WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.600 I feel like that happens probably more often 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:04.679 than not, especially in the world that we kind 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:07.740 of live in. There's often times where just something 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:10.560 just really kind of just tends to grit at you 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:12.880 and you just kind of want, if you were a lawyer, 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:15.980 you would want to scream out, I object, right? 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:19.420 I often feel like this way when I go through 00:00:19.420 --> 00:00:22.359 the drive -through and you see the sign where 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:24.899 it's like sauces or an extra 10 cents or extra 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:28.019 15 cents and then you're just like, I just, all 00:00:28.019 --> 00:00:29.859 right, I'll get two sauces and then you drive 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:31.579 away and then you find out there's no sauces 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:34.000 in the bag. Have you ever felt that way? You're 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.159 just like, that is just wrong on so many accounts, 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.549 right? That's probably a silly way of thinking 00:00:40.549 --> 00:00:42.789 about it, but there are certainly things in life 00:00:42.789 --> 00:00:45.170 where you just feel like, you just want to scream 00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:48.350 out, I object. And that's kind of where we're 00:00:48.350 --> 00:00:52.670 going to find Habakkuk in the book of Habakkuk 00:00:52.670 --> 00:00:56.130 chapter two is kind of where he was at. So just 00:00:56.130 --> 00:00:58.429 a little bit of review. We started last week, 00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:01.509 Pastor Miles did a great job of introducing the 00:01:01.509 --> 00:01:04.349 book and theme of Habakkuk and Habakkuk. chapter 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:07.109 one, and Habakkuk chapter one is really all about 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:11.189 wondering. God delivers a message of destruction, 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:16.019 a message of wrath. to Habakkuk. It says that 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:18.920 it's the burden of Habakkuk. And he basically 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:22.219 says, Habakkuk, the people of God have wandered 00:01:22.219 --> 00:01:25.920 far. They've done wrong. They have misused the 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:27.879 freedoms that I've given them. They have not 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:30.060 worshiped me the way they have broken the covenant. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.420 And Habakkuk basically gets delivered a message 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:36.040 that God is going to not just send judgment by 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:40.760 way of plague or by way of famine. He's going 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:43.819 to actually send judgment by using an even more 00:01:43.629 --> 00:01:48.230 wicked people to come and to conquer the people 00:01:48.230 --> 00:01:53.629 of God. Now this was a message that on the onset, 00:01:53.989 --> 00:01:56.170 Habakkuk, it didn't sit well with Habakkuk. In 00:01:56.170 --> 00:01:59.040 fact, Habakkuk in a way kind of says, God, that 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:03.239 just seems unjust. What are you doing? I object 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:06.500 to what you're doing. Now, if you actually look 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:08.080 through the book of Habakkuk, there's actually 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.599 a lot of wordage and a lot of phraseology that 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:15.340 kind of mimics the idea of a courtroom. And Habakkuk, 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.580 in a way, is kind of taking God to court and 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.580 saying, what you're doing, God, I don't understand 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:24.120 it, and it just seems not fair. You don't seem 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:28.099 like you're being just in what you're... ruling. 00:02:28.620 --> 00:02:30.719 And the book of Habakkuk really, to be honest, 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:35.039 I think is very, very relevant for anybody who 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:37.919 has or is experiencing, or maybe you're finding 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.620 yourself in a place in life right now where you 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:43.860 just kind of want to ask the question why to 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:47.479 God. And that's what Habakkuk does. He will ask 00:02:47.479 --> 00:02:50.979 kind of the question why. And today what we're 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:53.259 going to see in Habakkuk chapter two, only three 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:55.800 chapters in the book of Habakkuk, but what we're 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.780 going to see tonight is that while Habakkuk is 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:01.759 in God's waiting room, if you will, he's going 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:04.680 to kind of figure out what exactly or how he 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:06.379 ought to respond. And it's going to really kind 00:03:06.379 --> 00:03:08.840 of inform us that if you're in a position where 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:11.039 you feel like you're in this kind of waiting 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.080 in God's waiting room, you're kind of asking 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:16.439 God why certain things are happening or have 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:19.530 happened in your life. This is going to be a 00:03:19.530 --> 00:03:23.550 great, I think, lesson for you tonight. Introduced 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:26.590 last week, Pastor Miles kind of introduced a 00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:28.990 graph for us, and it was kind of what we called. 00:03:29.150 --> 00:03:31.830 the dip and that's kind of the title of sermons 00:03:31.830 --> 00:03:33.889 tonight somebody said the title of sermons in 00:03:33.889 --> 00:03:37.729 the dip yeah it's not nacho cheese or salsa or 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:40.530 seven layer bean dip it's going to be the kind 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:43.969 of dip of in your own spiritual walk so we kind 00:03:43.969 --> 00:03:46.689 of introduced this idea of kind of walking with 00:03:46.689 --> 00:03:49.550 God and that in the very beginning this acts 00:03:49.550 --> 00:03:52.909 kind of represented your life without Christ 00:03:52.909 --> 00:03:57.050 that you are in a place of as pastor has been 00:03:57.050 --> 00:03:59.680 preaching the last few weeks The wrath of God 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.039 is already upon you. You may not even realize 00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:05.300 it or not, but your life is not honorable to 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:07.879 God. It's the life of the unbeliever. But then 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:11.120 eventually, the next iteration we put is that 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:12.939 you kind of reach a spiritual high in that when 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:16.819 you come to Christ, God begins to transform your 00:04:16.819 --> 00:04:19.360 life, right? You're not who you used to be. There's 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:22.160 a new creation, and God is doing something amazing 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.399 in your life, and you're experiencing, maybe 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:26.579 even temporarily, maybe for a little bit of time, 00:04:26.779 --> 00:04:29.639 but some kind of wrath. And life seems good, 00:04:29.959 --> 00:04:33.120 you're kind of on fire for the Lord. God is showing 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:35.019 you new things, you're learning, you're being 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:37.639 obedient, and God is blessing you because of 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:40.339 your obedience. But eventually as you continue 00:04:40.339 --> 00:04:42.839 to serve the Lord, you're going to hit those 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:45.540 why moments. Something's going to happen in your 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:48.040 life, something's not going to work out, maybe 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:50.560 a tragedy, maybe some kind of a loss of income, 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.360 a loss of a job, maybe spiritually speaking you 00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:00.279 begin to... go down, you're lacking, and your 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:02.300 life just doesn't seem to be the way it used 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:05.040 to be back when you first got saved. And you 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:08.000 hit kind of what we're calling the dip in your 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.459 spiritual walk, the valley moments in your life. 