Embracing Habakkuk | Elder Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from axt church

we home. This message will light up your day.

Chapter one, and he says this, I'm reading from the NLT.

This is the message that the prophet Habako received in

a vision. And then the title is Habakok's complain. You

know where this is going? Really right? Okay? So it

goes like this, How long, old Lord? Must I call

for help but you do not listen? Violence is everywhere

I cry, but you do not come to save. Must

I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch

all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence.

I'm surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.

The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice

in the courts. The wicked far out number the righteous,

so that justice has become perverted. And then this is

the Lord's reply. The Lord replied, look around at the

nation's look and be amazed. For I'm doing something in

your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if someone

told you about it. I'm raising up The Babylonians are

cruel and violent people. They were much across the world

and conquer other lands. They are notorious for their cruelty,

and do whatever they like. Their horses are swifter than

cheetahs and fiercer than wolves. At dusk, their charitis charged

from far away like eagles, they soop down to devour

their prey on. They come, all bent on violence, their

hearts advanced like a desert wind, sweeping captives ahead of

them like sand. They scoff at kings and princes and

scorn all their fortresses. They simply pile ramps of earth

against their walls and capture them. They sweep past like

the wind and Aragon, But they are deeply guilty, for

their own strength is their god. And then it doesn't

stop there. It goes on to say Habakuk's second complain.

You know where this is going. Oh Lord, my lord,

my God, my holy you who are eternal. Surely you

do not plan to wipe us out, Oh Lord, our rock.

You have sent these Babylonians to correct us, to punish

us for our many scenes. But you are pure and

cannot stand a side of evil. Will you wink at

their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow

up people more righteous than they are? We only fish

to be caught and killed. We only see creatures that

have no leader. Must we be strung up on their

hooks and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate.

Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in

front of them. These nets are the gods who have

made us rich. They will claim, Will you let them

get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in

their heartless conquests the Lord? That's the reading of his word.

I know we are living in times which there's a

lot of instability and uncertainty. You know, yesterday, I'm sure

most of us have been reading the news about some

things that are ongoing right now in the Middle East. Uh,

And we've got to keep our eyes focus. We've got

to go back to God's word. We've got to really,

uh yeah, not lose focus at all, because really, these

exciting days that we are living in, Uh, it's not

a time for us to let our guard down, but

it's the time for us to always be very very watchful.

In fact, before I even start today's teaching, uh, I'm

just gonna take a bit of time, maybe just to

pray for what's happening in uh the Middle East, and

you know, our church plan in Jakata Uh Exert Punk

actually has been receiving a lot of Iranian migrants, and

so they have that there are a lot of Persian

people who have left Iran because of the different challenges

that they're being facing. But something is happening in Iran.

I kid you not, the lot is doing something. There

is a revival that is actually happening within the nation

itself and the people. And if you will see how

hungry even these migrants that we have received in acts upon,

you will realize that this is actually God's work and

God's ministry and we cannot be oblievious about what is happening.

Of course, today's teaching and so a be teaching, you'll

hear a lot. Actually Persia is mentioned a lot of

times in the scriptures, but we are not going to

be referring to Persia. We're going to be referring to

their neighbors actually today. You know when I mentioned Babylon,

Babylon is what modern day Iraq is today. But that

whole region is actually something that we must never be

completely ignorant about the things that happening. So let me

let me just pray and then I will go straight

into the teaching. Father. We know that you are the

creator of the heavens and the earth, Lord, which means

that you are also Lord of every nation, Lord of

the land, and Lord of the people. And Father. We

pray that your peace, your Shalom, Logod, will continue to

be with Jerusalem, especially your Lord God, because that is

the reminder that you have given your people to pray

for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray your Lord God that

whatever it is, Lord, the instability, the turmoil that is

happening in the region log gone, Your plans and your

purpose will come to pass. Lor God. We pray that

in all this, Lord God, the name of Jesus will

be lifted up on high. We pray, Log God, in

all that is happening, Lor God, your name be glorified.

We pray Lord God that you will preserve lives. Lord God,

you will help Lord just different ones who have the

responsibility of sharing your good news and your gospel on

the ground A log God, you will use them mightly

for the glory of your kingdom. We pray Lord God

that ultimately a LogD your plans will unfold and your

kingdom will come Old God in Jesus name, we ask

and prayer. Amen. Okay, A simple introduction to Habacco. As

you all know, it's a very short book, three little chapters,

and therefore sometimes it's classified as he at least he's

classified as one of the minor prophets. Not a very

nice name to use. Like I don't know if you

are haba coke and know you're going through the bibliography

and then you realize, oh no, I'm categorized as a

minor prophet. I think you be insulted us. So let's not.

