Habakkuk. I think tonight we'll conclude our series in Habakkuk, Chapter 3. We interrupted our series in Habakkuk because we had a Christmas Eve service and we had a New Year's Eve service, but now we're going to get back on track with Habakkuk. In fact, we might conclude tonight in Chapter 3. We'll see as the Lord leads. It's a great chapter. I'm not going to read the whole chapter, but I will read a few verses from Chapter 3. A prayer of Habakkuk that proffered upon Chinonah. That's a type of music. This is like a song, this chapter. In fact, you'll notice the musical notation in verse three, śrela, the musical notation. In fact, you'll see that three times in this chapter, verses three, nine and thirteen. Let's continue, verse two. O Lord, I have heard Thy speech. Is this a little too loud? Gary, can you turn it down a little? It sounds kind of loud. You can tell me when it sounds right. How's that? That sounds better, Gary. Thank you, brother. Then verse two, O Lord, I have heard Thy speech. It might still be a little too loud. And I haven't even started shouting yet, so you better lower it a little bit. O Lord, I have heard Thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years make known. In wrath remember mercy. God came from Canaan, and the Holy One from Mount Para. Selah. His glory come to heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light, yet orange coming out of His hand, and it was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at His feet. He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills did bow, his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction, and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? Was Thine anger against the rivers? Was Thy wrath against the sea, that Thou didst ride upon Thine horses and Thy chariots of salvation?" The bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the tribes, even by word, selah. Daughters, cleave the earth with rivers. The mountains saw Thee, and they trembled. The yellow flower of the water passed by. The deep uttered His voice and lifted up His hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation. At the light of Thine arrows they went, and at the shining of Thine glittering sphere. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger, Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for salvation with Thine anointed. Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation unto the neck, selah. Thou didst strike through with His staves the head of His villages. They came out as a whirlwind, a scathing. Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. Thou said, Walk through the sea with Thine horses, though through the heap of great waters. When I heard, my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble. When He cometh up unto the people, He will invade them with His troops. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the laser of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and He will make me to walk upon nine high places to the chief singer on my stringed instruments." I couldn't stop reading that portion of Scripture. It's hard to stop. It's like singing all those great hymns and gospel songs. You just don't want to stop, do you? Well, let's stop now and pray, and ask the Lord to bless the Heavenly Father, help me as I do my best to expound these scriptures. Just give us a good meeting. We've had a good meeting so far. We're thankful for that. And I pray you'll bless this Bible preaching time. Have your way now. Direct my thoughts. May the Holy Spirit speak to hearts tonight. Guide me and direct me. Have me say what should be said and leave out what needn't be said. And we ask these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Since we were interrupted for a couple of weeks with our special holiday services, Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and so on, let me briefly review. The book of Habakkuk can be divided into three parts. Chapter one, the prophet Habakkuk is wondering. He's wondering, wondering what God is doing. And in chapter two, the prophet Habakkuk is waiting, waiting, he's waiting on God. And then in chapter three, which we're going to look at tonight, Lord willing, the prophet Habakkuk is worshipping. He's worshipping God. And that's why it was hard to stop reading this chapter. It's a wonderful chapter. Habakkuk is worshipping. I like verse seventeen, Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall a fruit be in the vine, and so on. He goes, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will join the God of my salvation." He's worshiping God. So those are three chapters. Chapter one, he's wandering. Chapter two, he's waiting. And chapter three, he's worshiping. In chapter one, we see the perplexed prophet who brought his problem to the Lord. In chapter 2, we see the waiting prophet who receives his answer from the Lord. You saw that last time. And in chapter 3, we see the rejoicing prophet who was strengthened in the Lord. Now, in chapter 1, the beginning of this book of Habakkuk, the prophet of Habakkuk was perplexed. Thank God, he's no longer perplexed. Here in chapter 3, he's not perplexed anymore. He has heard from heaven. Now he's worshipping God. Now let me ask you tonight, are you worshipping God? I think usually the Wednesday night prayer meeting crowd worships God. You have to wonder sometimes about some folks who just come out Sunday morning and