The Valley of The Giants

I want you to turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 5, 2 Samuel chapter 5 this morning. This is part 3 of our series on valleys. And the last time we dealt with this a couple of weeks ago before I took my break in Turkey, I dealt with the valley of the shadow of death. But I want to move to this third part here this morning. And this is my title. It's a biblical title and statement of the Bible. And I'll explain it and I'll expound it as we read and then preach from 2 Samuel chapter 5. And we're going to read a few verses. But this is my title. Valleys are the valley of the giants. The valley of the giants. Read them from 2 Samuel chapter 5 and verse 17. But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines, all the Philistines came up to seek David and David heard of it and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the Lord saying, shall I go up to the Philistines? Will thou deliver them into mine hand? The Lord said unto David, go up for I will doubtlessly deliver the Philistines into thine hand. And David came to build Peorism and David smote them there and said, the Lord has broken forth upon mine enemies before me as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of the place, Baal Peorism. That is the breach. And there they left their images and David and his men burned them. And the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, thou shalt not go up, but fetch a compass behind them and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. And let it be when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself for thou for them shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so as the Lord had commanded him and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gezer. Let's pray here this morning as we deal with the valley of the giants. Father, we do thank you for the word of God. You've encouraged us and blessed us concerning these dark valleys, these valleys that are dangerous and dark and deep. Lord God, you've blessed us, encouraged us even with the shepherd Sam, Sam 23. Lord God, I pray that you speak to us in such a clear and definite way, not just as individuals with our personal trials, but as the body of Christ, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we are going to face our valley of the giants. There is a day when the giants come to invade. There is an hour when the enemies of God, the Philistines arise under the inspiration of hell itself to march against the people of God, to march against the anointed of God and the leadership of God. And Father, I do pray, give us great wisdom. Lord God, even prepare us now for the battles that we're going to face in the days ahead, that we might have the wisdom of God and the humility of God. Lord God, to humble ourself under your mighty hand. Lord God, that we had seek you with all of our heart, that we wouldn't rely upon our eyes, our own ears, our own understanding, our intellect, our wisdom, our power, our numbers, our money, our influence, our reputation, our anointing, our gifting, our calling, our past. But Lord God, that we had seek you as being utterly dependent, earnestly desirous to have your will, your mind, your strength, your power, your presence. Lord God, we don't want to do anything without you. Lord God, we are so weak, oh God. And Lord God, we do want to be small in our own eyes. Don't let us, Lord God, have a false perspective of ourselves. Don't let us think more of ourselves than we ought to. But Lord God, to be so small in our eyes, that we make the Lord Jesus Christ everything. Give us victory, Lord God, over this valley of the giants. Lord God, don't let our enemies triumph against your church in this hour. Send us revival. Lord God, send us a moving of the wind of God blowing in the mulberry trees again. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. We are in this third message, the valley of the giants. This is a statement, a phrase that comes up in the Bible several times, and we're going to deal with it this morning. The valley of giants is a literal, physical place in the land of Israel, in Canaan, the land of promise. Do you know the land of promise is bigger than the land of possession? What God's people possess is nothing in comparison to what God has promised you. What God has actually given to you by covenant, in promise, saying, I have this for you. We, the people of God, actually possess, enter in, and take possession of very little compared to what he has promised. And so the land of promise is always an awful lot larger than what we have actually presently possessed as individuals or as the church of God. There is much land to possess. And I want to tell you, one of the valleys in the land of Canaan that God covenanted to say, I'm going to give you is the valley of the giants. God made a covenant saying, if you can walk there, I'll give it to you. If you are victorious over your enemies, it will become your possession. And you know what? You can even change its name then. You can restyle it. But listen to what the Bible actually says. We have read here in 2 Samuel chapter 5, twice that statement about the valley of the giants, but you may not have realized it. It talks twice in these verses we've read about the valley of Rephiam. The word Rephiam is used in place of giants. And when you read the Old Testament, six times you read about the valley of Rephiam. And that word Rephiam, it is giants. And twice in the book of Joshua, we read about the valley of the giants. It is the same word in the Hebrews. So whether here it says the valley of Rephiam, it's exactly the same word used by Joshua twice, speaking about an actual place called Rephiam or the valley of the giants. Joshua speaks about it as an actual physical place within the possession of Israel, within the promised land that they are to go in and possess. This word Rephiam is used 21 times in the Old Testament and it is the word for giants, 21 times. It either talks about giants or Rephiam and it's talking about exactly the same thing. The Bible is very clear that there were giants in the land of Canaan. They were real creatures, beings or people. They were a reality. They weren't a myth. They weren't mere theory. They weren't symbolic. But there were men of great stature, great size, men that grew abnormally large, men that grew strangely. We read of one of those giants, how he had six fingers and six toes. He was a strange creature. I want to tell you back in Genesis chapter 14, it's one of the first times that we read about the various tribes of the giants. There wasn't just one tribe of giants. There were several distinct peoples with unique names that were giants. One of them was the Rephiam. The Rephiam weren't just the giants. They were a tribe within the whole spectrum of giants. In Genesis 14 and verse 5, it talks about a king called Cheddar Lamar from Elam. He was a great king, a great leader. That's present day Iran. He arose as a great champion and joined in unity with other kings and he led a great army. You're talking about very ancient days, 1900 years before Jesus Christ, this happened. There were tribes of giants in those days. This was the days of Abraham when Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans in Iraq and called to go in to the promised land, a land that I'm going to show you. I'm going to give it to your children, to your seed. And in the days of Abraham, we hear about this great king of Elam raising up an army and invading over into Canaan, into that whole region. And in fact, it mentions various tribes and where they lived. It mentions the Rephiam, the Zemes, the Ememes, the Horax, and various other peoples and tells you where they were living and that they were distinct people. Now, the ancient Jews called these Rephiams, Titans. One of the Greek names for them were the Titans. If you know anything about classical history or mythology, or if you watch the old movies, maybe you weren't in that era of the clash of the Titans. I think they're bringing new movies out. Please do not watch new movies on these subjects. They'll be horrific, I want to tell you. But there is old mythological stories from the most ancient history of our world of these God-men coming down and clashing with great champions within the nations. At