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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Song 412, Onward Christian Soldiers. Song 412 on the verse. Onward Christian Soldiers. Onward Christian Soldiers. Brothers, lift your voices, loud your rhythms raise. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. With the cross of Jesus, going on before. Church, come on, let's sing this out on the third. Like a mighty army, moves the church of God. Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we. One in hope and doctrine, one in charity. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. With the cross of Jesus, going on before. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. With the cross of Jesus, going on before. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Here a salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Patience of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending, great from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. Hiding my Savior and happy at last. Watching Him wait, looking above. Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. Amen, welcome to Strong Old Baptist Church this evening. At this time, we're going through our announcements, so if you don't have a bulletin, slip your hand up real high and one of the ushers will get one to you. If you open up to the first page, you'll see our service time is listed there. It's always Sunday morning at 10.30. Sunday evening, again at 5 o'clock. Wednesday night at 7, of course, is our Bible study. We've got the sowing opportunities listed there, as well as the salvations and the baptisms for the month of June, as well as for the year. So if you have any salvations to report for the week, just slip your hand up real quick. We'll get those counted up. Yes, sir? One yesterday. Amen. Yes, sir? One Monday group. One Monday group. Cool. Anyone else? All right. Very good. Keep up the good work. Preaching the gospel. We've got the offering totals listed down there at the bottom of the page. Prayer requests. Does anyone have anything new to update for the prayer list? Yes, sir? I don't really know what all this means. I guess I've been looking up and kind of got an understanding. Whatever PSA levels are, I'm sure some people know what that is, but apparently it needs to go down, and it is heading the right direction. We've just got another test or whatever, and it's going the right direction. Good. Well, that's good news. It's still not out of the woods, but it's... He's still continuing, because he's been improving, right? So this is one more step improving good test results in line with what they're anticipating? Is that everything sound kind of... Or is it better? Did he get a feel for that? It could be expected. Okay. He knows whatever. It's supposed to be a while back to the name of the medicine that he's putting on, but he's still on that, and apparently it's going where they want it to go. How is he overall? Do you know? I mean, just in general, like his day-to-day? Is he... I just thanked him every once in a while just to get a report on how that is. I'm proud to go by the theme, and I don't really think he's up for company right now. Yeah, sure. I know he was really depressed there for a little while, but it seems like he's in a little bit better spirits now. Okay. Well, that's good. Because of the good news. Yeah. Yeah, that always helps, right? Cool. Well, we'll continue to pray for Charles. Anyone else? Thank you for the update, and praise the Lord for that. That's really good. I'm glad to hear good news on that front. Anyone else have any updates? Yes. Okay, so he's doing really sick. I'm surprised they'd give him vaccines. That's probably what made him sick. Of course. Why else would you take it, right? Okay. Well, I mean, I'm sorry to hear that. It's terrible that he's not feeling well. So just please continue to pray for Toby. Obviously, very, very sad, very extreme circumstance there with the aggressive MS that he's being treated for and the infusions and everything else. He's being treated for now. He's real sick. So please continue to pray. Pray for him. Anyone else have any updates? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. But they can't find the cause of the pain. So she's got pain in her leg and her back, right? Yes. But the leg, they did some scanning, right? Did they get some imaging done, but they still can't see anything that's going to tell them why she's having the pain? So they're dealing with the pain with medicine right now? Okay. Is she scheduled to go back to the doctor and follow up, I assume, next week? Okay. Is that the full update? Yes. Okay. Thank you for that full update. We'll continue to pray for your grandmother and hope she gets out of pain. Does that make her not be able to walk around as much, too, because of all that? Or is she still okay getting around? Yes, ma'am. Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm sorry to hear that she's still in so much pain. But Estelle Santos, who's on here for severe back pain, also is having leg pain, too. So please just remember to pray for her for all of that, all the pain. Anyone else have any updates for the prayer list? All right. Very good. We'll continue on with the announcements here. Of course, we had our sixth anniversary celebrated on Sunday. We had a lot of fun with that. I appreciate everybody who stuck around and helped out and did all the cleaning and helped with all of it, with the whole event. Everything looks great now, too. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for everybody. And every year I think we're going to try to improve and make our anniversary celebration just a little bit better. Hopefully next year we'll have maybe a Saturday and a Sunday and some extra soul winning and some other things to go along with it. We'll work on planning that out a little bit better and see if we get a guest preacher in here, too. So anyways, we had a really good time. I don't know what the story is with leftovers. If there's leftovers, though, it would be a good idea if you want leftovers to take them, take it home with you. I was uncertain on Sunday. I was told there wasn't a whole lot, but I looked like there's some stuff in the fridge. I don't know what it is. I didn't open it up. So if you want to grab some food, see what it is, take it home with you, by all means, please go ahead and help yourself to that. The June challenge, of course, we've got a few days left here. Sunday, I think, is the 30th. So that should be the last day of June this coming Sunday. So make sure that you are finding someone to at least attempt to give the gospel to every day this month. And then we've got the church plant details there. So this Saturday we're going to be moving a lot of stuff. We'll be loading up a big box truck and then unloading it on site. So this evening, if you would like to help at all with staging, we'd appreciate that. So we're going to be moving. The biggest thing we're doing is moving all the chairs from the back storage area rooms. So anywhere we have like current like the chairs that we have here, we'll be moving all of those out to this entrance back here called the new entrance. That's all the all the stuff will be loaded up there and ready to go. And then there's some other items that are also back there that will be brought out that we'll be going to. We'll probably keep like a stack or two of these chairs in the back as extra as reserved for for ourselves, for when we have larger groups or whatever. But I'll let you know after service how many are going to we'll just hold back. And the vast majority of them will go out to the church plant and all the rest of the stuff. So if we could have it all stage and loaded or stage and ready to go here, then Saturday