rush in and rush out and it's almost like a Roman Catholic just going in and getting it over with. We shouldn't come to church with that attitude. We should come to hear from heaven. How about they heard from heaven? And now he's worshipping God. You look in Chapter 3, verse 1. Chapter 3, verse 1. A prayer of Habakkuk. And then it is in verse 2, "'O Lord, I have heard Thy speech.'" He heard from God. He heard from heaven. Now, the third chapter of Habakkuk is a poem Apparently a hymn, I mentioned the word sīlā is a musical notation. It's found three times in this chapter. In chapter one, verse one rather, in reference to Chīnīnā, that means it should be put to a certain type of music. So it's like a hymn, just like the book of Psalms was the hymn book for Israel, and in many ways Habakkuk 3 is like that. It's an anthem of praise. Look in verse 19. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like high seats, and he will make me to walk upon my high places. Watch this. To the chief singer on my stringed instrument. So this was to be set to music. It's a hymn, an anthem of praise. It includes praise, thanksgiving, adoration, And most importantly, it includes a plea for revival. Look at verse 2. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work. in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make known in wrath, remember mercy. So, it's a plea for revival. O Lord, revive thy work. And by the way, it's God's work. Amen? When we pray for revival, we ask God to revive His work. And to revive us, so His people. You know, some people have a mixed up idea about revival. And I have to confess, when I first got saved, I used to think sometimes along these lines, but it took me a while to get straightened out. They think, we're going to get a speaker to come in, some hot preacher, and we'll bring some unsaved people, we'll go out in Kansas and England and put signs up and invite a lot of sinners here, and they're going to get saved, a revival. Strictly speaking, a revival is when God's people get right, when they get revived. Now, when that happens, thank God, unbelievers get saved too. And throughout history, the great revivals have seen multitudes of sinners get saved. But it starts with God's people. And when God's people get right, and they get revived, then unsaved people take notice of that. Now, tonight I'd like to speak about revival, since, to me, Habakkuk 3, verse 2 is a great verse, and to me, my favorite verse in this chapter, and in fact, one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament. I want to say, first of all, in order to have a Bible, we first must have the fear of God. If you look at verse 2, he says, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was not afraid. I believe today we don't hear much about the fear of God. We don't hear much talk about that today. I think America can no longer be called a God-fearing nation. I think at one time it could be called that, but not today. Notice Habakkuk says, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. Today there's no fear of God, and today people are not hearing from heaven. Habakkuk heard from heaven, he heard from God. He says, I have heard thy speech. Romans chapter 3 verse 17 says this about sinners, And the way of peace Have they not known? So why is there no peace? Why is there no peace in this world? Why is there no peace in so many families and so many homes and so many hearts? Why not? Well, the very next verse says, Romans 3.18, there is no fear of God before their eyes. That's why there's no peace. There's no fear of God. And we can never have revival without the fear of God. And we're not going to see souls saved without the fear of God. You know, some people say you shouldn't preach about hell. And they say, all you're trying to do is scare people. Well, praise God, if they can scare them into heaven, isn't it a good thing? Well, we shouldn't scare them and let them go on their foolish way, thinking everything's okay, when in fact it's not okay. They're going to die someday and go to hell. No, we should try to wake them up. Put the fear of God into them. And how can we have revival if there's no fear of God amongst Christians? And I'm afraid too many Christians have lost the fear of God. And I can expect to see God bless our church and other churches, and to see souls saved when Christians are not living right, when they're not reading their Bibles, when they're carnal and worldly and such. Now, we have churches full of people who are driven by their emotions, and not being directed and guided by the Word of God. The psalmist said, Thy word hath I hid in my heart, that I might not sit against it. Psalm 119, verse 11. Establish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. Psalm 119, verse 38. Jesus prayed for his disciples in John 17, 17. He prayed to God the Father, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. But many Christians are not devoted to studying the Word of God, and hearing from God, and hearing from Heaven. They're not being directed and guided by the Word of God. And now we can expect this from unsaved people, but we would think more from God's people if they don't have a love and a hunger for the Word of God. You know, still pretty early in the year, I think about today's January 7th. Tomorrow is January 8th, would have been my dad's birthday. where he's still alive. January 7th. It's still early in the year. If you