If you ain't the sharpest tool in the box you got one that is amen God didn't call the smart people of the world. They called you Amen you don't have to be smart to know anything to be to be a Christian. You just got to believe Do you believe this is the Word of God? You believe it's right You believe its author is true and he would never lie to you? He would never allow you to be lied to. He never would. Take your Bibles. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 13. 1 Samuel chapter 13. I'm going to go back to this deal I've been preaching on the Philistines. And I don't know how far I'll get this morning. I don't know if this in itself is going to be a two-part message. I'm just going to rely on the Lord. I may preach some of it this morning and God said that's enough. First Samuel chapter 13. Let me preface the message while you turn there. We're going to be in verse 17. And I want to preface the message by saying this, okay? I've been making statements all week. I am just really upset over what's going on in our country. And I have a biblical reason to be. If you want to call me a racist or put me in the boat of racists, that's fine. I mean, you can do that all you want to, but God knows by heart. And I want to tell you the seriousness of the issue. This is not about race, but it is about religion. It has everything to do with religious ideas and religious creeds. If you knew, if you knew the depth of the hatred that those who follow Islam hate other religions, you would be down on your face before God saying, God not here, not here, not my family, not my home, not my land. They put a camera on some of these people out in Libya and Egypt the other night, and one of these guys in the protest, and see here, the American news is always trying to shovel this off on, oh, these are the real fringe people. The man on the street, Muslim, looked in the camera the other day and said, we will kill anybody who says anything about our prophet. We'll kill them. That's what he said. That's their religion. Their religion is a religion of death. It's a religion of murder. And supposedly they're all hyped up over this some kind of video on YouTube that made Muhammad look bad. Let them watch this one. Muhammad was a pedophile. And they teach in most Islamic countries where Islamic law has rule, that it is within the rights of any man to marry a girl as young as five years old. That's wicked. That's wrong. But they do it. And they think nothing of it. Think absolutely nothing of it. And girls, young girls will be given over to a man in exchange for the right amount of money or a dowry or whatever it is. And she's that man's wife for life. If it is in Islamic law that if that woman breaks one of her husband's commandments, like talking on a cell phone, talking on a cell phone will get you shot in the streets. And that's the law. They're not going to go after that husband for killing you. That's their law. In fact, they'll go after him for not doing it. It is in their law that if you as a wife do not do what's right for your husband, you ladies know what I'm talking about, he has a right to beat you. He has a right to be cruel to you and mean to you for not giving yourself over to him. He has a right to do that. She does not have a right to be seen by any other man. This is why they wear what they wear. She has, if you're a woman in these Islamic countries, you have absolutely no right, you cannot speak out, you cannot voice your opinion, you cannot make a cell phone call, you cannot do anything that Sharia Islamic law, and if you break those law, the penalty is death. They can and will shoot you in the streets and nothing to be done about it. Islamic law requires that anybody who is an infidel, anybody who does not obey the religion of Islam, they are to be killed, they are to be slain. The nations that are run by the Islamic Brotherhood, the Muslim Brotherhood, have sworn death to Israel, and they have sworn death to the United States of America. They were doing this when our president sent billions of dollars to them so they could afford to get elected in Egypt and Libya. They were doing this and saying this when our government sent troops over there and airstrikes to enable those people to get in power. Our president knew this when he goes to Saudi Arabia and standing in front of those kings of Saudi Arabia bows to them. We should have known then that we were in trouble. And I want to tell you something. You can say I'm being cruel and mean all you want to. I'm being defensive. You talk to anybody who's been in Detroit or lives in Detroit. Dearborn, Michigan. You know what they call it? Dearbornistan. They have moved in and taken over whole segments up in Michigan, up and around the Detroit area. They hold those kind of public protests out on the streets just like they do over in Egypt and Libya and everything else and they live in our country. They're gaining from our wealth and our productivity and yet they come out in the streets and shout and proclaim death to America. The enemy no longer exists out here. The enemy is living right here. And our country, we're in a bad spot. For us to go ahead, I don't know if you think the way I think. Back in the old days, if you sent an ambassador from your country to another country and they shot and killed him, you just declared war. And so that's what's happened. And you need to understand just how bad this is. For us to declare war now upon one Muslim country, we would have to declare war upon all of Islam, including the ones who are living