The Lord Is in His Holy Temple

[0:00] Then be true and faithful, trusting, serving every day. How about a find in your Bible? Are you ready?

[0:10] This is kind of a sordro one here. Habakkuk chapter 2. Habakkuk chapter 2. Habakkuk chapter 2.

[0:48] Habakkuk chapter 2. And so as you find your place, follow along if you haven't found your place. Then just catch up to where we are. Habakkuk chapter 2.

[1:02] And we're not going to get to the one-liner right away. But as the prophet says, wait for it. And you'll see that right here. Verse number 1. I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower.

[1:16] And will watch to see what he will say unto me. And what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables. That he may run that readeth it.

[1:29] For the vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it. Because it will surely come. It will not tarry.

[1:40] Behold his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith. Yea also because he transgresseth by wine. He is a proud man.

[1:51] Neither keepeth at home. Who enlargeth his desire as hell. And is as death. And cannot be satisfied. But gathereth unto him all nations. And heapeth unto him all people.

[2:02] Shall not all these take up a parable against him. And a taunting proverb against him. And say, woe to him that increaseth that which is not his. How long? And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay.

[2:17] Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee. And awake that shall vex thee. And thou shalt be for booties unto them. Because thou hast spoiled many nations. All the remnant of the people shall spoil thee.

[2:28] Because of men's blood. And for the violence of the land. And of the city. And of all that dwell therein. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house. That he may set his nest on high.

[2:41] That he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou hast consulted shame to thy house. By cutting off many people. And hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall.

[2:53] And the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood. And establisheth a city by iniquity. Behold it is not of the Lord of hosts.

[3:04] That the people shall labor in very fire. And the people shall weary themselves for their vanity. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea.

[3:16] Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink. That putteth thy bottle to him. And makest him drunken also. That thou mayest look on their nakedness. Thou art filled with shame for glory.

[3:29] Drink thou also. And let thy foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee. And shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee.

[3:41] And the spoil of beasts which made them afraid. Because of men's blood. And for the violence of the land. Of the city. And of all that dwell therein. What profiteth the graven image.

[3:51] That the maker thereof hath graven it. The molten image and teacher of lies. And the maker of his work. Trusteth therein to make dumb idols. Woe unto him.

[4:02] That saith to the wood awake. To the dumb stone. Arise it shall teach. Behold it is laid over with gold and silver. There is no breath at all in the midst of it.

[4:12] But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. This last verse of Habakkuk chapter 2.

[4:27] Always catches me off guard. I every time coming through this short book. Get caught up with the iniquity of man.

[4:38] With the four woes that God pronounces against man. In verses 9, 12, 15 and 19. Woe unto him. Woe unto him. Woe unto him. And then just out of nowhere.

[4:50] You hit verse 20. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. All the commotion and the chaos of the wickedness.

[5:03] And the rebellion of man. It's like it just stops dead. At verse 20. And every time I read through this book. I get caught.

[5:14] I know I've got to continue and finish chapter 3. But for a moment I can't. For a moment I'm forced to pause. I'm forced to ponder the Lord. In his holy temple.

[5:25] And this sobering scene. This silence. Of mankind. Of all of humankind. Standing before him.

[5:36] It just catches me. I forget then. All the past verses. 19 verses. Leading up to verse 20. When I see the Lord in his holy temple.

[5:47] And I suppose. It's this sharp contrast. From all of this noise of mankind. And his sin. And his guilt. And the woes from God upon him. And then. To see the silence.

[5:58] And to envision the Lord in his holy temple. I think it's the contrast. That leads up to this. That just. Stops me dead in my tracks. When I'm reading my Bible. And I want to look.

[6:09] And just really. Just kind of. Go through that verse. And kind of uncover some things. Out of verse 20. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him.

[6:22] Let's pray together. Father. Please silence our hearts. And our minds. From running to and fro. In the things of this life. At this moment.

[6:33] Please draw our hearts. To the word of God. And speak to us. May your spirit. Through his. Through your precious book. These living words. These powerful words.

