All right, we're ready. Good morning to everybody out there in live stream land. I'm going to start off this morning looking at Genesis Chapter 11 for a little bit, and then we'll come back to the Holy War. We're at Chapter 27. I got that right, page 319, plans to take the castle. We'll continue reading in that. As I mentioned last week, when we finish the Holy War, we're going to begin reading through studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Lloyd-Jones. That's this volume and it's available on Amazon. As I mentioned, if anybody would like it and they can't afford to buy one, Let me know and we'll send you one. So we'll be in this study for quite some time. you'll find that we'll all be graduates of the Sermon on the Mount study in thorough detail and probably learn some things about the Beatitudes and so forth and other parts that we haven't really fully understood. So it's very important. The Sermon on the Mount is used very, very frequently by liberal Christianity, social gospel type people. All we need to do is focus on the Sermon on the Mount and live the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, and so on, then we'll be measuring up. What we're going to find out is a big part of what Jesus' purpose was there. is to show us you can't do it. The thing is impossible to do that it has to be, we have to be born again and Christ do it. So, all right, well, let's pray. Father, we ask your blessing upon our time together now in your word this morning. In your church, we thank you for your church. We thank you for calling us out of darkness and into the light of your son. And we pray that as we study and hear from your word this morning, you would use it powerfully in us to sanctify us further, make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might be salt and light in this world for your glory, and we pray this in Christ's name, amen. I mentioned this somewhat in the other day in the, I'm calling the children's study now the Bible overview slash children's study, and we usually get that. uploaded on Fridays as well along with the Roman study. I mentioned this, but I wanted to, for those that don't follow that study, I wanted to highlight it again this morning because this This subject is staring us right, it has been staring us right in the face for definitely, well, the last 12 years at least in our nation and much longer than that. And what I wanna do is I wanna show you how the Bible is very clear to make us wise, clear back in Genesis chapter 11 to teach us that Let's put it this way. Globalization is not God's will. In fact, globalization is rebellion against God. And so we want to think about that here. You know that, what's that? that group that meets over in Switzerland every year, the bunch of billionaire elitists. The World Economic Forum and it meets, it starts with a D. Davos, is that it? Yeah, and those guys rooting for President Trump, he was getting in their faces there. The reason is, this is a very, very biblical issue. This business of globalization that's been going on, it's anti-Christ, it is anti-biblical, anti-God. But anyway, the Tower of Babel, that's Genesis 11. What was happening at the Tower of Babel? Globalization. Man is saying that we're going to unite together. Of course, they all spoke one language, so they were able to do that at that point. So here's how it goes. The whole earth had one language and the same words, And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. That's Babylon. And so since there's people migrating and so forth, this had happened sometime, we don't know how long, it doesn't tell us, after the flood. But everybody there surely knew about the flood. I mean, knowledge about the flood, Shirley had been handed down through the generations that we read about, these generations in the table of nations in Genesis 10, right, as descended from Noah and his three sons and so on. So they knew, this is a willful thing, they said to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly They had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. I think that's kind of a slam, you know, that they're going to build this thing. All they've got is mud and tar. Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. You know, we're in the face of God. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. Now that's where the willfulness is evident in rebellion against God. Because God had commanded Noah, he commanded Adam and Eve before the fall, but he commanded Noah again after the flood, he said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, right? was to fill the earth, dominate and subdue the whole earth. What they're saying is, let's gather together here, make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth. So it's a rebellion, then, against God. And so God's judgment comes down upon them, and he separates them. And he does it very effectively by language. It would have been comical to be there all of a sudden, you know. So birds of a feather, they had to sort out into the groups where they could understand each other. And by the way, in Christ, Babel is reversed. You see a hint of this in the gift of tongues. Remember in Acts, everybody was hearing the gospel