A Prophet's Song | Duane Roberts | Habakkuk 3:1-16

but he's a God that fights for you. Can I get an amen? He's a warrior God. And can I just tell you, he has never lost a fight yet. And so if God is for you, who can be against you? So if you are going to a spiritual battle, you're going to a physical battle, you're going to any battle, please make sure you bring your God with you. Exodus 15, 3 says this. Good evening, everyone. I want to invite you to stand if you're able. We are going to sing and remind our hearts of how faithful our God is together. So let's sing and make much of him tonight. Join with me. You think good, good for all my life. So I think good, every change in my mind. You never break your promise, you're constant in all you do. The answer is the way, the truth. The life that I will choose. But I know that I know, you won't ever let me go, every go, every lie. You are faithful all the time. And I taste it and I'll see. You've been so so good to me,

God I know that I know. You're faithful all the time. Oh, faithful all the time. Dark and good to the left or right. And I will keep living in my sight. The more I will not be ashamed. Nothing is moving me. It's hard got to say that you hate dark and I'll see. Oh, I know that I know, you won't ever let me go, every go, every heart. You are faithful all the time. Oh, I taste it and I'll see. You've been so so good to me, God I know that I know. You're faithful all the time. You're faithful all the time. And I won't stand on words of men, God I'll stand on yours instead. All in my heart, all in my heart. All of it's in your name and the world cannot deny. All that you've done in my life. All of my dreams, all of my praise, all of my Jesus. I won't stand on words of men, God I'll stand on yours instead. All in my heart, all of my faith, all of it's in your name and the world cannot deny. All that you've done in my life. All of my praise, all of my praise,

all of my Jesus. I won't stand on words of men. Oh, I know that I know. Come on, let me fight, let me go. Every low, every high. You're faithful all the time. Oh, I know that I know. You won't let me go. Every low, every high. You're faithful all the time. I've tasted and I've seen. You've been so slow down to me. God I know that I know. Oh, you're faithful all the time. Oh, you're faithful all the time. Oh, I know that I know. You're faithful all the time. Oh, I know that I know. ♪ It's painful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ It's painful all the time ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ It's painful all the time ♪ Yes, he is. (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We lift you up jeans ♪ ♪ I hand the men in strings ♪ ♪ Of vex orp-se, say ♪ ♪ And I was born to lift your name above all names ♪

♪ You hear the melody ♪ ♪ Of all creation ♪ ♪ But there's a song of praise that only I can ♪ ♪ So we sing ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ You are the infinite ♪ ♪ God of the ages ♪ ♪ Yeah, you chose to make ♪ ♪ My heart, you tell me please ♪ ♪ You'll feel my brokenness ♪ ♪ Show me your glory ♪ ♪ So I have songs of thanks ♪ ♪ Not even angels ♪ ♪ Lift it up and sing ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪

♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Oh, who else is what I need ♪ ♪ There's no one ♪ ♪ There's no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ It's only you Jesus ♪ ♪ There's no one more worthy ♪ ♪ No one more deserving of honor and praise ♪ ♪ And you alone Jesus ♪ ♪ We give you worship ♪ ♪ 'Cause you have purchased us by your blood ♪ ♪ We give you thanks 'cause we are redeemed ♪ ♪ And we are healed in the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ We thank you God ♪ ♪ So we sing my confidence, Lamb of God ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one ♪ ♪ Who was in this, in this, to come ♪ ♪ Set it on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ Christ is one who said His blood ♪

♪ You prove to us ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Sing holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one ♪ ♪ Who was in this, to come ♪ ♪ Set it on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ Christ is one who said His blood ♪ ♪ Christ is one who said His blood ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, He lived the times ♪ ♪ Holy, holy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one ♪ ♪ Who was in this, in this, to come ♪ ♪ Set it on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Christ is one who said His blood ♪ ♪ You prove to us ♪ ♪ Christ is out ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, He lived the times ♪ ♪ Who was in this worthy ♪ ♪ Who was in this worthy ♪ ♪ Christ is one who said His blood ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy of God ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy of God ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy of God ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy of God ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ On these trees ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪

♪ Tell them tonight ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ There is no one ♪ ♪ Only in Jesus ♪ (audience applauding) ♪ Only ♪ ♪ Only in the Son ♪ ♪ Are you Lord God ♪ ♪ Oh my ♪ ♪ Yes ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ Holy, yes you are, Lord ♪ ♪ Are you, Lord God, oh my ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb, yes he is ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ You are, holy, yes you are, Lord ♪ ♪ Holy, are you, Lord God ♪ ♪ Lord God, oh my King ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lamb, Worthy is the Lamb ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ You're the one word ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ Seeing the darkness in the darkness ♪ ♪ We were waiting without hope, without love ♪