[6:43] Lord I pray that you'll. Be able to take them. And do something. In our minds. Lord help us today. Help me to preach this. Help me to deliver this. And not to be.

[6:54] In any way. Out of line. But Lord I pray that it be. Just pure truth. Coming forth. From your pulpit. From your words. And God help us to receive them. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

[7:06] Notice first of all. There's this. Contrast. I've mentioned. And I want to see it. In three ways. In verse 20. It begins. But. The Lord. But.

[7:18] This. Contrast. Of. His person. Is what we're going to see first. As we're reading. Through this. This. The pride of man. From.

[7:29] In verses 4 and 5. His soul is lifted up. In verse 4. In verse 9. He is a proud man. We read about the pride of man. In verses 5 through 8.

[7:39] We read of man. And conquering others. And. And. And. And. And. And. And. In verse 5. In the middle of that verse. It says. He cannot be satisfied. But gathereth unto himself all nations.

[7:51] In verse 6. It says. Woe to him that increaseth. That which is not his. And so. He's. He's taking. He's just. Overcoming others. He's conquering. And robbing.

[8:02] In verse 9. We read of his covetousness. In several places. In this chapter. Verse 8. 10. 12. And 17. There is murder. And violence.

[8:12] Blood being shed. And the chapter is coming to a close. In verses 18 and 19. With idolatry. Worshipping. Things that have been fashioned.

[8:25] By man's hands. Their very hands. Carving out. Or chiseling out. Some stone. Some piece of wood. And then calling for it. To deliver them.

[8:35] And save them. And help them. And protect them. We also read in verse 15. About the drunkenness. Of the wicked man. But the Lord.

[8:47] What a contrast. When we come to verse 20. But the Lord. The Lord is not lifted up. In pride. The Lord is not covetous. He's not killing. And stealing from others.

[8:58] He's not guilty. Of any of these. So the word but. But the Lord. The Lord is different. He's nothing like sinful man. The character.

[9:10] The actions of God. They don't resemble anything. Like what sinful man. Is described as in this chapter. And what we've read. He doesn't succumb to lusts. He doesn't succumb to evil imaginations.

[9:23] Or to evil desires. Not the Lord. The Lord. He's not even affected by the depravity of man. James says in his epistle.

[9:34] That the Lord God cannot be tempted with evil. He's just a completely different being. He doesn't even belong in this conversation with wicked man. It's but the Lord. Completely separate.

[9:46] The Bible says about Jesus Christ. That he's separate from sinners. Look back at chapter 1. Something that the prophet says about the Lord. In verse 13. He says thou art of purer eyes.

[9:58] Than to behold evil. And canst not look on iniquity. That doesn't mean he can't see man. And see his sin. That's not the statement at all. But that's the thought of God.

[10:09] He's so much purer. As Isaiah said. He's high. And lifted up. But the Lord. There's the contrast of his person. And this passage describes the rise and fall of powerful men.

[10:23] In verse 5. Enlarging themselves. And gathering unto him all nations. And heaping unto him all people. And there's a future reference here.

[10:33] In connection to Antichrist and things. Prophetically. But speaking of man. We see his rise and fall. We see man. That he establishes kingdoms.

[10:43] And those kingdoms are defeated. We see in verses 12 and 13. That he's establishing cities. He's building towns. In verse 13. The people are laboring.

[10:55] But he's doing it. He's building it with blood. He's building. And in generations. They come and they go. They live and they die. But the Lord.

[11:07] Is in his holy temple. Present tense. There's no coming and going of the Lord. When man rises and falls. And rises to power.

[11:18] And dominant men fear before him. It's not but a short time. Until he's dead and in the grave. But the Lord. Is still. In his holy temple. There's a contrast here.

[11:28] Of his person. And this is a great thing. For us to ponder this morning. And to understand. That the Lord God. Does not belong in the same conversation.

[11:39] As sinful man. They're two different creatures. Completely. Completely. And so that word but. Draws a line. It distinguishes. All of mankind. And his sin.