in their own. It's a reversal there. Ultimately, in the new heavens and earth, Babel will be completely reversed. Because it was a curse, it was a judgment, and so it'll be reversed. You're not going to have to study foreign languages anymore. in the new heavens and the new earth. But God judges them. So now think about this. God said here in this judgment, in a fallen world, sinful men, it is not a good thing for him to build cities and group together because as he says, hey, nothing will be impossible for them. And what he meant by that was, No degree of sin and evil will be impossible for them. Everybody will be united in this thing. So, Verla. Veronica does. I don't have my deal. Can you read it? I heard even on the liberal history channel that every civilization on earth has a story of a great flood. That seems to show that they obviously knew about it. Yeah, good point. Veronica said that archaeologists find out that basically every civilization and the great civilization have a record of a great flood. Now, that's usually blown off by people as a myth and so on. But nevertheless, there are these records of a great flood. I think there's some stone or something they discovered. It's called the Gilgamesh Epic or something like that. But it's an account of the flood and so forth. So is this not working, Verla? No, I have my, oh yeah, that's right. Believe it or not, I forget things once in a while. So anyway, yeah, my iPad's behind here. What's that? Okay, I'll get it. Stand by. Here we go. Pull it out here. I even forgot it here at the church a couple days ago, so. Now, just a minute here. All right, here we go. And we'll hit, now she texted, right? Okay, so I'll just watch for the notifications here. So, yeah, so this is, now, of course, man, for the most part, dismisses all of the, oh, the flood, that's a myth and all and so forth. But these people, They knew full well that God's judgment had come. Now you would think that something as widespread as the flood, worldwide flood, wiped out everybody except eight people and some animals. That should have gotten people's attention that maybe we shouldn't rebel against God. But no, you know, see, sin is still there. Adam's sin, then, is still there. Well, so now you've got this idea of globalization. And so let me see here. How does this thing work? I'm just going to read something to you here. Print books are much more reliable. Oh, there we go, okay. Now, if you think about one world, okay, the whole world, not separate nations, but the idea that all the nations should merge. Now, you've seen this repeatedly in the history of the world, not just at Babel, I mean, all of these world empires, what's their goal? Rome, Alexander the Great, what is their goal? Well, their goal is to conquer the whole world and it'll be a one kingdom. What we're seeing now in globalization is more insidious than that. It's sneakier. They're going to do it by propaganda and other methods. Biblically, not only do we see that it's God's will that the nations remain separate, but that when there is finally going to be a one world empire, when globalization will come to its fullness, will be when the Antichrist comes. And there will be some, for a brief time, a one-world empire. So globalization is responsible for so much of the deceptions and evils that have been going on in our country and around the world. What is the thinking of globalists? Well, that's what lies behind this business of doing away with borders of the nation. That's what, you know, the thing looks insane and it is insane, but what's behind it is this effort. We should all be one. It's why America should not dominate. Everybody needs to be down here, and then if you can do that, everything's just going to be paradise once again. See, the thing completely denies sin. So it's extremely anti-Christ, anti-God, and it's destructive. Think of the United Nations, right? I mean, there's an example that's been hanging around with us for a long time. The United Nations, there's nothing united about it, but its goals then are there. So I was gonna read you just a couple little paragraph section here from, most of you have probably heard of Victor Davis Hanson, right? And, He wrote a book called The Dying Citizen. And the sixth chapter in that book, the title of it is Globalists. And he quotes some Some guy, Diogenes the Cynic, I don't know where he was at, but the famous quote is, I am a citizen of the world. I am a citizen of the world, you see, so. Okay, here's, oh, fourth century BC, so that's when that guy lived. Just read you a couple paragraphs here, pages. How can nations abroad in any way endanger the citizenship rights of Americans at home? In this chapter, we're not so much concerned with hostile military actions of the sort that characterize much of the 20th century or the attacks on September 11, 2001 that killed some 3,000 Americans, and endangered the social and economic fabric of the country. Rather, this chapter examines how putting global concerns above a nation's interests insidiously erodes the financial health, freedoms, and safety of Americans. In blunter terms, when the American elites feel that their first concerns are with the world community