Let us have another word of prayer.
Lord, we rejoice because faith is a Person, and You have overcome the world. Lord, we are here today confessing that faith. We do believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
Lord, by faith, we want to step into the full provision that You have made for us in this time. Lord, You have so sought to have a people set apart unto You that You sent Your only beloved Son.
Lord, today we would respond with hearts unto You—hearts that would be open to our Father, the One who has first loved us; hearts open to hear what You are saying to Your church, Your people in this hour.
Lord, do give us ears to hear. Keep us from distractions. Keep the enemy from trying to sit upon us in any way. But Lord, we are thankful that there is a victory in Jesus that is very specific for this time and for this place. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I would like for us to turn first to 2 Corinthians 11. You know, Paul had a very close and dear relationship with these dear ones in Corinth. It is wonderful how, as he writes to them, you see the love and the jealousy that he has.
As we look at 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, this is really Paul pouring out his heart to these ones. They had gone astray. He had sent them the first letter, and praise God, there was some response. Sometimes we are a little tough on the Corinthians when we look at 1 Corinthians, but praise God, in 2 Corinthians there is a response to the rebuke and chastisement that God gave them.
Would that we be those who are responding to God’s Word—God’s encouragement—in this hour. Paul writes, and he is really writing from his heart here:
For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy:
for I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness,
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.
As we look at Paul’s jealousy, what is he jealous about? The primary thing that Paul is jealous about is God’s purpose. God had a purpose for these ones in Corinth, just as He has a purpose for us.
Paul says in verse 2 that he had betrothed them to one husband, and that is Christ. But it does not stop there. Why? That he might present them as a pure virgin unto Him. That is what God is after. He has redeemed us and called us unto Himself that we might be those set apart, those holy, those made by the blood of the Lamb and by Christ pure unto Him—a wonderful testimony.
This is what Paul is jealous for. But Paul has a great fear. He has this fear for those in Corinth, and it is a very real fear for us in the hour in which we live, because there is a great temptation through the ages. Just as Eve was deceived, led astray, and brought into deception, Paul has this concern that these dear ones in Corinth would be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
That battle has raged through the ages. Sometimes we try to make this Christian life so complicated. But what God is after is for us to return in a spirit of simplicity, that we would just have that devotion and purity of heart unto Him.
This is what He is jealous for. He was jealous for that with Adam and Eve. He was jealous for that throughout Israel, throughout the history of the church, and He is jealous for that today. The great cry of God throughout the ages has been, “Return to the simplicity and purity of My beloved Son. He gave His life for you. Return unto Him, and allow His life to be lived out in us.”
It is a great challenge today because we know how not only the world is getting more and more complex, but people even like to make Christianity so complex. As we are living in these last days, these are days of weakness and declension. There is so much evil out there. It seems like evil is prevailing everywhere.
Sometimes we pick up the paper—or, that is the older generation; we might pick up a paper—or we might get a news alert on our phone, and we just say, “How can it get more and more evil?” Every day, it just does. It gets worse and worse.
But what can encourage us to return to this place of simplicity, of abiding in Christ, and allowing Him to lead us on and press through in these days?
Previously, when I shared, we looked at the history of Israel and used the nation of Israel as an encouragement to us. We did that because we know that Israel is a picture of the history of the church. There are many lessons we can learn from the history of Israel. We see them repeated again through the history of the church, and these are lessons that we can learn today in these last days in which we are living.
We know, as we look back at Israel, how it had reached its zenith under David and Solomon, how the temple was completed and the glory of the Lord dwelt there. We say, “How could it get any better?” But it is amazing how quickly the people of God were led astray from that simplicity and purity of devotion to Him.
Within less than sixty or seventy years, there is a Jezebel ruling over, controlling, and having so much influence. It is tragic how quickly we can fall away. It is sad that, because of the sins of Solomon, that nation of Israel was divided.
