There is also in your bulletin a flyer concerning our annual thank offering that will be received coming up in a couple weeks. That's our annual offering to support our missionaries and church planting works. And this church was a beneficiary of that offering for five years. Our scripture reading this morning is from Exodus chapter 17. If you're visiting with us today, we've been working our way through the book of Exodus, the ministry of Moses, and we've come now to a battle with the Amalekites, or the tribe of Amalek. At the conclusion of the reading of the scriptures, I will say, as you see in your bulletin on page seven, this is the word of the Lord, and encourage you to respond with this statement, thanks be to God. Now here, the word of the Lord. Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek while Moses, Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. While Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, the Lord is my banner, saying, a hand upon the throne of the Lord. The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. The grass withers and the flowers of the field fade away but this is the word of God and God's word stands forever. There is an outline for this morning's sermon there on page eight if you'd like to follow along. We join me as we call on the name of the Lord in prayer. Our glorious God and Heavenly Father, we pause and bow our head and we cry out to you. You are worthy of our reverence and our awe. You are worthy of our service and our obedience. You are worthy of our lives. You are worthy of our praise and adoration. You are worthy, Lord, because of who you are and what you have done for us. Every single day of our lives, you have provided what we need and more. Our cup overflows with blessings. Thank you for the riches of the grace of God in Christ that have been poured out upon us. Truly, you've not dealt with us like our sins deserve. Truly, you've been merciful and kind to us. You've been faithful day after day. You've kept all of your promises. Not one has ever failed us. We thank you that you've promised you will keep us, that no one and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Nothing can snatch us out of your hand. Oh Lord, we pray that you would have mercy on all who are here. You know every single one of us. You know us better than we know ourselves. You know us better than anyone does. You know our needs. You know our fears. You know our idols. You know those things, oh Lord, that grip our hearts. Lord, have mercy on each soul here, each person, each family. Lord, you are able to provide more than we could ever ask or imagine. And you are able to overturn every evil that comes our way, every trouble, every heartache, every sorrow, every sickness. You are able to overturn everything that comes our way and use it for good and for your glory. And so we pray that you would come and heal those who are sick and comfort those who mourn. Draw back to yourself those who are wandering. Have mercy Lord on each one of us. Forgive us for our fears and our anxieties and the lack of trust that we often have. Have mercy, Lord, on all of the children and grandchildren represented among us by those who are here. Have mercy on those who are far from you or wandering who are prodigals. Oh, Lord, you are able to bring them back, bring them to their senses and to the end of their rope, that they would return to their father's house, to the Lord. Oh, Lord, come now and visit us as we open your word and instruct us. Remind us again that every day we are in the midst of a battle and that our banner over us is the Lord. You, Lord, are our banner. We pray that Christ would be proclaimed here in this place, that you would be pleased to dwell with us, and that your word would not return void, but that it would accomplish that for which you send it here. Come and open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to believe. come with power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the risen Christ, that Christ himself would be in this room shepherding his people and drawing those who are without faith to himself, that you would give, you would grant the gift of faith. We pray today in Jesus' name, amen. Well, in this chapter of Exodus, chapter 17, the Lord has revealed two different issues that his people have to contend with as they're in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. Two different problems, two very difficult matters, and both come within what appears to be days of each other. Both of them are serious. They're no laughing matter. But both of them provide proof of God's grace to sinners. evidence That the Lord doesn't treat his people as their sins deserve We know that every day and that the living God never leaves his people alone to fend for themselves in their desert journey to the promised land. From the time they left Egypt, rescued out of Pharaoh's hand, because they couldn't save themselves, from the time they left Egypt until they crossed the River Jordan, he would guide them, and he would protect them, and he would guard them, and he would keep them, and defend them, and provide for them every step of the way. even when they grumble and complain, even when they're ungrateful and forget his promises. Because he has promised himself to them. It's why he rescued them out of Egypt. I will be your God and you will be my people. He is their faithful covenant keeping God. When they are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. And he had a great deal to teach them along the way. Here in chapter 17, two different problems arise. Just because he's promised to be their