In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of being strong in times of weakness. He encourages the audience to pray and seek strength from God, even when they feel tired or scared. The preacher also highlights God's desire for His people to possess the land and not be oppressed by wickedness. He reminds the audience that God is in control and has the power to fight their battles. The sermon concludes with the message that living a Christian life is not impossible, as God provides the grace and strength to fulfill His commands.

A couple of years ago, and I think the only one I told was Brother Santini, that I had a kind of a, I don't want to call it a vision, it's not that, it's kind of a half-dream when you're vegetating, you know, and your mind is, a lot of things begin to form, and it was like we were with a long column of children, and it seemed like it was the spirit realm, and they were winding their way, and they went through the New Jerusalem, and they were singing a kind of a happy song, and people were looking at them, and it was just a wonderful rejoicing, and I told, remember Brother Santini, I told you that little song, and I don't think I told anybody else, well, Audrey, I guess I didn't tell anybody else, that was a couple of years ago, and I thought, well, you know, whatever, so when I was praying, kind of looking in the spirit there, waiting for the service to begin in Alabama, I saw like a field, and there was a flock of children, and they were praising the Lord, and I thought, you know, that's marvelous, and I told Audrey about it, and I said, I don't see any practical application of it at all, but there was all these children, and the next night I thought, well, I'll try looking again and see what happens, and in the meanwhile, here's all these kids marching around, they just get up at the oddest time, anytime they want, you look out, and I mean, the average age is about eight, and it goes everywhere from three years of age, up to, once in a while an adult will join in, but it's basically about three to seventeen, and I mean, the whole group of them go around, little kids in there waving flags, and it's wonderful, and they do this at every service, several times, and I'm sitting here thinking, an army of kids, an army of kids, what do you do with it, and I thought, well, maybe it's the Lord, and maybe there's too many cheeseburgers, whatever, and I wasn't really putting this marching together, and the next night, I was looking again, and I sat there, and some of the families were a little late, they're getting tired by this time, and as I looked, and there was, like the enemy was there, and he was arrayed for battle in this field, and it was kind of a slope that went down, and I think the New Jerusalem was in the background, but the accent was on this field, and he wasn't budging, he wasn't budging to my prayers, or anything else, and pretty soon, the children came in, and they began marching, and they just come in, and they grab a tamarind, a flag, and they start marching around the room, and that's become a custom there. Debbie, if you, where's Debbie, if you go back there, don't forget, set a good example, because they expect you to march around the church all the time, when you come in. So, as the children began to come in, and I was noticing them, and they're marching around, I was looking again in the spirit realm as best I could, and the enemy was gone, and he had fled so fast, there wasn't even one, and all there were were these weapons that they left, like they threw down, and just left, and I thought, well now, that's remarkable, that's remarkable, and then the scripture came to me, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, hast thou ordained, oh, is it strength, because of the enemy, and the avenger, out of the mouth of babes, hast thou ordained strength, strength, babes, I know there isn't a teenager in the house, I don't even call them babes, but it says, out of the mouth of babes, hast thou ordained, it's either, I think one translation may have praise, I don't know, it's praise or strength or something, and this came to me rather forcibly, and I thought, well that's, maybe I should tell the people, but it's still maybe quarter pounders with cheese, we eat a lot of those, and I'm sitting there, and Audrey gets up, and she starts prophesying, about the three Hebrew children, how they defied, never going to end, she kept going, these young men, and all the rest, these young men, I said, I did it, and I got up, and I told them what I had seen, that was just too much of a confirmation, so I don't know what it all means, I do know that the adults, really struggle with the word, that you can see them, they're trying to get it, and understand it, and the kids are sitting in front, grinning, they're having no problem with it, it's logical, it's clear, and they're having a ball, the adults are back there, and I say, you don't get resurrected, to go to heaven, you get resurrected, to live on the earth, perfectly sensible, absolutely beyond my comprehension, so I don't know, and then I got to thinking, that the children of Israel, in the wilderness, and I think people kind of resent it, when you say, you're going to miss it, it's going to be your kids, and I don't think it's necessary, that anybody misses it, I don't believe that, but you see, we enter the kingdom as a child, you can't enter in as a theologian, so I got to thinking about, when Moses said, hey I'm sore at these people, and they're going to know, my breach of promise, turn them back into the wilderness, they're going to wander a year, for every day the spies, search out the land, but they're children, I'm going to bring in, and I know, that that got passed on, to that group, you're about 40 years old, you've got maybe, three or four children, ranging in ages, from four to 14, or something like that, and how would that affect you, God said, I can't go in, it's going to be my children, that go in, now how would that affect you, and think about that, as they thought about that, I don't get to go in, my children, and I guess the righteous, among them would say, well if that's the case, glory be to God, and begin to prepare, their children for the land, and others would probably, just be bitter, and figure it isn't fair, and God isn't fair, and nobody's fair, and Moses isn't fair, so I don't know, what it means, and again as I say, I don't see the practical, application of it, but I felt when I come back, I would tell you, because it was supported, so strongly by these, verses that came, and by Audrey's prophecy, and I like