our our final lesson today. And this is talking again about God's purpose, God's plan, and he's praising him. Amen. So letter D, the title of this is praise God for his purpose. Aren't you thankful God's in control and he has a purpose? Amen. What would the world be like if we didn't have any assurance that God was in control or God had a purpose? That's where lost people are today, by the way. Verse 12, Thou didst march through the land in indignation. Thou didst thrash 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 to scatter me. Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses through the heap of great waters. Let's pray. Father, today we just bow in your presence here. Father, we thank you for your presence. that you are in our midst today. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst of his churches and father today. We want to please you. We want to honor you with our thoughts, with our words, with our singing, with our praise, with our reception of your divine word in our hearts. So father, just work through me, work in each one that's here. Father, you know, my physical strength is weak, but I pray that it will be in your strength and the power of the Holy Spirit that all things will be accomplished today. Father, again, just thank you once again for your goodness, your love, all that you do for us. And we just trust you today as the prophet did and praise you today for your goodness in Jesus name. Amen. So we know that God has a purpose and plan. God working with Israel. We see five major purposes here. And let me just give you these purposes. Again, remember that the Lord can intervene in the affairs of the world, even through the forces of nature, even through the forces of nature. And so We could look at these, remember I said there's a two-fold application. A lot of this, we'll look back to the past as what was happening back when. And then, it does point us to God's future work. God is going to come back. God is going to judge. God is going to do what he says right here with the heathen when he comes back. So, number one, do you have everything there? Is everyone with me? Letter D. I have page five. What page is it on yours? Page four. The Lord came to execute judgment on the earth. And to tell you the truth, this is a theme. I hate to tell you. A theme throughout today. It will come up even in the morning message that God will execute judgment and God is going to hold us accountable for our actions. And if we never get saved, If we're not under the blood, then we will pay for all of our sins for eternity. And we will suffer God's wrath and punishment. That's what's going on here, brethren. He's declaring a sure judgment. Amen. Thou didst march through the land in egg-dignation. Thou didst thrash the heathen in anger. And we know we did study a little bit about anger, but God doesn't sin in his anger. We sin when we get angry, but God doesn't. Amen. Number two, the Lord came to deliver his people. Amen. And it says thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation when thine anointed. Listen, isn't this the whole purpose and plan from Genesis to Revelation? Salvation. God came to save, and this is a wonderful lesson this morning that we could just understand that even today, you know what God, we know that He's coming back, but He's delaying His coming. We say delaying, but we look at it as delaying. God knows exactly the times appointed and the boundaries of man and all that. Acts 17, amen, and the coming of the Lord and the day of judgment. But the Lord tells us in 2 Peter 3 that He is long-suffering toward us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so when people out here say, oh, well, you said, you know, God is Jesus is coming back. He never came back. And you and your answer should be you should be thankful because he's offering you salvation because once he comes back, that's over. So you better get saved. And then number three. The same verse says, even for the salvation of thine anointed and Jesus, the anointed is the the Messiah. And remember, he's preserving the lineage, the line, the descendants of the Messiah in the nation of Israel. Remember, God promised a royal seed and God. God preserved it, did he not? No matter. What Israel did, God still preserved that that line when he promised, even in well, he promised in Genesis three that the seed of the woman would crush the seed, the head of the serpent. That was Jesus. That's a promise. That's the first mention of Jesus in the Bible. And then you have Genesis 12 when he gave Abraham that promise remember that in thee and in thy seed All the nations of the earth should be blessed. That's Jesus. Amen And so you got all these promises promises promises and you have them all through and then you got You know the earthly kingly line of David and you see What happened there? Right, but God was faithful. Amen and You have Ruth in the lineage. You have Rahab the harlot in the lineage of Jesus. Isn't that amazing? See what I'm