to our lives today. It's such a snapshot of the day that we live in. And so God, I pray
that you would bless us as we study this masterpiece, Poem of the Word of God. It's a poem. It's
preaching. It's the truth. It's doctrine, dear God. It's just a marvelous piece of work.
And Father, please just bless the sermon tonight. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Now let me do a quick review of Habakkuk chapter 1 because we're dealing with a book that's
a little bit more unfamiliar to most people. I want to do a little bit of a review just
so that you'll have an idea of where we are in the story. In Habakkuk chapter 1, you remember
the first four verses, Habakkuk is looking around saying, God, why is the world the way
it is? Why is my country the way it is? He's just describing the condition and you could
really describe our day in the same way. We saw that. And then in verse number 5, God's
answer to Habakkuk, this is in chapter 1, is where he states how he's going to come
and bring judgment on the wicked nation that Israel had become, the southern kingdom of
Judah is really what we're dealing with. He said that judgment is coming. He's going
to bring a terrible and dreadful nation. It's going to march through the breadth of the
land and destroy it and take them captive and so forth. Then in verse number 12, we
begin another phase where Habakkuk answers back to God and questions, God, God, why would
you do that? Why are you doing this? You're taking a more wicked nation. In fact, I was
just studying my Bible elsewhere this week, reading the book of Ezekiel, and God was describing
it as the most wicked nation on the face of the earth, the Chaldean nation. I was reading
that, just in some other private Bible reading I was doing. And he's saying, why are you
bringing this horrible, ungodly nation and using them to judge us? I mean, good night.
We're at least a semblance of a godly Christian nation. But to whom much is given of him,
some must be required, the Bible teaches. And so God says, yes, I will use this nation
to judge you. And Habakkuk is questioning that in verses 12 through 17. And then in
chapter 2, verse 1, we saw he's asking, he's saying, I'm going to see what God answers
me. I'm going to see what God has to say about this. I will stand upon my watch, Habakkuk
2.1, and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what
I shall answer when I am approved. And now we're going to begin to see God's answer.
The whole chapter 2 is God speaking, giving his answer. And the Bible says in verse number
2, and the Lord answered me and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables
that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end
it shall speak and not lie. Go with Terry, wait for it, because it will surely come.
It will not, Terry. He says, I know that you don't understand everything about what I'm
doing. I'm going to begin to explain that a little bit. But he says, whether or not
you understand it, Habakkuk, he says, this is the way it's going to be. And he says,
I want you to write it down. And he says, I want you to preach it and make it plain
to my people that this is what's going to happen. He said, maybe it's not going to happen
right away. He said, it's coming. God's judgment is coming, so wait for it. And we saw that
last week, what was going to come. And we saw that fulfilled in the book of Daniel.
We studied that last week. But I love that phrase in verse number 2, of course. You know
I'm just going to park here and just preach on this phrase, where God is telling a preacher,
Habakkuk, a prophet, a man of God. He's saying, I'm speaking to you God's word. I mean, not
everybody in the nation is hearing this directly from God. I mean, God is telling Habakkuk.
He's saying, I want you to write this down, which is what the book of Habakkuk is. And
he says, I want you to make the vision, make this sermon that I'm teaching you, make it
plain that he may run that readeth it. Now, what does he mean when he says, make it plain?
He's saying, I want you to make it simple. I want you to make it easy for people to understand.
I want you to make it clear. I mean, I don't want it to be something where only the most
educated person could understand it. I don't want it to be something where people could
walk out of the church service and say, well, I wonder what he was talking about. I wonder
what he was getting at. You know what I mean? He kept talking about sin, but I just couldn't
really understand. What was he trying to say? What was the point? And so that's why I endeavor
as a preacher to make my preaching plain. And I think that anyone who's a man of God
should be making it plain when he preaches the Bible. It shouldn't be something where
you have to scratch your head and say, I wonder what the pastor believes about salvation.
Look, you don't have to wonder any longer what this pastor believes about salvation.
It's by grace through faith, period. It's believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shall be saved. It's by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone, be the glory. You
say, what do you believe about this, you know, making a commitment to Christ? I think that
it's garbage. Is that plain enough? I think it's trash. I think it's a word that the Bible
never uses, and I think it's work salvation. I'm going to commit my life to Christ. That's
sounds like something that you're doing to get yourself to heaven by changing your life
around. When the Bible says that Jesus once suffered the righteous for the ungodly, the
Bible says that he became, he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made
the righteousness of God through him. And then it says, blessed is the man to whom the
Lord doth not impute sin. He said blessed is the man where his sins are not even put
on his account. And it says in the same chapter, it says, but to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Why
am I going to heaven tonight? Well, if I were to die right now, I would go straight to heaven.
I'd be in heaven that fast. Why? Well, because I'm 100% righteous. Yes. You say, no, wait
a minute. No, the Bible says, look, it's not my righteousness though. That's the thing.
The only way to go to heaven, and a lot of people don't understand this, the only way
to go to heaven is to have no sin, but that's not even enough to get you to heaven. You
have to have no sin and you also have to have righteousness and good works. Now look, none
of us has righteousness. None of us is without sin. We all come short of the glory of God.
We're all sinful. Our works and our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That's why Paul said in
Philippians 3, 9, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith, through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. You
see, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, two things happen immediately. All of your
sins have been paid for by Jesus Christ and they will not be imputed to you. That's why
he says blesses the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And so your sins were imputed
to Jesus Christ on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin for us. And then the next
part of the verse says that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So what happened
is God took all the sins on your record the moment that you believed, remember it's all
by faith is what the Bible says, hundreds and hundreds of times. The moment that you
believed on Jesus Christ, all of your sins were taken off of your account because they
were already paid for by Jesus and they will not be imputed to you. Then God took all the
righteous acts of Jesus Christ because Jesus didn't just come to earth and die and was
buried and rose again. He also lived a perfect life for 33 years. And all that righteousness
that Jesus did is put on your account and that's what gets you to heaven. That's why
Jesus said except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and
Pharisees you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. He said you have to
have more righteousness than these religious zealots. You have to have more righteousness
than the scribe who spends his whole life copying the Bible. That's all he does. He
just reads and studies and copies the Bible. He says his righteousness is not good enough.