it when, somebody else is involved, because that makes it, more objective, and I hadn't, you know I hadn't, impressed on Audrey at all, at all, so that was not in her mind, she was working on, the three Hebrew children, so whatever, but I think it's very important, that we take the children, very seriously, and realize that, while we may have, like one of the fellows said, the doctrine is hard, and I thought, well what's hard, I don't know what's hard, why don't we preach this, different from the Bible, see where we're coming off, with all this hard, I think the hardness, is something that Peggy, summed up so very well, in fact our Peggy, from the office, in fact I repeated it over there, because it says an awful lot, she says other preachers, are saying we ought to do good, and you're saying, we must do good, there's a whale of a difference there, and I think what happens, is people have heard all their life, and they're fooling around, and they're flirting at the office, and they're doing little things, that you know they figure, but good old Jesus loves me, and somebody comes along, and says you're going to pay, for every time you sin against God, it's going to cost you in the kingdom, it's going to cost you in this world, God's not covering that, if you're out sinning, God's not covering that, you're under judgment, unless you're really, I don't mean by that we're perfect, because obviously we sin, God brings it to our attention, but in order for that to be true, we have to be walking in the light, which means we're walking in God's will, the best we know it, and then when God shows us, that we're blowing it in some way, then we repent, I'm not saying we're perfect, I'm saying that we're walking in the light, but if we're not, but if we're playing around, saying there's a little bit for God, and a little bit for me, and it's all right, because grace is doing it, and somebody comes along and says, it's not working, that's not scriptural, I guess that's a hard message, so the children on one occasion, came up a couple of them, and there was no altar call or anything, we're just worshiping God, and they had sins, they wanted to confess, and get prayer for them, children, there's a lot of dancing goes on there, they have wheels in the middle of a wheel, they have a little group of kids dancing, and they may be going counterclockwise, because they don't have much room, with a circle around them, maybe they're going clockwise, and then around them, the last night we were there, almost every adult male, there was in a big ring, around the two little rings, and they're all going counter to each other, for the space, because they don't have space to do much else, that's a wonderful sight to see, so they all became children that last night, and they're rejoicing and praising God, because their kids are really entering in, and I mean, they've got a lot of children, about four or five children per family, they've got more kids than anything else, and some of them are very small, they're marching around the church with a banner, at three and four years old, and the boys are up there on the platform, I mean teenage boys, you don't see this very often, oh God take away our sins, Lord lift it from us, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen year old boys, there's nothing I've done, you understand, this is something that God is doing, this is something that God is doing, so I don't understand this, but I think, as I see the newspaper, that the United States is on a very perilous, and I don't know what God saw, or what those enemies saw, but as I imagine, they looked up like this, and they saw that crowd of kids, dancing and praising God, I think what loomed up behind those kids, was God, and I looked again, I mean there wasn't an enemy there, there was nothing but weapons on the ground, it wasn't responding to me, they were gone, and so, but I'm sure when the time comes, the Lord will show us, what we're supposed to do, if anything, all right, let's, we prayed about the word, let's turn in our Bibles then, to Joshua, I believe we're in the first chapter, starting about verse 5, I thought I was going to be preaching Joshua there, it was so strong on me when I was here, when I got there, it was the coming of the Lord, Joshua wasn't even in town, it was all the coming of the Lord, and the six things of redemption, I never did teach you those six things of redemption, did I? We got through about three of them, did I tell you all six? You know, your redemption draws near, and the six things that are drawing near, understand? The name of the book is, Your Redemption Draws Near, so I guess Mark Overton, there's, just say Mark, hurry up, now, yes, you'll have to read the book, tonight, in fact, I only got through the first three while I was there, and Rick has a song, he creates songs there, they're very good too, about when Messiah comes, we call it, When Messiah Thump, that's what I call it, When Messiah Thump, because, you can't imagine why, but Stan can, because he plays the guitar very vigorously, and he sings, When Messiah, Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump, on the guitar, so I, quit fighting it, he said that he's going to, add some more parts, because of these six things, they're good songs, and we need some of them, there's a couple of them, would really go over here, well that he's written, all right, we're in Joshua, chapter one, verses five, let's go five through seven, here we go, There shall not any man, be able to stand before thee, all the days of thy life, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee, I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people, shalt thou divide for an inheritance, the land which I swear unto their fathers, to give them, only be thou strong, and very courageous, that thou mayest observe, to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee, turn not from it, to the right hand, or to the left, that thou mayest prosper, whithersoever thou goest, now remember, he's talking to a new generation, the others have all died off, except whom? Joshua and Caleb, and if you're an older person, you can be a Joshua or Caleb, that's up to you, that's up to you, but I think the job is going to be done, largely with young people now, when I go there, the young people all sit in front there, and I mean down to eight years old, down to eight years old, Gloria Powell is eight years old, giving Elizabeth a bad time here, but that's about as young as they go, with the notebooks, but they're there, waiting to see what I'm going to say, and they're writing down, Dr. Powell