haven't started reading your Bible through from cover to cover, it's still early enough you can catch up and start with Genesis and just go right through to Revelation. You'll be so happy. If you haven't done that yet, let me challenge you. I do that every year. I say that and every year more and more people come to me and say, you know, I started doing that. I'm so happy I did. I'm so glad I did. What a blessing that I tried that. What a blessing it is to just get into the Word of God. Many of us have been doing that year after year for many years. Some of you have been doing it for a few years and some of you haven't even tried it yet. Let me encourage you to develop that habit. Read the Bible every day and just read the Word of God. Habakkuk said in verse 2, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. Habakkuk had the fear of God because he heard from God. We need to hear from God. Now we pray, we speak to God, and when we read the Bible, God speaks to us. In fact, I think if you really want to know how to pray affectionately, you need to know the Bible. And in the Bible, put in your heart how to pray right. We don't even have to pray like we ought to, the Bible says, Romans chapter 8, right? But when we read the Word of God, the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and guides us. So Habakkuk heard from God, and he had the fear of God. Now, we need to hear from heaven. Habakkuk heard from heaven. The fearful report to which he refers to in this book of Habakkuk is the revelation in chapter two, which we dealt with quite a bit before Christmastime. The fearful report concerned Judah's coming chastisement. God was going to chasten Judah. and he was going to use the Chaldeans to do it. And that's why Habakkuk was perplexed. Now, Habakkuk said, O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, and in the midst of the years make known in wrath, referring to the wrath of the Chaldeans, which was really the wrath of God. God was using the Chaldeans as his instrument He says, in the midst of the years, make known in wrath, remember mercy. It's a prayer for mercy. Thank God, God is merciful. So in answer to his prayer, Habakkuk received a glorious revelation of God. He saw what is often described as a theophany. That means God appearing, an appearance of God. Look at verse three. God came from Taman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. Now, this is a vision of the second coming of Christ. Habakkuk saw Christ coming back in power and glory. Isaiah saw the same kind of vision. Daniel saw this vision. Zechariah saw this vision. Many of the Old Testament prophets saw this, including Habakkuk. So the Lord is seen coming from Taman, one of the great cities of Edom. He's described to us in verse 3 as the Holy One. And He's coming from Mount Paran, which is between Edom and Sinai. Now, in chapter one, Habakkuk was perplexed. He kept wondering, why would God use the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, these wicked heathens? Why would he allow these wicked heathens to punish and chastise the Jews who were righteous people? Why was God allowing these heathens to punish his chosen people. We don't have time to really go into all that again, but just by way of quick review, look at chapter 1 and verse 2. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry and not hear? He was perplexed. Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slack, and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked, I mean the wicked sinners, doth compass about the righteous. Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. Behold ye among the heathen. Now God is speaking now. Behold ye among the heathen in regard, and wonder marvelously, for I will work the work in your days which you will not believe, though it be told you, for lo, I raise up the Chaldeans." That bitter and hasty nation. So God's coming back. He was going to raise up the Chaldeans to judge the Jews, to judge Israel. Now in Chapter 3, Habakkuk understands all this. God has spoken. Habakkuk's heard from heaven. He's seen God as the Holy One. Notice in Habakkuk 3, verse 3, he's referred to as the Holy One. Now Habakkuk is no longer thinking about how bad the Babylonians were, how bad the Chaldeans were. Now he's no longer thinking about how good the Israelites were. Now he's thinking about how holy God is. That's a good way to get revival, to start thinking about how holy God is. Amen? Get our eyes off ourselves, and get our eyes off others, and get our eyes on the Lord. That's what Habakkuk's doing now. And in the Bible, it's very clear that there's a direct connection between God's holiness and man's sinfulness. The more man understands his own sinfulness, the more man appreciates God's holiness. And the more man appreciates God's holiness, the more man understands his own sinfulness. And we see that time and time again in the Bible. Remember when Isaiah saw the Lord in chapter 6. Isaiah 6, in verse 5. Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips. That's what Isaiah cried out when he had a vision of God's holiness. And we see that time and time again in the Bible. Now, when we start thinking like that, then God can start to move. We shouldn't worry about how bad the heathen are. God knows how bad they are. In fact, we know for honest, we were just as bad as they were before we got saved. Amen? Other times, Christians, we forget about that. We were just like them. We were lost. Far from God. God's going to take care of them. Let's just make sure we're right with God. Now, let's make sure if we're right with God, God will take care of everything else. Habakkuk began to realize that the distinction between the Babylonians And the Israelites was relatively unimportant in the light of God's holiness, in the light of God's majesty, in the light of God's glory. Now Habakkuk saw it, the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Now, first thing we see here in this chapter is we have to have the fear of God. Habakkuk had the fear of God. He heard from heaven. He saw God as the Holy One, coming from Taman. coming from Mount Paran. He saw His glory coming to heavens. I'm in chapter 3, verse 3. He saw His earth. The earth was full of His praise. Let's talk about when the Lord comes back, by the way. And His brightness was as the light. He had horns coming out of His head. Horn signifies His power. And there was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence. And burning coals went forth at His feet. Let's stop there for a moment. Before him, the Bible says, went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. The second thing we want to talk about tonight is an understanding of the judgment of God. Yes, we have to understand the fear of God, and also the judgment of God. And to properly understand the second coming of Christ, we have to trace it throughout the Bible. And when we trace it throughout the Bible, we see time and time again, the second coming of Christ is a time of judgment. The Lord came the first time. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came and was born in a humble manger and lived a rather obscure life and he was rejected by men and hung on a cruel cross and crucified and they spit upon him and mocked him. When he comes back the second time it's going to be much different. He's coming in judgment. He's coming in judgment. They won't treat him that way the second time around. They won't be able to. Now, for example, if you notice in our text tonight, the Lord is coming from Taman, from Mount Paran. I said that's in Edom. Edomites, of course, trace their lineage back to Esau. Now look with me in Isaiah chapter 63. Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63 and verse 1. Who is this that cometh from Edom? I'll tell you who it is, it's the Lord Jesus Christ, that's it. With thy garments from Badra, this that is glorious and is apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength, I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel? Well, you know what the red signifies? Bloodshed. Wherefore art thou red, or why art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the white press? I am treading the white press alone, and of the people there was none with me. For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. You know, when you hear people talk about God in such an irreverent way, And in such a sloppy, unscriptural way, you know what I'm talking about, like, you talk to some sinner, and you try to explain to him he needs to get saved, and you'll say, I know the man upstairs, we're buddies. Can you people talk like that? I really, I don't like that at all. No fear of God, no reverence for God, the man upstairs. We don't talk that way about, back in Columbus, back in chapter 3, verse 3, the Holy One. What does the Buddha say in Isaiah 6? Holy, holy, holy. To talk like that, as if he's some kind of Santa Claus, you know? And that's the way most people think of God. But here we see the Lord coming back, and it says in verse 4, Isaiah 63, 4, For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeeming is come. You know, and I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore, my own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. Remember in the book of Revelation, when it talks about the Lord coming back, it said the day of His wrath has come. Talk about the wrath, the wrath of the Lamb. So we have to understand the judgment of God, and when we study the second coming of Christ, we realize it's a time of judgment. But yet, in the midst of this terrible scene of judgment, and fury, and wrath, and vengeance, we read these words, Isaiah 63 verse 1, I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Thank God, he's mighty to save. And he will save the most wicked sinner if he will just humble himself and repent and call on the Lord. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He's mighty to save. In the back it says in chapter three and verse two, in wrath remember mercy. Go back to our text, please. and look at what Habakkuk says in Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 2 O LORD I have heard thy speech and was afraid O LORD revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy and look also at verse 13 thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people yes he went forth for the salvation of his people But the multitudes don't want salvation. The multitudes are rejecting God's mercy. And they are determined to do things their way. So, what must God do then? God sends the pestilence. Look at Habakkuk 3 verse 5. Before him went the pestilence. You may recall what Jesus said on the Sermon on Mount Olive. The Olivet Discourse. He said, there shall be famines and pestilences. Matthew 24 verse 7. And by the way, I think these pestilences, which are referred to several times in the Bible, and