He says publican, sinner, harlot, publican. He says your righteousness must be greater
than theirs. Now do you think that that's offering a message of hope to some publican
that he has to be more righteous than the most sold out Christian? And that's why he
follows that up and he's saying, hey, why don't you take my righteousness because you're
not going to be able to do it. You're going to come short, friend. And that's the gospel.
That's the good news. Everything about the gospel is good news. Everything about it.
Your sins can be gone as far as the east is from the west and never be mentioned to you
again. Your sins can be paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Everything you've ever done
wrong in your whole life, God says, I'll forget about it. It's paid for. It's done. Won't
even bring it up to you. And then he says the life that you couldn't live of just righteous
good works, healing the blind, you know, that Jesus did, preaching the gospel, feeding
the poor, preaching the poor. Every good thing that he did is like you did it. And that's
going to be your ticket into heaven. Glory to God. Isn't that good news? You say I'm
apprehensive about giving the gospel to my friends and loved ones. Hey, why in the world
would you not want to tell them such good news? You say, I don't know, it seems a little
negative. I'm talking about, you know, hell. Hey, look, they're going to hell anyway. Whether
you tell them about it or not, they are going to go to hell if they don't get saved. So,
you know, you bringing up the truth to them about hell, you know, you're going to follow
that up with the good news of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. So it's really a very
positive message of the gospel. Now, don't get me wrong. You must, they must realize
that they're a sinner and on their way to hell because obviously how can they be saved?
I mean, they don't even know what they're being saved from. They don't know what salvation
is, so they need to know about that penalty. But good night. It's already, that's already
something that's on them, that condemnation. The good news is that the escape from that
is through Jesus Christ, through faith. Hey, I'm going to make that plain. I'm going to
make it simple salvation. I'm going to make it clear. I don't need some big long doctrinal
statement about what it means, what it takes to get to heaven and some complicated thesis
about how the penitent heart and, you know, a cordial, warm invitation while the Holy
Spirit does, Hey, look, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Now, if somebody believes
and I'll say this clearly, let me make this point. If somebody believes in Jesus Christ
and they think that they have to do anything else, they are not saved. Period. Because
Jesus says you must, or Philip told these, you have to believe with all your heart. And
it says you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So they say, well, I believe in Jesus
Christ, but I've also been baptized and that's why I'm going to heaven. Wrong. That's not
salvation because their faith is not in Jesus Christ. Well, I believe in Jesus Christ, but
if I don't live right, I might lose it. Wrong. See, it's got to be, you must have all your
faith in Jesus Christ, but it's all faith that saves you. You don't even have to have
that much faith, but whatever faith you do have, you just have to take it and put it
all in Jesus and you're saved. And it's so simple. It's so clear. Why do people complicate
the gospel when it's so simple? It's faith. Period. It's not works. It's not quitting
sin. It's not starting to do something new. It's not turning over new leaf. It's is your
faith in Jesus Christ or is it in religion? The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 6, not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. He says, repent
of the dead works that you thought were going to get you to heaven. You know, where you
thought you had to pray the rosary and you thought you had to be baptized or you thought
you had to go to the confessional booth or you thought you had to live a good life. He
says, repent of the dead works and take that faith and put it in Jesus Christ. That's salvation.
It's so simple. And on and on, I preached a whole sermon before called, Make it Plain.
Just saying, when I preach, I want to make it clear what I believe. I don't want anybody
to walk out and scratch their head. What is he talking about? What does he think? You
know, I think that if you walk out of here, you ought to just say, like, love or hate
it. I know exactly what he's talking about. Good night. It couldn't have been any clearer.
Now I'm going to move on. Well, actually, let me give you one quick illustration on
that note. I was calling and looking for churches for Brother Dave in Illinois today,
and so I was going down the list. And so I called down the list, and I called a guy that
was actually, I think he's actually in Payloss Heights. I hope I'm not blaspheming somebody
that's in Payloss Heights. It was good. It was either Payloss Heights or Oak Lawn. And
I talked to the pastor, and I said, I just want, you know, I'm looking for a church for
a friend of mine, and I'm just going to ask you a few quick questions. I said, I'm just
going down the list, because I didn't want to get in a big, long conversation. I said,
I'm just going down the list, just ask a few questions. And I said, are you King James
Bible only? And I sat there, and he said, well, you know, he's like, oh yeah, he's like,
I preach from the King James Bible. He's like, now there's some other versions that
people use, you know, in the pew, you know, in the church, but I said, but I don't preach
from the King James. See how he's like trying to spin the question. He's trying to say,
well, all I use is the King James and people in the pew. It's like, I don't care what somebody
in the pew has. You know, obviously I'm asking you what you believe. So I said, well, wait
a minute. Are you King James Bible only? And he said, well, he said, well, that's what
I preach from. And I said, should I have to ask this guy three times? I mean, shouldn't
he tell me yes or no? Yes, I am. No, I'm not. And so finally, this is what I said. Are you
saying that another version is okay? Like that, you know, the NIV is also okay. And
he said, yes, I do think other versions are okay. I said, bye, click, you know, and it's
like next one on the list. Okay. Then I called one in a bridge view, first Baptist church
of bridge view. And I called the guy up and I said, hi, you know, I said, and the pastor
answered the phone. I said, hi, you know, I'm looking for a church for a friend of mine
going down the list when I asked you a few questions. And he said, you know what, I'd
love to answer your questions, but he said, I'm on the other line right now and I'll give
me your number. I'll call you right back and I'll answer whatever questions you want. And
by the way, I mean, he's just, he's, he's on the other line. He's just getting me off
the phone. I give him the number. He's like, okay, I'll call you right back. But just so
you know, by the way, we're King James only, independent, fundamental Baptist, temperamental,
you know, hard preaching and I'll call you back in a couple of minutes. Bye. I'm like,
I like it. I'm done. Don't even call me back. So then, you know, then he called me back
a few minutes later and these are the two questions I asked and there are other issues,
but you know, if I can get these two questions straight, they're in the ballpark, you know?