sitting back there, with his notebook computer, he's trying to catch it all on the computer, oh well, it's a new day, and we're moving from the church age, to the kingdom age, what I just say Elizabeth, see that's the way I do with them all the time, until I get them listening, Marla what did I just say? What age? I may do this at any time Elizabeth, and don't look at me, to the kingdom age, now Elizabeth woke up and got that one, so we'll go on, it's a new generation, all those that have spent all their time, belly aching, and murmuring, and grousing, and complaining, and all, they're all dead, and this is a new generation, they were not slaves in Egypt, they had been born, they were very young, well in fact they would have had to have been born in wilderness, I guess, most of them said they were new, and so God now is talking to the leadership, and through the leadership, to everyone that follows, to every one of us, he says, there shall not any man be able to stand before thee, all the days of thy life, now in the old testament, they fought against people, but the minute you get into Matthew, it's on demons, they don't talk about casting out demons in the old testament, I know all about David playing for Saul, it isn't an issue, it isn't a doctrine, that prophets did not cast out devils, in the old testament, they didn't do that, they fought, Joshua's fighting people, but the moment you get into Matthew, there's no fighting against people, it's all against these things called demons, where they came from, I do not know, but the whole battle, in my name they shall cast out demons, it was all the time Jesus was casting out demons, so the wars against demons, so we change the word then from man to demon, there shall no demon be able to stand before thee, all the days of thy life, and you've got to remember that, because they lie, they lie, and you go to casting out a demon, and they'll say, well you can't cast me out, there's too many of us, and the Christians believe that, well I couldn't cast him out, there's too many of us, or they'll say, if you cast me out, I'm going to come out and get you, or I'm going to hurt you, or I'm going to hurt someone in your family, now you've got to realize, when you're dealing with demons, you've got to know what you're doing, and they are liars, you've got to know your bible, and it says in the gospels, I give you power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you, and then they may say, well this person was born with this, and has done it so long, there's no way it can be changed, it's part of their personality, they come out with all kinds of things, and your job is not to believe them, they wouldn't know the truth if they heard it, so you don't listen to the demons, what did Jesus say to them? Be quiet, be quiet, I'm not getting my understanding from you, you don't know anything, be quiet, and come out, now I expect that we are in a time of preparation right now, so God will get us strong and ready for the days that are coming, because the demons are coming into our country, in droves, and they're in people, and you can't get people doing much until the devil is cast out, now I would not recommend doing that in the jail, you've got to be wise in what you do, you don't manifest things in the jail, it's not the place to do that, so you'll have to do your praying in your heart, you'll have to do your resisting of devils in your heart, and don't bring it out into the open, that will just cause problems, we have to use wisdom in what we do, we don't go charging around the countryside, but I want to get that strength into you, there shall not be any enemy that shall stand before thee all the days of thy life. Did you feel that? Did you get it? Tony got it, and there was two others I think. Huh? Praise the Lord. I wonder why I don't have the young people up in front, I think from now on, I won't bother you tonight, I don't think, but I might too if I think about it enough, but I would like the young people sitting in front, right in front, because if God's going to deal with another generation, then let's get with it, and I'll fool around. Alright, now, our generation, you and decrepit me, you know how we were taught, as long as you're in this world you have to sin, how many of you have ever heard that? In spite the Bible says, we're debtors not to the flesh, Romans 8, 12, doesn't matter, we don't go by the Bible, we go by whatever He says. Then they say, as long as you're in this world, you have to sin, as long as you're in this world, and nobody's perfect, have you ever heard that? And if you say, well God is actually moving us towards sanctification here, so our whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless, oh yeah, well, you know. That's called sitting in the seat of the scornful. One young fellow there, Rick Hobbs boy, Joel, did you know Joel Hobbs there? He came up to me and said something I never thought of, they've been memorizing the first psalm, the kids memorize a lot of verses, they've been memorizing the first psalm, and he said, why does it say sit, stand, and walk? I never thought of that before. Bless the man who stands not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, nor walks in the, how does it go now? Walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, and walk and counsel go together, sit and scornful go together, stands in the way of sinners, that's it, stands in the way of sinners, he said, is there some significance to this? That it doesn't say, bless the man that doesn't sit in the way of, I said, you usually find, if you do anything, that people will scorn you, they'll sit and, either you're showing off, or you did it wrong, or it isn't for today, they've got I don't know how many reasons, they're not doing anything themselves, except sitting. So scorners usually sit. They're not out doing something, if they were, they wouldn't have time to scorn somebody who was. So it's very fashionable for a scorner to sit, and criticize people, how many know if somebody does something, you can find something wrong with it? Did you know that? Yeah, if you work on it, you can find something wrong with it, they could, but you, if you look, you'll find something, maybe that their socks don't match, something, you could find something if you worked on it, but you'll find while you're doing it, you're usually sitting doing nothing. So then I got warmed up to that subject, and I said, well let's think about walking in the counsel of the ungodly, that's pretty plain, that's how we live, and ungodly people will counsel us, say a little sin, oh it's a little