[11:49] And who he is. And what he thinks. And what he accomplishes. And just draws a line. And says. But the Lord. He's somewhere else. He's completely. Distinct. And different. And separate.

[12:00] From fallen man. In heaven. The Lord is worshipped. And in heaven. He's lauded. And they cry out. Holy. Holy. Holy. Before the Lord God almighty.

[12:12] In the Bible. He's described as holy. He's described as just. He's described. Christ says. Be therefore perfect. Even as your father. Which in heaven is perfect. He's complete in all ways.

[12:25] That's our holy God. He's righteous. He's described as upright. And pure. The God of the Bible. Is light. With no darkness. He's truth.

[12:35] With no lie. He's almighty. With no weakness. The word of God. Tells us. That that God. Is everlasting. With no variableness. Neither shadow of turning.

[12:47] That he doesn't belong. In the conversation. With man. So we've got to put a. But. But the Lord. He's different. And such a being. Deserves our worship.

[12:57] And our reverence. And he deserves our allegiance. And what a contrast it is. It forces us to stop. It stops us dead at our tracks. After reading about man. But the Lord.

[13:09] And secondly. Let's look at the rest of that phrase. But the Lord. Is in his holy temple. Is in his holy temple. There's a contrast here.

[13:20] Not just of his person. But then of his place. What a difference. And what a separation. The Lord is in his holy temple. Where else would you expect to find.

[13:32] A holy God. I wouldn't expect to find him down here. Not in this mess. Not living in this world. The way we live in it. Not with what we see every day.

[13:44] I wouldn't expect. You know what I want? The holy. New man inside of me. I want to get out of this place. I don't want to be around this. The way things are going.

[13:55] The way things have been going. The way they've been going. From all the way back in Genesis 3. I'd like to be where he's at. The Lord separates himself. From this mess. And there's the contrast of his place.

[14:07] He's not hanging out on earth. He's not. Like we read in verse 12. Going to be around a city. That's established by iniquity. He's not going to be hanging around. A bunch of people in verse 13.

[14:18] That labor. That weary themselves. For very vanity. That sounds like. Most of this world. Right here today. The United States of America. is laboring for things that don't matter.

[14:30] For things they can't take with them. Just working. Working. Working. Striving. Striving. Striving. For nothing. For the wind. You think God's going to come and hang out with that?

[14:41] You think he's going to talk that conversation? You think he cares? No. The contrast is great. Between what man cares about. And the Lord and his holy temple.

[14:53] He's not going to be down in this mess. This is no place for a holy being like God. God had fellowship with man. And it was cut short.

[15:06] In Genesis chapter 3. We read that as they sinned. And partook of the tree. That they were forbidden. That they heard the voice of the Lord. God walking. In the midst of the garden.

[15:17] In the cool of the day. God was fellowshipping with his creation. But sin separated that. Cut that off. And it's a very rare thing in this book.

[15:27] That you see God manifesting himself on earth. And coming down to man. One time you see him showing up. Moses is out there in the backside of the desert. In the wilderness.

[15:37] And he sees this bush burning. And he's like. I'm going to turn aside and see. Why this thing is burning. But not being consumed. And he turns and he goes approaches to it.

[15:48] And he hears a voice. And it says. Draw not nigh hither. Says stop. Don't you come another step. Why? Because you're standing on holy ground.

[15:58] It's the first time the word holy shows up in your Bible. And he said. Get your shoes off your feet Moses. You're coming into my presence. This is holy ground where I'm at. God's not coming to hang out with the people though.

[16:13] He's coming to deliver his people. He's coming for a purpose. But when he shows up. You get a glimpse of his holiness. Another time in Moses' life. Moses says. I beseech thee. Show me thy glory.

[16:23] I want to see you. I want to behold you. I've been talking with you. I've been communing with you. You've been instructing me. But I want to see the whole picture. And God says. Sorry. No man can see me and live Moses.