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:14.620 And there's really two kind of common responses. 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:17.519 Pastor Miles shared this last week. The first 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.019 response really is kind of a denial of reality. 00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:22.519 You're just like, that's really not the case. 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:24.920 You're not really honest with yourself about 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.000 what things are. the things that are going on 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:28.639 and because you just kind of want to just you 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.300 just want to be positive and so you just try 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.759 to grit your teeth and bear it and just try it's 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:34.720 not really as bad as it seems but really the 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:37.019 whole world is on fire around you and you're 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:38.579 just kind of you know maybe like that meme you're 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:40.560 the guy sipping coffee with the fire all around 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:43.139 him right and you feel like that's not exactly 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:46.509 you're not exactly being very honest Another 00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:49.589 common response sometimes when we we face these 00:05:49.589 --> 00:05:53.930 tragic situations these losses This time of questioning 00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:57.329 of God why we tend sometimes we get mad some 00:05:57.329 --> 00:06:00.129 people they just I tried the religious thing 00:06:00.129 --> 00:06:01.649 the religious thing I thought God was just gonna 00:06:01.649 --> 00:06:03.490 just like make everything better and then you 00:06:03.490 --> 00:06:05.750 find out that's not exactly how it works and 00:06:05.750 --> 00:06:07.430 you just they just kind of get upset and maybe 00:06:07.430 --> 00:06:09.850 I just want to return to a life without God because 00:06:09.850 --> 00:06:11.910 I just felt like it was better back then before 00:06:11.910 --> 00:06:14.529 God and they get mad and they they walk away 00:06:14.529 --> 00:06:18.550 from God That tends to be two of really three 00:06:18.550 --> 00:06:21.490 options. The third option is kind of what Pastor 00:06:21.490 --> 00:06:23.470 Myles kind of hinted to and what we'll see today 00:06:23.470 --> 00:06:26.949 in the book of Habakkuk chapter two is that there's 00:06:26.949 --> 00:06:29.430 actually a third option. And the third option 00:06:29.430 --> 00:06:32.170 is to really do what we call do the Habakkuk. 00:06:32.350 --> 00:06:34.629 So Habakkuk's name, if you remember, his name 00:06:34.629 --> 00:06:38.170 means to wrestle or to embrace. And one of the 00:06:38.170 --> 00:06:41.209 things that we can do as a believer is that we 00:06:41.209 --> 00:06:45.110 can wrestle and embrace God. We can have simultaneously 00:06:45.129 --> 00:06:50.670 a question and faith. As the one guy that the 00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:52.990 Lord Jesus does a miracle in his life, he says, 00:06:53.129 --> 00:06:56.009 Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. And so 00:06:56.009 --> 00:06:58.629 there's a time where you just hold on to God 00:06:58.629 --> 00:07:01.389 and you believe God, but you still have questions 00:07:01.389 --> 00:07:04.029 and you bring those honest questions to the Lord. 00:07:04.350 --> 00:07:06.430 And what we're going to find out and what you'll 00:07:06.430 --> 00:07:09.290 find out is that if you hold on to the Lord through 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:11.550 those difficult moments, through those times 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:14.910 of being in the dip, you let and live out James 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:17.310 chapter one, verses two and three, what you'll 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:20.560 find is that you'll be able to move through that 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:23.120 journey move through that part of your life and 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.620 grow closer to the Lord and really end up back 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:29.379 up as the graph goes up and to the right to reach 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:31.860 new heights in your faith journey learning that 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:35.019 God came through and provided for you and you 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:36.980 may also find that there's another dip waiting 00:07:36.980 --> 00:07:40.420 on the other end and that tends to be the rhythm 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:44.500 of our life with the Lord growing in faith so 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:46.800 What can we do? And that's what we kind of want 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.019 to answer tonight, and Habakkuk 2 will help us 00:07:49.019 --> 00:07:51.939 do that. What do we do when we find ourselves 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.839 in that position? What do we do when something 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:57.620 does happen, when you have a time of tragedy, 00:07:57.660 --> 00:07:59.720 when you have a time of loss, when you have a 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:02.220 time of spiritual apathy, when you have a time 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:04.579 where things just didn't seem to work out, maybe 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:07.100 you have a time of question, what do you do in 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:10.560 the times of waiting, in the times in the dip? 00:08:10.819 --> 00:08:12.500 And what I want to be able to share from you 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:14.740 tonight from scripture is that you as believer 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:18.439 and every believer can respond in faith in these 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:21.060 times of waiting by doing three actions that 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:23.759 we find here in the book of Habakkuk. Now let's 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:25.740 go to the Lord in prayer and then we'll begin 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:28.329 reading in chapter two, verse one. Let's pray 00:08:28.329 --> 00:08:30.889 together. Father in heaven, we thank you for 00:08:30.889 --> 00:08:32.990 your scripture. Lord, we thank you for your word 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:34.789 that you've gifted to us. Lord, we thank you 00:08:34.789 --> 00:08:37.629 for your holy spirit that Lord, illuminates our 00:08:37.629 --> 00:08:39.889 heart and our lives in the scriptures that guides 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:41.909 us into truth. And father, I pray that as we 00:08:41.909 --> 00:08:44.389 look at your scripture tonight, father, as we 00:08:44.389 --> 00:08:46.950 make the sense of it, as we apply it to our lives, 00:08:47.029 --> 00:08:49.210 I pray that you would help us to lead this place 00:08:49.210 --> 00:08:52.149 change more like your son and that we in the 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:55.919 times of waiting will... respond in faith, not 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:58.460 in doubt, but in faith, holding and wrestling 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:02.500 and holding onto you as the author and finisher 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:04.480 of our faith. We thank you for what you're doing 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.879 now. We ask that you would speak to us from your 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.240 word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So if you're 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.379 in the book of Habakkuk, chapter two, we're gonna 00:09:12.379 --> 00:09:15.179 begin reading in verse one as we look at the 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:18.039 first. thing we ought to do, that if you find 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:21.100 yourself in a place of waiting, in a place of 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:23.940 the dip, the first thing we ought to do is to 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:29.360 stop and listen. Stop and listen. Chapter two, 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:31.639 verse one says this, and this is Habakkuk writing, 00:09:31.740 --> 00:09:35.580 I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the 00:09:35.580 --> 00:09:39.039 tower, and I will watch to see what he will say 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:46.629 unto me. and what I shall answer when I am reproved. 