Transcription
I want to talk to us again from this subject, from fear to faith. From fear to faith.
There are two days in every week about which we should never worry. Two days in every week in which we should never worry. Two days which should be kept from fear and apprehension.
One of those days in the week is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its aches and pains, its faults and blunders. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot erase a single word we've said or deed we've done or not done, because yesterday is a cancelled check.
The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promises and its future performance. Tomorrow also is beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's sun will rise either in splendor or behind dark clouds. But it will rise. But until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, because tomorrow is yet unborn.
So brothers and sisters, that leaves only today. Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is cash in your hand. So anybody can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when we add the burdens of those two awful eternities, yesterday and tomorrow, that we lose our courage.
Faith makes unseen things visible. Faith makes future things present. While worry, brothers and sisters, hear this. Underline this in your mind. Worry is interest paid in advance on troubles that may never come. That's true. Let me run that by you one more time. Worry is interest paid in advance on troubles that may never come.
Vance Havner, a preacher of another generation, Vance Havner said, "Worry, like a rocking chair, will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere."
Habakkuk had been pleading with God for light to guide him in dark days. But he struggled with the apparent contradiction between divine providence and divine promise. And so it is with a longing and pleading soul that he mounts the watchtower and waits for God to answer. Habakkuk now realizes that the one thing to do is to wait on God. It's not enough just to pray. It's not enough just to tell God what's perplexing you and just to cast your burdens on the Lord. I told you last Sunday that prayer is just casting a burden. It's just throwing a burden at God. But that's not enough this morning. We must go further than just pray. We've got to wait for an answer.
That's right. Isaiah in chapter 40 says, "Hast thou not known? I wish I had a Bible reader. Yes, sir. Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Father, the creator of the ends of the earth, there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might. He increases their strength. Even the youth shall faint and grow weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not get weary. They shall walk and not faint."
[cheering] The Bible says, "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." Jeremiah says, "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, how shall you contend with horses? If you can't make it in the land where peace and prosperity abides, what are you going to do in the swelling of the Jordan?"
The elders down in Louisiana, where I'm from, used to say, "He may not come when you want him, but he's always on time." Waiting on God and trusting in God is knowing that if God does not show up now, he's on his way.
[applause] In verse number one, Habakkuk cautions us to commit our problems to God. He said, "I'm going to stand here in my watchtower and station myself on the rampart. I'm going to keep watch and see what God will say to me." An accurate translation is what God will say in me. And then, and then I will wait to see if God will chasten me, will chastise me concerning my complaint.
The words of Habakkuk picture a tower set up on a high elevation which commands a wide view and a grand prospect, such as is used by military observers in order to anticipate the advance of the enemy. The watchtower is far above the plains and far above the crowds of the people, occupying a vantage point where Habakkuk can see everything.
If you want to get life in perspective, you've got to come up to the church. Uh, because going to church helps you to get a good vantage point. It gives you a 30,000-foot elevated view of how life is really small stuff. And when you come up to the church, it has a way of focusing the lens of your life so that you don't get bogged down on what's unimportant. Uh, let me see if I can make this make sense. You go down to the Galleria. You go down to Walmart. You go down to HB. But you come up to the church house, because the psalmist says, "My steps were almost gone." I wish I had a witness. My feet had well-nigh slipped when I saw the prosperity of the wicked and how people who don't even serve God seem like life is just going swimmingly for them. But then I went to the sanctuary. I made my way to the house of God. I got my perspective.
It's not until you come to church that you recognize God has everything under control.
[applause] Um, you've been on a flight and there's been some turbulence in the air, and the pilot comes over the loudspeaker and says, "Uh, fasten your seat belts. Uh, we are in some turbulence. The air is kind of choppy right here. Uh, flight attendants, please take your seats. Uh, we're going to be out of it in a minute, but for the moment, fasten your seat belts. Uh, put your seat trays back in their full upright lock position. Uh, we're going to be out of it in a minute, but for the moment, fasten your seat belts. Uh, flight attendants, take your seats. Uh, put your luggage in the overhead rack. Uh, put your seat trays in their full upright lock position. We're going to be out of it in a minute, but for the moment, fasten your seat belts. Flight attendants, take your seats. Put your seat trays back in their full upright lock position. We're going to be out of it in a minute, but for the moment, fasten your seat belt. Flight attendants, take your seats. Put your seat trays back in their full upright lock position. Don't come in the cockpit and try to fly the plane. Don't call me on your cell phone trying to tell me what to do. I've been through turbulence before. We're going to be out of it in a minute. Put your seat trays back in their full upright lock position."
