(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Music You You You You You Song four three seven in the blues send the light song four three seven. Let's see it together on the first There's a call comes ringing or the restless waves send the line send the line There are souls to rescue there are souls to save send the line send the line Send the line Blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore Send the line the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore We have heard the Macedonian call today send the line send the line And a golden offering at the cross we lay send the line send the line Send the line the blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore Send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore Let us pray that grace may everywhere abound send the light Send the light and a Christ like spirit everywhere be found send the light send the line Send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore Send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore Let us not grow weary in the work of love send the line send the line For a crown above send the light send the light send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine from shore to shore Send the light the blessed gospel light let it shine forevermore Amen good scene brother Alex. Could you open up with a prayer? Bless our soldiers tonight and give us ears to hear the sermon in Jesus' name. Amen. And then our second song we song number 19. Jesus is the joy of living Song number 19. Jesus is the joy of living Song number one nine, let's sing it together on the first I have found a wondrous Savior Jesus Christ the souls delight Every blessing of his favor fills my heart with hope so bright Jesus is the joy of living He's the king of life to me Unto him my all I'm giving His forevermore to be I will do what he commands me Anywhere he leads I'll go Jesus is the joy of living He's the dearest friend I know Life is growing rich with beauty Toil has lost its weary strain Now a halo crowns each duty And I sing a glad refrain Jesus is the joy of living He's the king of life to me Unto him my all I'm giving His forevermore to be I will do what he commands me Anywhere he leads I'll go Jesus is the joy of living He's the dearest friend I know Heavenly wisdom he provides me grace to keep my spirit free In his own sweet way he guides me When the path I cannot see Jesus is the joy of living He's the king of life to me Unto him my all I'm giving His forevermore to be I will do what he commands me Anywhere he leads I'll go Jesus is the joy of living He's the dearest friend I know Oh what splendor oh what glory Oh what matchless power divine Is the Christ of gospel story Christ the Savior who is mine Jesus is the joy of living He's the king of life to me Unto him my all I'm giving His forevermore to be I will do what he commands me Anywhere he leads I'll go Jesus is the joy of living He's the dearest friend I know Amen. Good singing with this. We'll have our announcements. All right. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to Church Foundation Baptist Church for our midweek service. Our midweek and one day after the midweek service, I guess. All right, let's take our bulletins and go through some announcements. If you need a bulletin, just slip up your hand. One of the ushers will bring you a bulletin. Just lift your hand nice and high and one of the ushers will bring you one. While they're handing those out, I'll just start off with our verse of the week. On the front page there it says, The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Psalm chapter 12 verse 6, great scripture there on the preservation of scripture. Our inside page there shows our service time, Sunday morning service, 10 30 a.m. We'll be back in our series this week on the New Believer series in the morning. And then Sunday evening service, we'll be back in Joshua. We'll be in Joshua chapter 2. And then Thursday Bible studies, we're in 1 Chronicles and we'll be in 1 Chronicles 11 again tonight. And we'll be preaching about David's mighty men. Our so many times are listed below. We had so many tonight. Did we have any salvations? One salvation. Anybody else get one? All right. Well, praise God for that one salvation and for your faithfulness. And thanks to everybody that helped Tony move. I'm sure he really appreciated that. Sounds like you guys got it done. I didn't even know they were moving. So until yesterday, I guess I think Sean put it in the group. Can everybody help Tony move? I was like, all right, cool. I'm glad people helped. So I appreciate I'm sure they appreciate that. And let's see the Praise Report. You can see the salvations and baptisms. Rylan, that's plus nine. If you're listening, so for the bulletin. In Indianapolis, I just want to brag on our church plants over there. They had 69 in church on Sunday morning and they had 61 in the evening. They had nine baptisms in between services. And they had seven salvations for a short soul wanting that they had there. So that's pretty receptive over there, in case you were wondering. So, yeah, church is doing great there. They actually had a pastor from up north. He's a, you know, kind of old IFBE pastor, but he came down to the baptisms. He was ordained and he's been friendly to us. We did a Sony marathon at their church. And so he came down and preached one service for us down there and did the baptisms. So it was really nice of him to do that. And so we are friendly. You know, our churches are friendly. And he was friendly to us, so we really appreciate that. And so we had a great high day there. It's the highest day we've had there for a long time, so it's good. We are averaging about 50 in attendance on Sunday mornings there. So the church plant there is doing really well. Anyway, I just want to mention that really quickly. And we had Dr. Phil Stringer here preaching for us. He preached a sermon on Calvinism that I thought was really good. He had some really good one verses. If you didn't get a chance to listen to it, it's on our YouTube page. And then he preached a sermon. It was basically against the accusations of King James being a homosexual. And it was really more of a history lesson, but he's really knowledgeable. You can really tell he's a sharp guy. And it was great having him here and being a part of our services. I really appreciated him being here. If you guys liked him being here, he's going to be here again in December. He's going to preach. He's going to preach about his trip to Egypt. So I'm actually interested in hearing that. So it would be nice to go to Egypt sometime and preach. So right at the pyramids or something. Anyway, they probably wouldn't let me there. Anyway, so he's coming back in December for us. October 27th, we're going to have our super soul-winning Saturday. That will be 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. We'll have a dinner afterwards. October 31st is our chili and cornbread potluck before church at 4 p.m. You may come early and just bring any kind of chili you want. Fillers are fine. And Cincinnati chili, spaghetti's fine, whatever you want. No, I'm just kidding. But yeah, bring chili, bring cornbread, whatever. You can bring dessert, whatever you want to do. Just make sure you don't fall asleep during the service. They'll just start throwing stuff at you. I'll throw the dry cornbread at you during the service. How about that? I'm just kidding. And then, let's see, November 6th or 10th is the FWBC missions conference. If you're planning on going to that. And then November 26th is the pi social. There's also something in between those dates. There's the homeschool field trip, I believe it's November 14th. Is that right? November 14th, it's at the jump zone or some kind of jumping thing. Sky zone. Alright, sky zone, jump zone, jump a lot, whatever. It's one of those things, but you can sign up in the homeschool group. If you're not in the homeschool group, just ask my wife and she'll get you in there. Anyway, we're family integrated. That means the children and infants are welcome during the church services. Please use the mother baby room or the dad baby room. Observe the rules and regulations listed below there. And the giving information is down below. Texting, text giving, offering totals that have come in so far. We're saying happy birthday to Jacob and Zacchaeus. Wait a second. This is on Sunday. Okay, so we'll sing happy birthday to him on Sunday. Alright, yeah. I think that's all we got for announcements. Let's go ahead and sing another song and then we'll receive the offering. Alright, our next song is song number 40, Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah. Song number 40, Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah. Song 4-0, sing it together on the first. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim, through this barren land. I am weak, but thou art mighty. Hold me with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain, whence the healing stream doth flow. Let the fire and cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside. Bear me through the swelling current, land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises, songs of praises, I will ever give to thee. I will ever give to thee. Amen. Good seeing you at this time. We'll have our offering. Brother Ramon, could you bless the offering for us? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good to see you all. Please turn with me, if you would, to First Chronicles, chapter 11. First Chronicles, chapter 11. As is our custom, we'll read the entire chapter starting in verse 1. Please read along with me silently. First Chronicles, chapter 11. If your name is Lambert, I want to see your eyes up here, please. First Chronicles, chapter 11, verse 1. Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. And moreover, in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that lettest out and broughtest in Israel. And the Lord thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king, to Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless, David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up and was chief. And David dwelt in the castle, therefore they called it the city of David. And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. So David waxed greater and greater, for the Lord of hosts was with him. These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom and with all Israel to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had. Jashabim and Hakmonite, the chief of the captains, he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time. And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. He was with David at Pastamim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley and the people fled from before the Philistines. And they set themselves in the midst of that parcel and delivered it, and slew the Philistines, and the Lord saved them by a great deliverance. Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the hold, and the Philistine's garrison was then at Bethlehem. And David longed and said, O that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate. And the three break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the Lord and said, My God forbid it be that I should do this thing. Shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? For with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it, therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest. And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three, for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew them, and he had a name among the three. Of the three he was more honorable than the two, for he was their captain, albeit he attained not to the first three. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzael, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men of Moab. Also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high, and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam. And he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among the three mighties. Behold he was honorable among the thirty, but attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard. Also the valiant men of the armies were Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, Shamoth the Hororite, Heles the Pelonite, Ira the son of Ikhesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Antothite, Sibakai the Hushathite, Eli the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ithai the son of Rebai of Gibeah that pertained to the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Perathenite, Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbethite, Asmoveth the Baharumite, Eliyabah the Shaalbanite, the son of Hashem the Gizanite, Jonathan the son of Shagi the Hororite, Ahim the son of Sakar the Hororite, Eliphal the son of Ur, Hefer and the Mecharite, Mecharithite, Ahijah the Pelonite, Hesro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Esbai, Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagary, Zelak the Ammonite, Nahari the Barathite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Alai, Adina the son of Sheeza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and 30 with him, Hanan the son of Ma'acha and Josephat the Mythknight, Uzziah the Ashteratite, Shammah and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Arrorite, Jediel the son of Shimri and Joah his brother the Tezite, Eliel the Mahavite and Jerabai and Josavia the sons of El-Naam and Ithma the Moabite, Eliel and Obed and Jaziel the Mesobite. Brother Alex will you pray for us? Well just when you think that he couldn't do it any better he goes and just nails every name in that whole chapter it just makes me sick. Anyway I won't do as well I promise. Well done well done brother Eli. Alright we're in I Chronicles 11. I will not have you do it again next week. I promise we'll be on a different chapter. So I just want to recap where we're at so far in the book of I Chronicles. We're finished with the genealogies. Nine chapters we did there and in chapter 10 we had the death of Saul and then in the last sermon I preached we talked about and saw David's rise to power. We looked at his three anointings when he was a young man when he was anointed as the king of Judah and then when he was anointed as the king over all of Israel. And now we're going to look at his mighty men. Look at verse 10 down in your text there it says these also are the chief of the mighty men. So it's about the name the chief of the mighty men not just all of his mighty men because he had multiple mighty men. But these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had who strengthened themselves with him in the kingdom and with all Israel to make him king according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. So these are men that came to David and these men strengthened themselves with him in the kingdom and these men began to come to him before he was even king. And of course he was already anointed at that time by Samuel but then by the time he became king they were already pretty razor sharp. Pretty impressive in their feats but when he became king then they really started to shine forth as the mighty men of David. And they're probably the greatest fighting force that this world has ever seen and probably the you know of course they got their might and a lot of their strength from God. I mean no man can kill 300 men at the same time by himself and within his own power. So when or when a man kills 800 men by himself that's not by himself the spirit of the Lord is helping him do that. Like when Samson kills a thousand men with a jawbone of an ass he's not just doing that within his own strength and God has obviously given these men who have great skill. I'm not saying that they don't have great skill they probably already have great talent in the battle but God is obviously giving them some extra skill here and some extra knowledge. But these mighty men did not just appear out of osmosis or all come to him at the same time. David amassed this army of men slowly through the years and as he followed the Lord they flocked to him and learned to trust him and mold them into that mighty fighting force under his leadership. So David of course is that great leader of the men and throughout the Bible you just see leadership is the one is the people that are highlighted in the Bible for the most part. The leadership is highlighted but there's a lot of great men in the Bible that aren't highlighted necessarily but like these guys get a whole almost a whole chapter in the Bible here and then also in 2 Samuel where it just lists their names. And their names live on forever in eternity. You know a lot of you know like the Norse religion they wanted their names to live on forever in Valhalla which is a false religion. It's a false belief system and they thought if they just went and plundered and killed people and died in some great battle that they would go to what they think is heaven. This place this hall where they drink beer and have beautiful women all day or whatever in this place called Valhalla. But