God's Got This
Lessons on Patience from Habakkuk
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good morning welcome if you're new here among us my name is gene and i serve here at c3 church as your lead pastor and you can just call me gene people have called me worse i'll get another joke to open up with later it's okay so if you've been here for a while you know that i'm a big fan of history i like history i like historical stories but if you know anything about the bible you know that it's history his story and so these are historical accounts that we're constantly looking at and i've had people come up to me and say you know i'd really like to be a pastor really and they say but i don't like to read that's going to be a big problem so a good teaching pastor is a history buff they like their history we like to read a lot we get enthusiastic about it and sometimes i like to open up with stories and sometimes they're clearly like non-fiction or fiction sometimes they're like about me doing dumb things as a kid but sometimes i give you like a real historical story we got close last week felicitania right so we went back to 1915. today we're going to do a real historical story we're going to go back a little bit further so like the mid-1800s so somewhere between i think 1861 and 65 so you got to be able to remember all these dates when you're doing this stuff but anyway that's not the point we're going to go back to the presidency of abraham lincoln i'm going to go back there now even though lincoln was a really good president he still had his detractors he had people as we would say today talking smack about them all the time well that's kind of interesting because we don't remember him like that remember really really great and now i'm going to do a side note because politics right people will say that it's worse now than it has ever been like the rhetoric is dialed up like to 11 right if you're on a marshall half stack the musicians are laughing now but no one's laughing so anyway we're just dialed up with the rhetoric it's red hot it's crazier than it's ever been anyone who says that to me does not know their history right because we've seen the old testament it's pretty crazy in there so it's always been really really crazy and here's the thing going back in our political history they would do something like if you talked enough smack about someone here's what would happen sometimes the person would challenge you to a duel right so if you're in the right time that means we're going to take like 10 paces turn around and just shoot one another that was a thing now i know what your twisted minds are already thinking we should bring it back it would solve a lot of problems but not for me because it would just give me one more thing to minister you out of right so let's not do that but you know people would put their money or their bullets where their mouths are so hamilton was it burr and hamilton i was reminded that was a duel right so it happened now different thing with lincoln he had a detractor named edwin stanton and this guy was horrible he made fun of lincoln's intelligence and he was a smart guy so there's really nothing to make fun of and his appearance if you've seen like the old photographs of him and stuff like that you know he's not going to be on the gq magazine or whatever it is anytime soon but he made fun of him he called him a clown he called him a gorilla it was horrible horrible stuff going on back then so what did lincoln do well he didn't repay evil for evil he said nothing about it he didn't argue with him he didn't dignify it with a response he stayed calm when insulted but here's what he did do he appoint in stanton as his war minister what better man for the job clearly he was belligerent so go ahead do your thing just do it on somebody else right now key position but here's the thing although it wasn't a duel abraham lincoln died by assassination if you know your history as he lay there dying stanton was in proximity so he's looking over abraham lincoln's dying body he's about to die and he says this there lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen amazing the patience of love had conquered in the end today we're going to talk about patience we find ourselves in the rest of the story and if you're new to this is where we're looking at the full counsel of god's word this is the program guide here at c3 trip we don't run on anything else just this that's it it's important for you to know so if you don't like that you're not going to like it here because we do a lot of scriptures right i like god do the talking right and then gene tells the jokes that's it right so it kind of warm you up for this once we get there it gets a little bit harder deep so anyway we're looking at they had like their civil war right we saw israel in the north judah and the south and then there's all these different kings finally israel falls they're out of the picture for now and now we're dealing with the kings of the south and judah and so we're getting more and more rapid here and we're down to the last three kings and so we're taking a look at them carefully we are reinserting the prophets in these accounts where they belong a lot of people don't know this you have to kind of chop up jeremiah and put them all over the place to get it right it's not chronological the books of the bible are not chronological so i am chronologically them for you i'm kind of putting them back in order and it's interesting because a lot of longtime christians didn't even know the last week's account that just the first three chapters of daniel were right in there during jehoiakims time we know that they all got taken away we got the who what when where why to babylon so really enriching gives it a lot of flavor so speaking of profits weaving through we're going to look at another one and this one's kind of tough to place and it's also a tough name to say habakkuk or habakkuk now here's the funny thing i listened to the rabbi on my smartphone say it and i'm not going to try to do it but nobody's saying it right in america right so the funniest thing is to watch people argue about how it's pronounced and it's totally wrong