A Message for a Helpless World

Welcome to Living in the Light and an introduction to today's message from Ann Graham Lotz. You think the world's falling apart?

Actually, it's falling into place, isn't it? God is just rearranging the chessboard and just preparing everything and everyone for Jesus to come back. You're listening to Bible teacher Ann Graham Lotz heard each week here on Living in the Light. Ann begins first by reading John's words in Revelation chapter 20 verse 11. John says, then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it and earth and sky fled from his presence. There was no place for them. You know what that means? There's no hiding place, not even a shadow. And I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne and the books were open.

Now listen to me. These are the bad guys. These are the guys who have died. They've gone to hell or whatever the place is they go to until this point. And then he says another book was opened which is a book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person was judged according to what he had done. And each one, one by one, stands before the judge seated on that great white throne.

I don't even know if they can see him. I know they don't know his name much less they can speak his name after they've been profaning his name and blaspheming his name and they can't say a word and the books are opened and they're judged according to their works. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Let me tell you something. If you're judged according to your works, you know how people say I'm going to go to God and he's going to see my works and my good works outweigh my bad works and he's going to let me into heaven. I deserve to go into heaven. I've done better things and I've done bad things and you know their mentality and they will be judged according to their works but you can't do enough good things to please the holy God and you can't do them perfectly enough to please him. So to be judged according to your works is to be condemned but at that point there's no cross, there's no savior, there's no lamb of God, just the judge sitting on the great white throne and all the world is silent before him and he has the last word and he opens the books to make sure he's fair and balanced. He reads those works and the things that people have done and every single one is found wanting, none of them good enough because there's none righteous, no not one. All of our righteousness is as filthy rags and they had rejected a savior. They had rejected salvation because they thought there are other ways to God besides the cross. You know there are other ways and I don't need to ask anybody for forgiveness and God is a loving God. He would never send anybody to hell. That's not my God. Now you can believe in a God like that but not me you know and it's too late at that moment to make any difference. Well that's a very frightening picture to me.

Who do you know who's going to be there? One of the things that should do is compel us to put on those gospel of peace on our feet and cleated sandals and take the gospel to the world. I don't care if they tell us it's not politically correct and we share the gospel and tell people that God loves you and God loves you and that's true. And God loves you and God loves you and he loves you so much that he sent his own son to die on the cross. That if you would just place your faith in him how simple could it be? Simple but hard isn't it to confess that you're a sinner, to crucify your pride, to admit that you're just like everybody else. But if you do and if you confess you're a sinner and you come to the cross and you believe in Jesus as your savior, your sins are forgiven and you will not perish. You will never stand before the white throne. You will never go to hell. You're saved from judgment.

You have everlasting life and everlasting life remember is a personal, permanent, privileged, purposeful relationship with God right here and now and the guarantee of heaven when you die. Now that's a message to tell in our hopeless world that's unraveling. Don't you be afraid of the great white throne but let that fear of those standing there motivate you and compel you to share the gospel with others. That if the Lord Jesus were to come today and if their lives were required of them that's where they would stand. If Jesus comes today in a sense they have a second chance if you call the tribulation a second chance and I believe people will come to faith in Jesus during that tribulation period but I don't want them to go through that either. So that's motivation for me to share the gospel. So Habakkuk has been wrestling, watching and now he's just going to worship and he acknowledges God's person and he acknowledges that God is the God of history Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 2. Lord I've heard of your fame I stand in all of your deeds oh Lord renew them in our day in our time make them known in wrath remember mercy and he remembers the history God is the God of history. History is his story and so let's start with Adam and Eve when they sinned and God pronounced judgment on them and they were separated from him and death came into the world but in wrath even while he's pronouncing judgment he remembers mercy and he slays that animal and he clothes them with the skin of an animal blood was shed and I wonder if tears were coming down the creator's face knowing that one day it would be the lamb of God whose blood would be shed to cover us from