 I counted a blessing and a privilege to be gathered together in this way for this late night service. I'm thankful tonight to be a child of the King, amen. God has redeemed us, he has made us his children, he has called us his own. And he is coming back for a pure bride and a faithful bride he is waiting. Tonight the subject is prepare for battle. I don't know what you think of when you think of a subject, prepare for battle. It speaks of a warfare that's going on. I desire your prayers tonight. I was surprised at the tremendous amount of emotional fatigue and physical fatigue even that comes along with a message on spiritual warfare. But I trust that God can take control tonight. Ephesians 6 verse 12 says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Tonight, whether you realize it or not, there's a battle going on. It is raging all around us. There's a battle raging between God and Satan. There's a battle raging between good and evil. There's a battle raging against the church of Jesus Christ. There's a battle raging for your very soul. This year's theme for a kingdom fellowship weekend is the local church, faithful and flourishing. If we're gonna be a church that is faithful and flourishing, brothers and sisters, I believe we do well to learn how to do, how to prepare for the battles that lie ahead of us, do we not? Hosea 10 verse 12 says, so to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fellow ground. For it is time to seek the Lord till he come and reign righteousness upon you. Oh, that God would come and reign righteousness upon us tonight. Oh, that we would break up our fellow ground. It's time, brothers and sisters, it's time to seek the Lord. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. The question tonight is how can we be a church, not just in name, but in the holiness and in the character of God. There's plenty of people out there who call themselves Christian. They're far from being a true follower of Jesus Christ. Tonight, where are you at? Where's your heart? Oh, I trust we're a people that have had an experience with Jesus Christ. But I know one thing. We are a needy people. We're a people that need to sometimes take the time to come aside and rest awhile. Just like even Jesus himself had to do that. So I trust that that's why this time of fellowship can be for us here this weekend. How can we be a people, not just a church in name, but in the holiness and in the character of Jesus Christ? If we want to know how to win the battles ahead of us, we've got to know whose side we're on. Who is on our side and who our enemy is? How do we learn what we need to know about the battle we are facing? We go to God's word, friends. Brothers and sisters, right here is your answer. We go to God's word. Isaiah 40, verse eight says, the grass withereth, the flower fadeeth, but the word of God shall stand forever. Jesus said in Luke 21, 33, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. God's word has stood the test of time and it will continue to stand the test of time throughout all eternity. We learn God's plan for our life by reading God's word. God's word is our foundation. We can build our lives on it. A.W. Tozer said, God's words are not for me to add it and to tinker with, but to believe and obey. Right now, there's a war going on tonight as we speak. There's a battle we're facing. Jesus wants your heart. There's a battle going on for your very soul. Jesus wants it and Satan wants it too. We all know that there's evil in the world. We see it all around us. People lie, steal, cheat, murder, commit fornication and adultery, say bad words and whatever evil thing they can think of and imagine doing. It's like it says in Judges 21, verse 25, every man did that which was right in his own eyes. But where does evil come from? Has evil always existed? You know, there was a time when there was no evil. Before the entrance of evil in the world, there was peace and joy throughout the whole universe. Everything was in perfect harmony with the Creator's will. Then Lucifer, Satan, who was one of God's angels, wanted to be like God. He was lifted up in pride. God couldn't stand his pride and arrogance. He had to be cast out of heaven along with one third of the angels who chose to take his side. He said, I will, I will. I will be like the Most High God. Look it up in Isaiah. Ever since then, Satan, along with the fallen angels, the demons have set out to destroy God's plans. Satan came in the form of a serpent tempting Eve to take of the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit, ate thereof, and hence brought sin upon the entire human race. Oh, but God in his mercy. You know, God could have condemned Adam and Eve. Right away, he could have just said, nope, you're done. What did he do? No, God in his mercy. Right after they had sinned. Right after they had messed up. God in his mercy shows his love by promising a seed, his son, Jesus, who would take away the sin of the world. Jesus would be the one who would bruise and crush the head of the serpent Satan. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all the cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shall thou go and dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel. Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, Satan has been relentlessly trying to destroy God's plan of love and redemption. Jesus came as our perfect example and he died the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins. Oh, Jesus didn't deserve to die, friends. You know what, tonight you deserve to die and go to hell. Because your sins are great. But oh, the love of God. Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan. As he hung there, he suffered, he bled and died. Why did he do that? Because he chose to love you and me. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Our enemy is relentless. Recently I saw this quote on someone's WhatsApp status. Ponder how valuable your soul must be for Satan to tirelessly pursue it and the king to lay down his life, his own life for it. Ponder how valuable your soul is tonight, friends. How valuable a soul is. What can a man give an exchange for his soul? 1 Peter 5.8 says, be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, has a roaring line, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Tonight, Satan is out to get you, friends. I don't know if you realize that or not. I think we need to wake up to that reality sometimes. But oh, we serve a big, great, big, wonderful God, don't we? God is able to keep you from falling. Satan is out there to get you. He is out there to destroy you. And he doesn't care how it's done. If he has to roar at you, he'll roar at you. It might come through manipulation. It might come through persuasion. It might come through strong temptations or through your lusts. Here's a true story from a Christian brother in Haiti whom I know personally. I will try to relate it to you the way he told it to me. It was on a Thursday back in 2021 when we went to a Bible study at church. My wife had to do some studies at school. We left our young boy and six month old girl at home in the care of my wife's cousin who is 17 years old. While we were gone, she became demon possessed. She became possessed with an evil spirit. She tried to light the house on fire. She tried multiple times. She was trying to light a candle multiple times. Each time she lit the candle, the flame went out. She couldn't get any of the matches to work to light the candle. She then took a knife and thought, oh, this is going to be a good occasion for me to drink blood. Today, the dad and mom of this baby aren't at home. Today, I will drink blood. She grabbed the knife and was ready to bring it down on the baby. She tried bringing the knife down a first time. The knife stopped in midair. As if not being able to come down on the child, then she tried a second time. She was still not able to bring the knife down. She tried a third time. The same thing happened. She was not able to bring the knife down on the child. The baby's older brother watched in horror as the scene unfolded. After the cousin tried to bring the knife down the third time, he ran out of the house screaming for the neighbors to come and help. After he found people to come and help, they ran into the house and found the demon-possessed girl still launching the knife, trying with all her might to bring it down on the baby. The knife was stuck in midair. In God's mercy, his on-scene force was holding the knife back and keeping it from striking the baby. The neighbors took the baby out of the house. When they came back, they found the cousin lying face down on the ground. Her hands were behind her back and locked together as if handcuffed. The knife was still latched in her hands so tight they couldn't remove it. Friends tonight, we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. Against spiritual wickedness. You know, in a physical sense, it wasn't like the girl. Wanted to kill the baby to drink the blood. It wasn't like she wanted to light the house on fire. It was Satan and the demons within her that were causing her to do it. Here's another true story that happened to us. Before I went to work in Haiti the second time, before the Lord called me back to Haiti, we had a man who lived with a family from church. This man was demon possessed. He had a large tattoo with flames coming up his neck. On the center of the neck was a picture of a large wolf tattooed to his neck. Representing the wolf demon. On certain occasions, the eyes on the wolf would glow. The family he was living with were able to cast out some of the demons. But it soon became obvious that although the demons gave him a lot of fear and torment, he really liked the wolf demon and didn't want that one to go away. When talking with this man, I soon found out, I realized that sometimes when you talked with him, the demons were responding. It wasn't even himself responding. So, then other times it was him that it was him who was talking with you and whenever that happened, he would say this is me and he would use his name and he would talk in a lot more of a normal tone of voice. One Sunday, as I was talking with him after a church service, he asked if he could come back to church with me for the evening service. I thought about it for just a bit before responding and then said, sure, why not? You know, I just figured this is an opportunity to take him home after the church service and have a talk with him. Maybe I could speak into his life. And so, as we were driving home from church, I remembered a copy of the Jesus film that I had on my bookshelf at home. And after lunch, we sat together in my room and watched the Jesus film and it was going great. He sat there and wrapped attention and at certain points I would pause the film and just explain what was happening, explain the scenes. And we went through the life of Christ and we came up to the place where when Jesus was hanging on the cross, he said it is finished. And the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom. I paused the video and started explaining the scene. I said, my friend, all throughout history, sin has cost the price of blood. In the Old Testament, God's people would bring spotless lambs year after year and sacrifice it for their sins. The blood of those lambs never actually completely removed the sin. It acted like a band-aid. It acted like a covering on the sin problem. Jesus was God's son, the spotless lamb of God. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Ghost. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived as our perfect example and he died on the cross for our sins. But he didn't stay on the cross. He was buried and on the third day, he rose again. And now today he's sitting on the right hand of the throne of God, interceding on our behalf. And as I was explaining that story to him, it started making sense. I said, my friend, in Jesus, as far as the east is from the west, so far have he removed our transgressions. He doesn't even remember them anymore. I referred to Hebrews 4, verse 14 through 16, where it says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are and yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And as I was explaining the plan of salvation to him suddenly, it seemed like the light bulb was coming on. You could just see his face light up. And you know, for the first time, I believe he understood the plan of salvation. And he wept on my shoulder. I was thinking, oh my, surely he's gonna become a Christian. I mean, he was broken. He was weeping on my shoulder. And it wasn't long, however, until you could see the demons that work in his life. Pretty soon you could just see him just bracing up and suddenly he was acting tough. And you know, those demons were trying to snatch away the seeds that were planting, that were being planted in his life. We talked a little more, and I don't remember anymore exactly what I said, but I mentioned something about Satan. And at that, boy, those demons got really, really angry. This man was tall. He was like at least six foot tall, maybe taller and tough guy. Boy, for a moment, I thought I was gonna get attacked. I was sure he was gonna attack me. He said, Satan, I can't believe you Christians even mentioned that name. He said, I have scars all over my body because of him. And I believe it was true. He did have scars all over his body. He was used to cutting himself because of his satanic involvement. That's how involved he was in Satan's kingdom. And for a minute, I thought I was gonna be attacked. I was bracing up and I looked him straight in the eye. I said, yes, but Jesus Christ is stronger than Satan. You should have seen those demons melt. Suddenly, take me home, take me home, take me home, take me home. Friends, brothers and sisters, at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord. You know, there's coming a day. A day when God is gonna judge this world. Every knee is gonna bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. I was determined not to take him home because by that time, my family was ready to head the church for the evening church service. And the plan was to drop him off at that service in the evening. Finally, he went so crazy, I decided, well, you know what, I'm gonna take you home. He wouldn't have been fit to go to the evening service anyway. You know, another way that Satan tries to get us is through deception. He comes out as an angel of light to deceive you. Second Corinthians 11, verse 14 says, and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. You know, the problem is I believe Satan has a thousand different faces. He shows himself in many different ways. I wonder what you think of. Maybe we should get some feedback. What do you think of when you think of Satan? How does he look? What do you think? Anyone? Maybe some open discussion is needed, huh? How does Satan look? Powerful. Thank you. Deceptive. Black and evil, yeah. Scary. Yes. A monster. Yeah, he is. He is a monster. Pleasure. You know, he's all of the above. Satan shows himself in many different ways and in many different forms. He is always trying to go against what is good. That is one thing for sure. There's nothing good about him. He is always working against God. How many of you remember the Bible story from Luke chapter 14? I'm sorry, Luke chapter four of Jesus' Temptation on the Mountain? Let's have a raise of hand. Yeah, we all remember that story. Jesus went up in the spirit in the mountain and he fasted for 40 days. And Satan had to come at his weakest point, did he not? I find it ironic how many of our Bible story books show a picture of Satan. The children's Bible story books that you get, a lot of them show this picture of a monster with horns or something. I don't know. Friends, brothers and sisters, I don't know. But I think it can be otherwise. I think he could maybe look a little more like this picture right here as an angel of light. Do you think, you know, Satan used to be an angel, right? He was Lucifer in heaven. Do you think because of his fall, he lost all his beauty? I don't know. I don't think so. I believe he still can transform himself into an angel of light and make himself look really good to deceive and to destroy and to take away. And I believe he came to Jesus like that, like an angel of light. You know, it wasn't fair. Jesus had just fasted for 40 days. He was at his lowest point, his weakest point and the temptations