Mark Batterson - Word, Sidewalk Thru the Sea
One of my prized possessions is the Bible that belonged to my grandfather. It was a 1934 Thompson Chain Reference Bible. And I love reading the notes in the margin. I love seeing the verses that he underlined. Although the Book of Daniel, almost every verse is underlined, and his Bible was so well read that it literally had to be taped together. "A Bible that is falling apart", said Charles Spurgeon, "Probably belongs to someone who isn't". I keep a note card in my Bible and I'll show it to you. It's an A.W. Tozer. "Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to me".
One of two things is gonna happen over time. Either your theology is gonna conform to your reality or your reality is gonna begin to conform to your theology. I have a theory about spiritual maturity and here it is, when you first encounter a verse of scripture, it's a theory. Why? 'Cause it's not your lived experience. Oh, but if you put it into practice, when the word becomes flesh, now the theory turns into a testimony, turns into theology. Now we're living the word. Can I give you an example? Matthew 18:18, "What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. What you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".
First time I encountered that verse, to be honest, it was a little confusing, almost seemed backwards, right? Like shouldn't it be the other way around? Well, if you're taking notes, jot this down, everything is created twice. The first creation is spiritual. Prayer is how we write history before it happens. This is why House of Prayer on Thursday nights sets the pace, sets the tone, sets the table for what God is gonna do. Now listen, you have to circle Jericho for six days, no doubt, you have to circle it seven times on the seventh day. You have to pray through to the breakthrough, but make no mistake, the breakthrough always begins in the spiritual realm. Then and only then will the walls come down.
The first creation is spiritual. The second creation is physical. It's gonna take some blood, sweat, and tears, and it might take years. That's why this is encapsulated in a core value that we have, pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. Guess what? You do those two things, God is gonna show up, show off, some miracles are going to begin to happen. What does that have to do with Matthew 18:18? Well, okay, stick with me, the idea of binding and loosening is all about authority, exercising spiritual authority. And we gotta be careful here, okay? Because prayer is not me outlining my agenda to God. Prayer is about God outlining His agenda to me. This is not name it, claim it. Every prayer has to meet a twofold litmus test, it has to be in the will of God and for the glory of God. If it's not, it's a non-starter, friends. If it is, game on.
So, let me paint a picture when the theory became testimony. I'll never forget, February 6th, 2002, when our young gun, Josiah, was born, but also never forget February 7th, 2002, 'cause at Washington Hospital Center, you may not even know this, is where we signed the contract to purchase the crack house that is now Ebenezers Coffeehouse. Ebenezers was born at Washington Hospital Center, how funny is that? But here's the thing, I don't think that's when God put a contract on it. I think God put a contract on it when we discerned, when one day walking by, this crack house would make a great coffee house, and God gave a vision.
And when God gives a vision, He makes provision, but it might take five years of praying. I think the Lord put a binding contract on it the day we started praying. And maybe, just maybe, that's why four people offered more money for it than we did, two of them real estate developers, but we got it. Because it was part of God's plans and purposes. I'll tell you this, Matthew 18:18 ain't a theory anymore, right? It's testimony. See, over time, verse by verse, the word becomes flesh. Verse by verse, theory becomes testimony, becomes theology. And now, spiritual maturity, that's what it's about, right? Okay, are you tracking with me, are we together, we're hitting the ground running.
I better add in a little welcome to National Community Church, NoVA Campus, online, our extended family, we begin a series called WORD, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little fired up. Why is this series so important? I'll tell you why. Because there's gonna come a moment in your life where you need a word from God. Going through a difficult divorce, a devastating diagnosis, life feels like a disaster, in moments like that you don't need another sermon, you need a word from God. I want you to get this in your spirit, the best place to get a word from God is to get into the word of God. God begins to quicken His word, I'll come back to that.