our sin and our shame in wrath he remembered mercy in Noah's day when God said I'm grieved that I've made mankind all of them are evil all their thoughts and their intents are evil wicked all the time but there's one man who's righteous blameless in his generation and he said Noah I'm going to judge the whole world I'm going to destroy the whole world and people who make fun of that story and think it's a Sunday school story or you know whatever it's just do you hear the enemy if I were the enemy I would convince you that Noah was just some joke a Sunday school something on the flannel board but if I were the enemy I would never want you to know that there is judgment for sin and it doesn't matter there's no safety in numbers you know God will judge the whole world but in wrath God remembered mercy and he said Noah build an ark because I want anybody and everybody to come into the ark I want them to be saved I don't want any to perish but only Noah and his family came in but in wrath God remembered mercy Abraham praying for Sodom and God said I'm going to destroy Sodom because of what I see there and the cry that's come up to me and Abraham prays and prays and prays and finally God looks at Sodom and opens up the heavens and fire falls down and he destroys Sodom and he judges Sodom but in wrath he remembers mercy and he grabs Lot and his family Abraham's nephew and he literally drags them out of Sodom in wrath he remembers mercy let me pick up the Passover because God is pouring out his judgment on Egypt pouring out his judgment on Pharaoh and he's going to destroy all the firstborn and just forcing Pharaoh's hand to let my people go but in wrath he remembers mercy and he says if you'll paint your doorpost of your house with the blood of a lamb when I see the blood I'll pass over do you know that applied to Egyptians as well as Israelites and there were Egyptians who came under the blood and they were saved because in wrath God remembers mercy and then Jericho when the enemy stronghold was there and Joshua had sent two spies in Jericho and you know he parked all of Israel probably two million people right there waiting for two weeks three weeks while he sent the spies in to see what Jericho was like and how big the walls were and how many had nothing to do with the way they took Jericho you know what God was doing in wrath he was going to remember mercy and he knew there was one little Canaanite prostitute who was crying out to him and so he parked Israel there while he made time to contact her and let her know she could be saved and so when they marched around those walls and in the seventh day they gave the shout of victory and the walls came tumbling down and they took the enemy fortress the one part of the wall that was still standing was the one where Rahab's house was and Rahab and her family were saved because in wrath God remembers mercy oh what a great God we serve and Habakkuk is worshiping the God of history and you look back at his history and you see also evidence of his mercy yes he's the God of wrath but he's the God of mercy and forgiveness and grace and love not willing for any to perish not wanting any all to come to repentance I think that's one reason he hasn't come back yet he's just waiting for the last person to enter in and then he worshiped the God of purity in verse three he says you are the holy one and he has to rest on the fact of God that you do the right thing you're holy there's no impurity with you if you use the Babylonians that judge Judah then I know you are holy that doesn't take away from your holiness you're a God of purity you're God of glory in verse three and he says God came from Timon the holy one his glory covered the heavens his praise filled the earth his splendor like the sunrise raised flash from his hand where his power was hidden that's the second coming Habakkuk is given a glimpse of when real judgment will take place and when real vindication will take place and in God's wrath that's poured out on the world the mercy that he has on his people and he comes back to deliver his people and to save his people and to set up his kingdom on earth and Habakkuk is seeing through the future and giving a glimpse of the return the glory of God and then he worships the God of fury I don't know how to describe this in verse five plague went before him listen plagues like Ecoli and Ebola and typhoid and the bubonic plague and AIDS and plague went before him pestilence followed his steps he stood and shipped the earth earthquakes cyclones tornadoes hurricanes he looked and he made the nations tremble all these wars and rumors of wars and bombs and ancient mountains crumble the age old fields collapse because God is a God of fury and he's angry at sin and he moves and when God moves it's not always pleasant and he worships this God who gets the world's attention through so many of these disasters and things and so sometimes I think you know you think the world's falling apart actually it's falling into place isn't it God is just rearranging the chessboard and just preparing everything and everyone for Jesus to come back and he worshiped the God of eternity verse six when he says your ways are eternal God has this plan in place since before the foundations of the world were laid and he is working his plan so when we see things and we don't expect and we don't understand we just worship a God of eternity a God who is the great I am yesterday today and forever the same yesterday today and forever all powerful almighty