like they're both wrong and indeed this is the crux of pastoral counseling i'm just watching a couple people argue about who's wronger so here's what we're going to do i'll make you a deal we won't be like snooty about how to pronounce the name so you can say tomato tomato habit cook habakkuk doesn't matter do we know who we're talking about yes okay moving on so the timeline is a little difficult here because the crux of habakkuk habakkuk is that he's seeing this impending invasion of the babylonians but the problem besides the invasion is that it happens like three times so we don't know which one he's talking about because he does not grace us with the name of the king who's in power at that time it doesn't begin there so we have to kind of guess so scholars will be like it could be here it could be over here it could be over here so we're placing it here because it was cozy for my sermon planning that's the only real reason all right so there's going to be another invasion and then another invasion and so he's seeing this on the horizon so it's somewhere around this time we get the book of habakkuk so i'll jump right in habakkuk 1-1 this is the message that the prophet habakkuk received in a vision how long o lord must i call for help but you do not listen violence is everywhere i cry but you do not come to save must i forever see these evil deeds why must i watch all this misery wherever i look i see destruction and violence i'm surrounded by people who love to argue and fight i feel you bro sound familiar so yeah history repeats itself right so here's the crux of the book of habakkuk i gotta stop saying that it's too much fun so the crux here is that it's gonna be like and some version will say complain and yeah yeah but not the way we complain so habakkuk will have a complaint and the lord will have an answer then he'll have a complaint and the lord will have an answer none of these answers are really great and so then habakkuk will praise him though in the midst of this so he's absolutely nothing like us so when people look at this and they're like we can complain because he did i'm like yeah right that's not happening to you and you're not like worshiping like that so let's look at it so the lord replies havoc 1-5 the lord replied look around at the nations look and be amazed from doing something in your own day something you wouldn't believe even if someone told you about it i'm raising up the babylonians side note may say chaldeans there for argument's sake this morning they're the same people moving on a cruel and violent people they will march across the world and conquer other lands so note the lord is sending the babylonians so we know why right these are wicked people so the people of judah and israel the israelites synonymous bad they're doing really bad things not only it's not like they're just worshiping other gods a process of that worship is killing their own children so let's just you know the god of the old testament is really mean to people who kill their own children so they're sacrificing their own kids to other gods so it's not like he's just some simply jealous god right you're doing wrong so he uses he says raises up king nebuchadnezzar and all different kinds of people we saw pharaoh nico before to go punish them they're being rightly punished so just keep that in mind but he describes these people their horses are swifter than cheetahs the eagles swoop down so there's like a lot of this poetic type of imagery going on they're bent on violence we get to a key verse habakkuk 111 they sweep past like the wind and are gone but they are deeply guilty for their own strength is their god put that one in your pocket all right so they're deeply their own strength is their god habakkuk second complaint 112 o lord my god my holy one you who are eternal surely you do not plan to wipe us out oh lord a rock you have sent these babylonians to correct us to punish us for our many sins but you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil will you wink at their treachery should you be silent while the wicked swallow of people more righteous than they he does not like it and he's appealing so everyone from him all the way back to moses will often appear to the lord right so regarding other nations right you know will you let them conquer the egyptians then conquer us it's going to make you look bad they're going to say the lord turned his back on his people so it's an appeal we see this all over the place in the bible surely you wouldn't do that so it's a complaint he's trying to negotiate a little bit with the lord and he says basically there's there's a few issues here what's going on is they're going to brag we're like fish caught in nets he'll say and they're going to make the nets their gods and say the nets did it right so he's trying to make all these different appeals and now we get like a really awkward chapter break there are no numbers in the originals it didn't happen for hundreds of years so sometimes i question the choices here here's another place where i question it because he's still talking so it kind of like interrupts him so i get a bible study we just do one chapter and we stop and then it's weird right shouldn't do it like that read the whole book habakkuk 2-1 i will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post there i will wait to see what the lord says and how he will answer my complaint have a quick 2-2 then the lord said to me write my answer plainly on tablets so that a runner can carry the correct message to others this is a vision for a future time it describes the end and it will be fulfilled hang on to this if it seems slow and coming wait patiently for it will surely take place it will not be delayed look at the proud they trust in themselves and their lives are crooked but the righteous will live by faithfulness their faithfulness to god so here is the summary they are trusting in their own wealth their own creation so back then maybe you saw gladiator do you remember russell crowe he carries around these little wooden things of his family or whatever right those are his idols and so they would make these idols and the bible goes on and on all over the place