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Well, again, good morning. Please open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 12. I'm going to look in verses 12 through 17 today and hopefully finish the chapter. Revelation chapter 12, beginning in verse 12. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent.

And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.

So the dragon was enraged. With the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Well, we've been working our way through Revelation chapter 12, a chapter that depicts this ongoing and epic struggle between good and evil, and it sets the stage for everything else that's going to come.

It gives us an understanding of the final conflict between good and evil. It will be a brief age of rage, an age of rage, the dragon's rage, that is. But you can think of good and evil as two very different worlds with different war machines, different principles, different generals, different kings.

The question I have to you this morning is: whose war machine are you part of? As we go through this and we're looking at the rage of the dragon and understanding this final conflict that is to come and the nature of it, I want you to think for a moment about whose war machine you are part of.

Revelation is very clear that there is a world that is collapsing and there is a world that is just getting started. Which do you belong? Do you belong to the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a kingdom that is just getting started, that will have no end?

Or are you part of the declining and futile kingdom of darkness that opposes Creator God and the wisdom that set the whole world and created order into motion? Well, I can tell you about humanity. You can divide humanity into two groups, biblically speaking. There is those who belong to that spirit of independence and rebellion to God, and then there are those who belong to the spirit of dependence and submission to God.

Those who walk in a way independent from God, find reasons to live their life independent of God, and in rebellion to him, find Satan as their ultimate king. He is the ruler of the world. When you live for yourself, you're really not living for yourself, by the way.

For your king, that's his nature to exalt himself. There's another king, his name's Jesus Christ. He is the embodiment of what it means to depend upon God and submit to God. He is the human perfection of that. To which do you abide? What is the Spirit pulsing through your veins?

As we read earlier, Jesus likened the groups of humanity to branches on a vine. There are those who are part of the true vine, those who abide in Him and hears His Word and abides in His Word bear much fruit. But those who are separated from Him can do nothing.

John 15. Their world, those who are in rebellion to Him, those who live independent from Him, are in a world that is shriveling, drying, and dying, and passing away. The same is happening to Satan's empire. He is losing control. And because of this, He rages. He keeps seeing over and over again His insufficiency.

And because of this, he rages. And so, this morning, as we look at this passage, we'll just pick up where we left off. And I want you to understand the rage of the dragon and why it occurs, so that you will be resolved to withstand it. If you're in Christ, you can withstand it.

We can endure it. But it's going to be through the shield of faith and the word of truth. That's how we're going to stand against his lies, his slanders, and his brutal attacks. So let's jump right in. Tell you a little bit about, we want to understand the dragon's rage and why it happens.

This is what sets the stage for the final conflict between good and evil. It's going to be the rage of the dragon. Brief age of rage. But this is why it happens. First of all, the dragon's rage is going to be ushered in by his many defeats in heaven.

You notice that, well, let me just, before I go there, let me just review. For this reason, look at this. For this reason, for what reason? Look back. Look back at what it's saying, verse 12. For this reason, looking back. Well, why are they rejoicing? Well, looking backwards, it's clear that the dragon's rage is going to be ushered in by multiple defeats.

First of all, there's the defeat that he experiences in heaven. Look at verse 7. And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old, who is called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ have come.

For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses him before our God day and night. So Satan realizes his insufficiency to take heaven by storm, and he is thrown out. So he's enraged by the defeat in heaven. But then on earth, he's also being defeated.

In verse 11, and they, speaking of the brethren, they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not. Love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice. Look at verse 12. For this reason, put yourself in a state of rejoicing or be gladdening your hearts, O heavens, and you who dwell in them.

Rejoice, be cheered, delight. And the reason, why? Well, looking back, the reason is because there is no more accuser in heaven. His final arguments are done with, insufficient, thrown out. He's done. Silence in heaven from this accuser that has been going on day and night, accusing. But the cause of rejoicing in heaven is also a cause for woe on earth.