Pergamos, the altar at Pergamos, you can go to Berlin and see it, engraved on that altar of Pergamos where they sacrificed Christians, they martyred born-again Christians. On that great altar is depicted the clash of the Titans. When the gods came down, when these God-men came down, angelic beings came down and began to clash with men, and war was waged out across the nations. You see, this isn't mythology. When you hear of a lot of the ancient mythology, there is an awful lot of truth to it. Yes, it gets perverted. Yes, it gets added to. Yes, it gets enlarged. But there's actual things that happened in the world, and they are passed down to us. When you read in Genesis chapter 6, you begin to get some of the background of the history of giants, of where they come from, and of what happened when angelic beings came down and interacted with women upon the earth. So we see here, there is a valley of the giants connected into this. You know, when you go to ancient Israel, and the spots that we read about, the Rephaeum and the giants, if you go to those exact places in Canaan and in Jordan, the country Jordan present day, you'll find in those actual spots, great megalithic buildings. I mean giant buildings. And yet these were the places that the Bible specifically names and says giants were there. Do you remember when Israel was going to come into the land of promise and God is saying, go in and possess the land, possess the mountains and the valleys and the cities. Go in and possess each of the areas. You remember they encountered giants. It says in Numbers 13, 33. And it says, this is the report they come back with. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. And so we were in their sight. The word giants used there is Nephilim. That's another name for the giants. And so here's Israel, the land of promise given to Abraham. Now, all these generations later being marched in by Joshua saying, God has given you the land. These are your valleys. These are your mountains. This is your land, but you've got to go in and possess it. Do you know what they went in and looked and said, do you realize there's giants in the land of promise? Here's God saying, I've given you a good land, but Lord, there's giants here. I want you to live the Christian life. Oh God, don't you know I'm facing giants. They're horrific. They're demonic. They are large. I'm like a grasshopper. Do you know how small a grasshopper is compared to these giants? So here is Israel. They're already defeated in their mind. There wasn't one battle with the giants. They didn't advance that first time. They'd have to wait 40 years for it. You know why? They got defeated in their mind. They said giants, two plus two. I can actually see them in my mind. They're meeting me up. I can see them eating me for breakfast. Well, you're defeated already. Oh, we can't overcome. We can't go in. We cannot do this. Then you're utterly defeated. If you don't believe this gospel, I can overcome sin. I can overcome the devil. I can overcome the world. You know what? You can be defeated in your mind. I can't stop sinning. I can't stop drinking. I can't stop doing this. I can't walk away. You're defeated. You're not even engaging in the warfare against sin. You actually know that you're going to be defeated before you engage the enemy. You're actually convinced that you're already defeated. You know, when you're the enemy and you have an army coming towards you and you know that they're already defeated in their mind. I mean, they're advancing going, we're defeated. We don't stand a chance. We can't overcome. I would love an enemy like that because you know what? They're already defeated before we even fire the first shot. You as a Christian need to win a victory in your mind. If you're going into the land saying, but look at the giants. Oh yes, the land is good, but look at the giants. You see, people want the land, the nice Christian life, the peace, the prosperity, the encouragement, the blessing of God, revival, but they don't want to fight giants. Giants are there in the will of God for you to overcome. It says also in Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 20, that also talking about the land of the giants, that was in present day Jordan, the other side of the Jordan outside of Israel. When they came to invade, there was an entire country that was called the land of the giants. Why? Giants dwelt there in old times and the Ammonites called them Samzumans, a people great and many and tall as the Anakims or as the Nephilim. So here you have a clear description. This isn't just men who grew a little bit taller or a bit more muscular. These are men who grew abnormally. They are gigantic. The Philistines in the Bible always represent the flesh. But do you know what? All the Philistines were not giants. What the Philistines did was join themselves to the giants. In other words, the flesh, the Philistines brought in giants because giants are demonic beings, demonically inspired. And there's a close association between the Philistines, the flesh and demonically inspired creatures in the Bible. There's a close association between the devil and your flesh. Let's get very personal. You remember when Peter speaking to Christ and Christ said, I'm going to the cross. I'm going to die. I'm going to suffer. What did Peter say? Oh, no, not you, master. You don't need to go the way of the cross. You don't need to die. You don't need to suffer. We won't let you suffer. I'll kill men rather than you suffer. What did Jesus say? Get thee behind me, Satan. Peter wasn't Satan. But you know what had happened? And Jesus goes on to explain this. He says, Peter, Satan, Satan, you savor the things of man and not the things of God. Do you realize the devil always comes in on the back of the flesh? You cannot. I do not believe a real Christian can be indwelt of a demon. Utterly, biblically impossible. But please don't go to the other extreme. You play with sin. The devil will play with you. Do you realize that there's the devil putting words in Peter's lips to say, you don't need to go the way of the cross? That means an apostle like Peter can begin to teach false doctrine because the devil is there influencing. You don't need to deny yourself. You don't need to take up your cross. Do you realize the devil is behind much false teaching in the church? Peter was not demonized. Peter did not have demons. But do you know what? The devil was coming in on the back of an old fleshly nature and just dropping thoughts. And there was a real war going on. And so in Deuteronomy 3 and 11, we see there was an entire nation or land of giants. And among them we are told, and you know I preached on this before, the king of those giants in Deuteronomy chapter 3 was called Og, king of Bashan. Og was a king. Listen to what it says about him. He had an iron bedstead in Bashan. And it gives a description actually of him. It says his bed was nine cubits by four cubits. If you translate that over, that's 13 and a half feet long by six foot wide. That means his bed was at least twice as long as any one of your beds in this room. None of you have a bed even comparable to this. This is a ginormous bed. It was made of iron. And this is the bed he slept in. So here you have a king of the remnant of giants. Most of them are gone, but they're still giants. And this giant could have been twice as tall as the tallest person in this room here this morning. Or we all know about Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17. He was another giant of a man. It says that in height he was six cubits and a span. That is about nine and a half feet or almost three meters tall. So here you have Goliath. Goliath wasn't the tallest giant. No, not at all. He was a giant of a man. And Goliath actually carried a staff in his hand, a wooden staff with a spearhead on the end. And that spearhead was made of 600 shekels and it would have weighed 6.8 kilograms. So he would have barely got on a round air flight with that spearhead. I don't know what the staff would have, but he's already going to fill, he's going to be at his weight restriction almost just with his spearhead. That's not even taken in all of his armor. And some of you think that's enough weight to carry. And so when you come to the giants in the land of Canaan, in the