In the Word

Pastor Mike Warren: Let's settle into our spots. The only announcement, and it comes by way of a prayer request, is that we're still trying to locate a mover for the portable classroom. Apparently, the person they used to use at the high school is not available anymore. He's given us a few recommendations. We know and trust that the Lord has the perfect person to come and do that. We've got a couple of people in the process of giving us estimates. Just be praying about that because as soon as the weather is better, we want to get it over here because of some repairs we need to make on it. There are things we need to do just to get things ready for starting the school year off with a nice, clean, remodeled classroom. Would you do that with me? Don't forget tomorrow morning at 9:30 over in the children's church, we have prayer. There is a lot to be praying about, and so you are invited to be there.

Let's turn to Daniel chapter 10. We came as far as verse nine. We might have even read verse 10, but we're going to back up for just a few moments to keep it in context. As you're turning there, let's pray. Father, we're living in a time and in a day that Daniel is writing about. As Daniel begins to give us instruction concerning the time and some of the problems we'll face as he finishes out the prophecy that You gave him on out to the time we're living in, Lord, we would just ask that You would give us ears to hear, hearts that are open, and minds that are ready to receive. Then we would ask for permanency. As we get older, we need You to give permanency to the things that we learn. As Peter said, we don't so much need to be taught as reminded. I'm in that stage right now where I need to be reminded a lot. Father, do that for us tonight. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

We told you as we came into chapter 10 last week that it's an interesting chapter because what it does is set the stage for the rest of Daniel's prophecies and his visions as he moves through chapter 11 and chapter 12. As we're introduced to the first part of chapter 10, we find Daniel heartbroken. He's grieving to the point where his appetite has left him. It's almost as though he were punched in the stomach spiritually speaking, and the wind has been knocked out of him. We learned last week why. It's always important when you have people who communicate that to you that you ask why. What would do that to you, Daniel? Daniel, it doesn't seem like as we track your life from the time that you were led captive from Jerusalem into Babylon that anything affected you. You stood your ground as a teenager. You rocked the world.

But now we're seeing him spiritually just having the wind taken from his sails. We found out last week what that was. There are three things by way of reminder. Now the decree from Cyrus has been given and the funding with the decree to go back and rebuild the temple. We know as we study through the Old Testament that Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Joshua the high priest went back and started rebuilding the temple. Then they just gave up and started working on their own homes and doing their own thing because the task was too great. That was the first thing that was troubling Daniel.

The second thing was that a fraction of the people that came out of Jerusalem into the 70-year captivity in Babylon became comfortable in the land of their enemies in the world as they prospered and grew. Three things we see there. Number one: materialism. These are things you'll battle today if you're not careful as a Christian. Their businesses and their income were more important to them than going back and rebuilding the place where God's presence resided. In those days, it was the tabernacle or the temple. They were more concerned about what was going on in their lives personally, so many of them just stayed in the land of bondage in Babylon and did not return. That broke Daniel's heart.

Then he also sees a spiritual apathy concerning the things of the Lord. There's just not that desire and not that passion. The word of God wasn't burning in them. I think Daniel suspected that when those commandments came and the release arrived for them to go back, everybody would have been in a hurry to get back and get the temple rebuilt. Not so. Because of that, compromise settled in. Even with those who went back, they had given up on the work and just began to work on their own houses. Anytime those things happen, there is spiritual compromise.

We find Daniel in the opening verses of chapter 10 out by the Tigris River. No doubt he's getting alone with the Lord. He's praying. There are some other people with him. The Lord will appear to Daniel. We're going to see three personages that are going to appear to Daniel for a very specific reason. We're going to find out in our study about spiritual warfare, and that really is the main sense of this chapter. We're going to find out how powerful prayer is. We're going to find out what is necessary to win the battle that we are in.

When Daniel opens up in verse two, let's back up and read it. Verse one says, "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long." The Hebrew word there means it's going to be long and it's going to be difficult. There's trouble associated with the length of this time and the very word that the Holy Spirit chooses to use here. He understood the thing and had understanding of the visions. Even Jesus in the New Testament says that in this life you're going to have tribulation and trouble.

I think a certain amount of that God just leaves in our lives so that we don't settle down and become comfortable here. We shouldn't do what the Jews did who came from Jerusalem into captivity. We shouldn't settle down and become so materialistic and comfortable. This is the land of our enemy. We do not belong here. This is not our home. The forces around us are antagonistic toward us. The god of this world and the spiritual concept of this world are contrary to who we are. The warning for us is don't settle down and become comfortable here. I thank God that He brings enough difficulty into our lives that many times we just pray, "Maranatha, come quickly, Lord Jesus. I'm done with this. I want You to come and take me out of this mess."

This mess is beyond fixing. I want to pop your bubble tonight. I stopped praying for America; I'm praying for Americans. I stopped praying that God would restore this land politically and economically and bring some sense. I'm praying for a revival to sweep through the churches and bring as many people into the kingdom as can possibly happen before Jesus Christ comes. I'm not looking for the next president. I'm looking for Jesus Christ to come and take me home. I know some of you are patriots. I know some of you have lived long and you've lived in a land that God had blessed. It's hard to come to the concept and the fact that God is judging the world and He's judging America. That's why you don't find her in prophecy.

He knows how to take care of His people while He's judging the world around them. You can go back and look at it during the time that Moses came upon the scene to deliver God's people from Egypt, which is a type of the world. God protected and blessed them until He took them out. I'm looking for God's blessing and protection upon my life until He takes me out. He's my source and my sustenance. He's my all and my everything. They've settled in, and I think it breaks Daniel's heart. He's there praying by the river Tigris because he understands that what he is seeing and this difficulty is going to continue all the way through until the final battle when the Antichrist is quelled. He's imprisoned forever and the King of Glory sets up His righteous reign that will never have an end.