here. This is what we've gotten ourselves into. So you're preaching on war, Pastor Mike. You better believe I am. Because, number one, you and I both know that we are days, weeks, months, years away from a very, very bad war. That more than likely, see all the wars we've fought in the past took place way over there. Now we might have to deal with one that takes place right here. I'll be honest with you, I'm glad that we're still allowed to have guns. Because I will tell you this, and I want you to listen to this. Hopefully most of you will like this. Hopefully most of the people that are watching this are going to like this. I'm just going to tell you what I think and I'm going to tell you what's in this Bible. It is not unbiblical nor is it unchristian to defend your life, to defend your family, and to defend your property and your country. We are also defending our freedom of worship because I will tell you that once the Islamists get a stronghold in this country, then you and I will no longer be able to do what we do right now. I'm telling you, it'll be game over. You need to get that. And so I'm not attacking anybody, but I will stand and I will defend. And let me tell you what our founding fathers realized. Okay? And I want to tell you just how far we've gotten off track in this country. We've decided that, well, the President and the Congress and the military and the police force they're the only ones who should be allowed to to protect and defend our homeland that's not true and it's unbiblical it's not true because I'm telling you that you have both right now you have the ability and you have the right and I will say to you that if you don't take this right you're going to lose something down the road to defend your self America can still defend America. We can still do it. And I think they ought to turn us loose and let us do it. I don't think we're there now, but at some point, turn us loose and let us do it. So you're not preaching the Bible. 1 Samuel 13, yes I am. I'm preaching this Bible. You may not like it. But I'm preaching it. The warfares that are going on in this world are only typical of the warfares that we deal with spiritually every day. How many of you fight a battle? Spiritual one. Spiritual battles. By the way, that's evil spirits over there. Listen, those people have a spirit on them. There are devils. I talked to a guy. He's a friend at our ministry and me and I visited with him one time through email conversation. He was from Iran. And I've seen pictures of Iran. There's beautiful people there. They're the Persians of old time. They're beautiful people. They have beautiful land. They don't all live in the desert like you think they do. Okay. They're fairly sophisticated people. And I mentioned to him one time, I said, I'd hate for us to go to war. And he said, Mike, he said, my people are very wicked. They're into witchcraft. He said, there's a lot of witchcraft over there. And he said, there are just evil spirits everywhere. He said, this is why I left. He is a born-again Christian now, and he would have his head cut off for being a born-again Christian in Iran. He's the second person I've personally talked to. I talked to a guy back when I was in Bible college, back in the 80s, after this whole Iran deal. that him and his wife professed a belief in Jesus Christ they were thrown in prison in Iran and they both escaped and they wandered in the desert for days and weeks not knowing if they were going to live or not until they escaped Iran and eventually they came over here to America and I want to tell you something anybody who has left a situation like that and they come over here they're thankful for the fact that they can be a Christian in this country and they don't take it for granted we take it for granted Okay, until you've had a gun put to your head telling you that you're going to die because Allah says you're infidel being a Christian, we probably take more of our Christianity for granted than those people do. But he told me, he said, Mike, it's a very evil nation. He's a lot of witchcraft, a lot of sorcery over there. And he said, it's just, he says, it's very, very wicked. They're very wicked people over there. And he said, I love them and I pray for them. He said, but God is going to judge my nation one of these days. And so anyway, in 1 Samuel chapter 13, I've been preaching on the Philistines, and I'm just going to preach and give Bible verses, and I will be giving my opinion every now and then, whether you amen or not, whether you like it or not, or whether you like to have stuff like this preached on, every now and then we need to. I don't mind giving you donuts and jelly sermons every now and then. Amen? That's good for us. We like it. Amen? It's good for us. It's comfort. I don't mind giving comfort food sermons every now and then. But every now and then, I've got to just say, here it is right here, we've got to sober up, this is the reality of what we're dealing with. 1 Samuel chapter 13. Let me tell you about what's going on here. Now just kind of fill in the scenes here just for a second. Saul is the king over Israel. And Saul, now don't you listen to this now, Saul's hand has been weakened. God has pretty much rejected him. He's fixing to show this when it comes around, when David comes around because Saul, I'm going to ask you the question. What was Saul doing when Goliath showed up on the scene? What was Saul doing? Anybody know? Absolutely nothing. The Philistines had already encroached into Judah. They had already set up camp there