sin, oh who's perfect in this world, you know a cigarette, a beer, you know a little swear word, God doesn't, God is counsel of the ungodly. And then I was thinking about the spin, I said well, Audrey and I preach the gospel of the feet, that is, you say feet, get me out of here, you don't, I said for example, you wouldn't go into an arcade, now, the kind of people that hang around arcades, are not your average church goers in a fiery church, and there's problems there, there's drugs there, there's pornography there, there's who knows what in an arcade, and you say well I can go in, and I can just play some little game and everything, but what you're doing is, you're standing in the way of sinners, and the thing to do is get yourself out of there, maybe you wouldn't play some of the violent games, or the nasty games, but there's sinners in there, and God didn't ask you to go in there, He didn't ask you to go, you know, if you go into a bar where they sell booze, you'll get cheaper sandwiches, and you will about anyway, that used to be true, because they're making all their money on booze, so if you want a good sandwich, you went to a bar, but you see, it's better to pay an extra buck, and keep out of there, because you're standing in the way of sinners, so that seemed to make sense to him, now God is telling us, He's giving us power, and this old jazz about, well I ought to try to do good, and He asked the pastor, He said well I'm trying to give them assurance, so I tell them well even if you fail, I'm giving the people assurance, well if you know something bad, if you knew there was going to be 8.5 earthquakes, where people were, now wouldn't it be kind of nuts to go around, and assure them and say, as far as we know there are no, well you give them assurance, I mean they'll lay back and start snoring, until the earthquake hits, and so the highly desired thing, is not to assure people, it's to tell them the truth, and help them to live with it, because to just assure them by saying, well if it's going to be ok, Jesus loves you, it's not Bible, it's not Bible, the kingdom has a whole set of cause and effect things, as you sow, you reap, if you don't judge yourself, God will judge you, if you walk in the flesh, you won't inherit the kingdom, we got into unconditional love, let's get rid of that, and it really hurts some people, and I also said, that you don't forgive God, God hasn't called you to forgive him, God hasn't done anything wrong, you worship him, and if you had a hard time, that's a shame, but you don't forgive God, for giving you a hard time, that's more humanism, and this unconditional love is humanism, and I said, if you really were that worried about God's love, you'd be more of a saint than any of us, what you want is unconditional blessing, because if you were in the lake of fire, and you knew you were never going to see the face of God again, and you were going to be forced to live with the devil and his angels forever, now come on, would you be rejoicing over the fact that God's love is unconditional? I said, maybe some super, super saint that's way past us, would be grieving while they were there, because they had hurt God, but I said, most of us aren't there yet, and we wouldn't be spending any time, worrying about God's unconditional love, because we know from the Bible, that whoever's not found written in the book, so it seems to me madness, no matter what I do, God will bless me, well we know from the scripture, that that is not true at all, but you see unconditional love is a philosophical argument, and who knows who loves who, you know, why do we know that much about God, God told us what to do to get his blessing, so all this is humanism, and it's deeply entrenched in people's psychology, humanism, unconditional love, if you love somebody, let them go, all this stuff, my answer to that is, where is it in the Bible, if it's not in the Bible, it's not truth, you find anything, but unconditional blessing, in the Bible, anything, God said, I show mercy to thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments, and him that despises me, I will repay to his face, you say yeah, but God still loves me, people say, but even in hell, you're in hell because God loves you, if that isn't a bunch of nothing, and I never heard of it, you know, God still loves me, that's why he put me in hell, what kind of a thing is that, well anyway, that's where people are today, they're getting their stuff from the newspaper, or the horoscope, or a book, or something, but it isn't coming from the Bible, the Bible doesn't talk that way, right from the beginning, God says, here you are in paradise, you eat of that tree, you're going to die, and they did, and they could stand out there, amongst the bugs, and the weeds, and the poison ivy, and say God did this for me, because he loves me so much, well most of us are not, what we want is, exactly as Peggy said, you ought to try to do good, but what the Bible says is, you must, because there are laws of cause and effect, that have nothing to do with God's love or mercy, they have to do with, either you do what God says, the soul that sins shall die, period, and so Jesus has given us, a waiver on that thing, under certain conditions, but if we don't abide in the vine, that's it, and there's no mercy, or grace, or unconditional love, or anything, God said if you don't abide in the vine, if you don't bear fruit, you're going to be cut out of the vine, so there's a lot of, psychology and humanism, that's mixed into Christian thinking, and I would suggest, to avoid those psychological books, I would suggest, because they're very subtle, and they get your mind tracking down this way, and maybe a little bit, that's helpful to someone at some time, but the word, God says, what is the chaff to the wheat, the word is God's wheat, and if you meditate in it day and night, and don't sit in the seat of the scornful, don't scorn people, that are trying to do something, and doing it wrong, get in there and do it better, don't stand where you shouldn't be standing, to show that you're not tempted, and don't walk in some ungodly council, where somebody says, well it's going to be okay, if you do these things, who's perfect, because the Bible doesn't talk that way, Jesus said, I came to destroy the works of the devil, amen, so a pastor's business is to tell people, and then show them how to cope with it, you know, God is patient, God is loving, and if we really want to do God's will, we're not under condemnation, the one under condemnation, is the careless, lazy servant, that's not praying, not reading