abroad, rather than with the interests of their own countrymen, there are consequences for American citizens. In this case, the threat to citizenship comes not from foreign countries curtailing our liberties, but from Americans themselves. deliberately widening the idea of citizenship to include the peoples of the entire world, thereby rendering Americans most unexceptional. And never has this been truer than in the current era of globalization. Globalism is not new. It's recurrent, and it's cyclical, and at best, a morally neutral phenomenon, at worst, a destroyer of local customs, traditions, and citizenship. Efforts at world unification have always, at least in relative terms, come into and out of vogue over the past 2,500 years of civilization. Yet globalism's recent manifestation carries greater chances of dangerous consequences for American citizenship in our era of instant electronic interconnectedness. By the early third century, a globalized Roman world comprised 70 million citizens. And he goes on to show how part of the deterioration of the Roman Empire was how, in its expansion, it embraced, as citizens, people of different nations and cultures and so forth, and then they had rights, citizenship rights, but they never actually embraced the mindset of Rome, of Italy, right? They never were really, really Romans. And so it undermined it. It undermined the Roman Empire. Well, at any rate, here's the point. It's just an example of God's wisdom in his word. When he shows us, I mean, it's as simple as this. I do not want the nations of the world united in one. It will be an evil and wicked enterprise. I am going to separate them. And so nations are to be separate. They have different cultures, different languages, and they're to have different borders. And these efforts to unite into one world empire really are, I'd say, it's satanic and it's energized by then the spirit of the Antichrist. So just another example of the wisdom of God's word here and how very, very practical than that it is. This also explains why the globalists hate what's happening in our country right now. Think of it, we withdrew from the World Health Organization. See these organizations, what happens is, the United Nations, Our soldiers end up being put under the authority of foreign commanders. And that's happened lots of times. And then the World Health Organization. So what happens? The world is dictating to us as Americans what we're going to do in those realms. We just withdrew from the Paris Climate Treaty thing. There's another deal. Okay, this world empire, and it's going to dictate to us in our nation that you're going to drive electric cars or something like that. But those are just superficial issues in a way. The real issue is that when the nations unite, evil is uniting. And Antichrist is trying and trying, trying to build his empire, so all that. So we should be very encouraged about the steps that are being taken right now, and not be surprised that the leftists, the lying leftists, I call them, you may as well just call them communists, you know, or whatever, but the globalists, why they, detest, you know, the fangs come out, you know, how dare you not participate in the global enterprise, you see. And so there's a lot, we're seeing a lot of wisdom being practiced right now, finally, and a lot of, so much of the evil and what's been going on then behind it. Okay, well, the Holy War here then. And... Get my marker. Chapter 27, the battle is raging. Allegory is a picture that Bunyan gives us of the Lord Jesus' church, his church, and how the enemy is constantly trying to attack us. So I got your smiley face, Veronica. So all right. Yeah, she had also sent us a picture of, we sent her and Glenn a jigsaw puzzle, quite a few pieces of dogs playing poker. They got it all put together and sent me a picture of it, but at any rate, so. All right, try to watch for, listen to the ding of notifications there. Plans to take the castle. When the Lord Mayor Understanding boldly confronted Diabolos and the tyrant observed the bravery of godly fear, he fell into a rage. He called a council of war in order to get revenge on Mansoul. All the princes of the pit gathered with old incredulity at the head of them and all the captains of his army. They consulted as to what to do. The council concluded they must determine how to take the castle, because they couldn't claim to be masters of the town as long as their enemies had possession of it. With so many involved in the decision making, one advised this way or another advised that, but they couldn't agree. Napoleon, as president of the council, stood up and addressed the others. My brotherhood, he said, I have two things to propose to you. First, let's withdraw our forces from the town into the plain again. Our presence here does us no good because the castle is in our enemy's hands. Neither is it possible for us to take the castle as long as so many brave captains reside in it. And that bold fellow, godly fear, has been made the keeper of the castle gates. Apollyon dismissed the skeptical glances from his fellow fiends and pressed on with his idea. When we have withdrawn into the plain, they will be glad. and be a little more at ease. In