[EDITOR’S NOTE: It is time to be utterly astounded as God spoke to the prophet Habakuk. Brother Brian gives a clear clarion call to God’s Remnant in many Churches and Assemblies. The message concludes with 3 distinct challenges for believers: 1) To reread the Book of Acts in a single sitting if possible. 2) Consider starting or being involved in a prayer meeting 3) And lastly to cry out to God afresh for the true Baptism of the Holy Spirit of God. We encourage saints to respond to this message as the Holy Spirit leads you in these 3 areas. Below is the message transcript]:
Thank you dear brother. I have that Testimony of Algerius856 written down. I had actually written down his testimony at home and have it in my study. It has ministered to me time and time again. The Glory of Jesus in the Dungeon. He found infinite sweetness in the bowels of the lion—I don’t think I will ever forget that expression.
I am very grateful to be here with you tonight. I do have a burden on my heart that I am convinced—absolutely persuaded—is from the Lord. I want you to turn with me to the Book of Habakkuk. We will begin in chapter 2.
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the Lord replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.’”857
Now the vision that the prophet Habakkuk saw was a burden from the Lord. You notice, if you would, in the first verse of chapter 1:
“The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.”858
His burden was a vision from the Lord. A vision that God said would surely come. It wasn’t that it might come to pass; it wasn’t that it could come to pass. He said:
“Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”859
Now there are two parts to this vision that I want to share with you tonight. Then having shared the vision, I want us to see how we are to run with it because that is what He says:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.”860
So first of all, the vision: what was it that the prophet Habakkuk saw? What was it that God said would surely come? He first saw a vision of coming judgment. It was judgment that was sure to come from the hand of God to Judah. According to the Word of the Lord in chapter 1, the judgment of the Lord was surely coming.
And the way that God was going to send judgment was not exactly what the prophet Habakkuk had in mind or had expected God to answer him in his prayer. He had been praying, verse 2:
“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.”861
Habakkuk is praying. He is interceding for God’s people. And he is saying ‘How long? How long, Lord?’ How long will the iniquity, the perversion, the violence, the lawlessness, the injustice in this land continue? How long will you show me all of this trouble in our nation and yet it seems like You’re not doing anything about it? How long, Lord, will godly people pray revival and yet there is no revival?
He was crying out to God from an honest heart. He was praying for God to stop the sin and the decay, and to stop this dishonor and disgrace that was being brought to the Name of God through God’s people. And yet it seemed like God was not answering.
How long will godly pray and there is no revival? And he is begging God to turn God‘s people back to Him in repentance. Brothers and sisters, how long have we prayed the same way? I know I am not the only one. How long have we prayed for revival? I remember the first conference that was held here. The burden I came to Atlanta with—with such expectation that there was a revival conference—and I knew something about SermonIndex so I knew this is real revival we’re talking about—and fully expecting that after this conference, we’re going to see a great spiritual awakening. How long have we prayed for revival yet there is no revival?
Granted, God has moved in little pockets around the nation. He is moving, but I am talking about spiritual awakening—the kind of revival that turns the whole tide of a nation, a city or even a society. We’ve not seen that in this nation. We’ve not seen anything that compares to the great awakenings of the past nor the great revivals like the Welsh revival or the Hebrides revival. We’ve prayed and yet God hasn’t answered like we might have expected Him to. I want to tell you tonight that God does answer. God has heard those prayers. God heard the prayer of Habakkuk and He answers. Maybe not like Habakkuk expected Him to answer, maybe not like we expected God to answer, but God speaks and here’s His answer in verse 5:
“Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”862
Now that sounds amazing to me when God says ‘be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.’ But the question is what kind of work? In the next verse, God says:
“I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.”863
I am going to work a work in your day and here’s the work: I’m raising up the Babylonians. Who are they? These were not God- fearing people. These were enemies of God; enemy armies that God would sovereignly raise up and use as an instrument of His judgment to chasten His own people. And can you believe it? Can you believe God would do that? Maybe that’s why God said ‘be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.’