♪ Till from heaven you came running ♪ ♪ There was mercy in your eyes ♪ ♪ To fulfill the law and prophets ♪ ♪ To a virgin, to the world ♪ ♪ From the throne of endless glory ♪ ♪ To a cradle in the door ♪ ♪ He did this for us ♪ ♪ Let's praise our Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ♪ Sing it out. ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Free in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of King ♪ ♪ To reveal the King, don't call me ♪ ♪ And to reconcile the laws ♪ ♪ To redeem the whole creation ♪ ♪ You did not despise the cross ♪ ♪ For even in your suffering ♪ ♪ You saw to the other side ♪ ♪ Knowing this was our salvation ♪ ♪ Jesus for us saved you die ♪ Come on, anybody grateful in this place today? He has given life to you, sing it out. ♪ Oh, praise the Father ♪ ♪ Praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Free in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪

♪ Praise forever to the King of King ♪ ♪ The Lord that He rose all of heaven ♪ ♪ Now let's pray ♪ ♪ Now let's don't just move for good ♪ ♪ For the Lamb had conquered dead ♪ ♪ Come on, and the dead rose from their Jews ♪ And the church of Christ was born, Then the Spirit lead the way. Now this gospel to the Lord, John of Israel, of fame, by His blood in His name, In His freedom, I am free for the love of Jesus Christ. Go ahead and pray to the Lord. You did it all for us. Praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise us, ye men, bring in the Lord, God of glory. Let us sing for praise forever to be laid. Praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise us, ye men, bring in the Lord, God of glory. Let us sing for praise forever to the King. Praise forever to the King, praise forever to the King. Yes, even right where you are, would you just take a moment to remember your Savior? We only love because He loved us first. And if at any point we are struggling to see how and in what way He has loved us, all you have to do is look at the cross. Where His body was broken, His blood was spilled for our redemption. Jesus, we lift you up, we magnify your name. You are the only one who is worthy. You are worthy of our worship, you are worthy of our song, you are worthy of our time, you are worthy of everything that we have. What is man that you are mindful of, the Son of men that you would care for them, and that you would step out of the glory of heaven to bring us back to you. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Because of what you have done, not only are we justified, made right with you, declared righteous, but we get to enjoy sweet communion and friendship with you. We get to come to you, our Heavenly Father, as children of the living God. You don't call us servants, you call us friends. We have been adopted into a family, and I don't know every time I think about that, I cannot think about how gracious and how merciful you are, that you would look at us, people who have stiff-armed you their whole life, but then you would give your son and say if you would just come, we can be together, and we thank you, Lord Jesus. You are great and greatly to be praised, and we are here to remember how good you are, and how faithful you have been. How great is our God? Say with me how great is our God, and Tom will see how great, how great is our God. How great, yes, yes, yes. He's our, say with me, how great. He's our God, and all we'll see. Hallelujah, how great. He's our God, would you sing He's the name above every name? You're the name, you're the name of us. You are worthy, you are worthy, in my heart. And my heart, we'll see how great He's our God. Yeah, one more time, He's the name. You're the name above all names. You are worthy of all praise. And my heart, we'll see how great He's our God. Last time, how great is our God? How great. God, we'll see how great is our God, we'll see how great He's our God. We bless your name. We bless your name Jesus. God, we bless our God, we bless our God, we bless our God, we bless our God.

We thank You, God, we lift You up, we are here for no other reason than to lift up and clarify the name that is above every name, the name that sits at the right hand of the Father, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah, bless the Lord, O my soul, let everything that is within me bless His holy name. That is why we are here, Jesus, would you help us give us grace to look to you again if we have been struggling, Spirit of God, would you soften our hearts? Be our helper, be our comforter, help us fix our eyes on Christ, the one who has secured our redemption. We are clean because of the blood of Jesus, hallelujah, death where is your sting, you have lost any claim to victory, Jesus has risen from the grave, and He is who we belong to. We love you, we thank You, God, for what You are going to do, and it's in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Calvary Chapel, we say, would You just lift up Jesus one more time in this life? All right, before you take your seat, turn us somebody next to you and tell them Jesus is so good, come on. Amen. Good evening, Calvary, how's everybody doing today? Praise the Lord, can we give it our far worship team one more time leading us into the presence of God? For those of you that don't know me, my name is Dwayne, I have the honor and privilege of serving as one of our pastors here, and so glad to be in the Word of God. I welcome my online audience in any campus that is watching us, we just love to be in God's house and to open God's Word. So we're going to be in Habakkuk 3 tonight, and so if you need a Bible, raise your hand, Habakkuk 3 is where we'll spend some time, we'll skip over to Psalm 77 as well, and Joshua 10, so a little bit of Bible trek tonight. Also, I wanted to say, if you show up to church, and it's raining, you just got upgraded in the mansion of Jesus Christ, give it up for people that actually come to church when there's rain. Want to also encourage you we want to encourage you to be part of our It's just a great way to bless those families that might be hurting in this season as we approach the holidays. So I encourage you to bring food, come with the packing list. If you go to public, so Walmart, think about a person that could be hurting in this season. And we know that Operation Christmas Child brings so much fruit in terms of people getting saved as we deliver all of these boxes. So we want to encourage you to do both of those things. Are you ready to get into God's word tonight? All right, do me a favor. Why don't you stand to your feet? I know somebody like Pastor, I just sat down. I just got comfortable.