other words, they'll get careless, right? Satan's strategy. Maybe that once they let their guard down a little, they may become careless again and open the opportunity for us to deliver a bigger blow than we can possibly give them now. But if that plan should fail, our going forth out of the town might draw the captains out after us. Remember what it cost them the last time we fought them in the field. We can do more than just draw them into the field. We can lay an ambush behind the town. When they come out after us, we'll rush in and take possession of the castle." Beelzebub stood up, and by the scowl on his face, it was clear he did not agree. He said, it is impossible to draw them all from the castle. You can be sure some will stay behind to keep possession of the castle. Therefore, such an attempt will be vain unless we can be sure they will all come out to chase after us." Napoleon gave him a cold stare, but Beelzebub ignored it. He said, whatever we do will have to be accomplished by some other means. I say we invent a way to get the townsman to sin again. You see, it's not our being in the town or in the field, and it isn't our fighting or killing of their men that can make us the masters of Mansoul. For as long as there's even one person left in the town who's able to lift his finger against us, Immanuel will take their side. He took a deep breath and let out with a hiss. If he takes their side, we know what that means for us. That's why, as far as I'm concerned, there's no way to bring them into bondage to us like inventing a way to make them sin. Mark 14, Jesus telling Peter that, Peter didn't take the advice, and we know what happened to Peter there. He let that sink in as he idly picked something from one of his talons. If we had left all our doubters at home, we would have done as well as we have done now, unless we could have made them the masters and governors of the castle. Doubters at a distance are like objections maintained by a fallacious argument. The question is, can we get them into the fortress and make them possessors of it? The day we accomplish that, the castle will be ours. Therefore, let us withdraw into the plain, but not because we expect the captains in Mansoul to follow us. Instead, before we do this, let's talk with our trusted Diaboleans who hide away in their holds of Mansoul and put them to work to betray the town to us. We surely need their help to pull this off, otherwise it will be left undone forever. Bunyan really emphasizes the Diaboleans inside Mansoul, because he has seen and he's warning us against the creeps that creep in among us in the church and gonna come up with some kind of false teaching all designed to deceive and cause sin. By the time Beelzebub finished talking, the whole conclave agreed that the way to take the castle was to get the town to sin. With the beginning of a plan in place, they put their heads together to devise the best strategy to accomplish this goal. Lucifer stood and said, the advice of Beelzebub is sound. The way to bring this to pass, in my opinion, is for us to withdraw our forces from the town of Mansoul. He transformed his visage, his appearance, to appear as an angel of light. and said, let us do this and terrify them no longer, whether by summons, threats, or even the noise of our drum or any other rousing means. Let's lull them into thinking we are not a threat. Only let us lie in wait in the field at a distance as though we don't care about them. for frightening them would only make them take up arms. I've also thought of another strategy to work in conjunction with this. You know, Mansoul is a market town that delights in commerce. What if some of our Diaboleans pretend to be from a faraway country and bring some of our wares to sell at the market of Mansoul? It doesn't matter how much they sell, even if it's for half the value. Let those who enter the market to trade be those who are clever and true to us. To fund this endeavor, I offer to take off my crown and to pawn it. I can think of two whom I think will be cunning, sly, and shrewd enough for this work. They are Mr. Pennywise Pound Foolish and Mr. Get ye the hundred and lose the shire. Must be some old English metaphor there, right? So this man with, I hope they shortened the name. We'll call him Mr. Get. This man with the long name is in no way inferior to the other. I'm also thinking we should add Mr. Sweet World and Mr. Present Good. to the bunch. These men are civil and cunning, but they are our true friends and helpers. I say, we let these men and many more engage in this marketplace business for us. Mansoul will be caught up in business and will grow to be full and rich. In this way, we'll gain ground on them." A few of his cohorts cast dubious glances in his direction. He thwarted their concerns by saying, don't you remember? This is how we prevailed upon Laodicea, Revelation 3. Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. And how many do we currently hold in this snare? I'm telling you, when they begin to grow full and satisfied, they will forget their misery. And if we don't frighten them in any way, they may be lulled to sleep. They will let down their guard and neglect their close watch over the town, castle, and even their gates. So there it is, the trap of the desire for. money, beware of greed in every one of its forms. Every time over the years that I have heard a professing Christian, maybe people I've known for a long time, start just going on and on about the stock market and their investments. You can tell from the way they're talking that they've just given all kinds of study to it and it's filling their mind. Every time I've heard that, those people inevitably end up going downhill spiritually. They're gone. Ultimately, they even become enemies. So the devil knows it, right? If we load Mansoul with such abundance, it may force them to turn their castle into a warehouse instead of a garrison fortified against us. If the castle's filled with our goods and commodities and is no longer a depot for men of war, I predict that the castle will be more than half ours. Think of it this way. If we ordered the castle to be filled with all such manner of wares, then when we made an assault upon them, it would be hard for the captains to take shelter there. Remember the parable that says, the deceitfulness of riches choke the word? Mark four. But the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And again, when the heart is overcharged with gluttony and drunkenness and the cares of this life, all harm comes upon them unawares. Luke 21, be on guard so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life. And that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap. Lucifer smiled smugly at his ingenious plan. Furthermore, my Lord, you know very well it isn't easy for people to be filled with our things without having some of our Diaboleans help as attendants within their houses to provide services. Show me a Mansoulian who is full of this world that doesn't have servants and men to wait upon them like Mr. Profuse. profuse, Mr. Prodigality, or some other Diabolean gang, such as Mr. Voluptuous, Mr. Pragmatical, Mr. Ostentation, or the like. Any of these can take the castle of Mansoul, blow it up, or make it unfit for a garrison for Emmanuel, and any of these will do. For all I know, these Diaboleans might accomplish it sooner than an army of 20,000 men. So my advice is that we quietly withdraw, offer no further resistance, and make no forcible attempts upon the castle, at least at this time. He paused to make his point. I say we put our new project into action and see if that won't cause them to destroy themselves. This kind of, this really emphasizes it, doesn't it? That scripture warns us to be on guard, the devil's prowling all the time, seeking whom he may devour. All the others highly applauded this advice to choke Mansoul with the fullness of this world and flood her heart with the good things in it. First John, do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. They thought it such a good plan that they declared it the masterpiece of hell. But just as this Diabolian Council broke up, Captain Credence received a letter from Emmanuel, and this is the message it contained. Upon the third day, he would meet him in the field in the plains around Mansoul. All right, chapter 28, Battle on the Plains. Captain Credence cupped his chin and asked, meet him in the field? What does my lord mean by this? I don't understand. He carried the note to Lord Secretary, that's the Holy Spirit, remember? Because he was a seer in all matters concerning the king and for the good and comfort of the town of Mansoul. Captain Credence showed the note to the Lord Secretary and said, I don't understand what this means and I'd like your opinion. So the Lord High Secretary took the note and read it. Following a short pause, he said, the Diaboleans have met together against Mansoul today. They held an important meeting, the purpose of which was to plot the utter ruin of the town. The result of their meeting is a plan to place Mansoul in such a predicament that it will surely destroy herself. First, They're preparing for their own departure out of the town. They intend to take to the field and lie there and wait until they see whether their plan will work or not. Make ready with the men of your Lord to fall upon the Diabolians, for on the third day they will be in the plain. by daybreak or before, the prince will be in that field with a mighty force. He shall be there before the Diabolians, and you will be behind them. Between the two armies, they shall be destroyed." Somehow or another, he's got the resurrection in here with the third day. When Captain Credence heard this, he hurried to inform the rest of the captains. He explained to them about the note he received from the hand of Emmanuel. And while my understanding regarding the meaning of the note was darkened, the Lord's secretary explained it to me, 1 Corinthians 2, which things we also speak. not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit. He went on to clarify what each of them must do to accomplish the will of their Lord. The captains were glad to receive direction from their Lord. To start, Captain Credence commanded all the king's trumpeters to climb to the battlements of the castle, and in the hearing of Diabolus and the whole town of Mansoul, to play the best music the heart could