God is telling somebody in Lily Grove this morning, we are experiencing some turbulence. You're going to be out of it in a minute, but for the moment. Hey, fasten your seat belt. Put your seat trays back in their full upright lock position. God has everything under control.
[cheering] [applause] [cheering] Let me, um, I'm trying to move on here. I really am. But, um, many of us have cars that have keyless entry. Uh, you don't even have to put the key in the ignition. It just has to be on your person, and you can get the car started. You just have to have it in your purse or in your pocket, and you can touch the door and it'll open for you. Uh, touch the ignition and the car will start. And you don't even have to put the key in it. You just have to have the key nearby. Somebody going to help me talking here. It can be in your pocket. You can lose it underneath the seat. Keep it in your purse. Just touch the ignition and the car will start because the key is somewhere around.
If God is somewhere around, when life gets stalled, when life gets bumpy, when life gets rough, you don't even have to put the prayer in the ignition. Just have it on your person. He walks with me. He talks with me. He tells me I am his own. And the joy we share. Have I got a witness here? Somebody here ought to help me testify. I don't even have to come to church to get happy.
[cheering] When I think about the doors he's opened, the prayers he's answered, the enemies he put out of my way. Yes, sir.
[applause] Listen, once we take our problems to God, turn your back on him. Take your eyes off your problem and fix your gaze on God. It may be a problem of what we want to do with our lives, or it may be a situation that's confronting us which involves a difficult decision. But we go astray when we pray, and the moment we get up from our knees, we start worrying about the problem again. If you're going to worry, don't pray. And if you pray, don't worry.
Habakkuk shows us that according to how he ascends the watchtower, ascending the watchtower is not just idling the time away, but rather ascending that he might see. Wow. And secluding himself that he might hear. Looking to God means not dealing with the problem by yourself, not consulting other people, but depending entirely upon God, because you can't trust church people with your problems.
[applause] Um, I am not going to let people into my personal affairs who have to call me Pastor Anderson. You missed that. I'm not going to allow you in my business and at the same time expect you to call me Pastor Anderson, because there are some things that go on in my life that's between me and God. And I have to confess to God, and God is faithful, just to forgive me and to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Church people will hold it against you forever.
[cheering] That's why you can't choose everybody to be your prayer partner, because some personal private things that never should have gotten out, those people put it on Facebook.
[cheering] Get off Facebook and put your face in a book. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. You're going to help me preach this, won't you? In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.
Hear me, beloved. The presence of anxiety is the absence of humility. Anxiety is not only spiritually crippling, but it is physically debilitating. You can worry yourself into a stroke, into a heart attack.
Let me give you a worry test this morning. Everybody can take this test. Everybody can take this test. What were you worrying about this time last year at 10:45?
[whistles] Not one of you can remember, because either God handled it or it wasn't worth worrying about in the first place. Somebody should have shouted right there. God will take care of you. God will turn midnights into day.
[cheering] You don't have to take my word for it. Thank you. Philippians at chapter 4, verse 6 and 7 says, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
You want something to keep your mind from worrying. You want something to occupy your mind with so you don't go crazy. Verse 8 reads, "Finally, brethren, you want something to think about, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things."
You want to keep yourself from worrying. Think about the last time God delivered you. Think about the last time God made a way. Think about the last time God saw you through your situation. Think about the last time He put food on your table. I wish I had a witness here. And every time you think about God's grace in your life, whatever you don't have, thank God for what you have left.
[applause] I need somebody here this morning, right in through here, who just made up your mind. You're going to say, "Hallelujah," anyhow. I don't care what you think about me. I don't care how you feel about me. I don't care what you say about me. When this service is over, I've got so much to be grateful for. I've got so much to be glad about. I am not going to allow you to live rent-free in my brain. 'Cause if you're going to live in my head, you've got to pay some rent.
[cheering] You are not living rent-free in my brain, because anybody who lives rent-free in your mind is squatting.
[cheering] [cheering] Put up a sign over your life right now: No squatters allowed.
[cheering] I don't care who likes me, who does not like me, who's on my side, who's not on my side, who loves me, who shakes. If God be for us, who can be against us? Fret not yourself. I wish I had a Bible reader. Because of evildoers; neither be envious against the workers of iniquity. They shall soon be cut off like grass, and they shall wither like the green herb.
Take your problems to God. If the world from you withholds of its silver and its gold, and you have to get along with meager fare, just remember in his word how he feeds the little bird. Take your burdens to the Lord. Leave it there. Leave it there. Leave it there. Take your burdens to the Lord. Leave it there. If you trust and never doubt, he will surely bring you out.
