There is a very strange, absurd
teaching floating around today that's become very popular. It's called prosperity theology. The primary advocates of this
nonsense are charismatics, Pentecostals, people who pretend to believe
that they have the gifts of the apostles, they have visions from
God, a word of revelation from God, they can speak in tongues.
and they can straighten the curls out in your head. But this nonsense
of prosperity theology teaches that if you really believe God,
if you really believe God, if your faith is really strong,
true faith, then you'll be wealthy, happy, prosperous, and in good
health, in good health. God's not willing that you should
be sick or poor or that you should have any difficulty or trouble. That's the theology. It would
tell you that it is God's will for all believers to be healthy,
wealthy, and prosperous all the time. Such doctrine is totally
contrary to the history of God's church totally contrary to the
experiences of God's people, and totally contrary to this
book. It is true, the Lord God, our
Savior, always prospers His people. But that which God prospers us
by, the world seldom would consider to be prosperity. God's blessings
the world would seldom look upon, if ever, as blessings. The carnal mind seldom would
consider to be blessings. I recognize that there are many
who would not even think about calling themselves charismatics,
who would not dream of speaking in tongues or pretending that
they could. who yet entertain in their minds the idea that
somehow God always wants us to be wealthy and happy and prosperous
and trouble-free. Don't think such nonsense. It's
contrary to everything God's people experience in this world. That which God uses to prosper
our souls is often that which the world would consider great
adversity and even judgment. Job's three friends thought Job
was under the judgment of God when God specifically said he
was teaching Job to prosper in his soul. And Job thought in the process
he was under the judgment of God Though the Lord God plainly
told him, he was prospering him in his soul. Understand, children
of God, that our God's ways are never our ways. His ways are
never the ways we would choose. I don't mean most of the time.
I don't mean almost all the time. I mean God's ways are never our
ways. That which would appeal to you
in your flesh is never that which is God's way. I promise you.
Never. Never. That which you would choose
on your own is never what God would choose for you. Never.
Never. You see, the Lord God never exalts
without first abasing. He never fills without first
emptying. He never heals without first
wounding. He never lifts up without first
casting down. He never causes one to live without
first killing. Those are God's ways, always
God's ways. Prosperity theology. while it
is appealing to the flesh, is appalling to men and women who
know God. Had God's prophet Habakkuk ever
had the great privilege of hearing Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland
or John Hagee spewing forth their wealth, prosperity nonsense,
I suspect he would have laughed and flipped the channel to Gunsmoke
Rerun. This is nonsense. This is stupidity. Nobody can read the book of God
and imagine such things. You see, the Lord God revealed
to Habakkuk that he was raising up the godless, cruel Babylonians
and was going to outwardly prosper those godless, reprobate people
whom he hated. who were the objects of his wrath.
He said, I'm going to raise them up. I'm going to give them power,
power like no other nation. I'm going to give them wealth
like no other nation. And they will be used of me to
bring judgment upon you, the people of my choice. He said, I'm going to use them
as a rod in my hand. to chasing the people that I
love. Because of Judah's sin, the Lord
God comes with this Babylonian rod to scourge them and break
them off from the idols they chose. Thank God that's his way. The father who loves his son
chastens his son. The father who loves his son
will never let his rebel son have his way without feeling
his rod. It won't happen. It won't happen. And our father loves his sons. And he chastens them, everyone,
often with a Babylonian rod. often with a rod, which seems
to be totally contrary to everything we know about God. Often. In the midst of these things,
Habakkuk learned that God has an elect remnant whom he will
preserve, though the Babylonians destroyed the nation of Israel.
And Habakkuk declares that the just shall live by his faith
in the midst of the impending judgment that God Almighty said
would come to pass. The prophet was then assured
by God that he would judge the Babylonians too. These Babylonians
whom he raised up to judge Israel, he would judge because they delighted
in judging Israel. They chose to be the oppressors
they were. They chose to be persecutors.
And God Almighty would not let them off the hook. And so Habakkuk
takes these things and falls on his knees before God. Turn
with me, if you will, to Habakkuk chapter 3. All of this came to pass in the
history of Israel according to the Purpose and will of God Almighty
to teach us spiritual things You see there is another Babylon
a spiritual Babylon She is called the great whore the religion
of this world Spiritual Babylon gives birth to is Identified
by includes all false religion It matters not what name is used. We get all bent out of shape
over this religion or that. I was talking, I think Brother
Larry mentioned some Jehovah's Witnesses back in the office
and we get all bent out of shape. It doesn't matter what the poison
is. Poison is poison. Poison is poison. And spiritual
Babylon represents all false, free will, works religion. Doesn't
matter whether they're Romanist, whether they're Methodist, or
whether they're Baptist, or whether they're Presbyterian, or whether
they're Buddhist, or whether they're Islamic. It doesn't matter.