valleys, on the mountains of Israel, you read about the Rephiam, the Zazum, the Emim, the Anakim. These were all different tribes of giants. And yet they all come under the title giants. All of these were known as giants or Nephilim or Rephiam. These are all different titles. They were unnatural. They were overgrown. They were overpowering. They were demonically inspired. They were warlike enemies. And do you know where the devil always put them? Right where God wants you to be. Where God's people were to be, the devil literally places giants all in those key spots. You see, the devil knew for centuries that God has made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, with Joseph, with all of his seed. I have a land specially for you. Oh, you might be over in Ur or you might be in Egypt in captivity, but I've got a land where I want you to live. You may be walking in circles in the wilderness, fighting no enemies at all, but I have a land. I've got a place of victory. It's a land of mountains and of valleys and it's for you. It's a good Christian life. And yet you could be walking in circles. You could actually be walking in a wilderness. You know nothing about this land. This land has bountiful rain, wonderful harvest. I mean, big grapes, big fruit growing in it, and it's all for you. But you know what? You're walking in circles or you're down in Egypt. Oh yes, you believe in the Lord, but you're not walking in the victory of this Christian life. And you know what? If you ever get to the edge of this, you're going to be terrified by the size of these giants. I can't go in there. There are giants. Why do you think the devil placed strategically his giants in these areas? I believe it was very deliberate to terrify the people of God when they see the giants, when they hear them, when they know about them, they'll say, surely we cannot go in and possess the land. You know, Joshua, when he was in the land, Joseph, the tribe of Joseph turned to him and said, look, we are very important people. You know, we are very large people. We have many numbers. Our size is large. We're a bit of a mega church. And so we need more room. You know how great we are, Joshua. Listen to what Joshua answered. If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, cut down the wood thyself. And yes, the land of the giants go in there as well. You know, all those places where the giants, you want more room. You say you're such a big and great and mighty people. You're such an important person. You need more room. You need more blessing. You need more everything. You're more important than other tribes. Okay, then go where the giants are. Just move the giants out and take over. Wasn't Joshua a very wise man, very diplomatic in dealing with God's people. They started to get high ideas. Oh, brilliant. I'll accommodate that. Oh, go over there, move all those giants out and you can have that whole area and that whole region. When we begin to look at the valley of giants, you begin to understand there is a ferocious battle. Now, I just told you what the Rephiam are or what the giants are. Let me tell you where they are specifically. You'll find this in Joshua chapter 15 and verse 6. Joshua gives an actual description of where this valley is. I could take you to it today if we were able, if I could literally lift you there. It talks about the border. He's drawn the line between two tribes. He draws this line like on a map. He's giving you exact information. He says the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom. This is how you're going to find out where it is. You've got to find out where the valley of the son of Hinnom is. This is right outside the city of Jerusalem, the city of God, the chosen city of God, present day Jerusalem. So, if you look at a map of Jerusalem to the south of Jerusalem and to the west of Jerusalem, you have a valley running in around Jerusalem that's called Hinnom, the valley of Hinnom. And if you find that valley, do you know what the meaning means in the Greek? Do you know what Jesus called it? Gehenna, or it's the word for hell. And so this valley just outside of Jerusalem was a picture of hell. Remember what Jesus said, there's worms that will keep eating you in a place called hell. There'll be gnashing of teeth. There'll be fire. There'll be torment. And he talked about Gehenna, or hell. Do you know this was the valley of Gehenna? This was the valley of hell. This is where all the rubbish from the city was cast out. This is where all the false religion took place. This is where all the children were sacrificed in the hands of Moloch. And so this entire valley is a picture of hellish depravity, false religion, apostasy, a burning fire. It's a picture of hell. And so this valley was there. Now you can't find the valley of chance without finding this. This is how you find out where the valley of the chance is. So it's just outside Jerusalem. This valley of Gehenna is outside the wall. So Joshua says the line runs up to it and listen, and it says that live before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward. So listen, if you want to find the valley of the giants, the northern most part of this valley, it takes you right up to the valley of Hinnom. You have Jerusalem, you have the valley of Gehenna or Hinnom, and then you have the northern most end point of the valley of giants. That's how you find it. And it actually runs westward and southward from Jerusalem. That way, if you're looking at me, so it runs all the way down for at least a mile, maybe three miles. You have this valley running from the valley of Gehenna. That's where it ends up. Do you realize that this valley will lead you to hell? This is not a valley you walk through. This is not a valley that is a part of our Christian life. This valley represents something demonic, something dangerous. It's not where you walk through. It's where the devil inhabits with giants. When we talk about the valley of giants, we're talking about a valley that is filled with giants, possessed by giants, dominated by giants, ruled by giants. And this is where the enemy prepares himself to attack the saints of God. Do you see how close it is to Jerusalem? It is only outside of Jerusalem. Its target is Jerusalem. Its focus is to take you to hell. It is destructive. It is dangerous. It is dark, and it is deep, and you don't want to go there. From Jerusalem, 10 miles to the south, you've got Bethlehem. And so on that road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, Bethlehem to Jerusalem, just off to the side, you've got this valley running in a slant all the way down there for maybe three miles, which is the valley of the giants. That's what it actually is. It is a very dangerous place where the enemy comes to make war against the saints of God. Do you know you can go there today? Do you know the valley of Hinnom is now a beautiful valley outside? There's houses there. It's beautiful to look at. Do you know the valley of giants? It still exists. It's now become an area of the city of Jerusalem. There's an entire street, if I can find the name of it here in my notes, Emek Refim. You can go to Jerusalem, Google it, and go to the valley of giants. Visit it if you're ever there. Just put in the Google search and you can walk there. It is filled with shops. It is filled with houses, and it's in a valley. You are literally in the valley of giants. Some of you are going, I'm not going there. I'm not Googling that. I'll be scared to go there. But it's a beautiful spot now. Do you know it wasn't until about 1870s, I think it was. It was a barren, dead place. But a whole group of pious Lutheran Christians, very spiritual Christians, moved to Israel, bought the land, possessed the land, and they said, we're getting ready for the Messiah to come back. We believe Jesus is coming again. And that's why we buy this land. We're possessing this land. We're taking it over. And they made it into a very beautiful thing, a very beautiful place. And that's where they live. You can go there. And it's called, I think, German town or something like that. And so when you see all of this, there is a real place called the valley of giants. And that's my introduction. Let me give you my three points here. From what we read in 1 Samuel 5, and I wish I could have read the