Keith Green said, several years ago; when God wants to speak to His people, He will do it in three ways. First; He will touch their economy. He will touch them where it hurts, in their economy. If that doesn’t work, if that doesn’t turn God’s people to repentance, then God will touch their ecology. Then you have floods and pestilences, hurricanes, a drought this year that has covered a huge part of this nation, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis. Lastly though he said, God will raise up a nation to come in and invade them.
That is exactly the judgment that God is pronouncing here and that is the judgment that is soon to come upon this nation and upon North America. God is sovereignly raising up enemy armies to invade a nation and, America, this nation, believes she’s too strong for that. Her military forces are too strong for that. That will never happen! I want to tell you tonight, that this nation sits on the brink of utter destruction. She is ripe for the judgment of God. Judgment is at the door. America will not have a godly president to save the day, nor the nation.
National leaders and politicians will become even more corrupt. Muslims and other antichrist groups will be God’s instrument of judgment and what is most surprising of all, probably, is that this holy Remnant—and she is found all over the earth, gathered in all kinds of different congregations—that has seen the King, that has come to know Jesus and is following Him wholeheartedly, she will be persecuted by people who profess to be Christians. Churches, if you will, persecuting them because they are not pledging allegiance to patriotism or anything else but the Lamb of God—and she will be arrested, we will be imprisoned, hated, beaten and even executed in this nation. I want to tell you brothers and sisters, when it happens, do not think that God’s hands are tied. Don’t think that this has taken God by surprise. God has actually executed the judgment however and whenever He chooses. We need to see the sovereign hand of God behind it all. I love what the brother said earlier, the lions had to look up. God here raised up the Babylonians, and God is a God who will allow even His people to suffer at the hands of the enemies.
His hands are not tied. Judgment is surely coming. That is a hard message for some to embrace. Habakkuk himself is wrestling with this. He says in verse 12:
“Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, You will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; You, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do You tolerate the treacherous? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”864
Judgment was coming to Judah. Judgment is surely coming to North America but I want to remind you again tonight, that judgment must begin at the house of God.
“For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the Gospel of God?”865
Habakkuk’s question in verse 13 was “Why then do You tolerate the treacherous? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”866 It’s true that the Babylonians were more wicked than God’s own people, Israel, but it’s also true that Israel was sinning against much greater light. Brothers and sisters, the Muslims aren’t holding a Bible in their hand, but the prosperity preacher is. The world’s not holding a Bible in their hand, but I am. When God’s people sin against God, they’re sinning against a much greater light than the world or any other religion has.
The angry atheist doesn’t claim to preach Jesus Christ nor do they rob from the people of God, but the wolf in the house of God does. The Communist doesn’t claim to know Christ, but hypocrites in the house of God do. God will not always strive with such mixture in His house. There is coming a shaking. There is coming a sure and definite judgment to the house of God. A shaking where everything that can be shaken will be shaken and it will bring about a holy separation; from those who fear God and those who do not; those who know Christ and those who do not; those who have pledged their allegiance to Christ and those who haven’t. It is coming. It is coming to the house of God.
God is merciful and He is so patient. He has shown me more mercy than anybody I know. I will never give up on the mercy of God, but I will tell you this: He will not always strive with man and there is a judgment coming to the house of God. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and He must have the preeminence in all. It’s His Church, it’s His body, it’s His Bride—and I tell you, that any Assembly where Jesus Christ is not truly the Head is sliding rapidly to the judgment of God. Here’s where we’ve got to make the vision plain; we’ve got to make it personal: do I honor Him as the Head of the house? It’s not enough for us to memorize Scripture that says that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church. It’s not enough to know the Bible in our minds that says that Jesus must have the preeminence. The issue is do I honor Him as the Head? It’s not enough to call Him King. Do you glorify Him as King? Do you obey Him as Lord? Do I obey Him as Lord?