Let's not just go on major and minor prophets because

you realize this, Uh to God, all prophets are important,

whether they speak a little or whether they speak a lot.

If God only gave you three words, then that is prophecy.

Do you know? That is prophecy when you hear from

God and you share it. And you know there are

some profits in the Old Testament only spoke ones and

then as far as we know, they disappear. But they

have given a message from God, and that is all

a profit is. A prophet is someone who has heard

a message and passes it on to the right people.

It's actually a very simple ministry. You don't need to

be theologically educated. You don't need to be a public speaker.

You don't need to have the gift of gap, you

don't need to be exposed to the oratory world. You

don't need all those kinds of things. Even though sometimes

when we think of prophets we're like oh high calling

tall order Nola. The prophets usually are the ones that

get They get the worst of the day because they

just have to deliver the message, and not always the

message is one that everyone wants to hear. So God

seems to have entrust this ministry to many of those

who actually don't have the gift of gap. You think

about it, Moses, he was someone who didn't have the confidence.

That's why eventually need to bring in his supplementary profit,

which is aaron to speak on his behalf. You have Jeremiah,

someone who was very low in confidence, but yet there

were amazing things that he eventually spoke. You have easy Kill,

who was maybe forced to remain silent, but also not

someone you don't. You don't find someone with all this

this amazing gift of They call it verbosity. That means

you can, you can share, you can you know you've

got tons or words and you're descriptive. No, Amos is

another one that doesn't have these gift things. But yeared,

I think what's exciting is ordinary folk hearing from God

and passing on a word from God. That's all we

need to do. And so God is always looking for messengers,

and Habakuk was one of them. He was simply a

man who heard something from God and passed it on.

He was an ordinary man who never even intended to

be a prophet. He did not expect it. And so

now when you first read the book, when you first

read the book of Habacco, it strikes you that there

are one or two unusual features about this as a prophecy,

because when you read chapter one, you find that this man, Habaco,

did most of his talking to God, not to the people.

And sometimes we like, hey, a top prophet is the

type that will stand up in a public square, put

a platform and then started like the Lord, addressing the multitudes.

But you realize that Habako was a man who talked

to God, and this is something that we can learn

from quite a lot, because this is where it all begins. Actually,

a prophet is someone who is on speaking terms with

God first and foremost. I think that is something that

we need to be clear of. A prophet, it's not

just someone who talks and releases prophecies, but he has

to be in speaking terms. We've got So let's understand

some context first. I want to give us a little

bit of context so that as I'm teaching, as I'm sharing,

you all will get a clearer understanding. So, the time

frame in which all this is taking place is somewhere

between six hundred BC. That timeframe so six hundred years

before the coming of Jesus, and what was happening around

the world at the time, What was happening in the

Middle East? What was happening in that region? It was

actually divided between two superpowers. Okay, try to imagine Amla.

So to the west west Okay, to the west that

was Egypt, and then to the east there was a Syria.

So you have the Egyptian Empire has been there since

most of time, riaking heavl and then you have the

Assyrian Empire, a lot of it you will also read

in the Old Testament. And then there was all is

this major power struggle within these two powers. But at

that point it was starting to seemer already. Okay, starting

to quieten down a little bit, maybe even borderline on

reaching a resolution where they are not always constantly clashing.

But then by then there was also a new superpower

that was emerging from the eastern side. And these are

no they are known as the Babylonians. Okay, babylone Babylon.

Like I said, modern day Iraq. A lot of wonderful

things have happened through this empire, not all for good things,

just so that you know, probably the only good thing

that we can think of is the hanging Gardens of Babylon,

one of the seven Wonders of the world that no

one has ever seen because it's already sort of destroyed,

but it was apparently one of the seven wonders of

the ancient world because of the beauty and the magnitude

of the beautiful garden. Okay, So emerging from the eastern

side Babylon, and at that point, no one realized what

Babylon's rise was going to mean. But a lot of

chatter has begun, so people are starting to talk Babylonians

are Okay, So that's what's happening regionally. Let's zoom in

a little bit to what is happening in the nation

of Israel circa six hundred BC, so in around six

hundred BC, six hundred years before Christ at that time.