God doesn't mean that there will not be problems along the way. The same is true for you and me. Just because God has become our God, he's promised himself to us, he's given us all the promises of God and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. That doesn't mean there won't be problems. The problems that came to the people of Israel were for their good, for their growth, for their sanctification. And the same is true with us. Every trouble that comes our way, God overrules and uses for our good, he's promised to. Two different matters arise here in chapter 17, two weighty situations that confront them, and both of them are pictures of real life for the Christian. Both of the stories in chapter 17 are windows into your life. Keep that before you as we go through this text. As you are on your trek, going from your redemption in Christ, who is your Moses, from your rescue out of sin and Satan, which is your Egypt, your Pharaoh, through this desert wilderness of life on earth. The book of Hebrews says we are all as believers, we are strangers and aliens here on earth. We're pilgrims until we cross over the river Jordan into the promised land. Right? Swing low sweet chariot coming for to carry me home over Jordan into heaven. We're in the wilderness right now, we're not in heaven. Sometimes we get confused because we think this should be heaven. Now, the church is to be a little outpost of heaven here. This is a little picture of the family of God in glory. This is to be the sweet place where we find comfort and hope in the midst of his people. But we're on our trek to a new heavens and a new earth, our final home, which the book of Hebrews calls a better country, a better city, not made with the hands of men, but whose builder and maker is God. Jesus said in my father's house, there's there's many rooms or many mansions and I go to prepare a place for you It's that place in Revelation 21 Which says he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there'll be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. I And just because, again, he's promised to be your God doesn't mean there won't be problems along the way. But through those problems, the Lord is teaching you and sanctifying you and building you up and strengthening you for more service in the future. He's teaching you and me the very same lessons he was teaching the people of Israel in the wilderness. If you think for a minute, just back over the last few weeks, what has the Lord taught us thus far in the book of Exodus? Well, the Lord has made clear that he is the one who saves. He is the one who saves. People can't save themselves. Before you come to faith in Christ, you're just like the children of Israel in Egypt. They couldn't save themselves. They couldn't rescue themselves out of Pharaoh's hand. People are today in bondage to sin. They're slaves to sin. And the Lord has taught us that you too need the blood of the lamb to protect you from death. The blood of the lamb that was spread over the doorposts of the house that saved those who were inside when the spirit of death came over the land. You too need the blood of the lamb, not a physical lamb. You need the lamb that those lambs pointed to, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. You need Christ or you will not survive your death. And we've learned that God will guide you every step of the way by his spirit and his word. You're a pilgrim. And oftentimes he doesn't take us on the way that we think we should go. Sometimes he takes us by a different way. He doesn't always take the shortcut. And we've learned that Satan will come hightailing it after you even though God has saved you and you belong to the Lord. Now Satan will be on the run just as the armies of Pharaoh were on the run after the Israelites. And God's people ought to be known as a people of great joy as we saw the Israelites singing for joy on the other side of the passing through the Red Sea. We ought to be filled with great joy because all glory belongs to him. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. And we also learn that sometimes life gives us a bitter cup like Mara in the wilderness where the people came to drink water and they found the water was bitter. But he's able to make even bitter times sweet by the cross as that wood was thrown into the water. That's a picture of the cross of the gospel that God brings to life here for us and makes bitter times sweet because of the finished work of Christ. We've learned how prone we are to whine and complain even shortly after God does wonderful things to us. The very next day we can turn to grumbling and whining and complaining. And we've learned that God always provides for his people as he provided the manna and the quail. God always provides everything his people need. And then two weeks ago, we looked at the first of these two situations in chapter 17, two serious problems. The first problem was an internal threat from inside them as all the people faced incredible thirst. We looked at that time how this is a window into your own life when your soul is dry, when you feel like you're going through a spiritual desert and it feels like God has abandoned you. In fact, that's what they say, is the Lord with us or not? Sometimes you go through a spiritual desert. But in the midst of it, the Lord himself calls you back to himself, to the one who gives relief. The same one who provided water in the desert for Israel calls you back. The Lord calls you back to Jesus Christ. The New Testament tells us that the rock that Moses struck with the rod of judgment, that rock was Christ himself. You see, it's by him and through him. The one who was struck by the father in judgment provides streams of living water for your soul. The second incident here, the threat is external from Amalek or the tribe of Amalek from the Amalekites. And it comes in the form of an attack. That's the first point as we go through this text that comes in the form of an attack. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel at Rephidim. That is the Amalekites, the tribe of Amalek. Now the Amalekites were distant cousins of Israel. They were the descendants of Esau. Remember Jacob and Esau? When Jacob stole the birthright from Esau? They were the descendants of Esau, whereas the Israelites were descendants of Jacob. The Amalekites were a semi-nomadic tribe found south of Canaan. They are the first enemies that the Israelites encounter. So as this mass exodus comes out of Egypt, two to three million people heading to Canaan, it may very well have been the issue of water, as in the last scene, that set them off, as they had claimed to the springs of Rephidim and felt threatened. And it was probably mixed with a deep-seated sense of vengeance. generational anger, vengeance against the descendants of Jacob who stole the inheritance from their forefather Esau. And also, as John Calvin says here, instigated by the devil to thwart the promises of God to Jacob and his family that they would not be fulfilled. That's why they attacked. Now there are two things that stand out in this. First of all, they attack the Israelites as they stepped into the territory of the Amalekites. It's the approach of the people of God that sets them off. Sometimes that happens to you too because you're a believer. It's just your presence that sets people off. And interesting, it doesn't say it here, but it does later in Deuteronomy 25, Moses writes that they attack the Israelites when they're vulnerable. When they're vulnerable. Deuteronomy 25, 17 says, when you were faint and weary and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you and Amalek did not fear God. Remember what the Amalekites did to you, he says to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 25. When you were weary and worn out, they came and met you on the journey and cut off all who were lagging behind. They had no fear of God. They attacked in a ruthless way. The Lord never forgot. Well, next came number two, the plan. The plan. Their threat prompted immediate action. So Moses said to Joshua, choose some of our men and go out and fight Amalek, fight the Amalekites, verse nine. A couple things to notice here. Sometimes the enemy attacks you, the enemy of your souls attacks you when you're vulnerable to keep you from enjoying the promises of God, but God always has a plan. This is the first time we actually see the name Joshua in the Bible. He would be a young man at this point. Many commentators say he was in his 40s, 45. I remember when I first taught on this passage, I was 45. I was like, I like that of a young man. That was 18 years ago. Joshua was a young man here, apparently already a leader among men, and we'll see him step forward, filling some important roles ahead. His name means the Lord is salvation. So Moses gives clear instructions to Joshua. Choose some of our men and go out and fight. Not all the men are to go, but choose those who will be useful to you. Those who have some skill in fighting. You go out and fight them. But here's the plan. You won't be alone. He says, tomorrow I'll stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. Now we don't know exactly how Moses held the staff. I think a lot of people picture because there's two men on either side that he held with one hand on each end of the staff. Very well may be that he held it high like so. However it was, there were two men on either side. In the Hebrew, Moses uses an interesting word there when he says that I will stand. It's one similar to taking a position of authority or control. It's also used of Samuel's standing as a leader. It goes along with the fact that he'll have the staff of God that God gave him, that staff of judgment that struck the Nile and it turned red. That staff that struck the rock and water came out. I'll take the staff. I'll have the presence of God and his authority. So that was the plan. Joshua will go out and fight with chosen men and Moses will go up on top of the hill and raise the staff. Moses praying on the top of the hill and Joshua and his men fighting. I hope you can already see this is a picture of our lives. This is a picture of our lives. Both Joshua and Moses are a type of Christ for us. Joshua, the savior, the captain of the Lord's army, and Moses, the intercessor there on the mountain. Moses, a picture, a type of Christ interceding for us from heaven. Remember when the scripture says Christ always lives to intercede for us. There's a preview of that in the New Testament where Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray and he sees the disciples out in the boat in the middle of the sea. And a storm comes up. There's Christ praying and his disciples in the storm. This is all a picture of us. And there on the battlefield, a picture of Christ, our savior, our captain, leading us into battle. So thirdly, what was the response? Well, the scripture plainly says, so Joshua did as Moses told him. It's interesting, it doesn't say that. So Joshua thought about it for a while. So Joshua offered an objection. Wait, you're just gonna pray, aren't you gonna come help? Joshua did as Moses told him and fought Amalek. He fought the Amalekites as Moses had instructed him and ordered him. So Joshua follows through with the sword and he takes the chosen men with him and goes out to fight the enemy. This was a real battle. This was a battle of flesh and blood. These were real weapons. This was a real battlefield. You think about it, the Israelites aren't trained warriors. They made bricks. They were slaves. You have an unseasoned group of men, following Joshua, against seasoned soldiers, the Amalekites. You got a group of refugees against experienced fighters. I was thinking this morning, this kind of reminds, reminds me of us, right? Ephesians 6 says, we're in a battle too, we're not in a battle of flesh and blood. We wrestle against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We wrestle against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. How long have you been around? 