I don't understand. I don't understand no more. All right, all right, I get it, I get it. I'm gonna make you stand for too long. And so what we're gonna actually do is as we read the word of God, one of the reasons why we stand is because in Nehemiah 8 before revival broke out, they stood and read the word of God and the people were cut to the heart. And then it was just like massive people just really connecting to the Lord in a mighty way. Who wants that tonight? Like who wants an encounter with Jesus Christ? And so we're actually gonna read at the end of Habakkuk chapter two verse 20. There's a verse that's in Habakkuk that I wanna read and then I want you to do something that can be absolutely hard for you to do. I just want you to be silent for like 15 seconds. And then we're gonna read verse one of chapter three and the next verse and then we pray. Can you do that for me? Amen. You're getting quiet already, praise the Lord. So back in 220, here's the verse. It says, "The Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him." Chapter three verse one, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet on Shigeonath, "Lord, I have heard

of your fame, I stand in awe of your deeds. Lord, repeat them in our day, in our time, make them known in wrath." Remember mercy, let's bar heads and pray. Lord, just to simply worship you in your house, it's a privilege to have the freedom to open up your word, it's a privilege. And for us just to spend a moment in silence to reverence you is an honor and it's humbling. So Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, would you do something amazing in us as we have your word open, your word inspired by your spirit that's God breathed, that's alive and living, gotta pray for every person within the sound of my voice. May we all decrease and you increase. Let it be a mirror to our souls, Lord God. And for my assignment tonight, Jesus, I submit every word, every note, every story, every example to you. May the words of my mouth and the meditation in my heart be pleasing in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Now pray this in Jesus name and everybody said. Amen, you may have a seat. So in 1972, anybody born in 1972? Praise the Lord. Anybody born before 1972? Anybody born after 1972, that should be everybody else. So in 1972, the number one song on Billboard charts

was a song by Roberta Flack. And the song was the first time ever I saw your face. Anybody know that song? - Thank you. But unbeknownst to my wife and I, 26 years later, that will be our wedding song. And I want to show you a picture of our wedding day. This year, November 2nd, we'll be married 28 years. So I praise God for my wife, Adeline. And so the reason why I bring up that point is because we look back at 1972. We were both born, but we also looked forward to 26 years after that, not knowing one another, but 26 years we would get married to the same song. And every time we hear that song, it does something in our hearts. The words do something in our hearts. And songs have a way to do that. The reason why your Spotify playlist or your Apple Music has a certain amount of songs is because songs move you. They set the mood. Maybe if you're down, you play the blues. I know you're a Christian, but maybe sometimes you just play the blues. Maybe you feel like worshiping God and you might be not in the greatest place, but you play a worship song, and that worship song just does something to you. Anybody know what I'm talking about? It's like you could be in the worst place, but in your car, you just play that song. And it's the same with Habakkuk 3. In verse 20 of chapter 2, he comes to this place in the beginning of the chapter. He's standing on his tower, complaining to God, almost feeling entitled to this answer because he's not pleased with how God is going to judge his people. So in the first chapter, he is wrestling with God. He has this burden that he wants God to answer. And in chapter 2, God responds, write the vision, make it plain.

For that who reads it may run with it. And at the end of the chapter, he comes to this place where he's just simply silent before the Lord. And in chapter 3, as we read this, it is a song. And so he wrestles with God in chapter 1. God reveals the vision in chapter 2 and he responds with worship. And that's really, really cool. Why? Because sometimes you may start out complaining and unhappy, but man, isn't it cool that you can turn sometimes your unhappiness, your worry, your sadness into worship and trusting God and having confidence that God is still good? And so no matter what you are going through tonight, there's always a reason to worship God. Can I get a good amen? It doesn't matter how down you came in today. Maybe the clouds are representative of how you feel. But there's always a reason to praise the Lord because he is good. So we come to this place where he writes this song and if you have no take it, it's the prophet song is the title of the message. And so songs have parts to it. There's stanzas, there's verses, so the verses are going to be like the stanzas of the song. And then the reframe is going to be parts of the song that Habakkuk actually recites. And so many scholars believe that verse two would actually be the reframe of the song that Habakkuk writes, says, Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, repeat them in our day and our time, make them known in wrath. Remember mercy. If you are a no taker at the first movement of this song, I believe it's a song of revival. Habakkuk saying, Lord, I heard, and what is he referring to generationally? He heard of all the miracles, of all the deeds he heard about the parting of the Red Sea.