morning here, we should be able to get everything loaded up relatively quickly. Obviously, it depends on how many people show up to help. But the more people, the quicker it'll go to get that loaded. And then we'll drive it on up to Greenville. And the plan there is to have lunch around noon and do unloading around that time. But I mean, we might get there a little bit earlier, depending on how quickly we get everything loaded up on Saturday. But Saturday morning at eight is when I wanted to be here. So if you can help, I'd appreciate that. And. Yeah, it's gonna be real exciting. So hopefully you can help out with that. But, Jeremy, did you have something you wanted to add? Is that what's in the fridge? Cake. OK. I wasn't sure what it was, so. It's it's even better, right? I think people are more likely to take the cake home even than some of the leftover food. So by all means, let's in fact, if you want to, you can just you could pull it out so people can remember after the service. You can just just leave it out here and help yourself take plates or whatever. I don't even know. We have foil, aluminum foil or something, if you want to grab some and take it home with you. Really appreciate that. So the cake was really good. I got some and ate some finally at home after the event. And it's really good cake. So go ahead and please help yourself to that. And then, of course, all the church plant details are there. Oh, I did also. So, Brother Keith, don't worry about emailing me. I wrote you down on my list. I was just my thought my brain was somewhere else when you when you stopped by my office. Sorry, but I have you. I have you right now. You don't need to contact me anymore about about a room for. Is it just for is it for Friday night or both nights or what? Just Friday night. Gotcha. Everyone who has already contacted me about hotels. We did all the reservations. Leslie helped me out a tremendous amount today and got all the reservations booked. If you have already prior to today asked for hotel reservations. So I will be sending out emails to everyone who sent me. I don't think we have individual confirmation numbers because we kind of rented a whole bunch of rooms. So there was what, like 12 or 15 somewhere, 15 rooms or something. So there's a lot of people that are even going to be staying, let alone everyone that's local. It's going to be able to make it out there and people who aren't spending the night. So it's gonna be awesome to be a lot of fun. So hopefully you could get out there. And if you needed a room either for Friday night or Saturday night or both. Please, please let me know right away before everything fills up. And it's a lot easier for us, especially the closer we get to that day, the more busy I am. OK, so if you wait to the last minute, the person's going to get a room now, like I'm not going to guarantee we're going to get you a room, you know, the longer you wait. So if you want to come down there, please let me know ASAP. We'll work it out. We'll help you out. And just looking forward to making an awesome event. All the details are there. Pastor Anderson's preaching on Friday night. We have a soul winning marathon on Saturday and then the grand opening service. Brother Carter is preaching in the morning. I'm preaching in the afternoon. It's going to be a blast. So. Yeah, appreciate all the support for that church plant. And then we've got the Bible memory. Oh, and we also have a YouTube channel set up. And we'll get that published to our social media. So if you want to start following that channel, we've got a Facebook page already set up for it. We're getting all of the Rumble channel already created. So if you want to follow along with with all of that, then we'll we'll try to be posting that up soon. Brother Steven Adams was here on Sunday. He helps manage our social media here. So for those of you that don't know him or or didn't know that he's been doing a tremendous effort for us. Pretty much almost since the church began with all of our YouTube stuff and everything is a true blessing to the church in that regard. And he's agreed also to help with the church plant stuff. So very, very happy to have his support there. And we're also going new things. We're getting a facelift to our current website as well. Brother Josh has done some work on cleaning it up and making it look a lot nicer. I couldn't believe I looked at it the other night and I was just like, I'm blown away at how if I had been like looking at that a little bit more, I probably would have changed something a lot sooner. I like we have pictures up of Lucky Shoals and half of you are like, what's Lucky Shoals? It's like where we started meeting and like this super old pictures. There's a there's an old soul winning mega marathon photo up there from a long time ago. And there's a there's a lot of things that need to be updated and changed. And I appreciate you and even just making it look nice and modern and all of that. So he is helping out with that. So I appreciate that. So you could you should be able to see those changes coming up real soon on our website. Continuing on Bible memory passage. So this is the last few days for the last two verses. But I told you before, I'm going to give you a whole extra week just to make sure that you've got you've got everything down a review week to to get this down. And then also, I usually give another prize for being able to do the whole chapter. So if you're able to quote all 40 verses, then you get a bonus prize for being able to do the whole chapter. OK, so use that extra review week to try to get all of it to not only get the 21 through 40, but then all of it together. Try to try to take advantage of that. Upcoming birthdays and anniversaries are listed there. Today is today, the twenty sixth. So Brother Jess and Miss Catherine are have an anniversary today. Unfortunately, not here. They're probably not here on purpose. I'm just kidding. Singing the anniversary song. And you can see the rest of the birthdays, anniversaries through the end of the month, as well as the very beginning of July. And that's about it for announcements this evening. So I'm going to turn the service back over Brother Peter, who will lead us in our next song. I never hear those. The song number one hundred and forty nine. Some hundred forty nine. One twenty nine on the first scene. Trusting every day. Trusting through the stormy way. Even when my faith is small. Trusting Jesus that is all. Trusting as the moments fly. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him will e'er befall. Trusting Jesus that is all. Priorly doth his Spirit shine. Into this poor heart of mine. While he leads I cannot fall. Trusting Jesus that is all. Trusting as the moments fly. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him will e'er befall. Trusting Jesus that is all. Singing if my way is clear. Praying if the path be clear. If in danger for him call. Trusting Jesus that is all. Trusting as the moments fly. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him will e'er befall. Trusting Jesus that is all. Trusting him while life shall last. Trusting him till the earth be fast. Till within the jasper wall. Trusting Jesus that is all. Trusting as the moments fly. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him will e'er befall. Trusting Jesus that is all. Amen church, great singing. It's time I'd like to ask the ushers if they could please sit up for our Wednesday night offering. Church, while the offering plates are being passed around, you can open up your Bibles, a book of Habakkuk, chapter 2. There's a book of Habakkuk, chapter 2. As we do customary here at St. Louis Baptist Church, why don't you read the entire chapter. That's Brother Michael Ricardo. Amen church, once again, that's the book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk chapter 2. The Bible reads, 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 the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end, it shall speak and not lie, though it tarry. Wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Yea, also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that accreaseth, that which is not his! How long, and to him that lateth himself with thick clay! Shall they not rise up suddenly, that shall bite thee, and awake, that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the women of the people shall spoil thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that coveteth in evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hath sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the being out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and established a city by iniquity. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts, that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for a very vanity. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness. Thou art filled with shame for glory. Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. What profiteth the graven image, and the maker thereof hath graven it? The molten image, and a teacher of lies, and the maker of his work, trusted therein to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that save unto the wood. Awake to the dumb stone. Arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. For the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for the book of Habakkuk. We thank you for this church. We thank you for the new church plant. God, we thank you for all the souls previously saved and the future souls to be saved. Fill past the birds with your spirit. Allow for him to preach a powerful message for tonight that we can be able to open our ears to hear and write down what is needed for us to take home and dwell on. God, we just praise you and thank you for all that you've done. We say this all in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so a brief summary here. We're in chapter two, right in the middle of the book of Habakkuk. We did chapter one last week where we saw Habakkuk basically was asking God kind of why were these things happening? Why are these people who are more wicked than us coming in and judging and things like that? And why isn't God basically just stepping in and defending the people who are more righteous than those who are coming in and causing them problems and persecuting them? And at the end, if you remember last week, we started with also reading the first verse of this chapter because it's important to understand the humility that Habakkuk has when he's asking God and not understanding why things are the way they are. And he's questioning why is this happening? This doesn't seem right to me. It seems like there's a lack of judgment. It seems like things just aren't quite right. So then he says here in verse number two, this is kind of the end of Habakkuk speaking, in verse number one, 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. So when he's like, I'm just waiting to hear what God is going to tell me and show me my error and show me how I'm wrong and I'm just waiting for that. And as I mentioned last week, you know, we all ought to have this humble attitude when it comes to especially comes to hearing the word of God, being able to be reproved and just waiting for it and being ready for just saying, OK, look, I'm you know, I don't have everything right. And God, please show me my error. I see this. This doesn't look right. I see that things don't seem to be adding up for me. Can you please just correct me? Show me why am I wrong? What's right, Lord? And just guide me. And you also notice, too, you know, God does not in this whole chapter. He's not he's not like rebuking Habakkuk. He's teaching him because when people have the right attitude, they're going to be taught. It's when people have the bad attitude or when people think they're not doing wrong. And when people think that they're all right, God's going to come down a lot harder on those people. We're going to talk a lot more sternly to them. But to someone who has an open ear and a soft, humble heart, he's going to say, OK, well, here's the way it is, right? He doesn't. He doesn't. Speak sternly in his response here, so let's keep reading here. Verse number two, the Bible says, And the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. Now, keep your place here. Turn, if you would, to Nehemiah Chapter number eight. And the first thing I want to point out, because what's happening here, Habakkuk is getting some prophecy. He's getting prophecy of the children of Israel are going to be taken captive by the Babylonians because this is what was happening back at that time. And he sees these wicked people who are coming in and conquering and taking over. But it's also, I believe, a dual prophecy as so much of the other prophecy is in scripture of the Babylon to come and of the Antichrist and that whole system and those events that are going to come as well. There's kind of some mirrored things that are going on with that. But I want to point out a few things. So when God answers Habakkuk, he says, OK, hey, write this down, write this vision and make it plain upon tables. God's not trying to confuse people. He's not trying. He's not saying, hey, here's this code and you're going to have to figure it out and you're going to have to really study and put all this stuff together and get your secret decoder pin and crack the cipher and then maybe you'll be able to figure out what I'm trying to tell you. It's a Da Vinci code. It's this code. It's all this other stuff. No, look, he said make it plain. Which is also why we have the last book of the Bible in the New Testament. It's called Revelation. Why? Because things are being revealed. They're not being covered. It's not being hidden. It's not trying to be dark. It's being revealed. God wants his people to know what's going to happen. He wants us to be strong. He wants us not to be offended. Jesus said, look, I'm telling you these things so when the time comes you wouldn't be offended. I want you to be strong. I want you to see when it comes to pass and know, hey, this has already been prophesied. You've already been warned about this. It also gives you time to prepare and know it makes you stronger. And he says, look, make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. So notice, too, there's also an action that corresponds with the knowledge. So it's not just, well, I'm just going to give you all this knowledge just so you can have knowledge. You can be so smart and you can tell everyone else how smart you are and you can have all these prophecies and you can say when you know when the Lord's coming back and all this other stuff that you want to tell people. No, it's so that he may run that readeth it. So one, it's going to be plain so you don't need someone to decipher a code for you. He's just saying, look, here's my word and I want everyone to hear it and that it's so simple that he that hears it can run. You can go. You know what to do when you hear the word. You're well prepared. This is how God deals with it. We don't need to count the number of letters and then see, well, you see there's, you know, seven plus seven is fourteen and then four plus one because it's fourteen. It's five and then five plus two because the seven days in a week is seven. You know, like people do this nonsense numerology garbage when it comes to prophecy. Just read the Bible. He said, make it plain upon the table. Easy to see. It's right there in front of you for all to know. And anyone tries to come up with the secret hidden knowledge garbage. It's a cultish. And this is consistent throughout scripture, by the way, this isn't just to Habakkuk. Ezra, or excuse me, Nehemiah chapter eight, verse number five, the Bible says, And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. So when it says he was above the people, it's because he stood on a pulpit of wood. So he was standing there, just, there's a large crowd, and he's on a platform so that people can actually see him. So they all see him open up, excuse me, open up the Bible, and everyone stands up out of respect for hearing the word of God. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, amen, amen, with lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also, Jeshua, and Bani, and Cherubiah, Jaman, Aqab, Shabbatim, Hodijah, Mahesiah, Calita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Poliah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law. And the people stood in their place. So they read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And look, this is one of the reasons why it's important to go to church. Because you're going to hear the preaching of the word of God, and if you have someone doing their job, they ought to be making the word of God plain. They ought to be taking the word of God, taking the law, and giving the sense. Right? Now, God's law isn't complicated, right? The word of God isn't. He wants it plain. He wants people to understand. But at the same time, we also need to be able to make the applications. We need to be able to just get the sense of it and say, okay, well, here's what the Bible says. What does that mean to me? What does that apply? Well, here's how it applies. Here's how we can look at the law and say, okay, what does this mean in my life? Here's what it means. Or just in general, what does this mean? What does that mean? Look, none of this, though, has to do with, well, you know, you really need to study the Jewish culture from thousands of years ago that people don't even really know about. And the farther back, look, the farther back you go in history, the less information there is about anything. And the scholars and the experts want to make you believe something. And seriously, the more you actually learn about it, and I'm still just learning this for myself because I've been trying to learn more about ancient civilizations, and I want to have as much knowledge as I can, there's not a lot of information out there. There just isn't. There isn't much that's withstood the test of time. But you know what we do have? We have the word of God. That's preserved for us. And we have God's word that can light our path. We have God's word that we know and can take as gospel truth because it is, and just have to rely on that. And we don't need any extra biblical content to provide us context to the Bible. The Bible has all the context that we need. And the command from the Lord for the people who are going to be the prophets, the teachers is, here's the word of God, and make it plain, make it easy to understand, give the sense, cause them to understand the reading. But it's not by having to do mental gymnastics in order to understand the word of God. None of it should be that difficult. Turn, if you would, to 2 Peter chapter 3. I'm just going to read the next verse in Habakkuk chapter 2. Habakkuk chapter 2, number 3. Verse number 3, the Bible reads, For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. So he's telling him to write down the vision, make it plain upon the table so that people can understand, and now he's explaining because there's still some time that needs to come before this actually takes place. Before this prophecy that I'm giving you right now is going to happen, you need to make sure it's well understood, it's put out there, it's real plain, people hear it, and he says, at the end, it shall speak, this vision shall speak. This vision will start to make a lot more sense when it actually starts to come to pass. It's going to actually speak to you then, and it's not going to lie. And you'll realize that this is all exactly true, and it's going to play out the way that God says it is. He says, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. So even though it seems like, hey, God made this prophecy, doesn't seem like it's coming to pass, doesn't seem like anything's happening, what's going on here, why aren't we seeing these things? He says, don't worry, it's going to come to pass because it's the word of God, and the word of God never fails, it happens as stated every single time, as God says, because God is holy and true. And I don't think I have the full context here for 2 Peter 3 where I wanted to read, but let's start reading in verse number 1, because this concept is also brought up here in the New Testament. The Bible says, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Now look, Peter is reminding them to be, you know, he's saying, be mindful of the words which were spoken by the holy prophets, the holy prophets before them, like Habakkuk, one of those holy prophets that gave these words and gave prophetic scriptures from the Lord, and saying, hey, don't forget about this stuff, keep this in mind, it may have been a while since it's been delivered, but don't forget it, keep this in mind, as well as also like the apostles, because they've also given and delivered more the word of God. And he says, knowing this verse, in verse 3, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. And those days are here, and they're going to keep coming, and probably just continue to get worse with people saying, oh, yeah, that old book, oh, the Bible, yeah, what does that say in there? Oh, Jesus is coming back, oh, yeah, right, yeah, people have been saying that for thousands of years, when's that going to happen, right? And people will be scoffing and mocking and making fun of the Bible, and it was promised that this was going to happen, it was foretold this was going to happen, going all the way back to the days of the apostles, basically the time of Christ. People were already being told, hey, people are going to make fun of you for this. And the warning, the message is already put in there, though, even going back to the old prophets saying, hey, it may seem like it's going to tarry, it may not be for a while, but take heed, pay attention, don't forget these words, because it's going to come to pass, and in Habakkuk's day, like I said, it did come to pass with Babylon, with the Chaldeans, but there's a little bit more to it than that, too, and hopefully you're going to see some of that tonight in the passage as we read this. But let's jump down a little bit here to verse number 8 in 2 Peter 3. It says, but, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up. And elsewhere in the Bible, I think it's in 1 Thessalonians, it says, hey, but you're not in darkness that that day should overtake you, right? The day the Lord's going to come is a thief in the night. Hey, yeah, for those that are in darkness and live in darkness, they're not going to have any idea it's going to come on them. It's going to be a total surprise. But the Bible says, hey, but you're children of the light, and you are not in darkness, and you've been given these warnings, and you've been told these prophecies, and you've been given this vision, and you've been, you know, it's given for us to understand, so, hey, don't let that day overtake you. Don't let that day overtake you as a thief. It's going to overtake the world as a thief, but not us. Why? Because we're reading the Bible, and we can actually read it with understanding because we're born again, because the veil has been lifted from our eyes, and we can actually read the Bible, and get understanding from it, and make sense on it, and be able to hear the teachers, and the prophets, and the preachers that are