his Bible, not doing what he's supposed to, and you live like that, and the Bible says, you're going to face an angry Christ when you die, but if you're doing the best you know, and not straying, but just each day praying, and reading your Bible, you don't have to fear, because you haven't met your own standard of perfection, God will perfect you in his time, so the Christian life is not a dreary, gloomy thing, that you cannot possibly do, it is, you have to do what Christ said, but then he comes and gives you the grace, to do it, and you can do it swell, there's no problem with that, praise the Lord, so, get that now, down deep into your psyche, they can't stand before you, they cannot, the liars, to say we're in this world, we have to sin, there's a life in the pit, there's not a scripture that says, that as long as we're in this world, we have to sin, there's not a scripture that says, nobody's perfect, what we do is set our own standards of perfection, that nobody could meet, that the Lord himself wouldn't try to meet, then we say, well I can't meet these, and so nobody's perfect, well if that isn't an exercise in futility, God gives you some simple, straightforward thing to do, and if you do it as far as gospel, you can't be perfect for tomorrow, but you can be perfect for today, and if you look up to God and say, I love you Lord, as far as I know, I'm doing your will, and I'm sure not going to go, to find out if there's something there that's not right, you know, Lord I love you, if I'm doing it wrong, show me, otherwise as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfect, and God will rejoice over you, that's what he wants, a clear conscience, and then if your conscience convicts you about something, then don't do it, I mean it's not that hard, it really isn't that hard, what's hard is living in the middle, boy that's hard, God says they're not going to be able to stand, but can he give me victory over lying, of course he can, can he give me victory over profanity, of course he can, can he give me victory over jealousy, or treachery, or dishonest dealings, or meanness, or spite, of course he can, what is it that Jesus can't drive, there shall nothing stand before you, believe it, it says almost nothing doesn't it, what does it say, nothing, no, nothing, nothing, here it says, no man, and we're saying no devil, no enemy, it can't, these sins can't stand, if we make up our mind they're wrong, and ask God's help, we're going to get delivered, and that's all of them, and maybe in your background, there may be five generations of liars, I don't know, or adulterers, or something else, then you become an original, you say, it stops here, and it won't be passed on to your children, that's worth it right there, you won't pass it on to your kids, it stops here, you'll be one of God's originals, all right, all the days of your life, but how about when you get old, huh, how about when you retire, I'm not really, I don't, I'm not into retirement, you keep going till you drop, you just keep going till you drop, don't say, oh grandpa can't do anything, you get out there and carry your end of the log, till you're flat on your back, and then praise the Lord, he'll raise you up, all right, no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life, as I have been with Moses, I will be with you, I will not fail you, I will not fail you, remember it against the days to come, I will not fail you, I will not fail you, you may find yourself someday in a precarious situation, if you're serving the Lord, he'll be there, you may not see him, but I tell you, he's there in a split second that it takes, all of a sudden there's Jesus, and he was with you all the time, he said, I won't do it, I will not fail you, did you hear that Elizabeth, what did I just say, there you go, okay we got Elizabeth going, I said, I told Gloria Powell, I said, we got a girl in our church, and she sits quietly and listens to the beats all, and Gloria says, well I get restless, but she does real good, she walks around the church, this little Gloria Powell, well anyway, I told her about Elizabeth in any case, all right now, verse 6, be strong and courageous, now why do you think God is saying this, put yourself in Joshua's place, you know who buried Moses, Walter who buried Moses, Digger O'Dell, who buried Moses, huh, God buried him, you know why God buried him, because if the people knew where he was buried, they would have dug him up, they would have stuffed him, like the Russians have with Lenin, they have got him perfectly preserved, hoping I guess he will come back to life, thousands of people, go past the tomb of Lenin, father of communism, well they would have propped up Moses, put him on a carrier of some kind, and carried him on, I mean this man had led them for 40 years, and most of you aren't 40 years old, that was all they knew, it was Moses, now the guy is gone, and they are looking at Joshua, what's this, and Joshua says, oh God help me now, help me Lord, and so God is saying to him, be strong, God gives you something to do, be strong, you say how can I be strong, I am weak, what do you do then, God says be strong and you are weak, what do you do, pray, what do you pray, make me strong, it's really simple, oh God I am weak, I am tired, I am on jet lag, it's 10.30 in Hootsville, God strengthen me, praise the Lord, and courageous, but Lord I am scared, so what do you do, pray, what do you pray, there you go, alright, alright, for you shall give this people possession of the land, which I swear to their fathers to give them, now I don't want to go into what the goals of where we are going, but it's enough to know that it has to do with the resurrection, it has to do that it's being run over by demons and wicked people, God is not pleased that so many people are starving to death, and with all the diseases and plagues and everything, that's not God's, that's not his idea of the world, so he's preparing, what? I have no idea brother Thompson, how could he possibly be preparing, now that's way up there for sure, I could not deny that, yes he's preparing a great people and a strong, have we heard that before, he's preparing a great and mighty army, New International Version says, God is preparing an army, I talked about this a lot in Hootsville, I talked about this great Hootsville, I taught in the fifth grade, it was in the southern part of the United States, the temperature hovered around 34, the wind was blowing, it was raining, so much for social studies, this is the southern part of the United States, Hootsville, but I talked a lot about that, and I got