All systems of religion that teach salvation by your work
and your will are Babylon. And those things all are under
the judgment of God Almighty. But God uses Babylon as well. You see, all the heresies perpetrated
by Babylon are ordained by God and used by him to separate the
precious from the vile, to separate the wheat from the chaff, to
separate the sheep from the goats. Paul said heresies also must
come. that they which are perfect may
be made manifest. Those who are God's elect are
made manifest by these things. Read 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. The Lord God speaks plainly concerning Antichrist and the
religion of Babylon and says that by these things, God brings
judgment upon those who would not receive the word of the truth.
They would not receive the love of the truth. And so God sends
this strong delusion that they should believe a lie. And thus
he separates the true from the false, the sheep from the goats. At God's appointed time, Antichrist
shall fall. Babylon shall be destroyed and
all God's Israel shall be saved. It's described for us in Revelation
11, those two witnesses rising up in the midst of the streets
of the cities of Sodom and of Egypt, of Babylon. And they're
given power manifestly from God Almighty to declare the word
of the gospel of God's everlasting salvation. Then that wicked one,
the man of sin, Antichrist, shall be revealed, revealed by the
gospel of God's grace, revealed by the preaching of the word,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall
destroy with the brightness of his coming. The realization of these things
ought to drive us to our knees before God as it did Habakkuk
in his day. The title of my message tonight
is Revival, Remember, and Rejoice. Revive, Remember, Rejoice. These three things we have brought
before us in Habakkuk's prayer here in Habakkuk chapter 3. I
want us to go tonight with God's prophet into his prayer closet
and hear him pour out his heart to God. And it is my prayer that
the Lord God by his spirit. We'll put in our hearts to pray
this prayer. We're about to read. First in
verses one and two, the prophet offers a threefold prayer for
revival. Begging God to be merciful to
his chosen as it pours out his wrath upon the ungodly among
them. A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, upon Shigionoth. He realized
that judgment was coming on Judah and painful as it was to him,
He quit bucking God, quit bucking God's revelation. At first, he
rebelled. He's God, you can't do this.
And then he bows to God's will. And when he did, he begins to
pray. By divine inspiration, he gives us this prayer in the
form of a song. And he tells us that it is upon
Shigienoth. Why? Why? The Amplified Old Testament
reads this like this. A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet,
set to wild, enthusiastic, and triumphal music. That's a pretty
good, pretty good commentary on this word shigionoth. It's
an erratic tune. an erratic meter, nothing regular
about it. And as you read through this
piece of poetry here that Habakkuk gives by inspiration, he moves
from that which is painful and dark and heavy to that that is
exhilarating and delightful and triumphant. This is a song then
of trouble and of triumph. Three times in this third chapter,
Habakkuk uses the word sila, It's really a poetic pause. It
means admire. Pause and consider this with
wonder. Habakkuk skips from one subject
to another as we go through these 19 verses. And he says three
times, now stop. Don't be in a hurry as you read
this. Admire what you just read. Wonder at what God's just revealed. He speaks here of indicating
something admirable. Something that's worthy of consideration.
Hawker suggests the word means the same thing as our word. Amen.