invent. The trumpeters did as they were commanded and climbed to the top of the castle. Once settled there, they began to play. The sound startled Diablos, who said, what can this mean? These sounds are not a summons for soldiers to mount their horses, to ride away, or to charge. What do these madmen mean by playing music so merry and glad? One among them said, This music isn't an alarm, but an expression of joy, because their Prince Emmanuel is coming to free the town of Mansoul. And he's at the head of an army, and this relief is near. The melodious charm of the trumpets also concerned the men of Mansoul. Among themselves, they said, this can't hurt us, can it? Surely this won't cause us harm. While this was going on, the Diaboleans also discussed how to proceed, what's best for us to do. This question was answered with, it's best to leave the town. Another nodded, this follows the advice offered at our last meeting. By leaving, we will be better able to fight the enemy in battle if an army should come against us from outside the walls. So on the second day, they withdrew from Mansoul and lived in the plains outside of the town. They settled before Eye Gate in a vile manner, meant to create all the dread and terror they could. The reason they wouldn't stay in the town, besides the reasons debated in their latest conclave, was that they were not in possession of the stronghold and because it will be more suitable for us to fight and to flee when we camp in the open plains. If they stayed in the town, it would make their role in the battle more offensive rather than defensive. if the prince came and fenced them in within the wall. So they moved to the open field out of the reach of the slings, which frustrated them the entire time they were in the town. When the time arrived for the captains to attack the Diaboleans, they prepared for action. The night before, Captain Credence told the captains, you shall see the prince in the field tomorrow. This news made them all the more eager to engage the enemy, like adding oil to a flaming fire, and it stirred quite a fervor. They'd waited at a distance for a long time, which made them all the more earnest and eager to get to work. Psalm 33, our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart rejoices in him because we trust in his holy name. Let your loving kindness, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in you. So as I said, the hour arrived. Captain Credence, with the rest of the men of war, drew out their forces before dawn by the back gate of the town. Being prepared to move forward with the attack, Captain Credence went up to the head of the army and gave the word to the rest of the captains. Each of them passed on the word to their under officers and soldiers by saying, the sword of Prince Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Credence. which in the Mansoulian tongue means the word of God and faith. Then the captains plunged forward and began rounding to the front, flank, and rear of Diabolus' camp. Now, when they departed from the town, they left Captain Experience behind because he was still recovering from his wounds, which the Diabolians had inflicted in the last fight. But when he realized the captains had moved out without him, what did he do? He called for his crutches, for he said to himself, shall I lie here when my brothers are in the fight, and when Emmanuel the prince shows himself to his servants in the field? He got up and clambered toward the battle crutches and all. The enemy spotted him hobbling along, and the sight unsettled them even more, for they thought, what spirit has possessed these Mansoulians that they fight us upon their crutches? As I said, the captains moved forward against the enemy and fell on them. They cried out and shouted as they landed their blows, the sword of Prince Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Credence. Now, when Diabolos saw the captains had come out and surrounded his men, he concluded that they could expect nothing from them but blows and marks caused by their two-edged swords. Hebrews 4, for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Therefore, he mustered his forces and fell upon the prince's army with all his deadly strength. So the two sides clashed in battle. Diabolus met Captain Credence first in the fight on the one side, and Lord Willbewill on the other. Willbewill's blows were like those of a giant. He had a strong arm, and he struck the doubters who served as the guards who protected Diabolus. He engaged them, so you see what's happening here, the imagery of it is that the doubters are people, they're fake Christians, they're fakes. And they are constantly doubting God's word, denying it and so forth. And Satan uses those kind of people to protect him, like his bodyguards, rather than him being exposed. but the Mansoulians are attacking him with the word of God and faith here. So, he engaged them in battle for a good while, cutting and battering shrewdly. Now, when Captain Credence saw Willbewill engaged in this manner, he did the same to the company of doubters on the other side of the fight. Between them, they created a great tumult. Captain Goodhope had engaged the career doubters and found