previous 16 verses. It's very important for what we're about to read here. When you get to 2 Samuel chapter 5, we read about David being anointed with oil to be king for ministry, as an acknowledgement from God for the third time in his life. David wasn't anointed once. He was anointed three specific times. Remember the first time he was 17 years old. He's a little shepherd boy. He's looking after his father's sheep. His father forgets about him. Samuel goes to anoint the next king of Israel. He's 17 years old. And when the boy comes, the spirit of God says, he's the one. He pours the oil on his head and says, you're going to be king of Israel. Do you know what he does next? He goes back to his sheep, picks up his heart and carries on looking after the sheep on the hillside. So he's anointed by God the first time, secretly, privately, only in the family circle. It's only his brothers and they're all going, you're kidding me. Man has Samuel made a mess of this. This has to be a false prophecy. I mean, him, God hasn't got a calling in his life. He can only look after sheep. That's all he can do. He's not even a soldier. We're in the army. We're fighting the Philistines. He's a little shepherd boy. So it was private and there was nothing showed forth when he was anointed. The second time is many years later at the age of 30. He's anointed for the second time to become king of Judah or the two Southern tribes. They are fighting against King Saul's son for seven years. And he becomes king of the Southern tribes, of two of the tribes. And he reigns from Hebron, a mountain top fortress. That's where he becomes king of the Southern tribes. Then when you get to 2 Samuel 5, you've got the third anointing. Now I'm giving you a context. Rephian, the valley of chance is not a place you go. The spirit of God does not lead you there. Your test isn't to walk through the darkness of that valley. Do you know what? This is not a personal Christian experience, this valley. Remember Psalm 23 was, all of you will either have been there or you will be there one day, but not Rephian. Rephian is not a personal Christian dark trial. It doesn't represent that. This is far, far bigger. Do you know what the valley of chance represents? An assault against the body of Christ, the people of God. This is when the armies of hell march against the church, march against this church. If you don't believe in the devil, just stick around a little bit. I want to tell you the devil knows about this church. He knows about you. He knows about this preacher. We have an army who at certain set times can literally come up to fill the valley of Rephian to make war against the people of God. But when did it happen? Just before this, there had been seven years of civil war between David and his people and Saul's people. Saul's son, David wasn't the second king of Israel. People say Saul was the first king, David was the second king. That's not true. Saul's son reigned between the two. He was on the throne of Israel. And you know what you had for seven years while David's at Hebron? You had a civil war for seven years. Saul's house is fighting David's house. Saul's house keeps getting weaker. David's house keeps getting stronger. This was a right civil war amongst God's people. You know, some people say, I don't like to see fighting in the body of Christ. I don't think you should speak about another pastor who's teaching wrongly. Just don't say anything. I want to tell you there's a right time for civil war in the body of Christ. When Saul dominates, Saul's influence is there. There's going to be a war. When you get a David rising up, there's going to be a war. And you may say, I think we should all love each other. Really? You want to join together with the house of Saul? Either you're going to be in the house of Saul or the house of David, but you will have to be on one or the other side. You cannot be in between. So notice before this happens, you had seven years of civil war. Then it stops. David is anointed king. This is his third anointing to be king in his lifetime. What a remarkable thing. And now he's 37 years old. 20 years ago was the beginning of this, a private personal prophecy, an anointing by a prophet like Samuel. 20 years later, it comes to pass. David never made it happen. David never killed Saul. David never manipulated. David never tricked his way into ministry. You know what? He waited upon God until God's people unified. This was a new day of unity, a new day of anointing, a new day of raising up an army. We're told that all of Israel, the 12 tribes gathered to David and there were fighting soldiers to the number of 340,000, almost half a million soldiers gathered to David. That's quite an accomplishment. This was a guy that used to hide in a Dullam's cave, that ran from Saul, that had rejects, criminals, people in debt gathering to him because no one else wanted them. And he started to build an army in a Dullam's cave. Now things have suddenly changed. He's got an army of 340,000. And even the king of Phoenicia of the city of Tyre began to send him lots of guests. So you've got a radical new day here. It's an extraordinary day. And David is at Hebron, which is about 10 miles south of Jerusalem, 10 miles south, further than Bethlehem. And he's been king there. Now all the people are gathering. You know what he's about to do next? He's about to march towards Jerusalem. Jerusalem wasn't called Jerusalem then. It was named after the Jebusites. Melchizedek used to own it in the days of Abraham, but it went into the hands of the Jebusites. I wonder who put the Jebusites there. I believe it was the devil, knowing that this is going to be a capital. And so it's named after the Jebusites. And here you have David preparing, saying, we're going to march up there, defeat them. And this is going to be my capital. We're going to call it Zion, the city of God. It would later be called the city of David. It's called Jerusalem as a picture and type of the new Jerusalem, the people of God who are going to come back. And it was right at this point, God's people are unifying. They're uniting. They're building a new army. There's a new anointing. There's a new buzz in the land. There's something happening here. And then what happens? Do you see in an hour when God begins to move and bring forth his plan, that's when you get the valley of the giants taking place. It's not a personal battle. It's not a small battle. The valley of giants, these are demonic, devil inspired creatures. You remember in Genesis chapter six, it says the sons of God came down and cohabited with the daughters of man. There was a cohabitation that brought forth great men of great renown and of great size in the earth. And this is where you have the battle. All of a sudden it says these armies of the Philistines come up and they fill the valley of the giants. I've got three points for you here this morning. What do you do when the valley of giants stands between you at Hebron and Jerusalem and the plan and purpose of God and the entire Philistine army, not a batch of them, the entire, every single Philistine comes over and fills that valley and they say, we've come for you. What are you going to do? I've got three points here of what David done. Number one, and this will surprise you. Find your stronghold. Look with me at verse 17, but when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David. They're not seeking Israel. They're seeking David. David's a problem. David's anointed. David's a man of God. David's a man of prayer. Why does the whole army march? Are they after everyone? No, they're after David. Take the head off. You destroy the whole movement. Do you realize how much hell hates righteous leadership? Men of God, the devil will literally march an entire army against one anointed vessel of God, because one anointed vessel of God is so dangerous to the entire plans of Satan. Notice that these armies didn't come up in the previous seven years. You know why? There's a civil war. The devil loves to see disunity fighting over the atonement. We don't believe in penal substitution. We don't believe that. We don't need to do that. Loves to see them disputing over jabs and injections and COVID and masks. The devil must be laughing this three years. Man, they're dividing over mass. God help