all loving all merciful he is eternal and then he worships the God of authority verse eight when he says were you angry with the rivers was your wrath against the streams did you raise against the seed you know had somebody challenge me last week and you can't say these environmental disasters are acts of God so no I know I can't say that for sure but in the bible in scripture it indicates when he moves sometimes he uses the natural elements and if they're not paying attention to him because they don't go to church and they don't believe in the bible and they make fun of Christians and you know all the rest of it and they say we all have our own gods then he'll just show you let me show you what God I am and he'll send the biggest hurricane ever the biggest cyclone ever the greatest drought the biggest flood the biggest I mean you know it all belongs to him and so he's the God of authority he rules over all creation is his he can do what he chooses so he uses natural elements for supernatural purposes it's just that we call it global warming you know trying to explain away this is a movement of God and then he worships the God of victory let me read these verses verse 11 sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glen of your flying arrows at the lightning of your flashing spear in wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you thresh the nations you came out listen to me threshing the nations but he's coming to deliver your people to save your anointed one you crushed the leader of the land of wickedness you stripped him from head to foot because God moves heaven and earth to rescue his people he's the rescuer he's the savior he's the deliverer and when we read through the book of revelation which is maybe one of my favorite is not my favorite book in the bible you read through some of those chapters six through 19 and they're terrifying with all the beasts and the demons and the judgment and the plagues and the trumpets and the bowls and the whatever but listen that is God pouring out his wrath on the bad guys on the wicked because he's coming back to deliver his people and to establish his reign on earth and his righteousness so one day truth will triumph over falsity and love will triumph over hate and goodness will triumph over evil and right will triumph over wrong and he's coming in as God of victory he has the victory and so Habakkuk is worshiping God as he is acknowledging his person and then accepting God's plan finally wrestling watching worshiping with fear verse 16 I heard and my heart pounded my lips quivered at the sound decay crept into my bones my legs trembled Habakkuk sees what's coming he knows it's going to get worse and he's terrified and if I can just say this I believe we're living very close to the return of Jesus I believe we may be I believe we are can I just say it that last generation I believe my lifetime is the last generation and I based that on what Jesus said and the signs that he gave us and so I've thought of the rapture in fact I'm so sure the rapture is so close I even put things on my website to say to people after the rapture you know to help bring them to Christ I just feel burdened for them because I look ahead and I think you know the rapture when I said last night that the answer for America is either revival of the church or the return of Jesus actually that's the answer for us when Jesus comes at the rapture that will be judgment for America in particular you imagine you take all believers out of America and can you imagine the chaos and the confusion and the disruption can you imagine the planes crashing out of the sky and the cars crashing on the highway and doctors disappearing from the operating theaters and businesses and business leaders and stock but the whole thing will melt down and then I can just see the carnage and the depression and the violence in the streets and the confusion and the despair and the anger and the hatred and nothing there to quell that you know it's all just unleashed and then the enemy who who could anticipate something of what was coming jumping in to manipulate it and to set up a kingdom on earth that's his kingdom that he fools everybody thinking that he can make it right and he can bring peace peace but there's no peace at all in fact it just gets worse and worse and worse and you can see it coming I guess what strikes fear in my heart is that I wonder if judgment will come on America before the rapture because I believe it might be one way God would have of purifying his church making us so desperate we would cry out to him and we would begin to separate from the world that we've become so much alike and would stand up and be counted and bold in our faith I've told my children if God allows us to go through times like that where the economy crashes and the enemy attacks and other things and God knows who are his and we're going to see our God like they did in the Old Testament we're going to see him like Corey Tenbim did in Ravensburg do you remember when she had that little vial of vitamin drops and she wanted to hoard it but instead she shared it with everybody in her little section and as long as she shared the vitamin drops that little vial lasted we're going to see miracles like that maybe water come out of a rock maybe manna come down from heaven maybe people healed we don't need the hospital he will take care of us and some of us may pay the ultimate price for our faith like those 21 Egyptian Christians on the beach in Libya all shouting the name