[cheering] [applause] Yeah. But in verse two, Habakkuk is not only leaving his problem with God, he's expecting an answer. Then the Lord answered me and said, "Write the vision. Make it plain on tablets so that a runner may read it. Write the vision. Make it plain on the tablets so that a runner might read it." We so often fail because we just pray and forget without expecting an answer.
Brothers and sisters, listen to me. God may answer in a number of different ways. You can expect God to answer sometimes when you read his word. The Holy Spirit will just quicken your spirit so that the word you've read all your life will just finally click and make sense. Then God sometimes answers directly in our spirit. I've heard people tell me over and over again through these years of preaching and pastoring that sermons that I have preached were exactly what they needed to hear. I've heard them say to me, "Pastor, I'm glad I came to church today, 'cause that word, you must have been in my house last week." That word was exactly what I needed. That's why you don't need to miss church, because God has an answer for you. If it's not in his word, it is from the one who is delivering the word.
[applause] And then there are times God answers this way. Situations are so providentially ordered that the circumstance happens in such a way that you know nobody but God could have done that.
[applause] And when God answers that way, the light comes on in your mind. It was nobody but the Lord. You've been worrying about it and fretting over it and getting all upset about it and can't eat and can't sleep and having all kind of physical disabilities. You can't make saliva in your mouth anymore. Your hands are sweaty. Your temples are pounding. And God is saying, "Boy, go to bed."
[applause] "Child, rest yourself." God has this thing under control.
"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the Lord who made the heavens and the earth. He will not suffer my foot to be moved. Behold, he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
So hear me, brothers and sisters. Since God is awake, I'm going to bed.
[applause] Nothing shows the character of your faith as the conduct and the attitude you have after you get up from praying. Because the test of your faith is when you expect an answer. And even if God does not answer, you still have faith in Him. Even if God does not answer the way you think He ought to answer, you're still coming to church Sunday morning. You're still giving God the glory, no matter what the outcome. Because either God will change the situation, or He will change you in the midst of that situation. But no matter what the situation is, if God does not change it, God will change you. And you will be able to say, "God, have Your way."
[cheering] I'm through. But this last point is in verse number three. "For the vision is still for an appointed time. It speaks of the end and it does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it." This last little point, brothers and sisters, what God has promised, He is able to perform. God not only foretells what is going to happen and reveals it to His servant Habakkuk and reminds him that it is absolutely certain, but God adds that it will take place at the exact minute appointed and that it will not be a fraction of a second late.
What God promised, He is able to perform. That's right. You don't have to take my word for that. The Old Testament is full of examples of how God just shows up when He says He's going to show up.
God told Noah to build an ark, to build a boat, and there was not a cloud in the sky. They had never seen rain. They had never seen a cloud. They had never seen a storm cloud. They had never heard a clap of thunder. They had never seen lightning. They had never even seen dew on the ground. But God said it's going to rain. And Noah preached the same sermon 120 years. Noah must have been related to Frankie Beverly. He sang the same song 120 years. It's going to rain. And the Bible says they laughed at him. But one day it started raining and raining and raining and raining. The whole earth was covered with the flood, and everything died except Noah and his family and two animals of every kind.
'Cause what God has promised, He is able to perform.
God told Abraham to tell Lot and his family to get out of Sodom and Gomorrah, because they were living in a town that was angelically tagged for demolition. They were living in a city that was about to go up in smoke. And Lot and his wife and his family were on their way out. And God sent fire. But Mrs. Lot. Yes, sir. Turned back to see the club just one more time. She had to see the casino just one more time. And God turned her into a pillar of salt where the Dead Sea rests right now. And nothing can live in the Dead Sea, because God killed Lot's wife right there, 'cause she didn't take God at His word. That's right.
God told Jeremiah to tell those people to get married and raise families and grow crops, 'cause they were going to be here 70 years. Not one day, not one hour is going to pass until what God has promised, He is able to perform. Yes, sir.
You remember some boys named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They went to Babylon as honored and privileged guests along with Daniel. They did not eat meat at the king's table. And so they were able to shake their finger in the king's face. And the king had this golden image on the plains of Dura. And he said, "Whenever the music starts, everybody will bow and worship this golden image, or you will be turned over immediately to a burning fiery furnace."
Those of us who know the story, those of us who read the Bible know what happens next. The music started. The sackbut and the lyre. The flute and the cornet. The music started, and everybody hit their knees, except Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The men went back to the king and said, "King, didn't you say when the music starts, everybody should bow?" The king says, "That's the edict." They said, "Well, these men you put over us. When the music started, they would not bow." King had them brought in and said, "Now, boys, I know you didn't get the email, perhaps. Or maybe you didn't hear the message, or maybe you don't know what I said. Let me repeat it for you. When the music starts, everybody bow and worship this golden image, or you will be burned immediately in a fiery furnace."