the kids following my logic, they could answer me, I said well, if God is going to make you a great and mighty army, you're going to do all these things, then what is necessary? If God is going to come into the world, and remove the worldliness, the partying and all the other things of people, the worldliness, God says, whoever is a friend of the world is the enemy of God, and Jezebel with their open sin, and God says I want that out, and then the lust of the flesh, and all this immoral stuff and perversion, I want that out, and all this self-will, where people say, you know, I know that God loves me, but he wants me to fulfill myself, according to my own desires, and God wants it out of the earth, and so if he's going to do this with an army, with a great people and a strong, let's see, what does the new American standards say? I don't have it here, Joel 2, a new international version says, a large and mighty army, King James says, a great people and a strong, what does the NASB say? New American standard, I'm sure Walter has one back there, no? You got the one that Paul taught from? Also Paul, who has an NASB? Anybody? He doesn't call it a large and powerful army, what does he call it? Something like that, but it's a little different, large and mighty people, what do you got? Who, Tony? Stan, what do you got Stan? Joel 2 too, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, great and mighty people, I knew it was different from the King James, a great and mighty people, King James says what? A great people and a strong, that's very close, NIV kind of departs there from, what do you got Tony? What translation is that? So I have this abstruse, alright, a numerous and strong people, and they appear many times in the Bible, back at 3, Isaiah 13, Micah 5, back at 4, Jude and Revelation 9, alright, we've gone over that, but this is the point, if God is waiting for the development of a strong and mighty people, if you want to be in that army, and that army is going to come, and that army is going to cast out of the earth this love of the world, finding security in the world, money and all the rest of it, and then the various passions of the body, and then this stubborn, stubborn self-will that we have, and self-pity, and all these other things that have to do with our will, I'm not getting my way, nobody loves me, and God doesn't love me, and the rest of them, you know, all this stuff, which is a convoluted rebellion, it's a convoluted, it's turned inward, so that you can't see it for what it is, but it's all rebellion and stubbornness, that's his witchcraft, and God wants that out of the earth, he's going to have a large and mighty army doing this, so you want to be in that army? Elizabeth isn't sure, that's kind of over her head, Sophia, you want to be in that army? All right, Sophia wants to be in the army, now if that's the case, Joe back there, are you hearing me, Mr. McCallum? No, I want you up front there, son, you're not going to learn it any younger, all right, now listen, if this army of people is going to drive these three things out of the earth, the worldliness, and the passions of the flesh, and the sin, and the perversion, and the self-will, what must be true of them? What must be true of them? Debbie, you look perplexed, I had a hard time keeping the adults from answering, in Honesville, yes, that's what we're being prepared for, because you can't be fearful, that's one of the things people say, you know, that frightens me, and the war songs, and that frightens me, and I'm scared, like it was kind of a badge of honor, do you know that that's the first group of people in the lake of fire, the timid? That's no badge of honor, but you say, well, I didn't think that was a sin, that's just me, I'm kind of a mousy sort, and all these things frighten me, so what does God say? Be strong! Here's Israel, and they're giants, big basketball players, nine feet tall, eight, nine feet tall, the Anakim, Audrey brought out a good point, I've never heard anybody say it before, what's the big deal about the giants? Other tribes of Philistines had conquered them, you know, what's the big deal? You've just got to be fast, because they're kind of slow and clumsy, you have to attack them in the knees, but here's all these mighty warriors that came out, and you know, and they'd been two years in the wilderness, and they're already in the milk, two guys staggered, grapes of Eshgal, they look at the grapes, and they think, what they can do with that, and the milk, and the honey, and bread, and corn, instead of eating this Cocoa Krispies that's coming down every day, and all they could see was these giants, and what did they say? Oh, we're all dead, we're all dead men, we're all dead men, they brought us out here to die, he brought us here just to die, we were better off, oh, I can smell those onions now, and the garlic, and here we are, and these giants are going to get us, there's probably six, they didn't, you know, they were kind of mutants, they were unusual people, they died out, the Anakim died out, and there were a few mutants, that should have been in a side show, and instead, here they come, you know, and the Israelites looked at a couple of them, we're all dead, we're all dead, there's no use, everybody's got to sin, as long as you're in this world, you've got to sin, we're all dead, woe is me, this is terrible, I wish I wasn't a Christian, and I can't live it, nobody can live it, and that brother Thompson's living on another planet, and I don't know, attract people, instead of driving them all, well, I'll tell you, God did not feel sorry for them, how many people like that, people feel sorry for you, one of the ways, I'm so meek, and I'm so timid, I don't dare do anything, I hope everybody will feel sorry for me, and God will feel sorry for me, you know, that goes on in the human brain, and emotions, and you know how many people feel sorry for you, zip, you know how God feels sorry for you, zip, He spends no time feeling sorry for you, He said, I went to the cross for you, I give you my Holy Spirit, I give you my body and blood, I give you all these things, now will you please, and do what you're supposed to do, well, if you want people to feel sorry for you, you're on a wrong kick, because everybody's so busy with their own problems, they don't have any time, and you're going to get left, and that train is going on, and there you'll be standing there, feeling sorry for yourself, and nobody else will feel sorry for you, you can't have fear and faith in your heart, at the same time, Joseph, what did I just say, yeah, you can't have