But praise God, there is encouragement. As we looked upon those various kings throughout that history, we saw that when God found one after His heart, He reacted. Look at 2 Chronicles 16:9. It is a key verse—again, a very simple verse:
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.
Brothers and sisters, this is what our Lord is doing today also. His eyes are going to and fro that He can strongly support those whose hearts are completely toward Him—those hearts living in this place of simplicity and purity of devotion to Him.
When He found ones, regardless of how evil or bad the state of Israel was, there was a response and a reaction. There was a reviving and a recovering of what God was after.
We looked at the kings. We also know that during the time of the kings, the Lord used various prophets to speak for Him. At the very end, before Judah was taken into captivity in Babylon, there were three prophets in particular: Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.
But how did Judah respond to these prophets? God, in His mercy, continued to reach out to His people. There are many sad verses in the Bible because they speak of our condition, but they show us the love of God in spite of our condition.
Look at 2 Chronicles 36:15-16:
And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending;
because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place:
but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words,
and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people,
till there was no remedy.
We know they were taken into captivity. God, in His great compassion, poured out His heart over and over again, and tragically, most of the people of God rejected that Word.
We have already looked at Jeremiah. We saw how the Lord trained Jeremiah to function and serve in these last days. Today, and Lord willing next week, we would like to look at Habakkuk.
Now, you can pronounce it Habakkuk or Habakkuk; I do not care. I am saying Habakkuk. But who was this man, Habakkuk? We are really not sure who he was, and scholars are not accurately sure even when he lived.
But you can tell by the circumstances around him and the nature of his ministry that most scholars we respect say he lived during the time either of Manasseh, his son Amon, or the first part of King Josiah’s reign. During this time, Israel was not following the Lord. They were distracted. They were following other gods, worshiping the Lord, and worshiping other idols. There was such a mixture there.
But in Habakkuk, we see one who had a heart for the Lord and His purpose in a time of declension, departure, and confusion. Turn to the book of Habakkuk. We want to look at the first couple of chapters today.
We will start by reading from chapter 1, because this is really Habakkuk’s burden and cry. I am going to read some verses from chapter 1, and then some verses from the end of the book. I want you to note the contrast.
Habakkuk 1:1-4 says:
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?
I cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save.
Why dost thou show me iniquity, and look upon perverseness?
for destruction and violence are before me;
and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth:
for the wicked doth compass about the righteous;
therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
Habakkuk is really stressed out. He is in a place of anxiety here. He does not understand what is going on. He is crying out to the Lord.
Look at the end of the book, in Habakkuk 3:17-19:
For though the fig tree shall not flourish,
neither shall fruit be in the vines;
the labor of the olive shall fail,
and the fields shall yield no food;
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 maketh my feet like hinds’ feet,
and will make me to walk upon my high places.
Now, that is quite a change. If you look at those first verses and read those last verses, that is a changed heart. The interesting thing, as we look into this book, is that there was absolutely no change in the circumstances under which Habakkuk was living. Outwardly, the circumstances he was in were exactly the same.
But what changed? What brought his heart from chapter 1 to chapter 3? That is what we want to consider, because it can greatly encourage us today. We often look around, as we read in chapter 1, and become really depressed. But we see how, in spite of unchanged circumstances, Habakkuk’s heart was changed, and that worshiping spirit came forth.
We do not know how long this prophecy took. It could have been an afternoon’s conversation. It could have been a few weeks. We do not really know. But we know that a great change was brought about.
As we look at this book of Habakkuk, we are not looking at it in an academic way or a historical way. We want to look at it to learn lessons that will help us as we live in the days in which we are living. Habakkuk was written about twenty-six hundred years ago, but you could almost use it as a caption for a headline in the days we are living in.
Look back at Habakkuk 1:3-4. Do we ever feel like this?
Why dost thou show me iniquity,
and look upon perverseness?
for destruction and violence are before me;
and there is strife, and contention riseth up.