We're on the precipice of that. Daniel's visions go all the way through to the time we're living in. By the way, Paul also writes about the time we're living in. He says this will be a time of seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, a departing from the biblical faith and apostasy, and it will be perilous times. Didn't you just want to come out on a Wednesday night and hear that? Didn't you just want to come out on a Wednesday night and hear that trouble is afoot? Trials and persecution are going to increase until Jesus comes and takes us out. That's not the message. That's the fact. That's the life we're living in. But the message is: greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

The message is: no weapon formed against you as the body of Christ will ever prosper. In fact, the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God to the pulling down of the strongholds of the wicked one. We're going to see that tonight because what God is going to do for Daniel, and what I think He needs to do for us in the time we're living in, is ensure that we do understand from prophecy and from visions from the Old Testament prophets and from the New Testament writers that it will be difficult. It will get even more difficult. In fact, it will come to the point where we as Christians are hated of all nations before Jesus takes us out. We understand from the Bible and from scripture that difficult times are coming.

What we need is what God gave Daniel. We need to see Jesus. Not as the lamb who bled and died for the sins of the world and not as the baby in the manger. We need to see Him as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Bible says when He is seen in His full glory, demons tremble and Satan flees. That's the God we serve. That's why Jesus prayed in John's Gospel chapter 17, "Father, I want them to see Me as I was with You in the beginning, not as the baby in the manger and not as the lamb that was slain with the marks of slaughter. I want them to see Me as the Lion of the tribe of Judah." Once they see who their commander-in-chief is, who is the commander-in-chief of the host of the armies of heaven, then they'll fear nothing.

That's why we're introduced in this chapter first to Jesus. We're going to read through that description one more time. Then we're going to be introduced to Gabriel and Michael, the two great generals of heaven who lead the host of the armies of heaven. We're going to understand that the spiritual battle we're in is a spiritual battle, but we're more than victors. We're going to tell you tonight how you can be victorious. How many have been going through some extreme spiritual battles? Some of it's in your thought life, some is disciplining the flesh, some is relationships, and some is just physical difficulties, emotional, and spiritual. We can't stop the enemy from attacking us, but we know how to put the armor on.

That's what we're going to learn tonight. That's what's in this chapter. As we open the chapter and Daniel is being introduced, he's told that the visions that he has seen are true and accurate. In fact, they're going to come to fruition, every one of them. What lies ahead for God's people through Israel on into the time of the church are hard and difficult times all the way to the final battle when we come back with Jesus at the Battle of Armageddon. The sword comes out of His mouth and it strikes His enemies. The False Prophet and the Antichrist are already thrown in the pit and Satan's grabbed hold of. He'll be loosed at the end of the thousand years for a short season as we studied in Revelation and then consumed. Then a new heaven and a new earth.

With great difficulty, we're going to enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's why He tells us it's a narrow road and, by the way, it's uphill. Wide is the gate and downhill is a road that leads to destruction. Narrow is the gate and difficult is the road that leads into heaven. With much anguish and tribulation, we're going to enter in. In fact, in Jude's Gospel, he tells us to earnestly contend for the faith. That phrase is *agonizomai*, a good agonize, that we might enter into the faith. You've got to put on your armor and you've got to get into the fray of it. We're told that.

In verse five, one of the things that God needs to impress on every person—and He does this for Daniel as an example to us—is who it is that's leading the battle. The battle is not ours; it never belonged to us. Jehoshaphat learned that. Do you remember when an army greater than him was coming against him and he just freaked out and called a fast through the land? Not only did he call a fast for the men and women, the teenagers, and the kids, but even your pigs, your cats, and your dogs had the fast. Everybody fasted and they prayed. The word of the Lord came back to Jehoshaphat and said, "Jehoshaphat, the battle's not yours. The battle never was yours; it belongs to Me."

Here's what you do: you put the worship leaders out front. I think that's a great idea. They're kind of nuts anyway. You put them out front because you're going to worship as you go in. As you're worshipping as you go in, then you're going to find that the battle belongs to Me. When they got there, their enemy killed each other to the last one. When I read that, that was amazing to me the first time because at some point, there were just two of those guys left. They had to kill each other at the same time. It took them three whole days to gather the spoil and to take it home. What the prophet said to Zerubbabel and to Joshua the high priest when these people started to stop building the house to get them started again was, "It's not by might. It's not by power. It's not by your efforts or your strength, but by My Spirit this work will get done."

In fact, you've laid your hand to a good work. Your hand will finish that work under the empowering of the Holy Spirit. When the work is done, you're going to put the capstone, the final stone, on it and you're going to cry, "Grace, grace," to it. These are the times we're living in. For Daniel to understand about spiritual warfare, he needs to have a good vision in his mind of the commander-in-chief. We read in verse five: "Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen." It's almost the same description we get in Revelation chapter one as John sees the risen Christ. His loins were girded with fine gold. His body was like beryl, his face as the appearance of lightning, his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet were colored like polished brass.

The voice of his words was like the voice of a multitude. Daniel says, "When I saw him, I lost all strength and just fell on my face. My face planted in the dirt." My older sister before she came to faith was a full-blown hippie. She looked like Mama Cass, if you know who she was. When I got saved, I tried to witness to her. Do you know what she told me? She said, "I don't believe in God and if there was a God, when I get there, I'm going to give Him a piece of my mind." I said, "When you stand before the true and living God, you're going to have your mind blown. You're not even going to stand. You're going to fall on your face." Even we who are born again and filled with the Spirit, it's going to be such a shock to our system. We have to have that new body to stand there because we're going to faceplant too. Prostrate.