At that time, maybe a few years before that, about

twenty years before that, there was a young boy king

that was reigning on the throne. Who knows what the

young boy king's name is? The boy king? Anyone knows

boy king from the Old Testament. Eight years old, he

became king. Josiah is his name, okay, And so Josiah

wah John's Bible knowledge very good nowang lada basa okay.

And Josiah discovered in an old cupboard in the temple

while he was doing some spring cleaning, and then he

found God's Law, so the book took it out. Then

when he read it, he was absolutely horrified because he

realized unless there is change, his whole nation is going

to go to the dogs. Really, that's why he realized.

When he read God's Law, he realized that if unless

change happened, the nation was doomed. So whenever you read

about King Josiah, he will always be referenced as one

of the good kings, one of the good guys. And

he really did try give him the credit Okay, Josiah

tried to reform the nation. He tried very hard to

clean up their morals. He tried very hard to clean

up their religious life. And the only setback is he

did it through the law. Again, he's the king, and

there's nothing else. I don't know. Maybe maybe there are

other things, other ways to do it. But what he

did was he imposed reform on society and he tried

to make people good by legislation. That means I go

to parliament, I passed the act. Hopefully the act will

help make people good. And then he sooner or later

found out that it didn't really work that way, because

while you can attain a certain temporary improvement in public behavior,

you can't change people by enacting a law. It will

never be something that is permanent. But yet that's how

we sometimes operate. That's what we always think, Oh, isn't

it the politicians and the law enforcement officers, the police,

and the one that is responsible for cleaning up the morality,

the public morals or maintaining it. That's all we always say.

Why don't they pass stricter laws, or why don't the

police do their job? Why can't the politicians wake up

we're always complaining and lamenting about things like they're thinking

that you can actually effect change, true, a change in

the law, but we all realize that that will never

be enough because unless there is a change in the heart,

change is going to be hard to come by. Amen.

You see, in a democracy, the law can only apply

what the majority of people actually want. So Josiah made

the mistake of thinking that if he changed the law

and imposed that everything is going to work out. He

thought that I just get everyone doing it is going

to work out. But I think he found out that, Wow,

it wasn't as simple as that. So contemporary to King Josiah,

the Missad about the same time was also a prophet

by the name of Jeremiah, and Jeremiah did not want

to have anything to do with Josiah's reforms. Why is

the question that we have to ask because Jeremiah knew

it was of no use. He realized that it was

of no use, and therefore I don't want to support it.

Jeremiah was someone who was always after a change of heart.

He was after renewal, not reformed. Okay, Josiah was a

reformer of systems. He came in as a king his

primary modus operandi is he uses the legislation and he

uses force. You know, he did some great things. He

went and destroyed all the foreign authors, all the authors

in high places. Boom, he kicked them out. He fired

the corrupt politicians, he got rid of them. He made

the pass over mandatory. But he did all those things

by law. However, Jeremiah's focus was to renew hearts. He

knew that you cannot legislat love for God. Man. I

can't go to parliament and make everyone love God, pass

it as a law. And then how so you will

see that there is a difference in emphasis here. And

that's why Jeremiah, in chapter thirty one, verse thirty three,

actually wrote this down. He says this, this is the

covenant I will make with the people of Israel after

that time, declares the Lord. He wrote down what the

Lord said, And the Lord says this, I will put

my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God and they will be my people.

I use this lot when I teach on the Ten Commandments,

because a lot of times, and I am legally trained,

I love the law. I think the law is one

of the most brilliant things around, and most of our laws,

if not all of our laws, can go back to

canonical roots. It goes back to God's ten Commandments and

six hundred and thirteen other regulations. A lot of legal

systems today are based on canonical legal systems, and so

as Christians, we're going to be proud of that. No seriously,

but you know, it's not just what is written on

two tablets that will cause you to be any different.

It has to eventually be written into your hearts. That

is the difference. That's why when Jesus came, he did

not throw the law away. He says, I came to

fulfill it what you cannot fulfill, I am fulfilling it

on your behalf. And when you believe in me, that

also means that we then will have the ability to

observe and to follow the law. But it has to

be in our hearts, not just written on a piece

of paper, not just something that is passed in legislative

orders through parliament. It has to go beyond that. Written

into our hearts means that we have to allow the

Holy Spirit to feel us and convict us. That's what

it essentially means. And so Josiah tried. He tried hard.