[16:35] You don't understand me. But here's what I'll do. I'll put you in the clift of a rock. And I'll put my protective hand over you. While my glory passes by. And then I'll remove my hand.

[16:47] And you'll see my hinder parts. But you're not going to be able to see me. You can't behold me. It's not possible. You'd be dead like that. You can't take it. The holiness of God.

[16:59] God doesn't belong down here. He's in his holy temple. There's other rare times that God does appear to men. And often times it's a scary sight. And men fear when they realize.

[17:10] I have seen God face to face. Manoah and his wife. Samson's parents. They're like. We have seen God. We're going to die. Jacob wrestled with the man. The angel of the Lord. And after that he realized it was God.

[17:22] And he's like. I'm going to be a. I'm dead. I've seen God face to face. These are scary things. Yet God did decide to dwell on earth. In a temple. A tabernacle.

[17:32] And he decided to dwell among his people. Israel. And so in order for that to happen. He gave Moses very specific details. Dimensions. And what to do.

[17:42] And how to build this tabernacle. This tent. And it was going to be covered. And overlaid with heavy material. And skins. That no light comes through. And within this small tent.

[17:53] Was another smaller room. Sectioned off with a heavy thick veil. And on the inside of that. Was the dwelling place of God. And his mercy seat.

[18:05] And inside that tabernacle. It's called the most holy place. Inside that most holy place. God would dwell. Among men. But in order for men to approach that God.

[18:18] The priest had to be sanctified. And consecrated. And completely separated from all others. And they could come in there. But before they could come in. They had to put on their. What the Bible calls holy garments.

[18:29] And before they could even come in there. They had to have themselves anointed. With the Bible says. Holy anointing oil. And they could approach before God. And minister in the tabernacle.

[18:41] And the instruments they used. Were called holy. The vessels holy. The Bible describes their sacrifices. As holy sacrifices. And offerings. And even that altar.

[18:52] That held those sacrifices. Was called the holy altar. I hope you get the picture. That all of this had to be consecrated. All of it purified. To approach to God.

[19:03] For God to even be around man at all. He had to surround himself. With isolation and separation. And the only way they get in. Is if they're holy. And consecrated.

[19:14] And everything's pure. And if it's not. Dead. Drop them right where they stand. Anytime they try to approach unto him.

[19:24] And do something. One time. Fire came out. And devoured them. And they dropped dead. He's too holy. He's too holy. So he stays away. Why? Where is he? He's in his holy temple.

[19:36] That's where you should expect. To find him. You should expect him there. The Lord's in his holy temple. Come back to Psalm 11. You say. Well are we talking about that tabernacle? Well not exactly.

[19:49] Look at Psalm 11. Psalm 11. And let's understand where.

[20:04] This is. If we could say geographically. Where is this holy temple? Psalm 11 verse 4. The Lord.

[20:17] Look at that. There it is again. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. That's not two separate statements.

[20:28] I'll show you later. That's one statement. One place. The Lord is in his holy temple. His throne is in that temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold.

[20:40] His eyelids try. The children of men. Christ said. Our Father which art in heaven. That's the location. The Lord is in. The Lord is in. The Lord is in.

[20:51] The Lord is in. The Lord is in. This. Where his throne is. Solomon prayed. And he said. Lord. Look down from heaven. Thy dwelling place. Moses prayed. And he called heaven.

[21:02] Thy holy habitation. Now look at Psalm 14. His eyelids behold. We just read. What do they see?

[21:14] When they look down here. In Psalm 14 verse 2. The Lord looked down from heaven. Upon the children of men. To see if there were any. That did understand.

[21:24] And seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together. Become filthy. There is none that do with good.

[21:36] No. Not one. So he's not coming down. He's not dwelling among men like that. When he looks down.

[21:47] When his eyes behold. What does he see? He just sees. Nobody's coming after me. Nobody's seeking me. They're all seeking their own. Not the things which be Jesus Christ. They're seeking wealth.