He's talking about having this conversation with the Lord, and we come down to verse 10. Now, it changes here. If you've read commentaries, there's some scholarship that goes round and round on this. Is this Jesus all the way through, or is the first part not Jesus? As he opens up in verse five and we get this description, he's talking about Jesus in verses five, six, seven, eight, and nine. He has this vision of Jesus. When he comes to verse 10, no doubt it's Gabriel, an angel. There is no confusion for me at all because he says when he has this experience, he's faceplanted. He's in a deep sleep as we end verse nine with his face toward the ground. "And, behold, an hand touched me." It's not connected to what is before. It's just saying, "When I was faceplanted," and we don't know how long he was there. He could have been there for a while.

He said, "Behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands." Notice it's a slow getting back to your feet. First, he's on his knees and palms, still face down. Then he says in verse 11: "And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright." Get up! "For unto thee am I now sent." As we look through the past chapters in Daniel, we always see that the messenger that God sends to Daniel is Gabriel. It just seems that's one of his jobs. It's one of his positions in heaven. He stands before the Lord and when something of very grave importance needs to be communicated, "Hey Gabriel, take this message."

I think it's Gabriel. You can have your view, but I think it's Gabriel here. Gabriel put his hand on Daniel, got him back up on his feet, and told Daniel he's dearly beloved of the Lord. "I was sent to you." Now, notice this please if you don't mind marking up your Bible: "For unto thee am I now sent." When he had spoken these words unto me, Daniel stood there trembling. There's something about being in the presence of God that affects you emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I think it resonates and vibrates through your whole entire being. Then said he unto me, "Fear not." Too many Christians today are controlled by fear. You need to stop it. Do you understand fear is the antithesis to faith?

I think God rocked us a little bit this last two years with this COVID thing because a lot of Christians just freaked out. Churches wouldn't even lay hands on people. Well, if you won't lay hands on people during COVID, why would I have you pray for me after COVID? If you didn't have enough faith to trust the Lord for healing, then why would I have you, oh ye of little faith, pray for me? I wouldn't. Faith is proven in the difficult times. It's when there doesn't seem to be a way out of a situation or there's something in your way, like a mountain. That's what they were saying in Jerusalem. It's just too broken up. The mountain's too high. We just can't do it. Faith sees things through the eyes of the Lord.

When I understand who God is and when I get that in my mind and in my heart, there's nothing that I fear. That's why when he first shows up to Daniel, he says, "Fear not." In the Hebrew, the idea is: stop being afraid. It's more than just "fear not." It's "stop being afraid." Then he said unto me, "Stop being afraid, Daniel. For from the first day..." Listen to this. It's been 21 days since Daniel began to pray. But here we see, "from the first day..." Listen carefully to this phrase in verse 12. There's some real good information for us who are prayer warriors. "From the first..." In fact, if you're filled with fear, stay home from our prayer meeting on Thursday, please. Don't come.

I mean that. I'll tell you why I mean that. The Bible says when you stand praying, if you waver, don't think you're going to receive anything from the Lord. When you stand praying, you need to pray in faith. If you don't have the faith to believe that God can heal cancer, if He can't fix the situations spiritually in our church, if He can't bring revival, if He can't fill this place with the Holy Spirit, then please do the church a favor until you have faith and stay home. In fact, when Jesus came to heal the dead and raise the dead, He put many of them out because they didn't have faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not yet seen. Faith is the opposite of fear. Faith removes fear.

When David saw Goliath, everybody else was afraid of that giant. The Bible tells us he was 9 foot 6 inches with a weaver's beam for a staff. It took several men to carry his armor. Everybody else was freaked out, and David wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid at all. In fact, he said, "Let me at him, King. I'll take care of that giant because on the backside of the desert, there was a bear that rose up one day and then a lion and tried to take my father's sheep, and I slew both of them. He'll be the same. No big deal." David learned the faithfulness and the strength of God through the small battles so when the great ones came, he was ready. He runs to the battle. That's the incredible thing.

The king tries to give him his armor and he says, "I don't know how to work this stuff. It's too big and too heavy. I've got my weapon: a sling." Not a bean-flipper, a sling. In fact, can you imagine as a young teenager with nothing to do but watch his father's sheep? He probably got pretty proficient with that sling. He runs down, and I got to be in the valley where this took place when we were in Israel. I can just imagine you could see where the Philistines were on this side and up here on this hill. You could see where Israel was camped. You could see David running down this little area and stopping only to pick up five stones. It wasn't because he was a bad shot.

We find out later that Goliath had four other brothers. Before David's life is over, he slew every one of them. He wasn't going to stop with just the enemy that was in front of him, but he knew there were enemies that were coming in the future that weren't going to be in his way either. I picked up some stones out of that same valley and brought them home for my grandsons. He picks up five stones. When he faces the giant, he said, "Listen, you come to me with sword and spear." In fact, the giant called him a dog. "Just come here and I'll take your head off quickly." He didn't even have a pocketknife, not even a Swiss Army knife on him. All he had was a sling and five smooth stones.

He said, "This day you come to me with all of these weapons and all of this armor, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God of heaven whom you have blasphemed, whom He will give you into my hand. I'm going to take your head off today." With what? He took his enemy's head off with his own sword and slew the giant. Why was David, as a ruddy, weak teenager, able to do that? Because he knew the God that he served. He knew what the God that he served was capable of doing. He knew the strength the God that he served could give to him. So he ran to that battle. Here's what God is trying to communicate to Daniel. Tough times are coming. They're going to be here.

From the moment that you began to pray, the first encouragement is stop fearing. You need to know, Daniel, from the very first day that thou didst set thy heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God. When you set your heart to seek Me, when you disciplined your flesh through probably prayer and fasting, and you set aside all of the distractions and you just made Me your goal and your purpose, you disciplined yourself to seek My face and to understand My ways. He said, "I heard you. I heard from the very moment, and I am come now to give you that which you're asking for, to give you the words." I've often thought, what if Daniel would have stopped praying on the 20th day?