and here's Goliath, their champion, standing there cursing the gods of Israel and cursing Israel by his gods. And what was the leader of that nation doing when this happened? Nothing. You know what the leader of this nation has done so far? Nothing. Do you know why? Because he has weakened the hand and the impression of America around this world. He's weakened our country and he himself is weak and will not stand against them. He has begged Benjamin Netanyahu, he has begged him not to strike against Iran until after the election. Because it will force him into a situation that politically and philosophically he does not want to get into. He does not want to go to war. He thinks that if we be nice to them and shake hands with them and bow down to them, that they will like us and they will pull back and respect us and not harm us. He's deceived. I don't know if he's deceived himself or his advisors and his counselors have deceived him, but the man is deceived. and so here he is he doesn't want to meet with Netanyahu because his schedule's busy because he has to go on David Letterman and crack jokes that's why he would not meet with Benjamin Netanyahu however he will he has asked the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood to come and meet with him so we can sit down and talk with them and stave this off until after the election that's a coward He's weak, and while we're being attacked, He does nothing. That's, that's sleeps. That's wrong, that's not leadership, and I don't respect it. Saul sat when Goliath and the Philistines came into their land and did nothing. This is why God, this is why God raised up David. When David came on the scene and killed Goliath, God was sending word to Saul, this is it, this is the guy right here, your days are numbered. And from that moment on, Saul hated David, tried to have him killed. I mean everything else in the world. Saul had an evil spirit on him, by the way. Where at one time he had a different spirit on him, now he's got an evil spirit on him. And he hates David. And he's weak, and he's sitting there and the enemy's... That's his people! That's his people for crying out loud. Listen, I get run off the road just like you do from Americans that don't know how to drive. Amen. Everybody thinks they're in a hurry. Everybody thinks they got a right to the lane that I'm in. And I get mad at them. And every time I get mad at them, you know what I think? They're still my people and I love them. The day that we came back from Kenya, we were sitting in the Chicago airport. We had a four-hour layover there. Soon as we got off the plane in Chicago, we ran right for McDonald's. It was rough, I tell ya. And I sat there in that airport, and I looked at all those Chicago people up there, and I'm not the biggest fan of Chicago. But I sat there, Brady, and I said, you know what? They're my people. They're my people. They've got problems, but they're my people. And I love my people, and I love my country, and I just can't, I will not get over that. This is the land of my nativity. This is the land that I'm accustomed to, the people that I'm accustomed to, the people that I love. And my family is in this country, my forefathers were in this country, and I love this country. And if I had to, I would defend my little piece of America. I would. because God gave it to me. And I just don't feel like giving it up easily. Now if God calls me out of here, he calls me out of here, I've got something better waiting ahead of time. I don't mind that at all. Okay? But I'm going to tell you, for what God has given me down here, I'll defend. I'm going to defend this church. I like this church. And I have defended you people against people out here And if you sit out there and you want to nitpick every little thing that goes on here, I will tell you, go watch Joyce Myers. If you want to nitpick something, go nitpick somebody else. These are my people and I will defend them. Listen, you try to bring some cult idea in here, you try to bring some false Bible in here, I'm going to stand up for this church and I'm going to defend this church. And you may wonder, you may sit as a church member, why is he being so mean to that person? Why did he do that? I'm standing up. I'm not going to be weak. I won't. You people mean the world to me. God has given you to me and me to you. And I'm going to stand up for you. One way or the other. Spiritually and or physically. Don't we know what we're talking about? Amen? And so I'm just telling you, that's how it is. Let me read to you what happened in 1 Samuel 13. This is why Saul's sitting on his hands. 1 Samuel 13 verse 17. The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. You know, I'm going to stop right here. Three companies. Watch this now, listen to this. Let me show you what three companies are. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Now Sid, doesn't that make sense? Don't you know who the Philistines really are now? By the way, do you know what spoilers are? That's not some little deal that you put on the hood of your car. Okay? A spoiler are the ones who are coming, listen, you know what they are? They're the ones who are coming in taking over your rice field, and your corn field, and your cows, and your chickens. They took your job, Roy. They took how you provided income for your family. They took over your workplace. They took over everything around you. They took over your government. They spoiled, see it wasn't theirs to begin with, they just came in and took it. That's what spoilers are. Are there spoilers in our country? Sure they are. They didn't build this country, we did. I don't care what the president says. You know what I'm getting at? He said, well, if you've got a business, you didn't build that by yourself. The government helped you. You're a liar. This country was built on the backs of men who didn't mind sweating and working a day's work. For a dollar a day, they didn't mind that. Nobody helped them. They did it on their own. Farms were farmed by farmers by themselves. They did the work. And I'm just telling you, the spoilers are everywhere. And I'm going to tell you that lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life, those are your personal spoilers. They will take away what's yours. They're there to steal and to destroy what you have. You've got a thing going between you and your wife and it's working out pretty good, then lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes and pride of life are going to come in and they're going to try to destroy and to spoil your marriage. Tell me if you believe that. You're trying to raise your kids according to righteousness. You're trying to teach them that they didn't come from monkeys. This is why you ought to bring them to church. Bring them to Sunday school. Bring them so they can learn lessons like that. By the way, parent, it is your job to teach your children the Bible. It's not necessarily the church's job. That's your job. Don't leave it up to the public school either. They're going to mess them up. Amen. They're going to teach them they came from monkeys. They're going to teach them that there is no God. They don't have to serve any God. Listen, I went to a band deal last night. Matthew's school was with some other schools in a marching band contest. And the one school in particular, the whole theme of their marching band contest was about, it was called Resurrection. And it had graves and grim reapers in robes with sickles and these little dancing gods dancing around all over the place. And I'm going, we have gotten so far away from the Bible in this country that that's the new religion now of America. See, they're not trying to de-religionize our schools, they're trying to change Christianity into a new thing the spoilers have moved in to our schools they have moved into our churches they have moved into our homes and we sit back and let them do it what are we doing what are we doing what are we doing to stop it nothing We don't pray, we just let them move in. The spoilers have come and we sat and did nothing. And if you think that they're just coming to say hi to America and hi to your family and hi to your house, we're just passing through. We don't plan on staying, you're crazy. They're coming in here and I'm just I'm not just talking about the Muslims. I'm talking about spiritual wickedness in high places They're moving in and you sit and do nothing So don't blame everybody else when you don't have anything left The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies one company turned under the way that lead us to Ofra and unto the land of Sheol. And another company turned the way to Beth-horon, and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboam toward the wilderness." Now look at verse 19. Don't you listen to this. Verse 19, there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel. If you looked in the Israeli phone book, there was no smith in the phone book. That's a joke. What is a Smith? Okay? Smiths made weapons. Blacksmiths, ironsmiths, bronze smiths or whatever. Smith and Wesson. Okay? Weapons are made out of metal. And they're hard. Rifle barrels, bullets, everything else. See, kind of one of the things we got into the last three years, the government said, well, we're not going to regulate guns, we're going to regulate ammunition. What good is a rifle barrel without an explosion to make it work? But here's what happened. No Smith was found in the land. Let me get my verse here. Found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. Who said it? The Philistines. Who was responsible for making sure there were no smiths in the land? It was the Philistines. The liberals. It was the socialist, the communist. It was the enemy that had come in and had such a stronghold over a country that wasn't even theirs. Are you listening to this? They had such a stronghold over a country that wasn't even theirs that they would not allow anybody to open up a blacksmith shop. Nobody. Why? Because the Philistines knew. That if the Israelites could make themselves weapons and arm themselves, they would fight. They made sure that their enemies that they were trying to take over couldn't fight. They made sure of it. A lot of people laughed and made fun of and hated Ronald Reagan. You know what Ronald Reagan did? Ronald Reagan looked right at Russia. Here's Jimmy Carter, who the Iranians take our hostages for 444 days. Jimmy Carter let this thing go on and said, maybe we should try diplomacy. Maybe we should talk with them for 444 days. Or maybe we should just go shoot them. But Ronald Reagan looked right at the Soviet Union and said, you build a bomb, we're going to build three. You build an aircraft carrier, we're going to build two. You put 15,000 new troops in your army, we're going to get 30,000. That's what we're going to do. And it was called the arms race. But Ronald Reagan stared our enemy down in the face and said, for everything you do, we're going to do better, and you won't win. And he was right. And Libya. Black Jack Pershing did it. Ronald Reagan did it to Libya. When