in reality they went to a place called hell. So now I don't think it's a great thing to want to be some kind of bloodthirsty soldier or something. I don't think that necessarily this is what these guys all were but they were soldiers for the Lord. They were at a different time they were in the Old Testament and this is you know a physical nation of Israel of course with spiritual you know they were spiritual and physical at the same time. Now in the New Testament we're not called to battle in this way so our our warfare is a spiritual warfare we're not called to take up arms against any government or against other people. When we are overcoming the enemy we're overcoming them with the good of the gospel and we're trying to kill the old man so the new man can be born in them. We're not we're slaying with the sword of the spirit with the gospel so they can be born again and be saved. So let's look over at go ahead and keep your your finger or bookmark here and go to 1 Samuel chapter 22 verse 1. We are going to be flipping back and forth a lot to 2 Samuel chapter 23 but we'll get there soon enough and I'll just have you put the bookmark then. But go ahead and turn to 1 Samuel 22 1 and we'll see where these guys first start to come to David because David's been anointed then he goes on the run and then men just start to these men start to flock to him. And not all these guys become the chief of the mighty men but what does that mean the chief? Well they're the the heads of the mighty men they're the the top these are the top 30 basically of the mighty men. Now in the list in 2 Samuel chapter 23 there's 37 mighty men mentioned and people say well that's a discrepancy in the Bible well it isn't a discrepancy in the Bible because there are no discrepancies in the Bible. But I would I would say this that you know one of these list is probably just you know one solid list and then and then you have a list where maybe there was I'm sure there's people that died out of these mighty men. As a matter of fact when we go through the list you probably know some jump out at you as people that died and I'm sure that people replace those people that died and so you're probably getting the extra people in the list from 2 Samuel. I mean that's that's an explanation but you know it's not an explanation is that the Word of God has a mistake in it because there's no mistakes the words of the Lord are pure words. So anyway 1 Samuel chapter 22 verse 1 the Bible says David therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave Adullam and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it they went down there to him. And everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt and everyone that was disconnected gathered themselves unto him and he became a captain over them and there were with him about 400 men. So he has his first flock of men that come to him and there are people that are distressed there are people that are in debt discontented and they gather themselves unto him and he becomes a captain to them. The king Saul's the king at this time but they become they need someone to lead them so when they first come to David they're not really the mighty men yet are they? They're discontented they're these people that just are kind of outcasts of society and he forms this group of mighty men out of these discontented people and then turns them into the greatest fighting force of all time. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 23 verse 13 so and then this group begins to grow and he gets more people to join up with him. In verse 13 it says then David and his men which were about 600 arose and departed out of Keliah and went whithersoever they would go and it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keliah and he forbared to go forth. So now just in one chapter you see that he's jumped from 400 men following him to 600 men following him. Look at chapter 27 verse 2 chapter 27 verse 2 it says and David arose and he passed over with 600 men that were with him unto Achish the son of Moak the king of Gath. So he still has the 600 he's not losing people he's still charging forward. Now turn to 1 Samuel 30 verse 9 verse 30 verse 9 it says so David went he and the 600 men that were with him and came to the brook Bessor where those that were left behind stayed. And David pursued he and 400 men for 200 above behind which were so faint they could not go over the brook Bessor. So all throughout these chapters he still remains he doesn't lose them he still has these 600 guys that are going with him. Which is kind of like how Jesus had his 12 and that prophecy where he said that he will lose none. He will not lose any of his disciples and he kind of just doesn't lose any of these mighty men either which is pretty impressive that he still has 600 men. I'm sure some probably died but like it still continues to maintain that he has 600 men first he starts out with 400 builds it up to 600 doesn't lose any. So now in the next chapter next week when we studied chapter 12 then you have like when he becomes king you have this influx of hundreds and thousands of more people that come to him. When all of Israel comes to him then you have those great warriors of Gad that we've already spoke about in the previous chapters and we also have some Reubenites that come. And then he just kind of gets this big giant army of mighty men like his warriors were great warriors all of them. So these are like I said this chapter is the mighty men of the mighty men they're like the cream of the crop they're like the navy seals or the rangers or whatever you would want to call them of our modern times. But probably way more skilled so anyway let's look at first chronicles back to first chronicles 1111 it says and this is the number of the mighty men whom David had. Joshua and Hachemite the chief of the captains so who's the chief of the captains Joshua he lifted up his spear against 300 slain by him at one time. So he's got a spear and he slays 300 men at one time that's pretty impressive I mean you'd be pretty tired after that. I don't know how he's defending himself against 300 men at one time but that's what the Bible says and I believe that the Bible is true. Obviously God is supernaturally allowing him to do this because otherwise that would just be impossible. So now remember who's the one that took the castle of Zion who did David he said whoever gets up the gutter remember last week. Whosoever gets up the gutter and takes the stronghold I will make him the chief remember that who was that guy? Joab right if you'll notice something right off the you know if you read through this if you're paying attention does Joab get mentioned in this group? He doesn't get mentioned in this group but yet he is the chief of his army he's the general of the army and if you know anything about the story of Joab. Joab anytime David tries to make somebody else the general Joab murders them. So that's probably why he's not counted as one of the mighty men because he wasn't a very great man of valor. I mean he did do some great things but he was also a murderer and you know he got paid back in the end for what he did to some really good guys. So anyway I just wanted to kind of mention that really quickly that Joab is not mentioned in this group even though he is over he really is over the top of this guy in rank. But this is the chief of the other you know so below Joab would be this guy right here even though Joab is not a mighty man. Okay weird right so anyway so now it says verse 12 and after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo if you're looking for male baby names you guys have some choices here. And Ahoah who was one of the three mighties so it's listing us these three mighties. Okay the three mighties are the top three of the best of the best. And the first one is Jashabim then you have Eliezer and then you have this other guy that's going to mention here in a minute. But it says he was with David and passed Amim and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle where was a parcel of ground full of barley. And the people fled from before the Philistines and they set themselves in the midst of the parcel and delivered it and slew the Philistines and the Lord saved them by a great deliverance. So you have that guy Eliezer the son of Dodo and then now turn now this is where I'm going to have you start turning to second Samuel and keeping a bookmark there. But keep your bookmark here turn to second Samuel chapter 23. Now I just kind of want to show you the parallel passages because again you have 30 that are named here, 37 that are named in second Samuel. We're not going to go through all the names tonight there's just too much and there's not a lot written about some of these guys. Their name is mentioned but you know I'm not going to go deep into the cracks on this sermon. So second Samuel chapter 23 verse nine it says and after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo and Ahoyt one of the three mighty men with David and they defied the Philistines that were gathered together to battle and the men of Israel were gone away. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword and the sword wrought a great or excuse me the Lord wrought a great victory that day. And the Lord returned after him only or the people returned after him only to spoil so basically what do you have here is that they're defending like a field. They're defending food and the Philistines were really just always just trying to take away there's places always trying to come back in and take over a village that Israel had taken back from them. But you know food wasn't just found at Walmart back then you know fields of food were very important and you know it takes months for things to grow up. And so when an army is coming to try to take over a big field of food it's important to defend it so we might think well there's some they're just trying to defend some lima beans or something it's like big deal. But to them it was a big deal it's their food source so but this guy smote the Philistines until he was his hand was weary and his hand clave to the sword. So he just never let go of that sword that's why he's a mighty man and he even though the people ran the only time that they returned was to return for the spoil that that guy fought for. I mean pretty cowardly right but he wasn't a coward that's why he's listed as a mighty man and the people that were listed they don't name their names they just said that they were the ones that ran away. And the only reason why they came back was to get the stuff right. Verse 11 says after him was Shammah the son of Agi the Herorite and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop and there was a piece of ground full of lentils so here's you know the beans right. And the people fled from the Philistines so here's another fleeing and he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines and the Lord wrought a great victory. So basically in these lists you're getting these stories here and there you're not getting every great feat that they did but you're getting just kind of a little taste of how tough and mighty these guys were. I mean I've never fought 300 people at the same time and even in a fistfight in one these guys are killing you know troops and garrisons full of people by themselves while everybody else is running away. That's pretty mighty. Turn back to First Chronicles chapter 11 verse 15, First Chronicles chapter 11 verse 15. It says now three of the 30 captains went down to the rock to David into the cave of Adullam and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. So three of the 30 captains went down to the rock with David and David was then in the hold and the Philistines garrison was then at Bethlehem. And David longed and said oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate. And the three break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David but David would not drink of it but poured it out to the Lord. So you have this account of the mighty, the first three mighties that it was talking about. The guys that are killing hundreds of people at a time by themselves and all David did is just kind of was like oh man it would be great to have a nice clean cup of water from the well of Bethlehem. And these guys love David so much, they are so loyal to him that just his mere words inspire them to just go and break through this rank of people, these Philistine warriors and go and just say we are just going to get David a drink of water. That is pretty impressive, I mean this is a garrison of Philistines and they were away from each other for a reason. So it is not like these three guys could have just taken them on by themselves in normal circumstances and it is not just David and these three guys, it is David, these three guys and probably an army and they are still not just going right at them. So I am sure this garrison was a pretty tough rowdy bunch, so probably just not an easy battle no matter how you slice it. So they just decided to slice it anyway and just go in and try to get the water and they did it. Now flip back, just keep your finger there again, flip back to 2 Samuel chapter 23 and it will give us a little more information here. It says, 2 Samuel 23 verse 13, it says, And three of the thirty chiefs went down and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam. And the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in a hold and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate. And the three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink thereof, but he poured it out unto the Lord. So thus began like the pouring out for your dead homies or something, that is when that all began, I do not know. This began that, I am sure it might have been the beginning of it, I do not know, but that is kind of what he did, right? But it is a sacrifice, he basically sacrificed what those guys did to the Lord. And it says, and he said, verse 17, and he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this, is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. So if that was not a really impressive feat, then I do not think the Bible would have, this would not have been added into the Bible. So obviously what those three men did was very impressive. And I have always thought this, I do not know if I am the only one that has thought this before, but I have always kind of thought, well that is kind of messed up that he did not drink it, because they did so much to get that glass of water for them. And like, you know, I could just imagine these guys running up, here you go David, here you go, this is what you wanted, right? And he is just like, just torches it on the ground. They are probably just like, what are you doing? Do you know how hard we had to fight to get you that cup of water? But I mean, they are just, you know, they are loyal, they are brave, and for David to pour it out like this, I felt like this is disrespectful to his men. But, you know, I have thought about this, and actually I was asked about this after church last week, like what do you think this means? And I think that there is some symbolic interpretations to this passage, and I am sure that I probably have not figured all the symbolic interpretations out, but I just have a few thoughts about this that I was thinking about. So, David refused to drink because he realized the great risk that it took to do this, and to drink water of something that he said just on a whim, as like some selfish longing to taste a drink of water out of that well. These great warriors could have been killed doing something that he just flippantly asked for, something that his soul was kind of lusting after or whatever, which I am sure he is always thirsty, right? But, you know, as leaders we should be careful what we ask for, and what we require of people because people are really zealous, and people really want to help please leadership sometimes to the point where they would risk something, even harming their finances, harming themselves in some way that they shouldn't, based upon just trying to please someone or trying to show their loyalty to a leader, and he probably felt really bad that these guys risked their lives to go get a glass of water for them, because really that is what they did. They risked their lives for a glass of water, and David is probably just like thinking, well man, the things that come out of my mouth are really important for me to check what I am saying, because these guys could have lost their lives over nothing, really. It is kind of what I was thinking. I am sure other people have thought the same thing, but we really do need to think about the things we say, especially people that are in leadership, people that are bosses at work or whatever, and people look up to you as leaders. I mean, parents in the home, your children look up to you, and your children want to please you, and kids just have this natural thing of wanting to please their parents, and we can wound them when we say, get out of here kid, you bother me, or whatever. Sometimes we can be that way with our kids