that Satan brought to Jesus appealed, of course they did. The Bible lets us know that Jesus was tempted in all points just like as we were and yet without sin. And you know, that yet without sin was actually what qualified him to be that perfect sacrifice for sin. As he hung there, he suffered, he bled and died, for you and me. Had Jesus just committed one sin, it would have completely disqualified him to be that perfect sacrifice for our sin, to take away the sins of the world. The temptations that Satan brought to Jesus appealed to three things. It was the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. What did Jesus do when he was tempted? What did Jesus do when he was tempted, anyone? Responded with the word of God, yes he did. What should we do when we're tempted? Respond with the word of God, yes it's precious, this word brothers and sisters. We have God's word and we had better put it to use. If we're gonna have a victorious Christian life, if we're gonna live the way that God wants us to live. We can use God's word too, just like Jesus. We can hide God's word in our hearts and we can memorize it and hold it very precious and close. 1 John 2, 16 and 17 says, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. You know, be careful what you believe. Be careful what you believe. Satan is a deceiver. He has many counterfeits and he's out there offering them all over the place. When someone tells you something or when you read something, it is very important to compare it with the word of God. You know, we're called as Christians to try the spirits. 1 John 4, verse one, beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits to see whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. You know, during our captivity in Haiti, we did a lot of preaching to the guards around us. It was like we had this deal with the guards. You kidnap us, we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was like we were not ready to leave that place without them hearing the precious word of God, of the plan of salvation, the good news that can transform lives. And there was one of the gang leaders I was talking to who told me he used to be an evangelist. I remember thinking, how is this even possible? How do you go from preaching the good news of Jesus Christ to being a leader in this gang? I was just about blew my mind. I really challenged him. I asked him, do you know what the difference is between you and me? And you know, I believed him. He said that he had read the whole Bible through and he could quote scripture better than I could. And I just challenged him, do you know what the difference is between you and me? He asked, what is that? I said, you have read and studied God's word, but God's word has not changed your life. I too have read and studied God's word and God's word has not only changed my life, it has completely transformed my life through the power of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. When are you gonna allow God's word to transform your life? And at that, he didn't have too much to say. He went on to make some lame excuses about the situation of the country and he said, you know, it's not even possible for a person in Haiti to make an honest living without being a part of gang. I said, you know what, that's not true. If you would allow God to transform your life, God would make a way, God would open up doors for you. And I believe that with all my heart. Tonight, I wanna ask you a similar question, has God's word transformed your life? Have you allowed God's word to transform your heart? I don't know where you're at tonight. Tonight, if you're not born again, if you're still kicking against the pricks, what's holding you back? I don't know. What's holding you back from experiencing that wonderful freedom that's only available in Jesus Christ? But tonight, if you still have not chosen to accept Jesus as your savior, you're not prepared to fight the battles of life, friends, brothers and sisters, that comes first. Or maybe you've started out well like the gangster chief and maybe you need a revival. Did you know it's possible to have a good start to start out really well in your life? And you know, as times get difficult, as trials and struggles come in your life, you start to let go. You start to lose out. You start to lose the heavenly vision you once had. Oh, Lord, revive us again. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. Friends, if you don't have the fear of God tonight, then you're in bad shape. You're just in bad shape. That means you haven't even begun to have wisdom. If you want wisdom for your journey of life, then start fearing God. Get yourself a good quality of the fear of God in your life and then you'll start having wisdom. Have you forsaken all? Have you counted the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Let me tell you, if you haven't forsaken all, you're not worthy to be Jesus's disciple. What are you living for? Is it life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Is it the American dream or maybe at its best, the Mennonite dream? I don't know. Maybe you're not all Mennonites here tonight. Maybe the Amish dream or the German Baptist dream. I don't know what dream you're living for. Or are you a Christian? Are you denying yourself? Are you taking up the cross daily? Are you following King Jesus? Oh, I'm glad tonight that I'm a child of the King. Jesus has purchased me, friends. I was a sinner. I was a wretched sinner heading for hell, but