Therefore the law is slacked, and justice doth never go forth:
for the wicked doth compass about the righteous;
therefore justice goeth forth perverted.
Now, he is speaking of the United States here. That is pretty contemporary. We talk about people saying the Bible is outdated, but this is a pretty contemporary statement today. We find ourselves living in these situations.
As we look at Habakkuk, I believe that because the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the way the Lord met Habakkuk is the same way the Lord can meet us and encourage us to press on.
The first chapter I have titled “The Anxiety of Faith.” The second chapter is “The Assurance of Faith.” The third chapter is “The Ascendancy of Faith.” The anxiety, the assurance, and the ascendancy of faith.
As we look at this first chapter, we see Habakkuk has a question for the Lord. He is in a place of fellowship and communion, and he has this question with the Lord.
Some people say that this book was written because Habakkuk did not have faith and that it was there to teach him faith. I do not believe that. Habakkuk had faith. That was not his issue.
Habakkuk had faith in who God was. There was no doubt in Habakkuk’s mind concerning who God was or the very nature of God. Look in Habakkuk 1:12-13:
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?
we shall not die.
O Lord, thou hast ordained him for judgment;
and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correction.
Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and that canst not look on perverseness.
It was not an issue of Habakkuk not having faith. It was actually because of his faith in who God is that he had this anxiety. Somebody who does not have faith does not have any expectation in God. If Habakkuk did not believe God could do anything, he would not be anxious; he would not be caring.
But it is one who has faith in God who is brought to this place of saying, “Lord, I know who You are, but I do not understand Your ways in the hour in which we are living.” This is dealing more with bringing Habakkuk into an understanding of the ways of God, based on his foundation of knowing who God is.
Because he did not understand God’s ways, he was in this place of anxiety. He looked around at the condition of God’s people, and he was greatly disturbed. He cried out, “Lord, how long? Lord, You are a loving God. You are a Rock, and yet it seems like evil is prevailing. Lord, what is going on? I do not understand it.”
It seemed like God was doing nothing. It seemed like God did not care. Habakkuk did not understand this because he knew who God was. He is a caring, loving God for His people, and yet it seemed like evil and confusion were just prevailing.
But the beautiful thing about Habakkuk is that we see one who had a personal, intimate relationship with God. This book is a dialogue between a Father and a son. Habakkuk is a son of God, and he is saying, “Lord God, I do not understand this.” He has this intimate relationship with Him, and he cries out with an open heart.
Actually, it is a wonderful picture for us, because this is the relationship God wants each one of us to have with Him. When we do not understand something, when we do not understand His ways, He wants us to feel comfortable enough to come in and say, “Lord, I do not understand what You are doing.”
Habakkuk did not go complain to others. He did not go questioning this or that. He went right to God. He had this relationship with Him that had been developed over the years.
This question he had came out of a period of travail. This was not just a spur-of-the-moment, “Oh God, I did not understand that.” No. I believe Habakkuk had been in travailing prayer for God’s heart and God’s purpose. His prayers did not seem to be answered.
Out of the spiritual exercise Habakkuk entered into through this ministry of prayer, he comes back and cries out to the Lord. He says, “Lord, how long? I do not understand. Why are You doing this?” Because Habakkuk knew who God was, this was a dilemma.
God did not act in the way Habakkuk thought He should act. Habakkuk became anxious and questioned God. But what he was actually entering into was God’s burden for His testimony.
Habakkuk thought God would act one way, but He was not doing it. So he started to question. But what was happening within Habakkuk—and we will see this more and more as we go along—was that he was entering into a fuller and greater burden for God’s heart and purpose. He was travailing over the testimony of the Lord in the hour in which he was living.
My brothers and sisters, as we look around at the condition of God’s people today, when was the last time we cried out to the Lord? “Lord, I do not understand what is going on. Lord, it seems like evil is prevailing against Your testimony. It seems like lawlessness has continued to increase. Your people are getting abused, mistreated, martyred, all the time.”