Verily and forever. True. So when you read this word
Sela 70 times in the Psalms and three times in this chapter,
understand it's a poetic pause that calls for us to slow down
when we read the word, slow down and give consideration to that
which has been revealed. Look at verse two. Oh Lord, I
have heard thy speech and was afraid. Who can read and understand what
God said in Habakkuk 1 and 2 and not tremble with awe? We read about these things that
actually took place in history. and astounding, astounding things
as though they're really just sort of insignificant. God raised
up an idolatrous, barbaric, cruel, ungodly people to pillage and
rape and destroy the land of Judah. to destroy the temple
and to carry away the children of Israel into captivity for
70 years. God did it for their good. God did it for their good. To prove his elect remnant among
them and to cause his elect remnant to follow him faithfully. What
an astounding thing. What an astounding thing. God
still does such astounding things. Habakkuk was troubled, afraid. He trembled with awe when he
realized what God had spoken about Judah. Paul trembled for
his brethren. his kinsmen according to the
flesh. You remember as he opens Romans chapter nine and he speaks
about the things that God's doing, casting off the physical seed
that he might gather in the spiritual seed, casting off Israel, sending
blindness to Israel, that he might send the light of the gospel
to the Gentiles. When Paul speaks about Satan's
devices, he said, he said, I'm fearful for you. fearful for
you, lest you be turned away from the simplicity of Christ,
from the single gospel of Christ, from the singleness of the gospel
of Christ. We tremble with awe when we read
that which the Lord God is doing in our day. Satan must be loosed for a little
season. They should deceive the nations
again. Just as he did in days prior
to the coming of our Redeemer, the nations of the world were
deceived by Satan. With every imaginable form of
corrupt religion, with every imaginable form of corrupt religion. And it wasn't by accident. This
was the blindness God sent. Blindness of religious foolishness
that resulted in men and women practicing, promoting, and defending
every kind of moral perversion there is in the world. while they claim to worship God. Now you let that sink in. Thus
Satan is loosed in our day. Many women in churches just like
this all over the world defend the practice of moral perversity,
decadence in the name of freedom while they pretend to be worshipping
and serving God. Blind. Blind. I tremble for this
generation. I tremble at what I see going
on. Oh Lord, Habakkuk says, revive
thy work in the midst of the years. He prayed for revival
in Judah. But a new revival comes only
by God's doing, only by God's work. He's earnestly praying
for revival for when the discipline is over. Lord, I know you're
going to chase in your people, but but in the midst of all this,
revive your work. Praise for a revival that did
not come for at least 75 years. Seventy-five years later, God
did send the revival. Seventy-five years later, God
did send his people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, to reestablish
his worship in the land. But not for seventy-five years
did God answer his prayer. The prayer revive thy work in
the midst of the years might be translated this way. Preserve
alive your work in the midst of all this judgment. Lord, will you preserve the light
you've given us in this darkness? Will you will you preserve alive
your work in the midst of all this judgment? Read on. In the midst of the years, make
no. Lord, while this is all coming
to pass, will you show yourself, God?
Will you reveal yourself? Will you stretch forth your mighty
arm? Will you show us your presence
manifestly? Will you show us your face? Cause
us to know that you're with us. I can't help but to think of
Bacock's mind as he prays this prayer. Must have in mind what
he said in verse 14 of chapter 2. The earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Lord, in the midst
of all this, will you indeed fill the earth with the knowledge
of your glory? Then the prophet of God pleads
his cause. Offers this argument. in wrath, remember mercy. Oh, what a plea that is with
God. You see, he delighteth in mercy. It's his glory to be merciful. So Habakkuk says, Lord, in the
midst of judgment, remember mercy, be merciful. In wrath, he destroyed
the nation. In mercy, he preserved his remnant. In wrath, he cast off Israel. In mercy, he sent his son as
he cast off Israel. In wrath, he sent blindness to
the nation of Israel. In mercy, he sends the light
of the gospel to the Gentiles. In wrath, he destroys nations. In mercy, he gathers his elect
out of the nations. First, then Habakkuk prays for
revival. Then in verses 3 through 15,
he remembers God's works of old for his people. Those works by
which God made himself known to his chosen in days gone by. In the performance of his mercy,
let us ever pray, Lord, revive. And as we do, let us remember
what God has done. Habakkuk is praying. He's heavy hearted. He's trembling. He's heard what God's going to
do to the people of his love, what God's going to do with the
nation of Judah and Israel. And he is trembling before God.
Lord, in wrath, remember mercy, preserve alive your work, revive
your work in the midst of the years. And now his mind flashes
back to what God had done. When God brought his people out
of Egypt and across the Red Sea and through the wilderness, and
at last brought them into the land of Canaan, and gave them
at last possession of the land by the hand of Joshua, until
Joshua said to the children of Israel, just before he died,
as I take you to record, You bear me witness, God has this
day fulfilled every word of his promise and his covenant he made
with your father Abraham. Every word. That's a pretty good
knot for these prophecy nuts to try to untie. God still got
promises he hadn't fulfilled in Israel. Joshua said he fulfilled
every one of them. Those promises were typical of
another promise and another covenant. which God will surely perform
by our great Joshua, the Lord Jesus, who was represented by
Joshua. In verses three and four, Habakkuk
recalls the majesty of God at Sinai, the Shekinah glory in
the cloud of fire, which went before the people in their march
from Sinai to Canaan. Look at it. God came from Timon
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. If you want to look this up,
it's right in the Sinai Peninsula, right at Mount Sinai, so close
that you can't separate the two. Habakkuk's not speaking in confusion,
he's speaking by inspiration. God came from Timon, the Holy
One from Mount Paran. He's talking about what took
place at Sinai when God came forth in His glory. His glory
covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. And his
brightness was as the light. He had horns, power coming out
of his hand. And there was the hiding of his
power. Who is this? Well, you know who
this is. This is Christ our Redeemer.