He heard about the parting of the Jordan, he heard about what his ancestors went through. He heard. I heard of your deeds, Lord, repeat them in our day. It's this word, revival in the Greek. It's this word, hyah, it almost sounds like a karate move. Why? Because we're very discouraged. Habakkuk is down in this place where he's like, it's a happy, happy song. Sometimes worship is not a birth out of necessarily you feeling happy. You're worshiping because you know God deserves worship, but it doesn't mean that your circumstance has changed. And maybe today you could be discouraged. And maybe the encouragement you need to hear is God revive people that feel discouraged so you can feel encouraged. If you're feeling discouraged tonight, maybe God is like, would you allow me to revive that, to turn that into encouragement? Maybe there's a place that you feel it's dark. You feel lost. You're doing all the right things. You're coming to church. You're going to Bible study. You're doing all these different things. God revive and resurrect my hope and my joy, because my joy doesn't necessarily come from circumstances. It's the joy of the Lord that is my strength, not the joy of my circumstances. Can I get amen somebody? Maybe it's revival of joy and hope for you today as you come to God's house. And he's saying, Lord, do it again. That was our word last year, 40 years. Lord, do it again. All that you did for Calvary, do it again.

Maybe you look to your past, you go, Lord, that thing that I experienced, Lord, do that again. Lord, would you repeat them in our time, in our day, Lord, do it again? I've heard of you, I've heard of your fame and reputation, the idea is that, Lord, I've heard of your reputation that you are a good God, you're still a miracle working God, you're still all those things that our ancestors talk about, you're still all of that. God, show us again in our time, repeat them in our day, and he says, I stand. This is the one thing, he says, I stand in awe of your deeds. Rebecca, in chapter 2, with standing, demanding an answer, I'm going to stand and stay and wait for God to answer me, and sometimes we can be in this posture, God, I'm just going to wait for you to answer me, I've been crying out, I've been praying to you, God, I'm just going to stand. And now he's standing in awe. When was the last time you just stood in awe of God? How many of you believe God is an awesome God, right? When was the last time you just said, God, thank you, for keeping my family, not everything is perfect, but God, thank you. For the food on my table, God, thank you, maybe I don't see it today, but God five years ago, I remember you were there for us, God, thank you, God, and not even necessarily going to him and say, God, I thank you, friends, God, I just thank you for being you. I thank you for being my Savior, my Redeemer, I thank you for being my hope. Church, can I just encourage us, there's sometimes that we just need to stand in awe of God and be silent before him. This is what Habakkuk is doing, he's like, in our time, make them known. I love to start about revival, because I would say, I would ask you the question, how many people desire revival in their lives right now? How many people want revival, like actually, not just as a cool church board, how many people would love revival happening in their family, in their cities, in their own lives? Like Saturday night, you can do better tonight. How many people want revival, like, come on Saturday night?

We should all want it. This is person, his name is McKinney, he says this, "Send the revival, O Christ, my Lord, let it go over the land and see, send it according to Thy dear word, and let it begin in me." Let it begin in us. Man, what if God would unleash his spirit in such a way that everybody in this room would be revived? It's sure we've been encouraging people to run with it and do it again, and I love this Run with it. If you were here last week, you got this. And I said this to our campus last week, God is not asking us to sit with it or walk with it. He's asking us to do what? Run with it. And for us to do it again as we would look back at the last 40 years of what God has been able to do through Calvary Chapel, what started in a funeral home of all places, just imagine the altar calls in a funeral home, people just coming up out of the grave. (congregation laughing) Those are fables. But think about all the souls that have been saved at Calvary across our campuses. In 1985, when two couples came, no one saw at that point that we were gonna have 10 campuses on an online campus and a VR campus, nobody saw it about four kids in CCA. They were just people in the last 40 years that just decided to run with it. I wanna charge you, church and commission you for us to do it again in the next 40 years.

We need some people to run with it. And so at the end of service, maybe you have been praying. We've said pray about it. We didn't say necessarily do anything, but today I'm gonna call you to do something at our connect point on the West Side after church. Our ministry leaders are gonna be there, waiting for people to, that feel called, maybe to run with it in children's, run with it in our youth, run with it in hospitality, run with it wherever God has called you. I encourage you. God didn't call you to sit on the sidelines and sit with it. He called you to run with it. Can I get a good amen if you are with me today? One of the things I love about running is, is there's a movie where somebody actually ran, or anybody remember this movie, Forrest Gump, it's like. And he just said, I just felt like running. But before this, if you ever watched the movie, before he actually sits down and he says something in me made me wanna run. And here's the prayer. I can encourage you all day long. We can encourage you, run with it. But the Holy Spirit's gotta do something in your heart that makes you say, God, if I don't run and do something with this.