about it this is foolish you're worshiping these pieces of wood that you made so they did that back then it was a thing right so they trust in the idols they trust in their wealth they trust in their own strength and so he's going to go through each one of these three things making it clear what sorrow awaits you build these big houses with money gained dishonestly you believe you're wealth by security putting your family's nest beyond the reach of danger if you continue on has not the lord of heaven's armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes important to keep in mind god's words what good is an idol card by man or a cast image that deceives you how foolish to trust in your own creation a god that can't even talk if you read the prophets a lot they often mock people for being dumb for doing this so it's going to happen and then habakkuk sings a song so think of habakkuk chapter 3 like a psalm it's kind of like that this prayer was sung by the prophet habakkuk i have heard all about you lord i am filled with awe by your amazing works in this time of our deep need help us again as you did in years gone by and in your anger remember your mercy he continues on but the conclusion is the sovereign lord is my strength he makes me as sure-footed as a deer kind of sounds familiar too samish able to tread upon the heights and it says it's for the choir director to be accompanied by string instruments would be cool if i got someone like play a harp the whole time i talked or not so so sometimes we feel like habakkuk don't we we see some kind of impending disaster and maybe like paul we got a thorn in our side for a reason right keep you from being proud is what it says paul three times i asked my grace is sufficient for you so have a cook's in that same spot and we don't like it we feel like he's not listening or he's not responding why what's going on here's the thing habakkuk 2-3 this vision is for a future time it describes the end and it will be fulfilled if it seems slow in coming wait patiently for it will surely take place it will not be delayed in habakkuk we see kind of a really good biblical pattern here we're in distress there's something wrong or something we don't like so what do we do we're supposed to pray and keep praying and be patient and be patient then future restoration we've talked about this where not here heaven i won't get there i'll show you the scriptures so sometimes it's not always purple sometimes it's not perfect here it's not going to be the bible calls the world evil it's bad the devil is the prince of this world the ruler of this world and if you're watching the news like me you can kind of tell that's true now here's the thing in this process of distress the process of distress what are we supposed to do well we looked at it right pray but what should we be like physically doing we're going to go to romans romans 12. so you got to flip further ahead right so take a look at this romans 12 1. so very quickly the point of romans and here's where i can i'll be careful the point of romans is to stop disunity in the church so paul did not sit down and go i'm going to write the greatest theological work ever written you know then god said thorne on the side calm down no he they're all arguing with one another the jews and the gentiles christians are going at it so paul goes at them yes the gentiles have sinned but you jews you've sinned too we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of god an example of abraham's faith that's how we are saved five through seven adam and christ contrasted no you should not go in sinning all the time paul's making fun of adam chapter eight a new life in the holy spirit we don't we're not slaves to our sin that's six and eight there nine through eleven what happens to paul's kinsmen who didn't accept christ that's what that's all about we get to 12 and so dear brothers and sisters i plead with you to give your bodies to god because of all he has done for you let them be a living and holy sacrifice the kind he will find acceptable this is truly the way to worship him don't copy the behavior and customs of this world but let god transform you into a new person by changing the way you think then you will learn to know god's will for you which is good and pleasing and perfect in this process of distress don't be anything like the world your version may say a little more complicated i use easier versions because i don't know the reading level of people in here all right so the point here is not to show off the point here is to teach you do not be conformed to the world but be transformed i think we might all understand that right don't be like it be different be like god don't go there for answers in distress don't go there for answers in distress don't trust in any of that don't be conformed to anything in the world change the way you think be transformed and furthermore be a sacrifice do not kill yourself be a living sacrifice it means sacrificial love it means sacrificial love could mean sacrificing yourself for someone else no greater love anyone has than this i know but sacrificial love in this context so all you did paul dealt with that whole time stop it love one another be really nice to one another that's how you do it someone comes at you hard you just love them that's what real worship is a little bit of a tangent here it's a good reminder those of you who know about the culture we're building in this church a biblical christ-centered culture only none of the extras i really don't like them i find them distracting and so we here at c3 if you've been here for a while you know what worship is i'm going to use somebody else's words because they're hard ones a w tozer a lot of people are like oh i like him yeah he's tough christians don't lie they just go to church and sing them yeah right so what is worship the bible defines worship as sacrificial living it's love that's worship we need to rethink worship right it's all great like meme you know it's a woman you know the woman kind of crying on jesus's feet and drying it with her hair because one in distress at jesus's feet this is worship yes yes the singing is just an extension of it so you know