Libya tried to do this stuff like they just did, Ronald Reagan went and bombed the snot out of them. They didn't do that no more. See, you don't like Muammar Gaddafi, but he could be trusted for one thing and one thing only, and that was self-preservation. You can't trust Muslims, because they've been told that if they kill themselves trying to kill you, they go to heaven forever. You can't stop an army like that. No smiths in the land. Let's de-weaponize the people. Let's take away their guns. Let's take away their knives. Let's take away anything that they could use to make a weapon. Let's take that away from the people. And by the way, watch this. So, lest the Hebrews make them swords and spears, verse 20, but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, his colter, his axe, and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the Maddox, and for the Colters, and for the Forks, and for the Axes, and to sharpen the golds. So even when they wanted to just sharpen a plow, who'd they have to go to, Bradley? Had to go to the Philistines to do it. Can we have your permission to sharpen our plow so we can plow our field? And if the Philistines said no, they not only couldn't fight, they didn't get to eat. Who's running the show here? Now I'm going to ask you a question. Who's running the show in your life, by the way? When your enemy oppresses you so much, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life, when you have to go to the devil for permission to read the Bible, he will not give it. And when you let him take away your right to arm yourself When you let Him take away your right to arm yourself, you deserve the spoiling that takes place. You've got it coming. You still have in this land, you young people, you listen to me and you listen to me good. Your pub if your school district if you take a Bible to school and your school district They they took a kid now. I'm not I'm not Catholic and I'm not preaching Catholicism I read a deal last night a boy was wearing a rosary to school and the school took it away from him twice And said you cannot wear that here Why? Well that might look like a gang symbol. I so twice they took this boy's rosary and he said I'm a catholic I want to wear this thing and they said you cannot wear it here and I want to tell you listen I think you young people will give you one if you'll take it will give you a Bible to carry to school and if they come after your Bible you call me And me, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him, and him. We're all going to get in the church van and we're going to go over to this school and have us a little talk. You sit down at your lunchroom and you bow your head and you pray over your meal. With what they're feeding kids in school now, I wouldn't eat it without praying. That's another thing. Our babysitter Michelle Obama has said that your children are not smart enough and you as parents are not smart enough to feed your kids properly. So let's let her do it. And my mom works at the school lunch counter and she said you would not believe the amount of food they throw away now. They're not eating it. But that's the Philistines telling you what you can and cannot do. One parent said, well, fine, don't eat school lunch. She packed her daughter a lunch. And the health police at the school opened it up and said, we cannot allow you to eat this. This is harmful to your health. And they made her eat the school lunch. It's not right. Listen, this is where we live right now. A school district, the superintendent sat down with all the teachers at the beginning of the year and explained to them, because one teacher the previous year was using an illustration in the classroom and used the phrase, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. And the superintendent began to tell the teachers, that is a racist term. Because the children from Mexico and the children from Syria, they don't make sandwiches there. And so they're telling the teachers to stop being racist by saying the word sandwich. When are the smart people with some common sense going to stand up and say, no, we're not going to do this. We're not going to do this anymore. When is that going to happen? Now I know that as Christians we have an obligation biblically to pray for our country, to live the kind of life that would be, we're to be the model citizens by the way. Amen? But every step that the Philistines take into your life, listen, it doesn't stop with peanut butter sandwiches. It doesn't stop with that. They just keep going and going and going. And then they will be in here looking at me saying, you cannot say that. That's what we're dealing with. You better be armed. I'm just telling you, this is where we're going. This is not kind of preaching, woo, praise the Lord. This is kind of preaching that scares us. But you know what? You know what overcomes fear? Anger. You push us enough, we'll push back. Biblically. Okay? And I'm just telling you, and so you young people, you pray over your meal at school. I dare you. In fact, I don't know why you're not. I don't know why you're not. If you're ashamed of your mom and dad's religion, you need to talk with your mom and dad about it. Because they'll tell you there's nothing to be ashamed of. You carry a Bible to school. Put it on top of your books. And if they say anything about it, we're going to load a van up. We're going to go visit with them. And I'll call some other pastors and get them in on the deal, too. And we'll just have us a little talk and say, you are not going to