy. They're going to be enemies there, but don't worry about the enemies. I'm getting ready to take out your enemies, but you got to get prepared. So, what does preparation look like? This is, this is the meat of the message, and this is what I want to talk to you about. There's about five or six of these, so I think it's going to be this Sunday and next Sunday. We'll see how far we get.

Number one, and this is gonna, this is gonna be a little different for, for y'all when you think about preparation, but hear me out. The first thing you need to do to get prepared as you enter the promised land, you need to build memorials. See, people like, "What is he talking about? Prepare? That sounds like victory." No, that's where we miss it in the church. Watch this. Look at Joshua chapter 4. Uh, can you put verse 22 up for me, Chad? Joshua 4, verse 22. Joshua and the people of God are getting ready to cross over the Jordan. And God tells Joshua, "When you cross over, I want you to take stones out of the Jordan and build a memorial on the other side." Watch. "So that your children see this memorial and understand that it was God that split this Jordan River and made a way where there was no way."

Now, I find it interesting that, um, that historians and, and, uh, those who study, uh, ancient times, archaeologists even discovered, because if you read this, the Bible says the Jordan was overflowing at its banks. Now, in most seasons, the Jordan is about 20 feet deep, and in most places, it's not very wide at all, a couple hundred yards. But during flood season, it was as wide as two miles and as deep as 40 feet. And you have all this snow melting on Mount Hermon that comes rushing down the mountain, and it feeds the head river of the Jordan River, and it is swelling and overflowing. It's the absolute worst possible time to cross the river. Doesn't that sound like God? Like, for real. Come on. You could have waited till the summer when the, when the streams dried up and it was a little puddle, and then we'll come over, and there'll be no faith involved. No, God's gonna wait till the river overflows her banks and she's raging in a tide, and, and the momentum of the, of the, of the raging river is just, just out of control, and God says, "In that context, that's what I'm gonna, I'm gonna call you to cross over." And here's the thing: If you keep reading the fourth chapter, you will find out that God cut the water off as far back as the city of Adam. And archaeologists found out that what happened, this is so crazy, is that a cliff literally disintegrated, fell down into the river, and stopped the river from flowing all the way back at Adam. How many thank God for stopping the river from overtaking you and I?

Now, here's what's crazy. Let me read this. Joshua 24:22: "Then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.'" Next verse, please. "For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the, what? The Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over."

Let me paint the picture of why building memorials are important. What God is telling Joshua to do is to break a generational cycle. Don't miss this. The forefathers, the first generation, they themselves came to a body of water, not the Jordan River, like Joshua. Moses came to the Red Sea. What did God do when Israel got to the Red Sea? Everybody's going crazy, murmuring, complaining. God says to Joshua, "Stick your rod out over the sea." He sticks his rod out over the sea. The wind blows, and the Bible said they walked over on dry ground. Came across on the other side, looked back long enough to see Pharaoh and his army swallowed up as the Red Sea caved in on top of them. They get out in the wilderness a couple of days, and everybody starts murmuring and complaining. Don't miss this. And they started dying in the wilderness because of their unbelief. And here's the point: Joshua looking back at what happened in Moses' generation says, "We're at a body of water, just like our fathers were at a body of water. God opened up the water, just like He did for our fathers when they were at a body of water. They forgot the miracle, and because they forgot the miracles, they murmured and complained, lost their faith, got overcome with fear, and then they began to attack God and His anointed, and they dropped dead in the wilderness." And Joshua, "This is not going to be repeated in your generation. You are going to build a memorial so that when your children are tempted to murmur against God, they look at that memorial and say, 'Daddy, what are those 12 stones?'" And that is all. Let me tell you about the day I was standing at the edge of the Jordan River, and the priest put his foot in the water, and they began to carry the ark. I filled my preacher, help coming on me here, and they began to carry the ark of the covenant, and the water backed up, and we walked over on dry ground. And those stones are a testimony that God is faithful and will finish what He started. If you don't build a memorial, your children, instead of honoring God, will question God and doubt God and worry that God's not alive. But I feel like somebody who, in this room, has seen enough miracles, you've tasted enough goodness, you know that God is real, and your children will never have to doubt it if you will build a testimony and remind your babies, "It was the Lord that broke the yoke. It was the Lord that broke the curse. It was the Lord." I feel goodness and mercy in this room today. Slap somebody, tell them, "Build a memorial. Build a memorial." You want your children to have a praise on their lips? Remind them that when you didn't have two dimes to rub together, it was God that helped you pay the bill. It was God that helped you make your way. If He's ever blessed you, open up your mouth and give God praise. Build a memorial. The devil will not have my children. The devil will not have my grandchildren. I plan on building a memorial and stopping the doubt.