What if Daniel would have said, "Well, God's not listening. Nothing's happening. I've been praying here for 20 days now and nothing," and he just gave up? Would Gabriel have showed up on the 21st day? I don't know. I know that Jesus teaches a parable about prayer and He talks in this parable about a woman who needed a judge to rule in her favor. She just kept knocking on his door over and over until finally, he ruled in her favor. He gave that parable as an illustration to our consistency in prayer. I prayed for my father for 17 years before I got to lead him to Christ. Another two, almost three years after that, I got to lead my mom to the Lord.

The effectual fervent prayer of righteous people avails much. The effectual fervent consistent prayer. I think sometimes God tests us to see if we are fully committed to this thing, like He says Daniel was, before He answers our prayers. But 21 days had gone by. Then we find out in verse 13—and this is where we're going to spend the bulk of our time as we go through the rest of this chapter—why his prayer wasn't answered immediately. From the moment that Daniel set his heart to pray, from the moment he set his heart to understand the things of the Lord for God to give him understanding of the vision, the moment he disciplined himself and set aside every distraction and focused completely and absolutely on the Lord, the moment he sought the Lord in prayer, his prayer was answered.

Gabriel was dispatched with the answer. We're going to see that before we're done with the chapter. You'll know why I think it's Gabriel through this part because Michael has to come and help Gabriel to get to Daniel because of the spiritual warfare that is taking place. Listen to verse 13: "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days." I'm going to share something with you tonight that you might have been in church your whole life and probably never heard this teaching. A lot of people shy away from spiritual warfare and just how enveloped it is in our world and on our planet.

I want to share that with you, but I want to remind you that the weapons God's given you are greater than these things. Satan, Prince of Darkness, we don't tremble at him. He's a defeated foe. In fact, when you shut the visor on the helmet and you've got God's armor on, he doesn't know you're not God. In fact, the Bible says when you resist him, he has to flee. The "prince of the kingdom of Persia," he's referencing a demon or some demonic principality or power or some force. Paul tells us, and we're going to read from that in a few moments in Ephesians chapter six, that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. Not a physical battle.

But we do wrestle against a host of evil wickedness in high places, against principalities and powers. You're in a spiritual battle. I'm in a spiritual battle. That's why when we're introduced to the 10th chapter of Daniel, we were told that Daniel understood the visions and that it would be a long time and it would be difficult. We understand from Jesus it's going to be difficult. Gabriel is telling Daniel, "The moment you began to pray, God sent me to bring you the answer, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days." For 21 days, Gabriel is fighting with the principalities of the air, the god of this world, to get the message to Daniel.

"But, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes..." In fact, he's the archangel. I think he's probably the leader of all of the host of the armies of heaven. That's my opinion as I've studied through the scripture so many times. I think that's who Michael is. Michael's given charge of the things going on in Israel right now. Did you know that? You talk about an iron dome. Nothing's getting through that God doesn't want to get through. "Lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia." Listen to what he says: "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days."

"I'm going to tell you what's going to happen from this moment all the way to the end of human history and the new kingdom and a new earth and the final battle. I'm going to lay it out for you, Daniel. I've come to tell you what's going to happen in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days." It's way off in the future. In fact, it's so far off in the future, it's into the time you and I are living in. I want to introduce you to spiritual warfare tonight. Isn't that a great subject? You worked hard all day long to come here on a Wednesday night to hear the pastor talk to you about spiritual warfare.

There's something interesting when you study Ezekiel. In fact, they'll put it on the board. I just want to read you this and then I want to go to Isaiah. In Ezekiel chapter 28, maybe you've read past it glibly and never understood it completely, but there's an interesting thing going on as Daniel is talking about Satan being the one who introduced evil into the world. He's going to use it as an example of when the King of Tyre lifted himself up and thought himself to be a god, and He sent Alexander the Great to build that causeway and the city fall. It fell because of pride. He's going to use that physical example that took place then to give them a spiritual example of what's going on in the spirit realm.

Sometimes for us to get a hand on what's going on in the spirit realm, we have to have a physical kind of a symbol or a type or something that we can wrap our hands around. Listen carefully, and if you don't mind marking up your Bible, I think there are some things you should note. Chapter 28 starting in verse 11: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man," speaking to Ezekiel, "take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus." Let's back up to verse one of that chapter. It's interesting. When you read the Bible, notice differences because they're there for a reason. In verse one, before he gets to verse 11 and uses this analogy of the king of Tyre and Alexander the Great and this battle because of pride, he says in chapter 28 verse one: "The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus."

You get to verse 11 and it's the "king of Tyrus." The first 10 verses have to do with something that happened physically and naturally. Let's just read through them. The prince of Tyre, "Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God." This is what this particular leader, this prince of Tyre, was saying in his heart because his little city lay off the coast there. There was an ocean that surrounded it and he thought that he was safe in that little island kind of a scene. He didn't realize that Alexander the Great, when that great Greek general came, just built a causeway out there, knocked down the walls, and destroyed it.

Pride goeth before the fall and a haughty spirit before destruction. This prince of Tyre is saying, "I sit as God, in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man," God is saying, "and thou art not a God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God." Though you think in your heart of hearts you're a god, you're just a man. "Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel." Isn't it interesting that Daniel's fame for his wisdom was going out when he was still alive because he's a contemporary with Ezekiel? Isn't that amazing, the fame of Daniel's wisdom? And we know where it came from.

He says, "There is no secret that they can hide from thee. With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures." This is what this prince of Tyre was saying. It's all me. It's what I have done. Almost like religious people thinking they've earned their salvation. It's me. It's what I've done. Look what I've done. I've done this. I'm safe and secure in my own strength and my own wisdom. Look what my wisdom has gotten me. "And by thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches." You think it's all about you.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee." And he certainly did in Alexander the Great. Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city but never conquered it, but Alexander built a causeway out to it and conquered it. He said, "I'm going to bring upon thee a terror of nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God?"