Kudos to him, and that's why today he is still

known as one of the good guys. But the result

of what he did, the reforms that he introduced, collapse,

actually just the next generation, because the next king that

came about was j Hoya kim Okay, who was a

pleasure lover. This guy loves to lepar Okay and he

was not concerned about the welfare of people. He was

pretty much concerned about his own self, his own status.

And because the ruler at the top was like that,

everybody followed him. Everybody became concerned not with morals and morality,

but they became concerned with status. And then from then

on you see the age of materialism setting in, and

everybody was after what they could get. Everyone was going

after improved standards of living. Everyone wanted more pleasure, everyone

wanted more things, everyone wanted comfort. Sounds familiar, You see,

this is what usually happens whenever material prosperity rises, moral

correcter declines, moral character goes backwards. It always happens. It's

been happening since Adam, It's been happening all the way

through society. And so it was actually happening in Harbor

Kook's day. And when we read the first five verses

of chapter one, you actually see a nation that is

in a sorry state. It seemed as though as if

law and order could not be maintain. People are flouting

the law. People did whatever they want. Sounds familiar or

so right, And we're living in times like that where

we do whatever we want. Whatever floats our boat. That's it.

I don't care, and I'm not guided by any moral

code of conduct. I just do whatever I feel is right.

That's so dangerous, but that is essentially what was happening

back then is happening today. And this has an effect

in society. What is most evident is you will realize

that society becomes violent. That was what Habaku was lamenting.

He was saying, and look at all this violence. You know,

you can't walk the streets at night back then, you

can't walk the streets at night in today's day and

age as well. Of course, you don't know who's gonna

mark you, right, And that is what you can see

the scripture warning us about, because there are days when

we keep going against God. And what he does is

he removes, He takes away the breaks. That means that

if God withdraws himself from society, what do you think happened?

You think we will stop singing? No, you are all

free for all. And that's what usually happens when God

steps out. You start gathering momentum just going the wrong direction,

and then violence prevails. You can actually see in Romans

chapter one. Read Romans chapter one, you will see that warning.

Romans chapter one reads like our daily newspapers. Seriously, all

the bad news you can think of happening in society.

Romans chapter one has had it since back then. So

violence appears. And this is what Habakuk found in his nation,

and he's so familiar to us, and we can identify

with it because we are living in it. And then

Habakuk cried out about it. And he cried out not

to the people, but first of all to God, Aleelujah,

praise the Lord. He felt the frustration, he felt, the bird,

he felt, the anger, he felt, the anxiety, he felt,

the insecurity, he felt all those things. He cried out

to God. He says, God, how long? How long are

you going to let this go on? It's a form

of complaint, okay, But you see from that crying out

was actually marking the beginning of Habakuk's prophetic ministry. That

was when it was actually born and birth out. It

started when Harba Coke started talking to God. Remember this

isn't that prayer. Do you know why we always emphasize

on prayer because it's so important for us to have

conversations with God. There's the reason why I always encourage

your wake up in the morning, go to God in prayer,

talk to him, read his word, because He also wants

to talk to us. And so we have to look

at Habakok's prayer. It's an interesting prayer because I have

to say this guy I Tabei, this flur got guts okay,

quite a brave guy, know because if you look at

his prayer, he actually dares to criticize God. He who

was shouting and got a lot of exclamation aunt. Why

why why? Why? It is like no, almost a bit

patulean sometimes. No, why do you think you're doing this? No?

Why are you tolerating all this?

No?

Why why are you doing nothing about it? It's a

lot of like uh. And remember it was mentioned earlier

and I said this just now. A prophet is one

who is on speaking terms with God. That means that

he is prepared to tell God whatever that is in

his heart. And if it's anything, you got to give

it to Habako because what he was doing was or

his prayer was essentially an honest prayer. It's a very

honest prayer. Uh, probably more interior gutrie rather than intercessory.

Okay a lo us. When we think of prayer, we

always think of, oh, it must be intercestary prayer. What's

he intercestary prayer? Intercestary prayer is when you ask God

for things. I intercede on behalf of someone. Lord, hear

this person where it is almost like a shopping list

that we give God, not wrong, not wrong. But interrogatory

prayer is different. You're not asking for things. Basically, Interrogatory

prayer is when you ask God questions. And this is

what Habakuk was doing. And I want to encourage all

of us to be honest. We've God, tell him exactly

how you feel, how you feel about him. You can

also tell him like sometimes you know you want to

tell your girlfriend something or your husband something. You know,

like I don't know how to tell how you feel

about it, but you should be able to speak freely

and speak openly to God how you feel about him.

Go ahead, tell it to him, say say to his face.