00:09:47.330 --> 00:09:49.909 Here in Habakkuk chapter two, verse one, there's 00:09:49.909 --> 00:09:53.009 a response or a change. God delivers to him that 00:09:53.009 --> 00:09:57.649 full message in chapter one. And Habakkuk's immediate 00:09:57.649 --> 00:10:02.289 response is to stop and to go up and to, he really 00:10:02.289 --> 00:10:05.879 compares himself here to. the Old Testament watchman. 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:08.840 Now, the word here, watch, is the Hebrew word 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:12.539 tzafah, and that had very much had meaning in 00:10:12.539 --> 00:10:15.659 the Old Testament times, and the meaning was 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:18.019 really threefold. There was a military meaning 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:21.240 to it, there was a social economic meaning to 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.179 it, and there's also spiritual meaning to it. 00:10:23.620 --> 00:10:26.960 The idea of the watchman as what's seen in the 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:30.019 military at that time is that oftentimes a position 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:33.879 would be that you would be chosen as you serve 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:36.659 to be the watchman of a certain city or town. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:38.840 And what you would do is you would go up onto 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:42.220 the highest parts of the city walls or towers 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:46.279 and your job would be to keep an eye out for 00:10:46.279 --> 00:10:49.279 invading armies. There wasn't a whole lot of 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:52.500 long distance communication, certainly no radar 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:54.440 or anything like that. So what they had to do 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:56.899 is somebody literally had to go out and watch 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:01.580 and keep watch for invading armies, for any kind 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:05.059 of thing that would come and destroy or take 00:11:05.059 --> 00:11:07.960 captive the people of your town. It was a very, 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.980 very important job. The watchman couldn't be 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:14.720 lazy. The watchman couldn't fall asleep because 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:17.940 what he was to do would have meant would mean 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:20.639 the lives of all the people in that town. It 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.419 was a very important role. Socially and economically, 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:28.460 the watchman also was placed in times of harvest. 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:31.120 Oftentimes where there would be massive fields 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.039 or orchards ready for harvest in that time of 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.269 the year, many times they would... build an impromptu 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:40.169 tower or some kind of scaffolding, a person would 00:11:40.169 --> 00:11:43.470 be put there to keep an eye out for anybody who 00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:47.070 would come and try to steal that which had already 00:11:47.070 --> 00:11:50.230 been reaped and bundled, or maybe people who 00:11:50.230 --> 00:11:52.429 would come and try to steal things that didn't 00:11:52.429 --> 00:11:55.029 belong to them. And so the watchman would protect 00:11:55.029 --> 00:11:57.690 the stores of grain and the fruits from being 00:11:57.690 --> 00:12:00.169 pillaged or stolen. Once again, a very important 00:12:00.169 --> 00:12:03.970 job, especially in a society that was based on 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:07.039 agriculture. Spiritually speaking, we also see 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.200 that the watchman also was a very important position, 00:12:11.899 --> 00:12:15.960 so to speak, in the Old Testament, mostly referred 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:19.139 to in the book of Ezekiel. The idea of the watchman, 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.720 spiritually speaking, was often associated with... 00:12:22.620 --> 00:12:25.899 the coming judgment of the Lord, but also the 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:29.200 coming salvation of the Lord. Ezekiel oftentimes 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.039 is being referenced as a watchman, and his job 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.840 was to warn Israel of their rebellion and their 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:38.519 coming judgment, but also to tell them of the 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:41.279 Lord's coming salvation. More on that in just 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:44.500 a second. But Habakkuk here in chapter 2 verse 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:47.580 1, he climbs up on the wall and he looks to see 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:50.200 what God would say. He becomes the watchman and 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:52.039 he's going to look out and say, is it going to 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:55.779 be doom or is it going to be salvation? Now many 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:59.379 times when we face these times of being in the 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:03.000 dip, when something happens in our lives, oftentimes 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:07.509 it hits us. at home. And oftentimes if we're 00:13:07.509 --> 00:13:10.549 not careful and we're not purposeful in our response 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.029 to some of these difficult situations in our 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:17.470 life, many times we don't have the habit of stopping 00:13:17.470 --> 00:13:20.309 and listening for what God is going to say to 00:13:20.309 --> 00:13:23.909 us. Oftentimes we have the opposite. We may be 00:13:23.909 --> 00:13:26.610 so distraught or so broken about what's going 00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:30.649 on that we bring our petitions to the Lord, but 00:13:30.649 --> 00:13:34.730 we never quite Stop and listen for his response 00:13:34.730 --> 00:13:37.789 Sometimes it may be something maybe something 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:39.970 going on in your life and and you have a lot 00:13:39.970 --> 00:13:42.529 to say about your problem And you have a lot 00:13:42.529 --> 00:13:44.649 to say to the Lord about your problem and the 00:13:44.649 --> 00:13:47.450 Lord welcomes by the way our prayers and our 00:13:47.450 --> 00:13:50.649 questions and our petitions to him But I believe 00:13:50.649 --> 00:13:53.049 that it will be very important and if we're not 00:13:53.049 --> 00:13:55.190 careful something we forget to do is that when 00:13:55.190 --> 00:13:57.830 we're bringing all these questions to the Lord 00:13:57.830 --> 00:14:01.690 in these times of wondering we have to stop and 00:14:01.549 --> 00:14:04.929 listen to see what God's going to say in response. 