And that's our prayer. Pray that the Holy Spirit will cause you to do something with the talent that he's gifted you with. One of the things that our boy campus that I love, that one of my brothers, my best friend runs, is this evangelistic team. They just decided to go by the park, by our campus, to actually go beyond the four walls of the church, connect people to outreach. They're doing our vision, reaching our community, changing our world. And they basically sit down with some lawn chairs and asking people if they need prayer. Can I just tell you? People based on them, just sitting there faithfully, evangelizing to people on a park. People are coming into our church and being saved. So sometimes it's your act of faith by running what God has called you to, that God actually uses you, not just for you, but to work through you. So I encourage you, run with it. But the verse doesn't end there. He says in wrath, remember mercy because they're gonna go through some things. In chapter two, if you go back, the judgment, the woes, Babylon is going to be dealt with. The children in Israel are gonna go through in the next two years, 70 years of captivity. That is a long time.

And he says in wrath, God remember mercy. And maybe the best picture of that in wrath is the cross itself, right? That God does show mercy, so God is just. He will deal with all the unrighteousness in the world. But just imagine he poured out all his wrath on Jesus Christ for us to have mercy on us when we didn't deserve mercy. It's an actual picture of the cross. God is just and he is merciful. So he says in wrath, Lord, remember mercy. So he looks back to look forward. Let's pick it up in verse three, read with me. filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise, raised flash from his hand, whereas power was hidden. Plague wed before him, passionate as followed his steps. He stood and shook the earth. He looked and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled in the Adrileth Hills collapsed, but he marches on forever. I saw the tents of Kushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Where's your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory? Verse 9, you uncovered your bow. You called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers. Verse 10, the mountains saw you and writhed, torrents of water swept by. The deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Stop right there. My mind, when I was reading this, was blown away. Just at the imagery of the song that her back it gets writing, he is recalling to mind all the things God had did in the past where God was actually present with his people. And so if you are, no, take it. The second movement of the song is it's a song of God's presence. It's a song of God's presence in the Old Testament where God would visit his people and show himself strong, it was called a theophany. And the idea is that God is a creative God, but he's a God that fights for you. Can I get an amen? He's a warrior God. And can I just tell you, he has never lost a fight yet. And so if God is for you, who can be against you? So if you are going to a spiritual battle, you're going to a physical battle, you're going to any battle, please make sure you bring

your God with you. Exodus 53 says this, the Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. Can I just tell you at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord. Sometimes when you're in a difficult situation or somebody's driving you nuts at your job, instead of countering back and saying the thing that you probably shouldn't say, anybody know what I'm talking about? Like somebody throws you under the bus and an email and you go, you know what you need to say? You're lucky I went to church last night. I just want you to say, Jesus, deal with that situation. Habakkuk is recalling this fact that it's God who came and was with his children for 40 years. And God will come again when we go through Babylon. Can I just say, there's another return that we're going to enjoy. Do you realize that Jesus is coming back? And he's not just coming back as a suffering savior. He's coming back as a conquering king to establish his dominion here on earth. That is your Jesus. That is just present with you. So all of the imagery, his splendor, the plagues, his glory covering the heavens and his praise, filling the earth, verse three, verse four, his splendor was like the sunrise. Habakkuk recalls, five, the plagues, six, he stood and shook the earth, checked the imagery. It's like God is walking through his creation and none of his creation can stand against him. And he's basically saying with all of that, no matter what comes your way, I am with you. In Psalm 77, Asaph recalls the same thing. Psalm 77 says this verses 10 through 12, it says, "Then I thought to this I will appeal. The years when the most high stretched out his right hand, I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. Verse 12, I will consider all How many believe God still works miracles today? Listen, as much as I've been hearing testimonies of people going through grief right now. And maybe tonight you are here and you're grieving the loss of a loved one that was expected or unexpected and it is hard. For the last several months I've been hearing so many heavy stories.

People getting diagnosis of cancer. And so you might be in a season like Habakkuk where you're in the why and the how long. Why now and the how long? And so much of Habakkuk's story is our story. Why and how long? And sometimes what we can feel is like in those moments in the why and how long you don't feel God's nearness, you feel distance. Because if God was near you, he wouldn't allow this to happen to you. And so he's great and he's present, but he's also near right where you are right now. He's present with us. Look at what Ephesians 2, 18 says this about Jesus. For through him we both have access to the Father by one spirit. So where do you run when it gets difficult? When the seasons get heavy, do you run away? Because can I just encourage you? God doesn't create the distance we do. And what 10 people tend to do at this moment is you now lose trust in God. Well, if God the more I trust you, the more it hurts. The more I trust you, it seems like the more trials we're walking through, like God, that's not fair. But he's here and he's present. So if you have a diagnosis tonight or if you have a situation that's very, very difficult, Ephesians 2, 18 says you have access to the Father.