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years, some of you 90. How long have those spiritual forces of evil been around? Thousands of years. They're more seasoned than we are in the spiritual battle. But we have We have one greater than Joshua leading us. So Joshua follows through with the sword and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the mountain. So here there's another character that's introduced without any fanfare. Hur, who is later mentioned as a ruler of the Israelites. There's an amazing statement found here in verse 11. that what goes down on the battlefield, what's happening down on the battlefield is directly related to what happened up on the mountaintop. As Moses held up his hands, whenever he held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. Whenever he let his hands down, the Amalekites would be winning. The direction of the battle was affected by what Moses did. Which leads us to ask, what did Moses do? What's significant about him lifting up his hands? Well, what does the scripture say about lifting up our hands to heaven? Psalm 63 verse 4 says, my lips will glorify you, I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 141 verse 2, let my prayer be counted as incense before you and the lifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice. That's a Hebrew parallelism. That's stated one way and then stated another way in the next line. Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. It's a position of prayer. When Moses grew weary, Aaron and Hur were there with him to help him hold up his arms to keep calling on the name of the Lord in the thick of the battle. Moses was praying while Joshua down on the battlefield was fighting. And you know, both are necessary. What was going up on the hill, what was going on up there and down in the valley were both necessary. We must pray and we must work. And those who work need those who are praying to keep praying for them. Oliver Cromwell said during the English Civil War in the early 1600s, he said to his troops, put your trust in God, men. Pray and keep your powder dry. Keep your gunpowder dry and pray. Trust in God. Both are necessary. I received an encouraging email this morning from a friend in Michigan where I used to serve as a pastor. He says, I prayed for you and Juwan and the church in Naples. May God's spirit rest upon you today, this day, and many days to come. Oh, that gave me such great encouragement. How'd you on and I and all those who labor here need your prayers. Summary is Joshua didn't couldn't succeed without what happened on the hill and Moses on the hill would do nothing without Joshua down in the valley. So fourthly what was the result. Well Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Joshua overcame the Amalekite army. The battle was won by Israel. The Amalekites suffered a stunning defeat. Now they would be back, but this day, this day was for Israel. In fact, that particular day was so important that the Lord instructed Moses to write it all down and keep a record of it and speak it into the ears of Joshua. Not because Moses won the day, And not because Joshua and his men were so brave, but because of the power of the Lord to fight for them. And so for his people today, you have the same promises. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Keep saying that to one another. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord, which concludes the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15. If God is for us, who can be against us? God has promised us a victory as we continue on this trek through the wilderness to the promised land. And so you have fifthly, the memorial. Write this as a memorial in a book. Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered, that future generations would remember what happened. and would know how the victory was won. Joshua, don't ever forget this. The battle is the Lord's. The victory is the Lord's. He will triumph over rulers and authorities. That's from the New Testament, Colossians chapter two. So Moses built an altar, a pile of stones, and called it the Lord is my banner, verse 16. The Lord is my banner. It refers to a military custom in ancient days when large armies would go out to battle, even up until the American Civil War. They would rally around a staff held high with a banner, a flag that signified the particular division or the one leading that division. It reminds me of that iconic picture from World War II, the erasing of the American flag on Mount Subarachi at Iwo Jima. You know that picture where they're all getting that flag up? There's a statue of it even in Washington, D.C. There was a Pulitzer Prize winning photo of that. In fact, after they did it, the photographer said, can you guys do that over again? I didn't get a picture of that. Did you know that? So