them to be strong and rugged men. But the captain showed himself to be a strong and courageous man. And Captain Experience even sent him some aid, so he forced the professional doubters to retreat. Professional doubters. I bet that's fake clergy, I would imagine. The rest of the armies were hotly engaged on every side. The Diaboleans fought bravely, but then Lord Secretary commanded the slings from the castle to attack, because his men could throw stones at a hare's breath. At first, this caused many of the doubters and Diaboleans to flee before the captains of the prince, but they soon rallied and came up against the rear flank of the prince's army. Though the prince's army grew faint, they drew on the knowledge that they would see the face of their prince soon and took courage and fought a very fierce battle. Psalm 17, as for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with your lightness when I await. The captain shouted the sword of Prince Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Credence. And with that, Diabolus withdrew, thinking more aid had arrived. But Emmanuel still did not appear. Because the outcome of the battle hung in doubt, both sides made a little retreat. During this break, Captain Credence encouraged his men to stand firm and remain courageous and strong. Deuteronomy 31, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Diabolus did the same, but it was nothing like the bold speech Captain Credence made to his soldiers. He said, gentlemen soldiers and my brothers in this plan, I rejoice to see such a brave and valiant army and such faithful lovers of man's soul in the field for our prince this day. You've shown yourself to be men of truth and courage against the Diabolian forces. They don't have much cause to boast about their accomplishments. Now gather your usual courage and Prove yourself, men, one more time. After the next engagement, you will see your prince in the field. First, we must make this second assault upon this tyrant Diabolus, and then Emmanuel comes. No sooner had the captain finished his speech to his soldiers than Mr. Speedy came with a message to the captain from the prince to tell him Emmanuel was near. When the captain received this news, he passed it on to the other field officers and they to their soldiers and men of war. The effect of this news was as though men had been raised from the dead. For the captains and their men arose with renewed determination and made their way back to the enemy. Again, they cried out as before, the sword of Prince Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Credence, the word of God and faith. Ephesians 6, in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Diaboleans rallied and resisted as well as they could, but in this last engagement, the Diaboleans lost their courage. Many dead doubters lay scattered across the ground. They'd been in the heat of battle for about an hour or more when Captain Credence lifted his eyes and behold, he saw Emmanuel arrive. He came with flags flying and trumpets sounding. The feet of his men scarcely touched the ground as they hurried with great speed toward the captains engaged in the fight. Credence moved with his men toward the town and gave the field to Diabolus. So the enemy found himself between Emmanuel on the one side and the captains and their forces on the other. the fighting began again. It didn't take long before Emmanuel and Captain Credence met, still trampling the slain as they came. But when the captain saw that the prince had come, and he fell upon the Diaboleans, and Captain Credence and his highness had trapped them between them, they shouted the sword of Emmanuel and the shield of Captain Credence, and the ground split again. When Diablos saw he and his forces were hard pressed by the prince and his princely army, what did he and the lords of the pit do? They made their escape and abandoned their army. They just left them to fall by the hand of Emmanuel and his noble captain Credence. And that's exactly what happened. They all fell slain before the prince and his royal army. Their bodies lay spread upon the ground. as one would spread dung upon the land. Not even one doubter remained alive. So as you're reading that, you wonder if this isn't depicting the second coming of Christ, but it must be the resurrection. and the defeat that Satan suffered at that time by the cross and the resurrection. I'm not sure, but there's more to the story here yet, so we'll see. And ultimately, of course, it's going to show Christ coming again. And it's not too far off because it ends on page 373. So we've got about 40 pages to go, something like that. But this is a logical stopping place for today. Chapter 29, we'll plan to pick up there next time. Emmanuel restored to Mansoul. Father, we thank you for these lessons drawn from your word. warning us once again to not be careless, but also be watchful because our enemy, Satan, is always prowling, always plotting, always scheming as to how to attack us. We pray that you would give us your wisdom, keep us from any kind of loving of this present world, that we would walk by faith, that we would believe and pronounce your word, and we pray this all in Christ's name, amen.