King David said Psalm 119:11, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you". The longest distance in the world is the 12 inches from the head to the heart. How do we get the word from the head to the heart? Well, here's the key, the goal of this series is not just getting into God's word, it's getting God's word into us. Can I give a little homework assignment up front? Our NCC kids are memorizing scripture, what if the big people did it? What if each text in this series, you just put it to memory, every week you just, you let the word get from your head to your heart, you memorize it and see what God does.
Now, it was a few years ago that I got a new iPhone, 'cause the battery was dying like by noon. And I'm like, I can't wait to get a new iPhone for the extended battery life, and the hundred million pixels or whatever it is these days, right, the new phones. And so a couple of months in, I'm like, what, like my phone is dying like before the end of the day. And so I go back into the Apple store, 'cause listen, my phone's defective, something's wrong with the battery. And they did their test, they go in back. I think a Wizard of Oz is back there, and they're like, "Your battery is fine". But we noticed that you haven't downloaded any of the updates since you got your phone. And I'm like, I had no idea that running off an old OS, that failing to download updates would drain my battery life and I would lose power, stick with me. You need daily updates.
Listen, if you aren't downloading His word, if you aren't renewing your mind in His word, you're gonna lose power, you're gonna lose purpose, you're gonna lose vision, you're gonna lose faith, and then you're gonna be like, "Why is my battery dead"? Because you better plug back in, friends. Plug back in. 'Cause there are moments where you're gonna need the spirit to quicken the word that got from your head to your heart, and by the way, got into your gut. "He who began a good work is gonna carry it to completion". "The joy of the Lord is my strength". "All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose". "I'm God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works prepared for me in advance".
Should I keep going? "His mercies are new every morning". "If God is for me, who can be against me"? "The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me". You know, I saw it in the NCAA tournament, I see it in football all the time these days, right? You hit a three pointer, clutch play, and I think this is like ice in your veins. Can I one up it? The blood of Jesus runs through our veins. When we get the word into us, makes me wanna flex spiritually, because our confidence comes from the word. That's why this series is so important to your spiritual future. Psalm 119, this is kind of framing the next eight weeks, "Quicken me according to your word".
It's the Hebrew word chayah, sounds like a karate chop. It means to restore, to repair, to reset. But it also is the Hebrew word to resurrect. That when we get into God's word, He begins to resurrect things in our lives. We come alive. Why? Because His word is living and active. Whoo, because this word is God breathed. I mean, come on, written in three languages, on three continents, over 1500 years, by 40 human authors, who were farmers and fishermen, who were tax collectors, and doctors, and poets, and prophets. And they wrote in prison cells, right, in palace courts, in wilderness caves. It covers every subject under the sun, comedy and tragedy, right?
There's history, and poetry, and prophecy. There are musicals called the Psalms. There are documentaries called the Kings and Chronicles. There are epistles and gospels. Yet it's one story, unbelievable. How is that even possible over 1500 years? 'Cause there's one author, it's God breathed. You don't just read it, it reads you. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. And you know what? You get this word in you and God will quicken it, and He'll quicken it in a way that will change your life. If you want to change your life, you have to change your story. But the way that happens is you get into the story of God. And then I would add, you give the author and perfecter of your faith full editorial control. And then you let the Holy Ghost be your ghost writer. And you let Him write through your life the stories.
And that's when and where those theories become testimonies. Ready or not, here we go. Don't get scared, longest introduction. Exodus 14, I want you to meet me at the Red Sea. After 400 years of slavery, the Israelites, man, just throw up that map for a second just to kind of point it out, I think we have one. God leads them out of Egypt, but you do not wanna end up Pi-hahiroth, from a military standpoint. I mean, I don't think Moses had any clue that the Egyptians would come after them. But I'm telling you what, you lose millions of people that were supporting your economy, despite 10 miracles, Pharaoh changes his mind, Egyptian chariots, they can see the cloud of dust, imagine the Israelites, they can hear the sound of chariots and they're trapped right here. Egyptian army, Red Sea. You ever been between a rock and a hard place? That's what this message is about.