There is hypocrisy in the house of God that comes under the judgment of God. We can preach—and before I could ever stand up here, God took me through weeks—because I never want to preach something I am not willing for God to do in and through me. I have asked myself these questions that I am posing to you tonight. How many of us listen to so many good messages? We even preach good Biblical messages but the issue is not can we preach them. Not, can we listen to many of them. The issue is do we live them? Are we the incarnation of these messages that we are receiving? There is more preaching today—good preaching—especially on SermonIndex; all these saints of the past. It’s not the issue of how many sermons you listen to. Do you live them?
Listen, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord’ Jesus said, ‘and do not do what I say?”867 Why do you emphatically call me Lord and not obey? To live this way is to build your house on shifting sand and to have it all fall down and blown away in the coming storm.
There is lukewarmness in the house of God. This attempt to serve two masters;868 and it will come under the judgment of God. There is coming a day where—people now are trying to combine allegiances. There will be a shaking. Christ alone or Christ not at all.
The pride of leaders and pastors who love to have the preeminence will have the rug pulled out from under them very soon, except they repent. Secret sin in the house of God; there is no fear of God and secret sin in the house of God is coming under the judgment of God. Judgment is surely coming upon the American dream message of Your Best Life Now; the word of faith movement; the prosperity gospel—which is another gospel preaching another Jesus; a false gospel that promotes the love of money, self-centeredness and pride—and not only will God demand an account for the deception and dishonor to His Name in this nation, but He is especially going to demand an account of those who have spread it into the nations all across the world, and robbed the poor to line their greedy pockets. That is coming under the judgment of God.
Every house of worship where the Holy Spirit has been rejected, resisted, ignored—because we want to have Church without Him—is coming under the judgment of God. When the shaking comes, that house will shake and it will not stand. We cannot have Church apart from the Spirit of the Living God. He has been grieved. He has been resisted. He has been rejected. Listen to this Scripture from Ezekiel. We think of homosexuality and perversion—to God that was an abomination—God sent fire and brimstone on Sodom. But that was not the sin even mentioned here. These were the sins of your sister Sodom:
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”869
Arrogance. Pride. Overfed. We’ve been given so much, and yet unconcerned—as the poor and needy die outside the house of God. Have we abandoned our mission, Church of Jesus Christ? Have we forgotten the great commission to go and preach the Gospel to every creature?870 And it’s twofold: and also to make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded us.871 Have we forgotten that? Have we forgotten what true religion is in the house of God? Caring for the orphans, the widows in their trouble,872 feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to the poor, visiting those in prison and keeping yourself unspotted from the world. I tell you, because we have neglected this—we have not taken this seriously—judgment is coming to the house of God. But even that judgment will be an expression of God’s mercy and love. The worst thing that could happen today is for God to allow Christendom to continue as She is without Him. And there is a clear distinction in 1 Peter 4 that God makes between the punishing judgment of God upon the unbeliever and the purifying judgment of God upon the believer.873
The judgment that will be punishment for one will be purifying for another. For one it’s punishment and utter destruction, but for the Remnant, that shaking, that persecution will be to test and try and refine His holy Remnant; His beloved Bride, His cherished Church.
Now I want you to watch this because someone inevitably says a message of gloom and doom. It’s not gloom and doom to me. Gloom to me is for the Church to continue as She is. Hypocrisy in the house of God, hypocrisy in my heart: that’s gloom. This is not a message of gloom and doom and this vision of judgment is not all that the prophet saw. He did see judgment coming. He saw the suffering of God’s people coming but that’s not all He saw. God says to the prophet Habakkuk: write down the vision and make it plain. Habakkuk what do you see? ‘I see judgment that is sure to come. Persecution, yes. Incredible suffering of God’s people, yes. A storm unlike we’ve ever experienced before, yes! But that’s not all I see.’ chapter 2 verse 14: surrounded by verse after verse of coming judgment, there’s this little nugget like a nugget of gold hidden inside the side of a mountain:
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”874
What do you see, Habakkuk? Coming judgment but wait… I see something else. I see a coming glory. A glory that is so great that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea. Hallelujah! As the waters cover the sea—now where do the waters not cover the sea? Seas make up the waters. In other words, there is no place on earth where the glory of the Lord will not be known. Have you seen that, saints, through the eyes of faith? A coming glory that is a latter glory greater than the former— the greatest display of God’s glory that has ever been known in the history of the world. A coming glory; where the knowledge of that glory will cover the earth even as the waters covers the sea. Why? Because in the fires of persecution, the Church gets purified. Yes, all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution but suffering for Christ and the sake of Christ always precedes glory. Suffering for Jesus equals glory to Jesus.