getting at? God is amazing. God is faithful and God in his grace. And he's done all this work. And we could go through the the Old Testament, especially Daniel chapter nine. But we won't go there about the purpose and plan and the prophecies concerning the Messiah and exactly what God was doing. So whenever God is at work in Israel, we know the purpose. Whenever God is at work leading up to the birth of the Messiah. He had a purpose and plan. I hope we keep that first and foremost as we study the Bible. Because you could probably, if you look hard enough, find Jesus on every page of the Bible. Amen. Number four, I keep saying that one day I'm going to do it. And then we're going to have to read the whole Bible in one message. Flip through the whole Bible, thousands of pages. How would you like to do that? Maybe in a couple messages, amen, maybe in a series, maybe in 52 weeks in a Sunday school lessons, amen, of the year. Number four, the Lord came to crush the leader of wickedness, amen. Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked, amen. And we know again, just go back to Genesis three. What did I mention? That Jesus is going to crush the head of the serpent. And then we look in Revelation and we look how that the false prophet, the beast and the false prophet and and the Antichrist are going to be crushed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Obviously, it does talk about wicked leaders, earthly leaders, too. And man, there's some savages out there, aren't they? They are. They are. They are blood thirsty savages, violent, wicked men. And it's. They're going to be judged, too, a man. And if you wound someone in the wound, that wound is the head out of the house of the wicked. When you crush their head, they're dead. Amen. They're useless. And then number five, the Lord came to reveal his future plan. And that's where it all kind of fits together. Um, We don't know the actual time of the Lord's return, but we do know that the whole world will be gathered in the valley in Megiddo there. And I stood there on Mount Carmel where you see where Elijah Destroyed the prophets of Baal. Amen and Had that great victory and from there you look out over the valley there and that's Where the whole you see exactly where this war is gonna take place With your own eyes right there And so they're gonna gather there And this is The East and the West are going to decide who's going to rule the world. But we know the end of the story. The Lord's going to break through the clouds. He's going to annihilate the millions massed against him at Megiddo. Amen. Thou came out as a whirlwind to scatter me, that their rejoicing was to devour the poorest. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses through the heap of great waters. And so. You see now when we're reading this, when you start understanding. How the prophet responds, amen, You see, wow, this is serious. This is very powerful stuff. Because look at verse 16. Did he understand what the Lord was prophesying? Yes, he did. Did he understand what the Lord's purpose was? Yes, he did. And it says when I heard my belly tremble, my lips quivered at the voice 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. So let's go to our new lesson. The proclamation of the prophet. If you want to go back over the praise, the prayer and praise of the prophet, then take time. And then you could put this one on to it and it'll be the whole chapter. It's a long study, I know, but. This is an amazing portion description, remember, I told you last week I wanted to get to it and I have about 30 minutes, so I do want to try to definitely cover this whole, it's three points, it's not a lot of text, but we'll try to get over it today. That way we can move on to Zephaniah. And I'm looking forward to this because, you know, some of these books I haven't studied or preached, I mean, in the sense of study, study and preach through in a long time. The last time I did this, I was looking on, was in Chile and it was all in Spanish. I did a lesson on the Minor Prophets, but it was more of a overview. It wasn't detailed, verse by verse type studies like we're doing now. So it was just kind of an overview, get everyone to understand the outlines, the main points, and some of the main teaching of each book. So I'm looking forward to the rest of the Old Testament, and I hope you are too. So let's look at our introduction here. Remember, He also the whole chapter says that he would face the frightening fact that his nation will be invaded by a merciless enemy by the Babylonians. He knows that the people will go into exile. Many will be slain. The land will be ruined and Jerusalem in a temple would be destroyed. Can you imagine that if you're reading the Old Testament? Remember how Solomon built the temple and the glory of the Lord filled it and What a what a what an amazing time in the history of Israel. And now all of that would be destroyed. That's sad. And yet in this passage, and this is why it's so important that