So the Israelites start complaining, like, shocking, I know. They get so negative so fast. And studies have found that negative emotions, negative words, negative experiences, carry about seven times as much weight as their positive equivalent. It's called a negativity bias. And I'm just gonna throw this up here, 'cause there are, last time I checked, 188 cognitive biases on that wheel, the Codex of Cognitive Bias. But I wanna point out one of them, 'cause I'm concerned, I'm concerned about the cultural moment that we live in, and honestly we live in a city where there is a lot of noise. And so one of those biases is called the loudness bias. And it's not the majority of voices, and social media exacerbates this, but I'll tell you what, there are some folks who are trolling, and baiting, and shaming, and blaming.
And why is it that their tweets trend, right? It's the loudness bias. Like, friends, here's what I'm getting at, what is the loudest voice in your life? Is it the loudest voice or is it the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit? We better make sure that the Holy Spirit is the loudest voice in our life. Nothing wrong with listening to the news, nothing wrong with reading the newspaper, you better counterbalance it with some good news and make sure that you are in the meta narrative that God is writing. Okay, the Israelites at the Red Sea, lots of loud voices, and that's when and where we need a word from God, and Moses gets one. Here it is, "Fear not", would you say it?
Now, would you say it one more time? One more time. I mean, it's one of the most repeated commands in scripture. "Fear not, stand firm". Whoo, getting that, Jen, you played a little college basketball, right, getting that three point stance, stand firm, get your balance like this, right? Come on, that whatever's happening. "Stand firm", oh, I love it, get it into your spirit today, "And you will see the deliverance of the Lord". Bob, that job that God delivered, we prayed forever, felt like, God, when are you gonna part the Red Sea? God makes a sidewalk through the sea, you're in a sweet spot, God is using you for an incredible cause. I could point out so many stories of so many people that God has delivered us.
"The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord Himself will fight for you". God bless, go home, we'll see you next week, like, that's what we need to know. "The Lord will fight for you, just stay calm". Okay, all of us want a miracle, none of us wanna be in a situation that necessitates one. But you can't have one without the other. Without a setback, there is no comeback. You don't have the resurrection without a crucifixion. And I think none of us wanna be between a rock and a hard place. But listen, I woke up this morning and the Lord just gave a prophetic word, and I'll share it a little bit later. But sometimes God allows us to be in places where we don't know where go, we don't know where to look, like, there seems to be no way out, and the only option is to look to Him. And in those situations, God has a way of showing up and showing off.
Listen, it's true of the fiery furnace, true of the lions den, true of this Red Sea moment. So let me testify a little bit. October 5th, 2009, Laura and I are on a coffee date, and phone rings, answer it, and mistake, we've tried to implement the day off, phone off. But answered the phone. It was the manager of the movie theaters at Union Station where we had met for 13 years. And you have to understand, it was our identity, we thought about changing our name to the church at Union Station, 'cause that's what everybody called us. It was so great. It was this marketplace environment. And I remember thinking, like, there's not a church in America that has their own like train stop, metro stop, parking garage, like, I mean, it was incredible.
And my heart sunk through my feet. She said, "Hey, I have some bad news, they're closing the movie theaters". I'm like, what? And then I ask, "When"? She said, "One week". Wait, and that campus had grown, I think, to more than a thousand people at that point. I remember thinking, like, we have one Sunday to announce and we don't know where to go and what to do. And I remember getting with our team, Pastor Joel, and I think we were in like a conference room, 'cause we were at a conference that week, and I remember all of us just getting on our knees. It's what I call a 2 Chronicles 20:12 moment, you can go and read it. Lord, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
And I remember praying, saying, "Lord, we need a word". And guess what? God gave a word. And it was the word that He gave Moses. In 28 years of preaching, the most memorable message to me is the message I preached that Sunday. I remember I got up and I said, "I don't know what we're gonna do". Brian and Kim, you remember that? "I don't know what we're gonna do, but I know what we're not gonna do, we're not gonna panic, we're gonna stand still and we are gonna see the deliverance of the Lord".