[21:57] They're seeking entertainment. They're seeking fun. They're seeking pleasure. They're following with their lusts. And their desires. And the desires of the mind. Nobody's seeking me.

[22:10] Nobody understands me. So the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's in his holy temple. Come to Isaiah chapter 63. The Lord separates himself.

[22:24] He stays away. And he separates himself. Or I should say he's separated unto himself. In Isaiah 63.

[22:43] There's a similar call for God to look from heaven. In verse number 15. Look down from heaven. And behold from the habitation of thy holiness.

[22:54] And of thy glory. That's where he is. And it's the habitation of his holiness. And they're calling for him to look down. But what does he see when he looks down?

[23:04] Look at the next chapter. 64. And verse 6. But we are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

[23:16] And we all do fade as a leaf. And our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name. That stirreth up himself to take hold of thee.

[23:28] For thou hast hid thy face from us. And has consumed us because of our iniquities. The Lord has hidden himself.

[23:40] There's more on this. I'm not going to turn to him. But if you want to scribble them down. Isaiah 54 verses 7 and 8. And Psalm 13 verse 1. And there's several others where it describes God hiding himself.

[23:51] Withdrawing himself. While man cries out to him and calls for him. There's no answer. He's not hiding from man. Or from his sins. But it's more of the sense that he's not revealing himself to man.

[24:06] He's withdrawn. And he's in his holy temple. Where he belongs. Out of view. Unresponsive. It's retreating to his place. Because man's not looking for him.

[24:16] Man's rejecting him. Man's sinning and fighting against him. So God. I'll stay where I belong. In his holy temple. In Moses' tabernacle.

[24:28] And in Solomon's temple that he built. There was etched into the fabric. Or what's the word I want. Just designs of cherubim.

[24:39] And in Solomon's temple. There were graven into the walls. Golden cherubims. And that was a representation. Where God when he chose to dwell here on earth. With his people.

[24:49] In those places. But then in heaven. We read in Revelation. We read that he's got beings and beasts surrounding him. There's cherubims. And there's seraphims that cry out. Holy.

[25:00] Holy. Holy. And there's four and twenty elders that fall down and worship him. On earth. There was the mercy seat. But in heaven. There's the throne.

[25:11] And let's look at this quickly. In Revelation 16. I have to be quick with this. This temple is mentioned a lot in the book of Revelation. I'm just going to pick a spot or two here.

[25:24] Revelation 16. Revelation 16. The Lord is in his holy temple. Revelation 16.

[25:37] I notice verse 17. Showing you where that throne is. There's some places here where the temple. Where you can look inside the temple.

[25:48] The doors opened. And he looks in. But in chapter 16 verse 17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the earth. And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven.

[26:00] From the throne. Saying. It is done. Now look at chapter 19. The voice is coming out of the temple. From the throne.

[26:12] And the representation on earth. With Moses. Or with Solomon's temple. There was the mercy seat. That was inside. Of the holy place. The most holy place.

[26:24] In heaven it's a throne. In Revelation 19. And the first couple of verses here. After these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven.

[26:36] Saying. Alleluia. Salvation and glory and honor and power. Unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore.

[26:47] Which did corrupt the earth with her fornication. And hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. Again they said. Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever and ever.

[26:57] And the four and twenty elders and four beasts fell down and worshipped God. That sat on the throne saying. Amen. Alleluia. Now look at verse five. And a voice came out of the throne saying.

[27:10] Praise our God. All ye his servants and ye that fear him both small. Isn't that what they're doing? Praising him. Falling down before him. And the voice comes out saying.

[27:23] Praise our God. And you know what they do in response? It erupts. It erupts. You know in the counter for this today. If it's even a counter.

[27:35] It's not even close. You see these performers. These entertainers. That have given themselves. And the masses follow them. And love them.

[27:45] And shriek and cheer for them. They come out on the stage and say. Everybody make some noise. And what does everybody do? They just scream. And the little girls scream. And shriek.

[27:55] And yell. And all the people. I can't hear you. Make some noise. And louder they go. What a joke. What a joke. Because this thing here.