Are you still going to remain in your position and in your pride? "But thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee." You're going to die like a man in the hand of and by the hand of the true and living God. "Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God." As He's laying this out during this time, He moves into verse 11 and He says this: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation against the king of Tyrus." Who's behind the pride and the arrogance and the self-willedness of this prince? There's something driving it. If you don't know when you go to Washington, D.C. that there's something driving that, you've got to understand we're in a spiritual battle.

I stopped listening to the news because it was just so discouraging and so despairing. I just don't listen to it anymore because I shake my head and think my granddaughter knows better than that. Seducing spirits, doctrines of devils. No man can be that stupid. It's no person, no group of people, can be that dumb. There's something driving this. As we learned back in chapter two, when God did what He did to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel says He did it to you, oh Nebby, because He wanted you to know that there's a God in heaven that rules in the affairs of men. Sometimes He puts even the baser sorts in places of leadership to prove that. I think we're there.

"The king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty." He's talking about how Lucifer was created. In fact, his name was Lucifer. We call him the devil for different reasons, but he was the shining one in heaven. In fact, other places in Ezekiel he tells us that he was the main worship leader in heaven. All the timbrels and the flutes and the symbols and all the things of worship were created in him. You've got to watch those worship leaders. That's why you put those people out in the front during a battle because you can afford to lose the worship team. You just can't afford to lose the prophets. I'm just kidding. Here we go.

"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee." You were the worship leader. When I was in Bible college, we had to take an ethics class if you were going to be a pastor. It was mandatory; it was a prerequisite. The professor told us, "Watch out for the worship team. If you're going to have problems in a church, it'll come from them." Because they're so artistic and they're opinionated and they're self-willed and they're self-seeking, you can get a mess. I think it comes from here.

"And thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so," God said. "Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire," that altar that the angel took the coal off to touch Isaiah's lips. "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." He's the source of it. "And by the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane thing out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."

We're going to read in Isaiah it's going to say when we look at him we're going to say, "Is that the one? Are you kidding me?" "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. And they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." That's the end of Satan.

But right now, he's causing a lot of trouble, isn't he? What I want you to take away from the first 19 verses of chapter 28 of Ezekiel is that what was driving the heart of the prince of Tyre was this wicked force called the king of Tyre. When Gabriel is saying that he was resisted, he resisted the demonic forces that were over the area of Persia. He's going to tell us when he leaves he's got to again resist the demonic forces over the area of Greece to get back home. We're going to look at that tonight.

Listen to what it says in Isaiah chapter 14 verses 12 through 14. This is laying a foundation to bring home a point that I don't want you to forget. So bear with me for a moment as I do the background and the labor behind it. What we learn from chapter 28 is there is a demonic force behind every ruler and every kingdom on this planet. There's something cooking behind that. And in Isaiah chapter 14 verses 12 through 14 the Lord says: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"

So we know the moment that Michael fought against him and his angels and banned them, or cast them to the earth, they weren't completely banned from heaven but defeated them, and they kept not their first estate, we know that he turned his wrath on humanity because God loves us. "And you went about to weaken the nations. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend..." Look at the five "I wills" here. "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Anytime "I" is in the center of your life, it's sin. How do you spell sin? S-I-N. And God says, "Because you exalt yourself, I'm going to cast you down. I'm going to cast you out."

So in just a brief way we understand tonight that we're in a spiritual battle. In fact, let's read about the spiritual battle from Ephesians chapter six verses 10 through 13 because Paul gives us the understanding of it. Paul says: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord." Never told us to be strong in our own strength. Never told us that the battle belonged to us. The battle belongs to the Lord and we are encouraged, in fact, we are commanded to be strong in the Lord.

How do you become strong in the Lord? Can I suggest to you tonight a simple principle? It's found in that short little epistle of Jude. One chapter. We come to verse 20 and 21 and we get the entire method that God wants us to incorporate to go to battle in this spiritual warfare. Just in two verses. He could have given us a thick manual on how to make war against spiritual wickedness in high places. He didn't. It's so simple. Are you ready for it? Write these down. There's four of them. Write them in your Bible somewhere, put them on your notepad, set them to memory because he tells us in Jude chapter one starting in verse 20 because he's talking all the way through the first part about this, about deception, about false teachers, about Satan coming into the church and leading people astray. He's talking about all of the spiritual warfare that goes on and he comes now to the end of his short little epistle and he says this: "But, ye, beloved of the Lord." First thing, "building up yourselves on your most holy faith."

What does that mean? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing what? The word of God. The first principle, precept, mechanism if you will, that needs to be in your life is you have to have a solid foundation of God's word to stand on. The devil fears the word of God. What did Jesus use when he was tempted by the devil those 40 days in the wilderness? What did he use against him? "It is written." It's the word of God. When you go through the life of David and he's praying, what does David always remind the Lord of when he's praying? His word. David said, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." If you don't know the word, if you don't understand the word, if you don't build your life on that foundation of God's word. That's why we have that verse from Ephesians out there, chapter two, in our hallway. When you leave the fellowship hall, you come down the hallway to come into the sanctuary, there it says that we're built upon a foundation of the apostles, prophets, and Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone.

The apostles, the New Testament. The prophets, the Old Testament. And Jesus Christ, the Gospels and the Book of Revelation. We're built upon that foundation and we are fitly framed together so that we can grow into this habitation of God by the Holy Spirit because we're the temple of the Lord. So the first thing you need is a solid, working knowledge of God's word. How do you get that? Line upon line, precept upon precept. You have to study the Bible. Most churches will tell you, "Well, we study the Bible." No, you preach from the Bible. There's a difference. There's a difference in studying God's word, which we're commanded to do. Paul says: "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word."