Now you gotta know, sometimes preachers preach it and they're kind of convincing themselves while they're preaching it, 'cause little part of me is, like, the best may be behind us, like I can't envision another scenario like this. But I wanna tell you that God turned it to a testimony. And I'll tell you about it in a minute, just hold that thought. Okay, wide angle, in constitutional law, which I should not be quoting, I did, I was a pre-law major, I took one class in constitutional laws as an undergrad at the University of Chicago at the law school. I don't think that gives me street cred. You do not want me trying your case, okay? But I think in constitutional law, there's something called the Supremacy Clause.
And we have so many lawyers in our midst, I'm like, Mark, this is a pond you should not wade into. But my understanding is that federal law and federal regulation supersede, take precedence, over state law. Am I close? I'm somewhere in the vicinity. Can I suggest that 2 Corinthians 1:20 is the Supremacy Clause of scripture. I'm gonna put it on the screen, because it's so critical that we understand this, because it unlocks all the promises of God. It says, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ". You remember last week, more than 300 prophecies fulfilled in the Messiah, in Jesus of Nazareth, just as all those prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus, guess what? All the promises are fulfilled in Jesus.
Come on, they were purchased at Calvary's cross, and they were signed, sealed, and delivered at the empty tomb. But we have to add our amen. "And through Him", put it up one more time, "And through Him, the amen is spoken by us". I think they're playing the last round of the Masters, right? Isn't there an Amen Corner? Where is my Amen Corner at NCC? NoVA, come on, where's my Amen Corner? Online, come on, give it to me in the chat, where's my Amen Corner? Come on, where is my Amen Corner? Can I get an Amen? Whoo, now we're having church. Okay, Supremacy Clause. But stick with me, here's one of the hardest lessons I've learned.
One of my favorite promises is Revelation 3:7-9, and we'll look at it. But here's a lesson I've learned, you cannot pray half a promise. What do you mean? I'll explain it. "These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. See, I have placed before you and open door that no one can shut". We love open doors, whoo, let's go. Let's go, let's go. Closed doors, not so much. In my experience, usually closed doors lead to the open doors. Someday we will thank God for the prayers He didn't answer as much as the ones He did. Why? Because we were asking for the wrong thing. Usually our prayers revolve around comfort, which is the very place where you don't grow spiritually.
And so God doesn't always answer, God, change my circumstances. Oh no, those are the circumstances I'm using to change you. In the same way someday we'll thank God for closed doors as much as open doors. Come on, you were dating someone before you met someone. Alright? Whoo, relationally, thank you for a few closed doors, some opportunities that look like opportunities. Whoo, in retrospect, thank you, Lord. Keep me outta that mess. At House of Prayer, I may share a testimony, because I don't have time to teach how we discern the check in the Spirit, 'cause you have to give the Holy Spirit veto power. But we may talk about that at House of Prayer and just kinda lean into how do we discern when the spirit checks our spirit. But here it says that "He holds the key of David".
It's an allusion to Isaiah 22:22, just a little bit of teaching, connect the dots. The key of David belonged to a man named Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. And he wore it kind of around his shoulder, and it means that there was no door he could not open and there was no door he could not close. And it says that now, come on, the key of David belongs to the son of David, Jesus. He said, "I am the door", right? It's one of those I am statements. In other words, I just, I believe that this weekend God wants to open and close some doors. And we're so frustrated, but we're gonna lean into it, pray into it, and see what God does. And so quick testimony, okay, connect the dots, in 1996, we were meeting in a DC public school, got a voicemail that they were closing it because of fire code violations, and my heart sunk.
I remember thinking, like, we're about to become a homeless church, don't know where to go, what to do. Oh, God, closed the door, but then He opened the door. I remember walking into the movie theaters at Union Station saying, "Hey, would you ever consider subleasing to a church"? Do you know it, it was AMC who had just started some kind of red carpet program where they wanted to lease their theaters when the movies were dark. And we were the first ones to respond to it, as far as I know. And over many, many years, we have helped and inspired, listen, hundreds of church plants in movie theaters. We have invested in dozens of church plants. And so I look back on it and it, and it's so fun.