but gene the psalms yeah take a look at him again it's an extension of that sacrificial living are we living sacrificially so people will point to habakkuk right wow he was kind of complaining and then singing it right is there like an onslaught of babylonians coming and we're going to get into it jeremiah lamentations it's going to cause them and these sieges to eat their own children resort to cannibalism this guy's a prophet you might see that coming that's not us in the ac right so but yet christians come and complain what right so they'll complain about the worship which is like kind of crazy how can you do that because it's sacrificial living these are singers right so when we're doing this we're just singing it's not the real worship it's an extension so understand that most people don't want to admit that look at that but that's what the bible says it's up on the screen still for a reason this is your worship just loving one another sacrificially so check it out this is how important it is romans 12 9 don't just pretend to love others really love them hate what is wrong hold tightly to what is good love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring one another never be lazy but work hard and serve the lord enthusiastically rejoice in our confident hope be patient in trouble and keep on praying this is what we are to do in this process of distress simple formula patience pray and love love love always always everyone now let's look at in this process of distress what we are not supposed to do because paul's going to cover it so here's what we're not supposed to do because let's say we got oppressors like habakkuk you know we got our nebuchadnezzar we're coming at us and part of that distress is like for paul alexander the coppersmith didn't you much harm we have someone in our lives that's like that or a group of people whatever it is we have an oppressors now i want you to imagine imagine that it's not just something it's someone or some group of people because this is usually kind of what it is picture that person here's the thing keep this in mind there is nothing we can do to that person in revenge or retaliation that is greater than what god's going to do to them and so just frame this i'll get back to this in a second have a cook 111 let's remember they sweep past like the wind and are gone but they're deeply guilty for their own strength is their god they're going to get it don't worry yet here's a problem i want to discuss this this is the strength of their own arrogance them right so the strength of their strength is their god sorry jumble that up them we must not be like them and get arrogant what are we gonna do this is what people will come in and say and i'm like do you read your bible so something will happen and it's like blown up in the news right or these people are going to websites you should not be going to because it's like melting your mind and they come in here looking nothing like a joyful christian it's okay to weep we weep with those we are going to see that that's not what i'm talking about they're red in the face sauceride and angry that's not of god that's a fruit of the flesh we'll get to those all right and they're like what are we gonna do pastor gene what what do you mean what are we gonna do love everybody even our enemies like it says i don't know but they want the other answer you're not gonna get it here what are we going to do it's arrogance like those in habakkuk people who trust their own strengths people who trust their own wealth people who trust their own creation and they shouldn't because habakkuk 213 has not the lord of heaven's armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes gone remember it's all history stories we're a pretty young country think about it they should not we shouldn't trust in anything but god that's it he is the only one who will never disappoint everyone else will every institution created by man will turn to ashes god will melt the earth we're going to get that there he will he's going to bring everything to nothing and then bring us into his new heaven and new earth we need to keep that in mind at all times so here's the thing what are we going to do well if we are in god and god's in us then we will romans 12 14. bless those who persecute you don't curse them pray that god will bless them be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep live in harmony with each other don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people and don't think you know it all never pay back evil with more evil do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable do all that you can to live in peace with everyone dear friends again never take revenge leave that to the righteous anger of god he handles that anger a lot better than we do for the scriptures say i will take revenge i will pay them back deuteronomy 32 says the lord instead if your enemies are hungry feed them if they are thirsty give them something to drink in doing this you will keep burning coals of shame on their heads proverbs 25 quote don't let evil conquer you but conquer evil by doing good these people that have bought into all the political nonsense they have been conquered by evil it is sad it is sad it brings me tears to see what has happened to some of these people instead of just saying you know what this is crazy i'm gonna pick this up and i'm just gonna wash myself with the word i'm gonna clean myself out of all this garbage they get hyper invested in that it's a trap it's a trap what i'm saying here is the truth it is god's word that's a trap the devil got you it's so bad we shouldn't be talking about these things in church what does it say we loving one another need your feet washed i don't care what side of the aisle you're on but we're not hearing that enough are we these people have been conquered by evil when you take revenge when you retaliate we're going to see pay insult for insult evil wins evil wins when you do that you can't we need to conquer evil by doing good if we turn the page we see this nobody likes this but just bear with me i'll explain romans 13 1 everyone must submit to governing authorities for all authority comes from god and