they reenacted it there as they raised the flag. It was a rallying photograph, an image for the rest of the war of that flag, that banner of freedom. The Lord is my banner. When Moses built the altar and calls the altar the Lord is my banner, he's declaring that in the midst of the battle, when they were attacked by the enemy, what rallied them? Not a physical flag or banner. What banner was leading them? Under what banner did they fight? What was their flag? Well, it was the Lord himself. It was by his power and might that they won. Because Moses lifted up his hands to the Lord, that staff represented the Lord and his power. And the Lord answered their cry for help. It's an interesting statement at the end there, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites for generations, from generation to generation. You see, the Amalekites had challenged the Lord's authority. They had challenged his right to rule. The spirit of Amalek, the evil spirit of Amalek is still at war with the people of God. Even today, we are in a battle. We're in a fierce battle. In fact, very clear from the scriptures. Revelation chapter 12, it says the dragon, the Satan, the evil one, the dragon became enraged and went off to wage war on those who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Who's that? Who holds to the testimony of Jesus? We do. The dragon is enraged with you. The spirit of Amalek is alive today. The dragon is enraged. You see, this incident is a window into your life today. What happened there at Rephidim is typical of what the church encounters, what believers encounter on their way to heaven. So think about this all day long today. I want you to think about the lessons for Christians today, and I'll just give you two. You can go home and improve on the sermon, as I often say. Think more about this. I'll give you two lessons for Christians today. One is very clear. You will be attacked. You will be attacked. You will face attack along your way to the promised land. We're in a battle. We're in a war. That's why the New Testament uses soldier imagery. Paul says to Timothy, as a soldier of Christ, don't get involved in civilian affairs. If you don't think we're in a battle, you are already deceived by the enemy of your soul. We're going to sing at the end of the service, onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war. You know, there's a lot of churches that would never sing that song. It's too militaristic There's a lot of contemporary hymnals that don't include that hymn anymore It's too militaristic But we're in a battle we are soldiers of Christ not a physical battle No, we wage weapons of war that are spiritual We have the sword of the Spirit Not a physical sword. We have the Word of God and prayer. You will face attack as you approach enemy territory. Yes, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, but they will stand against you. You will be attacked. And just as the Israelites were attacked where they were weak and vulnerable at the back, you will be attacked where you are weak and vulnerable. You think about your own life and the temptations you have faced or that you're facing today. Satan attacks you where you're vulnerable. And you will be attacked suddenly, unexpectedly, when you're weary. Your enemy, the devil, will use ruthless means to attack your soul. Because your enemy, the devil, has no fear of God. like the Amalekites, and no love for you nor your family, and he will do everything he can to prevent you from reaching the promised land. He had the Israelites in bondage for years. in Egypt. Now he thought he could attack them through the Amalekites. And so he had you in bondage to sin for years and he has a legion of warriors to attack you now. You will be attacked. Don't be surprised when it comes. Don't be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. That's what God's word says in the New Testament to you. Don't be surprised. you will experience the flaming arrows, the fiery darts of the devil. Don't be surprised. It may come at home. It may come at work. It may come while you're on vacation. It may come in your health. It may come from your relatives. It may even come on a Sunday on your way to church or on your way home after you felt so encouraged. It may come on an ordinary day. It'll probably come suddenly without warning and you'll feel like you're being ambushed. That's the way Satan operates. You'll be attacked along the way. And the church of God will be attacked. The credibility of the gospel will be attacked in the press, in the newspapers, and by the government, by threats of death like our brothers and sisters are receiving in persecuted countries. The church will be attacked by comedians in the public square, through sensational stories in the press, sometimes through those who have the name church outside. God's word is clear. This is not spiritualizing a text. As I've alluded to before, Paul, the Apostle Paul writes to Ephesian Christians, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. You will be attacked. Just like Jesus said to Peter, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, Peter. But I am praying for you. I will be praying for you. And so Satan wants to sift you like weed, but we have one praying for us. Listen, your victory is certain because of what the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross. Your victory is certain. That doesn't mean Satan's going down without a fight. He's not yet surrendered. You will be attacked. And the second thing I want you to take home from this is here's how God's people must respond when God's people are attacked. How do we respond? We pray and we fight. We pray and we fight. We don't just give up. We don't just give in. We don't run for the hills. We don't despair. We don't doubt our Savior. We put on the full armor of God. We stand firm with the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness and our feet fitted with the gospel of peace and we take the shield of faith with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and we put on the helmet of salvation and we take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. You need to know God's word so you can fight the battle. It's interesting today how many churches have abandoned the sword of the spirit, the word of God. There was a time where that happened in Israel, actually. 