And so you would think when the manager called, I was like, oh, God's got something better for us. But it's scary. But here's the deal, if God doesn't close the door at Union Station, we never hire a realtor, we never start looking for property. And then miracles start happening, it's unbelievable, we end up securing, with a block of frontage, we buy Miles Glass Company that someone else had a contract on, but we knelt on it and said, "God, I believe this belongs to us". And then we acquired six contiguous properties, an auto shop that said, "We'll never sell". And they sold. And then we're so excited, hire an architect, do a charrette, we're gonna build this amazing church campus at Eighth and Virginia, with a block of frontage on 695, and CSX decides to build a train tunnel under Virginia Avenue.
I have never been more. God, you gotta be kidding me, you're gonna delay us five years? They said it's gonna take five years. I said, "Lord, come on, like we have nowhere to go". 'Cause we were breaking fire code over at Ebenezers, like pulling off as many, I think like sometimes six services at a weekend. And it felt like we were derailed by CSX. Sometimes detours are God's straight and narrow. It was during that interim, God was dreaming bigger, that we ended up getting the Miracle Theater and gathered there for many years. And now, do you know that we have let three other churches meet in that space over the last couple of years? Because it's not about the name over the church door, it's about the name above all names, same team.
What a joy to see that theater continue to be an incubator for God's kingdom. Oh, and then we get a property right behind it, it's an office building. Oh, and then we find out that there's a city block for sale for 29.3 mil. We did not have a category for a city block, 100,000 square foot, what is now the Capital Turnaround. Do you see what I'm saying? It all started with a closed door. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for one of the scariest moments of my life when that manager called, and I thought maybe the best was behind me. But God, you had plans that were bigger and better. I have enough faith today to believe that for everybody in the room, everyone within hearing, because there is a God who has done it before and can do it again. Whoo, say, giddy-up You telling me to hurry up?
Let me share five hacks, five hard lessons learned, five kind of biblical and practical lesson. When you're stuck between an Egyptian army and a Red Sea, you're in a tough spot. It feels like you're trapped, you don't know where to go or what to do, what do we do in situations like that? Five things, real quick. One, stay calm and carry on. I mean, that's what God says, just stay calm. Like, I mean, that's hilarious, because certainly the sympathetic nervous system, the fight and flight, when he hears those Egyptian chariots, it's like the cortisol running through his bloodstream. The hardest thing to do would be to just stand still and stay calm. Laura and I have an amazing counselor, she's a family systems therapist. And so much of it revolves around ungoverned anxiety.
And cultivating a non-anxious curiosity. It has totally transformed the way that we approach people, the way that we approach problems. Do we ever get nervous? Do we ever get frustrated? Are you kidding? Of course. But we remind each other all the time, whoever's strong that day, right? Like, hey, come on, non-anxious curiosity, let's lean in here. That is my prayer for us.
Number two, keep it in perspective. Love the story about the college student who was having a tough semester, wrote a letter to her parents, said, "Dear mom and dad, I have so much to tell you. Because of a fire in my dorm, set up by student riots, I experienced lung damage, had to go to the hospital. While I was there, fell in love with an orderly. We moved in together, dropped outta school, found out I was pregnant, got fired because of his drinking. Moving to Alaska, where we might get married after the birth of our baby. Your loving daughter. P.S. None of this happened, but I did flunk my chemistry class and wanted to keep it in perspective".
Nuff said said. Three, kiss the wave. I've gotta go fast. "I have learned to kiss the wave", said Charles Spurgeon. "I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of ages". The obstacle is not the enemy, the obstacle is the way. You cannot spell the word testimony without the first four letters, test. You have to pass the test. I can't promise you a life that's devoid of pain and suffering. It's not the human experience, you live long enough, and you will have seasons of sadness, you'll have seasons of grief, there will be seasons of loss, there will be seasons where you're just so turned inside out and upside down, you don't even know what to do. But you know what? That is when you need to kiss the wave.
