Merry Christmas, Get Ready to Brawl

6 · The pastor explains the function of Daniel 10: it interrupts the visions to address Daniel's weakness and fear, providing strength for his task

So what we should be asking is, well, why is chapter 10 here? In many ways, chapter 10 feels like an interruption from all these visions. We pause all the visions and we stop and we zoom in on Daniel and we see that he is well. He's trembling, he's fearful. He doesn't think he can go on. He has seen these horrors of the visions. He's seen the raging beasts of the nations. And then he's seen his own heart and the hearts of God's people. And he sees, oh, my goodness, it's terrible. And he gets to this point that he almost doesn't think he can continue. And so chapter 10 is a pause to the visions that Daniel might come to strength for the task that God has called him to. And in the same way, God wants to help us come to strength.

7 · The pastor directly addresses anyone feeling like Daniel—'I have no strength'—and assures them that God desires to use this text to strengthen them for their specific task

Maybe you've come in today and you're saying, listen, I don't know what's going on with Daniel, but when he says, I have no strength, which he Sundays, I think four times in the space of a few verses, I have no strength, no strength, no strength. Maybe you're like, yep, I can relate to that. At least. I've never been in a lion's den. But I have also been on the floor thinking, I have no strength. Maybe you feel that today. Well, brothers and sisters, good news is here that the Lord desires to use this text to strengthen you for the task at hand.

8 · The pastor announces the sermon's main point and structural outline: first, what we only glimpse (why we lack strength), then what the Lord speaks to strengthen us

So the main point is this. Seeing a glimpse of what God sees strengthens us for the fight. Seeing a glimpse of what God sees strengthens us. Now, we're going to see first A in section one, what we only glimpse. We're only going to be able to see a little bit behind the curtain. But we're going to see essentially why we lack strength, why it is often so difficult. And then the second half will be what the Lord speaks into that difficulty to strengthen us. So first, what we only glimpse.

9 · The pastor reads Daniel 10:4-8, describing the glorious angelic figure that appeared to Daniel—clothed in linen and gold, face like lightning, voice like a multitude—and Daniel's response of trembling and losing all strength

Now look at verse four, if you would, with me. What do we glimpse? Well, verse four. On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river that is the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and behold a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from UFOs around his waist. His body was like barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning. His eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze. And the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone, saw the vision. For the men who were with me did not see the vision. But a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength.

10 · The pastor identifies the figure as an angelic messenger (not the Son of Man from Daniel 7) and explains that ancient messengers dressed to reflect the glory of the king they represented—so this messenger's glorious appearance reveals God's power and holiness

Now, the first thing we see in this text, the glimpse we get is a glimpse of the power and holiness of God. Because this figure, you may at first go, oh, it's God. It's Jesus. It's the Son of man. No, it's actually not the same figure as the Son of man in chapter seven. This is an angelic messenger. But this angelic messenger is described in glorious and fearful detail for a particular purpose. The messenger of a king would bring or would exemplify a glimpse of the glory of the king he represented and his coming kingdom. That's why the messengers were always dressed like their kingdom with fancy clothes. Because you were meant to conclude, well, if this guy is fancy, if he's wearing, you know, gold chains, the king must be rich. If he's strong, the kingdom must be strong.

11 · The pastor uses his experience visiting the replica Oval Office at the Bush Presidential Library to illustrate how a lesser representation (the replica) points to the weight and gravity of the greater reality (the actual presidency)

Or think of it this way. I have never been to the actual Oval office in Washington, D.C. i've been waiting to come of age to run for president. No, I'm just kidding. That's not true. My friends are like, that would not be great. But despite having never been to the actual Oval Office, I have been to the fake one. I've been to a fake one at the Bush Presidential Library outside of Dallas. And let me just say this. I found the experience actually really moving. More so than I expected. I expected, okay, we're gonna see what it's like. You know, we're gonna see some mementos. But they set you up in this presidential library to understand the moment and the. What was going on in the world during those Bush years. And then you finally kind of come around the corner and you arrive at a recreation of the Oval Office in that particular administration. And the history nerd in me just freaked out because. Guys, guys, listen. If you're a fellow history nerd like me, it's the chair. It's the chair and the desk and the phone. I don't know why, but the phone was like, it's the phone. And here's the best part. You can sit in the chair. I mean, you have to wait your turn, but you can sit in the chair and answer the phone. And of course, it's fun. It's fun. But it's funny that there settles upon you as you see that it settles upon you. Oh my goodness. This is a fearful task. This is a. Like you feel the weight of the presidency just a little bit, which is the whole point, the exhibit.