00:14:05.590 --> 00:14:08.970 Many times we're going to be so quick or so full 00:14:08.970 --> 00:14:13.350 of complaining or brokenness that we don't stop 00:14:13.350 --> 00:14:17.649 and listen to what God has to say to us. One 00:14:17.649 --> 00:14:19.649 of the things I thought was kind of interesting 00:14:19.649 --> 00:14:26.279 is that it's actually today in the the British 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:29.740 Museum, but there is actually about a 4 ,000 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:33.379 -year -old clay tablet. It actually dates back 00:14:33.379 --> 00:14:37.679 to 1750 BC, and it was sent to the city of Ur, 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:39.879 Ur of the Chaldees. If you're a Bible student, 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:42.299 you might recognize that's Abraham's hometown, 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.980 right? And there's a gentleman there by the name 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:49.840 of Nani, and he had a complaint about somebody 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:55.360 by the name of Anasir, and Anasir was a a copper 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:01.000 ingot smith, and he delivered to Nani a bunch 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:06.639 of very poor quality iron ingots. And this guy 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:11.539 decides to forever preserve his complaint about 00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:15.539 the service of this individual copper smith by 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:20.299 actually having this tablet prepared. Now what's 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:22.080 amazing about it, and you might think, oh, that's 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:24.440 an interesting thing. What's amazing about it 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:29.250 is that at this time in mankind's history This 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:32.370 was not just some small thing. Today we think 00:15:32.370 --> 00:15:34.409 like, oh yeah, if you have a problem, you just 00:15:34.409 --> 00:15:37.769 go on Google and make a bad review, or I'm gonna 00:15:37.769 --> 00:15:42.029 leave a post -it note on the boss's desk or on 00:15:42.029 --> 00:15:44.610 somebody's desk and tell them how disapproved 00:15:44.610 --> 00:15:47.830 I am of how they did something. It took a lot 00:15:47.830 --> 00:15:52.570 of effort and maybe even a lot of money for Nani 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:59.240 to create and... have this ingot made, this tablet 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:03.759 made. It wasn't common in that time for people 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:09.240 to have the skill of writing. And so probably 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.340 it's guessed that this guy, actually because 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:16.240 he had money, hired a scribe to write out his 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:20.299 complaint on this tablet. And... If you think 00:16:20.299 --> 00:16:22.279 that, well yeah, okay, that's not really that 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:26.379 big of a deal. Well, this type of tablet was 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:29.080 actually not just your run -of -the -mill tablet. 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:33.940 This tablet was actually prepared and processed 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:36.940 a little bit differently. because the purpose 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:39.899 of this kind of tablet was to last a really long 00:16:39.899 --> 00:16:42.779 time. Other tablets if they were just used from 00:16:42.779 --> 00:16:45.500 a lot of the rough clay would have rocks in it 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:48.399 and if they weren't processed very well over 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:51.500 time the cloud the tablet would dry out those 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:53.639 little pieces of rocks would pop out and then 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:55.940 eventually they would just be destroyed. This 00:16:55.940 --> 00:16:59.500 had been processed so that it could be preserved. 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:03.179 This process of actually writing on this tablet 00:17:03.179 --> 00:17:05.700 was actually a painstaking process. There was 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.799 a specific read that had to be used, had to be 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.960 cut at a specific angle, and the imprintations 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.019 of what was made on this tablet is actually not 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:17.480 something that you could just write really quickly. 00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:20.400 You had to make depressions onto the wet clay, 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.140 and there was obviously no eraser, so you had 00:17:23.140 --> 00:17:25.420 to do it very carefully and it had to take a 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:29.990 lot of time. This was designed to be permanent. 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:33.069 And that's what's interesting about it is that 00:17:33.069 --> 00:17:36.970 this is the first recorded complaint ever in 00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:39.309 the history of mankind that we found. Over 4 00:17:39.309 --> 00:17:42.369 ,000 years old and still today we can read, if 00:17:42.369 --> 00:17:45.569 you can read ancient cuneiform, this guy's complaint 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:50.609 about his ingot delivery. Now one of the reasons 00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:52.829 why I stopped just to point this out is that 00:17:52.829 --> 00:17:56.529 sometimes this can be our response. That sometimes 00:17:56.529 --> 00:17:59.549 we take a lot of effort and a lot of time to 00:17:59.549 --> 00:18:02.529 bring our complaints to the Lord. We analyze 00:18:02.529 --> 00:18:05.869 the situation, we analyze our frustration, and 00:18:05.869 --> 00:18:09.829 we bring to the Lord our complaints. And that's 00:18:09.829 --> 00:18:14.470 okay if we're going to next respond with a waiting 00:18:14.470 --> 00:18:18.390 and a faith move. But many times that's not what 00:18:18.390 --> 00:18:20.839 we do. We bring our complaints and frustrations 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:24.039 to the Lord and we never really truly seek what 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:27.220 God's will is for us and how to respond. And 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:30.559 if we're truly asking real questions to the Lord, 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.240 when we come to these places of questioning and 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:35.920 these come to these difficult situations in our 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:39.279 life, I believe that if we're not purposeful, 00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:41.920 we will not stop and listen to what the Lord 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.859 has to say. We'll just bring our complaints and 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:49.240 we'll be a person of complaints. But God is a 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:52.599 real relational God. And he wants us to bring 00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:55.440 our complaints to him, our prayers, our petitions 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.420 to him, because he wants to respond. He wants 00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:03.599 to speak to us and tell us how we ought to then 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.579 live in light of this difficult situation. But 00:19:07.579 --> 00:19:10.579 we'll never know what God would have to say to 00:19:10.579 --> 00:19:14.319 us if we don't stop and listen to what God is 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:17.920 saying. So how does God speak to us? Well, We 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.700 believe that God speaks to us primarily through 00:19:20.700 --> 00:19:23.980 His Word. He uses the Word of God that He has 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:27.319 painstakingly crafted and preserved for us to 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:30.259 give us everything we need for life and godliness. 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:34.799 Oftentimes, God may use circumstances maybe to 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.200 lead or guide or direct you, maybe times, other 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:40.910 times, maybe wise counsel, but Ultimately, both 00:19:40.910 --> 00:19:43.230 those circumstances and a wise counsel need to 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:45.950 be filtered through the Word of God to know that 00:19:45.950 --> 00:19:49.809 if it's God that's speaking to you. Now, when 00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:53.910 he does speak, when God does speak to us, to 00:19:53.910 --> 00:19:57.009 be honest, we may not always like what he has 00:19:57.009 --> 00:19:59.519 to say. And that's certainly going to be the 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.359 situation with Habakkuk. Habakkuk isn't going 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:05.279 to get the news that he wants when he asks and 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.740 brings his question to the Lord. As he waits 00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:10.500 upon the Lord here as the watchman, he's not 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:13.980 necessarily going to get the answer of good tidings. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.579 The Apostle Paul is also a great example of this. 