them. The devil doesn't need a march against a church that's divided over the most basic elementary of things. You know what he's going to wait for is an anointed man of God that's going to unify the people of God. That's going to march to Zion. Zion, the city of God. We're marching. We're marching to Zion, the beautiful city of God. There is a move of God. Saints of God, revival is coming. A move of God is coming. I assure you. And here at that time, as soon as civil war comes to an end, these armies march. It says all the Philistines came up to seek David. And David heard of it. What did David do? What a man of courage. He's a giant killer. Remember at 17, he killed the Goliath. This is a man who's always, the first time you ever see David, he's taken on one of the biggest giants in the entire land. And he kills him single-handedly. Don't tell me he's a coward. He's not a coward. Don't tell me he's scared. He's not scared. But what does David do? He finds a stronghold. Here comes up an entire army. We're out for you, David. We're after you, David. We don't like what you're inspiring. We don't like the anointing on you. The anointing always represents the power of the Holy Ghost, a ministry from the Holy Ghost. And what does he do? He went down to the hold. Here comes the Philistines filling the valley of the giants. They're trying to terrify God's people. What does David do? He goes down. He goes back in his history to what he calls the hold. The word hold there means stronghold, or fort, fortified place, a defensive place. Here is David. He doesn't go onto the battlefield, doesn't prepare, train the army. He actually leaves that position. And he seems to go to the furthest point away. He goes and finds a stronghold, a fortress, a castle that he used to know in his past. This fort and stronghold was something that he knew many years ago. It was a protected place, a safe place. You may say, why is he protecting his own skin when the devil is marching the armies? Shouldn't you engage the enemy? Shouldn't you attack the enemy? Isn't this your hour for glory to stand up? What's the first thing David does? David goes in the opposite direction, away from the enemy, away from the battlefield, and he goes down. He goes down. If you're going to go up, you need to go down. If you want to go forward, maybe you need to go back. If you have a history with God, I mean history, if you've had real experience with God, you need to go back and visit those experiences again. This is what David done. He went 15 miles south of Jerusalem. We actually read that seven years before this, that he actually saw or heard of Saul being killed by the Philistines on a battlefield. Didn't Saul have the anointing? Wasn't he called of God? Wasn't he gifted? Wasn't he the leader of all the armies? Where did he die? On a battlefield with the Philistines. Some people in the church think, all I need is anointing, all I need is gifting, all I need is numbers, all I need is reputation, all I need is history, then I'll fight the enemy. Saul died. So did Eli's sons. Remember they marched out with the Ark of the Covenant. We can't be defeated with the Ark of the Covenant. We'll defeat the enemies of God. Then you'll die. And the Ark got carried to Dagon. Remember, it was the Philistines again. You know how many times God's people have been defeated when they said, we've got the anointing, we've got the Ark, we've got the presence of God, we've got the numbers, we are Israel. And they got defeated. You know, David is more wise than that. When he sees the enemy marching, how many soldiers did he have on that battlefield? I told you 340,000, almost half a million. Would you turn your tail and go to a stronghold and hide? Would you go down? Would you go away? Would you go back at that point? Or would you march forward? Do you see this man was not reliant on 340,000 soldiers that were there united under his control. That wasn't enough. His anointing wasn't enough. His history wasn't enough. Defeating Goliath wasn't enough. Here he is. He goes and finds the hold. He is seeking after God in a very real way. He goes down to that hold. What does he do? To seek God, to pray. Do you know what a man of God does? When the battle is raging, when the enemy marches against you, you go, I need God. I need to hear from God. I need clear guidance. I'm not going to rely on my ability, my power, my influence, or anything else. I really need to hear from heaven. I need to be sure that God is walking with me, talking with me, and showing me the way ahead. That's what I really need. And so David finds a secure place, a very secure place. You know this hold come up in his past before? It came up in 2 Samuel 23 and 13. Remember when he's here. Listen. This is the time three men came to David. Three of the 30 great men of David came to David in the harvest time onto the cave of Adullam. And when the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephiim. 2 Samuel 23 happens at this time. What happens? It's when the Philistines moved into the valley of Rephiim, the giants. What happened? Three great men came to David at Adullam. That's why I believe Adullam is the stronghold. Where did David go back to? The cave of Adullam. He's now a mounted king over the entire nation. He's got an army of 340,000. Where does he go? Back to the cave of Adullam. That's a bit of a back step, isn't it? I mean, you're really going back. That's where you were when everyone hated you, rejected you, and nobody followed you. That's when you lost everything, and that Saul was chasing you for your life. You've really gone a long way back. Not if you knew what David knows. I met God there. God was with me in that cave. You know, some preachers and ministries and churches, they become popular. They become known. They're gifted. They have ability. They forget where they began. They forget the day when they are desperate for God's presence. When they went to preach, they used to beg God with tears, with wailing, with fasting, and say, I can't preach unless you're with me. I need a word from the Lord. Then they become popular and big. They become used. They become trained. They know how to do this. They don't beg for God to go with them anymore. They go, I can do this. I've got an army with me. I've got massive army. I've got reputation. I've got everything. You know what David never lost was he was small in his own eyes. I tell you, saints, you're nothing without God. Never let a preacher come to his pulpit with their own abilities or their own learning. You have nothing unless you've been alone with God, pleading, bless me, help me, speak to me. I need you. I need reality from you and from the living God. It says in verse 18, and the Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephiam. There's David. He's gone back to Adullam. In the cave of Adullam, three friends come to him. You know what it says, and David was there in a hold, and the garrisons of the Philistines were then in Bethlehem. That route from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, that's where they were. They're in the valley of Rephiam. Where's David? He's in his hold in Adullam. Why do these three men come to him? He's there one day, and they overhear him. He's in the cave of Adullam. He's got this army. He's thinking about the battle ahead. He's going to have to fight this valley of giants filled with Philistines. Do you know what he whispers? Oh, right now here in Adullam that I had some of that fresh water from Bethlehem. I would give my right hand. I would do anything. I'm here in the midst of this. Imagine the prayers thinking, seeking God, and you go, oh, to have the waters of Bethlehem. Saints of God, have you tasted the waters of Bethlehem? There is a river flowing. There are waters that refresh you. You know what? These three great men overheard him and said, Jimmy, we're going to go do it. It says that they broke through the Philistine lines. They got him water, brought it back, and presented the water to him. You know what he'd done? He poured it out because he says, I will not drink water that could have cost you your lives. That water is far too precious. It's too precious for me to drink. They're acknowledged for that great act of love for David, but he said, your lives are very precious to me. I'm not playing