12 · The pastor argues that Daniel was trembling at the wrong things—nations raging, God's people's sin—when he should have been awed by God's glory

And yet the lesser points you toward the greater right. Similarly In Daniel chapter 10, the lesser the angel who himself is glorious, who himself. He is awe inspiring, he's fearful, he's gleaming, he's powerful. His voice sounds like an entire army chanting at once. And Daniel goes, oh my goodness, that's just the messenger. This isn't even the Lord. This is just his messenger. Now what are we meant to conclude from that? We are meant to conclude that Daniel who is so fearful and is so, so, so sort of, if you read verses one through three, so lacking strength for the visions that he's seeing, for the reality of the nations raging, the reality of the, the sinfulness of God's people. The Daniel who's trembling at those truths is actually trembling at the wrong thing. He's awed and overcome by the wrong thing. In fact, the glory of God should be the reality that has him odd. The glory of who God is should be the thing at the forefront of his mind. He's actually trembling at the wrong thing. He's trembling at the nations and what's going to happen and the chaos. And the Lord gives him just a glimpse, just the tiniest glimpse and he goes, oh, oh my, this is the reality that should be defining my vision.

13 · The pastor applies the principle to the congregation: glimpsing God's power and holiness resets our worries (like a check engine light at Christmas) by putting them into proper perspective against the greater reality of who God is

And similarly it works in the same way with us. We glimpse the power and holiness of God and it resets what we're worried about, doesn't it? All of a sudden that, that, oh my gosh, that check engine light. I hate check engine lights. I. If I finally meet the guy who designed the check engine light, I'm going to have some words with him. Because there's nothing worse than seeing a check engine light go on. Especially at Christmastime, just like I just bought all those presents and now the check engine light, right? All of a sudden that gets put into perspective when you realize, oh my gosh, this world is so much bigger. The reality of who God is, that actually that's what should be defining my view of life right now.

14 · The pastor signals a shift from the first glimpse (God's holiness) to the second glimpse (evil opposition)

Second thing we get a glimpse of is not just the glimpse of God himself, but second we glimpse evil opposition.

15 · The pastor reads Daniel 10:13 and identifies the 'prince of Persia' as a demonic power (not a human ruler) that withstood the angel for 21 days, requiring Michael's intervention

So look at verse 13. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia. And I came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the Latter days. So we don't. We don't know much about this figure, the prince, the ruler of Persia. But we do know it's not the physical flesh and blood ruler of Persia. It is some demonic power based in Persia, maybe behind the monarchy in Persia. And we later will see in verse 20 that there's another demonic power behind Greece or one of the powers behind Greece.

16 · The pastor argues that Daniel 10 reveals a level of opposition beyond what Daniel has already seen (Babylonian culture, raging rulers, internal sin)—demonic powers engaged in holy warfare

We get this glimpse of evil opposition that. Look, we've seen different kinds of opposition to Daniel. We've seen the flesh and blood opposition of Babylonian culture. We've seen the rulers who rage against God that are flesh and blood. We've also seen the evil inside human hearts, right? And those are all fearful, right? It's scary. The culture assimilates us, the culture bashes on us. The sinfulness in our own hearts we war against. But it's like this passage goes, listen, you don't even know the half of it. It's way worse out there than you even think. There are demons out there. And you're like, oh, my goodness. Okay, great. Well, that. I'm not even as worried now about Nebuchadnezzar. If there's a demon king out there and what it's doing is, it's helping Daniel go, listen, the Lord is giving him a glimpse of the holy warfare going on in the world around him.

