WEBVTT 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:07.440 Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.759 I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.839 Today, embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.120 Welcome to the Born for War podcast. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.559 I've never heard a pastor teach on Habakkuk. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:28.879 Now, I'm sure pastors have because it's a book of the Bible. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.120 I'm just saying I've never heard anybody teach on it. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:50.320 And I hadn't thought of Habakkuk ever as far as a book to teach from until I was flying to Atlanta in June, and God really spoke to me for a word that He had for me, and I'll get to that word later, not today, but I'll get to it probably in a week or two. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:54.960 It's going to be actually a short series because only three little chapters, very short book. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:05.200 But if you've ever been someone who has cried out to God about something and felt like God wasn't hearing your prayers, raise your hand. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:06.000 All right. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.760 How many of you have felt lonely and felt like God had abandoned you? 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:10.640 Raise your hand. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:11.040 Okay. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:12.239 The book is for you. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:13.760 That's what Abacuck's about. 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:24.640 So Habakkuk is a prophet, very unique prophet in scripture, in that all the prophets, and he's in, and by the way, some of you are, you just go to the table of contents. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:25.439 You'll find it. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:27.040 Because a lot of people don't know where it's at. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:31.280 You know, you like, and it's only it's only like three pages, so you could easily skip it. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:42.400 It's the fourth to the last book of the Old Testament, just to give you a hint, or you just go to the table of contents, and people are always embarrassed, like, what if someone sees me looking at the table of contents? 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:47.519 Well, the reason you're worried about that is because there's so many just like you. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.400 Okay, so go to the table of contents, you can find it. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:56.000 But um, what's so great about Habakkuk, I think, is that it's a journey. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.640 You guys, it's a journey of faith. 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:06.640 And you're gonna see today the depth of the agony of the burden that Habakkuk's carrying. 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:16.879 But then in a couple weeks, we're gonna get to the end, the last three verses of Habakkuk 3, 17 through 19, where this guy is transformed. 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:23.039 I mean, he has changed from anxiety to praise, from fear to faith. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:40.560 So I've entitled it A Pilgrimage to Higher Ground, that I believe God often takes you through deep depression, takes you through deep pain, even takes you through what appears to be defeat in order to do a work in you. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.120 How many of you know that God needs to work in you before he can work through you? 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:52.400 So, in other words, you can't give away what you don't have. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:59.599 So until you've gone through the depths of God's discipleship in your heart, you have nothing to give to anybody else. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:07.039 And so, as God works things, and it's usually through hard things, difficult times in our life, you then become a better person. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.080 You become a woman and a man of character. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:28.560 And I don't know about you, but I can tell you from all the years of listening to speakers and uh either in the political or the religious realms, that when someone I'm listening to has been through some really, really dark times and they've come out of it in a positive way. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:32.800 I'm not talking about who come out of it in a bitter way, but they've come out of it in a victorious way. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.319 I listen to that person. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:42.560 That person catches my attention because here's someone that God worked in so that he could now work through. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:44.319 That's the book of Abakat. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:45.919 So here's what we know about life. 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.680 Here's what we know about life is that life is not easy. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:51.120 Life is actually difficult. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:04:00.000 So it's David who writes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:06.960 Now, how could David say that because he had walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and he had feared evil, right? 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:20.160 So he so we go through shadows of death, we go through shadows of depression, we go through anxious things in our life, so that God can build us into someone who can say, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:32.399 It's Jesus who said, In this life, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, be of joy, because I have overcome the world. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:33.360 Isn't that great? 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:35.040 So that's the book of Habakkuk. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:38.160 That's kind of a theme of Habakkuk, is there's a journey. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:49.120 He's in the valley, you're gonna see today, he's in the valley, and we're gonna walk through this great, great book into the high places of faith in his life. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:58.879 And this is important because the enemy, Satan and demons, want to keep you in the valley. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.120 That's what demons do. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:08.319 Jesus said the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:15.920 He doesn't say there that in this life sometimes the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:19.279 And sometimes I come to give life an abundant life. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:20.879 No, he says it's true. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:39.439 It's part and parcel with living now, just as it was in 600 BC, that we're gonna go through tribulation, and God wants us to learn through going through hard times that He has overcome the world. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.279 You haven't overcome the world. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:43.920 He has overcome the world through you. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.680 And so he's working in you so that he can work through you. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.639 So here's the character of Habakkuk. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:55.519 Let me give you four character qualities of Habakkuk so we understand who we're listening to. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:00.560 Number one, Habakkuk is utterly honest and vulnerable with God. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.319 There's no more vulnerable book in all of the Bible. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:24.160 The prophets, most of the major prophets, which would be guys like Jeremiah, which actually he's a contemporary of Jeremiah, Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel, along with the minor prophets, and that would be like Habakkuk and Jonah and others, always begin with a word from God. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:31.360 So they they get a revelation, a vision from God, they get a word from God, and then they uh they write it down for us. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:40.240 But this is the only book of the Bible where it actually starts with a complainer, where it starts with a guy who's actually upset at God. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:45.040 We're gonna see in chapter one that Habakkuk's pretty ticked off at God. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.439 So he's very honest and he's vulnerable with God. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:50.560 Number two, Habakkuk is a man of faith and prayer. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.959 So here's the irony is that he's upset at God because he doesn't seem to be answering his prayers. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:05.920 He sees the evil that's happening from the rising Babylonian empire of that time, and yet he's praying about it. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:07.360 He's seeking God. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.000 So you could look at it from the, oh, well, look at him, man. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.560 He just seems like he's a doubter, he has no faith. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:21.199 Actually, he's got great faith because instead of him becoming bitter about it, he takes it to God, and you're gonna see the journey that he's on. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:26.879 Number three, Habakkuk is a man who waits and listens for God to answer his prayers. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:31.439 So Habakkuk doesn't just like throw it out there and then walk away. 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:37.199 He's actually gonna stay there crying out to God for God to show up. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:51.439 And then fourthly, and I think the most important theme is Habakkuk is a man on a pilgrimage from the valley of fear and anxiety into the higher ground of faith and praise. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:52.800 Isn't that exciting? 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:56.160 That you don't have to stay in your fear and anxiety. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:00.000 You do not have to stay in your fear and anxiety. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:02.800 You will experience fear and anxiety. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:08.160 And if you tell me you don't, then I'd say you're a major league poser. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:14.160 Because we all go through fear and anxiety, but you listen, guys, you don't have to stay there. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:32.559 You've got to learn, we've all got to learn, to be authentic with people and with God, but then to wait on God to come and take us and guide us into the higher ground of faith, joy, purpose, and vision and destiny for our lives. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:34.720 So look at chapter 1, verse 1. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:38.159 Look at chapter 1, verse 1 of Habakkuk if you found it. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:43.519 So, in my Bible is page 875. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:46.159 All right. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:47.919 Chapter 1, verse 1. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.080 Really short verse in a very short book of the Bible. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:58.240 The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:02.639 He's gonna see something, underline or circle burden. 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:09.759 So, church, oftentimes our prayer life begins with some kind of a burden. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:12.080 God puts a burden on your heart. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:14.000 He puts a burden on your heart for your kids. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:19.279 He puts a burden on your heart for the school, he puts a burden on your heart at your job. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:22.080 He puts a burden on your heart for America. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:25.120 He puts a burden on your heart for the election coming up. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:25.679 I don't know. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:31.440 I remember this would have been in 2019. 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:32.480 That's what I remember. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:33.600 It was 2019. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:34.639 So what is that? 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:46.559 Five years ago, 2019, I was in the hot tub at our house when a burden came over me that someone was about to assassinate President Trump. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:47.679 It was crazy. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:48.720 I wasn't even thinking about it. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:53.759 I think I was thinking about football, okay, or something, like Georgia football or something like that, you know. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.120 Anyway, my point is I wasn't in the hot tub to pray. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:58.879 I was in the hot tub just relaxing. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:11.759 And this burden just came upon me that in the White House, and I could see stuff in this vision that someone was working behind the scenes to kill President Trump. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:16.320 And so I turned that into intercession and I began to pray. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:22.559 And I think I even sent out, if I remember, I sent out a text to about 10 people to pray, and nothing happened. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:37.279 And I believe that God put the burden on me, and he probably put the burden on thousands of others that were available and open to him to pray, and that actually thwarted the work of demons that were probably behind that. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:54.000 And so the context of Habakkuk is that there's great fear, there's great anxiety, there's moral decay in Israel and around the Asia Minor and Palestinian area at that time that Habakkuk feels. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.159 That's the burden that he's carrying. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:05.919 So, what makes Habakkuk interesting is it seems as though, he says here, it's a burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:08.080 So he sees something. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:16.639 Now, just to put it in context, for over 150 years, the Assyrians have been ruling the area. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:29.519 And then as we move in to the turn of the century, which would be the 600 into the 500th century, we see we see an Assyrian and Egyptian alliance that occurs. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:36.399 Then the great leader of the Assyrians is killed in battle. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.720 I have trouble pronouncing his name, Ashrub. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:47.600 So Ashrub was killed in battle in 627 BC. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.159 So I'm gonna throw out a few verses so you understand. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:12:02.960 I think most of you know this, but when you're talking about before Christ BC, the progressive dating in a chronological way is always going to be less and less. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:07.200 And then starting with AD, with the time of Christ, then it increases. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:07.600 Okay? 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:16.320 So when I say 627, or if I say 702 to 627 BC, 702 is in the past, 627's near. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:26.799 So in 627, the great Assyrian king, Ostrabenopel died, and he was the last great king of Assyria. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:27.600 Okay? 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.000 Josiah becomes the king. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:35.600 So Josiah is king, he's a good king in Israel, and he brings reforms. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:38.159 This is actually after Manasseh. 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:39.919 Manasseh was a bad king. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:46.720 So then Josiah comes in, but then he's killed in the Battle of Megiddo in 609. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:49.840 So about a hundred years later, okay, it's important. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:54.480 But in that hundred-year gap, Babylon's rising to power. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:13:08.080 Okay, so the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance is defeated in a major battle, in which, uh the battle of Karmish, and in that battle, a guy named Nebuchadnezzar comes into power. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:15.039 So I want to, the reason I'm sharing all this is not to give you a history lesson, but to understand sort of the context in scripture. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:17.840 So that means, listen, this is what it means. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:23.200 It means that Habakkuk is of the generation of Jeremiah. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:36.000 So if you've read the book of Jeremiah where he cries out to Israel to repent for their sins, well, that's because the sins of Manasseh have continued even under Josiah. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:41.840 In other words, Josiah was a good king, but he didn't pull down all the high places where the idolatry was happening. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:46.960 And then when Josiah's son comes in, he's as bad as Manasseh. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:58.639 So the context here is of empires, major empires, taking over Israel, taking over Judah, attacking Judah. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:11.039 First thing that Nebuchadnezzar does when he comes into power and has subjugated the Assyrian-Egyptian alliance is he actually comes, pretty interesting, he actually comes to Jerusalem and doesn't do anything. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:17.039 So he comes to Jerusalem, almost like pretends he's gonna attack, and then he backs off. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.759 And I think what he was doing is saying, don't mess with me. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:20.879 Don't mess with me. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:29.840 And then he takes the young, noble men from Jerusalem back to Babylon. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:33.600 And that's why we have the book of Daniel. 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:42.559 So this is in that context of Daniel, this is in the context of Jeremiah that this book is being presented. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.879 So that's the situation. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:46.799 There's great fear and anxiety. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:49.440 There's fear and anxiety internationally. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:56.720 There's an old saying that when elephants fight, the grass gets crushed. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:04.159 And what that what that means is that when great empires fight, smaller nations get crushed in the process. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.639 And Judah and Israel were very, very small. 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:11.519 So he's carrying a burden, moral decay, fear, and violence. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:21.360 But turn now, keep your finger or your or your marker in Habakkuk, but turn to 2 Kings 21, if you would. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:22.559 Go to the left. 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:23.440 Go left. 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.600 If you go to Genesis, you've gone too far. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:45.039 But 2 Kings 21, and I wanted to just go through a few verses about Manasseh, because this is the context that Habakkuk is prophesying to his own country, his own nation, what they look like. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:53.679 So 2 Kings 21, Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:16:05.440 His mother's name was Hezbah, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abomination of the nations, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:10.559 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:17.679 He raised up altars for Baal, made a wooden image, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:21.279 He worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:28.559 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:34.080 And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.879 Also he made his son pass through the fire. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:38.639 He practiced Susa. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.360 He used witchcraft and consulted spiritus and mediums. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:47.360 He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:48.879 Now I'll go to verse 16. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:17:00.960 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, and he filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin and doing the evil in the sight of the Lord. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.200 So this guy practiced witchcraft. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:13.279 This guy actually, it appears that he actually sacrificed his son on the altar of fire to some unknown God that he was worshiping. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.519 He worshiped the stars, the moon, the planets. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:25.680 So very much a kind of new age version of what we have today of worshiping all the planets. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:28.559 He practiced child sacrifices. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.240 He shed innocent blood. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:35.519 And whenever you see the scriptures talking about shedding innocent blood, it always means children. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.559 And so this is a confusing time, you guys. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.160 It's very confusing for Judah. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:52.319 It's a very confusing time for Israel because they're not following the Lord, and yet they are the nation in that area that purports to worship God. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.759 And as I said, there had been good kings. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:58.640 But now they're in moral decay. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:01.279 It's not that different today in America. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:25.119 If you were to look at the history of our nation, what we were founded on, what our Constitution and Bill of Rights says, you would think, and I've heard immigrants tell me this, that when they first came to America, they were solidly under the impression that this is really, really a godly place, and they soon discovered that it was worse than their nation that didn't purport to be a Christian nation. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:27.599 And so what are some of the things that we see today? 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:29.359 We see a nation in decline. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.799 We are definitely a nation in decline. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.680 We have the worst health care in the world. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:40.880 And we just finished the health series that I did on Kingdom Health, so I don't need to go into that. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:46.880 The evangelical church is its weakest it's ever been in the history of our country. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:54.160 We've seen pastor after pastor acquiesce biblical truth to cultural fads that come along. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:55.519 Here's the good news, though. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.079 I like what Martin Luther once said. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:02.640 He said, your church will never be ruined by a blacksmith. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.079 Here's what he meant by that. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:09.119 He meant that the pastors may be messed up, but the pews are not. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:10.319 And it's really true. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:23.200 I mean, there's great influence from the pulpit for sure, and I know that it does influence us, but what we do see is I think what we're observing is evangelical faith is on the rise in America. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:32.240 The church, the big Eva of the evangelical church may be in decline, but people are coming to know the Lord left and right. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.039 Roe v. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:42.640 Wade has come down, and yet what we see is a militant advocacy for abortion in certain states, especially in this state. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:46.400 So I mentioned Amendment 79 last week. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:53.200 And this is really important you guys know about Amendment 79 and that you vote no on Amendment 79. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:20:01.599 Amendment 79 will cement abortion as a right in the Constitution if it passes. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.200 Now, why is that important? 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:15.119 Because you can have amendments that go through ballots that we vote on, and a decision is made by whoever got more than 50%, whoever got the most votes. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:15.680 Okay? 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:25.759 But if you submit something and it becomes a part of the Constitution, then it's a whole different thing to change than the need for two-thirds vote in Congress. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:26.799 So it's really hard. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:33.519 So Amendment 79 is to make the right to abortion a part of the Constitution. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.920 It uses your taxes to fund abortion. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:39.200 And then here's the kicker. 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:41.519 The third thing you need to know about Amendment 79. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:42.720 Listen to this. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:54.400 If you have a kid at school and they need a Tylenol, the nurse is supposed to call the parents and say, can we give your child a Tylenol? 00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:01.759 But with this Amendment 79, there's no need for parental permission for an abortion. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:09.039 So they can do it anything they want with an abortion, and yet you have to have parental permission for Tylenol. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.359 That's how messed up our system is. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:13.759 So vote no on Amendment 79. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:15.359 And but and come and come and pray. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:20.319 We're praying for a major revival in our country every Wednesday at noon. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:22.720 And a lot of you came out last week. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:27.119 And so in the month of October, we're praying from noon to one. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:36.640 Come and then we focus entirely that hour on revival and a kingdom of God revolution in our nation on Wednesdays. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:38.480 So join us for that. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:43.279 And we're praying also for the defeat of Amendment 79. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:52.720 Never have we had a political party, never have we had a political party that has censored speech on the level that's happening today. 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:58.319 Even for me, I'm getting I'm I'm still learning, but I'm being coached all the time because I always say the wrong stuff. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:04.240 And so from time to time, My messages get pulled down because of censorship. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:12.640 And so that's mainly coming, if not exclusively coming, from the Biden administration in relation to big tech. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.480 Our southern border, you want to talk about an existential crisis? 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:21.359 Existential crisis is the border. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:32.880 So according to which article you read, somewhere between 7 and 11 million illegal immigrants have come across the border under the Biden administration. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.359 So they are attempting. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:37.119 Does everybody understand this? 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:38.160 You're like, what? 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:41.200 I was talking to someone that now why would they do that? 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:43.839 It must be people who are being persecuted. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:48.000 Like, no, they want to actually literally transform our country. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:52.480 They want to transform our country and remake it in a new way. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:53.119 Okay? 00:22:53.680 --> 00:23:01.200 And so there's a prediction now of over 600,000 Ukrainians have been killed in the war with Russia. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.960 That war should have been stopped years ago. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:11.359 They already had a peace treaty, and um, and it was the United States is the one that messed it up. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:14.640 And then we have the growing crisis in Israel. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:23.839 And for the first time in our nation's history, we have a man or a woman running for president who's had two assassination attempts. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:30.880 Our cities are a cesspool of crime and gang violence. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:33.279 So we're at a real crossroads, gang. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.079 Do you get it? 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:35.839 You see what's happening here? 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:41.119 And yet, what we need, and I think God's settings up for, is a great revival. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:42.319 A great revival. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:55.279 I listen to podcasts a lot, I listen to a lot of secular news, and I can tell you right now, I've never seen so many people coming to know Christ that are actually newscasters and podcasters. 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:59.279 People who are just digging God's word, they're reading God's word. 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:04.799 I mean, you got Tucker Carlson that for 18 months all he did at night was read God's word. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:07.680 You got so many like there's dozens of them. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:12.240 And what's exciting is these guys are total secularists, okay? 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:16.480 But they're discovering Jesus through reading the Bible. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:20.319 So I think there's almost like a Bible revolution happening right now. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:23.440 And Habakkuk would have said, that's what it's all about. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:35.039 So look, go back to Habakkuk, look at chapter two, look at Habakkuk chapter two, and look what Habakkuk says, and we'll cover this more in the weeks ahead. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:36.079 Look at verse 12. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:37.359 Habakkuk 2.12. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:43.759 Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:49.599 Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the peoples labor to feed the fire? 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:52.400 And nations weary themselves in vain. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:53.440 Listen to this. 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:54.480 This is so cool. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:25:00.799 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:08.880 Men and women, there are hundreds of verses in the Old and New Testament that God is going to come and that all the nations will hear. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:11.680 That God's going to come, there's going to be a great revival. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:13.119 There's going to be a move of God's thing. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.039 I think we're on the precipice of that. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:19.279 I think we're very close to a great and mighty move of God. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.400 And this church will be packed out at every service. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:33.279 And there'll be lines of people going out that door to get baptized every week because God's glory is filling the earth as the waters cover the sea. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:35.839 Okay, so now that's the good news. 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.359 Now let's get to the bad news. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:38.079 All right. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:42.799 Go back to chapter one and let's read the dilemma. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:48.799 Let's read the valley of the shadow of death that Habakkuk is in and what he's feeling. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:53.680 And for some of you in this room, you may be feeling this way too about our country, about your own life. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:59.279 Maybe you've been through a divorce, maybe you've been through a diagnosis of cancer. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:00.480 I don't know. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:04.720 But this is how this book begins. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:12.960 The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw, oh Lord, how long shall I cry and you will not hear? 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:18.000 Even crying out to you, violence, and you will not save. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.400 Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:26.960 For plundering and violence are before me. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.880 There is strife and contention arising. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:33.279 Therefore, the law is powerless. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:34.720 He's talking about the Torah. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:36.960 He's talking about the scriptures are powerless. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:40.160 Justice never goes forth. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:43.359 For the wicked surround the righteous. 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:47.119 Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:52.319 I mean, if you look at some of these trials of the last couple years, that's the way you might feel if you care about it. 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:55.279 I mean, you just think, like, what they always get off. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:58.640 Or these people are never brought to justice. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:01.359 Well, that's the way Habakkuk feels. 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:02.720 He's crying out to God. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:05.200 It appears that he's been praying for a long time. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:07.359 He sees what's happening with Babylon. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.839 He sees what's happening with the temple. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.640 He sees what's happening in Israel and Judah. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:15.119 And he's very, very frustrated. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.000 And Jeremiah is struggling also. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:19.839 Jeremiah's a contemporary of his. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:28.799 And here's what he says: Righteous are you, O Lord, when I plead with you, yet let me talk with you about your judgments. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.039 Why does the way of the wicked prosper? 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:39.200 Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:44.400 You see, Jeremiah's struggling with this too, and you struggle with that. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.519 It might be just on a personal nature. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:51.200 But that's what goes with this life, man. 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:52.880 Life is hard. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:55.039 God is a mystery. 00:27:55.599 --> 00:28:01.359 And sometimes it feels like that he's shut up heaven and he's not speaking. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:11.440 Later on, Jeremiah writes, Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:16.400 Will you surely be to me like an unreliable stream? 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:18.640 As waters that fail? 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:24.400 So one of the remarkable features of the Bible is that God can take it. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:33.519 Our God, the Christian God, the God of the Old and New Testament, He can take our complaints. 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:35.680 Moses complained. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:38.000 Elijah complained. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.519 Jeremiah complained. 00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:41.359 David complained. 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:47.680 And God can take it because listen, guys, God's doing something in you, so he can do something through you. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:49.519 And you wouldn't go there. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:50.160 Hello? 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.880 You would not go there on your own. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:29:03.680 God has to take you there through the hard things because he's building in you a lack of trust in you and a greater trust in him. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:25.920 Bible scholar Christopher Wright comments quote, so if you find yourself sometimes racked with questions, unable to see a way to short sort them all out in your head, and perhaps questioning God Himself, then quite frankly and quite biblically, you're in good company. 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:28.960 But you see, here's the thing that makes it interesting. 00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:31.920 So here's Habakkuk crying out to God. 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:35.519 I imagine he was on his knees and he's crying out to God. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:37.200 He says, How long, how long? 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:38.640 I see violence all around. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:42.160 He's going to use the word violence six times in the book of Habakkuk. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:46.960 He's crying out to God, but listen, he's crying out to God. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:49.039 That's really important. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:30:01.680 Because we see across Christendom right now with a number of more of like kind of your more in the Christian music industry, what we call deconstructionism. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:03.759 Anyone heard of deconstructionism? 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:05.279 Oh, good, not many of you. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.480 Don't study it. 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:07.039 Okay. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:12.240 But there are there are a number of people that are deconstructing their faith. 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:13.200 Guess what? 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:15.279 I'm reconstructing my faith. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:16.559 How about you? 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:22.319 Because as I go through stuff, I go, you know, I don't really have the capacity to know how to handle that. 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:25.119 So I've got to reconstruct my faith. 00:30:25.599 --> 00:30:38.000 So if you're confused about parenting, I'm sure nobody here is like that, but if you've ever been concerned about your parenting and things aren't going perfectly for you, reconstruct your faith. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:41.599 Don't deconstruct your faith, reconstruct your faith. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:48.640 You see, Habakkuk understood what had happened to Israel in the Exodus. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:50.640 This would have been on his mind. 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:56.240 Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage they were under and they cried out. 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.839 And their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:03.440 So God heard their groaning. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:08.559 And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:12.240 And God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged him. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:16.000 You see, he's praying because he knows God does hear. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:18.799 He's saying it seems like you don't hear, but he knows God hears. 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:19.680 He wouldn't be saying it. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:21.440 He's not speaking just to the sky. 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:25.359 He's speaking because he has an intimate relationship with God. 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:30.160 Folks, if you're going through something, keep crying out. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:32.640 Keep crying out. 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.559 Keep crying out. 00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:40.480 It's not about you figuring out the solutions, it's about God coming with the solution. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:42.880 But you can miss it. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:43.440 Hello? 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:47.359 You can miss it if you quit. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.799 God never forces us to pray. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.720 God never forces us to pray. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:32:00.640 He invites us into the throne room of prayer so that He can bring deliverance in our lives. 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:09.920 And I remember a really, really difficult time in my life where it seemed like everywhere I turned, closed door, closed door, closed door. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:12.640 For five years. 00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:18.000 Five years prayer walking, five years prayer walking every morning. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:30.079 But you see, what God was doing in that five years is He was building into Steve Holt something that I couldn't learn any other way. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:44.559 And so the pilgrimage of discipleship is this God often delays your deliverance in order to form us for his deliverance. 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:53.359 He wants the credit, he wants the glory, he wants the power in your life because he did it. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:33:06.319 And sometimes he has to take us to the end of ourselves before he can work in us in order to work through us with the new person that he's developing in us, his disciples. 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:08.240 So I want you to look at Psalm 3. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:11.519 So just flip to Psalm 3, and I want to close with this. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:12.799 Psalm 3. 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:22.640 Because I know that Habakkuk would have read, it wasn't called Psalm 3 back then, but he would have read this Psalm and he would have known it. 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:25.440 And that's why he keeps crying out to God. 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:29.440 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me. 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:33.119 Many are they who rise up against me. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:37.359 Many are they who say of me, there's no help from him in God. 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:39.519 You ever heard that from people? 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:41.279