Have we had this dialogue with Him? Do we cry out to Him in such a way? This is where Habakkuk was.
Because Habakkuk went to the Lord, the Lord responded to him. Look at Habakkuk 1:5-6. This is the Lord’s wonderful response:
Behold ye among the nations, and look, and wonder marvelously;
for I am working a work in your days,
which ye will not believe though it be told you.
For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
that march through the breadth of the earth,
to possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
The Chaldeans were Babylonians. At this point they were not in power, but the Lord was going to raise them up and put them in this place of power. He says, “You will not believe. I am going to use these Chaldeans for My purpose.” These people were much worse than the nation of Israel.
We know this prophecy was fulfilled when Judah was taken captive by Babylon. But thank the Lord, after seventy years of discipline, those who had a heart for the Lord returned to Jerusalem to build the temple and prepare the way for the Lord’s first coming. We also know that after a period of time Babylon was judged.
As we await the Lord’s second coming, there are obviously many valuable lessons here. Because of the condition of God’s people, Habakkuk did not understand what God was doing. God’s answer to him was, “I am going to use a people more evil than you, worse than you, to discipline you.”
Now, that is utterly confusing. It went against all of Habakkuk’s theology. How could a holy God do this?
But we know, as Jerry has shared on the enemy’s attack on the testimony, how jealous the Lord is over the testimony. Therefore, at times the Lord even uses the enemy to discipline and train His people, because He is jealous for His house and jealous for His people.
Lance used to say at various times that the enemy was one of God’s servants. Actually, if you look through the prophet Jeremiah, the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, is called God’s servant. That is in Jeremiah 27.
This is a heavy lesson for us. It is not always pretty, but it is a heavy lesson that we need to realize in the days we are living: the Lord loves His people so much that He will not allow us to just prosper and go on in pride and worldliness, which have usurped that place of simplicity and humility within our midst.
When we have left that place of first love, He speaks. He tries to reach out to us. If we do not respond—and we see this happen throughout history, in both Scripture and church history—the Lord will use the enemy to discipline us and bring us back to Him.
This is what Habakkuk did not understand. God told Habakkuk, “This is the way I am going to move,” and Habakkuk did not understand how God could do this because He was moving in a different way than Habakkuk thought He should move.
Sometimes, do we fall into that mindset? “I know God. This is the way He moves.” Then, when God moves and is not moving according to the way we think He should, we say, “It is not the Lord.”
But Habakkuk had this intimate relationship with the Lord. He could have this dialogue. He had been through spiritual exercises, and he knew there was something of the Lord that he was not getting. He was hungry. He wanted to come through and come into this place of understanding.
Would that we come in to exercise ourselves in such a way, coming into this place of understanding. Throughout Scripture, there are times when God moves and the people of God do not really understand it; actually, at first, they reject it.
Think about Peter in Acts 10. The Lord said, “Peter, go to the Gentiles.” He said, “No, Lord, I am not doing it. I have never eaten anything unclean.” Peter did not understand God’s ways. He did not understand God’s heart.
But praise God, Peter responded. When Peter got back to Jerusalem and they were questioning him, Peter had a wonderful testimony as he shared about all that the Lord had done in the house of Cornelius. He said, “Who was I, that I could withstand God?”
Wow. Are we standing in God’s way through our fixed concepts of how God should work? Are we standing in His way from truly working in these last days?
Habakkuk was in a place of teachability that God could share this with him.
One area where there is so much misunderstanding is the Holy Spirit. We look at the Holy Spirit, and some see the Holy Spirit in outward power and manifestations, while others see the still, small voice. Praise God, we have a tendency to make things either-or, but it is not either-or. It is both.
Remember the story of Elijah? The Lord took Elijah, and he was hiding in that cave. The Lord said, “Come out.” A mighty wind came by, and the Lord was not in it. Then an earthquake came, and fire came, and the Lord was not in them. But there was that still, small voice.