Trust me, he can take it. You can go ahead

and argue with God. I'm not even stopping you to

do it, but I must warn you about this. You

will never win an argument with God if your motivious.

I want to say that Big God in all arguments. Now,

you will lose it. Just save you the embarrassment. And

it's okay. Nothing to be embarrassed about losing the argument

with God, because that's when we essentially learn. But don't

ever be reticaned with God. Don't ever hold back, don't

say anything we need to be able to express. Habakuk

didn't win the argument with God, but he's still argued

and he cried out to God. And I think God

does respond to someone who keeps ongoing and him. He does.

He would rather you do that than you give him

polite prayers that are not honest. Amen. God can take it,

and God, in his grace, will respond to someone who

will stand up to him in honesty and in reality. Okay,

so let's look. Because God did respond to Habacco, what

was his response to Habacco? Well, I don't know whether

it is a normal response, a gender I wouldn't call

it a gender response. I'll probably call it a rebuilt

more than a response. But this is God's response, are

his first response, and there are five things that you

will be able to draw out. I'm going to draw

these five things out, God says. Habakuk's eyes may be open,

but they are not wide open enough, so he's missing

the real meaning. You see. God was actually telling habacco a,

don't just look at one nation. You should be watching

the nations. Then you can see what he's doing. You see,

God chains on a big canvas. We are very focused

on one item on the canvas sometimes and so we

become very narrow in our observation and in our understanding

of things. So don't just think of your nation, think bigger.

That is what he is trying to tell Habaku. He

was rebuking him because he's saying that, hey, your people

don't just need you to understand what's happening here, they

need you to understand all nations as well. Your worldview

becomes very very important. It gives us God's perspective when

we don't have just our own worldview, but we have

a biblical worldview. We have a bigger picture worldview, a

picture that sees his entire purpose. Amen, first review. Second

thing is this, Habako is going to be in for

a surprise. Why because we often have God put in

a little box. Do you know sometimes when you pray,

you are essentially limiting God. You're limiting God to what

you want the outcome of your prayer to be. And

that is how we all operate. No, because we are

only happy and satisfied with one answer, God, I want

to be rich, and then more often than not, it

makes you a good guy, but not a rich guy.

I don't know. It's one of those things though Rose

always tells me. I asked, Hey, what you like me?

I got no money or nothing, but you're a good guy.

I'm like, what does a good guy mean? Uh? Right,

had to define good guy? But it's again, Habacco was

going to be in for a surprise because a lot

of times we want God's answers to fit into our framework,

our understanding of what is good, what is better? And

you know what, you're going to be a surprise. If

you ask God questions, He's not going to give you

the answer that tickles your ear. If he does, then

God bless you. He's kind to you. Great, no problem.

But there was the second review, and he essentially was

telling Habaku, you're going to be in for a surprise,

because if you keep limiting me to just what you

can imagine, then that is not the limitless God that

we are worshiping. Okay. Third rebuke to Habacco is this

God has planned to do something about the state of

his nation in his lifetime. So he's rebuking Habakuk. Now

he's saying, stop saying that I'm doing nothing, because there

was what he kept on saying, Hey, God, you do

nothing on you you you think about God is a

God that created things and left it to run by

his own. There's actually a uh uh a philosophy. I

can't remember what is it called, but is some people

believe that God is God. But once he set creation

into motion, he takes his hands off things completely. That

means he's no longer in control. He may have created it,

but he is no longer in control. I can't remember

what's a term. There's a term for people who subscribe

to that thinking. I believe God is in control of

every single thing. That's why until today I still pray

for the weather. I still pray for pucking lots. I prayer.

He's in control of everything period. We need to understand

that to remember that. So that's the third rebual. God

is doing something, so stop telling him that he's doing nothing.

The thought rebuilt is this God told Habaco what he

is going to do. No, sorry, God did not tell

what he was going to do, because even if he

told him, Hawco would even believe it. That that's like

a slap on the face line I tell you so

you don't believe so I might a well, don't tell

you right, and that that is a rebuilt like that's

a real rebuilt. God sometimes cannot share secrets with us

because we would not believe it. Do you know, you

think about it. The Jewish people have been revealed the

greatest secret of the Messiah. But that's why we continue

to pray for them. We continue to pray that the

Messiah that they are all waiting for, they will see

him as Jesus because they too deserve salvation. It is

something that we need to know and not look down

at them think they're all all these people are useless

people who cares about them? No, God has forsaken them altogether.