Sit down. Sit down. The first thing we must prepare ourselves with before we enter the promised land is we're not afraid of testimony building. More that's what it was. Build a memorial. You and I have to break cycles of doubt and unbelief in our children. I want my children to remember 2014 for the rest of their life. Well, what happened in 2014? A 90-day revival broke out that changed the face of this church. Somebody on that 90 days, "Don't be so wussified. 90 days changed my life." I carry my four children to our car one night, speaking in tongues. Got them up the next morning, they're still speaking in tongues. What does that matter? It matters because when the enemy comes to them, it tells them God ain't real. I'm building a memorial. Hallelujah. So that instead of getting full of murmuring and complaining, they looked back at my generation and said, "Look what God did in my daddy's life. If God could do that in my daddy's life, if God could do that for my father and my mama and for my, if He can do it for them, then where is the Lord God of Elijah? He can do it." Come on. See, we miss this in the church. We are disconnecting from the next generation. And we cram our children in rooms, and they never come into church and see their mama. And I'm getting people mad at me right now, and I know most every Sunday we have wonderful, we have the greatest children's church in Chattanooga. But I'm gonna tell you, sometimes they need to come out of that children's church. And sometimes you need to bring them in this building with you. And I know it's a little bit of a hassle, and I know we got to vacuum up Cheerios, and we got to scrape markers off the floor, and we got messages to clean up. But we do that because I want your children to see God bless you. And when your children start asking questions, "Daddy, why are you clapping? Daddy, why are you crying? Daddy, why do you got your hands up in the air?" I want you to tell your children, "It wasn't a touchdown for my favorite football team. It wasn't that the Braves won the World Series, which we are about to do. It was that when I was a wretch and I had nothing and I was on my way to hell, God, in His goodness, reached down and He lifted me." Touch three people, tell your neighbor, "Pardon me while I testify." When I look back over my life, when I look back at where He brought me from, I've gotta open up my mouth and build a memorial of praise. Somebody do it all over the church right now. [Applause] [Music]

Sit down. Build a memorial. Touch your neighbor, tell them, "Build a memorial." Some of you about to pay off a house, build a memorial. Some of you are about to start a new business, build a memorial. Some of you about to get baptized in the Holy Ghost, build a memorial. And thank God for His goodness. Don't ever let the devil, my, my, my, steal your children by failing to give them a memorial that they can look at and see the handiwork of God.