Praise God, there are wonderful times when God speaks through that still, small voice. But the Lord was not saying to Elijah, “I am never in the wind. I am never in the fire. I am never in the earthquake.”
When we come to the book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, how is the Holy Spirit described? As a mighty wind coming down. Throughout the Gospels, the Holy Spirit is described as fire. On the day of Pentecost, it was like tongues of fire.
Are we spiritually discerning enough? Have we exercised our spirits so that we recognize when God is moving and when He is not? Is this just of man, or is this of God? This is where we need to exercise ourselves to know Him in such a personal, intimate way in these last days that, as things come along, we can discern between those things that differ.
They might look alike outwardly, but inwardly, is it the Spirit of God leading?
Even with earthquakes, praise God, there are wonderful earthquakes all through the New Testament. They are a powerful testimony to God. Our Lord, when He was crucified on that cross, there was an earthquake, and that is when the veil was rent from top to bottom.
Remember, after Peter and John got out of jail in the book of Acts, they returned to be with the dear saints, and they were praying. When they finished praying, the earth shook. Remember how the gospel went forth in Philippi? Through an earthquake. It got everybody’s attention. That jailer got his attention.
At times God is moving through wind, fire, and earthquake. At times He is speaking as a still, small voice. Do we recognize it? Are we in a place to say, “Ah, that is the Lord,” or, “Well, that is not”?
That is what the Lord is trying to convey to Habakkuk, and He wants us in these last hours to recognize that also.
One of the things misunderstood by the Jews during the Lord’s first coming was that many Jews did not recognize Him. As the gospel was proclaimed to the Jews, these ones who knew the Scriptures so well did not even recognize that this was Jesus.
Turn to Acts 13:38-41. Paul, on his first missionary journey, is sharing this wonderful gospel message. He shares in verse 38 about the forgiveness of sins. He shares in verse 39 about how everyone who believes is freed from all things. He is sharing this glorious gospel, but the people are not believing him. They reject the death and resurrection of our Lord.
Paul actually quotes Habakkuk in Acts 13:40-41:
Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken in the prophets:
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish;
for I work a work in your days,
a work which ye shall in no wise believe,
if one declare it unto you.
The very words of Habakkuk were ringing true among these dear ones again. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the Messiah was coming. The Messiah had come and was right in their midst, and they totally missed Him.
Brothers and sisters, this is where the call to know the Lord in His very life, in that intimate way, is so critical.
In Acts 13:27, Paul says:
For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers,
because they knew Him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath,
fulfilled them by condemning Him.
These were the ones closest to that house of God—the cream of the crop, the elite. Every Sabbath, the Word of God was read. It went forth in a living way, and they did not recognize it.
They could probably quote the Scriptures. They could say, “Yes, the Messiah is coming. This is what it is going to be like.” But when it actually came, they did not get it. They heard the Word.
As I was thinking of applying that to us today, do we have that personal, intimate relationship in such a way that we know Him and His ways? Praise God, in this country we are free in many ways to hear God’s Word. We hear God’s Word every Sunday. We hear it at every conference. We hear God’s Word every day in our daily reading and devotions. But do we get it, or do we miss it like these dear ones did?
There is a challenge to us in the days we are living in: return to this place of simplicity and purity of devotion to Him, that He can have a people who really know His heart and really know what He is desiring in these days.
It is not merely knowing about Him or being able to quote Scriptures, though that is all important and vital. It is really knowing Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Let us not miss Him.
If you look at the early church, thinking of persecution, we have been hearing about persecution lately. Remember, there was persecution in the early church. But where did this persecution come from?
The Lord told the disciples, “Go, be My witnesses from Jerusalem to Judaea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the world.” But what did these ones do? They stayed right there in Jerusalem. They were enjoying the goodness and blessing of the Lord. Praise God, they were prospering.
But God had called them to go out. So the Lord sent persecution, starting with Stephen. They scattered throughout, declaring the gospel.