Look down. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time. Woe, mourn. There's a cause for rejoicing in heaven, but a cause for mourning, a cause to be anxious upon the earth.

What is the reason? Well, the dragon has been dead. Defeated in heaven. He is an army in retreat. No place was found for him in heaven. So he's now on earth. He has no other place to take a stand. And he's been thrown down to earth. He's frustrated, furious, like a crazed madman.

He doesn't give up the battle. He couldn't conquer heaven, couldn't devour the child. And so he is cast down. He is in the sunset of his power. He knows it. This is his last opportunity to make a statement against God. Now, up until this time, the earth has been experiencing the wrath of God.

And now, as our texts say, they're about to experience the wrath of the dragon, the devil, Satan. Maybe appropriate to take a little bit of a difference. There's two different words there. There is the wrath of God and there is the wrath of Satan. One thing about the wrath of God is it's calculated, it's controlled, it has a purpose.

And so far, we've seen in Revelation, he is slow in metering out his judgments so that people could come to him. It is not God's wrath. Is one of punishment, judgment. It's controlled. It has a purpose and a good purpose in mind. Satan's is the opposite. It's emotional.

It's the kind of, it's the description of a hot-headed individual who is just in a rage, couldn't get his way, and now he is in a rage and he's starting throwing a tantrum. It's like a crazed maniac. It's emotional. It's not rational. It's destructive. That's the anger of men.

That we're warned not to, that never brings about the will of God. And sometimes we get to telling ourselves, yeah, I have anger, but it's a righteous anger. I'd say most of the time it's this kind of emotional response that doesn't bring about the righteousness of God. But God's wrath does.

God's is one of purpose. It is control. It is not about expressing itself. It's about setting things in order and doing what's right and good. Big difference. But you think about what's happening on the earth and a reason to pity earth. These people are going to have suffered the wrath of God, his indignation, and expressions of that indignation.

And now they're going to experience the fury, the furious reaction and backlash of one who couldn't get his way. That's the dragon's rage in verse 12. So the dragon's rage is going to be ushered in by his defeats in heaven and on earth. But second, the dragon's rage is going to be furthered by his failure to destroy the woman.

Look back at verse 13. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the child. I love the language here. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down, when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down.

Let me ask you something. Take you into the world of kickboxing for a little bit. Let's just suppose for a moment that I wanted to become a kickboxing champion. And let's suppose, let's suppose the reason is because I am been watching. This kickboxing champion of the world, and I want what he has.

I want to step into the arena like he steps into the arena, and I want the applause that everybody gives him when he puts somebody down. And not only that, I want the fame, and I want a little bit of the money that he gets. That's what I want.

So finally, one day I just say, okay, you know what? I'm going for it. I'm stepping into the ring with the champion. Think that's a wise move? Probably not. But suppose it happens. Now, suppose as we stand there and I'm ready to go, and I see him coming at me, and the next thing I know, I wake up in an emergency room, and there's doctors looking all down upon me, and I see lights.

What do you think happened? Talk to me. I didn't even see it coming. And then I wake up and I realize what had happened. Oh, I got kicked in the head. Well, that's kind of the language here. And when the dragon saw that he was, when he came to, one commentator expresses it like this: his expulsion from heaven was.

The instantaneous act of a vastly superior force. That's what happened. He was insufficient to take on Michael and his angel, and the contest was over quickly. And then, when this dragon woke up and realized he was thrown down, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the child.

That would be like me saying, okay, waking up in the ER and saying, that's it. I know his mother's only 99 pounds. I'm going to go after her. And I go off taking after the woman. I'm still going to spike this champion by going after his mother. Well, that's basically what happens.

Since the dragon couldn't overwhelm heaven and dethrone Christ and devour the child, he turned in his rage, in this emotional response, and he turned his aggression upon the woman. Perhaps out of spite, just out of anger, a place to vent his anger, or maybe he's trying to protect some of God's promises that are still to come to Israel.