Paul the Apostle says in Romans 8:
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”875
Suffering. Glory! Suffering with Jesus precedes the glory of Jesus. His glory will be revealed where? According Romans 8, in the heavens somewhere? Among the stars? In some cathedral temple somewhere we have to go find? A man-made—no! In us! The glory of the Lord revealed in us! How? Through suffering. Through persecution. Habakkuk sees something else in verse 20 of chapter 2:
“The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.”876 And the Lord, beloved, in His holy temple, through His holy temple will display His glory and the knowledge of that glory will cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea.
You remember under the old covenant when God chose to reveal His glory in the days of Moses. He commanded Moses to build the tabernacle. Moses built the tabernacle just as God had told him to do. And in that tabernacle, in the Holy of holies, the Shekhinah glory of God would come down. God’s glory would rest among His people. God would visit His people in the tabernacle. The glory of the Lord displayed in the Holy of holies. And everybody who was there knew that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is God. The glory of the Lord.
But that tabernacle was one day no more and King David had a deep desire to build a house for the Lord: a temple for the Most High God. God honored that request in David but He said ‘David, you’re not going to build Me My house. Your son Solomon will build My temple.’ King Solomon did build the temple; an incredible, magnificent temple for the Lord. You remember what happened when Solomon finished dedicating the temple to God in prayer: the glory of the Lord came down. So much so that the priests could not even enter the temple but down on their faces they went on the pavement and they worshipped God. What did they say? ‘He is good; His love endures forever.’ That display of God’s glory was greater than the former in the tabernacle.877
God manifested His presence. God displayed His glory. His glory came down and was revealed through the temple but that beautiful magnificent temple of Solomon was also destroyed. God’s people were taken captive for seventy years to Babylon. God then raises up a remnant. God always has a Remnant and the Remnant marched to Zion, back to Jerusalem to once again build the temple for the Lord at the command of the Lord. They were few in number but they were one in purpose and one in vision. They had come to build the house of the Lord so that the Lord could visit His people; another place for the glory of the Lord to rest—to come down among His people— that all may know that He is God. God said this: though that outward temple was not as spectacular as the previous temple (Solomon’s temple), I will fill this temple with My glory, and the latter glory will be greater than the former glory.
What happened? Was the glory greater? It was greater because one day the Son of God Himself stepped down and He walked into that temple and He opened up the Scriptures and He read. Jesus Christ stood in the temple and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John said “We have seen His glory.”878 The glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. God once again filled His house with glory and that glory was much greater than any of the former glory because this is the Son of God Himself: Jesus Christ.
Displaying and seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus. We beheld His glory. Our Lord went to the cross, died on the cross for our sins, was raised again on the third day, ascended into heaven and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father. That temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. Not one stone found left on top of another. I still hear the Spirit of the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? says the Lord. Or where will My resting place be?”879 God longing to visit His people. Where is the place once again where God will display His glory? Habakkuk said “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.”880 and through that holy temple the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth even as the waters cover the sea. But where is that temple? Stephen said in Acts 7: “the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands.”881 Where is that temple? The answer is given by the Apostle Paul:
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”882
The prophet says ‘I see the Lord in His holy temple’ and the Apostle Paul says ‘yes, the temple of God is holy and which temple you are.’ You see it, brothers and sisters, that’s the vision. The vision of God’s coming glory is the coming of the greatest display of the glory of God ever in the history of the world. I want to tell you that this is the Church’s finest hour. I believe it with all of my heart. We are living in incredible days. God Almighty wanting to display His glory once again to such a degree: that glory will be greater than the former glory. It has to be if the knowledge of it will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. He wants to do it where? Through His Church, through His body, through His temple which is us.