17 · The pastor reads Daniel 10:20-21 and identifies the messenger as both messenger and warrior, noting that Michael fights alongside him

Because look down at verse 20, he says. Then he said, do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the Prince of Persia. And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is none who contends by my side against these, except Michael, your prince. So again, we're meant to go, okay, wait, so this guy somehow is not just a messenger, he's a warrior. And there's another warrior out there and probably a bunch more warriors. And we're meant to go, okay, we're not meant. Let me just say this. We are not meant with this passage to go, okay, now we're gonna just lose ourselves in weird, speculative demonology, angelology. I had somebody after the first service that was like, so, yeah, so somebody gave me a list of all the major angels and the sub angels and the demons and the sub demons. And they've mapped it out. And then I just asked them, well, is that in the Bible? And they're like, well, no. But this guy said he figured it out. If it's not in the Bible, we're not meant to have it, right?

18 · The pastor explains the purpose of the glimpse: not to fuel speculation, but to explain why the world is so difficult

So we're not meant to leap from here out into the wild blue yonder of strange speculative demonology. Because look what the Lord's doing. He's not giving us the whole map of all the battles of everyone who's there and what the war looks like. I don't even know how these guys fight, Right? What does it look like for an angel demon to fight? I don't know. No idea. Right? The Lord is not giving us all that. What's he doing? He's giving us a glimpse. So then you should be asking, well, why is he giving us a glimpse? Why is this here? It's not to cause us to scratch our heads. It's not to cause us to speculate. Instead, it's here to do a couple things. One, to explain why the world around us is so difficult. Look, there are many times that we look at things around us and we sense not just evil out there, but evil with a capital E. It feels like the work of God is just being opposed at times because it is, right. It feels like, man, it is so hard for me to choose to follow the Lord in this area of life. This addiction I'm struggling to break. I know that there's biological things and other things, but it just feels like, man, there's almost like a force. It's because there is, right? There is an evil with a capital E at work in the world around us. And we're meant to understand. Oh, partially. That is. That's one of the reasons the world is so difficult.

19 · The pastor uses the analogy of getting gas in a war zone vs

It's one of the reasons. Look, your expectations for going down to the gas station are different when you're going to Circle K and when you're going to get gasoline in a war zone, right? You expect a real different trip. And so if you're in a war zone, like, I know some of the. Some of the brothers that have deployed, right, if you're in an area that's a hot zone or a difficult zone or there's danger there, you don't just go get fuel. Like, and I wonder what Taylor Swift's latest song is. You know, your eyes are up, like, you're. You're looking around, you're ready.

20 · The pastor applies the principle: God shows Daniel the holy war not to recruit him into angelic battles, but to reframe his perspective—his earthly worries pale in comparison to the real conflict

That is what we are meant to do in. As a result of hearing this. God is trying to help Daniel. Look, it is understandable. You're not crazy. There is evil with a capital E opposing you. There is a holy warfare going on all around you. And notice this. He doesn't ask Daniel to, like, get involved in all the stuff with Michael and the Prince of Greece and all that stuff, it's almost like, look, little Daniel, you stay here, bud. We got this. Okay? Your task is over here. We're going to go do this, and that's. That should be the same with us. But why does. Then he opened the curtain a little bit to show Daniel that there is a holy war around him, to help him see. Listen, all the stuff you've been worried about. Oh, what about this? What about that? Listen, it pales in comparison to the real conflict going on.

21 · The pastor synthesizes the first section: the glimpse of God's holiness and the holy war is meant to get us into 'ready stance'—to be strong in the Lord

So in summary, what should this glimpse be doing in our Christian lives? Well, this glimpse, I believe, is there to get Daniel into ready stance, A ready stance, and to get us as Christians into a ready stance to peek behind the curtain to see the reality of who God is, to see the reality of the holy warfare around us, that we might be strong in the Lord. In fact, this encouragement, again, to be strong occurs in Daniel 10. And it's the exact same call that we get In Ephesians chapter 6 when we get another glimpse behind the curtain. Perhaps Ephesians 6 is the best known section on spiritual warfare in scripture, but the armor of God, right? You guys are familiar with that? What's the summary command over the army of God, Be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might, meaning when the Lord opens the curtain to help us see the reality of spiritual warfare around us, the call is, stand up, guys. Be strong, be ready.

22 · The pastor tells a personal story about his karate training: on day one, he expected to learn kicks and board-breaking, but instead learned stance

Look, the. This may come as a surprise to many of you, but I am trained in karate. I did. I took some of you disbelief. But I will meet you in the backyard after the service. Now, that would actually be not recommended by my back doctor and pain specialist. I took three years of karate as an early teen to kind of mid teens. And I remember being really excited about taking karate, being inspired by all the martial arts movies my dad let me watch, which may have been unwise, I don't know. But I was excited about it. And I assumed that on day one, I'm assuming day one at karate, you learn the good stuff. You're learning spinning kicks. I'm assuming I'm gonna be breaking a board by the end of this first class, right? I mean, everybody's always breaking boards on tv. I'm breaking a board today. I'm showing up to class, I got my outfit and I'm ready to roll. And we did not learn how to break boards. We did not learn how to punch. We did not learn how to kick. We didn't even learn the defensive stuff. We didn't learn how to block on the first day. Do you know the main lesson of day one in karate? And actually, I've talked to a number of martial arts guys that say this is the same lesson that you get in day one of nearly every other martial art. You know what the lesson is? How to stand. Because what they'll walk you through when you sign up for the martial art is this. If you're standing like this, you can get pushed over from any direction. I mean, it takes a five year old to, you know, to knock you over this way or that. If you're standing like this, you're going to get knocked over. But if you back up and stand in a ready position, man, it's going to be real hard to dislodge you. I mean, and I saw little guys hold out against really big strong dudes if they just kept their heads and kept stayed in fighting state stance. It's real hard, it's really hard to get at somebody who's in the correct ready stance.

23 · The pastor argues that Daniel 10 teaches us to get into ready stance

This text, Daniel 10 is given to us as Christians and given to Daniel that we might get into ready stance. I think too many Christians are too easily surprised by life. Too many Christians are too easily knocked around by life. They are that. Wait, something bad happened. What? Right? Parenting. The parenting is difficult. Feels like there's an opposing force. What? Right? I'm trying to live for Jesus at my job and not everybody's responding the way I want them to. What? No. If you look at Daniel 10, you realize, man, there is an entire spiritual war going on. The reality of God and the supernatural is there. There is a, an epic, eternal struggle you are in. So put your hands up and get in ready stance. Daniel. Don't be surprised. Don't be discouraged. Stand up, get in ready stance. It's the first thing we see.

24 · The pastor transitions to the second major section: what the Lord speaks clearly to strengthen us

Second, we see that in a glimpse, but we see some other truths very, very clearly because the majority of this text, the kind of, the core of this text is this angel. Notice this pausing what he is doing in holy warfare to come encourage and strengthen Daniel for his task. Right. Could you imagine he's fighting demon king, spirit power things. And look, if I'm, if I'm calling it, I'm going, okay? Is it more important for Daniel to be encouraged or for you to keep fighting the demon guy? I'm going to go ahead and say you should just stay where you are. But that's not what the Lord does. In fact, the Lord pulls him from the front lines, as it were, to get to Daniel so that Daniel could be encouraged and so that we today could be encouraged. That's how much the Lord cares about us. The Lord is not looking down at us, going, unbelievable. How are you down there? Get up. Stop making a fool of the army of heaven. No, he goes. He goes, listen, I see you. I get it. There is. There are evil forces. It feels overwhelming. Let me strengthen you.

25 · The pastor uses the analogy of a corner man in a boxing/martial arts match—encouraging, instructing, keeping the fighter focused—to illustrate what the angel is doing for Daniel and what the Lord does for us

The angel, in a sense, is like the corner man in a boxing match or the corner man in a big martial arts match at the edge of the mat, who is encouraging strengthening, saying, you've got this. You've trained for this. Keep your hands up. Don't lose your footing. Stay in ready position. He's going to come at you high. Stay like, just. That's what he's doing. That is what the Lord's doing for Daniel, and that's what he's going to do for us.

26 · The pastor signals the first of four clear truths the angel speaks to strengthen Daniel: you are loved

So what does he say? What is clear that can strengthen us? First, perhaps a surprising thing to hear from your corner man. You are loved.