Now, this is pure imagination, but I wonder whether those ones in Jerusalem, during this time of persecution, might have been in their corporate prayer meeting saying, “Lord, we rebuke the enemy. We stand against this persecution. We are not going to receive this persecution. Lord, stop the hand.”
Those prayers would not have made it out of that room. They would have been totally ineffective, because they had not stopped to consider why this persecution was upon them and the ways of God. They had forgotten God’s Word to go forth.
Because of that, God brought this persecution. But praise God, through this persecution, look at Acts 9:31:
So the church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria
had peace, being edified;
and, walking in the fear of the Lord
and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit,
was multiplied.
This is what God was after. But these ones who were supposed to be doing this were staying in Jerusalem. He had to shake them up. Praise God, we see the fruit of that—how God, at times, uses the enemy to discipline us, train us, and wake us up to the ways He calls us to.
Do we have a set concept of how God should work? Or do we have such a relationship with Him in the days we are living that we can really know His ways and His heart in this hour?
As I look around the world today, I think the Lord is using a lot of circumstances in this world to wake His people up. He is allowing various things to go on to wake His people up, revive His work, and revive His testimony, that we would rediscover that personal relationship with the Lord and the Person of the Holy Spirit.
A lot of this is going on that we might be prepared. We talk about preparation for the coming of the Lord, that we would be prepared ones who would hasten His return.
One of the reasons evil prevails so much—and it is tragic—is because the testimony is so weakened. When the testimony is weakened, evil prevails. But what weakens the testimony? What weakens that testimony of the Lord?
There is a familiar quotation: “Corruption within is far more damaging than persecution from without.” Corruption within does far more damage to a testimony than persecution from without.
If we look back at the history of God’s people, we see this over and over again. We looked at some of those kings. There were times when those kings were in a good place, and there would be a mighty army coming against them. They cried out to the Lord, and the Lord wiped out the whole army.
It looked impossible with man, but because they were in that place of strength and right relationship with Him, with their hearts toward Him, He won the victory. At other times, the nation of Israel appeared to be strong, but their hearts were in the wrong place, and even a small enemy was able to crush and defeat them.
It is sad how corruption within damages the testimony. If you look through the New Testament, that is why most of the letters had to be written. There was some corruption, some seed of corruption, within various teachings in the assemblies, and the Lord had to address those things.
You look at the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3. There was corruption there—things that were not of Him.
Corruption, in the context of today’s message, is the opposite of simplicity. If something is simple, it is pure. You start to add to it, and it becomes corrupt, diluted. It is things that are not in that place of simplicity and purity that the Lord is desiring.
Why is this country suffering so much in this hour? I believe much of the suffering is because the testimony of God is so weak. The church is in a weakened condition. We are not suffering because of bad politicians and bad laws; they are simply a result of a weakened condition.
That is why we need to be waking up as an assembly. Why are we, as an assembly, even in a weakened condition? Tragically, years ago we had corruption within us. We allowed pride and jealousy to come in, and it opened the door for the enemy to come in and try to destroy the testimony here.
The enemy has brought in compromise, indifference, and lukewarmness. The Lord is calling us to return to that place of simplicity and purity. He is calling us to return to a place of first love in Him.
It is not going back in years, but it is going on in Him in the way He has called us to and desires. May we be those who really have our hearts searched in such a way that we could return to that place of simplicity and purity, and that His work would be revived. Praise God.
As the Lord tells Habakkuk that He is going to work in a way Habakkuk will not believe, Habakkuk goes back and asks the Lord another question. Go back to Habakkuk 1:12-13.
Habakkuk is really asking in verse 13, “Why are You allowing evil to prevail?”
Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and that canst not look on perverseness,
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously,
and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up
the man that is more righteous than he?
Habakkuk understands that God is going to use those from Babylon to train, discipline, and chastise this nation, but he had not fully come into understanding. Why? What is all this really about?