But can I say this? Sometimes we cheat ourselves from the access. So maybe in this season, yes, it's a song of God's presence, but what song are you playing in your mind? Some of you know my testimony, I used to be a DJ. I had two turntables. And I thought about bringing it up here, but I'd lost so much of my skill. I'd be rusty, it would be a bad DJ night like if I brought this. But what I would do as a DJ, I would play according to the mood that I wanted to set in the room. And there were certain songs, whether it's a slow song or a fast song or a dance song during dinner. If I'm playing at a wedding reception, it would be a slow song because you're playing dinner music. But when people were ready to dance, you would play dance music, right? And I would orchestrate the room. I believe when God's presence, he does the same thing. He wants to play a song that's gonna set the mood for everybody. And I believe the song is like, God is here. And so I felt like if you were gonna write a lyric to the song of God's presence, it would be simply us declaring this, God's presence is with us. He's Emmanuel, the last time I checked, according to Matthew, anybody realized that Emmanuel is with us, anybody, can I get a witness?

Can I get somebody say amen to me, right? So can we declare that truth together? Like you just had three shots of espresso, anybody? Let's just say this, let's just declare that truth over your heavy season, over your light season. God's presence is with us. Okay, let's declare it so that heaven hears it, hell hears it, God's. Can I get a good amen? Can we just stop right there and just praise God and just thank him for the simple fact that his presence is with us? (applause) God's presence is with us. Let's continue, verse 11, "Son and moon stood still in the heavens. At the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightening of your flashing spear, verse 12 when wrath you strode through the earth, and in anger you threshed the nations. You came out to deliver your people to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. With his own spear you pierced his head when his warrior stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding." Verse 15, "You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters." Verse 16, "I heard," he says it again, "in my heart pounded my lips quivered at the sound. Decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled, yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation, invading us." The third and last movement of the song is this, if you're a taken note, it's a song of God's deliverance. So he just doesn't come as creator, he's not just a warrior, but he's a deliverer. He delivers his people not just then, because the back is recalling the mind when they were enslaved in Egypt, God delivered them, parting the Red Sea.

Even after Babylon, you read the history after 70 years, the exiles returned back. So God is a God that delivers his people out of captivity. So Habakkuk is remembering, he said, "Well, God, if you were able to deliver then, you are able to deliver now." And look at the way he recalls, verse 11, he says, "Son and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows at the lightning of your flashing spear." Look what it says in verse 13, "You came out to deliver your people to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of Wiccanesh, you stripped him from head to foot. The standing still, miracle of the sun and the moon. Great miracle. If you don't know where this is, it's in Joshua chapter 10, and I'm going to read it for you. Look at it, it's one of the greatest stories in the Old Testament, Joshua 10, verse 12 through 14, it reads, "On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord, 'In the presence of Israel, sun stands still over Gibbian, and you moon over the valley of Ijalan.'" And I say to Joshua, what a crazy prayer. Who would ever pray for the sun to stand still? I'll be thinking to myself, if I'm the other Israelites in the army, I'm like, who told Joshua to say that crazy prayer? But here's what it says in the next verse, "So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies. As it is written in the book of Joshua, the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before, or since a day when the Lord listened to a human being, surely the Lord was fighting for Israel." Where's the last time you just took a look at the sun and the moon? Does it ever stay still? And the Lord listened to a man.