The Church is now over and above God's chosen people. Know,

don't ever have that kind of thinking. Don't ever think

that we have replaced them. There are still God's people,

and we continue to pray, and not just pray, but

we continue to also be the one that ministers God's

word of salvation to them, because all of us need God,

not just the gent Tolens. The Jews and gent towns

are like amen. The fifth review is this God has

already started doing it, and Habacco missed it because God

actually said, what do you God say, I'm raising up

the Babylonians. And so God was under no illusion about

the Babylonians. He told Habako, I know exactly what they

are like. They are ruthless, they are cruel, very honest.

In his response, God actually uses this descriptive picture and

you really just now all sorts of animals and it's

a bird of prey, wolves, leopards, eagles, all those things

don't depict a nice little humble nation that will come

and cyang. You know Molly called you a bait. No, No,

this is like, really, if you read about the Babylonians,

they are the ones that will come, they will plunder

your property, they will depart your people. There are a

ruthless cruel nation. In fact, the system called Scotch Earth policies.

Scotch Earth policies can go two ways. Some nations use

it as a defensive mechanism before someone comes and take

everything day. But some nations use it as an offensive.

Babylon uses it as an offensive. That means they come in,

they take everything, they destroy so that you can make

nothing out of it after that, and they go on

doing that. They touch the entire length. It's actually in

today's rules of engagement. I think you study international law.

You're not supposed to do that. One Actually there international

laws covering the conduct of engaging in warfare, but no

one looks into that. Okay uh. Babylon was like that

they were cruel, and so God uses picture of the

picture to pain these thing. So he was not oblivious

as to what has happened. And Habaku was so shattered

by God's response. Actually, he's been crying out to God,

why don't you do something? Now? When God says that

this is what he's doing, his response is, hey, but God,

you cannot do that. Isn't it amazing? How fickle we

are when we argue, we've gone and this is so

human right, where our little minds have already decided the

answer to our own prayers in many cases, Then when

God does what he thinks, we complain again. Wait, bro,

cannot lie like that? Why you do that? You know

you think about it. Sis, We're like, God, God, give

me more patience. And so then the Lord puts you

in a really tough situation. Ah, you wanted more patients, right,

I put you in a tough situation, very challenging when

at work, no one annoying flow will be your best friend, huh,

because I want to give you more patience. But then

you're like, hey, God, why you give me this person?

Why you make life so difficult for me? How do

you think God is actually going to give you more

without letting you know or without allowing you to go

into challenging situations? And so you can you can keep

complaining God, why you allow me to go through difficult situations?

Why you put me through this? Why? Why this is?

Why that? Yeah? But please know that's thet When we pray,

don't just limit the answers to what we hope for

and see it from a bigger point of view. God

knows what he is doing. After all, his is God.

And if there is one thing, how about cook. To

remember in these early arguments with the Almighty is God

is God. He is not chief butler. He's not like, hey,

you do this for me. He is gone. And so

you know what, old Habako in a way he actually

did not learn from the rebuilt. And so he continues

his argument with God. That's why God the second and

title is the second complaint. And then he goes on

to accuse God. Now, why why you use immoral means

by using the Babylonians? Because this players are all bad people? Uh,

you know, wouldn't this produce an immoral n immoral means

brings an immoral end? So he was complaining, Lord, you're

going to bring the Babylonians. Don't you realize there are

ten times worse than we are. At least he acknowledged

that they're bad also La, but they say they're even

more better. So Habako is saying, God, you really don't

know what you're doing, right, And this was how chapter

one ends, full of lamentation and complaints. Then comes the

little bit at the beginning of chapter two, and I'm

going to uh not bring it beyond. Chapter two is

just the first few verses in chapter two is where

I'm going to stop into this teaching. But what happens

in chapter two is because Habaku failed to understand God's

actions and he was having this conversation, no argument, conversation,

whatever you want to call it, and he will be

picked check REDI. He's like, So what he does is

he decided to I'm going to go up to the

wall and I'm going to sit down and watch as door.

He's daring God to bring the Babylonians like by playing poker,

you're calling the blaffla Right, Okay, you do whatever you

want to. I I go up to the wall, basically

go up to the fence and sit on it. The

scripture says in chapter two I will climb up to

my watch tower and stand at my guard post. There.

I will wait to see what the Lord says and

how he will answer my complaint. Is Habakuk And now

you think about it, A lot of us do that.

