Enemy At The Gates
Boots Burnside
Enemy at the Gates is the 20th book in the Mitch Rapp series, becoming Mills 7th novel, who has had a great run since the death of Vince Flynn. I enjoy this series immensely and regularly find myself re-reading them! I have written reviews for the later books in the series as I only started the series when the American Assassin film was made! If you are interested in those reviews, then you can check them out by clicking the name of the novel, Red War, Lethal Agent, Total Power. All of the novels are something that I struggle to put down and in general I read them over a couple days (And sometimes just the 1 sitting!). The books are always a solid 7.5/10 at least, over the time that Mills has been writing he has spent a lot of time creating new characters with whom he spends most of the narrative rather than using those created by Vince Flynn. This is why I was pleasantly surprised at some of the creations and inclusions this time around for Rapp!
This book gave us new characters as per usual, with the introduction of a new president in Anthony Cook, and his wife Catherine Cook, they are placed to become the main antagonists of future novels with their role here mainly been that of oversight. It is clear from early on in the book that they have risen to power only because of the events that took place in Total Power and that they have plans together that should lead to the Cooks being in control of The White House for many years to come. This posed an interesting question to the reader as to what the title of this book truly meant whether it was a question about the literal characters who find themselves at a gate later on, or the potential enemy who is lurking in the White House for future novels. Over the course of the books, the presidents have previously always been people who are noble and have an opinion regarding terrorism and politics that led to them trying to do their best for the American people, but it is easily identifiable that the Cooks are not the same, generating intrigue from me as to how this is going to play out in the future.
1 Good morning, everybody. And happy to be back again this morning at the Tabernacle to pray for the sick people today. It's usually... We try to get in ever so often and pray for the people who come in from the different places for prayer.
And now, we will be leaving pretty soon now for the California and West Coast meetings. And we sure solicit your prayers that God of heaven will be merciful to us there and give us great services.
Just got in yesterday ... or, last night rather, late. And yesterday was one of the... Well, day before yesterday and yesterday was one of the great red letter days of my life. I know at least two people or three in the building who is witness of the coming down of the Lord yesterday. And a great wonderful thing taken place, which I haven't got the time this morning to tell you, but maybe next Sunday morning before we leave I may have time in the message to tell you.
If the Lord is willing I will be down at least to pray for the sick Sunday morning. We want to leave about noon if possible for the San Jose meetings in San Jose, California.
2 And if you have any people around on the West Coast there that's... We believe is going to be maybe the hour that I have looked for so long, the change in my ministry coming. And it's so close. I thought it was going to happen yesterday. And I believe that it will be right away now. And it will be far beyond anything that we've ever seen or heard yet. Now, you remember that's "Thus saith the Lord," friends.
And so, we're just expecting it any time. And we're... They have the meeting now at the fairgrounds. I believe that's right, isn't it, Gene? At the fairgrounds at the San Jose, California. And it'll be a ten days meeting beginning the 20th through the 29th at San Jose.
Now, just be remembering us and praying for us.
Now, we have about, if we get out in time, about one and a half hours, now that we're going to start our services for praying for the sick and bringing the Word. And I have chosen this morning a small passage of Scripture, two places in the Bible, to speak on. But before we speak, let us bow our heads just a moment, for prayer.
3 Most Gracious God, we humbly approach Thy throne of grace this morning, as unworthy children, but coming with an unadulterated faith in God, that was given to us by the Holy Spirit, and His ever presence with us. And through a promise by the Lord Jesus, that if we would come humbly and would ask anything in His name, we would be granted our petition. Therefore, we do not look back upon our merits, because we do not have any such, but we look back to the merits of Calvary, where our grace was given to us freely by the Son of God. And we can hardly choke back the tears that would run down our throats, when we think of we, the unworthy people, and how that by His grace there at Calvary He did that for us, that we might be brought so close to God, even to relationship. And now we are sons and daughters to Him.
And we come this morning, Lord, under this little roof, to dedicate ourselves, and for service, confessing our sins, and in divine worship. We trust that You will be with us and give us a spiritual insight of Thy close coming, that we might prepare our hearts daily for that great event that's been looked for for thousands of years. Truly all nature is groaning, crying to be released. And our spirits within us, Lord, are constantly confessing that we are pilgrims and strangers, and this is not our home, but we seek a city whose builder and maker is God. We look for that great time to come.
4 Lord, we would be mindful that these meetings, when we gather here, we pray for Your children that are sick and afflicted. And we ask that You'll meet with us today in a very special way, to heal all the sickness and diseases among us. And it may be, Lord, that this promise that I've just been previously speaking of, in the meeting with You there yesterday, right after daylight, and how that You confirmed it over and over again. And we feel that the hour is very close. And may this be the day, Lord, that it'll happen, that You will change the ministry, Lord, into something that will be more gracious to Thy people.
And now, Father God, we would not only pray for these here, but for those stretched out across the world, that are needy, both spiritually and physically. Give to them, O Lord, the desires of their hearts, because Thy children are struggling in these days. The oppression of the enemy is so strong, but Thou art stronger. For it is written, "Greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world." By this we overcome. Speak to us through Thy written Word. And when we leave this morning, may we say like those that went from Emmaus, "Did not our hearts burn within us as He talked to us along the way?" We ask it in Jesus' name, who gave the promise. Amen.
5 Reading now from two places in the book of Genesis, one of them is found in the twenty-fourth chapter, beginning with the fifty-sixth verse, reads like this:
And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD has prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.
And they said, We will call the damsel, and inquire at her mouth.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
And they sent Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant,...
And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
6 And in Genesis twenty-two, fifteenth verse, we read:
And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, thou hast not withheld thy son, thy only son:
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of ... heaven, and as the sand ... upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemy;
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Now may the Lord add His blessings to the reading of His Words. Now I would like to take, if it should be called a text, my subject this morning, first, is, testing before promised gates, and the subject is: Possessing The Enemy's Gates.
7 God had been testing the patriarch because He had given him a promise. And when God makes a promise, He wants to be sure that this person is worthy of the promise, before He fulfills what He said or what He promised. So Abraham had been promised that through his seed the whole world would be blessed, that he would have a son, and this son, out of him should come forth a seed that would bless the whole earth. And Abraham, when the promise was given to him, was seventy-five years old; and Sarah, his wife, was sixty-five years old. But the Bible tells us that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief, but was strong, giving praise to God. And God, time after time, tested him, but he had come to that final test before the blessing was going to happen.
And that's the way it is with all the seed of Abraham. God gives us that final test just before He gives the promise. And if it was possible, I'd like to say something here, personally, but I will withhold that. That final test, to see how you'll react upon it. And when He had gave Abraham this test, He found Abraham just as true as he was when he started. What a blessing it would be this morning if we who take His promise of healing would stand just as true as we did when we stood here and accepted it, no matter what the doctor says, stand just as true.
8 And when he did this and never withheld his only son, but was about to plunge the knife into Isaac's bosom, to destroy his testimony... He had testified all over the known earth that he was acquainted with, that he was going to have this son. And then when the son came, he was asked to double back and to destroy the only hope that he had for his testimony to be fulfilled. And when God seen that he was loyal to that faith that he had in God, God looked out of the heavens and He said, "I've sworn by Myself that I will bless you and multiply you, and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemy." What a promise!
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