27 · The pastor explains that 'you are loved' (repeated three times in two chapters) is extraordinary because Daniel hears it after confessing sin in chapter 9

Look, this is repeated three times in two chapters. The Lord wants Daniel to hear this and wants God's people, that's us, to hear this. This is an extraordinary truth theologically. You are loved. And what is extraordinary is when Daniel gets this encouragement first is in chapter nine, after he prays and confesses the sin of his people and his own sin. He says, my sin, I'm confessing, Lord. Then in that moment, the Lord tells him, you are loved. Now, why would that be? Well, it's not because Daniel has earned that affection. This is a moment of fear, right? It's not because Daniel was perfectly righteous. He confesses. He is unrighteous. Look, this is the core of Christianity. If you're here and you're a guest and you're. Maybe church is not always a thing you do, but you came with somebody for Christmas. Here's what I really want you to understand. Christianity. The core of Christianity is not merit, but grace and mercy. The core of Christianity is not that Daniel did well enough to earn God's love. The core of Christianity is that Daniel confesses, I'm a sinner, and God, in his mercy, pours out his love for him. And this is what Christmas is all about, that Jesus Christ came, the God man, that he might die in the place of sinners so that he'd cover their sin and they would. They would receive not the wrath of God, but the affection and love of God, right? That is why Daniel can be loved because of the great mercy of God.

28 · The pastor uses a personal story of his father's encouragement during childhood sports failures to illustrate how hearing 'you are loved' puts strength back into us when we're weak and failing

And here's a good thing about that. When you are weak, when you are faltering, when you are failing. Is not that one of the best things? One of them. One of the best things to hear that puts strength back into your body. Look, there were so many times as a kid I was just bad at sports. I just tried all of them. Similarly bad at all of them growing up. But there were times my dad would encourage me and say, like, mijo, you're doing great. I love you. I'm proud of you. And that did way more than anything else would have done to get me back in the basketball game. Like, okay, I'm not doing great, but my dad loves me, so let's go right back in. That's what the Lord's doing for us.

29 · The pastor explains the second truth: 'fear not' (said twice in Daniel 10)

Second, not just you are loved. You have no reason to fear. He says fear not twice here. Fear not is one of the most common commands in all of scripture. And notice this. This call to fear not is not a call to pretend that nothing bad is going on and just to try to get fear out. No, no, no. Fear not is actually a call to respond to the reality of chapter 10. And here's what I mean by that. There are evil, difficult, brutal forces in the demonic realm. And in the earthly realm, there is your sin fighting against you internally. But there is one far stronger than any demonic power, far stronger than any worldly power, and far stronger than even your own sin. And it is the Lord himself. And that, friend, means you don't need to fear because the strong man is on your side, right? The stronger victor and warrior stands with you. Look, you may be intimidated as you survey life and survey even this glimpse of holy warfare around you, but remember who stands with you. This. This ain't. Can you imagine the feeling of. Of. Of Daniel realizing this guy is just the messenger and he's on my side? Like Daniel is seeing Nebuchadnezzar. He's seen these great kings. He's seen all of them in their glory. They don't even compare to this angel. This angel has lightning crackling over his body. His voice sounds like an army of armies. And Daniel's going, oh, you know what if he's with me, and he's not even God, but God just sent him, and God is with me. I have no reason to fear. Let's go. All right, bring it on, man. What you got, Prince of Persia? Let's go. My buddy's gonna beat you up, right? And that's. That's the energy here.

30 · The pastor explains the third truth: you have strength

3. You have strength. You are loved. You have no reason to fear, and you have strength. I love this. We could spend a whole time on this. But I just want you to notice that, that there's this strange interplay in chapter 10 between the angel saying, daniel, be strong, and then strengthening him, and then Daniel saying, but I have no strength. And then the angel's like, I'm going to give you strength, right? So it's this strange interplay between Daniel saying repeatedly, I think it. I wrote down four times, he says, I have no strength. I have no strength. I have no strength. I have no strength. And that is matched by four times it's referenced, that he gets strength. He gets strength. He gets strength. He gets strength. Now, why is that there? Because the storehouse of strength is not Daniel's. The Lord is causing Daniel to be strengthened with a storehouse of strength that is not his, but rather is the Lord's. So you may, Daniel, you may like Daniel, look at your strength gauge today. And you may go, yeah, it's not looking great. You know, those are those cars that are new that will tell you you have 10 miles until you have to fill up. You have eight miles, you have five miles, and then two miles. It's like, Darrell, what are you doing? Be reasonable, Darrell, right? Maybe you're there, maybe you're in the. Yeah, I got nothing. I'm just driving this thing into the ground. Now, friend, there is an endless storehouse of divine strength that is on your side, not because of your merit, but because of God's mercy. And in that, the Lord says, be strengthened and last.