of Jesus as they were beheaded and at that moment God will give us all that we need at the moment saving grace dying grace I believe it it's just that you look ahead and it makes you shudder and weep at what's coming so he accepts God's plan but with fear he's shaken to the core and then with faith though the fig tree does not budge basically though I have no hope I see I don't see anything getting better there are no grapes on the vine I have no extras there's no sparkle in life you know no fun though the olive crop fails and my income collapses I have no job anymore the fields produce no food my plans for the future just come up empty there are no sheep in the pen no cattle in the stalls all my investments my retirement my social security my RA just evaporate if the worst happens if things don't change except on the downhill how do we respond verse 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord I'll be joyful in my Savior because my joy is not in the circumstances it's not in the world situation it's not getting from God what I want when I want the way I want it how I want it my joy is just in Him and you see Habakkuk coming to the point that he can accept God's plan with fear and with fear he's scared to death but with faith because his faith rests in God and God alone God I just rejoice and sometimes joy is a choice isn't it we have to choose to rejoice isn't that what Paul said from the jail in Rome to the Philippians rejoice he said and I'm going to tell you again get your act together rejoice if ever somebody had an opportunity not to it had to have been Paul old tired cold broken facing death and he chose to rejoice and we rejoice it's not a feeling it's a choice and we put our focus on Jesus and we just rejoice in who He is and all His glory and all His beauty if He never does anything for us if He never solves our problems if He never answers our prayer oh God we rejoice in who you are we just love you and then I want you to see this because He accepted God's plan with fear faith and freedom and this is where He broke verse 19 the sovereign Lord notice the way He addresses Him the sovereign Lord God you can do what you choose you can do what you want who am I to tell you what to do you are sovereign and the sovereign Lord is my strength you will get me through the tough times and He makes my feet like the feet of a deer He's going to give me strength to equal my needs strength for today and then I'll get strength for tomorrow and enable me to do the things I need for my family for my ministry for other things He enables me to go on the heights that means to rise above my circumstances to live not somehow but triumphantly and the sore like sore like wings of an eagle so Habakkuk was set free and it's as though he had this prayer request for his loved one wrapped in his hand God I want you to do this and this and this but oh my goodness don't do that and don't do that and don't do that I I think you need to do it this way and now and how and when and why and at the end of this book it's just like his fingers have gotten proud off of his request and he just says God have your way I just submit to you and I trust you and I praise you and I worship you and what Habakkuk ended up with was a brokenness in himself just let it go you just let it go doesn't mean we're not to pray doesn't mean we're not to reverse the thunder doesn't mean we're not to search scriptures and find a promise and pray it back to God but if you've prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed then you just reach a point Lord have your own way I just let it go I trust you you're sovereign you're Lord if he's not Lord of all he's not Lord at all and when he's Lord of your prayer life Lord of those answers that you're trying to get Lord of your plans for the future of what's going on in your family whatever happens whatever comes if you never answer my prayer the way I've been asking you it's okay because you're going to give me strength for my day you're going to make my feet like the feet of a deer so I can handle the things that come and I walk on the heights I can triumph right where I am would you pray and pray and pray until you reach that point of brokenness and you accept what he's going to do even though it strikes fear to your heart you accept it by faith and with the freedom that comes by you just roll it all over to him would you do that don't throw away your prayer don't throw away your prayer life just the prayer is not broken maybe God is just wanting to break you so that you let him have his way in your life his way in your life here's Ann with today's concluding thought what prayer requests are you tightly clutching what are you insisting that God do for you or for someone else and he hasn't done it the way you want when you want how you want are you crying out in your spirit why God why won't you answer my prayer and do you really mean why God why won't you do things my way why won't you do what I tell you to do it's time for you to let go now let God have his way will you pray with Habakkuk though God doesn't answer my prayer the way I want yet I will rejoice in the Lord he is sovereign he knows what he's doing and I trust him listen to me the sovereign Lord is trustworthy so trust him trust you've been listening to living in the light and when you go to anne-gramm-lottes.org there are free resources to help you in your study of God's word Ann's desire is that you embrace a God-filled life step by step choice by choice living in the light