A lot of us, when we are not convinced of

God's truth in our lives, we tend to sit on

the fence and watch and wait what is that to

watch and wait? God really paints us the picture. Good

is good, bad is bad. Good is good, evil is evil.

It's not trying to find reasons around it or beyond it. No,

but many of us do that, myself included. We're all

guilty of it at some point. And we need to

be very very careful with what the Lord is convicting

in our hearts. And a Lord of us, God has

convicted in our hearts the truth, the truth. Because we

have the Bible with us, we read God's word of

I never read, so I don't know what's the truth.

So I'm not bound by trade. Can you use arguments

like that one? Lawyers will tell you? And I'm in

trouble there. Do you know? Ultimately we will all be judged?

And so there's a scripture in Romans that says, you know,

you may not know, someone may not come in your lifetime.

If you are in Timbactus, I'm God for a sakend

place and there's no one to bring the Gospel to you.

But if you can stand before nature and not acknowledge

that there is an almighty God, you will be judged

based on that conclusion as well. I don't think anyone

can stand before nature and say that I am God.

I can create all this. Who can create all this?

No one can create all this. The splendor of God's

might and power and wisdom is beyond any human being.

That is the reality of it. That is why he

is creator. He's God all mighty. And some people will

still say no, there is no God. No. I think

many of those people who may not have heard the

gospel will acknowledge, will be the first to acknowledge that

there is a higher being. That's the reality. Many people

will acknowledge that there is something higher. It is only

those city folk like us who think that we are

higher than God. As long as I got money, that's

my God. Be careful because really, compared to infinity person,

we are minute, and we are nothing, And so be

very careful to always want to sit on the fence.

We are living in times where you know, everyone wants

to have a say, and no one wants to stand

on what is true. I think, as Christians and as believers,

I want to encourage us. Wherever the Lord has placed you,

He's not placed you there so that you can be

influenced by others. He placed you there so that you

can influence others with the truth, not with our seig nature,

with the truth. And we are to be convinced by

what God is putting in our hearts as the truth.

That's why he wants to write the laws into our hearts.

And so you can almost see Habakuk standing up there

with his armsholded no at the God posts, watching over

the horizon. So you're going to bring the Babylonians. Huh,

you're going to bring idea? You idear you. It's almost

like a defiant attitude. It's a man who cannot accept

that God knows what he's doing. It's a man that

is standing and he keeps on arguing with God. You

know what God's reply was to Habacco. God actually told

him my day, you stand to achieve that thing by

sitting on the watch tower. And that is true. You

sit on the fence, you achieve nothing. You should go

down onto the street and write what God has told

you onto the wall so that passersbys can see. That

is what God is saying. And she verse to her

verse who says this, Then the Lord say to me,

write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner

can carry the correct message to others. That was the

Rebuil and Habakuk should be warning the people not sitting

at the distance to see whether God will do what

he has promised not it is another rebuke. Actually, you see,

when God reveals to us what he is going to do,

he does it so that we can tell people to

get ready, not so that we can wait around to

see if he actually does it. A lot of us

like to do that. God says, you'll do something. Okay, God,

I will sit down and see what you will do.

But that's not what he's asking us to do. He's

asking us to go and share, to go and witness.

Do you realize that that is why we did the

entire I unpacking the Vision series. Those of you who

were with us from end of last year until early

day here what was the vision? The vision actually comes

from Habacco as well. We will I'll go to it

at some point. But the vision is for the earth

to be filled with the awareness of the glory of God.

It's a big vision. It's a vision that we see

iterated in Habacco. And we cannot sit on the fence

and expect the earth to be filled with the awareness

of the glory of God. We can't. We can't sit

back and do nothing and expect God to do all

the work. No, he wants us to be involved in it.

That's why we painstakingly ran through the teaching so that

we will be activated. A lot of us just hear

it and like, okay, yeah, I want the earth to

be filled with the glory of God. And then so

what what happens unless we are activated to do something.

That's why we were talking about eleven. The eleven is

needed something to spark it all up, something that will

cause us to move, something that will not cause us

to remain stagnant. Don't sit on the fence. It's very

very important for us to be engaged. Because God was

also warning Habakuk No. He says, if you stay on

the wash tower, you won't see anything for a long time. Verstria.