and not mean to be, so when our kids are looking for our attention, sometimes we need to put our phones down, or put away what we are doing, and just think about spending some time with them, and thinking about the things that they do for us that we think, oh, that is nice, dear. They draw us a picture or something, and throw it away when they walk away. I have never done that, okay? I am not saying I did. Everything is hung up. We got boxes full of stuff, okay? But kids, I think it is really nice when kids draw you pictures. I have kids at churches that draw me pictures sometimes, and I think it is really cool. I keep those things, and I think it is nice, but people do nice things for you as leaders sometimes, and I just think that whatever type of leader you are, not everybody is a pastor, not everybody is a leader in that kind of way, but just anytime someone looks up to you, you should be aware of the things you are asking for, and when people are super loyal, or will just bend over backwards to help you, you should be aware not to take advantage of that loyalty. Be aware to not take advantage of someone when you know that they would do anything for you, just for something that is just some kind of entertainment for you, or some kind of special glass of water that you want or something, but especially a frivolous thing like this. I mean, literally going to risk their lives, but David also poured out the water, I think, to discourage any other risky missions like this, because had he drank that water, then what is the next group of mighties going to do? They're going to say, well, they went and risked their lives getting this glass of water, well, let's go do this, and then we can have David's adoration, or attaboys, or commendations for upping the ante, and I think that's another possible reason, or a good reason why he would have done that, but also that water might have quenched his thirst, but it literally, what does the passage actually say? That it was their blood that they were carrying back, basically, not literally, but that was their death sentence that they were carrying back. Basically, they literally risked their lives to do it, so it wasn't, let's go back to the passage here real quick. What's it say there? Well, verse 17 says, be it far from me, Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy for their lives? Therefore, he would not drink it, so for this reason, therefore, is there so that you would know what it was there for, right? Therefore, he would not drink it, so the reason why, the main reason why is because the blood of the men that went in jeopardy for their lives, so he didn't, it wasn't right for him to ask for that because they literally risked their lives. That's what the Bible actually says, so, I mean, there's lots of different reasons you can read into it, but that's what the Bible actually says, so, and you know, it's important for us to say what the Bible actually says, right? So, but how about a symbolic meaning, like a mighty man from Bethlehem one day would actually sacrifice his blood for us so that we could get the rivers of living water, you know, when Jesus goes to the woman at the well, what does he say to her? Well, let's look at John chapter four and we'll see what he says to her, but I mean, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, right, and the living water comes from Jesus Christ. It doesn't come from Jacob's well. It comes from Jesus Christ who's from Bethlehem, so I mean, there's probably some symbolic meaning there, but John chapter four, verse 10, Jesus said to the woman at the well, he said, Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked. He would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, sir, thou hast nothing to draw with and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou this living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. So the symbolic meaning, you know, Jesus Christ actually did give his blood so that we could have everlasting water and so, I mean, I think that there is a parallel picture there for us to observe that, you know, that water, it was worth Jesus hazarding his life for us, not only hazarding, but giving his life for us. So, and then another picture is something I was just thinking about this week, about going to the right sources to get the good water. Nobody wants to have a bad source of water. In Vancouver, I keep getting these notices where it says, like, there's these, these additives that have gotten into water, so I forget what they call them, PF somethings or whatever, it's like some pla, huh? Yeah, and it's from like, yeah, Teflon and stuff like that. Yeah, so it's something that you can't, I don't even think you can get it out of the water supply, it's like in the water supply here that we're paying all this money to get in, especially in the outlying parts of Vancouver. I need a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. Anyway, but it's kind of disheartening to know that we have to pay all this money for water that they've allowed to get tainted. You know, I think we need a new supply of water. But that's why I have a Berkey. But anyway, I hope it gets that stuff out of there. Uh oh, I'm getting some eyeballs here. Do I need something different? Somebody help me. Am I trusting in this Berkey and I shouldn't be? What's going on? Somebody needs to talk to me after church. Alright, but the Bible talks about us going to the right, when we go to the right wells, the Bible talks about wells a lot. If you think about Isaac, he has this whole showdown with Abimelech who's what, the king of the what? What group is he the king of? The Philistines. Who's David messing with throughout this whole, even what we're talking about here, the garrisons of the Philistines. It seems like the Philistines are always kind of guarding wells and trying to take wells over from God's people. The sources of information, you know, if you think about it. Because, you know, the Holy Spirit is our source of information. What we get, you know, who inspired the Bible? The source of information is the Holy Spirit, right? And so we want to go to the right Bible. We want to go to the King James, don't we? But, you know, the Philistines are always trying to murk the waters up and put the NIV in people's laps and put the RSV and the HIV and all the other, you know, new acronyms that they want to put out, the NLT. But we should go to the right source. David didn't say I want to go, oh man, I wish I could have a drink of the water from the Philistines, from Gath. He didn't say from Gath, he said, I want the one from the well in Bethlehem. Give me a drink of that water. And I would say this, as Christians, we need to make sure that we're going to the right sources for our information, too. The Bible, good Bible teachers, good preachers, don't go to unsaved people for your information, for your teaching. You know, these podcasts, of course you can learn things from unsaved people, but if they're just ungodly, why would you listen to them and just fill your mind with unsaved people just teaching you stuff all day long? It's just not something that you should go, that's not the source you should go to. Go to a good source. If you're going to listen to some podcast, at least listen to somebody that's actually a Christian. You know, at least sometimes. But if you're doing like eight hours worth of jokes with Joe Rogan every day, I mean, he's going to be talking about all kinds of psychedelics and weird drugs and blaspheming God's name and taking drugs while he's on the show and drinking alcohol while he's on the show. I'll admit he does have some interesting topics sometimes, but I would be selective on the topics that you listen to when it comes to him. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 10, verse 11, it says the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. Hey, you want to get some good information, go to a righteous man to get that information. But violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. Proverbs 16, 22 says, understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it, but the instruction of fools is folly. Understanding is a wellspring of life. Hey, when we get understanding, that's good for us, it's a wellspring of life. But the instruction of fools is folly. When you go to a fool for your instruction, it's folly to you. Maybe some of the stuff that they're teaching you is good, but with that good, they're also teaching you a bunch of bad stuff that's going to ruin your life. The Bible says in Proverbs 20, verse five, counsel in the heart of man is like deep water. So we can get good counsel from the heart of a man, right? It says, but a man of understanding will draw it out. So, hey, be a man of understanding, be a woman of understanding, and make sure that you're getting your information from good sources. Make sure you're getting your Bible information from a right Bible. Make sure you're getting your Bible preaching from a good, born again, spirit-filled man of God that's going to show you what the scriptures say. And hey, you know, we have the Holy Scriptures, we have the Holy Spirit if you're saved, and the Holy Spirit, the Bible says the Holy Spirit will teach us all things. We have no need that any man should teach us. You know, we do have enough if we have the Holy Spirit and the Bible. Now, the Bible says that God gave us pastors and teachers, evangelists, for the perfecting of the saints. So, you know, you're given that as a gift from God if you have a good church and a good pastor or you have a good evangelist or you have a good deacon that's teaching you things from the word of God, that's helping perfect your Christian life. It's not that you need it to understand the Bible, but you do need it to be perfected because the Bible isn't going to expound the word of God in the way that a man can do it through spirit-filled preaching. I'm not saying you can't learn it, I'm just saying it's not going to get up and smash the pulpit or, you know, it's not going to if you're just reading it in your monotone voice in your inner monologue, it's not going to be the same as if someone's screaming and yelling at you to stop drinking alcohol. You know what I'm saying? So, when Isaac has all these fights with the Philistines, notice he doesn't keep fighting with them, he just moves on and digs another well. And then the Philistines, they come and then they try to take that one from them, too. Chapter 26 in Genesis, it's basically, you know, just him fighting with these Philistines over these different wells and he comes to different wells that his dad dug, which his dad was Abraham, right? And he comes and they're filled up with dirt. It's not like the Philistines actually want the well, they don't care about the well, they just don't want us to use it. That's the thing. And so we don't want to go and hang out with the Philistines or go and get our information from the Philistines to get to that well. Hey, just go to a different source. If the Philistines are muddying up our water, just get away from them. There's no reason to have to go to them. We don't need to go to a YouTube channel of some Philistine to get our information about the word of God. We shouldn't be going to a Philistine's Facebook page and getting information about what's going on in our churches and just hanging off the word of a Philistine every single day for our daily information. That's like going to the National Enquirer to find out what our news, what our daily news is. Oh, look, Bat Boy, you know, Bat Boy isn't real. What I'm trying to tell you is that, you know, if you're going to the bad guys, look, does anybody doubt that the Philistines are the bad guys? Through the Bible, they are God's enemy through and through. In Isaac's time, the king, you know, and in Abraham's time, the king, Abimelech, they were okay. They had their decent moments, but even with Isaac, he's like, we haven't messed with you at all, and he's just totally lying right to his face. He's like, all right, I'll make a covenant with you again, I guess. But Isaac still goes and it says, we have found water. Isaac didn't just hang around the Philistines. He's like, all right, I'll just leave you alone. I'll go to a different well. I'll undig my dad's well. But we ought not to be going to the Philistines for our information. So what do I mean by that? Don't go to Isaac Anderson's Facebook page for your information about what's going on in our churches. Do you think that he wants to help you? Do you think that he wants to help your church? He doesn't want to help your church. He wants to destroy it. He wants to destroy other people's churches. He's a bad guy. And if you think he's righteous in any matter that he's doing right now, he's not. He's a bad guy, folks. I'm not just saying that because he talks bad about me all the time. I don't care. I don't care if he talks bad about me at all. But what I see him doing is really wicked. Don't go to Tommy McMurtry's Facebook page for your daily news. I mean, these people hate our guts. Don't go to Salvador Alvarez's Facebook page or YouTube page for your daily news. And why am I saying this? Well, because they like to put out their daily rumors or their daily stuff and it's like I got people texting me and look, I'm not mad that people are texting me this stuff. I want you to come to me. But if you're finding out the daily scuttlebutt on somebody else's Facebook page, it's just like why are you doing that? Why is the first thing, I'm not saying that you're doing this but if you're doing this, you know, why? Why? Like we need to get our eyes back on the things of God and just stop worrying about the Philistines. Stop going to that well. Those wells need to dry up. Those wells need to be filled in and we need to go to the right source. And you know, look, get in your Bibles. Get in the word of God. Get in prayer and let's just win a world of Christ. That's what we're here for. That's not the only thing we're here for but you know, there's been a lot of drama lately and I realize that and sometimes it's hard to steer away from a train wreck, isn't it? You know, every time there's an accident you're like what is going on? You're like stuck in a traffic jam for like a half hour and it's like some lady's like sitting on the side of the road with a cop right in her ticket. It's like did you really have to pull that lady over in rush hour traffic, dummy? Like what are you doing? It's like the cops fault, really. Or there's just like, you know, a tow truck on the side of the road and everybody's going. You know what I'm talking about. But we just can't help ourselves sometimes and I'm just trying to help you and admonish you. Just don't go to the Philistines for your information. Go to the right sources. All right, where was I at? Let's look at chapter 11, verse 19. Chapter 11, verse 19. First Chronicles. And said my God forbid me that I should do this thing shall I drink the blood of these men that I have put their lives in jeopardy for what the jeopardy of their lives they have brought it, therefore he would not drink. These things did these mightiest. And Abishai, the brother of Joab was the chief of the three for lifting up his spear against 300 he slew them and had a name among the three. So I believe Abishai is the one that was killed by Abner. Abner is being chased by him. I'm pretty sure it's Abishai. Am I right about that? Abishai? Abishai? Yeah, he's swift as a roe or something like that. He's chasing him. Abner's like, huh? Oh, it's Asahel. Yeah, I'm sorry, okay. So Abishai doesn't get killed by Abner. It's Asahel, I'm sorry. But anyway, so he's, this guy is one of Joab's brothers. Thank you, brother Shawn. Last week I was right, this week I was wrong, okay. All right, but this guy, Benaniah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabziel who had done many acts. He slew two lion-like men of Moab. Also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. Now you might not think that sounds like a big deal, but I don't know what lion-like men of Moab means, but it sounds like they were pretty fierce. So probably guys that you probably didn't want to mess with. And then to fight a lion in a pit on a snowy day, you're talking close quarters, slipping and sliding in a pit with a lion. Yeah, that's probably a pretty tough battle there. But it sounds like he killed him. And it says, and, so not only that, but and he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high, that's seven five or seven six or something. In the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam. I'm assuming that that's a big long spear. And he went down and he flew a long spear and he went down to him with a staff and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and slew him with his own spear. So he has a staff, like a, a staff is just like a stick. This guy's got a weaver's beam spear and he just like, you know, flips it out of his hand. It's probably like some movie you've seen, you know, launches it up in the air, you know, just kills the guy. Anyway, that's how I imagine it. So he kills this Egyptian