games with you. So here's David in this stronghold. Most Christians do not think of this. Most churches do not think of this. Most preachers do not think like this. When the army comes advancing against the church, they don't go back to Adullam. No one ever preaches about David going back to Adullam. They'll say, that's the state. Oh no, you don't know your Bible. You don't know that this is the work of an anointed man of God. Go back to Adullam. Number two. So number one, find your stronghold. Number two, seek the will and mind of God. Do we not get in the battlefield yet? No, no, no, you don't. Number two, seek the will and the mind of God. What did he do at Adullam? Verse 19, and David inquired of the Lord saying, shall I go up to the Philistines? Well, of course, you've got an army of 340,000. You're the John killer. You've got something to prove. You've got to protect God's people. You know what he's doing in Adullam's cave? Praying very simply. I wonder if any of his generals thought, what are you praying? Oh David, don't you know what to do? Why are you praying about this? Because I need God's guidance. I need to know I've got the mind of God. Well, can't you read your Bible and just know that? I'm praying and I'm inquiring. Lord, shall I go up to the Philistines? That was a question. One question. Will thou deliver them into mine hand? That's another question. He's looking for clear answers. You know what David God spoke. I believe God speaks. You can have your Bible and you don't look for God to speak. You don't inquire of the Lord. You don't even know God can give you exact information. You just say, we've got the army. We've got the numbers. That's the enemy. What else do we need to do? Let's go march against the enemy. No, you need to be alone with God, inquire and get in the mind of God. If you're a preacher and you don't know how to hear from God, you're in a terrible place. God doesn't speak all the time, but he does speak at very important times. You've got to hear from God. And so he inquires, he goes into a time of seeking God. Think of the pressure. Remember King Saul, the great mistake he made. He said to Samuel, we're waiting on you to do sacrifices. But here come the enemies of God. People were beginning to drift away. I was scared. So I done the sacrifice. I done your ministry. I done what God told me not to do because I was looking at it. Do you know what Samuel said? You're a liar. You're a liar. You left God. That's what it's all about. You don't care about anything. Do you know what? When you seek God, some people are more concerned about numbers and ministries and reputation and fighting battles than even seeking God. If your focus is not to seek God, you're defeated already. You say we can go and fight the Philistines. Not if you haven't sought God. If you're not a man, a woman of prayer, you'd be very careful of engaging the enemy. We're going to go show the devil. You could have such a knock from the devil. You'll carry that for the rest of your days. Oh, the devil can't touch me. Really? He could burn you very badly. I've seen Christians in the church. They've mocked the devil, rebuked the devil, shouted at the devil. Then they've sinned under the temptation of the devil. Their lives have been devastated. Don't you play. Oh, the devil can't touch me. Really? So you're saying the devil can't put words in your lips like Peter. You're so protected. You're so under the blood. And you know I believe in all those things. I know the protection of God. But if you play with certain things, you'll get bitten badly. Don't be in any doubt about that. Here's David in the cave of the Dolom. I've got to hear from God. Then God speaks to him and said, David, go up for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. He heard directly from God. He was relying on God, God's word, God's promise. He waited upon God long enough to hear. Do you wait upon God long enough to hear from him? You're so eager to act. I'm going to act. I'm going to do. Some people claim to hear from God. They haven't heard from God. You need to wait, examine your heart, be alone with God in a place like a Dolom. You know a Dolom will give you a perspective on things. When you're up there amidst an army of 340,000, you could get a false perspective of yourself. You need to come right back to that dark cave of the Dolom. Begin to remember what it used to be like. You need to go in the back of that dark, wet cave and begin to seek God again. You need to remember who you are and what you are without him. You need to remember who built your life, who gave you a foundation, who brought a church around you, who gave you good, godly friends, who began to use you. You're nothing without this God, absolutely nothing. And here's David in that cave. He hears directly from God. What does this represent? Seeking God's will, finding out God's thoughts. And often God's thoughts are not your thoughts. So your thoughts are, let's go fight the enemy. How wrong. You're going to see here that God's thoughts were not man's thoughts. This is God using what you have. Look what he says. I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. In other words, your hand, you are going to do it. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to use you. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to use you. What do you have? Those 340,000 men, I'm going to use them. Your sword, I'm going to use it. Your commands as a general, I'm going to use that. I'm going to deliver the Philistines into your hands. You're going to fight the battle. You're going to attack them front on. You're going to march your army straight into that valley of giants against this great Philistine army. This is the entire Philistine army. You're going to march right against them and I'm going to give you the victory. Imagine marching against them and not having that promise from God. You see, you do certain things and small things in your life. In small things, we do not inquire of God. I promise you, you will not seek God in the big things if you don't do it in small things. If you seek God earnestly about things that most people say, sure, that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you do there. If you don't tremble and say, God, I don't want to do my own will. What am I talking about? I'm talking about marriage, moving house, changing jobs, getting very personal, aren't we? Schooling, your children, and a thousand other things. How earnestly do you seek God over the smallest things? Buying a new car. Oh yes, Lord, just help me. Do you know where I've got all my good books from over the years? I'd walk into a bookshop. I'm not just searching. I mean it with all my heart. I'd be there going, oh please God, have the right book on the right shelf, second hand, 10p. And I'd ask him to guide me. You will not believe how God's guided me concerning old dusty secondhand books that have blessed me and spoken to me. I actually believe God moves in things like this. I don't want to even go into a secondhand Christian bookshop looking for old 10p books without God's hand being on it. I don't want that. I want him in everything. I want him moving in everything I do. I don't want to be buying a 10p book because it's a good deal to sit on my shelf. I'm saying, Lord, lead me to the right things that you want me to hear from. Most people think I'm crazy, but I want to tell you this is a condition of the heart. When you see David at a Dullam, you're seeing a certain kind of heart. In the past few days, I've encountered two men who recently changed their mind on a fundamental doctrine. One of them said, I believed like you did from when I first got born again. But over the past two months, I've changed that and he's involved with going very public with that or that teaching that he's now helped to promote. That is a terrible thing. Do you know what truths have been revealed to me? I didn't preach for 20 years. Much of what I preach, I've sat on, worked through, made a reality in my life for 20 years, 30 years. I mean, messages I had 30 years ago, I never preached them anywhere. They sat, they grew, they enlarged within me and then I preached them. You need to be very, very careful. You know what about ministry and the church? You want to be spirit led. Do you care about doing