It is marvelous to see Habakkuk’s response. He asks the question of the Lord, very straightforwardly. Then we come to Habakkuk 2:1:
I will stand upon my watch,
and set me upon the tower,
and will look forth to see what He will speak with me,
and what I shall answer concerning my complaint.
This is a beautiful lesson for us. Habakkuk has this great burden, this burning question in his heart. After he pours his heart out to the Lord, he does not just go on about his daily life. He does not say, “Well, I will wait until I get that beep-beep and receive a text message from the Lord: ‘Here is my answer.’”
No, he stops. He sets himself apart. He gets away from distractions. He gets to a quiet place. He comes to a place of watching, because prophets are watchmen.
Brothers and sisters, each one of us is called, in one way, to be a prophet of God. A prophet testifies of who God is, and in that way we are all prophets. In that way, we should be watchmen also: to watch and see what He says.
Habakkuk stops. It reminds me of the verse in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3. As the Spirit speaks specifically to each church, it says:
He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith to the churches.
How can we hear when we are just going on with everything in life—all the confusion, noise, and responsibilities? That is why this speaks so much to me in Habakkuk as a lesson of inner preparation: truly coming apart and waiting for God’s reply.
This is extremely difficult, particularly when we are perplexed. It is hard enough when things are going well to wait on God. But when things are in confusion and you do not understand anything, it is really hard.
Notice too that Habakkuk watches with the proper attitude. He is watching with an attitude of humility: “Lord, I am here, and You can reprove me.” To me, that is simply saying, “Lord, I am teachable before You. You teach me Your ways.”
That is a spirit of humility. The opposite of humility is a know-it-all—somebody who knows it all. He does not have that humility; that is pride. But Habakkuk comes to that place: “Lord, teach me. What lesson is there for me to learn from You? What is there for me to learn of You? More of You.”
It is good to keep in context the perplexing anxiety Habakkuk is wrestling with, because nothing shows the character of our faith more than our conduct and attitude during times of crisis and perplexity.
You go through a time of crisis and perplexity, and this really brings forth our character. Praise God, Habakkuk had such a character that, in the midst of everything going on, no circumstances had changed. Evil was still prevailing. Wickedness was going on. The people of God were going their own way. They were looking at idols and all this and that.
But he set himself apart in that quiet place to hear the voice of God. We do not know how long he was in this place, but praise God, in Habakkuk 2:2, God responded to him:
And the Lord answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets,
that he may run that readeth it.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time,
and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not delay.
This is so important. He says, “Look, Habakkuk, write this down. This is for yourself, and this is for others. This is for the present time, and this is for the future.” This is a lesson we need to see.
He assures Habakkuk that this message will not fail and that it is for the appointed time. We also know this Scripture is used in Hebrews in the New Testament to refer to the Lord’s second coming. There is an assurance there of our Lord coming again.
Just as the Lord was assuring Habakkuk, He uses this verse to assure us of that second coming.
Then we come to the wonderful answer—probably one of the most familiar verses in the book of Habakkuk. Look at Habakkuk 2:4:
Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him;
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
The just shall live by faith. The righteous shall live by faith. Praise God. This is the resounding Word that God sends to Habakkuk. This is the simplicity and purity of God’s message to Habakkuk, and it is the simplicity and purity of His message to us.
This simple little phrase is used in critical ways three times in the New Testament: in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. Three times it is repeated. It was the verse that captured Martin Luther and led to the entire Reformation that God was able to do in a marvelous, wonderful way.
God gives the whole key to living in times of declension, evil, and weakness: the just shall live by faith.
What needed reviving here? What needed restoring? Faith. Faith needed reviving. This is the victory—we sang that song—“This is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith.” It is from 1 John 5.
Praise God, the Lord is calling us back. For some of us, this is too simplistic, but this is what the Lord is calling us to. This word is not only for the time of Habakkuk; it is actually the foundation of our entire Christian life: the just shall live by faith.