we need to study this. In the face of all that, the prophet tells God he will trust him no matter what happens. Isn't that the message today? Trust God no matter what happens in this world, because it's happening. It's happening. It's happening. Just read the Friday church news. Some of you aren't taking these faithfully. Go ahead and get them because there's some key, key events. If you start putting this all together, what's happening among churches, what's happening in the world and politically, you start putting it all together. You understand, you have discernment of the times, and we need discernment of the times. So you should be a diligent student, number one, of the Bible, and number two, of history. Of the Bible and of history. Of human events. There's nothing wrong with that as long as you don't stay awake all night long, amen? And if you stay awake all night long, Get back here. Because there's a reason you don't have to do that, amen? So brethren, what are we learning in the rest of this chapter? As believers, we are to trust His care and protection, even in the midst of judgment, even in the midst of trials, even in the midst of suffering. God has promised to bring us through every trial and to use every trial to strengthen us and purify us. Amen. God has promised that He will not suffer that we will not suffer more than we can endure. So don't say it's too much and it's too hard. It's not. That means you need to get closer to the Lord because something's failing in your relationship, because the Lord will never suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. But will with the temptation make a way to escape? Amen. So we can't say it's too much and it's too hard ever if we're saved. Something's failing in our lives. So let's, what he's stating here, and I say the proclamation of the prophet because I have the prayer and praise of the prophet, so I had to use another P, amen, the proclamation. But you can talk about his confession of faith, amen. Here's his confession of faith. Here's a man of faith. What's he going to do in light of all this? What are we going to do? Number one, I will wait patiently on the Lord. Amen. And this is one of the hardest things ever in life is to wait. To be patient. So what are we learning about this prophet? I will wait patiently on the Lord. That's his declaration in verse 16. Though he doesn't say this, I understand the words are not clearly spelled out there. But look at letter A, he didn't depend on his feelings. Letter B, he depended on the Lord. Amen. So we have a choice. Everyone look up here. We have a choice. We're either going to depend on our feelings or we're going to depend on the Lord. So I think in every situation you have to look at yourself. Am I depending on my feelings or am I depending on the Lord? And what I mean by depending on the Lord is depending on the word of God. If you truly are depending on the word of God, then it doesn't line up with how you're feeling all the time. So you have to make a choice. What am I going to do here? So he didn't depend on his feelings. What was he feeling in verse 16? My belly trembled, my lips quivered, rottenness entered into my bones. I trembled in myself. So what did he feel? intense fear struck his heart. But remember, here's a man who's honest with his feelings about his feelings. He said. He's letting he's letting us know, brethren, and this is not an uncommon response. Remember, Isaiah? Remember, Peter? They fall down. Remember John the Apostle? They fall down before the Lord because they get this revelation of God and about Themselves and about his calling and about his purpose in the world and what happens? They fall down and they they they feel the same way as this prophet So he's being honest with his feelings and his emotions Certainly his first response was fear and trembling. He knew judgment was coming and He could not know the extent of destruction or how the devastation would affect him and his family personally. He didn't know that. So basically, what's going on here? His heart's pounding, his lips are quivering, his legs and his inner being is trembling. He felt even death in his bones. That's how deep rottenness entered into his bones, like death and decay. But truly brethren, this is the difference of our fear and the fear of the world. His fear was for God. He saw what God was doing. He heard the voice of the Lord and he had fear of God. And that's what we need. Amen. Yes, he had deep concern for his people. We know that because he knew the great suffering they would endure. He was a watchman, was he not? He was a representative of God and a watchman, an intercessor for the people. Therefore, he cared deeply for the nation. And so all of this knowledge of disaster and suffering left him quaking in fear for them as well. It was mainly for others. It was mainly towards God. But then he didn't depend on his feelings, let it be. He depended upon the Lord. That I might rest in the day of trouble when he come up under