He was fighting for Israel, and so the prayer was answered. Which brings me to this place, the Lord will do whatever it takes to deliver you. He did it back then, and he's doing it now. How do we believe that the Lord does still deliver today? And I love the Hebrew meaning of the word "deliver" and anointed one. It's this word yeshah. Yesha. Mosheak is the deliverance of the anointed one. It's him delivering the children out of Israel. It's also this idea that the anointed one was the king that God would call and it also has messianic overtones, but it also relates to us today. So I think about if God was our DJ, what song would He prescribe for this moment? You know one of the things that I'm hearing more and more and more and maybe people are not admitting it as much or maybe there's a little bit more freedom. There's today even in our church and I'm not saying this as an indictment or shade, extreme anxiety, extreme depression, extreme trauma, extreme pain, extreme suicidal thoughts, all these things are going and people a lot of times may be looking at God like I feel your presence, but why am I still struggling with this mental health thing happening? And maybe you've been crying out for deliverance. That's why it's so important like we know God fight for us and He has delivered, but I don't want this to lead you to isolation. So what way somebody that comes in that feels extremely anxious or feels extremely depressing or in a depressed state, what could happen is man, I come to church, I don't feel God anymore, I don't feel the worship anymore, I don't feel the sermon, what's the sense of us keep going back to the Savior that's really according to what you say, He is a deliverer, but He hasn't delivered me yet. And maybe you're here tonight. They does He truly deliver? Maybe the songs that you need to begin to play or declare is God can deliver us. How many believe all things are possible? Over anxiety, depression, your past, your trauma, things that still bind you today. I know a lot of people walk into church and they don't feel free even though we declare so many times whom the sun sets free is free indeed. If you're being honest sometimes you don't feel free. And can I just say God will take that? God has not ashamed of the fact that you still struggle. God will meet you in your struggle and God will help you come out of that. So I want to declare this song of deliverance, God can deliver us. Let's say that with some effort, God. All right, let's say that one more time, God can deliver us. He can.

Doesn't matter what you're going through right now, He can deliver us. That's why He can't. Maybe today you don't even know the deliverer. You don't know him. You can't assume that everybody that comes to the church knows Jesus. And maybe today you need to know why He came from glory. His whole purpose was to save souls like you and me. That's why He came from glory to die in a cross rise three days. Why? So we can have a relationship with the Father. That's why we say it all the time here at Calvary, a relationship with Jesus does what? Can I get a testimony? Some changed people by Jesus Christ. Can somebody just wave their hands and say, because of my relationship with Jesus, I have been changed? We believe that with all our hearts. That's why we do altar calls. Why? Because if there's one soul that can be delivered from the grips of the enemy, if there's one more soul that we can win, that's why our mission stays the same. It's to make disciples, if there's one more soul that can come to know Jesus, it is that you will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Habakkah, lands here in verse 16, I wanna read it. He says, once again, I heard, and he says, my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound. The K crept into my bones and my legs tremble. Yet, I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. What is Habakkah saying? And I wrote this song, but part of the song, when he writes this in two years, the nation of Israel, we're gonna be in captivity of Babylon, then it was gonna be another 70 years. Some scholars believed that Habakkah lived 68 years out of the 70s, so two years before the return of the children of Israel back to their home, Habakkah lived through all of that.

But I want you to hear his human side. He said, I heard, but in here, I'm still nervous. How is this thing gonna play out? Like sometimes you might even look at the way the world is, you go, Lord, I know you're present. I know you're my deliverer, but man, what if it gets worse before it gets better? Anybody ever thought that before? Or sometimes you feel that way, it's not changing. But he says, yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation, invading us. What is he saying to us today? He says, man, at the end of the day, all that is wrong with the world today, God is gonna deal with all of that. And you know what he's also saying? In the end, we win. In the end, we have a future with Jesus Christ. Can I get a good amen? If you're excited about the day. So I'll land here, so I signed up for a marathon in December. And the first time I signed up for a marathon, I was actually looking to do a half marathon, but I found out the full was only $10 more. And since I'm a good steward, I signed up for the full. Yes, it's 13 more miles, but it was only $10.

Look, you gotta be a good steward if you're gonna be generous at church. I'm just saying. But I'm training for the marathon. Besides, we look at our whole vision to run with it. It's a lot of times it's not easy to run with it at all. Even full transparency, I was preparing for this message. And I had a Habakkuk week. It was Thursday, and I'm looking at God. I'm like, holy spirit, I got nothing. Never had a week where you intend to do something, and it doesn't work out any way that you wanted it to. And you go, man, clock is ticking. Saturday's coming, Lord. And Thursday as I was training for my marathon. Ooh. But you know why I show you this medal? This was a medal that I got in 2019 for a full marathon. You know why I show you this? I didn't care what place I was. Just as long as I was in the race. And I got my medal at the end. I wanna encourage you tonight. It doesn't matter where you are. You could be a beginning believer, a seasoned believer, or a person that hasn't believed. It really doesn't matter where you are. Why? Because God already knows where you are. Just finish the race.