[28:06] You know what this thing here is like? Look at verse 6. After the voice comes out of the throne saying. Praise our God. Saying I can't hear you. Verse 6 says. And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude.

[28:18] And as the voice of many waters. And as the voice of mighty thundering saying. And probably in unison. Alleluia. For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

[28:33] That's why God's in his holy temple. That's what's going on around the throne. He doesn't need to come down here and have men curse his name.

[28:45] He doesn't need to come down here and try to deal with the heart. And then have somebody be like. I'll do what I want. There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing. And have sinful, proud, arrogant man.

[28:57] Shake his fist at him. Turn his back. Curse his pure and holy name. Get a glimpse. Be caught. Be stopped dead in your tracks.

[29:08] And consider that the Lord is in his holy temple. What a contrast of his place. That's where he belongs. Back in Habakkuk. The verse ends.

[29:19] By saying. Let all the earth keep silence. Before him. What an incredible thought. And what an absolutely powerful image.

[29:32] To consider all of mankind silent. Before the Lord God. Full of fear.

[29:43] Full of uncertainty. Full of subjection to him. What a contrast from what we've read. The blood. And the iniquity.

[29:54] And the drunkenness. And the spoil. To see the entire human race just frozen. In silence. And in fear of the one that sits on the throne.

[30:07] Look just a page over to Zephaniah. It's the next chapter. In the next book. Zephaniah chapter 1. If you're still back there. Zephaniah chapter 1.

[30:20] And notice verse number 7. Give you a second. Zephaniah 1 verse 7.

[30:30] The Bible says. Hold thy peace. At the presence of the Lord God. Shut your mouth. At the presence of the Lord God.

[30:42] Look at Zachariah. Just a few pages to the right again. Chapter 2. Zachariah chapter 2. And notice what he says.

[30:55] In verse 13. Be silent. O all flesh. Before the Lord. These are different prophets.

[31:08] And they have different visions. And if we studied them out. There's some different occasions. But there's one thing they all have in common. Calling on man. To be silent. Now there's other times.

[31:21] Where man's told to rejoice. Before the Lord. To come before his presence. With singing. But that's not the case here. Here he's told to.

[31:32] Shut his mouth. Not make a peep. What's the difference? Well. It's because we're not reading about his people. Rejoicing. Before him. And before his presence. And singing and worshiping him.

[31:44] This is a contrast. Remember. This is contrasting. What the wicked did on earth. And living wickedly. But now. They're before the Lord. And now it's all over.

[31:56] And now they're afraid. And now they're told. To shut their mouths. Because now it's time. To pay up. Now it's time. To stand before.

[32:06] Their creator. And so what we're viewing. When we're reading. In Habakkuk 2. The Lord and his holy. All the earth. Keeping silent before him. We're looking at a courtroom.

[32:18] We're looking at the. Largest. Yet. Quietest. Courtroom. That ever was. And ever will be. And sinful man.

[32:30] Standing. And in that presence. Knows. Knows. Knows. Knows. He's so wicked. He's. He's purposed. He's declared. That this God doesn't exist. He's fought against the truth.

[32:41] That he's heard. He's mocked the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. He's lived the way he wanted to live. And now he's. He's quiet. He won't move his tongue.

[32:53] Keep silence. Keep silence. Before him. He won't look up. He doesn't want to catch the eye. Of a holy God.

[33:04] The Bible says his eyes. There's a flame of fire. In that day. Come back to Revelation 20. We're about finished here. Back to Revelation again.

[33:15] And to see something about the judgment of that day. Keep silence. And this final contrast would be the contrast of his presence.

[33:29] What they've experienced was worshiping and crying out to stones and to wood and saying, Awake and arise. And now they're standing before the presence of the true God.

[33:41] Their creator. And the contrast is great. It's so great. They're not calling on him to do anything. They're not crying after him. They're shutting their mouths. And you will too.

[33:53] In Revelation 20. Notice in verse number 11. The Bible says, And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it.

