...a portion of scripture, dear God, in the short time that we have tonight.
And Father, I just pray that you would speak to our hearts and use this passage
to stir us up and bring us closer to you, dear God. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Now let me just give you a brief synopsis of the book of Habakkuk again.
It's such a short book and it's more of an unfamiliar book to most people.
I'll bring you up to speed a little bit with where we are.
But in Habakkuk chapter 1, we saw in the first four verses
the condition of Habakkuk looking around and seeing the condition that the world is in
and especially seeing the condition that his nation is in,
just the wickedness that abounded, the violence that had overspread the land.
And in verse number 5, God answers Habakkuk where he'd been asking,
Why are things the way that they are?
Well, in verse number 5 through, I believe it was 17, he goes through...
No, I'm sorry, 5 through 11, he goes through and God explains to him,
This is how I'm going to handle it, Habakkuk.
You're crying out to me and wondering why I don't change the way things are.
You're wondering why the evildoer gets off the hook, as we saw, and on and on.
And he answers him, he says, This is what I'm going to do.
I'm going to bring in a wicked and terrible, dreadful nation,
the Chaldeans that are going to come through the land and destroy it and take the land captive.
Then Habakkuk responds to that in verses 12 through 17 saying,
God, why would you bring a nation that's more wicked and more ungodly than we are
and use them to judge us?
I mean, good night, we still have some semblance of claiming to believe in God.
I mean, these people that you're bringing to us, according to the book of Ezekiel,
are the most wicked nation in the world.
Why would they triumph over us?
And then he says at the beginning of chapter 2, he says,
I'm going to see what God says and I'm going to see what he answers me.
And of course he answers him with that great statement,
Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it.
And he explains to him why he's doing what he's doing,
and he explains to him his plan of using the Chaldeans to judge the children of Judah,
and then turning around and judging the Chaldeans
and showing it as an example of his great power.
And that's how we ended up with chapter number 2.
Now in chapter number 3 we have a song that Habakkuk has written here,
a prayer that is his words to God.
Of course it's actually the words of the Holy Ghost from before the world began.
The Bible was written in heaven.
And so Habakkuk is expressing his praise to God
and his awe and amazement of the wisdom of God,
the power of God, and with what God is doing.
And of course you see how applicable the book of Habakkuk is to us today.
I mean the first thing that I thought of when September 11th happened
is I thought of the book of Habakkuk.
I thought of the book of Habakkuk where Habakkuk is asking,
Why would you take a wicked, ungodly nation and use them to judge your people?
And God says, That's exactly what I do.
He says, I do that, and then I'll turn around and judge them.
But he says, My people will be judged through the arm of flesh
through a wicked nation that I'll bring upon them.
And that's what God did to us.
And he'll probably do it to us again in a greater way
as we continue to depart from God as a nation.
Unfortunately, judgment is coming.
The Bible says the Lord is known by the judgment which he executes.
He says, You can tell who I am by the way I execute judgment on sin.
He says, That's my key attribute.
Holiness, righteousness, judgment.
And so look at verse number 1 of chapter 3.
We'll get into chapter 3.
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigiono.
You say, What is that word, Shigiono? What does that mean?
Well, the Bible always defines itself.
You don't have to run to a dictionary or a commentary and go to man to find out.
Look at the last verse of the chapter.
Look at Habakkuk 3, verse number 19.
Look at that last sentence there.
To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
You see that?
And then look at verse number 1 again.
To the chief singer on my stringed instruments,
a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigiono.
What is it? It's a stringed instrument.
So what we see here is that this is actually a song.
This is actually put to music much like the book of Psalms.
Habakkuk chapter 3 was a song that the children of Israel could actually sing the song.
The first thing that I see right there is that God's kind of music is music that has depth.
Not this shallow chanting of things over and over again.
I've belabored the point about this.
I'm not going to spend too much time on this.
But, you know, our God is an awesome God.
It's over and over and over again.
And the praise and worship chorus up on the screen.
It's got about five lines and you repeat it 50 million times.
Hey, that is not God's kind of music.
Look in the book of Psalms and tell me how much repetition you see.
Look in the book of Psalms and tell me how many shallow praises you see to God.
I mean, I see through the book of Psalms and the book of Habakkuk as we're going to see tonight.
This is very deep music that has a lot of content in the words that teach great truths of God's Word.
I'm talking about the kind of music that we sing in this hymnal.
We sing it for a reason.
We don't just sing these songs in the hymnal.
Well, that's just what Pastor Anderson grew up with.
And so he's just trying to hang on to these old, tired, dead songs.
Hey, I will match our song service against any song service in this area or anywhere.
I'll match it against the rock band.
I'll match it against the choir special.
I'll match it against the barbershop quartet with the world's music from 50 years ago, put to the tune of God's Word.
Hey, I'll match it with, to God be the glory, great things ye have done.
Show love thee the world that he gave us his Son, who yielded his life in atonement for sin and opened the life gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord! Hey, that's great music.
O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God.
See, you get the right salvation doctrine in these songs.
To every believer the promise of God.
The vilest offender who truly believes.
That moment from Jesus, a pardon receives.
Praise the Lord!
I'm talking about great songs like, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
These are great songs.
God pity us for throwing these songs in the garbage can.
Some of the songs that we sing in this church even are unknown in many Baptist churches even.
Because they've been replaced with songs.
You say, well what's wrong with these new songs?
Well, even if nothing's wrong with them, why are you replacing something that's like a diamond or precious stones with the wood, hay and stubble of some fad song that's going to be gone in a few years?
I'm going to tell you something.
These songs are the tried and tested and true songs written by people like Fanny Cosby who had the entire New Testament memorized.
Who had the first five books of the Bible memorized.
Who had Psalms and Proverbs memorized.
Who was a soul winner into her eighties.
Now you're singing music.
I opened a modern hymnal recently of an independent fundamental Baptist hymnal that's been put out recently.
And I just flipped the page and this is what I'm looking at.
I'm looking at the bottom of the page.
Nashville.
Copyright.
Nashville.
Oh yeah, I'm sure that's where God's music comes from.
Nashville.
Right.
No.
You open it up and it's some long-haired pervert with an earring in his ear.
He's writing some little ditty about Jesus and he's laughing all the way to the bank while you buy his music and you throw away the great songs of the faith.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on the son tis true.
Half everlasting.
I haven't heard that song in 15 years in an independent Baptist church until I started this church.
And it's a shame that we lose these great songs and we bought into this commercialized southern gospel Nashville music.
Hey, I want music that has depth and content.
You say, these songs are old, they're boring.
Hey, look, it's not boring to sing about the blood of Jesus Christ.
It's not boring to sing about every believer who's saved.
That's exciting to me, friend.
And so we see in verse number one right away, this is God's kind of music, what we're going to read right here.
And it's deep.
I mean, it has content.
I mean, it has great truths that are being taught.
It has a great story that's being told.
Look at verse number two.
The Bible says, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid.
O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years.
In the midst of the years, make known.
In wrath, remember mercy.
Here's what he's saying.
I've heard thy speech and was afraid.
He's saying, boy, I just listened to what you said is going to happen and I'm afraid.
Because keep in mind, he's living in the land that's going to be judged by God.
This judgment that was prophesied of Nebuchadnezzar bringing his armies through, this is going to happen in his backyard.
It would be like if God told me that great judgment was coming on the United States.
It's coming to Arizona.
There's going to be an army that's going to march through and destroy and take captive.
And he says, I've heard thy speech and was afraid.
But watch what he follows that up with.
He says, O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years.
In the midst of the years, make known.
In wrath, remember mercy.
What's he saying?
He's saying, in the middle of this terrible time that I'm living in, where the world around me is heathen and wicked,
where God's judgment is impending and looming and it's already at the door, so to speak,
he says, in the midst of this kind of a condition, he says, revive thy work in the midst of the years.
In the midst of the years, make known.
In wrath, remember mercy.
What's he saying?
He's saying, even in this time of judgment, even in this very negative, gloomy time we're living in,
he says, God, I want you to do something great in that time.
I don't care what kind of a world we're living in.
I don't care how the United States goes.
I don't care how Arizona goes.
My friend, we, Faithful Word Baptist Church, us individually, as the saints of God and believers in Jesus Christ,
can rise up during that time and do a great work for God through the power of God.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying, revive thy work in the midst of the years.
He's saying, God, I want to see you do something big and exciting and great, even in 2006, is what he's saying,
even in Phoenix, Arizona, even in a place that has, by and large, turned its back on God.
He says, God, I know that judgment's coming.
I know that your wrath is waxing hot against us, but in your wrath, dear God, can you remember your mercy?
I mean, God, don't you still want people saved?
I mean, God, don't you still care about the lost souls of mankind?
Don't you still care if your church that you purchased with your own blood succeeds?
And so he's begging God to revive his work in the midst of this trying time.
Not only that, but you can apply this not only just to a nation or a city, but apply it to your personal life.
You know, sometimes we're going through so many troubles in life, maybe financial troubles, you know, the job is taxing,
the job is very demanding sometimes, or family issues, or struggles and problems, health problems,
but you have to be able to say during those times, God, in this tough time that I'm going through,
would you please use me in a great way?
Listen, if you're waiting to turn the corner financially before you're going to serve God,
you will never serve God, period.
You know what it reminds me of is people who say, like, I'm going to have kids as soon as I can afford it.
Good night. You're going to have no kids for the rest of your life.
If you wait to be able to, I didn't afford this one, I couldn't afford this one, I couldn't afford this one,
and I did, sure can't afford this one. It's on the way.
But hey, that's the way life is. It's living by faith, and I couldn't afford any of them.
And if you wait until you can turn that corner financially, because you've just almost got all your ducks in a row, right?
As soon as you get that last duck in a row, it's going to be wham, you're going to get hit with something else.
Because God always keeps us under a little more pressure than we'd like to be under, let's face it.
And so you can't just wait until all your ducks are in a row and you have your perfect little utopia life.
Look, you're always going to have problems, you're always going to have struggles,
you're always going to hurt a little bit financially, you're always going to have people problems,
you're always going to have these struggles and fights in your life, your health will act up or whatever it is,
but God says in the midst of that, he says, do a great work for me.
Let me revive my work in the midst of your life.
Hey, while your life is going down the drain, so to speak, while your finances are crumbling around you,
while your relationships are crumbling around you, hey, win somebody to Christ.
Hey, do something of eternal value with your life, because God said, no man taketh thy crown from thee.
So that means that no matter what happens, a bank account falls apart and everybody hates you
and you get fired from your job, you say, yeah, I won somebody to Christ, nobody can take that away from me.
When I get to heaven, I'm going to be rejoicing and shouting, I'm not even going to care about that other stuff.
So do something of eternal value in the midst of a terrible time,
whether it's a terrible time of a nation or a terrible time in your own life.
So he says here, he says, I've heard thy speech and was afraid, O Lord,
revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy.
God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah.
His glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light, he had horns coming out of his hand and there was the hiding of his great power.
See, God's glory demands us to praise him.
See, all throughout this chapter, God is revealing his glory to us and Habakkuk is revealing God's glory to us.
And God's glory demands us to praise him.
Now think about what time of the year this is, of course, Thanksgiving is coming up tomorrow.
And Thanksgiving is probably just one of the cleanest, you know, most righteous holidays.
I mean, I don't think anybody can find anything wrong with it.
You know, leave it to somebody, somebody will find something wrong with it,
but some ACLU or something will find something wrong with Thanksgiving, I'm sure.
But Thanksgiving, just a clean and righteous holiday where we're supposed to be taking some time
and just stop everything and just thank speed of God for all the wonderful things that he's done for us.
And you say, well, wait a minute, I don't feel like God has done so much for me.
Look, you're saved, you're born again, you're going to heaven when you die.
When you get to heaven, none of your sins will be mentioned to you, the Bible says, praise God.
There's sins and iniquities, well, I remember no more.
You're a joint heir with Jesus Christ, you're a child of God.
You're going to walk on the golden streets for all eternity.
You're going to be a partaker of the glory of Jesus Christ.
Hey, there's so much to be thankful for.
And if we get our eyes off of sometimes just the small things, the flies in the ointment, so to speak,
we could be excited about the good things that we do have going for us.
We live in the United States of America, the greatest country that's ever existed on the face of the earth.
You live in Arizona, beautiful place.
I was just talking to a guy today from Iowa, he wished he lived in Arizona, he said,
because it's so much nicer out here, I think you made a good move coming out here.
I love Arizona, it's beautiful.
We live in a great place.
Be thankful for the things that we have in this country, in this area.
Hey, be thankful that you have a church to go to that's an independent Baptist church that believes the King James Bible.
Some people are in areas and they're saying, I wish that there was a church that even preached the King James Bible.
But here we are together, we're people of like mind here, and we're in this church.
There's so many things to be thankful for, but not only that, but the Bible says here, his glory.
Sorry, I got off the page here.
The glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise.
He says, my glory demands you to praise me.
Now, you'll find that when you begin to praise God for his wonderful works to the children of men,
your whole attitude in life will change.
Did you know that the command that's repeated more often than any other command in the entire Bible is praise?
Praise the Lord.
I mean, an imperative coming out of the mouth of God, praise is the number one command in the Bible.
All throughout the Bible, you'll see it hundreds of times.
And God wants us to praise him and to tell him how good he is.
Now, if you took the time to sit down and just start telling God how great he is,
tell him how great he is for all the great things that he did in the Bible.
Tell him how great he is for all the great things that he's done in your life.
Tell him how great he is for all the things that you see that he's going to do from reading the Bible,
the promises of God.
Hey, praising God is something that he demands of us.
It's something that he deserves from us.
Well, we live in such a self-centered society where we think that the whole world revolves around us.
You know, we have to, well, we go to church because we want God to bless us.
And that's a good reason to come.
Well, I better obey God because I'm afraid.
But you know what?
We ought to just praise God because he deserves for somebody to praise him.
I mean, he's up in heaven doing all these great things for us.
He died on the cross for us.
He was butchered on the cross for us.
He went to hell and paid our sins.
And he's up there just begging somebody to praise him.
He's saying, would you please praise me?
Oh, that men would praise the Lord, the Bible says in Psalm 107,
for his wonderful works to the children of men.
He says, why doesn't somebody acknowledge how great God is?
Hey, in thanksgiving, don't ever forget who the thanks is directed to.
I mean, who is it that you say, I'm thankful?
You know, you go around the table, right?
I'm thankful for this.
I'm thinking, who?
Who are you thanking?
I mean, who gave you the power to get wealth, according to Deuteronomy?
Who gave you the house that you live in?
Who gave you the car that you drive?
And you say, my car is a pizza truck.
Hey, at least you have it.
I see that hand, God bless you.
You say, my car is a piece of junk.
Hey, some people wish that they had a piece of junk to drive.
They do.
Some people wish they don't have a piece of junk to drive.
But there's so many things that you can be thankful for.
But don't ever forget, when you're sitting around that turkey dinner,
don't just say, I'm thankful for this.
Say, thank God this.
I thank God that I'm saved.
I thank God for the family that he's given me.
I thank God for the job that he's given me.
I thank God.
God is the one who deserves all the thanks,
because we wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for God.
Nothing.
You say, well, I picked myself up by my own bootstraps.
God holds your breath in his hand.
He could extinguish it at any time.
God is the one that gives you the power to get wealth.
God gave you the mind to succeed at your work.
God gave you the physical abilities that you have
that makes you succeed and make money.
God gave you everything that you have.
And so you ought to thank God for what he's done for you.
But the Bible says, God came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Perunselah,
his glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise.
Boy, would to God that that would be the case,
that the earth would just be filled with God's praise,
because his glory is there.
But where's the praise, see?
And the Bible says in verse number 4,
and his brightness was as the light.
He had horns coming out of his hand,
and there was the hiding of his great power
before him went the pestilence.
Now, in the next several verses here,
pretty much verses 5 through 15,
we're seeing God's judgment, God's wrath.
Now, this is a side of God that some people don't talk about very much,
but it's definitely a big part of God's character.
I mean, if you don't believe that,
it's because you've never read the Bible cover to cover.
It's because you've just come to church
and had somebody spoon-feed you
certain passages of Scripture in their sermon.
But if you read the Bible cover to cover by yourself,
you know that God's wrath and anger
is a huge part of his character.
Read the book of Jeremiah sometime.
The longest two books of the Bible are Psalms and Jeremiah.
Read the book of Jeremiah
and tell me that God's wrath is not there.
Very negative book, unfortunately,
but it has to be so,
because that's a huge part of God's character.
He is a God that is totally epitomized by love.
He says God is love,
but then he turned around and says,
Holy is the Lord.
And so we see here,
we're going to see God's judgment described here
beginning in verse number five.
Look at verse number five.
The Bible says,
Before him went the pestilence,
and burning coals went forth at his feet.
Now you see the Lord Jesus Christ,
God coming in great wrath and power.
And we saw in verse number three,
God came from Paran,
and the holy one from,
God came from Teman,
and the holy one from Mount Paran.
Okay, so God's coming,
and now we're going to see the description of what his coming is like.
He says,
Before him went the pestilence.
Now is that what you'd expect?
I mean, God's coming.
And before he gets there,
the pestilence is getting there.
You see, God uses,
you say, what is pestilence?
You say, maybe I don't understand that word.
Well, notice the first four letters, pest.
Okay, this is talking about germs.
Isn't that odd?
This is talking about germs.
This is talking about a disease.
That's what pestilence is.
And so God says,
I'm coming,
and before me is going to pestilence.
Disease.
You say, disease?
God sends disease?
Yes, God.
Well, look at the Bible.
God sends disease.
You say, what are you talking about?
How about AIDS?
Yes, God sent AIDS.
Look, if you would, at Romans chapter one.
I'll show you that.
Turn in your Bible to Romans chapter one in the New Testament.
Look at the sixth book of the Bible there in the New Testament.
Sixth book of the New Testament, Romans chapter one.
Flip forward just a little bit in your Bible.
Look at Romans 1-27.
Romans chapter one, verse number 27.
I'll give you a second to get there.
And likewise also the men,
leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lust one toward another,
men with men,
working that which is unseemly,
and receiving in themselves
that recompense of their error which was meet.
You see, God says that
men with men,
he's talking about filthy sodomy,
he's talking about the queers,
he's talking about homosexuality,
he says these men with men
working the most filthy, ungodly,
imaginable acts within themselves,
he says they're going to receive in themselves
the recompense that's meet.
He says they'll receive,
you say, wait, is God going to rain fire and brimstone down on them?
I sure hope so.
I sure hope so the next time there's a gay pride parade down in,
up in Phoenix or in San Francisco.
But even if he doesn't,
he judges them on a daily basis with the pestilence.
He says they'll receive in themselves
that recompense of the error which is meet.
You see, I can't believe you're saying that.
You mean you're not going to wear a red ribbon for AIDS awareness?
You mean you're not going to put a fight HIV sticker on your bumper shirt?
You mean you're not going to go with Bono,
the lead singer of U2 to Africa
and try to fight AIDS and find the cure for AIDS?
Hey, the cure for AIDS is to take every homosexual
and put them to death like the Bible says.
You say, I can't believe you just said that.
You're nuts.
Hey, you know what, then God's nuts
because God instituted the death penalty on homosexuals.
And you say, do you believe in the death penalty for murderers?
Well, it's the same book of the Bible, friend.
It's the same Bible that says the death penalty for homosexuality.
And so God says that the cure for AIDS,
hey, I found the cure.
I found the cure for AIDS.
Call Bono.
Take all the queers and kill them.
Now, look, it's not our job to do it, but that's what the Bible says.
He says, if a man lies with mankind as he lied with one mankind,
they both have committed an abomination,
they shall be put to death, their blood shall be upon them.
Now, I didn't write the Bible, and I'm going to preach that until I die.
I'll preach that until they come dragging me away
saying that I can't preach that anymore
because I'm not going to tone it down for 2006.
The homosexuals are receiving the recompense that was meat.
It's called AIDS.
God says, if you won't kill them, then I'll kill them.
You don't want to kill them?
I'll kill them.
I'll kill them for you.
He said, I don't like this preaching.
I want you to move on.
Maybe I need to stay on the subject a little longer
because you've been watching too much homo-filled television
on your hella-vision in your house.
You've been seeing them day after day after day,
and now you giggle a little bit when you see some guy act like a girl.
Hey, God pity you if you look at a man acting like a woman
and you think that there's anything funny about that.
Fools make a mock at sin.
That's what the Bible says.
Fools think that sin is funny.
I don't think it's funny at all.
I think it's sick and disgusting.
And you know what?
This kind of preaching would have fit in perfectly about 50 years ago,
but in 2006, the preachers and the pastors have toned it down
because the hella-vision has invaded their house
and the hella-vision has reprogrammed their thinking.
But you see, the point that I want to make here is that the pestilence.
Sin has a built-in judgment.
I don't know if you know that.
Almost every sin that you can think of,
God doesn't even necessarily have to judge it
because it has a built-in judgment.
See, AIDS is the judgment for homosexuality,
for filthy acts, for promiscuity.
AIDS is the judgment.
Syphilis, gonorrhea, those are God's judgments.
If you do right, you won't get those things.
And so you say, well, what else?
Well, think about alcohol.
You drink alcohol.
You say, is God going to pour out his judgment on me?
Look, he doesn't even have to
because when you drink alcohol, it's going to destroy your stomach.
It's going to destroy your liver.
It's going to cause you to not excel at your job.
It's going to cost you a bunch of money every time you pay for it.
Look, you'll be judged on your own, let alone God's judgment.
It says before him went the pestilence.
I mean, before God even gets there, his judgment's already there
because it's built in to the act.
You think about cigarettes.
You say, is God just going to pour out his wrath on me for smoking?
No, not at all.
But you're going to be a physical wreck if you keep smoking.
That's the truth.
And it's going to put you in the poorhouse financially.
You say, man, I'm scared God's going to judge me.
He doesn't have to.
You're judging yourself.
I mean, you are judging yourself every time you smoke that cigarette
because you're just destroying your physical body
and you're going to be a physical wreck years from now
and you're just spending that money.
It's funny, I was out of town.
And when I'm out of town, I was out of town last night.
I was in California, and I get a per diem.
You know, like a certain amount of money per day
that I could spend on meals and everything.
Well, I was so busy I didn't even really get to use all my per diem
because I was skipping meals, just trying to get things knocked out,
trying to make it back for the service tonight.
Well, I stopped finally to get something to eat.
So money was no object because, I mean, I hadn't even used my per diem.
So I had a bunch of it built up that I could spend.
So I could just spend whatever I want.
So I walked into a place and they had these little bottles of pomegranate juice.
And Virginia's brought me pomegranates before, and I love pomegranates,
but there was a little bottle of pomegranate juice this big.
Do you know how many ounces it was?
Four.
Like four ounces.
No, no, it was eight ounces.
It was eight ounces.
It was a little eight-ounce bottle of pomegranate juice, $2.99, okay, for eight ounces.
And so I took this little eight-ounce bottle and I said,
I'll get two of them because, I mean, money's no object
because I'm just spending my per diem.
And I thought, you know, I'm skipping meals.
I'm working hard.
I'm going to drink something healthy, you know, do something good.
So I bought just two little bottles of pomegranate juice, just down those things.
And I bought whatever food I wanted.
And I was thinking to myself, boy, good night.
People spend so much on this health food.
So, I mean, good night.
I told my wife, I said, just think, if you just drink it every day,
that's 90 bucks a month just to get a little swig of pomegranate juice every day.
But if you think about it, you can take that swig of pomegranate juice, spend $3 a day,
and you'll be healthier.
I mean, it's really good for you.
And God talks about it in the Bible.
But you can spend $5 on a pack of cigarettes.
It's almost double the price, okay?
And it'll destroy your health.
It's going to cost you medical bills.
It's going to cost you mis-work because you won't have the productivity.
You won't have the stamina.
You say, pastor, how is it that you have the energy to pastor the church,
to work a lot of hours at your job?
You have a family.
You have a fourth kid on the way.
How do you get it all done?
I mean, I slept for four hours last night.
I feel great.
Why?
Because I don't smoke, because I don't drink, because I don't chew tobacco,
because I drink pomegranate juice, because I drink Jamba juice.
Hey, look, sin has its own built-in judgment.
And don't get me wrong, God's judgment is coming.
But don't worry, before he even gets there, the pestilence is there to mess with you,
before he even gets there.
And I was thinking, you could walk into Jamba juice every morning
and just get the most fresh squeezed power size, the big size.
I don't even mess with the other stuff.
I walk in and get the power size, fresh squeezed orange juice,
and I get a banana ground up in it.
You say, good night, that's expensive.
You're an extravagant spender.
Hey, it's on the company dime.
But not only that, it's cheaper than a pack of cigarettes.
And it's going to be cheaper when I don't need to go to the doctor
and don't need all the drugs because I was smoking and drinking
and doing drugs, and because I was eating all the junk food,
the fast food, McDonald's every day,
and all this kind of garbage that's not good for you,
all the soda, all the Diet Coke every day.
Hey, look, it's going to save me money in the long run,
and you know what, I'm going to be a lot better off.
Because go ahead and do all that stuff, but see what it does to your body.
And then tell me that it wasn't this end, it's okay.
Well, we'll see what happens when you smoke up your lungs
and smoke up your health.
And when you drink your liver, it becomes pickled like a cucumber
because you drank so much liquor.
I mean, it's poison that you're putting in your body, alcohol.
And when you drink enough, it'll kill you, it's poison.
You want to know where the prostate cancer comes from in men?
It's alcohol.
It comes from all the alcohol consumption.
But anyway, there are so many things that I had a list here,
but there are so many things where God has a built-in judgment.
Before he even gets there, where he has a natural,
see, pestilence is a natural thing that he's already put in place,
the disease that's there to punish sin, the STDs and what have you.
I saw a billboard the other day.
It showed a pretty young teenage girl smiling,
and all of her teeth were rotten black.
And it said, methamphetamines,
you'll never have to worry about getting lipstick on your teeth again.
And all of her teeth had rotten out of her head.
And I'm telling you, I've known people who did methamphetamines,
they did meth, and their teeth were rotten out of their head.
I mean, it was just like the picture.
I mean, the picture was the truth.
And God has built in a judgment in sin.
Don't just worry about, well, I think I can get away with it.
Hey, look, if you live God's righteous kind of life, you'll be blessed.
He says there's a curse on everyone who doesn't obey all the words
that are written in this book.
He says there's a curse on them.
Let's go to verse number five.
Before him went the coals, we're back in Habakkuk chapter three,
verse number five.
Habakkuk chapter five, the Bible, Habakkuk chapter three, verse five.
Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
He stood and measured the earth.
He beheld and drove asunder the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered.
The perpetual hills did bow.
His ways are everlasting.
Now, here's what's interesting.
You might just read over this verse quickly.
But look at these two words that are used.
The everlasting mountains.
Now, how long are those mountains supposedly going to last?
Forever.
But he says the everlasting mountains were scattered.
And he says the perpetual, if you know what perpetual means,
it's something that goes on and on and on and never stops.
That's what perpetual, like perpetual motion,
where pendulum swings forever.
He says the perpetual hills did bow.
His ways are everlasting.
Here's what God's saying.
Look, the things on earth that we look at and we think are permanent,
like we look at a great mountain range.
I just drove through, you know, the San Bernardino mountains.
Look at these great mountain ranges and say, this is permanent.
This isn't going anywhere.
This is perpetual.
This will last forever.
God says nothing on this earth will last forever.
My ways are everlasting.
I couldn't help but think of 1 John 2, 15.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but is of the world, and the world passeth away,
as yet the world passeth away, and the lust thereof,
but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
You see, the people in this room tonight that are born again saved,
if you believe not in Jesus Christ, you will abide forever.
See, those of us that are saved,
those of us that win other people to Christ, we will abide forever.
We're laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven
because nothing in this world is permanent.
I knew a friend of mine.
He was in his 20s, saving up for retirement.
He was putting away a lot of money for retirement in his 20s,
and he said, it's going to be great.
He said, I'm going to retire at 66,
and I'm going to be playing golf every single day.
I'm thinking to myself, that fool,
this night shall thy soul be required of thee,
and what shall become of all thy goods.
You see, there's nothing permanent.
What the world calls the everlasting mountains, the perpetual hills,
he said they're going to be scattered at the day of the Lord.
He said the perpetual hills are going to bow down,
and his ways are everlasting.
He says, you will abide forever.
Your works will abide forever.
Their works go before them, the Bible says in Revelation 14.
Hey, if you have done anything for God, anything for Jesus Christ,
it's the only thing that's going to last.
And you can lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
or you can lay up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rough stuff corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also.
You say, Pastor Anderson, how am I going to lay up treasures
in heaven and not on earth?
Well, it's all by putting money in the offering plate.
Let me pass it around again, now that you know that.
No, of course not, that's not what it's talking about.
That's what preachers want to use, you know.
I was on the way over here, I turned on the radio,
I was trying to get the traffic report,
and I couldn't believe it because it was called Sousa.
I don't know if it's the same one, okay?
But it was on the radio, okay?
And I'm driving down the road,
and it's this black guy on the radio,
not that that has anything to do with it,
but he sounded like he was a rap artist,
you know, he was that kind of a black guy.
And it was like in the background, I was going...
And he said, oh man, he's like,
are you fitting to order this course?
He's like, $250 a month, it'll change your life,
it'll change your ministry, it'll change your finances.
He says, you pay for this $250,
it's like a correspondence course for becoming a pastor.
And he's talking about how like he used to struggle financially.
He got into ministry, now he's got all kinds of money.
He's like, this will revolutionize your life.
And the guy was, I mean, he was using horrible grammar,
and this whole rap music's going in the background and everything.
And he's talking about, and then it showed like a sample.
This is a sample of him preaching.
I was trying to get the traffic, but this just caught my attention,
because I heard the name of Sousa.
So I'm sitting there listening to it,
and it's a sermon of him preaching,
and the whole thing's just about,
you can't pray for anything until you've given your offering to God.
Like, you've got to put your money in the plate,
then God will hear you.
And you can always tell a phony preacher
when his emphasis is money.
That's what you can tell.
Because the love of money is the root of all evil.
You say, so-and-so's not preaching right.
Oh, okay, well, what does money have to do with it?
Because money has something to do with it.
If so-and-so preacher's not preaching right,
it's because there's money involved,
because he doesn't want to offend somebody who's got money,
who's paying his paycheck, who's paying his bills,
when he ought to be relying on God to pay his bills.
And so money is, the love of money is the root of all evil,
according to the Bible.
And so whenever you see somebody that is involved in some kind of evil,
whenever you see a pastor or a church that's going liberal,
just find the money, and you'll find what's wrong with it.
But that's not how you lay up treasures in heaven.
The Bible says that your works are going to be tried by fire.
He says they're going to be gold, silver, and precious stones,
or they're going to be wood, hay, and stubble.
Now, wood, hay, and stubble is not necessarily bad things.
I mean, what's wrong with wood, right?
What's wrong with hay?
Nothing.
Stubble?
No problem.
But the problem is that they're not going to last.
And so God's going to look at everything you've done with your life.
Let's say you've built a great business.
Hey, that's wonderful, but that's just wood.
But, see, he's going to put that next to how many souls you want to Christ.
He's going to put that next to how many people you turned to righteousness,
the Bible says in Daniel chapter 12, verse 3.
He says, how many people have you gotten saved?
How many people have you turned to righteousness?
Maybe somebody who was already saved, living not for God,
and you said, I'm going to get them living for God.
I'm going to get them in church, get them baptized, make them a soul winner.
He says, how many people have you influenced for the kingdom of God?
He says, that's your gold, your silver, and your precious stones.
The things of God can't be purchased with money.
Put all the money you want on the offering plate, and it will avail you nothing.
God wants you to tithe because he's commanded you to do so.
God's pleased with an offering.
God will supply all your need.
But you will not become rich by putting money on the offering plate,
no matter who you are, period.
And it's a lie out of hell by people who are trying to extort money from you.
But the point is that if money,
money is not the way that you get the rewards.
It's living for God is how you get the rewards.
And God is saying in this verse here,
the things in the world that you think are permanent are not.
He says, only the things that have to do with me are permanent,
and that's winning souls, turning people to righteousness.
Those are the two main things that God says we'll get rewarded for.
And you say, I don't like that.
I think God's just going to reward me just for going to church every Sunday.
Well, you're wrong.
Because if you don't win souls, if you're not fruitful,
he says you're like a brat, so I'm just going to cut off and throw in the fire.
He doesn't mean you're going to go to hell, but he says it's worthless.
Men gather them and throw them in the fire.
He says, I'm not a man, I'm not going to do that.
But he says, a branch that does not produce fruit is worthless to me.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying it's not of any value to me.
He says, the tree that didn't bear fruit that we saw in the Book of Matthew,
he says, why are we even wasting this space in this orchard?
And remember the servant begs and says,
well, let me dig around it and dung it
and let's give it a few more years to see if it produces fruit.
I don't have time for somebody who's not going to produce fruit.
You say, wait a minute, my fruit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, meekness, faith, temperance.
Against such there is no law.
No, that's not the fruit of the Christian, that's the fruit of the Spirit.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that win its souls is wise.
That's what the Bible says.
Everything brings forth after its own kind.
You only have to read one chapter in the Bible to figure that out, Genesis 1,
and you'll find out that a Christian reproduces himself by producing another Christian.
And a soul winner reproduces himself by producing another soul winner.
And if you've never won somebody to Christ, then you've not produced fruit.
Period.
Now you say, well, does that mean that God's upset with me?
No, God loves you, and he's patient and long-suffering,
but he wants you to get on board with this thing of reaching people with the Gospel.
He wants you to get on board with this thing of bringing forth fruit.
That's the agenda.
That's the whole goal.
That's the whole theme of the Bible from Genesis 1 all the way to the end,
is bring forth fruit.
Be fruitful and multiply.
Win people to Christ.
Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the Gospel to every preacher.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.
He says, win people to Christ, baptize them, teach them to be like you,
teach them to win souls, and then you have reproduced yourself.
But see, on that tree in my backyard, that lemon tree,
how many of those lemons on that tree are going to become another tree?
Very few.
Now, that lemon tree is very productive.
It produces several hundred lemons a year.
But I'm going to tell you something.
Only a very select few of those lemons will ever fall to the ground and die,
as the Bible says in John chapter 12.
He says, excepted corn and wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth alone.
But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
And so only the select few of God's born-again Christians will become a tree of life.
And bring forth fruit and win souls to Christ, as Proverbs 11.30 says.
And so back to the chapter, that was in verse number 6, where he said,
the everlasting mountains were scattered, Habakkuk 3.6,
the perpetual hills did bow, his ways are everlasting.
I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction,
and the curtains of the land of Midian did mourn,
I'm sorry, 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 thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
Thy bow was made quite naked according to the oaths of the tribes,
even thy word, Sila.
Thou didst 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 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.
Boy, you see a little bit of the other side of God here.
Yes, the loving Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, the loving God up in heaven.
Praise the Lord, for he's good, for his mercy endureth forever.
But now we're seeing another side of God.
We're seeing a God who's marching through a wicked land.
He says he's marching through the land.
He says, thou didst march through the land in indignation.
Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger.
See, God's a God that is filled with anger.
Did you know that the Bible says God is angry with the wicked every day?
Today, November 22nd, is it?
21st? Is it 22nd? I don't know.
November 22nd, did you know that God is angry right now?
On November 22nd, 2006, God's angry with the wicked right now.
Every day. Tomorrow he's going to be mad.
He was mad yesterday and he's mad today.
God is a God that's filled with anger.
You say, why is he so filled with anger?
Well, if you realized what sin really is, you'd be angry too.
You see, God is filled with anger not just because he's just a hothead.
God is filled with anger today because he knows that the wicked that he's angry with every day are hurting other people.
That makes him angry.
I mean, doesn't it make you angry to see someone hurt someone else?
It reminds me of when Moses saw two of the Jews striving.
He just got so angry that he actually killed a man with his bare hands.
It wasn't right for him to do that.
But he was just so filled with anger when he saw one man smiting another man, beating another man,
beating a slave, and just whipping him to the ground.
And it made him so angry to see someone abused and hurt.
And God says, I know all the abuse that goes on that you don't know about.
You live in a world where you only see the Budweiser ad, and you think that's what beer is about.
You see the Marlboro Man, and you think that's what cigarettes is about.
Do you see all the pretty faces, all the beautiful facades?
Do you see all the Brad Pitt and the Tom Cruise in every grocery store?
And you think, man, sin is so cool.
I just wish I could be Brad Pitt.
Man, I wish I could be like Tom Cruise.
Man, I just wish I could be like Britney Spears.
It would be so great.
Hey, you don't want to be like them because you don't know how miserable and stupid their life is.
And then one day, hell will be their home.
You know, hopefully they get saved in the meantime.
I mean, that would be a blessing.
But chances are, let's face it, chances are they're going down to the nether parts of the earth.
They're going to burn in hell when they die.
But I'm going to tell you something.
Sin is so deceptive.
It's so pretty on the outside.
Sin hurts people.
It hurts other people.
You say, my sin doesn't hurt anybody.
Yes, your sin hurts other people.
Your sin hurts other people.
A dad who's a drunk, his whole family's going to suffer.
You know, you smoke cigarettes, your whole family and friends are going to suffer when they have to watch you suffer.
When they watch you reap what you've sown, it's going to hurt them inside.
And see, God looks at all the hurt that we don't even see.
I mean, he sees all the abuse. He sees all the pain.
He sees the real picture of what sin is like.
And he says, boy, I'm just angry.
And he says, one day I'm going to put a stop to it.
And this is how I'm going to do it. I'm going to describe it in Habakkuk chapter 3.
And I'm going to march through the land in indignation.
And I'm going to thresh the heathen in anger.
Because I'm furious.
The Bible says at the beginning of the book of Nehem, the Lord is furious.
He's angry.
He's enraged because he says, I hate sin.
You say, I don't hate sin.
It's because you don't understand how bad sin is.
You don't understand how much it's hurting you.
And you don't understand how much it's hurting other people.
All throughout the Bible, this great theme of other people being hurt by your sin.
All throughout the Bible. Look at Achan.
I was just reading to the kids.
It was the night before last.
We read Joshua 5 through 7, right before bed.
I remember reading about how Achan, who stole the money from God.
And then they took Achan and his wife and his sons and his daughters.
And they killed all.
Now look, did that sweet little daughter of Achan do anything wrong?
I don't think she did.
And yes, she suffered for Achan's sins. Isn't that terrible?
I mean, isn't that sad when you read about that?
Think about all throughout the Bible you see a girl like Tamar.
Every time I read that story it just makes me sick.
I feel exactly like Absalom.
It makes me want to hate Amnon.
Because I see this young, sweet girl, Tamar, abused.
And defiled.
And her life ruined in one day at a whim.
Her whole life was ruined.
She abode desolate in the house of her brother Absalom for the rest of her life.
Her whole life was ruined.
Every time I read that story I get mad.
Every time I read it I get angry.
It makes me angry.
And that's why God's angry with the wicked every day.
That's why God marches through the land in anger.
You say, why does God bring his judgment?
And it hurts so many people.
Because God has to judge sin.
And if you knew how bad it was, if you understood the extent of how bad sin is, you wouldn't blame him.
And that's part of what the book of Habakkuk is teaching us.
Because at the end of all, Habakkuk says, you're right, God.
I didn't really know why you're bringing all this wrath on us, but he says you're right.
That's what we deserve.
Verse number 13, the Bible says,
Thou winnest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed.
See, of course we see that God takes care of his people.
When he brings down his wrath on a city like Sodom and Gomorrah, he gets lawed out of the way.
He knows how to keep his people safe.
And you say, Pastor Anderson, are you afraid that one day you're going to face persecution
or what you believe or what you preach?
Because it's very possible. If you don't think it's possible, then you're not living in reality.
You say, are you afraid? No, because you know what?
I personally think that God's going to protect me because I do take his hand.
I mean, and maybe I will. The Bible says, you know, the devil shall cast some of you into prison.
You shall have tribulation in ten days.
But look, I just somehow believe that the people who really take a stand and fight sin in America,
I mean, I just believe that the people who spank their children,
whether it's against the law or not against the law,
I just believe that the people who stand up and preach the Bible unashamedly,
they don't care what anybody thinks, they're not afraid of anything,
I just believe that God is going to find a way to protect them.
And I believe that the guy who compromised, the guy who toned it down,
the guy who used timeouts and Barney time instead of spankings,
the guy who used Sesame Street and Elmo instead of a beating, as the Bible says,
I'm not talking about a beating like you think of beating.
I'm talking about what the Bible talks about, beating, spanking,
in the place that's padded, that's designed for a spanking that God designed,
and the Bible talks about that kind of a guy.
It describes him in the book of Isaiah.
He says, a man who tries to protect himself at the expense of obeying God's commands,
he said it's like a man who runs into the house to escape from a bear that's chasing him,
and he puts his hand on the wall and a snake bites his hand.
He gets in the house and goes, not going to get me.
And then a snake bites him and kills him.
Because self-preservation at the expense of obeying God's commands is futile,
because God knows how to protect his people.
And if God's going to bring judgment to you, he's going to bring it to you,
whether you like it or not.
And if God wants to bring you tribulation and persecution, it's coming.
And so you just have to be ready for it.
But we see in verse number 13, thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people.
He says you're going to keep your people safe, even for salvation with thine anointed.
Thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation under the neck.
Selah, thou didst strike through with his saves the head of his villages.
They came out as a whirlwind to scatter me.
Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters.
When I heard, my belly trembled.
My lips quivered at the voice, rottenness entered into my bones,
and I trembled to myself that I might rest in the day of trouble.
When he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.
And then look at verse 17. We'll hurry up and close here.
Verse number 17, the Bible 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.
The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation.
So we see here Habakkuk is coming to terms with the fact,
God, I've heard what you're going to do.
I'm not going to lie to you. I'm scared.
I said, when I heard thy speech, when I heard your word that you pronounce against us,
he said, my belly quivered, my lips trembled.
He said, I was scared to death.
But he said, even though, in verse number 17, the fig tree shall not blossom,
he said, even though the no fruit will be in the vines,
even though the labor of the olive shall fail,
he's talking about just financially, there's going to be no money,
there's going to be hardly any food, he said, we're all going to suffer.
Even though I'm righteous, this whole nation's going to suffer.
I'm going to be going through some tough times myself.
He says, even though the fields shall yield no meat,
the flocks shall be cut off from the fold,
even though the animals aren't going to be there,
he's just talking about his sustenance, his livestock.
Or even, you could say, even if our fold here is not always full,
or if it's full, if it's empty, if the bank account is full,
if the bank account's empty, if the cupboards are full, if the cupboards are empty,
if this church is full, if this church is empty,
he says, yes, I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
He says, whatever you do, God, I'm just thrilled.
Why? Because I'm saved.
He says, I'll rejoice.
I don't care if there's no food in the cupboard.
I don't care if there's no money in the bank.
I don't care if I'm a failure in life.
He says, I'll rejoice in the Lord.
I'll joy in the God of my salvation.
And you see, look at the order there.
First he says, I'll rejoice in the Lord.
That's an action that you do, where you rejoice.
Rejoice is a command that God gives you.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
And again, I say rejoice.
God's commanding you right now to rejoice.
That's where you decide, no matter what you're circumcised,
no matter how you're feeling, praise God, I'm happy.
Hallelujah, I'm saved.
That's rejoice.
And he says, I will rejoice in the Lord.
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Joy is a condition that you have.
Rejoice is what you do.
So what he's saying here is if you start rejoicing,
you'll have joy.
Do you know that you can have joy
no matter what's going on in your life?
I mean, I was just thinking about today.
I was driving down the road, driving through the desert,
as always, and I was just thinking to myself,
man, I love church.
I was thinking, I can't wait to get to church tonight.
I was like, I can't wait until 7 o'clock to get to church.
And I was just thinking about how much I love church.
And I love the songs that we sing.
And I get to pick the songs.
I like that, too.
So I pick the songs that I want to sing, OK?
And so I was singing all kinds of songs this afternoon,
deciding which songs I wanted to sing tonight.
So I was singing all kinds of songs,
just shouting them out and singing them loud in the car
and singing them when I was in the shower when I got home,
just singing at the top of my lungs.
I was thinking, man, I love singing these songs,
but I love singing them even more in church.
I love being with people that believe like I believe.
I love being with people who love the Bible,
who love preaching, who love these songs.
And I was thinking about how I love to read the Bible.
And we're going to go to church.
We're going to read the Bible.
I was thinking, man, I love to see people that are with me,
that are my brothers and sisters.
I love it.
I was thinking, you know, some people,
they go to church because they have to,
so they come like once a week, you know, like Sunday morning.
It's all right.
You know, I made it Sunday morning or whatever.
But I'm just thinking to myself, I love church.
I want to be in church.
I remember I didn't really have a conviction
that I'm going to be in church three times a week
because that's what God says to do.
I didn't have that conviction until I was about 19 years old.
I mean, literally.
I mean, when I was 17, 18,
I didn't think it was wrong to miss a little church.
I didn't think you had to be there all three times.
But I was there all three times, literally.
I mean, when I was 16, 17, 18 years old, just a teenager,
my parents didn't go to all three services.
But I just said, I want to be there three times a week
because I love it.
What else would I rather be doing?
I want to be in church.
I want to sing these great songs.
I want to listen to the preaching.
I want to learn the Bible.
I want to read the Bible.
Why?
Because there's joy in the things of God.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
I'm telling you, you don't know what joy is.
I tell you, just plunge into Christianity full force.
Just jump in head first.
And I'm not talking about this casual thing where, you know,
maybe if you're lucky, you read through the Bible once a year
because you read it for 15 minutes a day.
You know, I'm not talking about this thing where you come to
church every once in a while and come on Sunday morning
unless you get the sniffles and then you don't come.
I'm not talking about this thing where you just kind of leave
the Bible on the dashboard so that it's there next Sunday.
You won't forget it at home.
I'm not talking about this kind of thing where you just,
it's just TV and movies and rock music and worldly friends.
I'm talking about where you just eat, breathe,
and sleep the things of God.
I'm talking about where you're singing these songs, I mean,
seven days a week.
This is just your music.
I mean, this is my CD player.
Did you know that?
You say, what kind of stereo does that van have?
This is it right here.
This is my DVD.
It's got a DVD player.
This is my PlayStation 3 right here.
This is my entertainment.
This is my music.
This isn't my music on Sunday and Wednesday.
This is my music on Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
Say, how do your kids know these songs?
Because these are the songs that we sing seven days a week.
That's how they know these songs.
That's how they know all the verses
because we sing them every day.
Hey, the Bible is what I read every day.
It's what I think about all day.
That's the kind of Christianity that I like.
And I'm going to tell you something.
That's the kind of Christianity where there's joy.
And you'll find yourself, I mean,
if you don't find yourself just walking through the house
and just say, praise the Lord, woo, hallelujah.
Hey, there's something wrong with your Christianity.
I'm serious.
I mean, I'm driving down the road today
just looking at all the things.
I was just like, God, this is great.
Man, I love driving for nine hours.
I love it.
And I honestly do love it.
And I'm just looking at all these rock formations.
I'm looking at the desert.
I'm looking at the sky.
I saw a great sunset last night.
I was driving through Joshua Tree National Park
while the sun was setting.
And I just said, God, this is just a marvelous creation.
Man, I love my life.
Man, I love the things of God.
Man, I love nature.
This is better than a DVD.
Man, I just love the Bible.
I love church.
Hey, there's joy in the Christian life
if you'll learn to rejoice,
if you'll learn to just start thanking God and say,
boy, God, this is so great.
Man, I love reading the Bible.
Man, I love church.
You say, you're crazy.
No, I'm serious.
I'm not even kidding at all.
I go through life happy.
You say, why are you so happy?
Because you don't have any problems?
Hey, look, I have problems just like you do.
You may think that I live some kind of a perfect little
dream world utopia life.
Hey, look, I work.
I sweat.
I twirl.
I have people disappoint me.
I have people...
I'm not pointing at my wife.
People hurt me and abuse me and disappoint me and sadden me.
Look, that's life.
Everybody has that.
But it doesn't matter.
I mean, my life is so good
because it's centered around the things of God.
And so if I rejoice in the Lord,
pretty soon I'll be joying in the God of my salvation.
You see, what the world wants is happiness.
All the sin is to try to get them happiness.
And yet go ask the person who's the most involved
in sin that you know.
I mean, the person who's just enveloped in sin.
They watch whatever filthy DVD they want.
They drink what they want.
They smoke what they want.
They do what they want.
Go ask them if they're happy.
They'll say no.
I've never met anybody like that who would even pretend
that they're happy.
They'll say no.
And I'll say, well, I'm happy.
Why don't you start living like me?
It's boring.
I don't live like that.
It's stupid.
I'm thinking to myself, I'm happy.
You're not.
Live like me.
I mean, it's so simple.
But you have to do it by faith
because you just have to believe that it's the happy life.
You have to believe it's where the joy is.
And so he says, yet 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 hind's feet.
A hind is a deer.
He said he will make my feet like hind's feet.
And he will make me to walk upon mine high places
to the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
See, God, he says, in this terrible time
that I'm going through,
in this time when resources are failing,
money's failing, everything's failing,
he says God is going to empower me and strengthen me.
And he's going to give me feet like hind's feet,
like think about how fast a deer runs.
He says, I don't know about you,
but I'm not going to use this as an excuse,
this society I live in,
as an excuse for I'm not going to run for God.
Remember in Habakkuk 2, verse 2,
it said that he may run.
He says, no, I'm going to run in my Christian life.
He says, I'm going to higher places in my Christianity.
You say, what are you going to do about,
you know, I mean, good night.
You might have to lower your standards a little bit
because this is Phoenix, Arizona.
I mean, the pastor down the street's
wearing a Hawaiian shirt tonight.
Okay, he's not wearing a suit and tie.
Look, this is what I'm going to do.
In 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona,
I want to see how separated I can be.
I want to see how much of a higher standard I can have.
I want to see how righteous I can be.
I want to see how godly our music can be.
I want to see how much we can just push
for just higher heights of greatness,
of how high we're going to hold ourselves accountable in this church.
Hey, I want to push myself to the limits for God.
And what else are you going to do?
Hey, I'm going to go as fast as I can.
I'm going to go winning people to Christ as fast as I can.
I'm going to push myself and go as fast as I can,
and I'm not going to let my circumstances
or my environment be an excuse for why I have to fail.
I don't have to fail, and you don't have to fail.
You can have feet like Heinz feet,
and you can have God set you in high places
if you get on board with Him,
and if you'll rejoice in the God of your salvation.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
God, thank you so much for the Bible,
and thank you for the promises of God.
And Father, we barely scratched the surface
of a very deep chapter in the Bible,
back in chapter 3, but Father, I just want to thank you.