31 · The pastor introduces the fourth truth: you have a trustworthy word (to be developed more next week)

Not only do you have all this, as we're going to see much more next week, you have a trustworthy word, you have a guide, you have sight. Even though you may not know which way is up, which way is down, you may not know how to navigate through world history, you may not even know, Daniel, how to navigate the next week of your life. But here's the good news. The Lord sent this angel so that he could give Daniel a map and a prophetic revelation of his word and about who the Lord is, about who his people are, and about what is to come. Meaning God sent this angel specifically, not just to strengthen Daniel, but to give him a guide and a map that he might not be disoriented. Right? And Christians, we have this map. It's here, the one that God sent the angel to give to Daniel has been recorded for you and for me. So that as you look at your life and you're going, I don't know which way is down, which way is up. I don't know where to go next you have a guide, you have helped. You have a navigation system that is divine for your life. All right, much more we could say about that. But just want to encourage you, the Lord gives you a glimpse that you might see. Okay, all my problems are put into perspective when I see the divine, when I see the holy war, I'm called to strength.

32 · The pastor summarizes the four truths, rooting all of them in God's mercy, and identifies the intended effect: Daniel, stand up

But how are you called to strength? You're called to strength because God loves you in light of his mercy. You have no reason to fear because of God's mercy. You have strength and a storehouse of it because of God's mercy. And you have a trustworthy word and guide for life because of God's mercy. So then what's the effect? Daniel, stand up. Daniel, be strong. Daniel, rise. There's even an image in the text of him rising to his feet. And that's what the Lord wants to do for you today.

33 · The pastor applies the sermon to various specific struggles (medical, wayward children, marriage, addiction, private battles) and issues the direct command: if you've trusted Christ, be strengthened, stand up, put your hands up in fighting stance

Maybe it's a medical situation, maybe it's a personal situation. Maybe it's a wayward child. Maybe it's a conflict. Maybe it's a difficulty in your marriage. Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it is a private battle. Maybe, maybe I don't even know what it is. But only the Lord does. But whatever it is, the Lord wants you to remember if you have trusted in Christ and if his mercy defines his relationship to you because you've trusted in Christ, be strengthened. Stand up and put your hands back up in fighting stance. Maybe you're like, oh, it's not even worth it, right? I can't fight anymore. Nope, you can. Get up, friend.

34 · The pastor returns to the St

Let me end with this. As I said, I love the story of St. Nick punching Arius in the face, but I know it probably didn't happen again. I hope it did. But here's what we do know about Nicholas. We do know that Nicholas stood at the Council of Nicaea and defended the deity of Christ and the clear teaching of scripture. We do know that this man, defined by giving gifts and helping those in need and caring about the poor, wasn't the picture that we often have of him, right? Just this jolly guy that. Look, man, Santa. There's a lot of great things about Santa. Santa never looks ready for a brawl in like a Coke commercial, right? Looks like you could poke him in the stomach and he'd be like, hehe, right? And sometimes we get the picture of the Christian life. Like, well, that's just what being a Christian is. It's just trying to be positive and trying to love everyone and try to, you know, that's actually not a full picture of what it means to be a Christian. Nor is it the full picture of Nicholas, because that same guy who loved the poor, he was ready to stand up for the faith at the Council of Nicaea and say, that's wrong. The reason that story sprang up is because he opposed the teaching of areas. And he said, nope, I'm going to travel all the way from Turkey to stand here in front of you and say, no. We're holding to the word. Right.

35 · The pastor concludes with a final charge: this Christmas season, be like St

And I think we need a little bit more of that in the Christian life at times, too. Right. We need to be ready to. Yep. Care for the poor. Yep. Love. But also be strengthened. Stand up in ready stance. So my encouragement for you, brothers and sisters, is this, this Christmas season. Be like St. Nicholas. Be ready to fight the good fight.