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:19.799 Arguably one of the most influential people in 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:21.779 the New Testament, right? He's the author of 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:24.500 the majority of the New Testament books. He tells 00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:28.140 us in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 about his thorn 00:20:28.140 --> 00:20:30.640 in the flesh. And if you're familiar with that 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.920 passage, 2 Corinthians 12, seven through nine 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:36.500 says this, unless I should be exalted above measure, 00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:38.599 this is the apostle Paul writing, through the 00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:40.619 abundance of revelations, there was given to 00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:43.400 me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.500 to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:49.690 measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice 00:20:49.690 --> 00:20:51.910 that it might depart from me. And he said unto 00:20:51.910 --> 00:20:55.769 me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength 00:20:55.769 --> 00:20:59.529 is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore 00:20:59.529 --> 00:21:03.130 will I rather glory in my infirmities than that 00:21:03.130 --> 00:21:07.559 the power of Christ may rest upon me. You see, 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:09.900 the Apostle Paul here, he comes to the Lord, 00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:13.019 he says here thrice or three times to take it 00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:16.059 away. And I'm under the impression that it wasn't 00:21:16.059 --> 00:21:18.859 just he prayed three times in one prayer, but 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.099 may have actually been maybe three seasons of 00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:24.220 his life or three times of intentionally begging 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:27.480 God to take away what he calls here a thorn in 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:30.299 the flesh. But God answers him and God answers 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:33.799 him with a no answer. He says, no, I'm not going 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:35.839 to take it away. In fact, what I'm going to do 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.839 for you, Paul, is that I'm going to be doing 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:40.420 something different. I'm going to allow this 00:21:40.420 --> 00:21:43.799 difficult situation to persist in your life because 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:46.599 I'm going to show you, Paul, that you don't just 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.400 need me to take it away, but that my grace is 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:51.960 sufficient for you in these difficult situations 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:55.019 and that through this difficulty, your faith 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:59.740 is going to increase. So when you're in the dip, 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:01.680 when you're in a place of questioning, when you're 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.059 a place of wondering, when you're a place of 00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:06.599 hardship or a place of grievance, real grievance 00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:09.319 to the Lord, it's okay to bring to the Lord your 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.160 questions, even your petition for Him to release 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:14.480 you from that or to take it away or to guide 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:17.940 and direct you. But you must learn the same thing 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.140 that Habakkuk has demonstrated to us, that we 00:22:20.140 --> 00:22:23.339 have to stop and listen for what God has to say 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:28.650 to us from His Word. The second thing that Habakkuk 00:22:28.650 --> 00:22:30.569 here is going to teach us tonight is that if 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:33.970 we're going to respond in faith in times of waiting, 00:22:34.490 --> 00:22:36.410 first, we must stop and listen to what the Lord 00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:39.490 has to say to us. Secondly, we need to write 00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:42.869 down what He says to us and remember it, to write 00:22:42.869 --> 00:22:46.170 and remember. Look at Habakkuk chapter 2 here, 00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:49.279 verse 2. It says, the Lord answered me and said, 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:52.720 write the vision and make it plain upon tables, 00:22:53.180 --> 00:22:58.519 that he may run that readeth it. Now here we 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:01.940 see God answer the watchman here, Habakkuk, just 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:04.829 like we believe that he would. God does respond 00:23:04.829 --> 00:23:07.849 to him and he responds with, hey, write the vision, 00:23:08.190 --> 00:23:11.630 make it plain upon tablets or tables that he 00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:14.349 may run that readeth it. God says, I want you 00:23:14.349 --> 00:23:17.390 to write down the Habakkuk, take note of it because 00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:19.670 I'm going to be doing something that I'm going 00:23:19.670 --> 00:23:23.579 to be proven right in the future. God says, make 00:23:23.579 --> 00:23:25.859 it plain. He says, write the vision, make it 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:29.039 plain upon tables. Don't add to it, Habakkuk. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:31.200 Don't make it say something that it doesn't say. 00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:33.740 Don't rewrite it in your own words. Don't bend 00:23:33.740 --> 00:23:37.210 it. Don't distort it. And I think it's very possible 00:23:37.210 --> 00:23:39.670 that when God uses this kind of language, God 00:23:39.670 --> 00:23:42.690 is trying to do something in connecting Habakkuk's 00:23:42.690 --> 00:23:45.609 mind and our mind to the importance of writing 00:23:45.609 --> 00:23:48.970 and capturing what God has to say without distorting 00:23:48.970 --> 00:23:51.589 it. It's very possible that God here may even 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:54.210 be trying to make an intentional allusion to 00:23:54.210 --> 00:23:57.150 the writing of the law. Deuteronomy chapter 27, 00:23:57.210 --> 00:24:01.230 8 uses the same exact language. When Moses is 00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:05.589 given instruction, God says in verse 8, and thou 00:24:05.589 --> 00:24:08.490 shalt write upon the stones all the words of 00:24:08.490 --> 00:24:12.690 this law very plainly." God says, I'm going to 00:24:12.690 --> 00:24:14.450 say something to you and I want you to capture 00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:17.890 it and I want you to write it exactly as I say 00:24:17.890 --> 00:24:20.529 it. Don't make it your own. Don't spin it. I 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:22.920 want you to write it plainly. God says, I want 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:25.539 you to write it so plain here in Habakkuk that 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:29.160 those who are reading it can run when they read 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:31.000 it. That's chapter two, verse two. Read it again. 00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:34.700 Make it plain upon tables that he may run that 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:37.880 readeth it. Now there's really kind of two possible 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:41.180 ways we could take that. The first one is the 00:24:41.180 --> 00:24:44.079 idea of God's referring to its clarity. I want 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:47.700 you to write it so clear that when anybody walks 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:49.920 past it, they could just read it very quickly 00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:52.440 and that message could be easily transmitted. 00:24:53.130 --> 00:24:56.430 The second and probably more likely meaning of 00:24:56.430 --> 00:24:58.329 what God says here to make it clear that those 00:24:58.329 --> 00:25:01.430 who run may read it is the idea of the clarity 00:25:01.430 --> 00:25:07.009 of the content. So there's clarity of form, writing 00:25:07.009 --> 00:25:10.309 it very easily so people can absorb it, or the 00:25:10.309 --> 00:25:13.390 clarity of content. He says here that the courier 00:25:13.390 --> 00:25:16.430 can easily transmit the message as they run from 00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:19.009 place to place. And that's the reason why I say 00:25:19.009 --> 00:25:23.279 that that's probably more likely. correct interpretations 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.539 because we see that in other places in scripture. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.299 In Jeremiah chapter 23, 21, we see that phraseology 00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:33.259 being used. Jeremiah 23, 21, God is using this 00:25:33.259 --> 00:25:35.839 in a negative form of it, but he says, I have 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:39.190 not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have 00:25:39.190 --> 00:25:41.930 not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." There's 00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:44.390 a connection between running and delivering the 00:25:44.390 --> 00:25:48.049 message. Second Kings chapter 4 verse 26, we 00:25:48.049 --> 00:25:50.829 see a servant give an instruction. He says, run 00:25:50.829 --> 00:25:53.230 now, I pray thee, to meet her and say unto her, 00:25:53.250 --> 00:25:56.250 it is well with thee. It is well with thy husband. 00:25:56.349 --> 00:25:58.789 Is it well with the child? And she answered, 00:25:58.849 --> 00:26:02.009 it is well. Oftentimes, there would be somebody 00:26:02.009 --> 00:26:04.829 who would run with a message and they would deliver 00:26:04.829 --> 00:26:06.890 the message. They didn't have telephones. They 00:26:06.890 --> 00:26:09.309 didn't have telegraphs. They didn't have emails, 00:26:09.490 --> 00:26:11.829 they didn't have text messages. Someone had to 00:26:11.829 --> 00:26:14.049 go with the message, and when the message was 00:26:14.049 --> 00:26:17.690 important, the messenger went even more quickly. 00:26:18.130 --> 00:26:21.029 And so, I believe that Habakkuk has given the 00:26:21.029 --> 00:26:23.589 instruction, I want you to write down a very 00:26:23.589 --> 00:26:26.190 plain message that the person who takes it can 00:26:26.190 --> 00:26:28.369 run with that message and deliver it as quickly 00:26:28.369 --> 00:26:33.779 as possible. who were to take this message, they 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:36.519 were to run with this message from the Lord. 00:26:36.940 --> 00:26:39.240 And it's gonna be significant, I think. The reason 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:42.039 why is because the content of the message, which 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:48.200 we'll see in the next verse, is going to be transformational. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:51.349 I can also use that word. There are two reasons, 00:26:51.349 --> 00:26:54.809 I think, why we ought to respond that way. That 00:26:54.809 --> 00:26:58.250 when we're in a time of asking questions to God, 00:26:58.329 --> 00:27:00.970 we're in a place of difficulty, and we've brought 00:27:00.970 --> 00:27:03.089 our complaints, we've brought our needs to the 00:27:03.089 --> 00:27:06.289 Lord, and we say, Lord, can you please respond? 00:27:06.470 --> 00:27:09.930 And we stop and listen, and God does reveal to 00:27:09.930 --> 00:27:13.190 us through His Word what's going on or why it's 00:27:13.190 --> 00:27:15.549 happening, or gives us some kind of insight on 00:27:15.549 --> 00:27:18.950 how we ought to respond in that time. We ought 00:27:18.950 --> 00:27:23.329 to endeavor. to stop and remember or write down 00:27:23.329 --> 00:27:26.670 or as one psalmist says, hide it in our hearts 00:27:26.670 --> 00:27:30.190 so that we have a reference point to remember 00:27:30.190 --> 00:27:33.769 as we go through this situation because the reality 00:27:33.769 --> 00:27:38.130 is that we have a spiritual enemy who is really, 00:27:38.230 --> 00:27:43.150 really good at distorting God's Word. He is really, 00:27:43.150 --> 00:27:46.509 really good at stealing the seeds of God's truth 00:27:46.509 --> 00:27:52.869 from us. And if we are not purposeful about remembering 00:27:52.869 --> 00:27:56.890 what God's word has to say, we will be another 00:27:56.890 --> 00:28:03.250 one of his acolytes. We will be somebody who 00:28:03.250 --> 00:28:07.710 is destroyed by the enemy. I think that's one 00:28:07.710 --> 00:28:11.029 of the reasons why it's so important for believers 00:28:11.029 --> 00:28:14.970 to know God's Word, to be in God's Word, and 00:28:14.970 --> 00:28:18.750 to memorize God's Word, to hide it in our hearts 00:28:18.750 --> 00:28:22.630 so that when things arise in our life, we have 00:28:22.630 --> 00:28:25.289 a reference point, we have something to hold 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:28.769 onto and believe, which we'll get to in just 00:28:28.769 --> 00:28:32.960 a moment. There's one piece of technology that 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:37.259 changed forever the seafaring journeys of the 00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:40.220 ancient world. And that one piece of technology, 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:42.960 just as it was important back then, is still 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.619 very important today, that is the piece of technology 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:50.059 called the anchor. The anchor enables, it enables 00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:55.160 deep sailing and actually was pivotal in enabling 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:57.940 the trade that was seen throughout the ancient 00:28:57.940 --> 00:29:02.109 world. But on each ancient ship, there's still 00:29:02.109 --> 00:29:05.509 on modern ships today, there's a piece of the 00:29:05.509 --> 00:29:08.589 anchor point called the bits, and I have a picture 00:29:08.589 --> 00:29:11.609 of it here. On sailing ships, these bits were 00:29:11.609 --> 00:29:15.670 two massive planks of wood, and these ancient 00:29:15.670 --> 00:29:18.509 ships today, they're made out of even more stronger 00:29:18.509 --> 00:29:21.890 materials, but they were bolted directly to the 00:29:21.890 --> 00:29:25.220 ship's keel, the very spine of the ship. And 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:28.420 every anchor cable on the ship was ultimately 00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:32.220 tethered or tied to the bits. They were fixed 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:34.259 there, they were a fixed structural, they were 00:29:34.259 --> 00:29:37.559 a load bearing point, and nothing else would 00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:40.819 hold without the use of those bits. And there's 00:29:40.819 --> 00:29:45.019 a point on the anchor line, it's still here today, 00:29:45.500 --> 00:29:48.200 that has actually kind of entered into our... 00:29:48.269 --> 00:29:52.069 common vernacular and it's actually called on 00:29:52.069 --> 00:29:55.269 the line it's called the bitter end and there 00:29:55.269 --> 00:29:58.869 is a back in the day when it was used made out 00:29:58.869 --> 00:30:01.970 of rope today it's chain it was made out of rope 00:30:01.970 --> 00:30:05.069 oftentimes some of these ancient sailors would 00:30:05.069 --> 00:30:08.309 tie old rags and things that they would be able 00:30:08.309 --> 00:30:11.470 to recognize as they let the line out in the 00:30:11.470 --> 00:30:14.049 midst of a storm And so what they would do is 00:30:14.049 --> 00:30:16.130 as they're letting the line out, as they're hoping 00:30:16.130 --> 00:30:18.789 for that anchor to take root, to anchor them 00:30:18.789 --> 00:30:21.289 so that they would make it through these storms 00:30:21.289 --> 00:30:24.329 that would pop up, as they let the rope out they 00:30:24.329 --> 00:30:27.269 would come across these ties that they had tied 00:30:27.269 --> 00:30:31.160 to this last part of the rope. called the bitter 00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:33.160 end. And so they would know that when they saw 00:30:33.160 --> 00:30:37.180 these rags appear up out of the ship's keel, 00:30:37.180 --> 00:30:40.500 out of the locker box, they would know that they 00:30:40.500 --> 00:30:43.799 were all the way to the end of the rope. They 00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:47.559 were at the bitter end. Now what was awesome 00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:50.180 about this is that the sailors believed that 00:30:50.180 --> 00:30:54.220 the bitter end was the strongest part of the 00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:58.740 anchor line. It was oftentimes the most reliable, 00:30:58.920 --> 00:31:02.140 the most unworn part, and it was the freshest 00:31:02.140 --> 00:31:04.500 part of the whole cabling system. And so what 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:06.779 they would do is that when they let it out, they 00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:10.160 would hold on to it and hold on to it to all 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:12.559 the way to the bitter end. And this phrase has 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:15.500 kind of entered into our vernacular, that when 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:18.880 we say something has come with us or perseveres 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.099 with us to the bitter end, what we mean is that 00:31:21.099 --> 00:31:24.660 it goes all the way through our problems. And 00:31:24.660 --> 00:31:28.960 it traces its use all the way back to this actual 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:32.630 point in the anchoring system. Even our secular 00:31:32.630 --> 00:31:35.609 culture recognizes that this last fixed point 00:31:35.609 --> 00:31:39.250 is what carries you through all the way to the 00:31:39.250 --> 00:31:43.910 end. And I believe what God is saying to Habakkuk 00:31:43.910 --> 00:31:47.029 here, when he says, I want you to write down 00:31:47.029 --> 00:31:50.630 the vision, I want you to make it plain, is what 00:31:50.630 --> 00:31:53.630 he's saying is I want you to make sure that you 00:31:53.630 --> 00:31:58.410 