which our Lord himself marked as one of the signs of the second coming, could include AIDS and herpes, and there even could be more worse ones coming down the road. We don't know. Certainly we don't see any repentance on the part of sinners. No. They're demanding gay marriage. And anything goes. And you dare to object? You're the bad guy. You're homophobic. You're a hater. Oh yeah, no, it's not... You're a despicable person today in this modern liberal America today. How dare you say there's anything wrong about two men wanting to get married? God's going to send a pestilence, the burning coals, and the burning coals were at his feet. I think these burning coals could refer to burning plagues. Look it quickly, Numbers 11. Numbers 11. Verse 1. And when the people complained and displeased the Lord, by the way, it always displeases the Lord when people complain. I hope you know that. And yet we've got a whole church that's full of complainers, Christ-persons, backbiters. And when people complained and displeased the Lord, and the Lord heard it. Sure He heard it. And His anger was channeled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses, and when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was washed. Now, look also at Psalm 18. Psalm 18. Psalm number 18 and verse 12. Psalm number 18 verse 12, at the brightness that was before him as thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the highest gave his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. Yeah! Yeah, he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them. Proud men today, arrogant men, haughty, A bunch of fools and natives. They think they're going to bring peace on earth without the Prince of Peace. They believe that. Sure, they believe that. And one of the ways they're attempting to do this is through the United Nations and their New World Order. But God is going to judge these Christ-rejecting nations. Look at Habakkuk 3, verse 6. He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove. He drove the sun to the nation. He drives the sun. And the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills did bow. His ways were blessed. I saw it on the internet. Henry Kissinger is in town. And one of these news broadcasters said to him, what do you think about all the trouble in the world today? What's going on in Gaza and Pakistan and India? and all this turmoil in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said, oh, it's a good opportunity for the New World Order to develop. See? So they look at all these skirmishes and terrorism as a good thing because now we can get our New World Order together. I'll tell you what, this New World Order is going to be headed up by the Antichrist. There's no mistake about it. If you know your Bible, you know I'm right. It'll be headed up by the Antichrist. And Henry Kissinger is lost. He's lost. He's not born again. He doesn't know anything about Bible prophecy. He's being used by the devil. A lot of these leaders are politicians and statesmen, businessmen and so on. Well, in that case, if he knew that judgment was sure on his day, how much more should we know as we get so close to the second coming of Christ? God is looking down from heaven upon a world that has rejected the gospel. A world that has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. A world that has deified man. They're trying to take God off the throne and put man up on the throne. That's what the Antichrist is all about. They're going to deify a man. A world that has thrown off all restraints. Restraints against adultery, restraints against divorce, restraints against homosexuality, abortion, you name it. Everything goes now. And like I said earlier, if you try to speak out against it, they'll shut you down. In fact, There are people in America now who want to make it a hate crime to speak out against homosexuality. They've already got those kind of hate crime laws up in Canada and Europe and other places now. They're pushing to get it right here. You wouldn't even be able to read the Bible. Instead of hate speech. You'd have said, they're perverts, that's wrong. Well, they are perverts, amen? Amen. Well, one amen anyway. I hope we don't get any kind of funny people here tonight, I don't know. No? Alright, you're just tired, it's been a long day, alright. Well, Psalm 2 verse 2 says, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord. Did you read that right? Psalm 2 verse 2. The kings of the earth, the great rulers, the leaders, and they take counsel together against the Lord. And that's what they're doing now. And against His anointed, that's the Lord Jesus. saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. They don't have any restraints. You can't tell them what to do. They reject the Word of God. This world hates the Lord. And they're shaking their fists at Jesus and they're saying, we will not have this man reign over us. But he's going to reign over them whether they like it or not. Let me quickly wrap up, the time is running out. Let's just look at the proper response from God's people. We see the wrath of God. It's very clear here in this chapter. Look how Habakkuk summarized everything. In verse 16. What I heard, my belly trembled. My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness entered into my bones. And I trembled. Twice it says he trembled there. Quivered and trembled. I trembled in myself. But I might rest in the day of trouble when he comes up unto the people. He will invade them with his troops. Now look at that, verse 17. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord." That's the proper response. We just trust God, keep our eyes on the Lord. We know this world's going in the wrong direction. I agree with D.L. Mooney. He said, this world is like a sinking ship. I'm going to try to get as many people with the lifeboats as I can. Amen. Taking them all in the lifeboats, we get as many as we can. My old soul wedding partner, Brother Turley, used to say, we can't win them all, but we can warn them all. Amen. That's all we can do. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will enjoy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my string, and He will make my feet like hyacinth, and He will make me to walk upon my high places, to the chief singer on my stringed instruments." Habakkuk trembled, but he was trusting in the Lord. He was rejoicing in the God of his salvation. That's the right response. That's what we have to do. I recently read an article about a woman named Florence May Chadwick. She died 13 years ago. She was the American swimmer who was the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to France in both directions. She did this back in 1950. Some of you remember that, right? In 1952, Florence was the first woman to attempt to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. As she began swimming, she was flanked by small boats that watched for sharks. And they were prepared to help her if she got tired, or got hurt, or anything like that. After about 15 hours of swimming, a thick fog set in. And she began to doubt her swimming abilities. And she told her mother, who was in one of the nearby boats, that she didn't think she could make it. So she swam for about one more hour, then she gave up and she got into one of the boats. She couldn't see the coastline because of all the fog. She sat in the boat, she found out that she was only about one mile from the coastline. She didn't know that because of all the fog and everything. Two months later she tried again, this time was different. This time the fog came again, but she made it because she said she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she was swimming. In other words, she wasn't distracted by the fog the second time. Now, we got a lot of bad things going on in this world. We can't let it distract us from what we have to do. Keep our eyes on the Lord, keep serving Him, keep rejoicing in Him. I mean, you read chapter 3, Habakkuk's talking about all these judgments and the wrath of God, but he said, I'm going to rejoice in the Lord. I'll join the God of my salvation, even if the fig trees shall not blossom, even if there's no fruit in the vines. And the labor of the island shall fail. No matter what, he's going to keep trusting the Lord, isn't he? Now, I started out this message talking about revival. Because chapter 3, verse 2 says, O Lord, revive thy work. And Spurgeon often preached about revival. He was one of my favorite preachers. And Spurgeon saw revival. And he preached a message from this very text. And this is what he said. Look at our prayer meetings. with here and there a bright exception. Go in. There are six women. Scarcely ever enough members come to pray four times. Look at them. Prayer meetings they're called. They ought to be called spare meetings, for sparely enough they are attended. And very few there are that go to our fellowship meetings or to any other meeting that we have to help one another in the fear of the Lord. I thought about that. I said that the Great Spurgeon was concerned about how few people came out to prayer meetings. What about today? And I also thought about it. That son was preached in 1956, earlier in his ministry. I think later in his ministry, a lot more people came out to prayer meetings. In fact, they said, when he preached on the Lord's Day, he couldn't even get into a place that was so packed. And in the basement, there were a lot of people, members in the basement, praying for him as he preached. That's how they're so reliable. That's what we need. Then we encourage you to keep supporting the prayer meeting and try to get other people to come out to the prayer meeting. Because if we're ever going to have revival, it's going to come through prayer. Amen? That's what it's going to come through. Through prayer. We can't work it off. We have to pray it down. Amen? And so we need to pray. Next week, Lord willing, we're having a preacher come from the Philippines. My priest in his church in Olongapo City. In fact, Fr. David is with me. My priest in his church. Scripture Baptist Church in Olongapo City. He's coming next week. Why don't you come on out and support the meeting. Get others to come out. Say, a good front of pastors is coming all the way from the Philippines. They're not coming all the way here to be here. He's going to be traveling in several states. But I'm glad he's going to be here. And I'm glad you're here tonight. I'm glad I look around. Most of you come out to prayer meeting every week or try to. Let's keep guiding. If we're ever going to see revival, we need to really get on our knees and pray. Heavenly Father, we're thankful that we're able to be here tonight, and we're thankful for the Word of God. Help us not just to be here, as it were, but do us as well. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.