violate our right to arm our children with the Word of God and with prayer. It's not going to happen. Can I get an amen out of God's people this morning? We don't let the Philistines tell us what to do. We don't let the Philistines tell us how to pray. We don't let the Philistines tell us how to think. We don't let the Philistines tell us that we cannot arm ourselves. Let me read this. We have a right to carry. Open carry. See, right now we've got to conceal them. I'm just letting some people know, whether you're watching or you're sitting here, that there are some people who are carrying right now in this room. and I gave them permission. Let me read some more here. Verse 19, there was no smith found throughout all the land. Verse 22, you need to look at it, here it is right here. So it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan. How does the Constitution start? We the people. We the people. Do we have any elected officials in this room right now? So you're the people. You're not the government. You're not law enforcement. You're the people. And our Constitution says that the right of the people to keep and bear arms. You know what bear arms means? Carrying it with you at all times. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Period. Why? Let me show you why from the Bible. Let me show you why from the Bible. Sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, but with Saul and with Jonathan his son there was found. Who is Saul and Jonathan? The government. Saul and Jonathan were the government. And they are the only ones who had weapons. What does that mean then? It means that number one, the people are defenseless against the government and criminals. and philistines they are defenseless against them and so then so here it is mister president we put our confidence in the leader of our country to take a stand against the invasion that is taking place right now and you didn't do it if you won't defend us We will defend us. And we are 70 years old and will defend us. And we are teenagers and will defend us. Physically, spiritually. Because I'm telling you, one does not go without the other. It doesn't, it doesn't. You cannot live in this little liberal world, this little liberal dreamland that you've dreamed up in your mind, that if we just get rid of all the bombs and guns and everything like that, then everybody will get along and there will be peace and harmony. That is new age nonsense and it's not biblical. That will not eliminate the people who have evil spirits that want to do nothing but spoil and take away from you. You see in a land in a land where we could leave our windows and doors open at night There was because there wasn't people around us that we knew that we didn't have to worry about people coming in our house in the middle of the night We don't live in that world. We don't live in Mayberry anymore. We do not live in that world anymore There are people around us even in Jefferson County We got meth heads in Jefferson County, dope heads, fiends of all kinds that live in this county. And so when I go to bed at night, I lock the doors and I keep a weapon. And I'm just, I am seriously considering keeping a weapon in my vehicle at all times. It's a world we live in. Let's talk about this spiritually just for a minute. And I'm going to arm this church, and I'm going to arm you that are watching. You listen to me, you listen to me real good. Let me tell you what's wrong with the church right now. What's wrong with the church is that the Philistines have moved in to the Bible colleges and the seminaries and the denominational leaderships and the publishing companies. and they have disarmed the congregation, the people. The people who said, well, our pastor tells us that this is what God really meant. We trust him. Our pastor is gonna tell us and he's gonna teach us things. In fact, we don't even have to carry Bibles at our church. Because our pastor puts four or five different translations up on the screen so that we can really get our minds messed up and not know what God said at all. That's what our pastor does. But we really like the music. So we're going to keep going because we like the music. And isn't that so typical of America right now? When the news cuts in about something going on, we get mad because it cut off American Idol. Oh, who cares about that? I want to see who won. I want to see who won the contest. That's America. And the people that will not defend themselves do not deserve to have freedom either. But I'm telling you, in our churches, we have set up a situation where only the men, the clergy, have the swords. You people just trust us. We'll take care of it. That's an abomination. It is the responsibility of every good pastor to arm his church members. Paul said we're to arm ourselves likewise. You know what that is? That means put arms on. Carry weapons. Carry a shield. Hey, that whole thing about Ephesians 6, that wasn't to the bishops. That was to Keith Crumb. He's to learn from his pastor that he is to have a shield called faith. He's to have a breastplate called righteousness. Not his own. Righteousness of Christ. He's to have a helmet of salvation. He's to have his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. He's to have his loins girded about with truth. And he's to have a sword in his hand which is the word of God. It's my job to teach him to arm himself. And to teach him how to do it. Because he's going to be out in a situation that I'm not going to be in. I won't be able to get there to save him from it. I