giving the Word of God, that are reading the Word of God, and just making it plain, and just saying for what it is. And look, any teaching that you receive from the Word of God, and at least any teaching I receive from the Word of God, and over all the years I've sat, and listened, and still listen to people preach, the things that resonate, and you know are true, they're always real simple. You just look at yourself like, wow, yeah, it's just right there, it's just kind of like right in your face, and you almost feel dumb, like how did I ever miss this? How did I ever not see this? Because once you see it, it's just like that's obvious. And it never requires all this super complicated explanation. And look, I'm not saying there aren't deeper things in Scripture, but the deeper things are like much more nuanced of truths that are already much more evidentiary on the surface. You have these great doctrines, and core beliefs, and prophecies, and everything else that you can see, okay, look, this is all in the surface, this is all spelled out for us pretty plainly. And then as you dig in, you can see some other symbolic meanings, and other references, and things that kind of just enhance your understanding of whatever the basics are. But all of the basics are there for us. And even still, even the nuanced stuff, even the deep things that I've learned are still not complicated. They just require typically a little bit more knowledge to build off of. But it's not complicated. It's not like you can't understand it. It's not like you need some high degree to be able to follow along and get it. Not at all. Let's go back, if you would, to Habakkuk chapter 2. So verse 3 again, he's telling Habakkuk, okay, look, this vision is for an appointed time. It's coming in the future. He says, but once it comes, you'll realize, hey, this is truth. It's not a lie. And though it seems like it's going to take a little while, just wait for it. Wait for it. It will surely come. Verse number 4. Behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Now, does that verse sound familiar, that last portion, the just shall live by his faith? Yeah, it should, because it's quoted like three times in the New Testament. We're going to look at two of those times. So turn, if you would, keep your place here. Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 1. But right off the bat, what should jump out at you about this particular verse, where he says, behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him. It's talking about someone's pride, right? When your soul is lifted up within yourself, it's talking about pride. And it's contrasting that pride and you being, you're not upright. You're not very righteous if you're full of pride, right? If you're lifted up in yourself, you're not upright in the eyes of the Lord. But the just, so those who are justified, those who are righteous, shall live by faith. And when you live by faith, of course we know it's applied. It's not faith in yourself. It's faith in the Lord. So how could you have any boasting or pride when you're walking by faith in someone else? You see what I mean? It's this whole contrast between pride and faith, which also, interestingly enough, is brought up in Romans chapter 1. And we're going to look at verse number 16. We're going to see where this is even quoted for the first time here. Verse number 16, the Bible says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. So again, establishing this portion of the verse of talking about, hey, it's the people who are just are by faith, it's faith in the gospel of Christ as the verse preceding that just mentioned. But then the next verse, verse 18 says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And as you keep on reading Romans chapter 1, which I'm not going to do tonight just for sake of time, you'll see that these people are blinded by pride. They set up these false gods. They become wise in their own thoughts, in their own imaginations. Their hearts darkened and they think that they're something great and they end up becoming reprobate. One more place we're going to return for this reference for the just shall live by faith is in Hebrews chapter 10. And before I even continue reading in Hebrews chapter 10, I want to point this out also is as we continue reading Habakkuk, it's going to be describing a person. Even in this verse, in verse 4 that we just read, behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him. And his soul, obviously you could read like that because it'd be wrong to anybody whose heart is lifted up. And these verses all will stand true as an application to anyone. But specifically what is being taught to Habakkuk are these attributes of the conqueror that's going to come forward and perform this destruction that in the past would have been like King Nebuchadnezzar but in the future is like the Antichrist. So we're going to see these various attributes of the Antichrist in this, for us especially looking forward to future prophecy, and you'll see that these all line up with other scriptures as well. But they're also very simple things that we don't want to have any attributes of ourselves anyways. So his soul, which was lifted up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith. And I kind of bring this up because of the context in Hebrews chapter 10. Look at verse number 36. The Bible says, for ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. And also think about this in the overall context of Habakkuk anyways because Habakkuk's seeing things happening and he's just not like, why is this happening now, right? And he's kind of getting anxious or nervous and going like, hey, where's the judgment of God? What's going on? These things aren't working out the way that I think they should. And the saints need to have patience for God's timing. And I pointed out last week, even the saints that get raptured are saying like, how long, right? People just want to know how long. And in Hebrews chapter 10, we see here, hey, you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Interesting, right? How we just read that in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 3 as well. Though it tarry, hey, wait for it. We need patience. It's going to come. It's the word of God. Just remain faithful because God promises it's going to happen. Verse 38, Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. And what I'm suggesting to you tonight as we read Habakkuk chapter 2 is we're going to be reading about the son of perdition, about the antichrist that's going to come as well as being prophesied in this passage tonight. Let's look at verse number 5. Go back to Habakkuk chapter number 2. So if you remember, verse 4 says, Behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him. So he's full of pride. Verse 5, Yea, also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. Now, as I mentioned, these are bad attributes being brought up, right? So I'm going to teach on he that transgresseth by wine. But just to show and illustrate that this is clearly talking about a specific he and not just a random he, there's a lot of people that transgress by wine that are not gathering all nations unto themselves. Do you see what I mean? So while, yes, we can look at this and we can still glean some more information in the generic sense of people who transgress by wine, the primary application is talking about a specific person. He's proud. He's lifted up in his heart. He transgresses by wine. He's a proud man. He doesn't keep at home. He enlarges his desire as hell. So what does that mean? Super covetous, right? Just wanting, wanting, wanting, wanting, wanting, and driven by this desire to have more and is as death and cannot be satisfied. Someone who's given over to covetousness and greed, you just cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations and hebeth unto him all people. And we saw back in the days of God's judgment on the children of Israel, a nation that rose up that was in charge of the whole known world, right? The kingdom of Babylon and then the Persians and the Medes, right, were in this kind of one world government system where they ran everything. They had the whole kingdom. The whole world was under their control by this desire to gather all nations unto themselves. And the Antichrist is going to have the same exact desire. And we see that prophesied very, very much in the book of Revelation as well as in Daniel. Now, the other meaning, even just looking at someone who transgresses by wine, you know, they may not all not keep at home. They may not all have these attributes. But I'll submit this to you. So many sins go together and will lead to other things. And people who give themselves over to an overindulgence, right? So like getting drunk and giving yourself transgressing by wine is an indulgence to your flesh. It's not that hard to see that when you're giving yourself over to certain flesh, to lots of your flesh, you're going to be probably doing that in other areas as well. It'll lead to just an overindulgence in many areas of life. And you're going to covet and want and desire to have other things besides just that one sin that you're involved with is going to lead to other things. It usually, if not always, does. So this isn't that different from what could happen to anybody who is involved in a transgression by wine. And we'll get to more a little bit later. You know where I'm going with that one. And it's very similar to the love of money is the root of all evil, the Bible says. That is the root of all evil, of all harm, is when people are just given over to covetousness. They don't care about anyone at all anymore and they're willing to do anything for what they want. And it's really dangerous when people are in power and they're given over to covetousness and they just want and want and want because they don't care about anyone else but themselves and they're willing to do whatever to gratify their own desire. Let's keep reading verse number six. Shall not all these take up a parable against him? Now all these are all the nations. Those that are being conquered by this guy who's coming in and he's proud and he's given over to this wine and has this desire. Shall not all these take up a parable against him and a taunting proverb against him and say, woe to him that increaseth that which is not his. Woe to the guy that just comes along and just starts taking. This stuff wasn't his. These nations weren't his. None of this stuff was his. He just came in and took it. And hey, the thief, take mind and understand woe to him that increaseth that which is not his. And notice it says, how long? Again, because the people are going to want to know when's there going to be judgment. All the people are going to want judgment against this guy. How long? And to him that lateth himself with thick clay. Verse seven, shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake that shall vex thee and thou shalt be for booties unto them. Now, this is all still in the context of describing this person. He's not talking to Habakkuk when he's saying thee. And he's not saying, shall they not rise up against you, Habakkuk? Habakkuk didn't do anything wrong. This is all just talking about this wicked person who has his desires. And verse number eight says, because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee because of men's blood and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein. So, this is God's promise of reaping what he's sown. And also, remember, this is the explanation to Habakkuk. Habakkuk was wondering, hey, why is all this stuff happening? And God is telling him, look, his time is going to come. But first, he's going to come in, he's going to do all this other stuff. See, Habakkuk was just seeing, like, the precursor to all this stuff. He wasn't even seeing how bad it's going to get. Like, Habakkuk, it's going to get worse. Write this down. Okay, you think it's bad. Now, just wait. It's going to get a lot worse. Here's what's going to happen. But it's not going to just continue on that way. There is judgment coming, Habakkuk, but just be patient, right? Just wait. And we need to remember that if we happen to be in the times, the literal times, where the persecution gets extreme and we end up being in that tribulation period, and when things get really bad, just know, hey, look, there is a time when it's going to end. And we may feel like we're ready for that end a lot sooner than it actually comes to pass. But keep these passages in mind, right? It should strengthen you and just say, okay, you know, just be ready for the long haul. Be ready for the worst and just to continue to get worse. And then just be pleasantly surprised when you see Jesus in heaven if you make it that far, right? But don't lose the faith. Don't get discouraged. Don't quit. Don't give up, right? Because it's going to come. And, you know, God stays true to his word every single time. Verse number nine. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Now, there's going to be a lot of these statements, woe to him, and just kind of pay attention as we go. I'm going to summarize them all when we're done. Because, again, as I've already mentioned, like with the alcohol and other things, we can make the application on these specific sins and these flaws, covetousness or whatever, individually, even though these are all being applied to one person. So the woe to him can be applied. Woe to him that's, you know, given themselves over to alcohol, right? And that's just a true statement no matter who it is. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house. Amen. I mean, that alone will just stand true. That he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. Now, we're going to read some, it's almost like poetic language in this, the way that God's speaking. So some of it might seem a little bit difficult, but just remember, it's just kind of colorful, expressing what God wants to express here. For example, he says, for the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. And what I take this to mean is, because what's happening is, this guy's coming in, and he's taking that which doesn't belong to him, right? We saw that earlier. But he's also shedding a lot of blood in the stealing and the taking of the stuff that's not his, and it's like, hey, the walls and the wood of the house, see what's going on, are going to cry out, just like the blood of Abel cried out from the earth, right? We've got the stone out of the wall and the beam out of the timber are going to answer it, because the next verse says here, woe to him that buildeth a town with blood and stablisheth a city by iniquity. You know, there's ways of, how do we say, conquering, or becoming in charge over cities and ruling and stuff, and you don't want to do it by blood, by force, by iniquity, right? If people love you and you want to be the leader, and you know, like, you don't do that through force and oppression, and things like that, so that's why it says, woe to him that buildeth a town with blood and stablisheth a city by iniquity. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? Also, an interesting point to note out too is, because I said, you know, a lot of these, woe to him, woe to him, woe to him that we see here can be applied to individuals as well as just the person specifically he's talking about. Think about the people who are being judged can be guilty of, if they're guilty of all these things, well, hey, woe to them, right? And that could give a little explanation as to why are these other judgments coming upon you. Well, maybe you're the ones that are building towns with blood. Maybe you're the ones that are being, you know, being full of covetous and stuff like that, but that would be definitely not the surface application of these things, just something to keep in mind. Verse number 14, for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And, you know, we see that also before the great noble day of the Lord that the gospel is going to be preached unto all nations. That's being referenced as well. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord is going to be, you know, fill the earth. Verse number 15, woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink that putteth thy bottle to him and makest him drunk also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness. Thou art filled with shame for glory. Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. And interestingly enough, and I just made this connection while studying for this, this could coincide with what I believe Daniel talks about in reference to Antichrist, not, you know, that he doesn't have, like, the love of women, right? You know, people have speculated, like, maybe he's going to be some sodomite, because the language just in Daniel by itself isn't enough, and I forget the exact language, the exact verse, the way it's worded, but to me it wasn't, it's not worded strongly enough to say, like, oh yeah, that's for sure, like, that must be the case, but since we kind of see this parallel here with an Antichrist, with someone who's establishing definitely a one-world government here and increasing all these cities and stuff to himself, and then we have this homo-passage about, you say, why is that a homo-passage? Because look at all the pronouns being used. Woe unto him, a dude, that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also. So the first guy's drunk, remember, he's already given over to the alcohol, as mentioned previously, and now he's making his neighbor drunk also, and he's put his bottle to him. You say, okay, yeah, so what, a couple guys hanging out and getting drunk, what's the big deal? That thou mayest look on their nakedness. That's the big deal, right? That's the weird part, okay? That's when it gets really bad, and that's when you really want to pay attention to Proverbs 23 that says that, you know, your heart's going to utter perverse things. Wounds without cause, all of it. Okay, Proverbs 23 should be the big warning going out there about what the dangers of consuming alcohol, because, you know, maybe you're the neighbor. What if you're just the guy that's, your neighbor comes over like, hey, why don't we have a drink together, buddy? Oh, he's so friendly, seems so nice, comes over, brings you drink, and he wants to look on your nakedness. And by the way, which in the Bible, that's a euphemism, because they don't just want to look. It's much worse than that. And, you know, not a pleasant thing to think about or read about, but it's the truth, and it's out there, and you need to be aware of it, and when you drink alcohol, you put yourself in compromising situations. And when you start giving up your faculties, giving up your understanding, your reasoning, your response time, the ability to just think rationally, and you start introducing a perverted heart, and start having these other thoughts, and, you know, thinking about other women, and like in this case, you got to worry about someone else doing weird things to you, it's not worth it. You never know what situation might end up. I mean, I'm just saying, like, it's weird. And this isn't the only place, like I mentioned, you know, if you want to turn to Genesis 9, you can turn there, I'll read it for you, of the story, what happened to Noah. After the flood, he gets off the ark, he's a husbandman, he's got a vineyard, and decides to have some drink. Genesis 9, verse 20, the Bible says, And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. So he passes out naked. But he's at home, right, he's not going out to the bar, he's just uncovered at home, what could possibly happen to him? What could possibly go wrong? Wounds without cause, right, because you pass out and you don't even know what's going on, you can't wake up because you've been so inebriated and intoxicated by the poison, by the depressant, that's going to make you not be able to wake up because you got drunk on wine. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. And like I mentioned, it's the same seeing as the looking on the nakedness that Habakkuk 2 is talking about. And then it says, And told his two brethren without, and Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were backward and they saw not their father's nakedness. Now, if you just stop here, you might see like, Oh, no, no, passive person, see, look, this is literally just talking about what they could see with their eyes because they went backwards. So clearly, you know, they weren't looking like their brother did. But the next verse is what confirms the worst and shows that it's not just referring to what his eyes beheld when he said in verse 24, And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. Look, if you pass out naked in your bed, right, and someone walks by and sees you and then they're like, Oh, man, whoa, I didn't, you know, I didn't want to see that. And then it's like close your door or something. When you wake up, are you just going to know like, I know what you did. You have no idea. But if you're defiled, yeah, you're going to know something was done unto you. He knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants, shall he be unto his brethren. Again, a cursing, you think it's just because he just happened to like, Oh, man, I didn't know it was, I mean, come on. Noah, righteous Noah is going to just curse somebody because he got naked and passed out and then his son just accidentally walked in. And look, it's his son. I mean, what father is going to bring a curse on his son and on his descendants? Not lightly. Not something that happens lightly. Clearly, something happened. And something really, really, really wicked happened. And it was something that Noah wasn't into at all. But he just got drunk. But look what happened when he passed out. Someone else, and of all the times in history where you could think that you might be safe. I mean, everyone was destroyed, right? How many people are even left in the world? And you're thinking, what could possibly happen? I'm just going to get drunk. Nothing could happen to me. Nothing bad can happen. And look, I'm saying this so you don't get the temptation of going, I'm all alone. Everyone's gone. No one's going to know what could possibly happen. I'm going to be at home and I'm just going to get drunk just for the fun of it. Because who cares? I got no responsibility. I got nothing to do tomorrow. My family's out of town, whatever. Don't do it. Noah didn't think anything like that was going to happen. And I'll tell you what, especially as a child of God, don't ever let that wicked thought creep into your mind. And definitely don't act on it. Because you know what, you could say, yeah, but there's so many people who do this all the time and nothing ever happens to them. Yeah, but you're saved. Yeah, but you know better. Yeah, God's going to chase in you. You better believe he's going to come down on you. You think you're just going to be able to go ahead and just go get drunk and that nothing's going to happen? Yeah, the weird things that you think could never possibly happen will happen when you do that stuff. God will make sure of it. Don't tempt God. You know, parents, don't ever put yourself in a position where you're out of your sorts. You've got children around. That's going to be the time they fall down and crack