He's still in the rage. But it's not calculated. You've got to understand, this is a rage. This is the reaction. He's not going to be able to feed the child, and he knows it. So he takes out his aggression, vents his fury upon the woman. But look what happens.

God protects the woman. Look at verse 14. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for a time and times and a half a time from the presence of the serpent.

God's protection of the woman, we've already talked about the woman, Israel represents Israel. And I believe unrepentant Israel at this point, but an Israel that's not going to go on with worshiping the beast. God's protection of the woman is seen in the gift of an organized and speedy and effective retreat from the presence of the serpent and the dragon.

It's interesting how the name changes. Verse 14, from the presence of the serpent. Later it's going to be the dragon. These names are being interchanged: dragon, serpent, devil. And I think there is a purpose for this. But what happens is just as the child was. Was put out of reach of the dragon, so the woman is put out of the reach of the dragon.

But keep in mind, God has prepared a place for her, swift, speedy flight, and she's going to be taken care of for 1,260 days. Times, time, and a half a time. We already know it's 1,260 days because it says so in verse 6. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days.

So what's happening here is between verse 6 and verse 13 is the flight of the woman. In between is the war in heaven, and gives you a reason for the flight that's taking place of the woman. Again, setting the stage for this final conflict. But it's clear that the serpent's intention is to destroy, to harm the woman.

Look back at verse 15. And the serpent poured water, literally spewed out of his mouth. The serpent poured water like a river. Out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. So he's spewing forth the word for river is like a mountain torrent, like a mountain stream right after a big deluge and a rushing, powerful, mighty force.

He poured it out of his mouth after the woman, or really behind the woman, like upstream of the woman, so that it would sweep her away. This could be literal water. But I think more than likely it's depicting a military pursuit. Much like Pharaoh's, you remember when he sent his troops after Israel when they departed?

But the intent is clear: to sweep her off the land of the living, to permanently get rid of her, to destroy her. And by the way, this attempt to destroy, to sweep her away, is not a hope of gaining victory over the child. It's just an emotional and frustrated rage aimed at the woman to take out his aggression.

But notice that God protects the woman. Look at verse 16. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river, which the dragon poured out of his mouth. The earth came to the aid of the woman. The earth. It's kind of reminiscent of Pharaoh's pursuit.

In Exodus 15, 12, it describes the drowning of Pharaoh's army in these terms, in these terms. You stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them. So, even in the drowning in the Red Sea, in Exodus 15 is referring to the drowning, the earth swallowing up Pharaoh's army.

But it's also reminiscent of Korah's rebellion. You remember Korah's rebellion in Numbers 16. That was basically a rebellion that was brought about because Korah slandered. He wanted to be in the same place as Moses along with others, but mainly Korah leading the whole attempt, wanted first place in there, and the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them.

Numbers 16. And 32. So, the dragon's rage is going to be ushered in by his defeats in heaven and earth. It's going to be furthered by his failure to destroy the woman. And then, third, it's going to be aimed at Christians. Look at verse 17. So, the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and to hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Look at how he operates. Notice, and now we're back to the dragon. The dragon went off. So, think for a moment about his war machine here. He's described as the devil in verse 12. The devil's rage, he has been thrown down. And then in verse 15, he is referred to as the serpent, highlighting his lying capacity or his deception capabilities.

And here, 16, again in 17 deals with he's the dragon, his brutal cruelty. So, think about how his war machine works. First of all, he's the devil, he slanders. That's what the devil. Does. The devil slanders. He defames people. He launches accusations against them. That's how he turns people against people.

That's his weaponry. Slanderous rage against God is what brings about the fall of humanity. He is the devil. And he is serpent, highlighting his deception. So he likes to tell you lies. Get people turning against people. Turning against God, turning against each other. And it's based on deception.

Get other people to do his dirty work. That's what he does. And listen, when somebody's slandering somebody else to you, you should have nothing to do with it. You're party to the devil. You get caught up in his war machine when you start slandering yourself or being party to slandering somebody else.