the people, he will invade with his troops. So Habakkuk was a man who was determined to trust the Lord no matter what happened. If he depended on his feelings, what would he have done? I'll tell you one thing. We wouldn't be reading the rest of these verses. He would not be making a confession of faith in the Lord. He'd be running and hiding. Like Jonah, remember? But if he just looked ahead, he saw a nation heading for destruction that frightened him. When he looked within, he saw himself trembling with fear. When he looked around, he saw everything in the economy falling apart. But then he looked up, amen, and saw God. And that's when we see God and we see the plan of God, all of our fears will vanish, brethren, because we're going to live by faith. The just shall live by faith. Amen. Wasn't that in this book? And so to walk by faith is to keep your eyes on the Lord. Keep your eyes on his glory. Keep your eyes on his greatness. Keep your eyes on his promises. Amen. Not on the circumstances, but on the Lord. Let her see that's what faith is. Faith is a willingness to weigh on the Lord. It is said in Isaiah chapter 28, he that believeth shall not make haste. And that means, you know, when you're making haste, when you're getting ahead of yourself, getting ahead of the Lord and getting all worked up about things, it's because we're not trusting. He that maketh haste. He that believeth shall not make haste. And that's one of the marks of faith, is a willingness to wait patiently on the Lord. And remember this always, when we get ahead of God, when we run ahead of God, we get into trouble. Think of Abraham when he went into Hagar and fathered Ishmael. What about Moses when he tried to deliver the Jews by his own hand instead of God's calling? And when you look back at this whole book, Habakkuk could wait and he knew he could wait patiently and quietly because he knew that God was at work in the world. God has been declaring this throughout the book. He's going to work a work and then he prayed, revive that work. Amen. And then. When you know, and this is the well, there's a commandment to. We look at that. I think two, three. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Isn't that a good verse for us today? The word of God is for an appointed time. The prophecies are for appointed time. God is going to work. It will not lie. God's word will not lie. Just tarry. Just wait for it is a command. Wait for it. So God not only showed him he's working. God commanded him to wait. Amen. So he had a command from God. And God's commandments are God's enablements. Does everyone understand that? What's that mean? God's commandments are God's enablements. What's that mean? If God commands you to do something, he's gonna give you the strength and the grace to obey it. He's not gonna command us to do something we cannot do. So he's gonna enable us to do it, amen? And we must understand that if you know God is working in your life, then you can wait patiently and quietly and let him have his way. That's what we need to know, brethren, that God's in our life. God's working in our life. God's in control of our life. And then we can rest patiently and wait patiently for the Lord. That's what Psalm 37, seven says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. And so when we depend on God's promises, we're not going to fall apart. Amen. When we find ourselves getting churned up within, we can be assured that what do we need to do? Stop, pray, and wait on the Lord before we do something stupid. Amen. Number two. He says in verses 17 and 18, I will rejoice in the Lord. Not only will I wait for the Lord, I will rejoice in the Lord. Now look at this. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit tree be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail. The field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold. There shall be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. Amen. There you go. Why didn't I see that in my outline? Point one should be I will rest in the Lord. Point two is I will rejoice in the Lord. And point three is I will rely on the Lord. So let's look at verses 17 and 18. Rejoice not in the circumstances. God's not telling you to rejoice in the circumstances. Are we rejoicing? Or are we only rejoicing when the circumstances are good? If that's true, look at your life. How much will you rejoice if you're just rejoicing because the circumstances are good in your life? because everything's going great, because there's no troubles. How long will you rejoice? How many days will you rejoice? Very little of your life. Man is born for adversity as the sparks fly upward. So you can't rejoice in the circumstances. And that's where we get our focus wrong. Look at the circumstances. Verse 17, it's very clear, everything's gonna be destroyed. There will be no value left in the land. Buildings will be destroyed, treasures will be plundered. So let me get this clear. Number two, I will rejoice in the Lord. Letter A, rejoice