Coming judgment, yes. Coming persecution, yes. Suffering; yes. But a glory of God and to God who makes it all worth it. I agree with the Apostle Paul: the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. There is the vision but, how do we run with it?
He said write the vision that He may run who reads it. In other words, do something with this vision. It demands a response, a practical response. Run with the vision. Someone who is running is either running away from something or they are running in pursuit of something. I want to say to you tonight to run with this vision is to run in pursuit; not of something but Someone.
Hebrews chapter 12. Run with the vision but how? Run pursuing Someone:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”883
This is a pursuit, namely, of Jesus Christ Himself. You want to run with the vision? Pursue Christ with all your heart. Fix your eyes on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Let Jesus fill your vision. Go after Him. Let Him be your chief delight, your highest ambition, your most passionate pursuit—your greatest desire should be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Otherwise, you’re not running the race! You’re not running with the vision. Make it plain. Make it personal. How is it with you? What is your greatest passion? What’s your most passionate pursuit? What do you talk about the most?
Who do you talk about the most? Jesus Christ? Or your Bible translation? Jesus Christ? Or your particular doctrine, theology, eschatology…? Jesus Christ? Or your ministry? Jesus Christ or your gifts? Jesus Christ or your head-covering? Jesus Christ or your children, your family…? Jesus Christ or your denomination? It can be a number of things, brothers and sisters, and they’re not all bad. Everything should pale in comparison with our love for Him. Love for Christ; the pursuit of Christ. I tell you, this Remnant that God is raising up that is scattered all over the earth shares one thing in common: to you who believe, He is precious! Christ is precious! Hallelujah!
When He’s precious to you like that, you are willing to suffer the loss of everything and to count it but dung—rubbish—for the sake of knowing Christ more. There is so much more of Jesus to know than I know and that you know. Are you willing? Are you willing to suffer the loss of all things for the sake of Him? Knowing Him, following Him, being closer to Him.
Algerius said in that dungeon the One who I once followed afar, I now see. He holds my hand. He’s with me.884
When Christ is everything to you, something else happens. You run with this vision in pursuit of Christ, something else happens. You will hate sin with a passion. You will loath it. You will hate it with a passion. Notice he says in verse 1:
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run.”885
Again, the Lord made so clear to me: make this plain. Is there sin in your life? Make it personal. Is there sin in your life? Are you regarding iniquity in your heart? When Christ is precious to you, you will hate sin! You will get dead-serious about repentance. Not just confessing your sin but forsaking it!
I was walking this trail I always walk to pray, the other day. The Lord was showing me to you who believe, He is precious. Blessed are the pure in heart. Worshipping Jesus as I’m walking along and someone’s dog had vomited right there in the middle of the trail. I looked at that and obviously you’re repulsed by that. The Holy Spirit reminded me that’s what sin looks like to me. I said Jesus make sin look like that to me. Repulsive.
This pursuit of Christ is a pursuit of holiness. Remember brothers and sisters, without holiness, no one will see the Lord. The Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth be silent.
Not just running now—we’re running in pursuit of Christ, we’re running in pursuit of Him—but we’re running with purpose. The Apostle Paul says:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”886 In other words, run to win. Run on purpose. The Apostle Paul ran with purpose. He says in verse 25:
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”887
He ran on purpose. Paul was so concerned about coming to the end of His race and finding out that he had run it in vain. He would not be distracted from His purpose. He’s running with the vision. His eyes are on Christ. He disciplined his body. He didn’t let food, sleep, leisure and entertainment master him nor distract him from this vision of Christ. He wouldn’t be distracted from what Christ had clearly called him to do. He wouldn’t waste time. He wouldn’t become spiritually lazy. I get embarrassed of myself when I’m talking about persecution. I’m reading Foxes’ Book of Martyrs and all of this— and I see a spiritual laziness that I’m prone to—areas of my life where I’m not dying now. There is