From our first day, when we are born again, the just shall live by faith. Every day that we go through, the just shall live by faith. How do we look forward to the Lord’s return? The just shall live by faith. How do we live in the midst of circumstances we do not understand? The just shall live by faith.
Only faith looks above and sees beyond circumstances. Only faith looks to God and sees what He is doing. Only by faith can we be strengthened and comforted during times of darkness.
Praise God, brothers and sisters, God has a way through for us in this hour. There is a simplicity that so often we think is too simple. We think it will not work; we need something else. No, the Lord calls us back: the just shall live by faith.
By faith in the One who has loved us and called us unto Himself.
God’s way of reviving and God’s way of recovery always seem strange to the natural mind. In Corinthians, it speaks of how God’s way of recovering is foolishness. God’s way of recovery and revival is a stumbling block for some. But to those who believe, it is the power of God.
That is because it brings us back to the cross. The starting place of recovery and revival is the cross. As we look upon the One who has first loved us, we see how, by His grace, by His wonderful mercy, by all that He has done for us, we as the redeemed of the Lord—we who have been justified by Him—can live by faith.
It is not faith in ourselves. It is not our faith. It is faith in Him. It is Him. That is why at times I like to refer to faith as a Person. We can dehumanize faith at times and think of it as a thing. But no, it is simply looking unto Him.
It says in 1 John that the faith that has overcome is the one who simply believes that Jesus is the Son of God. He believes who He is. Do we believe who He is?
Do we allow that to impact our life? Do we allow that to be the comforting factor to us in the days we are living in?
We are going to stop here today, and we will pick up the rest of this next week. As I look at this book of Habakkuk, we have these questions: How are we living in these days of declension, circumstances, and so much that we do not understand?
The Lord has had this cry through the ages for us to return to that place of simplicity and purity of devotion to Him, by looking off—looking off unto Him who sits upon that throne.
We walk by faith. It is faith in the Son of God, who has loved us and delivered Himself up for us.
As I have been praying and looking at Habakkuk, one prayer I have had very personally is that the Lord would shatter the limiting concepts I have of Him. Any strongholds—Jerry spoke of strongholds—any imaginations that I have of Him. I think, “Oh, God works this way. God does this.”
Now, there are a lot of absolute truths. We are not talking about that. But whenever we limit God by a concept that He has to work this way, we need those concepts shattered in this hour.
We need to be brought into that place of a fresh, personal, intimate relationship with Him and the Holy Spirit. We have heard much in the past about spiritual exercise, because this is so vital for us in this day. This is how we enter into the reality of that.
Is this thought of the just living by faith too simple for us? Is this call to return to the simplicity and purity of devotion to Him too simple for us? Are we such Christians, at such a level, that that is too elementary for us?
May the Lord knock us off our high horse. He did that to Paul on the road to Damascus. Many of us are up on that high horse. Would He knock us down, that we could be in that place, teachable before Him, learning of Him?
Would the Lord be merciful to us in these days of judgment, discipline, and training? Would He be very merciful to us? Let us pray.
Lord, we are thankful for Your great love that You have for us. We are thankful that You love us so much that You are not going to allow us to stay in the condition that we are in.
Lord, we know You always try to speak to us directly first, but sometimes we are hard of hearing. Our concepts are such that we do not recognize You.
We see through Habakkuk how, at times, because You are so jealous for the life of Your Son in Your people and in the testimony of the Lord, You do use the enemy, Lord.
But as we give ourselves to You, Lord, we want to be able to come into that place of knowing You in the freshness of Your life—to really have discerning hearts and discerning eyes, to recognize the Lord.
You tell us that many will come in Your name. How are we going to know what is of You and what is not if we do not know You, Lord?
Lord, we are thankful, as it is recorded of Moses, that he knew Your ways because he had that relationship with You. We want to come to that place of knowing Your ways in the days we are living in. In Jesus’ name, amen.