And so I just said, he called me back and I said, well, you know, you already told me
King James only. And I just said, you know, door to door soul winning. Do you do it? You
know, he said, oh yeah, of course. You know, we have all kinds of door to door soul winning.
I said, great. You know, I'll tell my prayer. I'll recommend for him to go there. And so
it was just such a contrast, you know, cause I only made these two phone calls. The first
phone call, Hammond and Hahn, and oh wait, you're trying to deceive me. Trying the truth.
That's all I use. People in the, you know, blame it on somebody in the pulpit. Hey, if
the person in the pulpit's using the wrong one, it's cause you're not preaching right.
Cause if you're preaching right, they'd learn what's wrong with the other one and they'd
get rid of it. I remember my dad used to tell me, he said, when you visit a church, he said,
walk in the door and notice what's being preached in the pulpit and then look at people's Bibles.
Seriously. He said, if there's all these people that have the NIV, even if he's King James
only, he's not teaching people. He's preaching about the love of God every day. And hey,
I preach on the love of God, but you know what? This is the love of God that we keep
his commandments. And so I'm going to preach on sin and I'm going to preach on doctrine
and the truth and everything. Hey, the more you learn about God, the more you're going
to love God. So I'm going to teach you about God tonight. Teach you about the book of Habakkuk.
Cause this book is God, by the way, if you didn't know that. The word was God. And so
it was just such a contrast, so refreshing to have somebody say, here, while I'm just
pushing the flash button and clicking over, let me just tell you, I'm King James Bible
only. I'll call you right back. Fine. It's like, glory to God. Hallelujah. I love it.
And I talked to another friend of mine this evening and I mentioned that church. I said,
Hey, you know, this guy seems like a great guy. He's like, Oh yeah, great church. Love
that guy. It doesn't take long to figure out whether somebody's making it plain or whether
somebody's hamming and hawing and trying to deceive. And so, I mean, good night. I don't
care what side of the issue you're on about anything. Come up and ask me what I think
about it and I'll tell you what I think about it. I mean that. Now, if it's something that
I don't know about, I'll say, I don't know. And if it's something that's not in the Bible,
you know, that's impossible. But if I don't know if it's not in the Bible, I'll say, you
know, I don't know. But if I know what the Bible says, I'll tell you just flat out point
blank. This is the way it is. Cause I'm following the mandate here in Habakkuk chapter two verse
two, where he says, make it plain. And then it says, make it plain upon tables that he
may run that readeth it. Now that he may run that readeth it is saying, because you're
making it plain. The person who gets this message is going to be able to run with it.
Do you see what he's saying there? Make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth
it. I just thought of this verse. I'm going to see if I can find it, but turn to first
Corinthians fourteen. This wasn't in my notes, but I'm going to see if I can find this verse.
Maybe you can help me find it. About, there we go. Verse number eight, first Corinthians
fourteen eight. Or look at verse seven, actually. First Corinthians fourteen seven, about halfway
through the New Testament, you'll find this book, first Corinthians fourteen seven, the
Bible reads, and even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except
they give a distinction in the sounds. How shall it be known what is piped or harped?
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So
likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood. How shall it
be known what is spoken? For you shall speak into the air. Do you see what he's saying?
He's saying, even a musical instrument, he's saying, do you want to listen to a trumpet
or a pipe or a harp that's out of tune? Making all these goofy noises that are not. You want
that thing to be just sharp, just on pitch, just a well-tuned piano. You don't want to
listen to that piano that's out of tune. He says you want there to be a distinction in
the sound, and he says, if you blow a trumpet for a battle, think about it, picture this,
an army, ready to fight a great war, and you know, the soldier stands up at the trumpet,
and he's like. People are going to sit there and say, what? I don't know whether to go
to bed, or whether to run into battle, or whether to sit down and eat lunch. You know,
kids get a kick out of that. But hey, you want it to be like, and charge! Hey, he's
saying, look, and this chapter is about church. He's saying, look, the trumpet in the Bible
represents preaching, by the way. In Isaiah 51, the Bible says, cry aloud, spare not,
lift up thy voice like a trumpet. He's talking to a preacher, telling him how to preach.
That's why I preach loud, because he says, yell. And I was just reading the book of Ezekiel
this week, he said, smite with thine hand, scoff with thy foot, and he's telling how
to preach. And so look, the trumpet is saying, if it gives an uncertain sound, like, oh,
what's he really saying? Nobody's going to prepare themselves for the battle. People
aren't going to know what to do. They're not going to be ready to fight, they're not going
to charge, they're going to have uncertainty. And they're not going to run, you know, they
might kind of walk, I guess is what we're supposed to be doing. Everybody else is doing
it. Or if they say, if they get a clear sound, charge, they're going to go run, go, let's
go. You know, that's what preaching is supposed to be. It's supposed to be ready to go, and
nowhere to go, and which way to go. That's what he's saying here, and that's why he says
here, look what he explains it in verse number nine. So likewise ye, except ye utter by the
tongue words, easy to be understood. Look, do you have a problem understanding this word
queer? Do you have a problem understanding that word? Everybody knows what that means.