I learned early as a brand new Christian that I had to be in this church that I was in because the pastor would only speak 22 minutes and they were topical. He might be in Isaiah on a Sunday morning. He might be in Matthew on a Wednesday night. Next Sunday he may be in Hosea. Who knows where he was going to be? And they were all topical. I figured out real quick for me to put this puzzle together, I won't live long enough. I've got to get somewhere or get some information where I can put the pieces together, connect the dots as it were, so I can lay this foundation. I found out very quickly that expository teaching, verse-by-verse teaching through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, that's how you lay the foundation. That's why it's so important to be here on Wednesdays: Old Testament. Sunday mornings: New Testament. We walk right through it and connect the dots for you.

So the first of these things is making sure your life is built upon the sure foundation of God's word, the most holy faith. The second thing that we see is "praying in the Holy Ghost." Prayer that is energized by the power of God's Spirit, who convicts men of sin and of righteousness and of the judgment that is to come, who leads and guides us into all truth. We need to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that when we are praying, we are praying as God is leading. We're praying in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's number two. And number three is "Keep yourselves in the love of God." Well, how do you do that? By turning off all the other garbage and just tuning into the Lord. How many of you wives feel loved when the complete desire of your husband is to turn toward you?

See, that's how you keep yourself in the love of God. Even Jesus went up to the mountains to pray so he could commune with the Father. You have to spend time with Him. Relationship is work. To keep yourself in the love of God, it takes time, it takes effort, it takes getting alone with the Lord, it takes time in prayer, time in His word. You build yourself up on the sure foundation of God's word. You pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. You keep yourselves in the love of God. You lay aside every distraction and every weight that would so easily beset you and you just run this race with endurance. You keep Jesus ever so in the fore of your mind and in your heart.

And then the last one is "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Keep your eyes on the prize. Keep looking up. Stop looking out. Wake up every morning saying, "Today the day Jesus could come because I'm so ready." Those four principles will empower you in spiritual warfare. And so Paul would tell us in chapter six: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God," and he tells us what that is earlier. Put on the whole armor of God, don't put just parts and pieces, put it all on, "that ye may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil." That's our word there: the strategies of the devil.

Do you understand that he's planning to trip you up months down the road? You need to put on the whole armor, be strong in the power of his might, that you might be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood." The battle is not physical, "but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." There's where the battle's at. How many ever all of a sudden just felt this sense come over you where fear or dread or discouragement out of nowhere just settled on top of you? What do you think that is? Where do you think that comes from?

Why do you think when Gabriel shows up, the first thing he tells Daniel is "stop fearing"? Because Daniel was having some of those moments. Then he says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand," then just stand. But I'm glad he begins this epistle with something even more important than what he ends this epistle with. Let's just back up to chapter one verse 19. When you study the book of Ephesians, you find out that Paul prays two separate prayers in that short epistle of six chapters for these particular Christians. He prays for them because in Ephesus, when the gospel came to the city and the church was planted, we find out that this town, this area which I got to visit, they burned in today's value over a million dollars of books of witchcraft and black magic and dark arts.

Light came to that city and it lit those people on fire. I got to stand in the stadium where they tried to shout down Paul and the gang by saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" for over two hours. Outside of the city, I got to visit the temple that's laying in ruins now to the goddess Diana and her sensual, sexual, immoral practices. All of the priestesses of that temple, the thousand prostitutes that come out every night, are gone. But I'll tell you what's still in that city: a church. There's still a vibrant Bible-teaching church in Ephesus.

But as he prays for this church that's gone through such great spiritual warfare, he says this: "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power us-ward to us-ward who believe." Well, here it is: "according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places." Jesus. And when He raised Jesus from the dead and set Him in heavenly places, He set our Messiah far above all the principalities and all the powers and all the might and all the dominions and every name that is named, not only in this world but in that which is to come. And then Paul goes on to remind us: and that same power lives in you. Lives in me. The same power that raised Christ from the dead.

So yes, we're going to be in spiritual warfare. Absolutely. It's not a cruise ship; it's a battleship. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; they're mighty in God. The armor, the sword of the Spirit, the shield of faith, praying always with all prayer and supplication, the power of praying in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to know that our Messiah, the one that Daniel just saw, our Messiah is raised far above every principality and power. He is the King of Glory. He is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and His word and His will is without contestation. Even at the mention of His name, demons tremble and Satan flees. You have to have a good understanding of who Jesus is to do spiritual warfare.

I think that's why we have this pattern in Daniel. You have this pattern of Daniel being bummed out and blown away because of what's going on. God reminding him: the battle's going to be hard and it's going to be difficult and it's going to be for a long time. The visions that you're seeing, Daniel, will take you all the way into the final battle with the Antichrist. But what I want you to see is your leader. I want you to see your Messiah. I want you to see the King of Glory in all of His glory and all of His power because once you see that, the battle won't look so big. By the way, you're in a battle. You're in a spiritual battle.

And you're in the battle with these principalities and powers, evil wickedness in high places, the god of this world. It's a spiritual battle we're in, gang. It's not political. Listen: Republican, Democrat, left wing, right wing, same bird. They're all bought and paid for. There's something cooking behind all of those people. They just lie to you so they can get re-elected and stay in power. But listen: there is an authority that's coming. There's a kingdom that's going to arrive, and it's going to be ruled by Jesus Christ with a rod of iron. The swamp will get—in fact, the swamp's not even going to get drained, it's going to get moved. You won't even find a slimy rock when Jesus comes back.

So I'm not looking—I hear Christians say, "I can't wait for Trump, can't wait for the next one." Really? That's your hope, to live longer in this sewer pit? My hope is much higher than that. I want to eat dinner with Dad. I want to watch the mess go on down here from the mezzanine and then I want to come back with Jesus, the Lord of lords and King of kings, to set things right where He'll rule forever. Daniel's being reminded: it's going to be a long, arduous battle. Take a good look at Jesus and understand you're not going to lose this battle.