You know, when Laura was diagnosed with cancer, told you many times, this poem that posed a question, what have you come to teach me? So you have to take a growth mindset, you have to have a learning posture, you have to kiss the wave, and you know what? Kiss your spouse too. There you go, just throwing that one in for free.
Four, this too shall pass. I love this, George Foreman wrote a biography, and in it tells a story of an elderly woman who was asked her favorite verse of scripture. So many options, but she chose a little phrase. She said, "My favorite verse is, 'And it came to pass.'" Repeated 436 times in the King James Version. And here's what she said, "When a trial comes, I know it doesn't come to stay, it comes to pass". "If you are going through hell", said Winston Churchill, "Keep going". Keep going.
And number five, fight one more round. Make it quick, "Gentleman" Jim Corbett, one of my heroes, September 7th, 1892, he has a heavyweight bout with perhaps the greatest boxer of all time, John L. Sullivan. Look at that. John L. Sullivan was the last heavyweight champion of bare knuckle boxing and the first champion of glove boxing. He was undefeated until "Gentleman" Jim Corbett knocked him out. Part of why I love it is he gave the prize money to his church. That's his most famous fight, but to me it's nowhere near the most impressive fight. He had a fight with Peter "Black Prince" Jackson that went 61 rounds. Heavyweight fights now are limited to 12 rounds. He went 61 rounds and it ended in a draw. Are you kidding me? He had a motto and here it is. "Fight one more round".
I love this so much, I'll put it up on the screen. "When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black, then you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round. The man who fights one more round is never whipped".
What did the apostle Paul say? "I have fought the good fight". "Having done all to stand, I stand, I put on the armor of God". And by the way, the word of the God is the sword of the spirit. This is our weapon to fight some spiritual battles. Keep fighting for your marriage, friends. Keep fighting for your health, physical, mental. Keep fighting for the dream that God's put in your life. Keep fighting for justice. Keep fighting for your faith. Fight one more round, in Jesus' name.
Now, several months ago, and I'll close with this, several months, not a ago, several months after, God makes a sidewalk through the sea, and I didn't have time today to get all of the subplots of that story. There's so many and it's so incredible. But I'm gonna close with this, after God makes the sidewalk through the sea, it says that, He told them to build a house of worship called the tabernacle. And they start building it and He gives specific instruction in Exodus 26:14. It's a very obscure verse of scripture, like, I'm sure there's no one that has it memorized, but maybe after today. Here's what it says, and God says, "You are to make a covering for the tent", this tent to meet "You are to make a covering for the tent of rams skins dyed red and a covering of dolphin skins above that".
Wait, what? Where are you gonna find dolphin skins in the desert? Well, the answer is marine biologists have discovered at least 16 species of dolphin and whale in the Red Sea, so they were all over the place. Now, plenty of debate amongst scholars as to how to translate this Hebrew word. It's a tricky one. But it can be translated dolphin, or seal, or porpoise. So what? Well, according to rabbinic tradition, when God made this sidewalk through the sea, the dolphins started jumping for joy. They were chirping, almost like they were cheering on God's people, they were splashing. But as you can imagine, when it was all said and done, a few of those dolphins died.
And according to rabbinic tradition, God said to Moses, "I want you to take those dolphin skins as a reminder of this miracle. I want you to sow them together and I want you to make a covering for the tabernacle where you will worship me". When you see those dolphin skins, imagine this moment, they walk into the tabernacle, they're worshiping, and maybe they're a little discouraged by the circumstances, but then there's a moment they begin to worship and look up. Oh yeah, if God can do that, He can do this. He said, "When you see the dolphin skin, remember that you did not become a free people without help".
Those dolphin skins symbolize the deliverance of the Lord. Listen, faith is a function of God's faithfulness. The way we look forward is we look back. And I wonder if some of us just need to put some things in the ceiling to remind us of the God of the impossible. There is a God who still makes sidewalks through the sea. There is a God who still keeps His promises. There is a God who still opens and closes doors. There is a God who still does miracles in Jesus' name, amen.