That's why I use that word. It's so easy to understand. I'm trying to give a certainty
in the sound that I'm making with the words out of my mouth, because God is saying here
that if I as a preacher got up and used a bunch of theological words, this is what we
call a Christophany, an appearance of Jesus Christ, you know, and use these theological
terms of proto-evangelium and all this stuff. It's like, nobody knows what you're talking
about, and he says you're speaking into the air, you're like a big windbag. You're just
blowing a bunch of hot air. It's like you might as well be talking to the wall. He says
talk with words that are easy to be understood so that everybody in the church can be edified
is what he's saying here in First Corinthians 14. He said everybody in the church should
be edified. From the smallest child to the oldest adult, he says everyone should be edified
because the preaching should be clear, and it should be easy to understand. And I don't
care what you say, the King James Bible is easy to understand. You say, well what about
all these big words and stuff? Look, the King James Bible is easy to understand because
the words used in the King James Bible only have like one meaning. I mean, they're clear.
And you might have to increase your vocabulary a little bit sometimes, but God doesn't want
you to be a dunce. You know, he wants you to learn. So he doesn't give you a hop on
a pop. Dr. Seuss' book can say, here's the Bible. He gives you something that's going
to actually increase your vocabulary. I mean, if you read the Bible, your vocabulary will
increase. Your command of the English language will improve by reading the Bible. But see,
the Bible is so clear. It uses clear, concise words like this word, hell. That's a pretty
clear word. You know, you read the NIV, it's like Hades, Sheol. Those are not words that
are easy to be understood by anybody. And they use words like, they take out the word
damnation. You know, people know what damnation means, and it's in this Bible many times.
And it's taken out and put in really soft words, confusing words. They could mean anything.
You know, it takes out the word fornication, which is, everybody knows what fornication
means. But you put in the word immorality. Well, that's up to interpretation. Because
the word immorality, if you look up in the dictionary, it says something that society
thinks is unacceptable. So now society determines what's right and wrong. And so maybe the NIV
is written at a preschool reading level. I don't know. But I'll tell you one thing. The
King James Bible is a lot easier to understand, because when it says something, every word
is placed exactly right, and it only has one meaning. I mean, you walk away from it, and
if you're being honest, you know what was said. When it says, all have sinned, you don't
have to wonder what it means by that. And so it's simple to understand. But back to
Habakkuk, I need to move on. I'm spending too much time on each point. But Habakkuk
chapter 2 is where we are, if I can find my place here. And in verse number 3, the Bible
says, For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not
lie. Habakkuk 2.3. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not
tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall
live by his faith. Now, it's interesting to note that the book of Habakkuk is one of the
most quoted books in the New Testament. You'll find quotes of the book of Habakkuk all throughout
the New Testament. Look, if you would, right now at one of those in Hebrews chapter 10.
Hebrews 10.35. Toward the very end of your Bible there, Hebrews 10.35. I'm going to show
you this exact scripture quoted in the New Testament, Hebrews 10.35. Those of you die
hards who were here through the book of Hebrews chapter 10, you'll remember some of this,
but Hebrews 10.35, and you'll see this quoted. Cast not away therefore your confidence which
hath great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience that after you've done the
will of God you might receive the promise. And here's where he quotes, he's referring
back to the book of Habakkuk in verse 37. For yet a little while and he that shall come
will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back
my soul shall have no pleasure in him. So what's he talking about here? Well, if you
look at verse 37, verse 36, I'm sorry, where we started reading, he says, I'm sorry verse
35. Cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward. For
you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God you might receive
the promise. Here's what he's saying. Sometimes the promises in God's word don't happen right
away. That's what he's saying to Habakkuk. He says, the vision is yet from the point
of time, but he says, I want you to preach it right now, because it is coming. It will
come, it will not tarry. And God is saying here, cast not away therefore your confidence
which hath great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience that after you have
done the will of God you might receive the promise. And so here's what he's saying. God
has promised you that if you do what God says in the Bible, if you obey the Bible, he says,
you will receive great blessings, great reward, but he says, sometimes we're just not willing
to wait for that. And we don't realize that the blessing is coming later, and so we cast
away our confidence and say, I'm nuts to this church thing. I've been in church for
two years and three months, and my life is still messed up. It's like, look, God does
not always operate on our timetable. Sometimes God says it's for an appointed time. He says,
I know exactly when it's going to happen. But he says, you have need of patience that
you would just do the will of God, and then you'll receive the promise. And so we need
to just keep on moving forward, not based on our circumstances. Because sometimes we
can look around and say, God's not blessing me. Look at my finances, look at my family,
look at my life, it's a mess. God's not blessing me. Hey, you don't know when God's going to
bless you. Don't decide whether you're living in the will of God based on your circumstances.
Decide whether you're following God's will based on whether what you're doing lines up
with what the Bible says. If what you're doing lines up with what the Bible says, I don't
care if everything's going wrong around you, that doesn't mean God is cursing you. God's
not blessing me. You know, you run into people all the time who will decide, this is what
I'm going to do, this is what God wants me to do. And then they'll start doing it, and
things go wrong. God's not in it. Things are going wrong. God can't be, you know, I'm not
supposed to be doing wrong, I'm going to change. No, don't change. Don't base, you know, don't
be this charismatic that just gets all these feelings, you know, based on what you believe.
Believe what you believe based on what the Bible says. I don't care whether you tingle
about it or not. I mean, if the Bible says it, it's true. And so, you say, Pastor Anderson,
do you ever, like, watch and see, like, the attendance of church and kind of decide whether
you're preaching right? No. I mean, I don't care if it's the smallest, you know, service
we've had or the biggest crowd we've ever had. It's not going to change. Just keep preaching
it the way that the Bible told me to preach it. It has nothing to do with the reaction
I get. It has nothing to do with the results I get. You say, Pastor Anderson, are you still
kind of deciding whether door-to-door soul-winding works? No. I don't care whether it works.