This is a pre-incarnate revelation of the Lord Jesus in his glory
as he comes forth as the mighty one to save his people. Who is
he that gave the law, except he who was born under the law,
that he might redeem us from the curse of the law? Who is
he that gave the law, except he who comes to fulfill and bring
to an end the law? Who is he that gave the law,
except he of whom the law speaks? He who came to Mount Sinai is
he who later came to the Mount of Transfiguration and there
revealed his glory. He who spoke at Sinai is the
same one who spoke the Sermon on the Mount and explained to
us the meaning of his law and gave us the fulfillment of the
law. The one speaking then, spoken
of here, is our Lord Jesus. And then Habakkuk recalled how
God delivered Israel out of Egypt, brought them through the wilderness
after bringing them across the Red Sea and ultimately into Canaan. Look at it. Verse five. Before
him went the pestilence. And the burning coals went forth
at his feet. He stood the Lord Jesus, our
God, and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the
nations. The everlasting mountains were
scattered. The perpetual hills did bow. What's this? His ways
are everlasting. He who came in time at Bethlehem
was born in Bethlehem, Ephrathah. He who came in time as a man
is that one who's going forth of old, of everlasting, Micah
tells us. I saw the tents of cushion in
affliction. And the curtains of the land
of Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against
the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers?
Was thy wrath against the sea that thou didst ride upon the
horses, thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? Was God
angry with the Red Sea? No. His angers against Pharaoh
and his armies. And he's acting in love for the
salvation of his people. He rides on his horses and his
chariots of salvation. Thy bow was made quite naked. According to the oaths of the
tribes, even thy word, Lord, you made naked your bow. You
showed us the meaning of your word. when you spoke your oath
to the tribes of Israel. Then didst thou cleave the earth
with rivers. The mountains saw thee and they
trembled. The overflowing of the water
passed by. The deep uttered his voice and
lifted up his hands on high. The sun and the moon stood still
in their habitation. At the light of thine arrows
they went. And at the shining of thy glittering
spear, thou didst march through the land in indignation. Thou
didst thresh the heathen in anger. Now watch this. Here's the key
to understanding the whole thing. Here's the key to understanding
all God's providence, all history, all the affairs of our lives,
all the affairs of our nation. Thou wentest forth. for the salvation
of thy people. But Lord God came forth at Sinai
and gave his law for Israel. Isn't that amazing? Not against
them, for them. He spoke his word for the children
of Abraham, not against them. He went forth for the salvation
of his people when the sun rose this morning. And when the sun
rises tomorrow, he shall again go forth for the salvation of
his people. Even for the salvation with thine
anointed, that is with Christ the Redeemer, thou woundest the
head out of the house of the wicked. Soon the God of peace
will bruise Satan under your heels. Just as Christ Jesus crushed
his head by his sacrifice at Calvary. by the discovering of
the foundations under the neck. Verse 14. Thou didst strike through
with his staves the head of his villages. They came out as a
whirlwind to scatter me. Their rejoicing was to devour
the poor secretly. Now watch this. Thou didst walk
through the sea with thine horses, through heaps of great waters. What's he telling us? Lord, in
the midst of all this, you walk with ease. You rule with ease. You swim through Moab like a
man uses his hands and cuts through the water. You walk with ease
through those mountains and those troubles and those nations that
so disturb us. Oh, blessed be his name. He walks
with ease to the triumph and salvation of his people. And
move on to verses 16 through 19. The chapter begins with a
prayer that the Lord will revive his work. And then Habakkuk remembers
what God has done in the past, remembers God's wonders of old. Oh, what a blessed encouragement. It will be to your soul to turn
over the pages of your own life's diary in fond memory and see
how God has wrought wonders for you. I can't tell you what good it
does me to look back over the short span of my brief existence
on this earth and see how God stepped into time and altered
the plans and devices of men obviously just for me time and
time again. So Habakkuk remembers God's wonders
of old for his people. And this inspires him to rejoice
in confident faith. Look at verse 16. Before he knew anything about
joy, he again trembles. When I heard my belly tremble,
My lips quivered at the voice. Rottenness entered into my bones
and I trembled in myself. Now watch this. That. That. I trembled. My belly trembled. My lips quivered. Rottenness entered my bones. I trembled in myself. No confidence
left in me. No strength left in me. No hope
left in me. Nothing but rottenness in me.