Number two, I'm gonna finish right here. Say, "Prepare." See, we're preparing. So the first thing we're gonna do is build a memorial. The second thing we're gonna do, I am not going to have no shouting on this one. I'm getting ready to lose Julian and all of the shouters. Chapter 5, verse 2: "Joshua, go get some knives." I told y'all, the men are getting real squeamish right here. "Go get some knives made out of flint rock. We get ready to circumcise." See, I told y'all. I'm watching people gather their belongings right now, but the devil is alive. How many are thankful that according to Romans chapter 2, the circumcision that we now engage in is not a physical circumcision? It is a circumcision of the. Come on, Romans chapter 2. Talk to me, people of God. When the Bible talks about circumcision in this day of grace that we're living in, it is not a physical circumcision. It is a spiritual circumcision. But let me break this down to you. That getting ready to go into the promised land, occupy promised territory, but God refuses to let them in, even though they have endured for 40 years. Here we go. You ready? "Am I not entitled to entry after all I've been through?" I'm losing some folk right here. Well, people left me, spouse left me, I lost money, lost business decisions, people lied on me, people talked about me. Am I not entitled to the promised land because of all my pain? No. Because pain is not the prerequisite for entering the promised land. Purity is. Feel that little cold thing come over the whole house. I don't want no purity talk. This is a day of grace. You have been falsely informed about what grace is, sister yay yay and elder flip flop. I want to tell you right now that grace is not a license to sin. Grace is an empowerment to overcome the thing that was trying to destroy your future. Quit asking for grace to get away with something. That grace has been given to help you overcome. I am not minimizing your pain. I'm simply telling you it is not your ticket into the promised land. Because if anybody deserved to inhabit the promised land, it was a people who had waited 40 years. And yet God says, "In your preparation, I'm in Joshua chapter 4, verse 22." Watch this. "In your preparation, you have to be circumcised." Now, I don't want to be graphic, but I want to be clear. Circumcision requires pain so that you can get to a place called intimacy. If you don't get circumcised in heart, there's too much flesh in the way. Oh, Lord, have mercy. I'm walking lightly but heavily at the same time. We won't promise land without intimacy. But God requires circumcision of heart because He refuses to give inheritance to people who have not removed the foreskin and the flesh. And we got too many, and listen, here's one reason why we have so much immaturity in the pew: because we got preachers preaching who haven't been circumcised in spirit. [Applause] I'm going to tell you this, QPQ. I'm going to tell you this, Josh. I'm going to tell you this, Chris. The greatest service I can do all of y'all is to tell you the times in my life, not when I stood up under great anointing and preached, not when I cast out devils and healed the sick. It's when I had to die to self a million times and crucify my own agenda so that His agenda could be seen and accomplished in my life. Circumcision of heart keeps more people out of the promised land. Lack of, let me say it that way, lack of circumcision of heart keeps more people out of their promise than anything else. Ready for this? Here's what we say when God comes to us with the word. It's making me a Bible. You know what? You know that mine's up there. Thank you, Alex. Thank you, Hairless Beautiful Alex. Listen, you know what we say? You know what we say when God comes to us with the word? Because you know the word is a sword, and you ought to be grateful that it's a sharp sword, because when it comes time to circumcise, I don't want a jagged rock. I want a sharp sword. I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm trying. I know some of y'all getting all nervous. Don't get. I'm in the book. I'm in the book. Here's the thing. Here's what we say when God comes to us with the word: "Don't cut me. Bless me." I'm losing folk right now. "Bless me with the word, but don't cut me." And here's the problem: We got too many uncut Christians who have not cut back the flesh from the spirit with the word of God. And let me tell you something else about circumcision: You better be careful who you let swing the sword in your life. [Music] Because I know some people who get up with this sword, and they just start wielding it in the name of the Lord, and we got some shiite preachers. [Music] Who hurt people with the sword. And this is a very, very, very sharp instrument that must be used with precision. A.K.A. the anointing of the Holy Ghost. God is about to let them enter into the promised land, but not before He purifies them and cuts the flesh away. I want to say this, and I'm wrapping up. The promised land was available for the previous generation, but they didn't inhabit it. And the second generation, their sons and daughters, come to the brink of the promised land. 40 years of wandering. God said, "I love you, and I know you've been through pain, but if you don't let me cut back the flesh, you can't enter into this place of rest and promise." I want you to hear me, church. We want the word to bless us, and it is my prayer every week and every day of my life that when I preach, the word of God would minister life and hope and blessing to all of us. But the word doesn't just bless us. Yeah, the word cuts us. God gives us a command, and if we don't like it, we just say, "That didn't bless me." And we have the unmitigated God to run down the road and find another church whose battle is it? And we say, "That place didn't bless me either." Every place you go, you keep getting the same word, and you think all the preachers are screwed up. Have you ever seen, have you ever seen how many of y'all ever get a bill from the mailman? Come on. When's the last time you chased the mailman down the road? You started hollering at him, "I don't want this bill! I ain't paying this bill!" Do you understand something? The mailman just delivers what the postmaster general told him to deliver. I preached on Friday night of reward. Pastors are sometimes the most misunderstood people on the planet. People actually think we enjoy having to deliver a word that cuts. Do you understand that most of the time when I'm preaching, I'm just trying to get the blood off my hands? Y'all can't handle this because God told the prophet Ezekiel, "If, if they're in a mess and they sin, and, and, and they die in their sin, the blood is on them. But prophet, if you see them in their sin, and I tell you to straighten it out, and you don't, the blood ain't on them. The blood is on the hand of the preacher." So when we preach on Sunday, oh, we have to die a million deaths because sometimes I got to preach stuff I don't want to preach. Sometimes I got to say stuff I don't want to say. And I cry, and I roll on the floor, and I plead for mercy and grace, and I say, "God, let me speak the truth with a tender, loving spirit." Because every time, let me tell the young preachers in the house something: The harder the word, the more tender your heart ought to be. I can't find no help in the church. If you're gonna stand up and light people up, you better have a tear in your eye. All these people to get up and blast the people of God with no tenderness and connectivity, you miss what the assignment is. If God don't treat them like He then, you shouldn't treat them like He then either. Love them. But sometimes you gotta wrap a brick in velvet. [Music] And drop the rock. It's hard, isn't it? I want to say to this house, moving forward, when the word cuts, because He's just preparing you for greater, when you get convicted, don't get mad. Don't rebel and get all hard-hearted. Get humble and tender and surrender to God. When the Lord rebukes me, when the Lord has to fix me, you say, "Preacher, you're my bishop. You can't ever need your bishop." Needs fixing Monday through Friday. Some of y'all can't handle this. Oh, you walk on water. You and Pastor Devin, angels must visit y'all every morning. Let me help you understand something. People all the time misunderstand the assignment and the call and the anointing. Let the work, let the word do the work in you, because when it pierces and cuts, He's cutting things out of the way. Watch that prevent true intimacy. Circumcision allows you and I to experience true intimacy with God. And I sense that we're moving closer. Some of us are getting ready to inhabit places.