Jesus in his love and mercy and grace, he reached down and he took me also out of an horrible pit and he set my feet upon a rock. Tonight, I know who I am. I know where I'm going. I don't know how that is for you. Have you made up your mind? So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsake if not all that he hath cannot be my disciple. Luke 14, verse 33. What is your life worth? To God, you are important. You're worth more than anything else in this whole world. You're worth the cost of his perfect and righteous son, Jesus Christ. Not only that, but when he first began the creation, he already had a plan of salvation for you. Then he worked his plan in the proper time. You have a birthright that you need to claim for yourself. It includes God's plan for your life. Don't sell that birthright for anything. Friends, a lot of people are out there selling that birthright. No, no, no. Don't sell it for fun or pleasure. There is much enjoyment in following godly principles and following God's word and embracing it. And I promise you're never gonna forget it. You're never gonna regret that. You're worth more than all the money and everything else in this world. Jesus said in Mark 8, 36 and 37, for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? There's nothing you can give tonight, friends. That's worth it. No, nothing in this whole world. During our time of captivity and Haiti, there were a lot of discouraging times. Times when we just wondered, oh my, how can we go on? There were times of encouragement. There were times of rejuvenation and it seemed like praise the Lord, we didn't all get discouraged at the same time but when some were down, then others were up. But let me tell you, it was discouraging day after day and had we known the first day when we were kidnapped that we were gonna stay there for a week, we would have thought we wouldn't be able to make it. And the end, 63 days, two months we spent with those kidnappers. And there were times we just didn't know what was gonna happen next. We thought we were gonna die there. But there was one evening, this year is a sketch of the first and the last location where we were held. We were moved to a different location and then brought back to this place. So right here, this sketch was where we escaped and during our escape we crossed, we hiked about 10 miles cross country. And I believe God went with us every step of the way. I wouldn't be here tonight if it wouldn't be for your prayers and for God answering those prayers. Let me tell you, that's the biggest thing that still stands out to me going through that whole experience is the power of prayer and the power of God to answer the prayers of the saints. Thank you for your prayers. Prayer works. You know, it doesn't always give the results maybe that we're hoping for or wishing for but God knows what we need. And God works in various ways and in many different ways. So we were here at this location for a week and a half and the witch doctor drove his pickup truck in there one evening with the radio blaring and it was on the evening news channel and it said the US military is coming to rescue the kidnapped missionaries. And oh, we were getting excited and you know, I believe that God could have used the military to get us out of there. You know, the Bible lets us know that they bear not the sword and vein. They're out to execute justice upon the evil doer. But oh, I'm so thankful tonight that in the end it wasn't the Haitian police, it wasn't the US military. You know, it wasn't the gang letting us go walk out free. It was God. It was God. God brought us out of there. But that evening they were really worried about the threat. And I think the news just put out fake news so that it would scare the kidnappers into letting us go but that was not the case. They started rounding up everyone and they loaded up the pickup trucks. And in the middle of the night we left that location for had no idea where we were heading. Some of our group thought we were heading out to a ravine or to a ditch somewhere and they were gonna shoot us and dispose of our bodies out there. I had no idea. And the next morning or that night we arrived at this location and the next morning we went outside and we were always, praise the Lord, we were always allowed to move around somewhat freely as long as they kept an eye on us. We were never tied hand and foot like their other captives would normally be. And the next morning we went outside and we realized this is a much more beautiful location. At the old place it was especially a terrible place to be. All around this compound there was trash and garbage littered everywhere. Inside this little 10 by 12 room it was probably a room the size of this corner room if not smaller. And we were all packed in there like sardines. There were blood splatters on the wall and bullet marks where the bullets had struck the walls and it was a terrible place to be. So after being moved to this location we were very thankful that we were at this more beautiful location. There was a row of kirkinut trees right here and a row of mango trees. But you know as time went on we became very, very discouraged. And to the point of just not knowing what the next step is. And so one morning I went outside of the house and I walked down the row of mango trees and stood there at the last mango tree and was just crying out to God. I said Lord, how much longer? God, how much more of this can we even take? And as I stood there