And at the end of the day, as it says, according to 2 Timothy 4, we will receive that crown, and we will get to be with Jesus. Face to face. Can I get a good amen if you're with me, church? Let's bow our heads and pray, Lord. We love you, we thank you. We thank you for these very real moments in the story of Habakkuk. And now God, we're praying for a moment. You said, Lord, would you do it again? Lord, would you show us how to run with it? Lord, and I pray even now, for this altar call, God, would you buy your spirit, do something amazing? and the very gates of hell can overcome it. So we declared our truth over this moment. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Everybody said, amen. I want to call your attention to a very important moment and I want you to hang in your seats. I want you to be in this moment of prayer. Why? Because it's a decision that's required if you don't know Jesus. And if you don't know him, he wants to know you. And so it's a simple prayer, but it's a simple move. It's this idea that God is present. He can deliver you. And so if you don't know Jesus,

you've never given your heart to him. You have no hope of a future if you were to die. That's why he came. Died in a cross, stayed in a grave three days, rose, seated at the Rhine, having a father if you don't know Jesus. We want you to come forward. We want you to summon the courage, come out of your seat. We've all done it. I remember my time and I remember exactly where I was sitting. In 1999, when I gave my heart to Jesus and can I just tell you he has not failed me yet? But I also want to open it up for somebody that could be in a heavy season. Or it's a dry season and you feel distant from God. And you want to just pray a prayer of restoration over your walk with him. So if you feel distant, you feel dry, you feel like this is a moment to rededicate. I want you also to come forward. So worship team is going to lead us, but it's now your time to respond. Church, family, if you don't intend to come up, I want you to be praying for this moment because this actually, more than the worship, more than the sermon, is just as important as all of it. We want to see lives change by Jesus Christ. So if that's you, now is your time to come forward. ♪ How was the day inside of your door ♪ ♪ That's when your mercy saw me ♪

♪ I was a prodigal desperate for more ♪ ♪ That's when your mercy called me ♪ ♪ Don't worry nothing to die with the king ♪ ♪ Hearing your presence surrounded by glory ♪ ♪ I can't believe there's a seed at the table for me ♪ ♪ This is my family, this is my home ♪ ♪ Always belonging and never alone ♪ ♪ I'm so excited that we're all invited to come ♪ ♪ Oh, so come, come and taste and see ♪ ♪ The spirit and the breath say come, come ♪ ♪ Taste and see the spirit and the breath say come ♪ ♪ Oh, come, taste and see ♪ ♪ The spirit and the breath say come ♪ ♪ Come, taste and see ♪ - Calvary, let's give it up for these decisions today, tonight. God is so proud of you. For I pray for them, I wanna open it up for anyone. That feels like, man, if they open it up again, I'm gonna be the one to come forward. No coercion, just you trusting God in this moment, saying, I need to be up there. So if that's you, now it's your time. - Praise the Lord, yes. (audience applauding) - Yes. Here's what I wanna do. Bible says, all of heaven rejoices for one that comes forward and you're the ones that God had planned tonight.

So churchless bar heads, you're gonna bar your heads as well. or you're rededicating, it's gonna have the same application. So, bar your heads, just repeat these words, it's gonna be your words to God's heart, God's heart. I want you to say, "Lord Jesus, "I invite you in my heart and I ask you to forgive me. "I ask you to wash me clean, "and now I ask that you would fill me "with your Holy Spirit. "That I may follow you the rest of my life. "And I pray this in Jesus name, amen, amen." (congregation applauding) Hey, if you can give me five minutes, go with Tully, and I will be with you back there to just greet you and pray for your church family. Let's give it up for them as they do that. (congregation applauding) Hey, wait, let's all stand. And so, for us, we feel an order for us to run and do it again. We need to declare that in worship. So, we're gonna sing this song, do it again. Anybody ready just to worship God with one more song before we head back into the rain? It's all, I just want you to worship God together. Come on, let's worship God. Let's worship our Savior, Jesus Christ. (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ It's no one's ♪ ♪ It's no one's ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see you both ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen your world ♪ ♪ You're all the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see you doing it again ♪ ♪ You made a way ♪ ♪ When there was no way ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see you doing it again ♪ ♪ I've seen your world ♪ ♪ I've seen your moon ♪ ♪ You're all the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see you doing it again ♪ ♪ You made a way ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ When there was no way ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen you doing it again ♪ ♪ I've seen your world ♪ ♪ I've seen your world ♪

♪ You're all the mountains ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see you doing it again ♪ ♪ You made a way ♪ ♪ When there was no way ♪ ♪ And I believe ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I see you doing it again ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen you doing it again ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ You made a promise ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Your promise still stands ♪ ♪ Creating something for me ♪ ♪ Your faith on me ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I've seen it again ♪ ♪ This takes my confidence ♪ ♪ You've never done it again ♪ ♪ Your promise still stands ♪ ♪ Creating something for me ♪ ♪ Your faith on me ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I'm feeling your gift ♪ ♪ This is my confidence ♪ ♪ You've never done it again ♪ Don't give me lift up, Jesus, one more time. Calvary Chapel, so good to see you this evening.

If you need prayer for anything at all, our prayer team will be right here at the front, ready to pray with you. If not, have a great rest of your Saturday night and we'll see you again next week. See y'all. ♪ (gentle music) [BLANK_AUDIO]