not in the circumstances. Buildings would be destroyed treasures would be plundered farms and orchard would be devastated. The economy would be destroyed There would be nothing to sing about little to sing about but remember this God is still on the throne. Amen. I Think there's a song about that dear Maybe you should find that right now and sing it God is still on the throne. Amen. I God doesn't, and remember this, He's working out His purposes, His divine purposes for His people. Romans 8, 28. All things work together for good to them who love God and are called according to His purpose. Amen. Now remember this, God does not always change the circumstances, but God changes us to meet the circumstances. Did you get that? God doesn't always change the circumstances, but God changes us to meet the circumstances. Amen. And that's exactly what it means to live by faith. Trusting God to do that in every circumstance. The just shall live by faith. Rejoice not in the circumstance, but let her be rejoicing the Lord See what I'm saying He says I'm not gonna rejoice look at all this stuff that's going wrong in verse 17 But verse 18 yet will I I will rejoice in what in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation brethren You can rejoice in the Lord and in God and in your salvation and in your strength, no matter what you're going through in life. He's still there. He doesn't change. He's still great. He's still glorious. He's still almighty. So don't rejoice in the circumstances, rejoice in God. Wow, there's so much good here. I told you that's why I didn't want to overlook this last passage because there's so much in here that we need. And I always, when I'm studying, I'm like, man, this is so good for today. This is so good for our circumstances in America. This is what we need to hear. Remember the New Testament? Who was preaching in this? I think Pastor Gable, wasn't he dear? Yeah. When I went to Lehigh Valley, rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing in everything. Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Rejoice what evermore. It's one thing to whistle in the dark to try to bolster your courage. Oh, okay, you're tough, I know. Well, what about in Africa? When you're out in the bush in the dark? You better have a little bit of fear in your heart. You better bolster up some courage, because you may be eaten. And that's the truth. I don't know about Fanny, where she lived, but we lived in the bush, near the bush. And there are a lot of wild animals in the bush that are dangerous. You don't wanna run onto them and startle them. So it's one thing to whistle in the dark, It's quite another thing to sing about the eternal God who never fails. Amen. So we don't need to whistle in the dark. Whistle. You know what I mean? What I'm getting at that phrase whistling. So we're not trying to build up our own. No, we're we're focusing on the greatness of God, the power of God. Think about this man, his lips were trembling. His lips were quivering his legs were trembling and shaking but then he burnt verse in the song. Amen This is a song brethren Remember the last phrase to the chief singer on my string. It's a song So here it is God gives songs in the night Psalm 42 877 6 if we'll trust him the great British expositor G. Campbell Morgan, our joy is in proportion to our trust. Our joy is in proportion to our trust. Our trust is in proportion to our knowledge of God. So focus on your knowledge of God so you can trust him. And then trusting him, you will have joy. Lastly, but not leastly, and I just have like a few minutes. I will rely on the Lord. Verse 19. What's he say here? He talks about verse 17, the God of my salvation. Now look at verse 18. The Lord God is my strength. He's not. He's the God of salvation. He's the God of strength. Amen. And he will make my feet like Heinz feet. He will make me to walk upon the high places. Praise God. I will rely on the Lord. This is a dick. Okay. What are we going to do? Number one, I will wait patiently. I will rest in the Lord. Uh, number two, I will rejoice. And is this our declaration of faith? Is this our confession of faith? Like this man, we will face it. I will rejoice. And now I'm going to rely on the Lord letter a, because he trusted the Lord as his strength. Amen. Think of the two ways that he mentions here that he strengthened his prophet. He made his feet like the hind's feet. Meaning as sure-footed as a deer. Deer are known for their sure-footedness. They're incredible balance and stability, even in the most difficult terrain. They can stand firmly and navigate safely the greatness heights and the steepest cliffs. So that's what the prophet's saying. Look what God's going to do for me. The prophet declared his trust in the Lord to make him sure-footed, even during great suffering. The Lord would strengthen the prophet and his people to navigate the most difficult days and hardships ahead. Amen. And then secondly, the Lord gave Habakkuk the power to climb to the