with his own spear and then, so he's, this guy's a pretty, pretty tough guy. I think this is the guy that he lives on into Solomon's reign and then like, he's the one that has, he has him kill Joab. He has him kill Adonijah like when they're grabbing the horns of the altar and he's like, kill these guys, right? I'm pretty sure it's the same guy. Let's see, verse 24, and these things did Beneniah, the son of Jehoiada, and did, and had the name among the three mighties. Behold, he was honorable among the thirty, but attained not to the first three, and David set him over his guard. Also the valiant men of these armies were Asahel, okay, there's Asahel, the brother of Joab, and Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem. So Asahel was one of the valiant, the one that was killed by Abner. And he, so Abner was pretty, pretty mighty too until Joab murdered him later on for killing his brother that wouldn't stop chasing him. Then skip down to verse 31, you have Ithai, the son of Ribeye, named after the stake of Gibeah that pertained to the children of Benjamin, Beneniah, and Peritha night. So, let's skip down to verse 37, Hezra the Carmelite, Neiriah, the son of Esbai, and then, so you have all these hard names, then you've got Joel, the brother of Nathan. So, they're the ones with the normal names here. And Mibhar, the son of Hagari, Zilek the Ammonite. So, now some of these guys were from different places that had just come to the nation of Israel and become part of the nation. So, and this is the thing that people just think that everybody was just pure Israelite blood or something, which is not true. It's just not true. I mean, Zilek, he was called the Ammonite, you know why? Because he was an Ammonite. So, and they were of the children of Job, or not Job, but Lot, right? Ammon. Ammon and Moab were the children of Lot. So, they were technically of the children of Israel. So, Nahira, the Barathite, the armor bearer of Job, the son of Zeruiah. So, the armor bearer of Job makes it into the list of the mighties, but not Joab. What a smack in the face for all eternity to Joab that one is. I mean, he's the one, he didn't even, he just like carries around the stuff, he's like the caddy for the golf course, you know, here's your sword Joab, here's your shield and stuff, and he's just like, but he's actually way more tough than Joab actually is, or at least way more, I mean, mighty, right? He doesn't kill people when they're not looking. He doesn't grab people by the beard and give them a kiss on the cheek and then in the fifth rib, so that is a smack in the face right there, though, right? I mean, his armor bearer makes it and he doesn't. Uriah the Hittite, verse 41, remember who Uriah the Hittite is? David had him murdered, so, you know, he doesn't make the list, obviously he has to be replaced off the list, but because of David, and so he actually was one of the mighty men, and so he had to be withdrawn from in order to be killed, they had to like set him up in order to kill him the way that he was killed, right? Which is pretty sad. But we'll get to that later on as the story unfolds here. And then let's go to verse 46, Eliel the Mahavite, and Jerabai and Joshua, the sons of El-Naim, and Ithma the Moabite. So there's a Moabite that gets in, and again, people from other nations were allowed to join the nation of Israel. Eliel and Obed, and Jaziel, and the Mesabite. So, now let's see. A couple things I wanted to talk about before I wrap up here. Second Samuel 23, verse eight is a parallel passage to, it's kind of a, there's kind of a discrepancy issue here, I just wanted to address real quick. It says, these be the names of the mighty men whom David had, the Tachamite that sat in the seat chief among the captains. The same was Adino, the Esnite, and he lift up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time. So, in the first account you have him slain 300 at one time, and then in this account you have him slain 800 at one time. People say, see, the Bible's a contradiction. But there's three explanations for this, and one of them is not that it's a scribal error because I don't believe it's a scribal error. I'm pretty sure the scribes and even the translators of the King James realize that these two are different numbers. There's a lot of these types of supposed discrepancies in the Bible and they're all very explainable, but it could refer to two different battles. It could refer to him having two different times, one where he killed 300, one where he killed 800. It could be the grand total, but it says this is at one time, so it can't be the grand total. It could have been he killed 300, the rest has been killed 500, but I don't think that that's really likely. I was just looking at different things that people thought about it, but it could be that there are two different battles. It could be that it could be just two different men, one a father and one a son. I'd probably say it's the first one, but again, that's probably the most likely answer, but I definitely know that it's not a contradiction. If anybody has anything better than that, I'd be really interested in hearing what your theory is on it. Also, in verse 39, okay, so, yeah, why are there, I already kind of explained why there's, why there's 30 in one chapter and 37 in the other, and I had some big, long explanations I don't have time to get into, but I just basically think that one list, you know, is that just telling you the 30, you know, that there's 30 at one time that are kind of on that list, but the 37 is probably listing the other ones that filled in for those people that died in between, because obviously some of those people died and had to go through some of my theory on that. There's other theories about it, too, but don't have time to get into that, and then, so really just kind of wrap things up. Every leader needs good, mighty men surrounding him, and I do want to say I'm thankful for the men in our church and all the support that they give me. As a leader, I definitely can't, you know, lead this church by myself. I'm thankful for the ladies, too, but we're talking about the mighty men tonight, so you'll just have your turn some other time, all right? So I don't want to be that guy that has to bring the ladies into every sermon, but I love the ladies here, too. They are a great help, but, you know, men are definitely needed now in this day and age more than they ever have before, men that dress like men, men that cut their hair like men, men that aren't wearing pink t-shirts, and dressing like sissies, and not wearing skinny jeans, and not doing what their wife tells them to do, but they're telling their family what to do, and, you know, men who lead their families the right way, lead their children in the right way, lead their families in the ways of the Lord, say, I'm going to lead them in the right way. I'm taking you to, we're taking you to church, not, hey, you can decide when you're 14 whatever religion you want to be, and that kind of stuff. I mean, I've heard it all, but there's definitely a lack of testosterone in our world today. There's a, you know, when men start calling themselves feminists, we've got a real problem, and this country is turning into, like, what it's talking about in the book of Jeremiah, where the men are becoming women, and, you know, all these, this influx of foreign invaders are coming in here and changing the culture of our country. Now, look, I'm not talking about race, I'm talking about culture, and if, you know, our culture just becomes this mixed conglomerate, which it is, I mean, you think about the prophecy of the ten toes, where it's clay and iron mixed together, but they don't really exist, and they don't really belong to the ten toes, where it's clay and iron mixed together, but they don't really adhere together very well. You know why that is? Because there's just really no more unity. How can you have unity when all these different religions and all these different cultures are coming, and they say that we're one nation under God, but in reality, which God are you talking about? And then men are being put down, and women are being raised up into leadership. I mean, I literally went to court the other day, and every person in the courtroom was a woman. The lawyers were all women, the court reporter was a woman, the judge was a woman, and I spent ten hours in that boring, so-called justice center, and I could have just saved them ten hours of deciding whether they wanted me to be a jury or not. They asked me, on ten hours and fifteen minutes