those in positions of authority have been placed there by god so anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what god has instituted and they will be punished for the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right but in those who are doing wrong would you like to live without fear of the authorities do what is right and they will honor you the authorities are god's servants sent for your good but if you're doing wrong of course you should be afraid for they have the power to punish you they're god's servants sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do it is wrong you must submit to them not only to avoid punishment but also to keep a clear conscience pay your taxes too for these same reasons for the government workers need to be paid excuse me they are serving god in what they do give to everyone what you owe them pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them and give respect and honor to those who are in authority now listen there's going to be a but but what if but what if right that's always is great i've had office meetings about this section of scripture it's amazing like just the lawyers all of a sudden that everybody turns into you're christians not lord so maybe your lawyer is okay you can be a christian and deliverable talk about that later insulting people now but anyway but but but but there's no but there's no but it's not there it's not there you got to go back before the butt and say why'd you ask but check your heart where's it at i'm going to give you some reasoning though because when we look to the full counsel of god's word we we see what and why but think about habakkuk right complaining right but what they're attacking me god's like i sent them you just sit and wait think about it think about it but what if what if they're wrong i'll take care of that god says i'll i'm the judge so god's word is not moin mine that was a jewish mind no i don't know what it was first peter it's in first peter so it talks a lot about suffering right and taking it it's in there really redundant first peter 2 13 for the lord's sake submit to all human authority whether the king as the head of state or the officials he has appointed for the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right it is god's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you for you are free you are god's slaves so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil respect everyone and love the family of believers fear god and respect the king or your version might say emperor because nero is about to be burning christians alive yep honor him respect everyone your love and honorable deeds even if it means death yes the bible says that it will silence them but here's the thing but but what if we're being wronged what if they're wrong and we're right what if oh i'm glad you asked you mean like jesus was wronged and he was right we're going to be better than him now well check this out first peter 2 18. you who are slaves let's just say employees in this context submit to your employers or masters with all respect do what they tell you not only if they are kind and reasonable but even if they're cruel for god is pleased when conscious of his will you patiently endure unjust treatment not gonna be the verse of the day watch it will be tomorrow and i'll be wrong for god is please and i'd like that for god is pleased when conscious of his will you patiently endure unjust treatment of course you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong but if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently god is pleased with you for god called you to do good even if it means suffering ah just as christ suffered for you he is your example and you must follow in his steps you must be like him christian means baby christ he never sinned nor deceived anyone he did not retaliate when he was insulted nor threatened revenge when he suffered he left his case in the hands of god who always judges fairly imagine that called to do good even if it means suffering even if it's unjust god is pleased when we overcome with love prove it right you can love when it's easy anybody can do that how about when it's hard now we're gonna see that's the real test of your christian love let someone wrong you and then you still just love them prove it that's what the bible says too so we can keep going example jesus is our example he did not retaliate again what are we gonna do what jesus did nothing just love that's the answer you see it says god will judge he will that's why jesus says luke 12 14 dear friends don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body they cannot do any more to you after that but i'll tell you whom to fear fear god who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell yes he's the one to fear so we are to wait on the lord let him do it there's nothing we can do that's going to be any more just righteous are horrible and what he can do again it may seem slow but let's look at this again about cook 2 3 is vision for a future time it describes the end and will be fulfilled if it seems slow in coming wait patiently for it will surely take place they will not be delayed look at the proud they trust in themselves and their lives are crooked but the righteous will live by their faithfulness to god we must be faithful and patient and this means obeying his commands not our own ideas we must not be arrogant we must not be proud we must not trust in ourselves we must not trust in anything in the world we must not trust especially in our wealth and we need to wait concerning retaliation revenge judgment that's his job and he's a whole lot better at it leave it to him so here's the thing we're going to close soon but i just want to talk about god's timing second peter if we get to second peter you have mockers and oppressors during this process that we're going through second peter 3 5 says they deliberately forget that god made the heavens long ago by the word of his command and he brought the earth out of out from the water and surrounded it with water then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood noah and by the same word the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire they are being kept for the day of judgment when ungodly people will be destroyed but you must not forget this one thing dear friends a day is like a thousand years to the lord in a thousand years is like a day the lord isn't really being slow about his promise as some people think no he's being patient for your sake he does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent but the day of the lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire and the earth and everything in it will be found to deserve judgment so as stated in romans here's something that a lot of people don't think about we get selfish so if you know that this is horrible eternal fire earth's gonna be gone this is horrible the faith that awaits these people who are not saved so what did it say in romans that we're supposed to do for these people our enemies bless them pray for them you see if our hearts are right and we are in christ and we know the full council we should be pitying these people pitying these people this is gonna be bad like really really bad imagine your enemy in the fire forever that's not good and so we should have mercy like their children challenging us to a fight whoa you're going to hurt yourself you feel sorry for them they're ignorant they've turned their backs on god it's not good so we are commanded that's what that is in the bible command to pray and pray to bless them think about that in order to pray like yeah you know i hope they come to jesus and then we can like you know have coffee no bless them with the coffee we do that here too you'll hear about it later so bless them right so if it's someone at work that hates you and whatever they want to take your job even or something horrible like that bring them coffee what right don't like dump it on their head well the bible said that no it will be a like don't do that that's not good right so there we go little joke in there you guys are getting a little serious so this is my encouragement to those who are oppressed and so i pick up where we left off and we ended last week and then we'll end here in hebrews hebrews is like the greatest commentary on the old testament ever in the new testament talks a lot about not going back to the old like jewish religion but being in christ so jesus is superior to everything and we looked at this when we were talking about being on fire for the lord like we started a certain way or maybe we're into fad christianity but we're not willing to go in the fire like shadrach meshach and abednego right so we're not willing to do that so we talked about being on fire and this is what the author or preacher of hebrews is saying to look you've got to stay on fire for the lord but what i want to do is i want to go one verse back and then forward and we're going to see a beautiful end capping on today's theme hebrews 10 30. for we know the one who said i will take revenge i will pay them back he also said the lords will judge his own people something to keep in mind deuteronomy 32 it is a terrible thing to fall in the hands of the living god think back on those early days when you first learned about christ remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering sometimes you're exposed to public ridicule and you're beaten and sometimes you help others who are suffering the same things you suffered along with those who were thrown into jail and when all you owned was taken away from you you accepted it with joy you knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever are we getting it you knew there are better things that will last forever this is all just temporary you can't take it with you you can't take it with you better things are there now if we continue where we left off hebrews 10 35 so do not throw away this confident trust in the lord remember the great reward it brings you patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do god's will a key then you will receive all that he has promised for in just a little while the coming one will come and not delay and my righteous ones will live by faith but i will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away but we are not like those who turn away from god to their own destructions destruction we are the faithful ones whose souls will be saved keep that on the screen because here's the thing verses 37 and 38 are a quote of habakkuk 2 verses 3 through 4. amazing patient endurance is what we need now so that we can do the lord's will which is to love and a lot of people don't realize patience is a fruit of the holy spirit right so if you're in galatians 5 and you're reading you're going to see the fruit of the flesh outbursts of anger it's not from god but then he goes through the fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience kindness godliness faithfulness self-control did you notice the patience in love joy peace patience if you're patient it's a fruit of the spirit showing that you have the holy spirit in you you're empowered to wait sometimes it's a seal of our salvation popular chapter even if you don't read the bible a lot you've been to a wedding you've heard this love is patient love is kind love isn't boastful or jealous but what is it it's the first thing the holy spirit brings to paul's mind right this is being written or penned by tertius so love is patient love is patient think about it we are to endure through these trials romans 5. even in trials we are to endure because this endurance is going to build up our character right and it's going to lead to hope a hope that will not disappoint we are sealed with the spirit of god that's who we should be listening to all the time and so let me pray for you lord i thank everyone and the sound of my voice for tuning in or coming in lord i pray you give them the strength fill them with the power of your spirit to not only bless those who might be persecuting them but also to be vehicles of your love and to remain strengthful strength and endurance to maintain that strength through even the worst of trials the worst of trials fill them with joy peace patience kindness self-control remind them of what awaits them in heaven beyond what is here i ask this in jesus name amen so you