the right thing in the will of God or do you just want to encounter the enemy? I'm fighting the Lord's battle. I'm fighting the devil. I'm in the house of God. I've got God's people around me. I'm doing the right thing. I'm saying the right thing. But does God want you there? You know, one of the things we encountered with this church was music. There was once I can remember down the road in 74 and there was a bit of hustle and bustle and I look over and I heard the story later. Here comes a guy who hadn't been in the church very long and he begins to wrestle. I think it was with Paul over the tambourine. The tambourine went back and forth like this. He'd leaned over inspired by the worship and he says, give me the tambourine. Was it Paul? Yeah. Oh, you were trying to take it off him. He picks it up. That's why we hide everything now. So anyone coming in from the outside, they don't go, that's, oh, no one's using that. Let me use it. So he picked it up, started using it. Paul tries to retrieve it in the midst of the worship service and he informs Paul, he says, no, it's okay. It's the anointing. It's the anointing. I'm being inspired. It's okay. Do you know what? That guy didn't have a note in his head. You do not want him playing a tambourine in the service. Lots of people feel inspired. They feel what they do is good. Why not ask someone? I was only asked once to play the tambourine in a house meeting many years ago, I think about 30 years ago. The brother on the guitar in the house meeting and he forced it on me. I didn't know I could play the tambourine. It was a new experience for me. I certainly had faith and desire and ability. And so he says, do it. And I said, no, no, no, no. He thought I was being humble. And he said, no, you do it. I started and we begin to worship God. I loved it. The best five minutes of my life. And then as he kept on strumming, he leaned across to me, tapped me in the shoulder and says, I think we're going to leave the tambourine. I was devastated. I've never picked up a tambourine since that time. You know, a lot of people think they're in the will of God because of a thing. It sounds good to me. Why not ask someone else? We were in a situation once with Candice. She was a music teacher, one of the most gifted in the country. Very able, very noted. And some friends of ours decided their daughter was extremely gifted and we got invited to the house. They invited the whole family to this audition because they just knew what's going to happen. And so the family members sat down to play the piano and they want to hear what Candice is going to say as a godly Christian lady. And so when it finished, all the eyes turned. It was one of the most awful things I ever heard in all my life. And I thought, how in all the world is Candice going to get out of this? All of the eyes, every single one of them just turned like this and began looking at her, smiling. Well, I won't tell you what she said, but she was the most diplomatic lady to get out of that unscathed, never having committed herself, but without being hurtful either. Saints of God, I'm telling you, there's a specific will of God. We're told in verse 20, and David came to Baalpearsim. He come to this place and there is a move of God through them. God is using what you have. God can at times use what you have. But if you think that's always the way it is, I've got this, I can do this, my gifting for God. If you're locked into thinking God will always use your gifting, oh, the thing God gave me, I'm going to use it for God. What if he doesn't want to use it? He may want to use it this time. And he did with David. Lord, will you? Yes. Go use your gifting. Go use your army. Didn't say that to Gideon, didn't he? He says, that army's too big. You'll take the glory. But in this case, it was fine. He didn't shrink that army back. And here you have, when they came to the battlefield, it says that God broke forth like a breach of waters. There was a mighty flood. It was a work of God, but it's God working through them. And you know what? They routed the enemy. It was their army. It was their abilities. It was their commands. It was their sword. But it's the Lord breaking out. It's a terrible thing when you hear preachers and ministries and churches that fight the Lord's battle against heresy, and they think they've done it. Or they evangelize, and they think they have done it. You know what David said? He said, the Lord broke through. Oh, but he used you, didn't he? It's your gifts, your abilities. David wouldn't touch it. He said, the Lord done this. It was the Lord using what we had. Because you know what? What we have is nothing. People boast in their giftings and their numbers and their ministries. God help you. God help you if you ever boast in that camera. I think the thing will burn up. Fire will come out of heaven. I don't want to stand near that camera if you think anything of it. Do you know what? You have a real warfare going on, a bold frontal attack. This is God's blessing upon your ministry, and yet David wouldn't take the glory. Third and finally, say, that was a long time to get to the battle. It sure was. The Philistines were defeated. They left their idols. God's people went in and burnt the idols. Don't just defeat the enemy and take their idols. Destroy their idols, burn them. Third and finally, so what did we say? Find a stronghold, seek the will and mind of God. Thirdly, wait upon a move of God. They've defeated the Philistines. Their army has done this. Their hand has done this. David has done this. He prayed through. He got the mind of God. He went to Adullam. Verse 22, and the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephian. They come back again. They come back again within a very short time. What's David going to do this time? Is he going to march out again against them? Look at verse 23. And when David inquired of the Lord, you know what he done? He went right back. Why not do what God told you to do before? God told you to go and fight them. But here's David going back and saying, Lord, I'm inquiring. I'm praying. What do you want me to do now? What would you have me to do the second time? That shows that David wasn't just following a ritual. You know, some of you learn something and you live by that for 30 years. God could have changed his mind 20 years ago and you're still following this old worn out thing. God told me to do this. You never went back and sought God in every situation, for every trip, for all that you're doing, for all that's going on. You pray through once and you think, I heard from God. And you build a little statue there. It becomes a sacred idol. You talk about that. You've never moved on with God. You do not have a contemporary up-to-date relationship with God. You're living off a past experience. And so the enemy comes again. You go, I'll just do the same thing. We can defeat the enemy. How dangerous. David immediately, he was so small in his own eyes. Numbers meant nothing. A past victory meant nothing. That he went back and he inquired of the Lord again. And he said, this is God saying to him, thou shall not go up. How can God say a different thing? In this first situation, it's two exact same situations. It's the Valley of Giants, the Valley of Rephaeum, the armies of the Philistines. It's exactly the same. What is there to change if you walk with God? You know what the issue is, is hearing from God, walking with God, obeying God. It's exactly the same situation. And you're thinking, you think, I've learned how to do this. Then you know nothing. Because you know what? You're more interested in the Christian life, strategies of ministry, than God himself, than walking with God and intimacy and fellowship. You know what prayer does? It makes you dependent on God. You think you know what to do with this. You know, that was the sin of Eve. God speaks to her. I know how to do this. I can make my own decisions. God wanted her to depend on him and Adam every step of the way. But we learn a Christian relationship. I know all the teachings. I know all the doctrines. I know all the strategies. I can evangelize. I don't need it. What if the Lord doesn't want you on the high street? Oh, that's impossible. Of course he does. How do you know? There's some people not on high streets. They ought