I'm going to do it because God said to do it. I'll do it until I die. I don't care whether
it works or not. Somebody told me recently, yeah, you know, there's another better way
than door-to-door soul-winding. Just go invite people to church. And then, you know, let
them come, and then once they visit once, then you can go back and try and get them
saved. It works better. And this guy did it. He just started a church, and these are
his numbers, and it's working. I don't care if it's working. I'm going to go out and preach
the gospel to every creature, people who would never darken the door of a church, people
who have no desire to go to church. I'm going to say, listen to me for 10 minutes. I'll
tell you how to be saved. How you can go to heaven. I'm going to tell you the good news.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to gear my service toward a bunch of unsaved
visitors that I'm trying to win to the Lord. No. I'm going to win the lost, and then bring
my sheaves. I'm not going to bring a bunch of seeds to church with me. You know, I'm
going to bring my sheaves with me. The song is bringing in the sheaves, not bringing in
the seeds. Bringing in the seeds, bringing in the seeds. We're going to bring all these
unsaved people to church, bringing in the seeds. Then we'll have rock music for them,
and then we'll preach on their level. We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the seeds. No,
bringing in the seeds that are already saved, and then we'll get up and preach the Bible
to saved people. We'll preach to live right, and to talk right, and to dress right, and
to be right. We're going to preach what the Bible says from the whole book, not just salvation,
salvation, salvation, salvation. Hey, we'll get them saved out there. You say, well, I
want to learn how to win people to Christ. I want you to preach on the Gospel. Hey, you
want to learn how to win people to Christ? Why don't you come with me and knock doors
with me? I'll teach you how to win people to Christ. And so church has become geared
toward unsaved people because it's bringing in the seeds instead of bringing in the sheaves.
It should be geared toward a saved Christian. Look, do you want to come to church three
times a week and listen to me present the Gospel three times a week? No, you want to
hear what you need to hear for your life. You know, you want to grow. You want the sheaves
to be edified. That's what church is for. It's not just for a bunch of unsaved people,
you know, big evangelistic service. Door to door soul winning is my philosophy because
it came from the Bible. Sometimes it works great. I mean, I'll be honest with you. Sometimes
you get all kinds of visitors. Sometimes you get all kinds of people saved. Sometimes it
doesn't work so great. It doesn't matter. We do it because God told us to do it and
God will bless us if we're patient. James chapter one, my brother counted all joy when
you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith, the work
of patience, but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing. God says, I have a plan for your life. It's called me trying you and testing
you and pushing you so that your patience level can increase so that you can be perfect,
so that you can be entire, so that you can be the complete Christian that I want you
to be. It means that I make you wait for things that I promised to give you if you, if you
serve me, the blessing sometimes you have to wait for. But that's good for you because
I'm trying to make you the kind of Christian that I want you to be, that I can use greatly.
But back to the back of chapter two, that's what he's saying here in the back of chapter
two. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not
lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold
his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.
Yea, also because he transgresses by wine, he's a proud man, neither keep it at home,
who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth
unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. This is referring to Nebuchadnezzar.
Now the Bible says in verse number three there, he's saying, the vision is coming. What I
told you in chapter one about the judgment that's coming, about this fierce nation, the
Chaldeans led by Nebuchadnezzar, now he's beginning to describe a little bit about this
man Nebuchadnezzar. He says, yea, also because he transgresses by wine, he's a proud man,
also he's a drunk, is what he's saying. He's saying their leader is a drunk, he drinks,
and that gives him pride. You know, you notice that people who drink, sometimes they get
a little bit overconfident. Have you seen like, you know, some guy who's a little wimpy
or something, you know, you get a little bit of booze in him, and he's just ready to fight,
you know, he's ready to fight anybody. He's going to get in a brawl, he's going to get
in a fight, you know, he's tough. I was thinking about this verse, you don't have to turn there
for the sake of time, but the Bible says in Isaiah 5.22, whoa, whoa is like a stern warning
from God, he says, look out buddy, whoa unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men
of strength to mingle strong drink. He's saying, you know, people think they're tough, because
look how much alcohol I can drink. You know, it's like toughness. I was just, my wife was
telling me about a news story this week about binge drinking among females now, in college
age in high school, because now that the gender roles are being so blended, and it's
a sin, and it's wrong, but now these women feel the need to prove how macho they are.
You know, they're trying to prove how tough they are, and so now binge drinking among
females has just taken off, and they just drink themselves until they're vomiting on
themselves, drink themselves sick, and we're going to get to that later in the chapter,
but they are mighty to drink wine, and they're so strong to drink strong, and he says that
the result of alcohol is pride, and of course the Bible says that the devil in Job 41, he's
a king over all the children of pride, and the devil's whole plan of attack is pride.
In the Garden of Eden he said, eat this apple and you'll be like gods. He appeals to the
pride. He says in Isaiah 14, 12, I will be like the most high. He says, God's no better
than me, I'll be like God, and so on and on, pride is his method. That's why alcohol is
so satanic. That's why it's called spirits. That's why you can go to these restaurants,
they say burgers and spirits, wine and spirits. Yeah, they got it right. It's unclean spirits.
And so, look if you would at, I mean there's so much to preach that I'm trying to hurry
because I want to get to certain parts of the message, but look at verse 5, it says,
who enlargeth, he's proud, neither keepeth at home. You know, we're living in a day where
people don't stay home very much. Think about this, you know, you go out on a Saturday and
there's more cars on the road than there are Monday through Friday. I mean the traffic
is worse. Because people just don't stay home, they always have to just be out spending money.
Just out blowing money, just out partying and having a good time. Hey, learn to enjoy
being at home sometimes. This is good advice. Learn to enjoy just being at home sometimes.