By the way, the moment you began to pray, the answer was sent. But these things that you're going to see, Daniel, are for the latter days. Verse 15, let's finish out this chapter tonight. "And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and became dumb." He fell down again. When we in the flesh move into the spirit realm, it just blows you away. I'll tell you a story. Can you give me just five more minutes so I can finish this chapter?

When I had my heating and air business here in town because I've been a church planter for Calvary Chapel. This is the third Calvary I planted personally and I think we planted six or seven, eight maybe, out of this church overseas and throughout the United States. We have like 18 satellite churches that tune in to us. But when I first came here, I went and got a job. In fact, I started our company. I was working one day down in Lake Wildwood. This guy was—I was going in and out of the garage because we're putting a new furnace in the guy's house and it was in the garage. My truck was parked there and I had my crew there and we were walking in and out. I saw this guy over watering his lawn out there and he was watching what we were doing. I'd wave at him because I was thinking, "During lunch break, I'm going to go witness to that guy." The owners weren't home and they just let us in the garage.

So I'm going back and forth to the truck getting parts and he's watering and watching me. He must have had a clear view of this because as I'm coming out of the garage, there's this big Tom Turkey that's coming beside the garage and we met. That thing went off. I thought something big and bad got me. I thought, "This is it." I lost all strength. I fell to the ground. He is laughing so hard over there that he falls to the ground. Literally, I was so frightened by this startling event that my body lost all strength. I just fell to the ground. I almost fainted, but I didn't. It was shocking.

I got to witness to the guy because of that, too, by the way. I went over there and said, "That was funny, wasn't it?" Yeah, it was funny. Wouldn't that be funny if you were the one? It was funny. But I got to share it with him. Daniel, when he's in the presence of even this angel, again he falls to the ground. Verse 16: "And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips." Just like Isaiah having his lips touched. "Then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength." The word there is birth pangs. Like giving birth to something, and it's difficult.

"My sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me." This has taken the wind out of my sails. There are times we face things and we experience things that are just this way. But watch what happens here. "Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man," so this is an angelic host, one of the angels, no doubt probably Gabriel, "and he strengthened me, And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not." He begins this conversation by saying "fear not," he ends it. How many times does the Lord have to communicate to us: stop being afraid.

In fact, I think God takes it personal when we're afraid. Look at the disciples in the boat. Jesus said, "Let's get in the boat, we're going to go to the other side." What does Jesus do? Pulls up the only pillow in the boat. We got to see one of those boats when we visited Israel. On the other side, they dug one up out of the Sea of Galilee and it was pretty much intact. What we found out when we got to see the boat and read all of the stuff in that little museum they had there is that there's one leather pillow in the boat, and it's there for the helmsman to put his hand on as he works the rudder to hold it steady. Jesus took the only pillow in the boat and he went to sleep. The storm comes up and they are freaked out. They wake Him up and they say, "Don't You even care? Don't You care? Aren't You concerned for us? We thought You loved us. Don't You even care? We're dying here."

How many of you have ever prayed that prayer? Jesus wipes the sleep out of his eyes: "O ye of little faith. Do you not know who's in the boat with you?" Then he speaks. The sky that was once black and threatening is now clear and blue. The lightning and the thunder stopped. The sea—and by the way, the way the Galilean Sea is positioned, the way the wind comes over and whips across it, you can get 15-foot waves on the Galilean Sea. It's not a very big sea; it's seven miles wide and like 15 miles long. Don't quote me on that, but it's something like that. Instantly, it became calm. Then they turn around and marvel and said, "Who is this?" Well, He's your Lord. He's your Messiah. He's the one that told you to get in the boat. He's the one that told you that He's going to get you to the other side. He said there are going to be storms, but "I will get you to the other side." It's interesting: once he said that, immediately they were in the middle of the sea, they were on the other side.

Daniel, greatly beloved, stop being afraid. "Peace be unto thee." Jesus said, "My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives and the world can't take it away." In fact, he says it's a peace that's undescribable. How many have been right in the middle of the fray of things and yet there's a peace? In fact, you try to worry. I've been in those situations where I actually tried to get worried because I thought, "This is terrible, this is bad, this is not going to turn out well," and I tried to be afraid and I couldn't. There was just a calm that came over me and I just said, "I can't even worry anymore." How messed up are you when you can't even worry? Well, you're not really messed up; you're actually doing what you should do.

"Then be strong," he says, "yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee?" Do you know the reason why I'm here? I think this is Gabriel. He's the messenger. "Do you know why I'm here, Daniel? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, the prince of Grecia shall come." I've got more spiritual warfare. I had to fight to get here; I'm going to have to fight to get back. Because I have to fight against the principalities and a host of evil wickedness in high places.

"But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth." We'll have to come back and unpack this verse. There's a lot I've got to say about it next week. He said, "I've come to show you what is in the scripture of truth: and there is none that helpeth me, that holdeth me up in this, in these things, but Michael your prince." And he is the prince of Israel. He guards that particular country and those people. So we have the great two generals, Gabriel and Michael, aiding Daniel against the general that fell with a third of the angels, Satan. It is a battle. It's even a battle for those angels as they battle each other. It's never a battle for God, but they always prevail.

So what do we learn in chapter 10? Several things. Number one, our hearts ought to break when there is materialism and apathy and compromise in the church. That only comes when we lose sight of who Jesus is. That's how we ended last Wednesday night by saying we just need to see Jesus in all of His glory and all of His power. Why? Because we're in a spiritual battle and it's going to be long and it's going to be arduous. In this life you're going to have difficulty, Jesus said, but be of good cheer because I've already overcome.