Stand with me. I'm through preaching. We're getting ready to inhabit places of promise. Say, "Pastor, I'm not, I'm not a preacher." I'm not talking about preaching unless you're a preacher. Businessmen and women, you might be getting ready to inhabit deeper dimensions of business success. You might be getting ready to open up another branch. If you're an educator, your promised land might be bringing an idea that God puts in your renewed mind that brings revolution to the educational system of America. Occupy. Take the promised land. God gives you a promise. It belongs to you. Don't let a giant talk you out of it. Somebody say, "Build monuments. Build memorials. Build testimonies." Don't let your children forget. And somebody say, "Circumcised." I want to pray for that right there, then I'm gonna, I'm gonna open the altar for salvation for people who need to get saved. But before I do that, I want to pray for the people of God. If you love Jesus and you're saved and you know it, but you want your heart to be totally His, lift your hands right now. Holy Ghost, I'm asking for this house right now. I'm asking individually so that it will impact us corporately, that there would come a work of the Spirit through the word of God, which is a sword, that takes your people to another level in purity and circumcision of heart and spirit, a deeper intimacy. Come on, somebody needs to receive this. A deeper intimacy with You. We don't want to go into promised land without having the flesh cut back so that our spirit, our spirit can be totally and completely Yours. [Music] Hallelujah. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I live for You alone. Every breath that I take. Somebody lift your hands and pray. Every moment I'm awake. Lord, have Your way. Just one more time. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. Jesus, I live for You alone. Every breath that I take. [Music] If you're serious about promised land and you want Him to touch your heart and have all of you, just sing it again. Come on, Lord, I give you my heart. Come on, lift those hands, close those eyes, and sing to the Lord today. I live for You. [Music] Every breath that I take. Every moment. Every moment I'm awake. Come on, have Your way. Somebody just pray that one last time. Lord, I give you. Lord, I give you. Give you my soul. Say, "I live for You, Lord." Every breath I take. Come on, family. I believe He's cutting some stuff out today in His love. Lord, I give. Oh, I give you my soul. Say, "I live for You." Every moment.

Hey family, while your faith is high and while God is speaking to you through this message today, I wanted to end this time together by saying a prayer for you and agreeing with you in prayer that God is going to meet you right where you are at the point of your need. As we pray, I want you to remember this: Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. You don't have a problem. All you need is faith in God. And today, we're going to agree in prayer together for your healing, for your deliverance, for the miracle, for the blessing that you've been waiting on. I believe it's time to pray.

Father, in Jesus' name, thank you for the people of God who are watching today. Thank you for everyone who has tuned into this, this message and this broadcast. And we are agreeing in prayer right now that every need they have, You are going to supply it. Father, I reach out to You in faith and I pray for the person who has lost, that You would save them. For the person who is sick, that You would bring healing right now to their body. Father, for the person who needs a miracle, financially, a miracle in their home, a miracle in their marriage, there's nothing too hard for You. And in Jesus' name, we speak to that issue. We command those mountains to be moved, and we thank You in advance for Your blessing that's coming up on their lives today. In Jesus' name, we receive it. Amen.

Friend, I can't wait to be with you next week. I'm going to keep praying for you until then. God bless you. Spread the news, and we'll see you soon. Go in peace. [Music]