praying the witch doctor walks down the row of mango trees. There was a bottle, a really strange looking bottle at the last mango tree and he reached down and took off the cork or I'm sorry, he put on the cork of the bottle and it was for their satanic protection. Typically they would put on the cork during the day and take it off at night. And as he was doing his job he looks up at me and said this is the devil's stuff. Don't you touch it. If you touch it, it'll bite you. And I hadn't even noticed the bottle there before. I was like, oh, I didn't say anything and he walked away and I cried out, Lord, what do I do? How as a Christian father, I feel like you call us to get in the way of evil. I was like, God, what does a Christian do with this kind of information? And as I stood there, I was pondering what to do next and I decided, you know what, if I at least move this bottle out into the field a little bit, he'll know I'm not afraid of it and it's not gonna bite me. So I picked up the bottle and moved it out into the field and then I went back to join the other group who was getting ready for the morning devotional. We typically sang and prayed three times a day, morning, noon and evening and so it was morning and it was time to have our worship service and we were gathered together there and I shared what had happened with the bottle and I was like, what should we do? And Austin being there, he said, you know what, let's just throw it away, let's get rid of it. And I was like, okay, do you wanna have the honors? And he said, yeah, sure, I'll do it. And so we walked over there, I picked up the bottle, I said, Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ and I was like, Lord, cover us with your blood. Father, protect us, wash us. And I handed the bottle off to Austin and he threw that with all his might and from my observation, the bottle hit the ground and splat open, there was a red liquid that shot out and I wasn't sure what was gonna happen. I, as the day went by in the morning, I was a little bit afraid what would happen next. I wasn't sure but as the day went on, I was feeling confident that we had done the right thing and so that evening, the witch doctor walks down the row of mango trees. What, where's the bottle? What could be, where's the bottle? He was talking in a frantic tone of voice to the other guards around him. Suddenly, Sam, yo! Oh, he's yelling my name, cut beetle, where's the bottle? And I said, oh, it's gone, we threw it away. Oh, you should have seen him become demon possessed. I mean, you could just see Satan. What, no, no, no, no. And he starts coming at me as if for an attack. And I didn't have much experience in that kind of spiritual warfare, brothers and sisters, but I knew one thing. I knew that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. We wrestle against Satan, Satanic forces. And I knew it wasn't Mackensen. I knew Satan was controlling Mackensen. I said, Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ. You should have seen me jerked back like I had thrown a brick at him. And again, he comes in for an attack. I said, Satan, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ. He jerks back again and again, just time after time after time. Oh, we were singing, we were praying, we were crying out to God. Lord, protect us in the name of Jesus. Be with us. We were singing song after song after song. There's power in the blood. There's power in the blood. And he took a shotgun from the other guards and he stood there just watching us. And every time we'd get to the end of a song, he would yell insults and threats at us and ask us where the bottle is. And we just kept singing and singing and singing. And I thought it was gonna be an all night event. I was sure it was gonna last all night long. Time was ticking by, this was going on and on and on. And it was getting late into the night. And finally I said, you know what? We just have to face up. We just have to, it's time for bed. We have to go into the house. And so we started making our way to the front door there. And he stood right there in front of the door. And he wanted to let everyone into the house except me. And thankfully the other brothers stood there by my side. They weren't gonna leave me. And you know friends tonight, there's power in the church of Jesus Christ banding together, supporting each other. Let's do it, let's be a church tonight. So he stood there, he said, Samuel could beat him. Where's the bottle? He said, if you don't tell me where this bottle is, we're gonna beat you, we're gonna kill you. Where's the bottle? The chief of the guards walked over towards me. He said, Samuel, where's the bottle? Said, if you don't tell us where this bottle is, we're gonna beat you without stopping until you tell us where it is. We're gonna kill you. He pulls his gun. He said, Samuel, do you know what this is? It's called a gun. Do you know what guns can do? I smiled at him. I said, chief, I'm not afraid of you. Oh, they meant to harm us that night. But God protected us. Every time they came towards us, it was as if there was a wall that dropped between us and them. There's power in the name of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul talks about how a Christian should prepare for spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6-12 says, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And then, and only then, is when we are equipped for battle. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, friends, brothers and sisters, we go in the name of Jesus Christ. That's the way that we win our battles. That's the way that the church of Jesus Christ wins her battles. Jesus is our master. He's our head. He's our Lord. He's our, he's our savior. I know it's precious to be a child of the king. The Roman Empire was the power horse of its day. Rome built the largest and the most powerful army the world had ever seen. The tactics of the military was one of the key reasons for Rome's success. The Roman army was highly trained and disciplined with their success and war. The Empire was able to expand its control over three separate continents, including Asia, Africa and most of Europe. For us to stand against the walls of the devil, we're going to need some tactics in place as well. One tactic that the Roman army used was known as the turtle. They would link shields together and literally advance on their enemies. It was a very effective way since the enemy could rain down arrows on them and their shields were practically impenetrable. This is a beautiful picture tonight, brothers and sisters. Beautiful picture of how we as a church of Jesus Christ should band together and fight the spiritual battles that our enemy, Satan, would want to bring our way. We need to band together and oh, it's sad. So sad when we see division, turmoil, unrest in the church. Will we, friends, are we willing to rise up in our generation and be the church of Jesus Christ? Are we willing to stand in having done all to stand? Give it all we got. Run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking onto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, are we willing to fix our eyes on Jesus and run straight for the goal? Are we standing together as a body of Christ or do we have freelancers among us? You know, in the fire department, I used to be a firefighter and in the fire department they went to great lengths to tell us about a freelancing firefighter. A freelancing firefighter was one who was out there on a limb by himself, doing his own thing. He was a one who thought he had it together. He thought he was good stuff and he could do things the way he wanted to do things. Brothers and sisters, we need the body of Jesus Christ. We need to band together as an army. You know, for the freelancing firefighter, he's the one that'll get killed on your next fire call because he's out there, he's not working together with the rest of the team. Are you willing to work together as a team? Put on the whole armor of Jesus and win the battles that God wants you to win. Do you have a plan of action? In closing, we're in a battle. Today the battle is raging. It's raging all around us. God has made us more than conquerors through him that loved us. You know, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. If we're prepared for battle, if we prepare for battle, that means we need to have a battle plan. We've got to know where we're standing. We need a plan, a war plan, a plan of action. What is your plan of action? Do you even have one? Will you endure? Will you stand firm in this evil generation that we live in? Are you gonna be faithful until Jesus calls you home? Ask yourself the question tonight. Jesus is coming soon, friends, and oh, I'm looking forward to that. I'm excited. I'm excited about that day. Are you ready? Are you waiting? We could talk about fasting and prayer. You know, it's something that's very needful. In this warfare, this battle of life, we need to fast and pray. Jesus set forth an example, and it's an example to be followed. It takes wisdom from God to know how to win the battle, and he's willing to walk with us. We have authority in the name of Jesus Christ, and I wish tonight that the church of Jesus would be bold in proclaiming the power that is available through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let's rise up and be a church. You know, the only way to true happiness, peace, and joy in our lives depends on if we choose to follow God's plan or not. If you choose to take your own route, it's sure to end in disaster. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, wants to be your invisible friend. He can give you the power to live in victory over sin and overcome your battles. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we repent of our sins and live faithfully, we don't have to spend an eternity in hell. When we die, we can spend an eternity in heaven with Jesus. Today, I don't know what you're facing. I don't know what it is. If it's financial, if it's heartache, if it's the death of a friend, a close one. I don't know, maybe it's a break up in your relationship. I don't know, there's a lot of young people here tonight. I don't know what it's like I've been there. I don't know whatever your struggle it is, whatever it is, bring it to Jesus. Bring it to the foot of the cross. There's hope, there's help, there's healing available, there's forgiveness and victory available for you at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Lay down your life tonight in complete surrender on the order to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Revelations that says there was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not. Neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they love not their lives unto the death. Oh, praise the Lord. There's victory, there's power in the name of Jesus Christ and God is gonna be the victor. In the end, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ.