Probably, I used to work at a back, but on the last one day, they fired me. What happened was a lady came in and asked if I could check her balance, and I gave her a push. All right, 1 Samuel chapter 3, we're going to attempt the impossible today. As I have done before, we're going to try to cover an abbreviated version of two lessons. And so you might feel like you're trying to drink from a fire hose, as I said before. But they said I was the only one that talked fast enough to get in two lessons in one. session, we got behind a week from our regular schedule when Brother Dan Letha was here at the end of Vacation Bible School. So today we'll catch up, 2 Samuel chapter 3, and we're going to focus on verses 1 through 10, and the subject is Samuel's call to the ministry. And we'll see exactly, this is one of the most perhaps well-known times occurrences in the Bible where God actually spoke to someone and Samuel at a very young age is called by the Lord. Now from last week's lesson in chapter two, we get a pretty good idea that Samuel was destined to replace Eli and his sons in the priesthood. The two sons of Eli was Hophni and Phinehas. They were wicked men. As we read last week in 1 Samuel 2, 12, it says, now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord. Really, Gary emphasized the fact that they were not saved. They were not Christians, whatever you want to call folks in the Old Testament. They were not believers. They were wicked men. Belial refers to the devil, of course. And so, By inspiration, the Bible tells us that these men were not saved. They did not know the Lord. Now, verses 22 and 23, it talks about how they flaunted their sin. It says, now, Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel. and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. I don't think we have to elaborate on that. You can see it's just a terribly wicked thing that they were doing, taking advantage of their position and being immoral with the women that were assembled there at the tabernacle. And he said unto them, and Eli says unto his sons, why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. So it wasn't something that was being done secretly. They were just open about it and everybody knew. about that. So the Lord told Eli that the priesthood would be taken from his house and given to another. Verses 34 and 35, this shall be a sign unto thee that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas, in one day they shall die, both of them, and I will raise thee up a faithful priest. that shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before mine anointed forever." He says, I'm going to replace the lineage, the family of the priesthood. It's not going to be yours anymore, Eli. It's going to be taken from you and given to another. One of the saddest, I think, one of the saddest comments ever made concerning a father and his child rearing is found in chapter three, and it's not one of our verses to cover, but I did want to mention it. It says, for I have told him, this is God speaking to Samuel about Eli, for I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth. Notice this. because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not." Wow, what a condemnation upon a father. Eli was not a bad man. It's not like that he had no consciousness of God or whatever, but he was not diligent in the things that he did, and specifically in rearing his sons. And because of that, the office of priest that had been invested in those two sons was being defiled, was being corrupted. It was not any you know, anything like it should have been. And it says, condemning Eli, his sons made themselves vile and he did not restrain them. We have a responsibility to our children and to the Lord concerning our children. that we restrain them from sin as we have the ability to do so. Later on, we read something similar concerning David. David was a great man, but David had problems. We know that David committed adultery, he committed murder. But one other thing it says about David concerning Adonijah, it says, and his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, why hast thou done so? David was not willing to risk, he didn't want to rock the boat when it came to his kids. And so he had never questioned Adonijah about his sinful activities. And Adonijah literally stole the kingdom. from his father, and it was not his place because Solomon was supposed to take over. It was designated as a successor to David. But Adonijah jumped in and David did not do what he should have done concerning his own son. He was not willing to displease. We've got to be willing to displease. Our children, and I realize most of us, our children are grown, whatever. I lost my train of thought. It derailed, I guess. But our children don't need parents to be buddies to them when they're growing up. We should be friendly with them. Yes, we should be our child's best friend if possible. But when it comes down to correction, to nurturing the child and bringing him up in the way that he should go, then we need to be willing to displease our children, to let them know that we're not pleased with their behavior. They may not take it well. Doesn't matter. We're supposed to restrain our children from evil. So God has revealed to Eli that his priestly lineage is coming to an end, Hophni and Phinehas are going to die in violence, and God is going to raise up a faithful priest. Now, all the while that that wickedness is going on, Samuel was growing up and serving the Lord and growing in favor with Him. In verse 18 of chapter 2, but Samuel ministered before the Lord Being a child girded with a linen ephod. In today's lesson, we see the obedience and godliness of someone who is yet very young. Young people sometimes think that they're almost obligated to sow their wild oats in their youth. And then when they get older, I'll serve the Lord when I grow up. Well, I thank the Lord for children and teenagers and young adults that choose to rise above that. and determined to remember their creator in the days of their youth, which it says in Ecclesiastes 12.1. Samuel is destined to do great things for God. Not only would he be the high priest in Israel, but Samuel 3.20 says, 1 Samuel 3.20 says he will be a prophet, and 1 Samuel 7.15 tells us he was also a judge. So Samuel operated in many different spheres of influence. He was a priest, he was a prophet, and he was also a judge. Now we move on to searching the text. First point to bring out, Samuel's activity in chapter 3 verse 1. it says in verse one, and the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. First of all, it says he ministered unto the Lord. In other words, Samuel became Eli's assistant. We don't know exactly all that Samuel did to help Eli, but it's safe to assume he did what Eli told him And Samuel undoubtedly learned all about the day-to-day operations of the tabernacle. And the important thing to see here is that Samuel was busy doing the things that he was able to do. And then the call came to him. One of the frustrations of the pastoring, and I'm sure that Pastor Pittman would back this up. One of the frustrations in pastoring is dealing with members who want to do something special for the Lord. But they're not willing to involve themselves in the everyday work of the church. I've had people come to me in years past and say, well, I think I'm called to full-time service. So what have you got for me? And I would say, well, we need a third grade Sunday school teacher. We need someone to drive the church van. We need someone to greet people when they come in on Sunday morning. And you can see their face fall. Well, you know, that's not exactly what I had in mind. And I can relate a story. I'm not going to. But that's exactly what I had a man in my church tell me. Well, that's not what I had in mind. Listen, I wouldn't give you two cents for a man who wants to pastor a church. but isn't willing to go preach at a nursing home, or give a devotion to a seniors group, or teach a Sunday school class of young boys. And when I was in my college, I went everywhere and did everything. And I would go to the nursing home, I would go there. kid's birthday party, it didn't matter what it was, I would go and preach and speak if I had to. Now, there were others who were better preachers than I was and probably still are, but when the time came for the sort of the plum assignments, when someone would call the school and say, well, Wilson, could you recommend someone, one of your students to come and fill the pulpit, I'm going to be gone. And in many occasions, I got that opportunity. It was given to me. And Brother Wilson told me one time, he said, you know, I appreciate the fact that you're willing to do anything that I ask of you, anything that you're asked to do. And I'm not tooting my own horn here. I'm just saying that faithfulness pays off. If God never opens the door of service for a special ministry for you, there's enough in the Bible and enough ministries in the church to keep you busy until the Lord comes again. Samuel was busy doing what needed to be done. He had no idea that God was going to come and speak to him personally, but he was busy about the Lord's work. Then the last part of that verse, verse 1 says, and the word precious in those days there was no open vision God I suppose if God gets aggravated, he was aggravated with Israel. And they weren't willing to be obedient to what he had already spoken to them and given them to do. And so he said, I'm not going to give you any more. I'm just going to shut up and let you go your own way and do your own thing. And so the word of the Lord was precious because there was no revelations being given in that day. Verses two and three, and it came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in the place and his eyes began to wax dim and he could not see and there the lamp of God went out. In the temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep. Now I just want to point out something about the lamp going out. The lamp was, this lamp was meant to be kept burning day and night, according to Exodus chapter 27. Eli and his sons, I guess, were negligent, and they had let it go out. And I think that's very symbolic of the fact that the light of the Word of God had been ignored, and it was no longer prominent in Israel. And the Word of the Lord was precious. That word precious there means rare. It was rare. You know, nowadays we have Bibles galore. I counted one time how many Bibles I have in my library. It's 20-something, I guess, that I have. You can get it online for free. I can take my phone and call it up. And we have all that. They didn't have that in those days. And copies of God's Word, what portion of it existed, were rare. And when you didn't have God speaking, As he did in those days, you know, God who at various times in diverse matters spoke before unto the prophets. God spoke in those days. As in these last days, spoken of by His Son, Jesus Christ. So we have a different form of hearing from God now, but in those days, God would actually speak. to various individuals, and they would relate that to the people. And Moses was heard from God many times, and that was not known now in these days. Secondly, we notice the Lord's appeal. Verses 4 through 9. The Lord called Samuel, and he answered, here am I. And he ran unto Eli and said, here am I, for thou callest me. And he said, I called not. Lie down again. And he went and lay down. Strange. I heard something. Eli, didn't you call me? No, I didn't. Go back and go to sleep. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. Now two things we see there. It says Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord was not yet revealed to him. Contrast that with Hophni and Phinehas. They refused to know the Lord. They refused to be instructed in the ways of the Lord. But Samuel was growing in knowledge and perhaps was just now at what we call the age of accountability. You say, where do you find that in the scriptures, Pastor? Well, not that particular term, but I believe that, you know, young infants and children are are safe in Christ until such a time as they are able to understand the concept of sin and personal responsibility. So that's what we call the age of accountability. I don't agree with that. Fine, go ahead. It don't matter. Verses eight and nine. Now, and the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he rose and went to Eli and said, here am I, for thou didst call me. Finally, Eli figures out what's going on. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore, Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down. And it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant here. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. So finally, Eli figures it out. To his credit, he instructs Samuel to respond. We don't know how the Lord actually called Samuel, how he appeared to him, but he did and he appealed to him. Third point, the servant's answer. Speak for thy servant here, verse 10, and the Lord came and stood and called at other times, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, this is the fourth time now, speak for thy servant here. In some way, the Lord appeared to Samuel. Now, we don't know the details, but it says that, what does it say? The Lord came and stood. So it wasn't just a voice the Lord standing before Samuel. And this is what we call a theophany. What in the world is that? The theophany is a pre-incarnation appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, before Jesus came to earth and was born of a virgin and was a baby and grew up and all that, he appeared at various times to people in the Old Testament, and that's what we call in theological terms a theophany. And this may be, right here, Samuel's conversion experience. I can't say for sure, but certainly it is a watershed moment in Samuel's life where God called to him. Has there been a particular moment in your life where you were impressed by the Lord to fully surrender to the Lord's claim on your life. I don't mean when you had an epiphany and said, you know, I think God wants me to do a specific job, go to mission field or whatever. What I mean is a time when you surrendered to the Lord and said, Lord, whatever you want me to do, that's what I'll do. I mean, if it's to go to a foreign land as a missionary or if it's to paint the kindergarten Sunday school classroom, I'm willing to do it and I will do what you've called me to do. And that was Samuel's answer. And the story goes on, but we're not going to continue there. Just know that Samuel answered the call when he was given. Samuel was certainly a pivotal character in Israel's history. In fact, he was given a prophecy to deliver to Eli and to, in a larger sense, to all Israel. And it's rather lengthy here in four verses. But the Lord said to Samuel, behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears, but the Lord was very specific. He didn't say, you know, your ear's gonna tingle. He said, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle. And that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will also make an end. Well, I mean, when the Lord says something like that, you better sit up and take notice. He says, when I start it, I'm gonna finish it. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth. I read this verse because his sons made themselves violent and restrained him not, and therefore I have sworn under the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever." In other words, there's no remedy for this situation. Doesn't mean that Eli lost his salvation, and I believe he was a saved man. But he says, the iniquity of the house, the corruption of the priesthood, is not going to be remedied. There's no way that that can ever be restored. It will not be purged with sacrifice nor offering. What a solemn, sad statement by the Lord. Now the characteristic of Samuel that stands out to me, at least in this early stage of his life, is obedience. Throughout his life, Samuel obeyed the Lord. He obeyed immediately, he obeyed precisely, and he obeyed continually. And what a great, wonderful character Samuel is. Well, now we move on. Lesson four, we're halfway there. Lesson four talks about a departed glory. And the focus in our text here is verses one through 11 of chapter four, and also verses 17 and 18. Now, God had pronounced judgment upon the house of Eli. Didn't happen overnight. The events of chapter four take place, as far as I can tell, about 25 years after the Lord delivered the bad news to Eli. And I mean, that's something you can imagine. He lies. Well, I thought, you know, something bad was going to happen, but I guess the Lord, you know, forgot about it or whatever. And, you know, we're told in the New Testament that to the Lord a day is a thousand years. A thousand years is as a day. God doesn't get bored. He doesn't get anxious. He does things on his timetable. People say, well, why is the Lord tarrying His coming? And we talk about that. Well, if the Lord tarries His coming, and I understand, you know, I get what we're saying, but the Lord isn't tarrying His coming. He just operates on a different timetable than we do now keep in mind Israel is still in the process of conquering the promised land and In this setting Israel is up against the Philistines who would be their most consistent, most formidable, most troublesome enemy for many years to come. Now, how's Israel gonna face this challenge? Well, looking back to the past, the Lord had always given very specific instructions on how to fight certain battles. There were times when He said, you know, go fight, but there were special occasions. The first battle that they faced when they came in the Promised Land was Jericho. Now, he didn't say, get out your battering rams and knock down the gates or whatever. He didn't say, besiege the city. He said, here's what you do. Get everybody together and march around the walls one time a day. Don't say anything. Don't yell. Don't talk. Just march around the walls. Do that for six days. On the seventh day, you march around the walls seven times and then shout. And you can imagine there would have been some who were skeptical about that. And yet, God blessed it. The walls fell down. They went in and took the city. The Midianites. Later on, in the book of Judges, Gideon was called to lead the Israelites against Midian. And of course, he took the army down from 32,000 to 300. That's all he allowed Gideon to take. It was 300 men against this host of the Midians. I said they looked like grasshoppers camped on the hills. Then they weren't allowed to take swords, weren't allowed to take armor or whatever. He says, take some trumpets and some lamps. And you know the story how God won the victory for him. And so that came by revelation. But now there's no open vision. God wasn't revealing himself to Israel like he once had, and the results are disastrous. So now we're searching the text. The first point is they were defeated by the Philistines, verses 1 and 2, chapter 4. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer, and the Philistines pitched at Aphek. And the Philistines put themselves in array. In other words, they got everything set the way they wanted for battle against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines, and they slew of the army in the field about 4,000 men. The Philistines were a mighty people, and they were a superior military force. They were advanced in metalworking. They had superior weapons and armor. They were experienced in combat. They had advanced battle strategies. Israel, on the other hand, seemingly from their first encounter in Canaan at Jericho, Israel had always been statistical underdogs. When they prevailed in battle, it was obvious It wasn't us that did it. It wasn't our marching around the walls and the foot stomping. Stompers and chompers, no. It wasn't the stomping that made the walls fall down. It was God that did that. We went up against the Midianites. men with trumpets and pitchers or lamps against a huge army that was of God. And it was obvious that God had won the victory. All Israel had to do, and this would have held true now, all Israel would have had to do was call upon the Lord, confess their inadequacy, confess His sovereignty, confess their sinful ways, turn from that, walk in his ways, and do what he told them to do, and God would have delivered them from that enemy. But they didn't do that. They lost the battle, and 4,000 men lost their lives. Now, we see them defiling the ark in verses three through 11. Let's see. That's chapter 5. I'm in the wrong place here. In verse 3, when the people were coming to the camp, the elders of Israel said, wherefore hath the Lord smitten us today before the Philistines? Now notice they recognized that the defeat was caused by the Lord. At the very least, the Lord had allowed them to lose. But they couldn't figure out why. I mean, it should have been obvious. God had told them years before that if they were obedient to him, walked in his ways, he would drive out the inhabitants of Canaan before them. But the elders had not been reading their Bibles, so to speak. They had forgotten the words of the Lord. They had forgotten how God dealt with them in times past. Now, Israel's next move makes matters world were where well us this was human reason let us that's the our of the of the lord that it I'll it I'm emphasizing that on purpose, that when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. Now notice, it will save us. Not God, not him, but it. In other words, they were focused on the Ark of God instead of on the God of the Ark. They were treating the Ark as some kind of a good luck charm. You see, they didn't. They didn't pray to God. They didn't confess sin. They did not seek his counsel for their proposed course of action. They removed the Ark from the tabernacle and carried it out to the battlefield. It is true that Joshua had been instructed to carry the Ark to the Battle of Jericho. But Israel had no such instructions in this case. It was not the elders' prerogative to do with the Ark as they saw fit. Israel did not need the Ark of God. They needed God. The Ark of the Covenant did represent the presence of the Lord, but the presence of the Ark was no guarantee of the presence of God. God was not bound to that box. On top of the ark, there was the mercy seat. It had the cherubims standing and their wings touched over top. And when they would set up camp, and you know, the pillar of cloud flooded by day and the pillar of fire by night. And when they would stop, then they would erect the tabernacle, they would set the furniture in place, set the ark there, and then God would come to that place. It's not like when they were carrying the Ark around that they were carrying God. God wasn't in the box. God wasn't confined to the mercy seat. God was, I mean, the symbolic presence of God was the cloud or the fire which was leading them. But then when they would set up the tabernacle, God would come and fill the holy place and he would dwell there between the cherubims. And we're told that in another place. Anyway, the point is, when they carried the Ark out to battle, number one, they were defiling it. Number two, they were attaching a significance to it that it did not carry. They thought, as long as we've got the Ark, nothing bad can happen to us. Now, the last part of verse, well, verse four, so the people sent to Shiloh that they might bring from them the ark of the covenant of the Lord, which dwelleth between the cherubim. There's what I was looking for. And the two sons of Eli, Hathi and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God to add insult to injury. Eli's two sons, the very, very wicked, Hophni and Phinehas, they were carrying the ark. Two wicked men carrying what they thought was the presence of God. What a farce. What a slap in the face of God. Well, let's notice the reaction of the Philistines now in verse five. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, All Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. They thought, this is the answer. This is why we messed up the first time. This is why we lost 4,000 men. We didn't have the ark. Now we've got the ark, and it's like Star Trek. The ark put a force field around them where they could not be touched. Anyway, verse 6, and when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood, I don't know if they had spies or whatever, but they understood that the ark of the Lord was committing the count. and this is where they said they didn't know how long they were they believe that god was in the camp and they said woe unto us for there had not been such a thing here before woe unto us who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods the theology was you know like i said wrong but they understood the power of the God of Israel. These are the gods that smoke the Egyptians with the plagues in the wilderness. So what happens? What do they decide to do? Verse 9, be strong and quit yourselves or acquit, we would use the word in our day and time, acquit yourselves like men, O you Philistines, that you be not servants unto the Hebrews as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like men and fight. In other words, they They heard what Israel had done, and they said, hey, we need to gird up our loins, and we need to fight like never before. All right. Here's the sad thing. They had more faith in Israel's God than Israel did. They feared Israel's God more than Israel feared God. Now, as I said, we know God wasn't in the box. But the Philistines didn't make that distinction. They trembled, thinking that the God of Israel had arrived, and it made them determined to fight even harder. Now let's look at verses 10 and 11, the outcome. And the Philistines fought, and Israel, in spite of the fact that they thought they were invincible when they had the ark among them, The Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent, and there was a very great slaughter. You thought the 4,000 dead were bad, for there fell of Israel 30,000 footmen. Verse 11, and the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. So the outcome is not what they had hoped for. 30,000 men died. And as prophesied, Hofti and Phineas both fell, both died in the same day. And you notice the Philistines captured the ark and took it with them. Now, I wish that I had time to talk about what happened when they got the ark over to their camp. And I'm not sure if we cover this in another lesson or not, but let's put it this way. There were a lot of people standing around among the Philistines. Look it up. You'll get it. All right. Last point. Delivering the bad news. Skipping down to verse 17. It says, and the messenger answered him and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines. The messenger came back to Eli. And there has also been a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that's Eli, fell off, fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died. For he was an old man and heavy. He had judged Israel 40 years. Now here's the scene. Eli was nervously awaiting news from the battlefield. He knew that Hophni and Phinehas were evil people. He wasn't at all sure that this thing with the Ark and carrying the Ark into battle was going to do any good. In fact, I think he knew it was wrong for the Ark to be removed from the Holy of Holies without clear instruction from the Lord. But again, he did nothing to restrain the evil and the disobedience of his sons. Well, the news comes. 30,000 people, 30,000 Israelites have died in the battle. That's not when he fell off the stool and broke his neck, broke his neck. Hophni and Phinehas, his two sons, have been slain. That's not when he fell off the stool and broke his neck. But then it says the Ark of the Covenant, which in reality was just a box, a very symbolic box. But it was only a box. It wasn't the presence of God that they carried into the battle. It was just a box. He heard that the Ark of the Covenant had been taken. That's when he fell over off the stool and broke his neck. So Hophni, Phinehas, Eli, they're all dead. God is just clearing the table. to set up the new regime, so to speak. I hate to call a priesthood a regime, but he's going to install Samuel as the high priest, and Samuel's lineage would be the priesthood. Now, sending the application verses 19-22. And his daughter-in-law, Phineas' wife, was with child, near to be delivered. And when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed. In other words, she went into labor. For her pains came upon her about the time of her death. She died in childbirth. The women that stood by her said unto her, fear not, for thou hast born a son. But she answered not neither, and she regarded She couldn't even rejoice in the birth of a son. Verse 21, and she named the child Ichabod. You've probably heard it means the glory is, or departed, or where is the glory? She named the child Ichabod saying the glory is departed from Israel. But you know, she didn't, her thinking wasn't right on this because of what it says. Because the Ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. She shouldn't have been surprised about her father-in-law and her husband and her brother-in-law. God had told them they weren't going to do it. Like I said, 25 years passed. Maybe they had sort of forgotten about the promise of the Lord. Maybe they had sort of figured that God had forgotten about that. But it finally happened. And she said the glory has departed. Yes, that's true. The glory was departed. The glory had not departed from Israel so much as Israel had departed from God's glory. They had turned their back on God. They had become idolatrous. They had corrupted their religious observances and everything was a mess spiritually in Israel. But now, it's the dawn of a new era. In chapter seven, when Israel had turned back to God, then he saw to it that the Philistines were defeated. So, a dark episode, a dark time in Israel's history, and yet you see God, His sovereignty is at work, as we saw in the, that's the theme of the quarter, is God's sovereignty, excuse me, God's sovereignty at work. And certainly God had lost the handle on things, God wasn't sitting up in the heavens wringing his hands and, what am I going to do with Israel? God knew what was going on and working all things for Israel's good and for his glory. Let's bow for prayer. Father, thank you for your word and for these lessons and pray for it, that you would encourage us through them to walk with you, understand that victory over our enemies, which are not flesh and blood, but are spiritual, that the victories that we win will be only won through your power, through your spirit. Blessing the service to follow, and help Brother Dewberry to bring the message as you would have him to. In Jesus' name, amen.