[34:04] From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened.

[34:16] And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books. According to their works. Books are opened up.

[34:27] Jesus Christ said in John 12. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

[34:44] And now there's a book being opened. Books being opened. And there's some things that we could study about these books. There's a few verses we can put together. One thing we can say is that the word of God will be opened.

[34:59] The apostle Paul talks about the law. And he describes that law. And he says that one reason God gave that law is that every mouth may be stopped.

[35:10] And all the world become guilty before God. Before God. Every mouth stopped. Here in verse 12, the dead, small and great stand before God.

[35:24] And in that chapter in Romans 3, it's a great connection because it's quoting the psalm that we read. In Psalm 14 and a few others describing the filthiness of man.

[35:35] That there's none righteous. No, not one. God looks to man, doesn't see anything he likes. So he stays in his holy temple. But then man inevitably is brought up before him.

[35:48] And before that throne for judgment. And when man stands before God and the books are open, man knows he's guilty. And he's afraid to look upon him. He's afraid to even open his mouth.

[36:00] Let all the earth keep silence before him. That big boaster. That big mind that's lauded and writes books. And teaches all around the campuses of our country.

[36:11] That atheist, he won't open his mouth. I thought you didn't. No, he won't say a word. He won't look up at all. He'll be staring at his feet.

[36:23] Hoping that that one in the throne gives him a pass. Hoping that he'll let him go. Praying, hoping for mercy. But he won't even beg for it. He's scared. Fear takes him.

[36:37] The atheist won't open his mouth. The sinners that have mocked God and mocked his word. They'll be staring at their feet. They'll be afraid to look upon him whose eyes are as a flame of fire.

[36:47] In Hebrews chapter 10, it describes the judgment of God. It uses the term fiery indignation. And says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[36:59] They will be afraid. So scared, so shook, their mouths won't open a bit. It'll be complete silence. I wonder today as we view this scene that Habakkuk puts before us.

[37:14] I wonder if we understand the prophecy of revelation and the future events of standing before a holy God. I wonder if you're prepared this morning to stand in front of that holy God.

[37:27] Do you have your sins forgiven? Do you have eternal life and do you have the Son of God? Because if you don't, you'll stand before him in your sins.

[37:38] You'll be on the wrong side of him in that day. And his eyes will be looking on you with his flame of fire, ready to say, depart from me, ye cursed. It is a fearful thing to consider this unless you've received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[37:59] I wonder if you're prepared. In Habakkuk chapter 2, by way of conclusion, you don't need to turn back there. But just like we read that chapter, we read of the sin and the unrighteousness.

[38:12] And we read of the drunkenness. And then it just stopped. And we were before the Lord. And it's quite an accurate picture in that chapter of this life.

[38:27] Because in this life, we're surrounded by the world. We're surrounded by sin flourishing and wickedness just abounding at every corner and every turn. And then out of nowhere, stop.

[38:40] And we're before the Lord. Just in Habakkuk chapter 2, we were introduced to the Lord and to where his throne is. And then you know what? The chapter's over.

[38:53] And so it is in this life. One day, the chapter will be over. It'll be a life. It'll be a whirlwind of things, of activity, and of things that you're tempted to be drawn toward and things that go on around you.

[39:07] And there's bloodshed and there's violence and there's iniquity and there's drunkenness. And there's robbery and covetousness. And then it stops.

[39:19] And you're before the Lord. And the chapter's over. And life is done. And it's too late to go back. It's too late to fix. It's too late to change. And so if you're going to trust Jesus Christ, trust him now.

[39:35] If you're going to do right and live for God, do it now. Because the chapter's going to be closing pretty quickly. And pretty quickly, we'll see the Lord in his holy temple.

[39:48] And we'll understand what it's all about. And we'll, as children of God, be able to join in with that loud echo and lifting up.

[39:59] We sang this morning, Hallelujah, it is done. That we'll one day be able to join that chorus. And it's coming quicker than you may realize.