But there's a dragon behind it all, armed with cruel, brutal hate. So that's what he does. Are you part of this war machine? Do you speak? Do your words speak against other people? Do you deceive? Do you want to see other people brought down? That is the dragon's war machine.

And those who lie, prefer to believe the lie, who slander, who gossip, are part of it. But look at what happens. It's going to be aimed at Christians. The dragon. If you look at the dragon, he's depicted as a beast, a governmental beast, an entity. And what is he going to do?

He's going to whisper lies, shout lies that are bringing down or aimed at slandering a certain group of people so that he can whip everyone into a lather and point the aggression at one group of people. That's the final conflict. That's going to be how the stage is set for this final conflict between good and evil.

It is going to be a war against the Lamb and specifically against the Lamb and his followers. But look at what happens. Verse 17. So the dragon was enraged with the woman. Went off. Let me stop there for a moment. Once again, notice he was defeated in heaven.

He's being defeated on earth. Now he's going to go after this woman. Let me tell you about the woman in flight. As I've already said, this is a woman who doesn't have a lot of strength. She is a bunch of refugees, probably with just the clothes on their back, probably with not very much resources to even provide for themselves, and certainly with no military capabilities.

But God helped the woman. Whatever pursuing army is unquestionably and miraculously destroyed. So the woman is put out of his reach. So the dragon was enraged, furious, even more so. He became more and more. He can't even achieve a victory over this poor, desperate, ragtag flight of refugees.

And so he went off. The word there is withdrew. He drew back and had to refocus his aggression. He went off. Verse 17: he went off to make war with the rest of her children. Children who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Now, there is an interpretive issue: who are these people? A lot has been discussed about this. Who are these people who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony of Jesus? The main ideas really boil down to two major categories. Number one, are they Gentile Christians or are they Jewish Christians?

And the answer is: they are Jewish Christians. The woman is Israel, national, ethnic Gentiles, largely stopped repenting at this time. Attention has been focused on Israel with the two witnesses. We're at Jerusalem, the flight of the woman out into the wilderness, just like they did in the first century.

It was a flight. You've got Jewish Christians. May very well best be seen as the 144,000. You've got the two witnesses. So I think it isn't excluding Gentiles, but it's certainly emphasizing and is a depiction specifically of the 144,000 and those who are holding to the testimony. Of Jesus.

So they obey. They are keeping the commandments of God and holding to the testimony of Jesus. And that is the testimony that Jesus gave, the Christ of Scripture that has reached them through the apostolic confession of who Jesus is, that has been passed on, being passed on even now as I speak, and will be continued to be passed on till this generation.

And they will hear and understand who the Christ of Scripture is, and they will hold to that testimony. That's who's in here. But one thing's clear: these are Christians, these are followers of Christ. They're the ones who have taken in and embraced the Christ of Scripture. They are the ones.

Attention is now aimed at them. So it's certainly the 144,000, the two witnesses in Jerusalem, and those who come to faith through their ministry, whether those be Jew or Gentile. But here's what's clear here, and all this clear is all the frustrated rage of the dragon is going to be redirected at the Christians.

And it will manifest itself in a worldwide war against Christians, sanctioned by government, as it has in the past. This is nothing new. So, The last conflict between good and evil comes out of an irrational, desperate, and spiteful rage rather than a calculated plan for victory. No, at this point, it's not about victory.

It's not about victory over the woman's child anymore. Satan knows he's defeated. It's not about victory over the woman or promises made to her anymore. Satan knows she is protected. The last conflict is one last spiteful expression of hatred to God. That's the rage of the dragon. And that's what sets the stage for this final conflict.

We looked at the rage of the dragon, ushered in by his defeats in heaven and on earth, be furthered by his failure to destroy the woman, and it will be aimed at Christians. I want to take a few moments to explain why it happens. We can see that it happens.