The vision is for a future time. It describes the end,

and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming,

wait patiently for it will surely take place. It will

not be delayed. But what God is saying is it's

not something that happens overnight. You think about it, You

think about it. If the earliest believers took it as

I don't know in hindsight that they like. Ah, If

I only knew God was going to do something active

two thousand years later, I think I would have waited

and chill and informed the church of two thousand years

from now you work hard. But the early Church did

not do that. Do you know? The early Church live

as though Jesus will come back tomorrow. That is the

only reason why we have the Gospel with us today,

because they were added right from get go. They did

not sit and wait to see what will happen. They

immediately went out to share and to witness God's goodness.

That is why at the end of Revelations is the

phrase maa Nata Lord Come. They were actually looking forward

to his coming already. If they knew. Think about it.

If someone whispered to that, actually, God come back to two

thousand five hundred years from now, they'd be like, huh,

only two thousand five hundred years from now. By sorry,

just steal first laugh. So I say I write something

so that two thousand five unders from now that church

can work hard. If they all thought like that and

sat back and chill and relax, we will not be

where we are today. There was that urgency right from

the very start. Think about it. The word mater, You

know the word mary. Do you know what it means?

Anyone wants to give you a shot marter. Mater actually

the root word, it just means a witness. Back then,

they witness unto God. That means that they will die

unto him, as all the way is God's way, or

there's no other way. And that's what they did. They

went on. They never sat on the fence. They went on.

They just preach, preach, and most of them die preaching.

The only one that survived out of the many was

John who lived to write revelations. And Revelations is where

you read, and you see a lot of that word

matter in it. We are called to witness, we are

called to be activated. You know, God blesses us with

his grace. Nothing that we can do to deserve God's grace,

But there's everything that we need to do to receive

God's grace. The reception of God's grace is the activation

of God's ministry in our lives. There is we have

to do something about it. God, God can do everything

for you. And it's true, we don't nothing we can

do to deserve God's grace. That is what the scripture

tells us. So you cannot earn your salvation in that sense,

but you still need to receive it if God keeps

giving you. I want to give you my Holy Spirit.

I want you to give you. I want to give

you the gifts of my Holy Spirit. These are all

grace gifts. There are carriage matter, which means that you

don't have to work for it, but you still need

to receive it. All of us. Sometimes we think that

oh done, and that's that I don't need to do

anything anymore. But you know that's not how God works.

God want the Habakuk to have a long term view,

and he's saying, your timing is not my timing. And

then he goes on in verse four to say this.

In all the exchange, he actually makes this statement, the

justs will live by faith, and it comes from verse four.

He says, look at the prow they trust in themselves,

and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live

by their faithfulness to God. All other translations that should

live by faith. And so Habaku was complaining that the

Babylonians are evil. They will kill the righteous as well

as the wicked. God in this verse is now reminding

Habacco that he will protect the righteous. He will protect

those who are just. They will survive provided that they

remain faithful to him. So the truth is, when the

Babylonians arrive, there will be many who will lose faith,

many wh will lose faith in God because it's like

all to you, they're they're not kind people. And then

they will think that God has let them down. But

God says that those who go on believing in Him,

they will survive the coming judgment. That is why I

always teach, and this is the truth. The word faith,

both in Hebrew and Greek, includes the idea of faithfulness

in it. It is faithfulness that saves. Basically, faith and

faithfulness the same thing. You must go on believing. You

must keep faith. You see, believing in Jesus on one

occasion isn't faith. If you just respond to Him one

time at a rally, that is not faith. True faith

is continuing to believe in Him whatever happens. And this

this is why when we read in the Gospels, in

Matthew chapter twenty four, it says he who endials to

the end shall be safe. If you read Revelations, I

can tell you or you want me. Sum of revelations

for you is teaching you to things and deal, which

is a little bit negative, I know, but it's needed.

And the other thing is overcome. We are overcomers in Christ.

He didn't just tell you to yan, but he gave

us the spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit that activates.

Is the Holy Spirit that ignites us, is the Holy

Spirit that revives what is insight us. You see, living

by faith is not a single act, is a continuing

attitude for a whole lifetime. And this is truly how

a revived person lives. He goes on believing, always overcomes

all circumstances to stay with Jesus and not to this

own or to deny him under any pressure. And so

one of the best ways, No, if someone is asking

you how are you, I hope you can answer, I'm

well over the circumstances. You see, we always say I'm

well under the circumstances. I'm well, but we all believe us.

That means we are not called to be under the circumstance.

We're actually called to be over the circumstances. Will there

be circumstances, yes, there will be, but never for one

thing that we are under circumstances. God has allowed us

to be overcome us very very important that just shauld

leave by keeping faith with the Lord.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

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this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless