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that was preached thousands of years ago, dear God, but it's so applicable to where we are today in 2006, dear God, and it's also the Word of God, so it's eternal. So it existed before the world was even created, dear God, it was written in Heaven. And so Father, I just pray that you would bless the sermon tonight, dear God, help us to apply this great chapter to our lives and to glean some great truths from it tonight. And in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Now the book of Habakkuk, this is a very big difference from what we were studying in the book of Matthew, this is a much different book, we're in the Old Testament, in a section of the Old Testament called the Minor Prophets. Now, the first five books of the Prophets in the Old Testament are called the Major Prophets, that's Isaiah, Jeremiah, and then also the book of Lamentations would be included with that written by Jeremiah, and then Ezekiel, and then Daniel, those are called the Major Prophets. Then there's these twelve smaller books that are written after that that are called the Minor Prophets, and they're very similar one to another, in fact, and they have a lot to say about the end times prophecy, about the second coming, they have a lot to say about things that were going on at that time as well. But the book of Habakkuk, one of my favorite books in the entire Bible, the first book that I ever memorized, the whole book, I memorized this book when I was seventeen years old, and at the time I memorized it, I remember just, I was trying to pick a book to memorize, and I said, you know what, I'm going to pick just the most off-the-wall book that I probably understand the least, because I figure if I memorize a book, you know, God's going to show me something, so I figure I'm going to pick something I don't understand at all, and then I can learn about it. And so I'm just thinking, Habakkuk, you know, I mean, who knows what it's about? You know, I started reading it, it was just so dense, you know, seventeen year old teenager, you know, I picked this up and started reading it, and I thought, boy, I'm going to figure this out, you know, I want to see what this is about. And so I began to memorize it, and boy, does God just open my eyes to so many things about this great book. But let me give you just an overview of the book before I get into chapter one and just explain to you what the book is about. Now, it goes back and forth in this book between God speaking and Habakkuk speaking. It begins at the beginning with Habakkuk speaking, and in verses one through four, he's basically complaining about the situation, he's complaining about the condition that he sees his country in. And then in verses five through eleven, God explains the judgment that he's going to do, the destruction that he's going to bring on this nation of Judah that's turned away from God. Then in verses twelve through seventeen, basically it's Habakkuk looking to God for answers, why? And then in chapter two, God gives a big, long answer and explains everything. And then in chapter three, Habakkuk prays to God and says, you're right, you know, I understand what you're telling me. And so it's a great book, but let's get into chapter one and we'll see this. Look at verse number one of Habakkuk 1, the Bible says, The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see, O Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save. He says, I'm praying and I feel like God's just not listening to me. I mean, I'm crying out, I mean, crying out, I understand that when he says cry, he's talking about screaming and yelling. You know, he's not talking about that's good. That's called weeping in the Bible. So he's saying, how long shall I cry? He's saying, God, is anybody out there listening to me? That's what Habakkuk is saying here. He said, how long are you not going to answer me? And then he says in verse number two, there it says, even cry out unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance for spoiling and violence are before me? And there are that raise up strife and contention. He's saying, everywhere I look is this violence. People are hurting each other. People are hurting the innocent people spoiling. He's talking about thieves. I mean, constantly money's being stolen, properties being stolen, spoiling and violence are before me. And there are that raise up strife and contention. And then look at verse four, therefore, the law is slacked and judgment does never go forth. Now, I find this really interesting. He's describing the condition that he sees his country in. And the thing that's interesting, whenever you see the word therefore, that's a connecting word. It's connecting to what was just said before that. So he's saying that the whole land is so overrun with violence. There's so much stealing going on. There's so much crime going on that therefore the law is slacked. What? Think about it for a second. He's saying because sin and iniquity abounds, because crime abounds, instead of punishing all the crime, the tendency is to just slacken the law and just say, well, we can't just arrest everybody, right? So let's just slacken the law and let's just make it a little bit easier because good night. What are we going to do, just lock everybody up? And then it just gets worse and it gets worse and it gets worse. It's like a downward spiral. Now tell me that that's not the day that we're living in this country. You know, you get to the point where you say, good night. Every teenager is smoking marijuana. When I was in high school, I'll tell you this, when I was in high school, I sat down with some of my worldly, unsaved friends in high school, just in a public school. And I said, how many kids in this school do you think? And we were all from different walks of life. You know, I was a Christian trying to live a good Christian life. And some of them were worldly and sinful. And we just sat down with about five or six of them. And I said, how many kids in this school do you think are smoking marijuana? And this was a nice area. This was not a bad area at all. Roseville, California. And I said, how many? And we said, well, we all agreed. We all agreed unanimous. 50% are smoking marijuana regularly, at least once a week. And probably we agreed that 75% had tried it. And that was kids that called themselves Christians. It's across the board. Outside of a school of 2000, we're including boys, girls, the nerdy kid, whatever you want to call it, anything. I mean, just across the board, we agreed. We all came to the conclusion that 75% of the kids in this school had smoked pot at one point or another. And so what is it? Now it's just legal, practically, to smoke pot in this country. I mean, you get caught smoking marijuana, it's not even a crime, practically. I mean, unless you're dealing it, and even then it's not a big deal, because the law has been slacked. Constantly, we're seeing just a slackening of laws. We're not seeing laws get stricter in this country. We're seeing them slacking everywhere you go. And then it says right here, it says, therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass about the righteous. Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. He's saying we're surrounded by wickedness. We're surrounded by ungodly people. And so what are we supposed to do about it? So the law just gets slacked. Everybody just eases up a little bit. You know, you see the same thing in churches. The pastor's not going to preach hard on sin. The law of God, remember we saw on Sunday night how the Bible's called the law of God? The law of God is slacked in the church, because he says, good night. Let's just give in to the fact that everybody's going to go home after the service and watch prime time television. Everybody's going to watch some sitcom with some homosexual character. Everybody's going to go home and watch the beer ads, and everybody's going to go home and just watch it and just sit down. The Bible's going to go, and Friday's going to stay on the dashboard of the car so it'll be ready for next time they come to church. And they won't have to, you know, bring it in and out of their house or anything. And they're going to just sit down and fill their mind with garbage. We lost that fight a long time ago. No, look, in this church the law will not be slacked. And would to God in this country the law will not be slacked. I asked the guy, I was thinking about this, I asked the guy because it mentions spoiling. I asked the guy in loss prevention. I work in a lot of department stores. And I said, what's your goal for arrests in this department store? He said, my goal is to have somebody arrested every day for shoplifting, an arrest. And I said, do you meet that goal? He said, oh yeah, one per day. He said, Nordstrom and Macy's down here, he said their goal is three a day. Three arrests per day. And I've asked, I've kind of been doing just an informal survey where I go all different parts of the nation and I ask these loss prevention, how many arrests? Everywhere, at least one or two a day. Employees within the company is about half of it. Stealing, giving themselves gift certificates, taking money out of the cash register. I mean, sin and wickedness just abounds in this country and so you wonder why. We just had an election yesterday in the state of Arizona to define that marriage is between a man and a woman. Wow, isn't that radical? Isn't that fundamental? That's like a fundamental Baptist, isn't it? Good night, that marriage is a man and a woman? Oh, good night, they're so radical. These people are conservative wackos, they're nuts, they're Nazis. They're saying that a man and a woman is what marriage is. And you know what, it lost. No. People in Arizona are so stupid, they can't even decide that marriage is between a man and a woman. Why? Because spoiling abounds, violence abounds, ungodliness abounds and therefore the law is slacked. And so the law gets slacked where it says, no, marriage is not between a man and a woman, it's whatever you want it to be. We lost on that vote? Yeah, we did. I thought, I don't want to say, doo doo doo doo doo, Earth to Rose. I know, I'm just kidding. But anyway, yes, we lost on that vote. Marriage is not decided in Arizona that it's between a man and a woman. Because they were trying to amend the Constitution in Arizona to say that it's between a man and a woman. Now imagine if somebody 50 years ago would have said that 50 years from now, they're going to be having a vote in the state of Arizona where their marriage is between a man and a woman and it's going to lose. You'd think that they were nuts. You'd put them in a straitjacket for even bringing up the subject. But here we are because spoiling and violence abound, the law is slacked. Judgment does never go forth. You know, judgment, that's talking about justice. Think about the criminals who are not brought to justice. Think about the child molesters who get off with two to five years in most cases. Think about the murderers, the perverts, the pedophiles, and they're on death row for 20 years. Think about Charles Manson in Southern California. He's on death row for years and years. And then in the 1970s, some liberal judge, some liberal Supreme Court says that the death penalty is unconstitutional. He was commuted from death row and then when they put the death penalty back in place, they would not put him back on the death penalty. So Charles Manson is never being brought to justice in this country. He's sitting in a prison cell in Southern California right now. He's up for bail next year again. You know, who knows, or parole or whatever you call it, parole. And he's probably not going to get out, but just the fact is he hasn't been brought to justice because justice for what that man did is not to be in a jail cell, it's to have his head cut off. It's to be burning in hell right now. That's where he's eventually going to be. But I'm going to tell you something. Judgment is not going forth in this country is easy to agree upon. And so what we see ourselves in in America is the exact same condition that Habakkuk sees in verses 1 through 4. Our churches are this way in spiritual sense. They won't preach on sin because, hey, everybody's doing it, can't preach on it. And you'll notice that preachers will just single out certain sins. Because everybody's doing so many sins that they just have to keep on and on. All they can preach is alcohol, cigarettes, and fornication. Because those are the only ones that they can put their finger on or something. And it's just like, they just go over those again. I was thinking about this. I just want to talk about these elections because it's in everybody's mind. I've been thinking about it. But you think about these anti-smoking initiatives that were on the ballot. Now with those passed, why did they pass? Because smokers are a minority, right? I mean, that's why they pass. And so, now don't get me wrong because I believe smoking is a sin. I'm totally against smoking. But why does the anti-smoking initiative pass? Because not that many people are smokers. And so they just go, yeah, whatever. But see, when you're doing it, when it's something that affects you, then it's like, whoa, whoa, don't talk about that. And so that's why it's so easy for preachers to single in on certain sins. You say, well, I've been in church for 20, 30 years. I've never heard a preacher preach against the television. It's because he's got one in his living room. It's because he's watching all the sodomites and whores and whoremongers. That's why you haven't heard about it. You can tell. You want to know what sins I'm into? Let me just tell you. You want to know what sins I'm into? It's the ones that I never preach on. Yeah, come on. I'm serious. You want to know what sins a preacher's involved in? Just listen to what he never hits on, and you'll know what he's into. Because any preacher who won't preach on sin, it's because he's living in it. Because when judgment doesn't go forth, when the law is slacked, it's because iniquity and sin abounds. That's what it boils down to. But anyway, you get into verse 5 in the chapter here. And boy, I just believe that this just sums up our condition in this country. But this is verse 5 where God speaks. So far we've just heard Habakkuk say, What a wicked country I'm living in. It's ungodly. Criminals are getting off the hook. I mean, the preaching has gone soft. I just can't understand it, God. I'm screaming and yelling about it. I'm crying out to you. Can you do something about it? Well, let's find out what God's going to do about it. Behold ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvelously. For I will work a work in your days, which you will not believe, though it be told you. This is his solution in verse 6. For lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall precede it themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards and are more fierce than the evening wolves, and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far. They shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence. Their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand, and they shall scoff at the kings. Then the princes shall be a scorn unto them. They shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it. It's kind of an odd answer to the back of his plate. He said, whoa, God, that doesn't sound like what I wanted to happen. He's complaining about how bad things are, about all the violence that he's seeing, about all the sin that he's seeing, and says, God said, oh, don't worry about it in the back. I've been listening. I'm going to do something about it. I'm going to bring this wicked, ungodly, violent army of the Chaldeans. Now, who are the Chaldeans? Well, this is talking about Nebuchadnezzar, and that's the nation of the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar is the one who came and, you know, brought this judgment that God's prophesying right here. This is predicting the future that Nebuchadnezzar would come with the Babylonian Chaldean army, and he would take captive the Judeans, as mentioned there. He would just destroy them. He'd deride every stronghold. He would scoff at the kings, and it talks about in the Bible how he went in and poked out their eyes and took them captive and humiliated them, and on and on. If you read about that in 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings in those two books. But this is talking about Nebuchadnezzar and an ungodly nation that doesn't even believe in God or Jesus Christ or anybody coming and destroying their nation and judging their nation. And he talks about just how fierce and how angry they're going to be and how violent they're going to be. Terrible, dreadful, scary, he sang. And then in verse 11 it says, Then shall his mind change, talking about the man who's leading them, Nebuchadnezzar. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Now if you know the story, Nebuchadnezzar, when he came to take over, the Bible calls him Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, is what God called him. Now he was not saved at this point. He was an ungodly man. But he was still being used by God to serve God, to serve out the justice that God was bringing on the Judeans, on the Israelites. Well, it's interesting because there's a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar Adan. Now Nebuchadnezzar Adan was Nebuchadnezzar's captain of the host. It was his leading general. And when Nebuchadnezzar Adan came and took siege of Jerusalem and took Jeremiah captive, Nebuchadnezzar Adan took Jeremiah aside and said, You know what? I know that the reason that we're here destroying you and I know that the reason why you've lost and why we're taking you into captivity is because this nation has turned their back on God. It's amazing that he knew that. It's like God had commissioned them to do this. And when he told Jeremiah, he said, You know what? But I know that you've been preaching right and you're right. And this is an ungodly captain of the host and he said, If you want to come with us, you can come with us and you won't be bound up. You can come with us and just live with us in Babylon. Or he said, If you want to stay here, I'll give you some money, I'll give you some food and just send you back. And he says, It's up to you. And of course, Jeremiah stayed behind in Jerusalem. But you see, the Bible says, Then shall his mind change and he shall pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Let's see that in Daniel chapter 4. We're going to see how he did that. Look at Daniel chapter 4. And if you would look at verse number 1, the Bible says, Nebuchadnezzar the king. This is the man that came and fulfilled this prophecy in Habakkuk 1. Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth. Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. And his dominion is from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and flourishing in my palace and I saw a dream which made me afraid. And the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Now let me explain to you about his dream real quick for sake of time. He had a dream that there was a great big tree, a giant tree, and all the fowls of the heaven and all the beasts of the earth, you know, they lived in this tree, they nested in this tree. And, you know, of course an angel of the Lord comes down and God comes down and they chop down the tree. And they leave just the stump there and the dew of heaven falls on it. You know, on and on he calls for Daniel. Daniel comes and interprets the dream to him. And in Daniel chapter 4 he says, you're this big tree. He said, that pictures you and your worldwide kingdom. You've taken over the entire world. But he says, God is going to cut you off. He's going to chop you down because he's going to show you that he's the one that puts you in the position. He can take you down and he can put you back up again. And so he warns him. He says, look, just quit being so wicked. Give God the glory and everything will be fine. You can lengthen your tranquility. But look at verse 28 now in Daniel chapter 4. The Bible says, all this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. This is the dream being fulfilled. At the end of 12 months, this is Daniel 4 29. At the end of 12 months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. And watch this. The king spake and said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? See how he's saying, look at the greatness that I've done. It's all me. I've done it all. I've accomplished everything. I built this great kingdom. I built this great house. I built this great empire. And then in verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth there fell a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from man and did eat grass as an oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the day, his eye Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most high, and I praised and honored him to live it forever and ever, I'm sorry, forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time, my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me, and on and on. He was restored to his position. God had him banished to the field for seven years. He lost his mind, became a madman like an animal, and he crawled around on all fours and ate grass, and his hair grew out long and his nails grew out long like claws, and he just spooled on himself and was like a dog outside, just living outside eating grass, because God was trying to show him what a fool he'd been for not giving God the glory for his great victory, because all he was was just a pawn in the hand of God to carry out his will against his people. But look at verse number 11 again in Habakkuk, chapter 1. Then shall his mind change. He shall pass over and offend, imputing this his power unto his God. Art thou not from everlasting? This is Habakkuk speaking again. This is where the transition occurs between God speaking and Habakkuk speaking. Art thou not from everlasting? O Lord, my God, my holy one, we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment, and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art a purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst thou look on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously? And holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he. Now, see, here's what Habakkuk's response to this is. He's complaining about the condition that he sees his nation as he's disgusted by it. He's terrified by it. God says, I'm going to bring this wicked king, Nebuchadnezzar, and his armies. They're going to march through the breadth of the land. They're going to take over. They're going to tear down the buildings. They're going to destroy everything in their path. They're going to take people captive. And he says, they're not even going to give me the glory. He's going to turn around and say it was him that did it. And then Habakkuk is saying, God, why in the world would you take this ungodly nation who's worse than we are and use them to judge your own people who, yes, we've gone into sin, but good night, we're not as bad as the Chaldeans are. We still have a semblance of being a Christian nation, or what have you. And he says at the end of verse 13, he says, holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he. He says, look, you're using this wicked king to devour somebody that's more righteous than he is. I remember when 9-11 happened in 2001, five years ago now. I remember when 9-11 happened, the day that I heard about it, this verse came into my mind. And I thought to myself, this is the judgment of God on America. When I saw those twin towers and flames and I saw the planes crash into them, I said to myself, this is God's judgment on this country for the wickedness that we've done. I said, God is judging this country. God is bringing a curse on this country for all the abortion, the 3,000 babies that are murdered every day, for all the homosexuality, for all the pride and arrogance, sin, thumbing our nose at God, not caring about right and wrong. And I remember people said, that's ridiculous. These Muslims, they hate God. They're anti-God. And you're right, they do hate God. They are anti-God. And they said, why in the world would God use these Muslims to hurt us? They're sinners. They're following a false god. They need to read Habakkuk chapter 1 because God says, that's exactly what I do. He says, and if you read, once we get through the whole book of Habakkuk, you'll see this, he says, this is what I do. I take a nation that once knew the things of God. I mean, they had the Bible. The nation of Israel had once been just the powerhouse of the gospel. It had once been his shining light to the Gentiles. It had once been the nation that he was using. But they turned away from God. They turned away from God's laws. They slacked God's laws. And what happened? God said, I'm going to take a more wicked nation more wicked than you can even imagine. He said, the worst nation on the face of this earth because I'm going to use them to terrorize you. I mean, read this chapter, what he says they're going to do. He says, they're going to march in there. He said, they're going to mock you. They're going to laugh at you. They're going to make a fool out of you. He said, their horses are so mean. He says, they run like leopards. He says, what does it say here in verse number? He says, their horses also are swifter than the leopards and are more fierce than the evening wolves. He says, even they train their animals to be fierce and mean and brutal. He says, this army is going to come in. Why? Because they're representing my judgment, which is fierce. And he says, I'm going to bring in that nation that's more wicked than you are than anybody is. And I'm going to use them to destroy you. And then he says, and then I'm going to turn around. And you'll see this later in the book. Then I'm going to turn around and judge that nation. But in all this, he's going to end up being glorified, because both nations, at the end of all of it, are going to know that God ruleth in the affairs of the kingdom of men. Because Nebuchadnezzar eventually acknowledged that, as we saw in that story in Daniel 4. And the children of Israel eventually are going to acknowledge that after they've been in captivity 70 years, when they come back with Ezra and Nehemiah and Zechariah and Haggai and rebuild the temple and rebuild their nation. And they say, we're only going to worship God. We're only going to worship Jehovah. But in verse 12, he clearly says at the end there, he says, oh Lord, we shall not die. He says, I just can't believe that you're going to let me die. I can't believe that you're going to let me be punished and taken captive. But he says, oh Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment. He's saying, I know that you're the one whose idea it was for them to come and take over. It wasn't just something that they're doing. He says, it was your plan. You ordained them to judge us. And he says, and oh mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. See, they're being used by God to correct this wicked nation. Thou art a purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them to deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he. And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. They take up all of them with the angle. They catch them in their net and gather them in their drag. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice under their net and burn incense under their drag, because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous. Now here's what he's talking about here. He's using an illustration of a fisherman who's using a net to fish, dragging a great net through the sea. Now, in verse number 14, he says, and makest men as the fishes of the sea. What he's talking about, he's saying that the people in Judah at this point have no leadership. They have no ruler over them. He says they're just scattered to and fro like sheep that have no shepherd. And what's happening is when this great army of Nebuchadnezzar is coming in, it's almost like they just have to just scoop up these sitting ducks, so to speak, because they're just floundering around like fish. They have no ruler over them. He says they take up all of them with the angle. They catch them in their net and gather them in their drag. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. They just scoop them up and scoop them up. Look, isn't that just so indicative of our nation? No strong leadership? Isn't that so indicative of our churches, of our nation? There's no strong leadership. Nobody wants to stand up and just say, this is right. This is wrong. I don't care what you say. I'm going to give you a clear, definitive statement, not politics, not what's popular. I'm just going to lay it out for you and tell you what I believe. Well, I don't know that much about the gubernatorial candidates that we just had, but Janet Napolitano, I can talk about it legally after the election. Janet Napolitano and Len Munsell, the two candidates. But from what I understood, Len Munsell seemed like he was really taking a stand for a lot of right things. That's the way I saw it. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong about that. But from what I saw, he seemed to be really making it clear what he believed on a lot of things. And then maybe that's why he lost, and he only got 35% of the vote. And we have Governor Janet. God help us all. We've got some short-haired woman in the governor's seat that has never been married, never had kids, a single short-haired woman, Janet Napolitano, leading this state. God help us. That's ridiculous. Say, I don't like that kind of preaching. Well, I don't care whether you like it or not. That's the truth. God doesn't want that woman to be in charge, that liberal Democrat, that abortion-supporting, gay-loving, ungodliness. Yes, that's right. Yes, we don't have a good leader in Arizona tonight. Yes, we have an ungodly leader. Yes, the people in Arizona are like the fishes of the sea that have no ruler over them, and we're just sitting ducks for the ungodly to come in and take over and destroy our land. Yes, that's the truth tonight. Where's the sore leadership in this country? Where's a man, yes, I said a man, that would stand up and be a leader in this country and say, I'm going to fight for what's right. I don't care what the polls say. I don't care what people think. I don't care what my constituents think. I care what God thinks, a leader that would stand up. And you say, well, Pastor Anderson, we're just not going to have that in America. I mean, good night, it's 2006, that's the way America is. We're not going to have that in Arizona and California and the United States. It's just not going to happen. Well, can we have it in church then, please? I mean, if we're not going to have it in the White House, if we're not going to have it in the governor's house, if we're not going to have it in the city council, if we're not going to have it anywhere, can we have it in the house of God? Huh? Can we have the house of God with a man of God that gets up and preaches and says what he believes from the Bible? I mean, if there's one place where a man of God should be able to just get up and say, look, I love you and I love God, but you know what? I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm going to say what it is, and I don't care whether you like it or not. You can say anything you want about what I preach, but you know, what I preach is in the Bible, and I prove everything that I preach out of the Bible, and I study the Bible and I read the Bible, and if I'm wrong on something, I can see it out of the Bible, I'll quit preaching it. I'll change. But you know what? I'm not going to tone down my preaching from the Bible because spoiling and violence are before me and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore, the law slacks. Hey, bring all the strife and contention you want my way. Huh? Meet me after the service and bring me some strife and contention about what I'm preaching out of the Bible and see if it changes. See if the law slacks when you strive with me about what I preach. It's not going to happen. And of course, that doesn't happen in this church, but everybody's saying, like, who is it? I'm talking to you tonight, Dave. I'm putting a sock to it right now. Come on, Brother Lawless, that's you. But hey, you know what? Hey, we are just starving in this country. And to me, I don't understand. I'll be honest with you. I don't understand why, like, there's not just, like, thousands of people outside the building tonight just, like, trying to get in to be in this service tonight. I can't understand it. I can't understand why people want to go to some pansy church and listen to some liberal preacher talk about totally irrelevant things that mean nothing. Nobody knows what he believes. You ask him what he believes, like, well, you know, he's all round about. Hey, look, I myself know that before I started this church, you know, when I was just a church member like you are, going to church, I was just thirsty and longing for a strong pastor, you know, a strong leader that would just get up and preach. And I could just, you know, bite into it and say, yes, you know, he believes something. He's saying something. He believes something. He's preaching something. I mean, that's the way I felt. But in this country, strong leadership does not abound. Dads that don't know how to lead their home, they don't know how to just lay down the law and say, listen, honey, listen, kids, it's the way it is. Not because of what I say, you know, not because it's my opinion, but because this is the way God says it should be, so it's the way it's going to be, you know. If God says that, you know, you shouldn't dress that way, teenage girl, you know, when you're dressed like a hoochie mama, hey, where's the strong dad that'll say, listen, honey, you're not going to dress that way or you can get out of my house? I'm not going to have you dress like a hooker in my house. You know, that's what a strong leader is. I'm not talking about somebody who's being a tyrant for their own benefit. I'm talking about a strong leader who says, I will enforce God's laws in my house because I'm the boss. I'm talking about a strong leader like a governor who says, I will enforce the laws of God and the laws of this country because it's right to do. And so I'm not going to budge on it. I'm not going to waver on it. I'm just going to stick with what I've said, what the law says. This slackening of the law, you're a legalist. You know, you've heard people use that term, you legalist. Okay, look, I love words. I love etymology. Let's break down the word legalist. Legal means law. Ist means one who believes in. So a legalist is somebody who believes in the law. I'm a legalist. Guilty as charged. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. That's what the Bible says. Oh, how loved by thy law is my meditation night and day. See, the law is a positive thing. And you see, the people who say you're a legalist, oh, you just love the letter of the law. Yeah, I do. You're absolutely right, I do. I love the letter of the law because I'm not going to slack the law. And you say, well, the Bible says, you know, the letter killeth, but the Spirit maketh alive. You know, the letter of the law is a bit bad. Hey, look, you need to read the book of Galatians again, friend, because in the book of Galatians when it says the letter killeth and the Spirit maketh alive, the Bible is talking about how the law of God condemns you to hell. The law of God is what kills you because the wages of sin is dead. And that's why Paul said, then the commandment came and sin revived and I died. That's what he says in Romans chapter 7. And so the reason that the letter killeth is because the letter is the one that said, thou shalt not steal, and the wages of sin is dead. And all liars shall have their part in the liquid verb with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Yes, the law will kill you. But the Spirit giveth alive. You know, the Spirit makes you alive because that's when you get saved and you're regenerated by the Spirit of God. So, look, the letter of the law is the Bible. It's God's word. It'll either destroy you or it'll save you. If you believe on Jesus Christ, it'll save you and take you to heaven. If you don't believe, the word of God will be the one that condemns you in the last day. Jesus says, I'm not condemning you. He said I didn't come to the world to condemn the world, but that the world through me might be saved. He says that in the last day there's going to be one that condemns you. He says, Moses. He says the law of Moses will condemn you in the last day. He says when you stand before God, the law of Moses is going to condemn you. Me and Brother Dave were just talking about this. I believe that when the Bible says in Revelation 20, where he says the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works, we were talking about this. Some people think that the books referred there are like a book of everyone's actions that they've ever done. But personally, I believe that the books that are opened are the 66 books of the Bible. I think that at the last day, at the great white throne of judgment, the books are going to be opened. And God's going to use these books to judge them according to their works and say, you've broken this law, you've broken this one right here, you've broken this one right here, and you're going to go to hell. Now us, we're not even going to be there, thank God, because we're going to be part of that first resurrection where we're already translated and transfigured, and we're like Jesus Christ, and we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, and we'll be without sin, faultless to stand before the throne as the song we sang. But the unsaved will be judged out of the things that are written in this book. The letter of the law is what's going to kill them and condemn them. But no, slackening of the law is not of God. Slacking of the law and being loose on standards and laws and rules, that's not what God's about. God's about obeying the laws of God, because the laws of God are perfect, and so we shouldn't change them, we shouldn't loosen them up, we shouldn't slacken them, we should not enforce them. We should do all those things. And so that's what we see in verse 15, what he's talking about, this illustration about just fish. You know, they don't have a leader. They just kind of swim around and just swim around. And again, how hard is it? You just take a net and just scoop them up. And you can just, you know, if you're a false prophet, you're a false teacher, you're some cult leader, just scoop them up, buddy. You're a Ted Haggard pervert pedophile. You can just, you know, yes, every homosexual is a pedophile. You heard me right. And so, you know, this pervert pedophile, I can prove that from the Bible too. You can read my essay, it's on my website. And some Ted Haggard comes into town, Colorado Springs, hey, God bless you, buddy. You know, televangelists, 14,000 people come to this church. Because they're like fish. I mean, they're just stupid. They're just swimming around. He just scoops them up. Hey, we got a fitness club and a weight room and we got rock music and we got partying and we got singles and we got this and that and that. And we won't preach anything, won't preach the Bible, won't preach hard, won't preach on sin, and I'll be out smoking dope with my gay buddy. That's what Ted Haggard was about, friend. Ted Haggard, as I've affectionately named him. And so, those that were here on Sunday, they're like, that's old. We already heard that. We already heard that Sunday night. All right, I'll think of a new one. Give me a minute here. But anyway, you know, that's the day we're living in. People are so ignorant of the Bible. They're so, as the case is here, they're so without leadership. They're so without a leader leading them, a dad leading them, a pastor leading them, a mayor leading them, a governor leading them, a president leading them that's without leadership. And so it's so easy for the enemy to just scoop them up, whether it be Satan, whether it be the Ted Haggards of this world, and whether it be the, who, you fill in the blank, or whether it be the, you know, the Islamic crowd that wants to destroy us and kill us tonight. You know, the Islamic terrorists that would love to come in and destroy us. It could happen. It's happened before in history. It could happen again. We're not above it. And in verse number 16, the Bible says, therefore, we're continuing with the fishing illustration that he used there in verse 15. Therefore, they sacrifice unto their net. This is talking about the enemy who used this net to scoop up these fish and to destroy them. Therefore, they sacrifice unto their net and burn incense unto their drag because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous. And so he's saying that these people are not acknowledging God. Back to what we saw with Nebuchadnezzar. They're being used by God to destroy us. But he says, then they turn around and instead of worshiping the God that gave them this victory and that let them control the world, the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, he says, then they turn around and they worship the net. They worship the drag because by them their portion is fat and their meat plenteous. It's just, again, we're just talking about a people who does not acknowledge God. I love the verse Proverbs 3, 6. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. See, God wants us to acknowledge him. You read in Romans 1 where he talks about people who worship and serve the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever and ever, amen. They worship the creature and not the creator. They don't give glory to God. And see, everything about the Bible, all the message of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is give God the glory. Give God the glory. It comes to salvation, hey, give God the glory. You didn't get saved because you turned from your sins. You didn't get saved because you started living a good life. You didn't get saved because you got baptized and joined the church. You didn't get saved because you used to do this and now you do this. Hey, you got saved because of Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross. Give God the praise. Give God the glory. He's the one who did salvation. Hey, in your life, don't get all cocky. Maybe you make a lot of money. Maybe you're financially well off. Hey, give God the glory. Don't look your nose down on somebody who's poor. Hey, the poorest person in the world is welcome in this church. I don't care if they're clothed in rags. I want them right here in the front row. I want to shake their hand. I want them to be a part of this church. I want them to be the most important person in this church because everybody is welcome. And if anybody has money, it's because God gives them the power to get wealth, the Bible says in Deuteronomy. If anybody is poor, it's because that's the lot that God gave them in life. But you know what? You could just assume he's just as poor as they were because it's all based on what God does for you. And it's not something for you to boast about or be arrogant about. You know, maybe you're good looking. Somebody else is as ugly as homemade sin. Hey, look, don't be all cocky and arrogant and, oh, I don't have anything to do with you, you know. Get away from me. Hey, look, give God the glory. Everything about life, understand that God made you, God can destroy you. God put you where you are. He can lift you up. He can put you down. He can have you fired from your job. He can have you promoted from your job. God ruleth in the affairs of the children of men. And when it comes to salvation, give God the glory. When it comes to anything that you've been given in life, talents, abilities, good looks, money, whatever it is, hey, give God the glory. It's by the grace of God. Anything that you have in life is by the grace of God. Worship God. Don't worship the money that God allowed you to make. Don't worship the job that God gave you that makes you successful. That job could be gone tomorrow. Have your faith in God because he won't be gone tomorrow. Your job could collapse tomorrow, but God will still be there. So have your faith in God and you'll never fall. You'll never fail. And so we see in the last verse there, in verse 17, the Bible says, Shall they therefore empty their net and not spare continually to slay the nations? Basically what he's asking is when is it going to stop? He says these people have destroyed, they're going to destroy us. He said I've already seen they've destroyed several nations. They're on their way toward us because in Habakkuk it hasn't happened yet. It's being prophesied that it's going to happen. And he says is this going to stop? Are they going to keep coming? Are they going to take us? Are they going to destroy us? And then in verse number 1 of chapter 2, just we're not learning chapter 2, but just I'm tying in because it kind of leaves it at a natural place there in chapter number 1. I will stand upon my watch 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 reproved. And I'm going to close with this statement. He's saying I've asked all these questions to God. I've questioned him. Why are you holding your tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that's more righteous than he? Why have you made the men in this country like fishes of the sea that have no ruler over them? Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? Why, why, why, why? That's the whole theme of chapter 1. Why in the world are you doing this? And I find myself looking around today and saying, Why? God, why? What's going on? Why? Why are churches changing? Why are my heroes changing? Why are churches that I used to go to changing? Why is this country changing? Why are people letting me down? Why is this country going down the tubes? Why, God, why are you doing this? Why are you letting this happen? But I love Habakkuk's response in chapter 2, verse 1. He says, You know what? I'm just going to wait and see what God says. Stand upon my watch and set me upon it. I will watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved. You see that? Before God even answered him, he says, I know I'm wrong. You know? He says, I'll wait to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I'm reproved. Because he says, reproved means when somebody tells you you're wrong and let me explain to you. Why? If I were to reprove you, if I reproved my children and I said, children, you need to sit still in the service. You know, quit horsing around. Of course, they're being good tonight. But if I were to do that, that's reproof. Reproof is when you correct somebody who's wrong. And he says, I'll wait and see what God says to me because I'm going to see how he straightens me out because you know what? I'm sure he's going to tell me I'm wrong. Because God is always right. And so as we live in a day that's a little bit confusing, as we live in a world that's a little bit confusing, hey, let's just always remember that God's always right and we're wrong. If we're confused, if we don't think something's fair about our life, if we don't think something's fair about our nation, we're wrong. And Habakkuk realized that. And he said, you know what? I'm questioning God. Yes, I am because it's just terrible what's going on. I can't understand it. It doesn't make sense to me why God would use somebody that's more wicked than I am to judge me when I'm more righteous than he is and God's letting him to destroy me. But he says, you know what? I'm just going to wait and see what God says because I know that I'm wrong. Because I know God's always right. And I'm going to tell you something. To whom much is given, much shall be required, the Bible says. And so this country of Judah here was being held to a much higher standard by God than the nation of the Chaldeans because they didn't really have the Bible preached as prevalently as the Hebrews did. And in America, boy, we had the Gospel. We've had the truth. We've had the soul winners of independent Baptist churches knocking on doors up and down this country. We've had numerous opportunities to get right with God. God's given us a few shots across the bow like 9-11 and others to try to wake us up, to try to stir us up and give us a warning sign, some kind of a signal. Get right with God. And we've been given the truth. We've once had just great powerhouses of the Gospel in this country, great soul winning churches and great things happen. And so we're being held to a higher standard. And so our judgment is coming because judgment will come on a nation that forgets God. I was going to read. Let me read this one last thing for you. Psalm 9 and then we'll close in prayer and I'll just read this for you. Psalm 9, 14. The Bible says that I may show forth thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. Did you hear that? The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. He says, look, I always carry out justice. He says, people who do wrong, they pay for it. Period. Nations who do wrong, they pay for it. He says, that's the thing that just epitomizes who I am. He says, I'm known by the judgment that I carry out. He says, the wicked will be snared in the net that they've made for themselves. The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. Did you hear that? He says, unsaved people are going to go to hell, but not only that, nations that forget God are going to go to hell. He says, I'm going to destroy them. And then after that, he says, for the needy shall not always be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord, let now man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. And so God says, I always carry out justice. He says, judgment will come to the ungodly nation. And you say, America's not that bad. America's not that ungodly. It's because you haven't been reading the Bible. Because if you read the Bible and you see how righteous God is, read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and see the high standards of morality, the high standards of righteousness and conduct. Then read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and read about how God is telling you what's right and what's wrong and what do you expect. And where he says, be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. And he tells you how to be right and how to do right. And then compare that to what you see in this country. And then compare that to your own life. And then tell me that this country is not facing the judgment of God. It is, my friend. And so let's bow our knees and pray and beg God that we could have one last great revival in this country of soul winning and righteousness and preaching and let's just see if we can just push back the judgment of God as far as we can in this country. Hey, look, I'm not one of these doom and gloom kind of defeatist kind of people that says, oh, it can't be done. You can't build a big church. You can't be in a city like this. Hey, look, I see people saved all the time. I'm seeing people saved every week. How about you? You know, we're seeing people saved and exciting things are happening. People are coming to church. People are getting baptized. Hey, it can still be done. We can still do right. We can still stand up and fight for the things of God. But I'm going to tell you something. Don't be naive to the fact that judgment's coming to this nation. Hey, let's get up and fight. Let's do something about it. How do we fight? How do we vote? What do we do? We go out soul winning. We win people to Christ. We get the filth out of our own life. We don't participate in the very thing we hate by watching it on TV. We just say, I don't want anything to do with it. I want to be on God's side. I'm going to push and fight and do everything I can to get one more person saved, to do one more thing to keep off the judgment that's coming on this country. Boy, Habakkuk, you say, I don't know what Habakkuk's about. Well, now you know what it's about. And I'm going to tell you something that's very applicable to the day we live in. It's a great book. And so I hope we'll see you for the next two lessons. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, I thank you so much for giving us a Bible that's just so relevant, dear God. It's like I picked up the newspaper and I picked up Habakkuk chapter one and they were both just...