heights. Amen. He will make me to walk upon high places. Brethren, this is speaking of to be victorious. He would empower the prophet and his people to do more than just endure. That's what he's saying here. Listen, you don't just have to endure life. You can enjoy. J.O.W. it. Through God. Have joy. And you know what joy is, what we're talking about, not the happiness of circumstance, but joy of the Lord. Amen. Doesn't the Bible say there in Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Wow. So they're not going to only persevere and survive all that would become. They're going to be strengthened through it. And brethren, that's what we have, what happens with us. We are cleansed. We are purified. In the trial of judgment, if we would turn back to God, then our God loves us. He would establish us again as his own. And the people would cry out. How many look at the book of judges. How many times did they cry out? He sent a delivery. How about it? Even in the wilderness wanderings, God blessed them and provided for them even when they were in that disobedient states. Amen. And then letter B, Habakkuk knew God's promises and trusted them. He knew God's promises and trusted them. Brethren, this is where we need to live. Focus on the Lord, focus on his power, his greatness, his ability, his strength, his salvation. Amen. And if we do that, we're not going to sink into hopelessness and despair. We're going to be filled with anticipation and joy because God's going to do something here. Amen. We're going to be a part of it. Amen. This is where we need to live. And if we do, we can rejoice and praise the Lord, no matter what comes. And I think in the Bible, God made us for the heights. If God allows you to go into the valley, And if you wait on him, what does Isaiah 40 say? You're going to mount up with wings as eagles. He's going to take you to the heights, even from the deepest valley. Amen. Deuteronomy 32, 13, he made him to ride on the high places of the earth. Amen. Psalm 18, it is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like Heinz feet and setteth me upon my high places. David said that when he was fleeing from Saul. What's the conclusion? Habakkuk as a book, remember how it started? He teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly. Remember he prayed he asked God Take them humbly to the Lord in prayer. Amen Don't do it in pride. Don't do it in anger and Frustration just say Lord. I don't understand. I can't see my way out of this Lord. Help me Wait for the Lord. He's gonna teach us a man then worship him No matter how we feel or what we see. I He determined he would be joyful in the midst of great suffering. This is true strength, brethren. Amen. It is real faith and hope. And we know that only genuine faith can produce the fruit of joy in the midst of suffering. And this is what we are called to do as believers. Just look at a few verses. Jesus said, rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven. Amen. They were being persecuted, but God said, rejoice. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations, also knowing that tribulation work is patience. Amen. Weren't you greatly rejoiced, though, for a season? Brethren, remember this. It's a season. God has his hand on the thermostat and his eye on the clock. Amen. For a season, if need be. year in heaviness through manifold temptations. Habakkuk discovered that God was his strength. God was his song. God was his salvation. Therefore, he had nothing to fear. In the midst of their defeat, the people of God would again become victorious. That's the whole picture here. After shame and dishonor, the people would find honor once more. Their God would not allow them to be shamed forever. He would not allow them to be scattered, exiled, and lost permanently. And we're living on the other side of that when Israel was made a nation again. He would hear their prayer of repentance in their cry. That's coming. Amen. All Israel will be saved, the Bible says in Romans chapter 10. That's at the coming of Jesus, by the way. He would hear their prayer. That doesn't mean that means those that are there. Not everyone in the past. He would heal their prayer of repentance and their cry for deliverance. He would regather and restore them at his appointed time. Aren't you thankful that we read this, we understand it, and guess what? It is fulfilled, it is being fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled. Amen and amen, let's pray. Father, we thank you once again for this glorious chapter. for this glorious conclusion that we read today. Father, challenge our hearts in the day in which we live in the midst of our own circumstances in this country and in this world. Father, we need to have the same faith. We need to have the same confession of faith that we will rest in you, that we will rejoice in you, that we will rely on you for everything. Father, bless the morning service. Father, continue to strengthen me, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.