won't be there when he turns the TV on. I won't be there when some of his old buddies come around and say, hey, Keith, hey, you remember what we used to do back in the old days? I won't be there. So I'm going to arm him and shield him and protect him so that he can stand there and say, you know what? I don't do that stuff anymore. Listen, you get back! I don't do that stuff no more. I don't run around with you guys no more. I love you. I'd like to see you on my side. But if you ain't on my side, you better take about three steps back. You say, Mike, that's so ungodly for you to preach that. How dare you? You're just an infidel. You're just looking for, you're just trying to pick a fight. I got three pages of notes here, and I'm going to read one verse, and I'm going to send you home thinking about it. Exodus 15.3. You write this down. Exodus 15.3. You know what it says? The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is His name. The Lord's a man of war. And I want to tell you something. When you have the mind... You know what Jesus was doing on the cross? Fighting the battle? That's what He was doing on the cross, by the way. Did Jesus tell us to carry our cross? Absolutely. You know what that means? Fight the battle with Him. Stand with Him. Stand with Him. Fight with Him. The enemies are still there. Hey, that whole deal about Ephesians 6 that we used to talk about? For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual weakness in high places. What if that was for real? What if that was really an army that was going to come and fight us? What if, and by the way I'm saying what if, it really is. We sort of put that out as, well that's, you know, the idea, the war philosophy that we're fighting in our mind right now. I think it's real. I think Daniel chapter 2 says that there's going to be an invasion, that the fourth kingdom is going to come and invade and take over and rule over this earth. And I think that we ought to stand up and be ready to fight them. I think so. And I'll tell you something, your pastor is going to try to talk, I have a whole bunch of other stuff along this line to preach to you. But your pastor is going to try to teach you how to fight. Not one another. You already know that one, don't you? Just a little. I mean, that's really what you're doing, right? I mean, you're just practicing on one another. So when the real fight comes on, hey, we're ready. Come on, honey. I ain't going with you. Honey, I'm sorry, now would you come on? Okay. Hand me that 45 over there, baby. Listen to me. I love you. I care about you. I mean, I look, I'll just look up Phil and Sherry over here. I love these people. God bless them. They got little Garrett over there. Isn't he cute? You love him, Phil? He's a good kid. I'd hate for anything to happen to him. And I'm going to try to teach Phil and Sherry how to encompass that boy in his life and stand around him until he's able to stand on his own and to defend him from anybody or anything that would harm him. And that's what I'm going to do for you. Arm yourself. And literally, it wouldn't hurt you to go out and get a concealed carry license either. The more the merrier. I know of a church right now, and I won't say which one, I know of a church right now, there are at least two men that I know that are in law enforcement that go to that church, and that church's deacon board will not allow concealed carry inside that church. And I think that's wrong. I think it's a mistake. I don't only allow it, I'm going to push you into it. Because what if somebody came into this building on a morning like this? What if they did? And I was already told, we had a gentleman back here that's in law enforcement, he came to visit, he likes our ministry. And I told him, he said, good for you. And he said, by the way, he said, Mike, he said, He said, if it happens, don't think to call an ambulance. That's what he said. We should not have to come to our church and sit and worry because your pastor has a big mouth and he's spreading it all over the internet. that we have to worry that something might happen here and what are we going to do about it so I'm the government here and I'm telling you arm yourself but spiritually I'm not the only one who should know how to use a Bible and so I'm going to arm my people So you learn how to fight. Next Sunday, I'll show you the verses where God's people asked God, God, show me how to fight. God, won't you show me how to fight? Because I don't, I'll be honest with you, I was not the fighter in school. That wasn't me. I was the runner and the mouther, but I was not a fighter. But I am now. Since I don't know how to box you and karate kick you, if I'm close enough I'll gag your eyeballs out. Let me just say this. God tells you to stand. You ought to stand. I'm not saying going after everybody. This is not an offense. It's okay to play defense. But if they come after us, you play defense. You stand up. You'll stand up for your faith? Amen? Or should we let the publishing companies and the denominations tell us what to believe? No, we're going to stand up for our faith and I'm going to teach you how to do it. Can I get an amen out of somebody? You feel like standing? It's hard to preach a sermon like this and not be in the flesh. It's hard. Trust me, it is. And those of you who really know me, I am peace loving. And I don't want anybody fighting. I like living in peace. But if you threaten to take away that, I will fight. Okay. I love you. I love you. Ask God to help you this morning as I'll say this every head bound Iraq close. Ask God to help you with this message. You probably maybe you're here today. Maybe you're watching and you're you're judging me. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you scripture. I'm going to give you scripture and more scripture and more scripture. Ask God. God, I don't like Pastor Mike anymore. I thought he was different. I don't like that kind of preaching. I think it's wrong. Then you go to God. You ask God to either change me or change you, one of the two. Let God have it. And let's keep peace. But listen, I'm telling you, I know what's coming down the road. I see it in the Bible. Israel has been our example. And instead of not arming ourselves, I think that's a mistake. I think we need to. I ask God to help you this morning, alright? Heavenly Father, I love you and I thank you, dear God, I thank you for the Word of God. Lord, my flesh could go out. I mean, I could go out on a real limb, God, and say a bunch of stuff that ain't true. I'm glad we have the Bible. Lord, this is what your word says. This is what it tells us to do. It tells us the consequences. God, I'm asking you, Lord, to bless your word. If I've said something amiss in this message, God, I'm still asking that you would bless and honor your word in the hearts of people today. Use this message, Lord, to alarm and to awaken us, God, of the world that we're living in right now. And, Lord, it's wise and it's good, Father, to be prepared in advance than to be caught off guard. So, Father, Lord, use this church. Use this ministry. Use these people, dear God. Lord, and if they just do nothing more than just take a stand and say, this is where I'm stopping right here. And Lord, Father, just bless that. Thank you, dear God, for teaching us and preaching to us, God, using us for your glory and your honor. Forgive us of our sins, Lord. They are many. We may not be the best soldiers out on the field, may not be the best dressed, but we've got a willing heart. Thank you, God, Lord, for your love and for fighting our battles for us. We love you in Jesus' name and all of God's people said. Hello folks, Pastor Mike here and sometimes you'll hear me talk about during a sermon or a teaching about being saved or salvation and some people just don't know what that is and I just want to share with you from the Bible what it means to be saved. The Bible tells us in Romans 323 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I'm not here as a pastor or here as part of this church because I'm better than anybody. I'm here because I'm a sinner. I have done things that have violated the laws of God and uh... i need to be sorry for those the bible says in romans six twenty three for the wages of sin is death we all have what's coming to us as a result of our sinfulness and as a result of us breaking god's law and some people say well you know it says death yeah we're all gonna die but that doesn't necessarily mean held the bible also says the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget god see the bible teaches and we teach here in a literal place called hell We believe in a literal place of joy and peace and eternal life that is in heaven that God gives to those that are saved. But we also believe in an eternal hell, a place of everlasting torment to those who reject God's gift of salvation. So we know that we have sinned. We know that the wages of that sin is death. But the Bible says in the same verse, Romans 6.23, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, including me and including you, would believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved being saved means being born again and being saved from the wrath of god's judgment upon us what we deserve what we have coming as a result of our sinfulness so the bible says in first john one nine that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, I don't know about you, but one of the greatest things, in fact, the greatest thing that has ever happened to Mike Hoggard is the fact that I confessed my sins to God. and God forgave and still does forgive every one of my sins. Romans 10 says it this way. It says, if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. What it means to be saved is that God has cornered you with the result and the things the effects of your sin in your life the Holy Spirit is bearing down on your soul right now and you feel the guilt of Almighty God upon you and God is trying to make you so that you just like our parents used to do God used to is trying to make you sorry for your sins we confess those sins to God we repent of them which means that we don't want sin to be a part of our life any longer and we simply ask god god you take over the reins in my life and you be the lord of my life and you give me the promise of your holy spirit in me so that i know that when i die i'm going to heaven now and i want you to understand that god offer salvation to you today if you will accept his free gift trust in the lord repent of your sins the bible says whosoever shall call on the name of the lord shall be saved If you watch any of our videos or at some point and God is just dealing with you, you bow your head and you call upon the name of the Lord and ask God to forgive you and ask God to save you. And God promised in his word and God has never broken his word. God promised in his word that he would forgive you and that he would save you and heaven would be your eternal home. I hope and pray that one of these days I see you in heaven and you get to see me in heaven. God bless you. Bye-bye.