1 Samuel chapter 13. There were no blacksmiths in Israel, so the Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their swords sharpened. There was no blacksmith in Israel. 1 Samuel chapter 13, you can read about that. So, it says on the day of battle, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. Only Jonathan and Saul had them. They were disarmed. The sword of the Spirit was taken out of their hands and so it happens today. So many people are disarmed who call themselves Christians because they're not instructed in the Word of God. We're to put on the full armor of God and we're to pray. Pray in the Spirit on all occasions. Paul goes on after that passage of the spiritual armor, pray. With all kinds of prayers, stay alert and keep on praying. You see, success on the battlefield in life doesn't come just from praying and doesn't come just from fighting. We pray and we work. We pray and we keep our powder dry. We pray and we work. We fight spiritual battles. Remember when the early church was attacked and the apostles were imprisoned? What did the early church do? They didn't wring their hands and cry. They gathered together to pray. to prayer meeting. And after the disciples were released, they went on preaching, proclaiming the Word of God. We must pray together, in groups, with your friends, with one another, with your family, for your pastor. I need you to pray for me. Juan needs that. It's the only way we'll prevail. And we must fight, fight with the gospel, with love for the lost, with the grace of God. There's a wonderful devotional called New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp. Today's reading says this about God's plan for the church and how the church fights its battle. He has called all his children to be his ambassadors, that is to represent his message and his character in whatever environment he has placed them. Here's the plan. A God of grace makes his invisible grace visible by sending his people of grace to reflect his grace to the people who need grace. You've been called to be the look on his face, to be the tone of his voice, to be the touch of his hand. That's how we fight, with grace, with the promises of God. You're to represent his presence and his love. You are placed where you are to make his mercy and faithfulness visible and concrete. And all the while, as we pray and as we fight, we look to our banner. The Lord is our banner. The Lord has lifted up his banner for us. It's the cross of Christ. It's the Lord himself. Through him, he has gained the victory. Through him, he has disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. That's why we're not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God to salvation for those who believe. And we must go with love and with grace for lost enemies. If I speak truth even, if I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I'm just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. So we lift up the cross, we point to the one who is lifted up. The Lord is our banner. Jesus said the son of man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. I ask you today, are you discouraged? Are you struggling? Look up. Just as Joshua and those on the battlefield were to look up and see Moses with Aaron and her praying on the mountain, I call you to look up. You have one greater than Moses on the mountaintop. He is the one, he is the one who's lifted up. Can you say today, the Lord is my banner? Are you looking to him? When you're attacked along the way, What do you do? Don't go running. Don't give in. Don't give up. Call on the Lord, look up to the mountain, to Mount Zion in heaven, where the Lord Jesus is. We have one greater than Moses, who always lives to intercede for us, whose arms never grow weary, who doesn't need a rock to sit on when he's weak. We have our victorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I call you today, cry out to the one who is our banner, the living God, the risen Christ, the Lord Jesus, who always lives to intercede for you, his people. Praise be to God for the indescribable gift of his son. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we call on the name of the Lord today and pray that you would come and visit us even now. Bless your people, lift our eyes up to the risen Christ in glory. Have mercy on us, Lord, today, and mercy on your church. Oh, Lord, if there are any who are weak and weary and struggling in the battle, would you lift their eyes up to you? Be all that you've promised to be to each one of us, our living Savior. our captain, the one who always lives to intercede for us. And bless your people as we give, use these tithes and offerings to build your church here and around the world, and we make our prayer in Jesus' name, amen. In just a moment, the ushers will be coming forward to receive the morning offering, and then we'll stand to sing Onward, Christian Soldiers.