it, the two won't live together, faith drives out fear, and fear drives out faith, so I can't make it, why do you, why do you judge yourself unworthy of the kingdom, I can't make it, well, you're judging yourself unworthy of the kingdom, you might feel that way, but don't let it come out your mouth, see, I can do it, Jesus, by your help I can do it, just saying it will give you faith, and courage, so don't be mistaken, that God is feeling sorry for you, He is not, I don't care how short changed you were, in your talents, and your looks, or whatever it was, there's people in the world, that are ten million times worse off than you are, is that right, and on top of that, they don't have enough to eat, no, you don't do that, you say, Lord, I bless your name, and if everything went wrong in your life, you say, Lord, I bless your name, I praise you, I give glory to the God of Israel, be strong, for you shall give this people possession, now God did all the fighting, when they came out of Egypt, God did it all, they didn't have to fight anybody, they didn't have to fight the dogs, God touched the dogs, and they didn't bark, can you imagine two and a half million people, kicking up the dust at midnight, and no dog barked, you know the Bible says that, in Exodus around the fourth chapter, can you imagine, why dogs will bark for no reason at all, if they see a cat a half mile away, you'd think they were being attacked by lions, they bark just to hear themselves bark, and here's two and a half million people, shaking the ground, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, and the dogs just sat there, and watched that, hey, God is in control people, He did all the fighting, what do you tell them to do? Sprinkle the blood, and get on your tootsies, and move, I think some people today, are trying to sprinkle the blood, and they sit there in Egypt, saying they're in the promised land, the Bible says so, you've got to sprinkle the blood, and then you've got to move, moving is called repentance, but now, we've come to another situation, we're not talking about Egypt now, Egypt's gone, buried in the Red Sea, we're not talking about Egypt now, we're talking about Canaan, Canaan, it says in the Hebrew, Canaan, we're talking about Canaan, and this is not Pharaoh and his group, these are the Amorites, and the Girgashites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, and all the otherites, the Gibeonites, and these people have been there, for hundreds of years, because God told Abraham, your seed, I can't do anything with it now, their iniquity isn't full yet, but 400 years after I'm talking to you, I'm going to bring your people out, so these people have been there, for hundreds of years, these were their farms, their great grandparents, their grandparents, their fathers, had farmed the same land, they were there, their roots were in there, and here came the Jews, who had no land, and they're just a bunch of wanderers, wandering through the desert, and God says, I'm going to give you that land, and these people are fierce, skilled in war, organized, and God has said to us, do it when the Lord comes, we're going to possess this earth, and don't think for one minute, that God's going to do all the fighting, because he's not, Israel had to fight, and we have to fight, someone said not so long ago, how come all the war songs, how come all the war songs, you know the answer, there's a war, now one thing that, that these Canaanites, was true of them, that Joshua did not know, was that they had heard, the things that God had done, and the fear of God, had come upon them, and they fought the best they could, in some cases, they outwitted Joshua, they fought hard, they had chariots of iron, Israel did not have those, and some of them, were on high promontories, and the Jews had come, to take that land, and I mean, you've got an iron chariot, coming down the hill at you, and a runner on each side, with a spear, and they've got the advantage of height, and this iron thing, that arrows don't do anything to, it was a bloody business, and many of the Jews, were content then, they'd get some little spot, and that was theirs, and the best of the land was left, to the others of David, it was quite a while after this, hundreds of years later, that the Jebusites, were still in Jerusalem, David and Joab, had to get the Jebusites, out of Jerusalem, now God has given us, this earth, and he's, I mean the whole earth, this whole thing you see, in the newspaper, I mean this whole corrupt mess, God has given it, to Jesus, and to Jesus people, but they have, but it's inhabited, and the devil's been here, since God created the earth, and they don't, think much of us, because they've always been able, to go out with us, and we're just dust, some of these are mighty, mighty angels of past glory, and power and authority, archons the Greek calls them, and they say, well you may think, you're going to cast us out, but this is our earth, Jesus is waiting, he's paid for it, but he's waiting until his enemies, be made his footstool, what is he waiting for? Tony, Walter, Judah, Elizabeth, Mario, that's what Jesus is waiting for, remember, until we have come to the measure, the stature, the fullness of Christ, you can't have an army come, to drive out worldliness, and lust, and self-will, if what is true, is still in us, now today, is different, the kingdom of God, is shifting gears, the two thousand years, is about over, six more years, and we go into, the third millennium AD, okay, that may be very significant, very significant, after two days, I'll be perfected, two days, I'll cast out demons, and heal the sick, the third day, I'll be perfected, so we'll have to see, thousand years, is as a day, in any event, we're close, the things that are being said, in the church, have never been said before, have never been said before, I've never read them, in any book, I've read some theological books, and they don't even come close, to what God is saying today, and if God's going to do it, with children, he's going to do it, with children, you know, out of the mouth of babes, hast thou ordained, I think the one translation, says praise, because of the enemy, and here's these mighty, spiritual lords, three miles high, and you know, the adults go out there, oh, I rebuke you, I rebuke you, and he spits at you, and some child, where there's no kingdom building, in the child's heart, no guile, he goes out there, and says, or she goes out there, and says, I love you Jesus, and crash, out of the mouths of babes, hast thou ordained, praise, to still the enemy, and the avenger, the