That I might rest in the day of trouble. You will never know the joy of
faith in Christ until God causes rottenness to enter your bones. and destroys all confidence in
you. It doesn't come otherwise. That
I might rest in the day of trouble, when he cometh up unto the people,
he will invade them with his troops. Look at verse 17. The result of this trembling,
the result of this conviction of God's spirit, is the sweet
rest of confident faith in Christ. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom. Hmm. Did anybody ever see blossom
on a fig tree? Fig trees don't blossom. They
don't blossom. The bud just comes out between
the leaves. No flower ever on the fig tree. Well, Habakkuk
was mistaken. There's a proof. There's mistakes
in the Word of God. Oh, no. He's talking about something
spiritual, not something physical. And he makes it clear by showing
us figurative language. He says, although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor
of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat. When did men ever eat grass out
of the field? He's talking about something
spiritual. And there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet, in
spite of all this, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the
God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and
he will make my feet like hinds feet. He will make me to walk
upon mine high places. The sinner taught of God to loathe
himself. learns to rejoice in the Lord. These expressions, talking about
the fig tree not blossoming, the field yielding no meat, obviously
refer to spiritual things, spiritual difficulties. Without question,
we who believe trust Christ in the midst of earthly troubles
and earthly woes, at least we seek to, and we do. After a while, he'll teach us
to trust him. We do, but Habakkuk's expressing a determination to
trust him. When there are seemingly no fruit in the fig tree of divine
worship, in the ordinances of worship, there's nothing there.
It seems that the Lord's taken these things away. When there's
nothing that seems profitable in the field of this earth, It
seems there's no herds gathered in the church of God, no sheep
gathered into the fold. It seems that there's a famine
in the land for the hearing of the words of God. Looks like God's not doing anything. Looks like God's not doing anything.
What are we going to do? What are we going to do? We're
going to continue To believe God, that's what we're going
to do. Continue to trust God who does all things well for
the good of his own, for the salvation of his people. Even
when like Elijah, we think we're all together alone. Habakkuk
says, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds
feet. He will make me to walk upon
mine high places. Because after all, he is still
accomplishing the salvation of his people for the glory of his
name. Turn back to the book of Ezekiel
chapter 34. Let me show you. Ezekiel 34. The Lord commands his servants,
feed thy people with the rod, the flock of thine heritage,
which dwells solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and in Gilead, as in days of old, according
to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt. Will I
show unto them marvelous things. Then in chapter 34 of Ezekiel,
beginning of verse 20, the Lord says, therefore, thus saith the
Lord God unto them. Behold, I even I will judge between
the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Verse 21, because. Because you have thrust with
the side and with shoulder and pushed all the disease with your
horns to you scattered them abroad. Therefore will I save my flock,
and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between cattle
and cattle, and I will set up one shepherd over them, and he
shall feed them. Even my servant David, that is
one shepherd, Christ the good shepherd, the son of David, he
shall feed them and shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord,
will be their God and my servant David, a prince among them. I,
the Lord, have spoken it. Verse 25. And I will make with
them a covenant of peace and will cause the evil beast to
cease out of the land. And they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and
the places round about my heel blessing and I will cause the
shower to come down in his season there shall be showers of blessing
and the tree of the field shall yield her fruit and the earth
shall yield her increase and they shall be safe in their land
and shall know that I am the Lord when I have broken the bands
of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that
serve themselves of them and and they shall no more be a prey
to the heathen. Neither shall the beast of the
land devour them, but they shall dwell safely and none shall make
them afraid. Look at verse 30. Thus shall
they know that I, the Lord, their God, am with them. And they,
even the house of Israel, shall be my people, saith the Lord.
and ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am
your God, saith the Lord. And then Habakkuk ends his prayer
exactly like he began it. To the chief singer, upon my
stringed instruments, that is, upon Shigena, the songs of Zion, are always
upon Shugianoth. The songs of Zion are always
sung to an erratic meter. Always mixed are blessings and
pain, mercies and misery, delights and disappointments. The song begins with a prayer
Lord, revive your work. And then we're taught to remember
God's wondrous works. And it ends with this determination
to believe God, to rejoice in the Lord in confident faith,
to joy in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord all the way.
Again I say rejoice. Your moderation be known unto
all men. The Lord's at hand. So be at ease. Be at ease no
matter what things look like around you. No matter what you
experience tomorrow. No matter what pain or darkness
comes. No matter what God does in the
nations around you. are in your own family, are in
your own life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice. Amen.