[40:09] I've been looking at this verse in Habakkuk for a long time. I've always wanted to do something with it. I always wanted to preach on it.

[40:20] I never could. Nothing would ever work. Nothing could ever make sense. I had no idea. I ran through so much stuff in the Bible trying to figure something out. And finally, when I got into this little series here, it just hit me.

[40:31] Like, there's something I can do with this. And it may not be much. But I've seen the contrast there of the Lord's person. Of the place that he resides and why.

[40:43] And of his presence. The contrast today, where it's not here, to where it's going to be there. And the response of man, silence. It is a sobering thought, isn't it?

[40:56] It is a sobering and somber verse that we read. But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. It's a day of judgment.

[41:07] And I want to conclude this morning by asking you, are you ready to face the judgment? Are you saved? Are your sins under the blood and forgiven?

[41:18] And do you know that? Do you know right now that you have eternal life? Let's bow our heads together. Father, if you're going to trust Christ, the Bible says, today is the day of salvation.

[41:34] I want to invite anyone here that says, I'm not sure if I'm saved. I'm not sure. I just don't know. And it's not worth risking to stand before God.

[41:45] To stand there at that day guilty and in your sins because you didn't make sure. I wonder this morning if there's anyone in here that says, I'm not sure I'm saved, but I want to be.

[41:58] I want to get it taken care of today. I want to get my sins forgiven. I want eternal life. I don't want to go to hell. Is there anybody in here that could just quietly slip their hand up and put it back down?

[42:11] I won't come to you. I won't ask you to come up here. I won't do anything like that. I just want to know who you are. I want to be able to pray for you and help you. Then Christian, are you ready to face God in judgment?

[42:23] Maybe it won't be at that great white throne, but it'll be at that judgment seat of Christ. And if you're going to live for God and do right, you got to do it now. Don't get distracted like these men we read that are chasing things and taking things and building things.

[42:42] Things that are vanity. Things that will perish. Think about that day. What's going to matter most when you get to see God and you're standing in His presence?

[42:56] Father, please minister to our hearts the Word of God. Lord, this truth of that day. Lord, may it be real to us today as it will be in the future. And God, it could be so much sooner than we even realize.

[43:10] And whether it is or isn't, it'll feel that way. This life is but a vapor. It's quickly passing us by. And it's true that we'll all be before you before we realize it.

[43:25] So God, help us to have resolve in our hearts to be prepared for that day and to live this life for that day. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ that gave us access and that selflessly suffered for the sins that we've committed.

[43:44] And took it all upon Himself. So that we could have forgiveness. So that we could be made whole. And made pure.

[43:57] And made kings and priests unto God. And have the ability to stand in Your presence. Lord, I know You haven't changed.

[44:08] You haven't changed one bit of Your holiness. And so Lord, help us to see You the way You are. Not to bring You down to our standards.

[44:20] But to change our standards to Your words. I wonder this morning, before we're dismissed, we're going to sing a hymn of invitation. We do this every Sunday.

[44:31] It's a chance for you to respond. A chance for you to acknowledge what God may have been dealing with your heart about. If you need to get saved. If you need to get your sins under the blood.

[44:43] Today's the day. You can come up here. You can come and see me. I'll take you aside and take that Bible and show you how to do that. It's easy. It's the best thing you'll ever do.

[44:55] If you're saved in here and you're not living for God. You're wasting your life. He's still holy. And you're going to stand before Him and regret every moment of sinful pleasure.

[45:06] Every moment of selfishness. And may you be reminded. May the Spirit of God deal with your heart about that. You can commit something to the Lord. If you need to come and pray, you come and do that. Let's stand together.

[45:18] 340. As we sing, mirror, still mirror. 340 in the hymnal. You come and pray if God's dealing with your heart. And I love it. Everything I do is say that you are pray.

[45:30] 240 in the hymnal. 332 in the hymnal. 410 in the hymnal. 4 while going. 540 in the hymnal. 490ommid. 590. 540 in the hymnal.

[45:41] 530 in the hymnal.