enemy, and the avenger, Satan's always trying to get, vengeance on someone, he's mad all the time, okay adults, you can be in it, if that's what you want, beyond everything, but it's pitched toward the young, our generation's kind of made a mess of things, go around saying, oh, that message is too hard, when it's only the gospel, and we ought to do good, but nobody is, and all that, hey, what can God do with that, the thing that's fermenting, it's rancid, it's rotten, it's dead, decaying of no use to God or man, so God's not going to try to repair the old way, he's not going to try to repair it, he's coming with a new message, and he's saying, okay kids, listen, God will give you the kingdom, but you must, allow the Lord, to get all the love of the world out of you, we know that's difficult, don't we Debbie, it's not easy, you've got to hunker down and pray, because it's attractive, we've got to get the passions of our, flesh out of us, I noticed a paper, one high school girl said, well I'm trying to do this, I'm trying to practice abstinence, or continence, or whatever they call it, but she says, my hormones are in high gear, this is a public school girl of 16 years old, why, because the children are all fed with vitamins, and they're not working on a farm, or something else, they've got all the spare time, plus all that they're getting on the TV, to incite them to things that are nasty, and everything else is pressing on them, the American way of life, is really a worship of orgies, if you want to put it that way, and here you've got a 16 year old girl, or a 16 or 17 year old boy, and there's no restraints, and the schools can't make up their mind, what they should do, and Planned Parenthood will tell them what to do, and you've got all this, plus their own drives, and for a youngster to come out of that, and say no way, I am not selling my position, in the God's army, for some temporary thing like this, I'm not doing it, and Jesus will give me the strength, to say no, and he will too, it's a real war, and as far as self will is concerned, the church, the evangelical church, has never preached it to any great extent, they say it, we must make Jesus Lord, but they don't make Jesus Lord, and you'll hear them say, I know I should obey God, but there's nobody doing God's will, and all that lie, every one of God's soldiers, will do his will, sternly, and completely, and never out of his mouth, would you hear him say, in the generation we've come from, and that's why they're in the, the churches are split every way, talking about escape, escape, escape, the new thing now, the new book out now, is the pre-wrath, some scholar got this great revelation, it's not pre-tribulation rapture, it's the pre-wrath rapture, that may be a step in the right direction, but it isn't getting at the, meat of the problem, the meat of the problem is, the ascension is not God's way, of delivering his people, that's the problem, pre-tribulation that is not the issue, once you're raised from the dead, and you have to be before you ascend, is Satan going to hurt you, once you're raised from the dead, in a glorified body, you have to be caught out of here, it's all nonsense, sloppy thinking, careless, money loving, a glutton thing, that's going on in the church, and that's the way it is, we get mail from all over the place, there's nothing here, all we're hearing is rapture, get out of here, you don't have to worry people, you're never going to have to fight, see what they're telling the people is, don't worry you're not going to have to fight, you don't have to fight, there's no reason for you to fight, God is going to take you out of here, before there's any problem, so they're not becoming warriors, you see how deceitful that doctrine is, it's not just a theological opinion, concerning the second coming, it's a device to keep God's people, from learning to fight, against, how in the world can we expect, a 17 year old girl, to remain confident, to remain, she's got to be taught, that this is a war, and it's a real one, and she has all eternity, to enjoy herself, but the issue is joy now, and the king needs soldiers, the trumpet isn't going to sound retreat, but attack, and there will be people, there will be young people, who have said no, to the world, and no, to the lust of their flesh, and no, to their self will, and who take up their cross, and follow the Jesus, whether we are here in that group, depends on us, but there will be, a great people, and a strong, before God gets through, and they've come from every generation, of Christians, but many that are last, shall be first, and we can be in that group, if we will get ourselves, prepared to fight, and if we do, God will help us, shall we stand, praise the Lord, it's not easy to overcome sin, but being difficult, and being impossible, and to overcome sin is difficult, but it is not impossible, through Jesus Christ the Lord, and if we want it bad enough, and we esteem the things of God enough, that I want to trade my place, in God's army, for this mess, this mess, hallelujah, well let's praise the Lord, before his army, they do not bring joy, only Jesus brings joy, money can't do it, hallelujah, the lust of the flesh can't do it, only Jesus, how old do we have to be, before we understand that, but the kids hopefully, will get it in time, because God's going to need them, because our nation's going down, the slippery slopes, right into a cesspool, and God needs young people, who can stand and say, this is the wrong way, this is going nowhere, but into AIDS, and into herpes, and into every other thing, that destroys your body, this is going nowhere, I have something better, I've got something better, health, joy, peace, and assurance of the future, praise the Lord, stand when we're ready for a song, and then we'll go, do you need courage tonight, hallelujah, are you fearful, are you expecting somebody, to feel sorry for you, they don't, they want to encourage you, to stand on your feet, and serve the Lord, amen, they'll encourage you, but they're not going to spend any time, feeling sorry for you, the pace is too quick, praise the Lord, what an opportunity we've had, kings and wise men, would have given anything, they own to be in our day, and we have it here, so nobody feels sorry for us, so let's get going, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, redeemed from the hand, he has done it, and he's going to finish the job, I am Alpha and Omega, and he's Alpha and Omega, in your life, and what he has begun, he will finish, if you let him, praise the Lord, it's not too late, amen, it's not too late.