We can put together. Several reasons why it happens, but there's something I want to go a little deeper in. And you can imagine years ago, 1992, I went on a short-term mission trip to Riga, Latvia. I was to Russia and other places, but it landed me in Riga, Latvia.

And it was on that trip that I actually met Nancy. We really got to know each other a little more in Riga, Latvia. And while I was there, something unique happened to me. I don't know, I was out there part of a witnessing, somehow I got detached from the group, and I can't even remember what all the circumstances were, but I ended up in the middle of this save the Baltic Sea demonstration.

Media, national media was there, and there was this big demonstration going on. And what was taking place was they were calling attention to Hitler's retreat from the Russians in World War II. And as he came back through the Baltic Sea and through the area there, he had all this hardware, all of his military hardware, and that he didn't want falling into the hands of his enemy.

So he went out there into the Baltic Sea and just massively. Just dumped it all into the sea. Bombs and all kinds of other containers full of hazardous materials and all kinds of materials. And so I was out there and got caught up in this demonstration. And one of the big things was that they were saying that these canisters and the corrosive life or resistance time was only about 50 years on the containers that was holding these hazardous materials.

And so there was need for immediate retrieval and immediate cleanup. Well, and somebody told somebody that I was an environmental engineer from the United States. Truth be told, I was going into my senior year in the civil engineering department, environmental engineering world, and I was a student. But they left that detail off.

And before I knew it, somebody told somebody, and I was on national television. And there's something about national television there at that time is it only came on in the evening for about an hour. So everybody tuned in. And so they start asking me these really profound questions: like, is this a problem?

What's going on, you know? Going through what Hitler did and his hasty retreat and the danger to all this. And what do you think? And I'm like, I had one of those moments where time stops and you start talking to yourself. I have no idea what the first thing is about cleaning up the Baltic Sea and go through all that.

And then all of a sudden, I just respond real quickly, hmm, that's the problem. Spoken like a true expert. The next day, and I kid you not, somebody from the State Department gets in contact with me, gets in contact with our group, comes over, and I get an escort over to the State Department where somebody I was told equivalent to like the vice president, maybe not of the nation, I don't know, of the department, offers me a job.

So we need consultants like you here. We need you to be here. And so I thought for a second, I had another one of those moments where I had to pause time and think through it. And I thought to myself, you know, I haven't had the class on retrieving Hitler's undetonated bombs from the bottom of the Baltic Sea yet.

So I probably should go back to the United States and finish my degree before I. So I passed up on the opportunity. I said, I can't. Take this, so I passed up the opportunity. I passed up the opportunity to spend my life all over the Baltic states. Nobody got the joke, did you?

Boom, all over. Anyway, I was not equipped to go down and start retrieving. Yeah, I didn't. Anybody, you know, who wants to go down and retrieve Hitler's undetonated bombs? You know, I literally would spend my life all over the Baltic Sea. But here's the point: here's the point: even though he knew he was in retreat, Hitler did not want his enemy to have his military weaponry, so he disposed of it in the Baltic Sea.

Likewise, Revelation portrays the dragon's kingdom in rapid retreat. He has lost his place in heaven. He has been defeated by the saints and is being defeated by the saints. He cannot even destroy a handful of fleeting refugees. So he doubles down. You think he'd give up? No, the very nature of Satan is that he is unrepentant to the very end, hostile to the very end.

That is evil. A spirit of independence and rebellion to the very end. That's evil. Don't entertain it. Walk away from it. Repent of it with all of your heart, with all of your soul, turn to God. That's the command that Scripture is saying to you today. Don't play around.

But he doubles down. He knows he has very little time left, and he wants to keep the territory. He doesn't want any more turning to God. And he needs them anyway to make one more last spiteful statement against God. Hence, the deception. Hence, the world older. Hence, the government.

Hence, the why you can't buy and you can't sell. All of this is one last, spiteful statement against God. And so, when you see the enemy ramping up his efforts to take greater hold and control, know that this is an expression of his pending loss, not his victory.