to be there and they'd miss God because they're not listening to God. God says go to the high street. They've never went. They're not there because they're not listening to God. There's other people who are out there. They shouldn't be out there. They need to get off the streets. You know why they're still there? Because they're not listening to God. They actually think evangelism is evangelism is evangelism. Then you know nothing. You actually know nothing. A preacher who says, I'm always going to travel. One of the hardest things I heard was 10 years ago, an old prophet of God, man of God, he got a prophecy for me. I just had my 40th birthday and he wrote to me. He says, the spirit of God's told me you won't always fly. Told Candice, well, that's maybe for 20 years down the road. It's not for today. It was just before this church started and I canceled all my flights. But here's a man of God who before a thing happens can say, this is what God is saying. Thus saith the Lord. Well, I took his little slips. Thank you very much, Ivor. You've been a hundred percent correct all these years, but this time I'll put it in here because it's obviously for 20 years down the road, 30 years down the road. And it was only after that happened, we started this church and I canceled all my trips from Ukraine to Australia. I suddenly went, hold on. That man of God gave me a word. Do you know what? I love being in planes, love going preaching, love traveling from church to church, but I don't listen to God and do the will of God. What do you do? Can I ask you, what do you do? God tells them, no, you're not to go out like last time. I'm going to do something different. God, have you changed your mind? No, I'm dealing with a man. I'm dealing with a person. It doesn't matter how this is done, but I'm dealing with you. I'm dealing with this church. And you know what? We don't fall into ritual when you walk with God. You never know what's going to happen next. It's exciting to walk with God. It's scary to walk with God because you're not following an ABC. You're walking with deity. You're walking with the God who knows everything. And you know what? You don't know how to do this. As soon as you learn how to do ministry, you're in serious trouble. You're in grave danger because you're acting without God. I am scared coming to this pulpit here this morning. You know, last night before I went to bed, I went to turn my computer off and a glitch happened and I lost all my notes from the whole day. Everything is gone. When it's got to be there somewhere, it's not there. And I said, I'm going to bed. I need my sleep. But one thing I've learned over the years is I can trust God. If that had to be lost, praise God. We'll just go back. I'll go back and read the scriptures first thing in the morning. Pray that God just helps me. I don't have time. I don't have time. But I did pray. I did cry out to him yesterday and I rely upon him. What does God say? No, I want you to do this. I want you to go in around the back of the Philistines. That would look cowardly. We've got an entire army. I'm a man of courage. I kill glass. But you want me to go around the back, skirting in around like a criminal. Yes, that's what I want you to do. And once you go around there and you're behind the enemy, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, this is nothing. You're talking about a great battle and you're there listening. God's told you one thing. I want you, this is the key to it. I want you to listen for a sound in the mulberry trees. Some of you say that's crazy. Like the man who was told with his leprosy, go down, dip seven times in Jordan. I'm not doing that. It's a dirty river. It's a despicable river. I won't do that. I thought you were going to wave your hand over me. I thought you were going to break a curse or something over me. You want me to wash in a dirty river and dip seven times? Not a chance. You could miss God. I want you to go behind the enemy, off the battlefield, not facing the enemy. I want you to go and just sit there and you're going to listen. This is what I want you to do. You're going to depend on me. I'm talking about how to overcome and possess the valley of chance. You want to know how to do that as a church, as a ministry, as the people of God. You're going to find yourself listening for wind blowing in the mulberry trees. Do you know they grew to be about 15 meters tall. Their leaves are green and shiny and are about 20 centimeters. Each leaf is about 20 centimeters long. You have to go there and just sit and listen for this going. You know what the Lord says, don't bestow yourself, don't get ready for battle, don't do anything until you hear this. You see the first time it's about ministry. God using your ministry, what you have. It's not now. Do you know this second time is all about God working, not working through you, not blessing you, not using you. This second time's got nothing to do with that. God is going to do it. You know why it's revival now. This is revival. There's a big difference between God blessing ministries and giving them success and God sending revival. Saints of God, we need revival in this hour and you're going to sit still and you're going to have to think differently than previous times. And as David listened, he heard a going in the tops of the mulberry tree. You know what that means? A marching. Oh, it's only a wind you're hearing. No, I'm hearing a marching. I'm hearing an entire spiritual army. I'm hearing the armies of heaven march. Do you know what I've listened for since I was five years old? I mean, intently listened for a revival that I know is going to come. It's a biblical revival. It's a revival. He spoke to me when I was five years old about a coming revival. I have had my ear inclined, waiting, waiting, waiting, looking. I'm waiting for a certain sound when the armies of heaven begin to march. And you know what the Lord says, don't you bestow yourself. Don't get ready. Don't go out into the battle this time because see this battle. It's going to be me marching. It's going to be my armies and that thou bestow thyself for them. Then shall the Lord go out before they not with the, before they, you're going to have this marching, invisible spiritual army is going to march out. You are not going to defeat the Philistines this time. It's not going to be me blessing your ministry. It's not going to be me using you, but I am going to send an army before you. You are going to see the armies of hell destroyed. And yet it's not you. You're going to be very conscious. You haven't even engaged the armies and yet the Lord's going to defeat them. And please don't act until there are signs that God is moving. Oh, that God would stir us again and send us a mighty revival. Since we need it in the church of this generation, but there's got to be a people who inquire of the Lord. And you know what? I believe we're in an hour where we're again going to face the valley of the giants, the valley of refugee. And as soon as the devil sees anything happening amongst God's people, as soon as the anointing of God comes again and unity comes again, and we begin to march again and build an army again, do you know what's going to happen? We are about to in the days ahead, see the greatest onslaught of hell, the biggest, greatest marching of the demonic Philistines against the church of God. A battle the like of which we have never seen. There's too much civil war at the minute, but there is coming a battle because you know what? The anointing of God will come like it's never come. And there's going to be a collision course. And I'm instructing you, you better know how to fight this battle and engage the army because we only get one chance. And if we do the right thing, maybe we'll get two chances. And what started as God blessing us could move into a sovereign revival of God, where God takes the field and dashes the powers of Satan, the giants before us. We are literally going to see it, where it's not just God blessing our ministry and blessing our evangelism and blessing our preaching, but because we inquire of the Lord and wait upon the Lord and seek the Lord and go back to the cave of Dullam and humble ourselves radically, we're going to see a sovereign move of God once again. Please stand with me this morning.