What we need to understand about this battle is that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We have the armor of God. We have the power of His Spirit to fight against these battles. He tells us we are to build our lives as followers of Christ, as Christians, as people of the book. We are to build our lives first of all and foremost on the solid faith, on the word of God. You've got to be in the word. Secondly, we need to be a people of prayer, praying in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, we need to keep ourselves in the love of Christ. Don't let anything get between you and the Lord.

Then fourthly, keep your eyes on the coming of Christ. We're going through 1 Thessalonians on Monday nights with the men, and it's interesting. This is the first letter Paul wrote. He was in this city for three Sabbaths, so three or four weeks. When they write back to him later, he said, "I told you all of these things when I was with you concerning the coming of the Lord." So in four weeks, he gives them a clear picture of eschatology. Clear picture of it. And he ends every chapter, all five of those chapters, by reminding them of the coming of the Lord.

Our time is short and you need to run well to the end. Paul at the end of his life said, "I fought a good fight. I agonized a good *agonizomai*." I had the armor on, filled with the Spirit, prayer, standing on God's word, keeping myself in the love of Jesus, looking for the coming of my Lord. I fought a good fight. I finished; I never gave up. I didn't stay in the land of my enemy. I got up and went home. I fought a good fight. I finished the course. I kept and I guarded the faith. Now is laid up for me a crown, and not only to me but to all those who love His appearing. That word for crown is *stephanos*; it's the victor's crown.

He lays this out before he gives us the rest of it because he wants us to know and he wants the church to know that we're in for a fight. We're in for a battle. Are you sensing it? Are you feeling it? It's going to exponentially increase as we see the day of the Lord approaching. That's why we're commanded not to neglect the assembling of ourselves together, as some have done, but all the more as we see the day of the Lord approaching. Why do you think that the wicked one started this COVID thing to try to bust up the church to keep you home? We had enough of it at the third week, and on the fourth week, we just opened back up again because the thing that we were more concerned about than COVID was the assembling of God's people together.

Our spiritual battle is greater than our physical battle. If I got COVID and died, I'd go home. Cool. Right on. I'm okay with that because I'm not afraid of what can kill this body, I'm afraid of what can kill my spirit. I was more concerned about your spiritual life than your physical life. If some of us—none of us did—but if some of us were to die, then we would just rejoice around you. Homecoming, graduation! You got out of here before it all fell apart. Cool! We'll see you later in our Father's house. We'll rally together, all those of Gold Country Calvary Chapel. We're in a battle. We're coming to the finality of it.

So watch materialism. Don't get caught up in this world. Guard your heart that it doesn't become apathetic. Make sure that you stay on fire for the Lord. No compromise. Build yourself up on the most holy faith. Praying in the Spirit. Keep yourself in the love of Christ. Keep watching for His return. Put on the whole armor. Get in the fray of it. You're in a spiritual battle, but keep your eyes on Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Can I let you in on a little secret? I know I'm over. I was sharing it with somebody this afternoon that really battles depression and discouragement. It's just a real battle for him. We're sitting back there talking and he said, "I just want to have the victory you talk about." I said, "Well, I just want to let you in on a little secret. I battle, too." There are times in the middle of the night I'll wake up and this cloud just comes over me: this fear, this discouragement, this ominous feeling of dread. What I do is I say, "Okay, you're going to wake me up, Satan. You're going to buffet me, you're going to try to do this. Let's go downstairs and we're having Bible study. Then when we're done with Bible study, we're going to pray."

So you're going to wake me up? This is what we're going to do. That's why often you see me talk about going to the mountains and spend a day and a night fasting and praying. Because I know I'm in a battle. I know you're in a battle. I know we're in a battle. I know where the source of my strength lies and it isn't in me. Be strong in the Lord. Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord. It's His armor, it's His strength, and I've got to go get it. They—I'll leave you with this—they that wait upon the Lord renew their strength. They eagerly mount up with wings like an eagle. They run and not grow weary and they walk and they don't faint.

I have pastor friends around me retiring left and right, telling me they're done, they don't want to do it anymore. I just got my second wind. I think I'm good for another 10 years. I lost 35 pounds and I'm feeling good. I'm 65 and I think: you young bucks around me, you warriors, you aren't any stronger than I am in the Lord. You aren't any wiser than I am in the Lord. I'm not giving up. Quit what? Do what? Quit and go where? People say, "California, you ought to leave that place." Why? This is where the thick of it is! Every weird thing starts here. You think about it: where sin abounds, what abounds more? Grace! Listen: I want to be on the front line. I don't want to be back at headquarters planning something. I want to be in the fray of it. When Jesus comes, I want to be in the fray of it. Amen? Armor strapped tightly on. In the fray of it. We're in the fray of it in our school systems. We're in the fray of it in our—listen, we're in a bubble here in this town because the police love us. Did you know that? They like us.

And so, listen: get your armor on, realize you're in a battle, stop whining. I told the men on Monday night we're going to get those shirts that have "Wimp" and a big circle around it in red and a line through it. Listen, stop being a whiner and start being a warrior. If you were to pray as much as you complain, things would get done. Amen! Turn off the TV because it just makes you stupid when you watch it. Open up the Word and pray without ceasing. We're in a fray, man. We're in a battle. I can guarantee you, I've talked to many, many soldiers. When they're in a fray of it, they're not distracted. They're not reading Hot Rod magazine in a foxhole saying, "Man, I wish I had that paint job on my car." No, they're worried about getting killed! Their focus is singular. Amen?

I think today our focus ought to be singular. We want to fight the good fight as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We want to finish the course. We want to finish it well. We want to be able to say to Him when we got there: we kept and defended the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints. Amen. Amen, let's stand. I've used up Pastor Todd's time, so I'll close you out in a prayer.