transmit my message to my people in a way that 00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:02.940 it becomes... bolted to the keel. Did it becomes 00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:05.940 part of what we make or what we put or we tether 00:32:05.940 --> 00:32:09.640 to the bits in our life? Because the storm is 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:13.119 coming, Habakkuk, the people are coming, my judgment 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:16.539 is coming, Habakkuk, but I am not going to leave 00:32:16.539 --> 00:32:20.019 you. I am going to stay with you to the bitter 00:32:20.019 --> 00:32:23.640 end. I'm going to be the one and my message is 00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:26.220 going to be one that will hold you through to 00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:31.769 that bitter end. You see, understanding and remembering 00:32:31.769 --> 00:32:35.269 God's truth, writing it down, hiding it in your 00:32:35.269 --> 00:32:39.410 heart, knowing God's word is good for you and 00:32:39.410 --> 00:32:41.470 it will benefit you when you're in the middle 00:32:41.470 --> 00:32:44.789 of that difficult situation. But it's not just 00:32:44.789 --> 00:32:48.130 a benefit for you, it's actually also a benefit 00:32:48.130 --> 00:32:51.410 for other people. And we're gonna see that as 00:32:51.410 --> 00:32:56.440 God reframes his message to Habakkuk. I love 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:59.200 how one commentator puts it. He frames the story 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:01.900 this way. He says, once Abraham, the first father 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:05.119 of God's people, had to be weaned from expecting 00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:08.940 too sudden a solution to the tension of his childlessness 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:11.940 despite God's promise, his experience forced 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:15.700 him by faith to look beyond the current experience 00:33:15.700 --> 00:33:19.519 of his day to the distant future. Now, Habakkuk 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:22.500 struggles with an identical tension. How can 00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:25.700 God fulfill his promises to his people when he 00:33:25.700 --> 00:33:29.240 is about to devastate them? The divine answer 00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:33.200 to his perplexity must be inscribed on tablets, 00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:38.519 and many proclaimers in the age to come must 00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:41.160 run with the message that resolves this problem. 00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:45.400 The very delay that Habakkuk must accept provides 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:48.539 a further indicator of the broader significance 00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:51.940 of the vision. It's not merely for the present 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:57.319 generation. It's for the ages to come too. You 00:33:57.319 --> 00:34:00.400 see, God's word is not just in your situation 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:03.259 and the difficulty that you're facing, the word 00:34:03.259 --> 00:34:05.980 of God that you're holding onto doesn't just 00:34:05.980 --> 00:34:09.159 benefit you. It also has a benefit for other 00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:14.199 people around you. It has an impact in the lives 00:34:14.199 --> 00:34:17.360 of your kids. It has an impact in the life of 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:20.000 your spouse. It has an impact in the life of 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:23.179 your family. It has an impact in the lost world 00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:25.920 around you. Because when you respond to that 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:28.860 difficult situation, to that unfair problem, 00:34:28.940 --> 00:34:32.380 to that life -altering tragedy, it has a far 00:34:32.380 --> 00:34:35.239 -reaching and broad effect when you respond by 00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:38.360 holding on to the truth of God's Word through 00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:45.139 it all. Third point as we move along. Habakkuk 00:34:45.139 --> 00:34:47.980 here demonstrates that we ought to stop and listen. 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.159 That when God responds to you with His truth, 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:55.139 you write it and you remember it. Finally, you 00:34:55.139 --> 00:35:00.960 wait and you believe it. You wait and you believe 00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:03.599 it. Look at Habakkuk chapter two, verses three 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:07.480 and four. For the vision is yet for an appointed 00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:11.280 time, the Lord says. But at the end it shall 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:16.639 speak and not lie though it tarry Wait for it 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:20.780 because it will surely come it will not tarry 00:35:20.780 --> 00:35:26.519 or delay behold His soul which is lifted up is 00:35:26.519 --> 00:35:29.659 not upright in him And I believe this is the 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:32.119 message of that got that Habakkuk is written 00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:36.500 is instructed to write plainly but the just shall 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:44.059 live by his faith. Habakkuk is instructed to 00:35:44.059 --> 00:35:58.380 wait. It's awkward, isn't it? We're not a waiting 00:35:58.380 --> 00:36:03.480 culture. We don't like to wait. We're a fast 00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:06.420 culture. We like instant results. We like instant 00:36:06.420 --> 00:36:09.639 gratification. We like quick lines. We like express 00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:13.579 everything. But most of us haven't really come 00:36:13.579 --> 00:36:17.500 to a complete stop at a stop sign in a long time. 00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:22.000 That might be you. Many of us don't like to wait. 00:36:22.059 --> 00:36:25.260 We don't want to wait. It makes us feel weird. 00:36:25.579 --> 00:36:29.400 It's awkward to wait. But that's what God says 00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:32.409 to Habakkuk. He says in verse three, the vision 00:36:32.409 --> 00:36:34.849 is yet for an appointed time. He says, Habakkuk, 00:36:35.070 --> 00:36:38.210 I've appointed a time when this is going to happen, 00:36:38.210 --> 00:36:42.329 but it's not going to happen right now. You're 00:36:42.329 --> 00:36:46.570 going to have to wait for it. But when the time 00:36:46.570 --> 00:36:50.789 comes, it's not going to delay any further. So 00:36:50.789 --> 00:36:53.570 what do you need to do, Habakkuk, right now? 00:36:53.969 --> 00:36:55.989 I know you're looking for an answer, but you're 00:36:55.989 --> 00:37:00.210 going to have to wait. When God promises something, 00:37:01.010 --> 00:37:04.929 you might have to wait. You may have to wait 00:37:04.929 --> 00:37:08.090 in that difficult moment, in that difficult season 00:37:08.090 --> 00:37:11.909 of what we call here the dip. But I wanna tell 00:37:11.909 --> 00:37:15.909 you something. Not because I said it, but because 00:37:15.909 --> 00:37:19.650 God says it. When God promises you something, 00:37:20.369 --> 00:37:24.170 it's going to happen. You can take it to the 00:37:24.170 --> 00:37:27.650 bank. Some of you may be in God's waiting room 00:37:27.650 --> 00:37:32.090 right now. It may feel like an eternity. You 00:37:32.090 --> 00:37:35.090 had an issue, you brought it to the Lord, maybe 00:37:35.090 --> 00:37:38.429 you even had a response or truth from God's Word, 00:37:38.869 --> 00:37:41.750 but you're waiting on God to deliver that promise 00:37:41.750 --> 00:37:44.429 to you. Whatever your situation may be, you may 00:37:44.429 --> 00:37:48.010 be still waiting. I want you to know this, that 00:37:48.010 --> 00:37:50.010 God's delays, you may have heard this been said 00:37:50.010 --> 00:37:53.429 before, God's delays are not necessarily God's 00:37:53.429 --> 00:37:57.340 denials. And we see the examples of this all 00:37:57.340 --> 00:38:01.179 over Scripture. Moses, he's waiting years in 00:38:01.179 --> 00:38:03.880 the desert before he gets to glimpse the promised 00:38:03.880 --> 00:38:08.000 land. Joseph, he spends years in difficult situations, 00:38:08.039 --> 00:38:10.639 the Joseph of the Old Testament, years in slavery, 00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:14.360 years in prison before he's delivered and then 00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:17.960 appointed as the second in command. And he delivers 00:38:17.960 --> 00:38:20.920 his own family who sold him into slavery through 00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:24.719 that famine. Paul, he's called to preach, but... 00:38:24.349 --> 00:38:27.710 As he tells us in another one of his epistles, 00:38:27.889 --> 00:38:30.449 he ends up spending upwards of three years on 00:38:30.449 --> 00:38:33.110 the backside of an Arabian desert, communing 00:38:33.110 --> 00:38:35.409 with the Lord in preparation for the ministry 00:38:35.409 --> 00:38:38.530 before he's ever called with him and Barnabas 00:38:38.530 --> 00:38:41.269 by the church to go and to take the gospel to 00:38:41.269 --> 00:38:46.269 the Gentiles. Here's the thing. When you and 00:38:46.269 --> 00:38:49.809 I think of waiting, oftentimes we think of it 00:38:49.809 --> 00:38:54.079 the wrong way. We think of waiting as being stationary, 00:38:54.619 --> 00:38:58.820 as standing still. But as one worship song says, 00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:03.519 we can worship while we wait. What does a waiter 00:39:03.519 --> 00:39:07.219 do when we go to a restaurant? They serve, right? 