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, "Oh king, we heard what you said. We know what your email reads. We understand clearly what's going to happen to us. But the God we serve is able." You're going to help me close this, won't you? "And He will deliver us out of your hand. But if not, Yes, sir. That's right. We've made up our minds that we are still not going to bow."
The king got so mad he threw them in the midst of the fiery furnace. The fire was so hot that the men that threw them in got burned immediately and then died. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, with their wrists and their ankles bound with wool caps and blankets on, thrown in the midst of the fire. The king sat out and thought it was all over. Yeah. But the Bible says he got up and looked in, and he told his men, "Didn't we throw three men bound in the fire?" They said, "Yes, old king." Yeah. You say, "Well, I see four men now, loose, walking around, and the fourth one looks like the son of God."
When you stand on your convictions, somebody ought to help me preach here. When you believe that God will do just what He said He would do, He will show up in your fiery furnace. He will show up in your lion's den. He will show up in your Philippian jail. He'll show up at the office with you tomorrow morning and make a way out of nowhere.
I'm through. But there's one more promise I want to run by you.
[cheering] God told Isaiah to tell my people, "For unto us, Yeah. That's it. A child is born. Yeah. And unto us a son is given. Yeah. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. Yeah. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Yeah. Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 700 years went by and nothing happened. But one day, an angel showed up at a little girl's house named Mary. I wish I had a witness here. And said to her that God has found favor with you, and you shall bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. Mary said, "How is this going to happen? I've never known a man sexually." God said, "The Holy Ghost is going to come upon you." I wish I had a witness here. "And you will be overshadowed by the Most High, and this son shall be born to you, and you shall give birth to this child, and he, his life shall be over your heart for the rest of your days." For the shadow of the cross will loom over this Bethlehem cradle. For He was born in Bethlehem, brought up in Nazareth, baptized in the Jordan, performed miracles in a desert place, wept over Jerusalem, prayed in Gethsemane. He gave sight to the blind. He made lame men to walk. He made deaf men to hear. He made dumb people to talk. A woman had an issue of blood one day. She just grabbed his clothes as he was walking by, and she was healed of her infirmity. Peter's mother-in-law was sick unto death with a fever. Jesus just went and put His hands on her, and she got up and went in the kitchen and started cooking a meal. A woman of name was on the way to bury her only son. Jesus just put His hand on the casket, and that boy came back to life again. They were in a boat, and it was in a serious storm. They said, "Master, don't you care that we are about to perish?" Jesus stood up on that boat and said, "Peace, be still." Yeah. And the Bible says there was such a calm that they said, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey his will?"
But I don't have to go way back to the Sea of Galilee. I don't have to go back to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I don't have to go back to Moses at the Red Sea. There's somebody in Lily Grove this morning. There's somebody watching online this morning. I've seen God do some wonderful things. I wish I had a witness here. You've watched God heal your body. You've watched God put food on your table. You've watched God keep you when mama and daddy was gone. You watched God make a way when you didn't have a job or a car. You watched God provide for you.
And since God's been good to you, since God has opened a way for you, don't sit here and act like you don't know who He is. Since God has smiled on you and made your life make a difference. Since God has been sweet to you and made your home a place of prayer, don't act like you don't know who it was that kept you.
Why don't you let somebody know? And the way you let somebody know, the Bible says, "Let the redeemed." Wish I had some. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
[music] If God brought you all the way, come on and say so. If God's provided for you, why don't you say so? If God's been good to you, why don't you say so? If He kept you through COVID, why don't you say so? Put food on your table, saved your soul, brought you out, why don't you say so? Why don't you look at somebody and tell them, "You don't know like I know. You can't tell it like I can tell it what the Lord has done for me." He's been a mother for me. He's been a doctor for me. He's been a lawyer. For He kept me. He never left me. I've seen the lightning flash. I've heard thunder roll. I felt sin breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul. But I heard the voice of Jesus telling me, "Fight on." He promised. He promised never to leave me. Won't He do it?
[music] Won't He do it? Why don't you hug somebody? Tell them He will show up. He will show up. I know He's all right.
[music] [music] [music] Oh, He's all right.
[music] He walks with me. He talks with me. Is there anybody here had your back against the wall, and the Lord came through? Why don't you just wave your hand? I'm a witness.
[music] He will come through. He will. He will. He will. I know He's all right.
[music] [music] [music] Yeah.