And those who aren't informed by Scripture don't realize this. What may look like Satan's unstoppable power in the world and to the world is actually his defeat when looked through the lens of Scripture. That is, if you believe the words of Scripture. Scripture. It gives you a whole different paradigm.

The amping up, the rage is all an expression of one who is lost and is in the last moment of his desperate fight. The question is: Have you received God's word? Have you received his testimony about his son? Whose war machine are you part of? Repent. Turn away from being rebellious and independent to being dependent and submissive to God.

He is the good shepherd. Now, Satan's falls have been epic. Really, his kingdom has been falling since the very beginning, at least in the grand scheme of things. It was doomed from the beginning. It never had a hope of enduring. Satan cut himself off from the source of life.

Of course, it's going to dry and wither. It has been collapsing ever since he first revolted. And his rage is evidence that he cannot hold it back. Together. You know, we've already looked at his original fall in Isaiah 14. He's fallen from the favor of God. We've seen in Luke chapter 10 his fall under the preaching ministry of the disciples and ministry that goes on in Christ's name.

He again is cast out or experiences another epic fall at the cross. Jesus threw out Satan's claim against Christ and against Christ's people forever. And all these fails, falls, reveal that Satan's power has been diminishing from the very beginning. It has been collapsing. But he has some future falls still to come.

In fact, at this point, there's a couple more that Revelation is going to show us, using the same language. He's going to be cast out of heaven, as we've seen already in 12:9. But two more epic falls, explicitly stated in Revelation. In Revelation chapter 20, verse 1, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the abyss.

Just like he was thrown to the earth, he is again going to be thrown into the abyss. Then there's another fall, Revelation 20, 10. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. There is his permanent place. He will be again thrown.

His falls have been epic. But you ever wonder why a baby throws a tantrum when he or she doesn't get his way? It's the fall in nature. Why doesn't a baby just, you know what, that's right. Yeah, it must be good for me not to have that. Thank you, Mom, for keeping me from.

No, it's fly! Why didn't I get that? I think many of us are far more intoxicated with control than we realize. When we don't get our way, whether it's over God or whether it's others, we can easily fly into a rage. You have those emotional rages. That's characteristic of the Prince of this world.

It's not characteristic of God. Whose war machine are you a part of? How do you respond when things don't go your way? Do you have your little mini rages? Listen, let me say something. You cannot pray. Up a world that is collapsing no matter how hard you try.

The world that is characterized by independence and rebellion is coming to an end. And all of those in it, your world, if this is you seeking to be independent, I can assure you, your life and your world is withering and drying and it is going to be passed away.

But the world that is characterized by the spirit of dependence and submission to God is just beginning. There are whole new ages, ages of ages to come, because his kingdom will never end. But bringing that all back to us today, even though the rage of the dragon and evil is going to continue and may even increase, the rage will increase, his kingdom territory will not.

His kingdom is shriveling, it is drying, and it is dying. We can endure it. His loud voice against us in heaven will be silenced one day. His rage on earth will also be silenced. Yeah, we can endure, not in our own strength, because of what we sung, the shield of faith, the belt of truth.

We can turn back lies, slanderous accusations, holding to the truth of Christ's testimony, Christ of Scripture. With these, we can endure his ugliness. Meanwhile, let's live for Christ. That's why we're here. That's how the age is going to end. So, how are you going to live? Let's leave here, abiding in Christ, purposing to abide more deeply.

Let us seek to be better witnesses of Him. I pity the world that is going to suffer first the wrath of God and then the rage of Satan. Let us witness for Christ. Let us call, by the way we live and by the words that we say, people to come to Him and taste and see that the Lord is good and He will receive anybody who comes.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth of your word, Your goodness to us. Father, may we hear what you're speaking. Spirit is saying to us today, heed, turn, spawn, think differently, and thank you and live our lives abiding in you. In Christ's name, amen.