their head open and need to be taken to the hospital or something. You know what I mean? Like those are going to be the times when that stuff's going to happen and you're not going to be able to do anything about it because you're intoxicated. I could just preach for hours on booze and alcohol and drugs. I just wish that people would not be stupid with it and just get some sense and have nothing to do with it. But I'm going to move on. I'm going to move on to 1 Samuel chapter 1 because I apparently had one more reference in here about booze and the wickedness of it. Even back in these days and what was brought up here in 1 Samuel, we'll just read it, but it was so bad that people who were drunk, at least among God's people, are being like, hey, don't count me like I'm some child of the devil. Look at verse number 12. I'll just read it for you. 1 Samuel 1, 12, the Bible says, And it came to pass that she continued praying before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. So she's praying to God, but she's just like, you know, she's kind of got her head down or whatever, and her lips are just moving, but she's not vocally praying. She's praying in her heart, right? It says, Therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. So when Eli sees her in this condition, he's just thinking, you know how sometimes people are just like this babbling idiot and they're just kind of, you know, they're just way out of it, and their lips are moving and they don't really, you know, they don't really know what's going on, but she's just really grieved, and she's praying in her heart, but she's just actually praying. So he's thinking like, this lady's drunk. Like, what are you doing here? You know, and he's going to rebuke her. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. No, you don't understand. I'm just sad. And notice here, she's not saying, Well, I'm sad, so like Proverbs 31 says, I guess just give me drink because I'm sorrowful. No, she just says, look, I'm just sad. And I have drunk neither wine nor strunk drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Yes, I'm sad, but I'm just pouring out my soul to God. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial. Like, even though I'm sad, I'm not some devil worshiper. I don't just worship some false gods. Like, I worship the Lord. I'm not drunk. I'm not drinking wine. Yes, I'm sad, but no, I'm a daughter of God. And that's how God's people ought to be viewing that. Like, don't ever think that I'm drinking or doing drugs. I'm a child of God. And you ought to have that attitude about it. Let's go back to Habakkuk 2. Verse number 17, For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid because of men's blood and for the violence of the land of the city and of all that dwell they're in. What profiteth the graven image that the Maker thereof hath graven it, the molten image and a teacher of lies that the Maker of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake to the dumb stone. Arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. So these last few verses are bringing up more of the violence, more of the spilled blood, more of the, and then the idolatry kind of here added at the end. Like, what good is the graven image? And which we know also, by the way, that the Antichrist is going to set up an idol in the house of God, that there is going to be this idolatry set up and that everyone's going to have to worship the beast and take the mark of his name in your right hand or in your forehead. So what are all the different woe unto? Woe to him that takes what isn't his. The thief. Woe to the covetous. Woe to the violent. Woe to the drunkard. And woe to the idolater. And all of these things, I think, are applicable. I'm sure they're applicable to Nebuchadnezzar. Look at this great kingdom that I have attained. He's the one that was lifted up in the pride of his own heart when God had to base him and make him like a beast of the earth for those years. And the covetousness and the violence, right, went through and taken all these places by violence. We know that at least definitely his son was into drinking, for sure. When they had the writing on the wall, and they were having that big feast and drinking all the booze out of the vessels from the house of the Lord. And then the idolater wasn't in Nebuchadnezzar, too, that had the image, that great image set up with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were going to throw them in the burning fiery furnace if you don't bow down and worship that image, that idol. So sure, this fits the bill, right, in the short-term prophecy for Habakkuk, but you start making all the applications to the Antichrist as well, I think you'll see that there's still more to come. And that yes, this is old, this was written a long time ago, but don't worry and don't fret. It may seem like God's going to tarry, but you know what, it's all going to come to pass, and I still think that this will be proven true again in relation to the Antichrist. And there's plenty of other verses. We already read some from the New Testament that's talking about the judgment to come. This was God's response. Next week we're going to see kind of the response of the prayer of Habakkuk after hearing all of this. But notice, he had the humble attitude. God didn't rebuke him, but you know what he did? He gave him more knowledge. He gave him, okay, here's what's really going to go down. Here's the way it's going to work. He thought that things didn't seem like they were working out right, and God says, okay, yeah, but here, look, this is what's really going to happen. And he did tell him, you know, things were going to be pretty bad. He talked about all the bad attributes of this guy that was going to come in, but also that he's going to be judged too, that judgment is coming. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word. We thank you for all the prophecy and all the great knowledge and wisdom that we have here. Lord, I pray that you please help us to apply all these various negative works of the flesh and sins, dear Lord, to us that we'd be able to avoid them and see how wicked they really are, from the thievery and the covetousness and the drunkenness and idolatry, dear Lord. Please just help us to stay pure from these things and be strong in our faith. And God, we thank you for all that you do for us. Please keep us safe as we go our separate ways this evening. We love you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. All right, we're singing one last song before we're dismissed this evening. Brother Peter, would you please lead us? All right, church, if you can't open up your hymnals to song number 45. Song number 45, when I can read my title clear. Song number 45. On the first. When I can read my title clear. Two mentions in the sky. I'll pay farewell to every fear. And wipe my weeping eyes. And wipe my weeping eyes. And wipe my weeping eyes. I'll pay farewell to every fear. And wipe my weeping eyes. Should earth against my soul. And if fiery darts be hurled. Then I can smile at Satan's rage. And face a frowning world. And face a frowning world. And face a frowning world. And I can smile at Satan's rage. And face a frowning world. Let cares like a wild deluge come. And storms of sorrow fall. May I but safely reach my home. My God, my heaven, my all. My God, my heaven, my all. My God, my heaven, my all. May I but safely reach my home. My God, my heaven, my all. On the last. There shall I lay my weary soul. In seas of heavenly rest. And not a wave of trouble. Across my peaceful rest. Across my peaceful rest. Across my peaceful rest. And not a wave of trouble. Across my peaceful rest. Give it Church Street singing. Thank you so much for coming, you guys. Thank you so much for coming, you guys.