I mean, just sit down and spend time with your family, play a board game. Relax a little
bit. You don't always have to be out blowing money. You know, this Christmas season, I
hate it. I mean, honestly, I hate it. I mean, I was working at a department store a couple
days ago in Mervyn's and they're playing the Christmas music already. You know, two months
already. You know, the little ding dong ding. And I'm telling you something, I hate Christmas
music. I despise it. I hate it. Now, I don't hate the hymns in the hymn book, you know,
about Christmas. I don't hate Joy to the World and Silent Night and I love those songs. You
know, the heart, the herald angels sing. I love those songs. But I hate the world's
Christmas music because it's like this echoing, resounding, screaming silence where it doesn't
talk about Jesus. And I hate that. Santa Claus is coming to town. I hate it. And most of
the Christmas music that they play is just rock and roll music. I mean, it's just all
this little rocking around the Christmas tree and all this garbage. I hate that music. Can
I, can I, wait, maybe I didn't make it clear enough. I don't like it. I hate it. And then,
this is when I get really sick. I get sick through all the Christmas songs and all the
Santa and Rudolph and all this garbage. And I hate Santa Claus, by the way. I think you
should, I think it's a sin to lie to your children and tell them that Santa's real.
Because then they're going to wonder whether you lie to them about Jesus being real. Oh
yeah, that's all it's for the fairy tales. He knows when you've been sleeping. He knows
when you're awake. He knows whether you've been good or bad, so be good for goodness
sake. Hey, that sounds like Jesus Christ. Sounds like God. So why are we talking about
Santa Claus saying he knows everything about you and he's going to reward you if you're
good or bad. Now, I don't like Santa Claus. And I don't like the Christmas songs. But
then I get really sick when I hear some worldly whore or whoremonger from the world's Hollywood
and music crowd singing the hymns. You know what I'm talking about? Joy to the world.
You know, some sleazy girl, you know, singing it in some sensual way. Oh, it makes me sick.
I hate it. And so I hate this time of year, but it's just a time of year that if you're
not careful, you'll just spend all your money. And then you're going to have no money. And
you're going to blow a bunch of money because you just feel like you just have to do it
because you've been just so taught by society. And look, I'm for you buying gifts for your
friends and relatives and loved ones. But hey, don't go nuts with it. You know, I mean,
you could really get yourself into trouble. Don't run up the credit card and stuff. I
mean, my philosophy is that if you don't have the money for something, then obviously you
don't need it because God said I'll supply all your need. So don't run some credit card
because you think you need something because of the holiday season, Christmas holiday season.
I'm so brainwashed. You know, they take out Christmas and happy holidays. I remember I'm
getting off so many rabbit trail, but like Target or whoever said happy, happy holidays
instead of Merry Christmas, there's like a big outrage. Now everybody's happy holidays
a couple years later. Isn't that amazing? But anyway, let's move on. Let's not get bogged
down. But it says, neither keepeth at home, you know, always out of the house. Can't just
be happy with where they live, with what they do, with their life. And then look at the
next thing, who enlargeth his desire as hell and is his death and cannot be satisfied.
You know, again, this hunger for just, you always have to go out and find something different.
God's got to go buy something new. Your desire is just never satisfied. And that's the way
this man is. He said he just never has enough, always wants more. There's three words in
the Bible that are synonymous, lust, desire, and covet. You'll see those three words used
interchangeably. And it's the tenth commandment, thou shalt not covet. And that's one of the
things that's wrong with the TV is this covetousness. Every commercial, you need this. You've got
to have this. You deserve this. And so I think that this verse is very applicable for the
holiday season, that you should not covet everything and want everything else that everybody
else has. And you've got to leave the house, and you've got to be out shopping every day.
Hey, be content with such things as you have. You've bought nothing into this world, and
it's certain you can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be there with
content. The Bible says, let your conversation be without covetousness, for he has said,
I will never leave thee or forsake thee. Hey, God is enough. We don't have to have
all the world's junk, all the toys. But if you would look back at the chapter, it says,
And cannot be satisfied, verse 5, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him
all people. Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb
against him, and say, Woe to him that increases that which is not his! How long unto him that
lateth himself with thick clay! Shall there not arise up suddenly that shall bite thee,
and awake that shall vex thee? And thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast
spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee, because of men's
blood, and for the violence of the land, and of the city, and of all that dwell there.
And what's he saying? He's saying that what goes around comes around. He says, these people
that you're abusing, Nebuchadnezzar, you drunken, covetous, never satisfied, you're like hell,
you're like death, you're marching through, destroying these nations. He says, they're
all gonna rise up against you, and they're gonna mock you, they're gonna bring up a taunting
parable and a proverb against you, and say, Woe! Woe to him that increases that which
is not his! He says, what goes around comes around. You don't have to worry about the
ungodly people in this world who prosper, because God says they're gonna get what's
coming to them. He said, Nebuchadnezzar, even though I'm using him to judge my people, as
we learned in chapter 1, he says he is gonna get what's coming to him. That's what chapter
2 is about. So in chapter 1, we saw him saying, God, why would you do this? Why are you giving
him possession of the entire world at the expense of your people? And then in chapter
2, he says, he's gonna get what's coming to him also. I'm gonna judge him also. And they're
gonna stand up and make fun of him and mock him. And then in verse number 10, it says,
Thou wast consulted, shamed of thy house by cutting off many people, and has sinned against
thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall
answer it. I'm gonna skip that part of the sermon, because I'm in a hurry. Woe to him
that buildeth a town with blood, and stablesseth the city by iniquity. But you notice there,
the inanimate object speaking, it's talking about the stone crying out of the wall, the
beam out of the timber shall answer it. And you'll see, it's a theme throughout the Bible
I was gonna go into, but save it for another sermon. But let's skip down to the famous
verse here, probably the most quoted verse in the entire book of Habakkuk, and that's
Habakkuk 2.15, the most famous verse probably in the entire book. It says, Woe unto him
that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken
also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness. Thou art filled with shame for glory, drink
thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be
turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. Now let me show you a correlation
here. First of all, I preached this a few weeks ago, I've been studying this book for
years, and I just noticed how all the male pronouns that are there, woe unto him that
giveth his neighbor drink, and putteth thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also,
that thou mayest look on their nakedness. You see, that's homosexuality. It's saying
a man giving another man to drink, that he may look on his nakedness. And he's saying
that alcohol, and we saw this many times, I've showed you this on Genesis chapter 9,
the first time alcohol is mentioned is in Genesis 9, and there's a homosexual act that
takes place in Genesis chapter 9. First time it's mentioned. Second time it's mentioned
is in Genesis chapter number 19, and there's incest that takes place. Real good light that
God's casting on alcohol. But you'll notice several things that are associated in the
Bible. These are the things. Alcohol, homosexuality, shame, and nakedness. Those four things go
together. It's kind of a grouping that you'll see throughout the Bible. You'll see shame
and nakedness related in the Bible. You'll see alcohol and nakedness related in the Bible.
You'll see alcohol and homosexuality related in the Bible. Now look, if you would, at the
part where it says, makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness.
Chapter 16 says thou art filled with shame for glory. Let me read for you some verses
for sake of time about this thing of shame and nakedness. Isaiah 47 1, and I'll just
read this for you. Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on
the ground. There is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be
called tender and delicate. Listen to this. Take the millstones and grind meal. Uncover
thy locks. Make bare the leg. Uncover thy thigh. Uncover the thigh. Pass over the rivers.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. So what he's saying here
is that, again, you'll see the correlation between nakedness and shame. He says, uncover
your thigh. He says, come on down. He said, the virgin daughter of Babylon, same group
that we're talking about in Habakkuk. He says, why don't you come and sit on the ground,
and why don't you just strip off your clothes to where you uncover your thigh? And he says,
in the same wording where he says, uncover the thigh, at the end of verse 2, then in
verse 3 he says, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. See, God considers
this part of your body nakedness, according to the Bible. You can find this in Exodus
28 42, and you can find it here in Isaiah 47 3. God considers this part of your body
nakedness. From your loins, on a man, God says, this is how I define male nudity. Male
nudity in Exodus 28 42 is from the loins to the thigh. This is nudity. And so, yes, when
you're wearing a miniskirt, you're exposing your nakedness, according to the Bible. When
you're in a bathing suit, you're exposing your nakedness. When you wear the shorts that
are shorter than knee length, you're exposing your nakedness. That's what God says. And
he says, it's a shame to be naked, to show your nakedness. Here's another verse, Nahum
3 5, behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord. Phrase that's used, I believe, 17 times
in the Bible, where God says, I'm against you, okay? I am against thee. I can't find
my place. Sayeth the Lord of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and
I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. See the correlation
between shame and nakedness? Listen to the next verse. Revelation chapter 3 verse 18,
I counsel thee to buy of me gold, trite, and the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.
See that again, shame and nakedness? Now listen to the difference. Genesis 2 24, I'll read
this for you. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, this is talking
about Adam and Eve, and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
See that? So right at the beginning, the associations there, he's saying in marriage, no shame at
all, that nakedness between a man and a woman. But he says outside of marriage, he said it's
shameful. We're living in a day where there just has no shame. They just flaunt their
shame. Gay pride. You know, they flaunt the shame, they're not even ashamed. I mean the
way that girls dress now, it's just ridiculous how they just have no shame. That's what the
Bible says in First Timothy chapter 2. He says, and like men are also, that women adorn
themselves in modest apparel, with shame, faithfulness, and sobriety. He says, be ashamed
to dress immodest. He says, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. He says, don't you have
any more value of yourself than to just flaunt your body openly to the world? Don't you esteem
yourself more highly than that? Than to just sit in the dirt, so to speak, and just show
it all out there? Don't you have any respect for yourself? Do you have any shame? That's
what God's saying here. And you say, Pastor Anderson, don't preach hard on women's clothing.
It offends people. Look, I have to preach hard on women's clothing, because if I care
about you, I want you to respect yourself, and I want you to dress decently so that you're
not ashamed. I don't want you to walk down the street and God to be ashamed of you, and
say, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. I don't want that. I want you to walk down
the street with dignity and respect for yourself. Have enough respect for yourself to take a
shower and be clean. Have enough respect for yourself to dress like a lady, if you're a
lady dressed feminine. Have enough respect for yourself, if you're a man, to dress masculine
and not in your little tailored little shirt, and your tight little jeans, and your Abercrombie
and Fitch sweatshirt. Take your stupid Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt and throw it in the garbage
can where it belongs, and then decide whether you're going to be a man or a woman. Decide
whether you're going to advertise the wicked filth of the world or whether you're going
to be a man or a woman. You can't stand for Jesus Christ. You can't stand for Abercrombie
and Fitch and Jesus Christ. Period. Abercrombie and Fitch are a couple of perverts, sodomites.
I went to Bible college, and I couldn't even count how many Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirts
I see on these preacher boys. I mean, it's a good thing that I was a little milder back
then than I am now, or else I would have blood all over my knuckles with these perverts walking
around at a Bible college with an Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt on. God help us all. God
help America when those guys get out of college and go pastor a church somewhere. But anyway,
I've got to move on. I don't even know where I am in the sermon. Shame and nakedness, and
people who have no shame. People who aren't ashamed of just openly flaunting their sin.
And God says, nakedness is a shameful thing. Put some clothes on. Be dressed. Dress decently.
If you're a man, dress like a man and cover your nakedness. If you're a woman, dress like
a woman and dress modestly. With shame-facedness and sobriety. Sobriety is talking about being
serious. Seriousness. Be serious about the way you dress. And shame-facedness and sobriety.
Remember the correlation between alcohol and shame and nakedness and homosexuality and
the blurring of the genders? These things are all related throughout the Bible. But
anyway, I've got to move on. Back to Habakkuk chapter number two. Want him to give his neighbor
drink and put his thigh bottle to him. Make his team drunk and also that thou mayest look
on their nakedness. Thou art filled with shame for glory. Drink thou also. See, God tells
you to drink. That's how stupid some people are about the way they interpret the Bible.
Drink thou also and let thy foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be
turned unto thee and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. I read that and I remember
when I was memorizing the book of Habakkuk I was thinking, what does it mean, shameful
spewing shall be on thy glory? And I realized that what the Bible is talking about spewing
is talking about vomiting. And he's saying, how glorious is it? He says, O Nebuchadnezzar,
prideful, arrogant, standing up and saying, there's not this great Babylon that I've built.
Remember we saw him said in Daniel chapter four. He says, you're so glorious Nebuchadnezzar
when you're vomiting up all the alcohol that you drank the night before. Because that's
the result of alcohol. People who drink and do this binge drinking, they're so mighty
to drink wine. They spend the next day bowing down and worshiping before the toilet God
and bow and up chucking their guts into a toilet. And you know what? Sorry to be so
plain, but here's another great verse. I just wish I had time to turn to all these verses.
But Isaiah 28, seven, but they also have erred through wine, through strong drink are out
of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink. They are swallowed
up of wine. They're out of the way through strong drink. They er in vision. They stumble
and judge me. He's saying, even the preacher's drinking is what he's saying here in Isaiah
28. He's saying, God help us. The preacher's getting drunk. The preacher's drinking alcohol.
And then listen to the next verse. Isaiah 28, eight, the imagery here for all tables
are full of vomit and filthiness so that there is no place clean. Whom shall he teach knowledge
and whom shall he make to understand doctrine, them that are weaned from the milk and drawn
from the breasts. And so if you read this great chapter in Isaiah 28, he's saying, you
know what? The whole previous generation of preachers are a bunch of liberals. They're
drinking. They're stupid. They change the Bible. And he says, God is saying here, Isaiah,
you're going to have to start with a young new generation child and just teach them line
upon line, precept upon precept. And that's a chapter for another time. But notice he
says, you know, they drink alcohol, they're having a good time, and then all the tables
are full of vomit. And that's not on the Budweiser ad. The filthiness and the dirty house and
the dirty laundry and the dirty dishes and the dirty breath and the vomit, none of that's
on the Budweiser ad. But that's reality, friend. And you know it's, if you've ever been into
drinking, and I've never, I don't know what beer tastes like, thank God. If you've ever
been into drinking, you know that's what it's about. It's stupid. It's a deceit of the devil.
And it makes a fool out of you. It makes a fool out of others. And it makes a mess. But
I got to close the sermon. But back at two, 17, for the violence of Lebanon shall cover
thee in the spoil of beasts which made them afraid, because of men's blood and for the
violence of the land and the city and of all that dwell therein. What profiteth the graven
image that the maker thereof hath graven it? The molten image and the teacher of lies that
the maker of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols. Woe unto him that saith to
the wood, await to the dumb stone. Arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is laid over with
gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the Lord is in
his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Now this is where God completes
his part of talking in the book of Habakkuk. He ends up right there saying, King Nebuchadnezzar,
yes I'm using him to execute my fierce wrath on the children of Israel, the land of Judah.
He says, but don't worry, because his day is coming. What goes around comes around.
We kind of skipped it, but about ten verses he's explaining how it's all going to come
back around to him. He started out proud man, neither keeping at home, nor because he transgresses
by wine, who at large with his desire is hell and is his death and cannot be satisfied.
He's so proud with his alcohol. And then we get all the way down to verse five to fifteen,
he's covered in shame and spewing and vomit. And we see the reality of not the facade of
Nebuchadnezzar and his power and his might and his drinking and his fun. But then we
got to verse fifteen, we saw the shameful spewing that was the end of his life, kind
of like we saw in Daniel four where he went from standing up saying how wonderful he was
to being outside eating grass. And all the hair grew on him and his nails grew out and
everything. We saw that last week. But now we see at the end God says, and by the way,
the God that they're trusting in. We saw in chapter number one where he says, then
shall his mind change and he shall pass over and offend, impeding this his power unto his
God. We saw in chapter one, that verse, if you remember, he's saying the idols that they
worship are false gods. He says, woe unto him that puts his trust in a piece of wood,
you know, a stone, something that's laid over with gold and silver and thinks that it's
a real god. You know, they got the little statues. They got the, you know, woe unto
him that has the virgin Mary on his dashboard and thinks that's going to get him to heaven.
Woe unto the crucifix that's hanging from the windscreen that's got the Jesus hanging
on the cross and they rub that for good luck, like it's some kind of a good luck charm.
He says, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before him. He
says, this is how God closes out. He says, I am the only real God. He says, all these
other gods are fake. He says, make no mistake about it. He says, I'm up in heaven and I
don't need you, Habakkuk, to tell me that what I'm doing is wrong. I don't need anybody
to tell me what I'm doing is wrong. This is what I'm going to do. You just listen to what
I'm saying. Take it. Preach it. Run with it. Make it plain. Make it clear. And he says,
I'm real. Hang in there and you'll receive the promise. You'll receive the reward, Habakkuk.
Stay with it. And then in chapter three, we'll get to next week, Habakkuk prays to
God. It says in verse number one, a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigeonoth, which
is a musical instrument. And he gives, Habakkuk just praises God throughout chapter three.
Great chapter, don't miss it. But he praises God and says, God, you are right what you're
doing. And I'm glad you're doing what you're doing. But we'll see that next week. Let's
bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for the promises
of God. And Father, please just help us to have patience in our lives that we'd be willing
to wait for the promise to come. You said it will not tarry. It will surely come. And
so God, I just pray that you would give us the patience and the endurance to stay true
to what you've said in your word, regardless of circumstances, and to know that the Nebuchadnezzars
of this world, the Chaldeans of this world will be judged. And if we suffer, we shall
also reign with him, the Bible says. And so God, please just help us not to cast away
our confidence, but to stay true to the Bible. Help us to, help me as a preacher to preach
words that are easy to be understood. And God, help these, your people to take those
words, take that vision and to run with it and to run to soul winning, run to the Bible,
run to righteousness through God. Please just help us to run as Christians. In Jesus' name.