00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:11.980 That's the kind of idea we can have when we wait 00:39:11.980 --> 00:39:16.940 for God's promises. Serve Him. If you're waiting 00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:19.980 for the Lord to deliver on His promise, serve 00:39:19.980 --> 00:39:22.710 Him. And all the things that we do, we ought 00:39:22.710 --> 00:39:25.670 to bring Him glory. That includes the waiting 00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:29.530 time. We bring glory to God when we serve Him, 00:39:29.929 --> 00:39:33.269 when we're faithful to Him as a faithful steward 00:39:33.269 --> 00:39:38.030 of our time, of our resources. Do you know how 00:39:38.030 --> 00:39:40.809 long Habakkuk had to wait for God to deliver 00:39:40.809 --> 00:39:43.409 on his message? Some people say it's upwards 00:39:43.409 --> 00:39:47.500 to 20 to 25 years. He could have had a child 00:39:47.500 --> 00:39:49.860 and that child could have had a child before 00:39:49.860 --> 00:39:52.920 God actually comes through on his promise to 00:39:52.920 --> 00:39:56.219 Habakkuk. Now we don't have time to do it because 00:39:56.219 --> 00:39:58.940 our time is up, but I would encourage you maybe 00:39:58.940 --> 00:40:01.000 even tonight to read through the rest of this 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:03.239 chapter in preparation for chapter three here 00:40:03.239 --> 00:40:06.239 in the next few weeks. But I'll just briefly 00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:10.460 give you a synopsis. The rest of Habakkuk chapter 00:40:10.460 --> 00:40:14.659 two, are a bunch of woes that God gives to His 00:40:14.659 --> 00:40:18.920 people about the coming catastrophe. Verse 6, 00:40:19.179 --> 00:40:22.420 is there woe to him who steals? Verse 9, a woe 00:40:22.420 --> 00:40:25.820 to the unjust deceivers. Verse 12, a woe to those 00:40:25.820 --> 00:40:29.340 who are violent. 15, those who are carnal partiers. 00:40:29.619 --> 00:40:33.079 19, a woe to idolaters. But I don't want you 00:40:33.079 --> 00:40:37.639 to miss what I believe is the climax of chapter 00:40:37.639 --> 00:40:41.739 2. And that is once again written... I read in 00:40:41.739 --> 00:40:45.920 verse 4. I consider verse 4 the key verse of 00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:48.960 this chapter. It's the message, I believe, that 00:40:48.960 --> 00:40:51.880 God wants Habakkuk to write plainly for all to 00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:54.900 see. Let's read it again. Verse 4, "'Behold, 00:40:54.980 --> 00:40:57.360 his soul which is lifted up is not upright in 00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:04.300 him, but the just shall live by his faith.'" 00:41:04.300 --> 00:41:08.800 The just ones, the ones who are believers in 00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:12.429 the Almighty God. They will live not by what 00:41:12.429 --> 00:41:17.650 they see, not by the storms that they are in, 00:41:18.289 --> 00:41:20.909 not by the uncertainty that they're going through, 00:41:21.230 --> 00:41:24.570 not by the loss that they have suffered, not 00:41:24.570 --> 00:41:27.070 by the tragedies that have come by their life. 00:41:27.349 --> 00:41:31.289 That is not what defines them. What defines and 00:41:31.289 --> 00:41:37.429 characterizes the believer is faith, faith in 00:41:37.429 --> 00:41:42.809 God. How? Well, they live by their faith when 00:41:42.809 --> 00:41:46.550 they stop and they listen to God's Word. They 00:41:46.550 --> 00:41:49.769 live by their faith when they write down and 00:41:49.769 --> 00:41:53.610 remember what God says, and they live by their 00:41:53.610 --> 00:41:58.989 faith until what they wait for becomes sight. 00:42:00.110 --> 00:42:03.849 Hebrews chapter 11, known arguably as the chapter 00:42:03.849 --> 00:42:07.320 of faith. Delivers story after story after story 00:42:07.320 --> 00:42:10.539 of the lies who lives who exhibited this and 00:42:10.539 --> 00:42:14.659 what it means to actually live by faith So when 00:42:14.659 --> 00:42:17.639 you're here When you're in the middle of the 00:42:17.639 --> 00:42:22.179 dip when God Has allowed something difficult 00:42:22.179 --> 00:42:25.500 to enter into your life and you're asking God 00:42:25.500 --> 00:42:30.360 why? When you're in that moment of wonder What 00:42:30.360 --> 00:42:36.079 do you do? What do you do? If God has promised 00:42:36.079 --> 00:42:41.920 you something, even if you take a stand for righteousness, 00:42:42.980 --> 00:42:46.460 you take the stand and you live by faith. If 00:42:46.460 --> 00:42:50.239 money seems tight and it comes time to be obedient, 00:42:50.280 --> 00:42:53.719 to give, what do you do that just lives by his 00:42:53.719 --> 00:42:57.340 faith? You believe God and you give. When your 00:42:57.340 --> 00:42:59.199 marriage seems to be falling apart and everyone 00:42:59.199 --> 00:43:01.639 around you says to just throw in the towel, move 00:43:01.639 --> 00:43:04.449 on, there's other fish in the sea. You live by 00:43:04.449 --> 00:43:06.989 faith and you remember the vows that you made 00:43:06.989 --> 00:43:10.449 and you trust God to work out the details as 00:43:10.449 --> 00:43:13.130 you love your spouse. When your kids seem to 00:43:13.130 --> 00:43:16.170 be disobedient, defiant, making the wrong choices 00:43:16.170 --> 00:43:18.929 and everyone says, oh no, I've seen that before. 00:43:20.269 --> 00:43:22.730 You believe by faith that God is working all 00:43:22.730 --> 00:43:25.750 things for good. You live by faith and you do 00:43:25.750 --> 00:43:28.170 the very best you can to raise them in godliness 00:43:28.170 --> 00:43:32.760 as scripture commands. What happens if you don't 00:43:32.760 --> 00:43:39.460 see the end in your lifetime? What happens if 00:43:39.460 --> 00:43:42.019 you have to wait all the way and you don't ever 00:43:42.019 --> 00:43:45.800 even see that in your lifetime? I want you to 00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:47.840 remember three words and they're in the last 00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:51.519 verse of this chapter. Chapter two verse 20, 00:43:52.179 --> 00:44:00.000 but the Lord. But the Lord. Verse 20 says, but 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.260 the Lord is in his holy temple. You know another 00:44:04.260 --> 00:44:08.599 way to say that? God's on the throne. God's on 00:44:08.599 --> 00:44:12.019 the throne. Even if you don't see the answer 00:44:12.019 --> 00:44:16.059 to the end of your lifetime, guess what? God's 00:44:16.059 --> 00:44:19.960 still on the throne. What do you do when you're 00:44:19.960 --> 00:44:23.880 in the dip? You listen for God's truth. You remember 00:44:23.880 --> 00:44:26.519 God's truth and you wait in faith for it to come 00:44:26.519 --> 00:44:31.760 to fruition. And guess what? If you don't see 00:44:31.760 --> 00:44:35.579 it happen, God's still on the throne. The book 00:44:35.579 --> 00:44:38.539 of Revelation chapter seven tells us about a 00:44:38.539 --> 00:44:40.340 time when we're gonna see God on the throne. 00:44:41.539 --> 00:44:45.300 Verse 15 says, therefore are they before the 00:44:45.300 --> 00:44:47.820 throne of God and serve Him day and night in 00:44:47.820 --> 00:44:50.420 His temple. And He that sitteth on the throne 00:44:50.420 --> 00:44:53.179 shall dwell among them. And they shall hunger 00:44:53.179 --> 00:45:15.739 no more. You may not see the answer. You may 00:45:15.739 --> 00:45:18.800 not see the reality of God's promise in this 00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:20.780 lifetime, but there's going to be a time when 00:45:20.780 --> 00:45:23.730 we stand before the throne of God. And he's gonna 00:45:23.730 --> 00:45:28.429 wipe away every tear from what you shed from 00:45:28.429 --> 00:45:32.730 that time. There's a verse in an old song that 00:45:32.730 --> 00:45:36.190 I think just ends so well with what we're talking 00:45:36.190 --> 00:45:38.349 about here. And I thought maybe it would be fun 00:45:38.349 --> 00:45:41.349 for us to just end tonight before we go into 00:45:41.349 --> 00:45:43.590 our time of response and invitation to just sing 00:45:43.590 --> 00:45:46.170 it together. So would you stand to your feet? 00:45:46.329 --> 00:45:52.010 The song is, it is well. And the last song. encapsulates 00:45:52.010 --> 00:45:56.269 the end of this message. Would you sing it with 00:45:56.269 --> 00:46:29.119 us? And the Lord shall descend even so. It is 00:46:29.119 --> 00:46:34.300 well with my soul. Sing it if you believe it. 00:46:35.320 --> 00:46:55.880 It is well with my soul. It is well. Would you 00:46:55.880 --> 00:46:56.239 bow your heads?