in, will you convict on one person's verbal testimony? No, I won't. And then I was not picked. So they give us all these speeches and verbal jujitsu about how we shouldn't just take our preconceived notions in, they're innocent until found guilty, there has to be evidence and all this other stuff, and then they're telling me if some person's convincing enough by their word that I should convict that person, you're out of your mind. This guy's life is on the line, and you're telling me that if some person just cries or something, that I should just, oh, I believe him. Twenty-six months, your honor, or whatever they're gonna charge him with, whatever they're gonna convict him for, that's not justice. But my point is, it was women ruling that courtroom. That's not justice. That's women controlling our country. And then children are controlling our country because of this whole don't spank thing. And it's permeating, it's getting into our churches, and look, it's wicked. We need some men that'll stand up and lead their family and not turn to this feminist garbage that's going on. We need some mighty men that will stand up and just say, hey, I don't care what you do, but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna lead my family, I'm gonna be a strong man, and I'm gonna say, thus saith the Lord, and I'm gonna follow what the Bible says. And that's what this church needs going forward, is strong men that are willing to get in and do the work. And look, hey, maybe you're not gonna slay 800 men with a spear. Maybe you're not gonna go and fight through a garrison of Philistines. But maybe you're gonna get 800 people saved in your lifetime through soul winning for the rest of your life. And maybe, you know, you're not gonna guard King David and be one of his personal, you know, bodyguards that can kill two lion-like men and kill a lion in the pit in wintertime. But maybe you can guard our door from some freak walking in and murdering your pastor while he's preaching. Maybe you can kill a lion walking in and murdering your pastor while he's preaching. Maybe you can do that. You know, there's a lot of great things that you can do. Maybe you can lead your family and teach them the ways of the Lord and to teach them to go to church and to love God and to love their parents and to love their church and to respect their pastor and to respect authority in this world today. You might not be the captain of the guard, but you can be the captain of the guard at the door. You know, these things do translate into the New Testament, believe it or not, some of this stuff. Maybe you're not gonna fight a seven-foot-five Ethiopian, but maybe you're gonna have somebody with a seven-foot-five ego at the door that you need to just tear down all their trash beliefs, and maybe that's a hard case at the door that you're gonna end up getting saved. You know, these things, like I said, they spiritually translate because we do have giants that we have to slay at doors sometimes. You know, David's, there was people that fought David's, no, David fought Goliath and killed him, but he had some of his mighty men fought Goliath's brother, Goliath's sons, guys with six fingers and six toes, and like the Bible's telling us those accounts for a reason, because it wasn't just David that slayed giants, it was his mighty men that slayed them out of the door. It was his mighty men that slayed them out of the door. It was his mighty men that slayed them out of the door and afterwards also. And that's just something for us to see that, hey, if we have faith, we can be mighty men also. What were these guys when they first came to David? Distressed, in debt, you know, they were the dregs of society, and by the time it was all said and done, they're the best of the best. And you know what, when you come to Christ, everybody is just, you know, everybody that gets saved, you know, they were nothing when they got saved. We were but worms. We were lost and on our way to hell, and Christ raised us up out of the dung heap, and made us sit with the princes in high places. He put us up in a seat and said, hey, you're my brother. And he gave us everlasting and eternal rewards, the ability to earn those things. And he loves us, and he's going to, you know, he's going to guide our lives if we allow him to, if we submit to him, and he's going to make us mighty men just like him, and he's going to make us mighty men just like he made these guys mighty men, except for our mightiness is going to be a spiritual might, like the apostle Paul talks about. I'm going to end in this one last verse here. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, and then we'll close. 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 2, it says, but I beseech you that I may not be bold when I am present, but that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. See, our weapons are not carnal. They're mighty through God. And how do we become mighty men of God? Well, we put on the armor of God, and we put on his strength and the power of his might, and we're able to pull down strongholds. I talked about this last week, pulling down the strongholds, right? Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ and having a readiness to revenge all disobedience and your obedience is fulfilled. Do you look on things after the outward appearance? Did any man trust to himself that he is Christ? Let him of himself think this again, that as he is Christ, even so are we Christ. So, hey, we shouldn't be looking on the outward appearance of people, the outward things, because this is a spiritual battle. It's not something that we're physically looking at. It's a spiritual battle. It's not something that we're physically looking at. It's a spiritual battle. And, look, there's things unseen. There's things, forces unseen that we don't know that are happening. Elisha showed it unto his servant Gehazi. He said there's more with us than there are with them, but yet we get downtrodden. We think we're losing. We can never lose, folks. We can never lose. And, hey, you know, whatever church you go to and, you know, the men at our church, you know, we need to continue to stay mighty, not just for our church, not just, you know, to be with your pastor and be mighty, but with your families. Your families are counting on you, and the families of this church are counting on you. And, look, I'm the pastor of the church. I'm counting on you. I want you to come and be in war with me, because sometimes, you know, the battle does get weary. The battle does get weary, and, you know, I know that you guys are with me, and I appreciate it very much. So, that's David's mighty man. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this great church, for all the mighty men that we have in it. Pray, Lord, that you give them the strength to be mighty men. Lord, we just have so many great men at our church here. Thank you for them. I thank you for those that are rising up in the ranks here, and pray that you just bless them, bless their lives, bless their families. Lord, bless all of our families, Lord, all of the wives and children in our church, Lord. We thank you for your great work here. It's very obvious. We pray that you just continue to bless. Take us home safely. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Song 198, Where He Leads. I'll follow. Let's sing it together on the first. Sweet are the promises, kind is the word. Dearer far than any message man ever heard. Pure was the mind of Christ, sinless I see. He the great example is in pattern for me. Where He leads I'll follow. Where He leads I'll follow. Where He leads I'll follow. Where He leads I'll follow. Where He leads I'll follow. Where He leads I'll follow. Where He leads I'll follow. Where he leads, I'll follow, follow all the way. Where he leads, I'll follow, follow Jesus every day. Sweet is the tender love Jesus has shown, sweeter far than any love that mortals have known. Kind to the erring one, faithful is he, he the great example is in pattern for me. Where he leads, I'll follow, follow all the way. Where he leads, I'll follow, follow Jesus every day. List to his loving words, come unto me. Weary, heavy, laden, there is rest, therefore thee. Trust in his promises, faithful and sure. Lean upon the Savior and thy soul is secure. Where he leads, I'll follow, follow all the way. Where he leads, I'll follow, follow Jesus every day. Amen. Good to see you, Brother Brandon. Could you close with a prayer? Thank you, Father, for all that you have brought to us, and for all that you have brought to us.