Thank you for coming. Now we turn this morning to the second chapter of the book of Abakkuk. If you can find that little prophet, for he wants you to get acquainted with him. So when you meet him somewhere in eternity, you'll say, oh, I remember reading what you wrote. And so may God truly guide us and direct us as we follow through in the study of this little prophecy, but one of precious importance. chapter two in the book of Abakkuk I would like to read the first four verses only and then begin our comment as we go on into the end of chapter chapter two of the book of Abakkuk reading at verse one and we'll follow the lesson page three and we'll be going into page four on your lesson sheet two the prophet saying I will stand upon my watch set me upon the tower will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer, when I am unreproved. The Lord answered me, said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 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. Behold, this soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Now, shall we have a little resume of what we have already seen? Thus far in this little prophecy of Habakkuk. May I once again remind our hearts that it is the most unusual and a unique prophecy. It is not a prophecy that is spoken to men. But it virtually is a dialogue, a conversational dialogue between the prophet and God, and God and the prophet himself. The prophet speaking to God and pouring out his heart, and God answering him and giving him the answers which he requested. We have outlined the prophecy very simple. In chapter one, we see the burden of faith. In chapter two, where we have just read from, we have the vision of faith. And then in chapter three we shall have the prayer or the triumph of faith as the prophet sings the most wonderful song of praise and worship at the end of it. So we have a wonderful lesson even in the outline of it. We find him with a burden in chapter one. And that burden is great upon his heart. One of the burdens that seemed to be so heavily upon him was the condition of God's earthly people in that day. More than that, not only the condition of God's people, but the silence, seeming silence of God toward His people in their need. And may I say we can find that even in our day? And may I give the suggestion as well as the encouragement and the exhortation that you and I, as believers in the Lord Jesus, with sincere love for the people of God, That lust can be manifested in the presence of God better than in any other place. To carry upon the heart the conditions of God's people and the trials and even the failures. As we have it in the case of Abakkuk, they were passing through very deeply. And Abakkuk's greatest burden was undoubtedly the moral and the spiritual low state of the people of God in that day. I don't know, but I wonder how many today carry the burden of God's people in their condition in the presence of God. You may remember Elijah, or how he lived in days of great spiritual apostasy in Israel. Ahab was the most wicked king that ever reigned in Israel. He did more to grieve the Lord than any king before or after him. And Elijah the prophet, the servant of God, had to live in that condition. As a servant of God, watching it, singing it, hearing it, knowing it, weeping over it, feeling it, pouring out his heart to God. For the first thing you read about Elijah, he comes out of the presence of God to announce, no rain accepted my word. And in the presence of God he had been burdened. He felt the need. He wept over it. He prayed over it. Not only did he pray, but you read from the book of James, he prayed earnestly. Now when one feels the burden of such in that way, in communion with God, look, it's one thing to feel the burden in fellowship with your believing friends. But it's a greater thing to feel the burden with God. And in his presence. And that's where Elijah felt it. And that's where Elijah expressed it. That's where we find a backer doing the same thing. And the soul is in communion with God over the difficulty. That soul will be guided by the Lord as to his path and her path. In relation to the situation that may prevail around. And furthermore. He will give power to the servant's testimony. That's what Aback had got. Please may I say, Aback had got more out of it than the nation did. Now please let me suggest to you as well as to my own heart, when we are burdened properly by the Spirit regarding the conditions of God's people and the testimony, and in the presence of God, weep over it, pray over it, We'll get more out of it for our own spiritual good. Though we may not, as Elijah did not, see the results he longed for. True, he won a great victory. True, that he proved that Jehovah was God in a marvelous way. But things went on worse. And if I know my Bible, as we've been studying it, it's the same today. Don't expect conditions to get better. It's not according to the word of God. And every period of time ends in human failure in the outward testimony. But what is needed is a heart that will fellowship and condone with God over the situation. So did a backup. And did we not find out God began to speak to him. God showed him in chapter one, I'm not going to be silent very long. The enemy's coming, the Chaldeans, to visit in judgment my people. And then the prophet poured out his own heart and said, Lord, are we going to die? Are we going to be destroyed? You'll be everlasting God. You made a covenant with us. And after speaking thus, he waits for God to answer. Now look in chapter two, please. And I want you to know that we will begin in verse one specially. Here is the language. Now, may I point this? In chapter, point out this, in chapter one, he speaks to God and God speaks to him. Now, in verse one of chapter two, he talks to himself. Do you ever talk to yourself? Well, it's one of the best things to do if you're talking about the things of God. I remember reading a book where the dear servant of God said the preacher's greatest preaching should be to himself. So if you want to preach, somebody to preach, just go ahead. Use yourself for a subject, or an object, maybe I should say. But the joy of seeing, he speaks to himself, and he says, I will stand upon my watch, and on my tower, upon the tower. I'll watch to see what he'll say to me, and he'll answer me when he reproves me for what I've said to him. And he waits. Now how long he waited, we know not. But the vision came. I want to dwell upon the vision again before we go further. We have it on your lesson sheet, page number three, if you please. Let me just very quickly run over that outline in the first part of page three, where God answers the waiting prophet with the vision of which we have just read. How long he waited? It is not stated. But the Lord will never disappoint those who inquire and wait upon him. And he's told to write the vision. Make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth. And what is the message of the vision? The vision, as God tells him, it is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Now very quickly you have, as we saw last week, the purpose of it and the power of it. Whoever reads it can run it. Whoever reads it will have the spiritual ability to make progress. And it is the reader may run. May I point out? Let me jump ahead a little bit. We shall see it. The vision is Christ. Literally, it's his second coming. Empower and glory as we shall see it. And may I add the word, if there's one note of doctrine so necessary, most helpful today for you and for me as believers, to urge us on, it's the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as we face inevitably the failure of Christ and At the end of the Christian age, the individual believer will find spiritual strength and ability to run well if Christ and his blessed return is before the heart. Frankly, I don't mind saying it. You may disagree, which matters not to me, but the only hope for the world, the only hope for Israel, the only hope for the church is the coming of the Lord. to put things right. He's coming. And now we need to recognize that will be the final, complete, perfect answer to the situation. That's just what Habakkuk is told. Please go on in your lesson sheet. Let me go to the letter C on that lesson sheet. We'll now follow the others. We touched them last week. And I want you to note something as we emphasize in the closing moments of last week. The blessed person of Christ that is coming is the vision. And I've got the quotation from the Septuagint version, the Greek version of the Old Testament. A wonder was translated when the Greek language became prevailing over the Roman Empire, or before the Roman Empire, for that matter. Even centuries before, even in the Grecian Empire. And it's called the Septuagint version for approximately seventy rabbinical students and scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek language, which was the prevailing cultural language of the empire in that day. And this is how they translated it. For the vision is yet for a time, it shall shoot forth at the end. Now please emphasize the end. Not in vain. And note, though he tarry, wait for him. for he will surely come and will not carry. And my beloved is the closing sentence says in that paragraph, the pious Jews recognized the vision was concerning their coming, glorious Messiah. And beloved, I put before you, you can find it in the reading of the Old Testament prophecies particularly. Underneath the great prophecies of the Old Testament is the objective, the coming of the Messiah of Israel. for the glory of Israel and the blessing of the people as well as the whole world. You cannot read the prophetic writings from Isaiah and Amalekai without realizing that underneath the conditions that prevailed and the judgments that came upon God's earthly people, there was constantly the presentation, the hope of the Messiah, the hope of the Messiah, the hope of the Messiah. Let me give you an example. When Jesus was born in Luke chapter two, and his parents bring the babe to Jerusalem to do after him according to the custom of the law. There was devout and just Simeon, to whom the Spirit had revealed he would not die until he had seen who? The Lord's Christ. For he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Long time ago, isn't it? But at least he got him in his arms, didn't he? My, I wish I could have hold that baby. But the joy he held the babe within his arms. And if you particularly notice, he blessed Joseph and Mary, but he didn't bless the babe. The babe blessed him. The babe was the blesser. And what a joy to realize. The consolation was waiting for the Messiah. Now tell you one thing. If you've got Christ in your arms and in your heart, You can say, Lord, now let us now thy servant depart in peace. You can go happily. But waiting for him. And please know, it hasn't happened yet. Habakkuk, long for it, pray for it, all the prophets. But God had his appointed time. But now if you'll please go to our paragraph which follows on your lesson sheet. We have a quotation we want to remind our hearts. from Hebrews ten thirty seven our New Testament confirms this fact that Christ is the center of the vision and here we have the words of the Apostle in Hebrews ten thirty seven for yet now I want you to stop for a moment don't go any further note the difference in the quotation Habakkuk was told it was for a point at time Abacca was told the end is not yet. Now I know what Paul writes by the Spirit hundreds of years later. A little while. In fact, I think the Greek literally means a very little while. A very little while. And he that shall come will come and will not carry. I'm glad I don't have to wait as long as a Bacca for the Lord to come. A little while. Thank God. I know it seems long sometimes. Ah, but compared to many that wait centuries. Compared to the nation of Israel. Waiting for their Messiah. Wandering away from him. Yet waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. He'll come. And for the believer. A little while. Our Lord shall come. And we shall wander here no more. He'll take us to the Father's home where he for us has gone before. My. I wonder if you'll come today. Well, I know one thing what I'll say. If he comes today, I'm going to shout the biggest hallelujah ever shouted in my whole history. When he comes. A little while. And when he comes, he's not going to carry. In a moment and in the twinkling of an eye. The dead in Christ shall rise first as he descends, and we which are the line shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. He's the vision. Beloved, look, you and I are sitting here in the year AD, nineteen hundred and eighty-six. Abacket lived five or six hundred, seven hundred years before Christ. And approximately, you might say, twenty-seven hundred years ago, he was told to wait for it. And you and I have in trouble to wait right now? God forbid. It's only a little while. A little while. And when he comes, no tarry in. In a moment, the twinkling of an eye, he's coming. I'm glad when he's coming. When he comes for his bride, he's not going to stop anywhere on the way. No. And what a joy to know he will not tarry. So let me finish the reading of that paragraph. From this quotation in the New Testament, we learn definitely the vision given to the prophet. It was of the person of Christ the Messiah, for he is the center of every vision. And without him, there is no vision. Oh, may I encourage you. God grant that you and I more and more will search the scriptures to find more of Christ. Christ in all of the scriptures. One dear servant of God wrote a book. He couldn't complete it. It was only a small book comparatively showing how Christ is found in all the scriptures. But beloved, that is true. You see him in type in the Old Testament, in reality in the new, as well as in the prophetic future. All through the Bible, Christ is the great subject. Please may I say, I say this lovingly, I was asked by a certain pastor in this city many years ago, what I thought was the greatest subject in the word of God to consider. I knew what he wanted me to say, but I didn't say it. I said the greatest subject in the word of God is Christ. He was one that dwelt very heavily on the Holy Spirit. But I believe if you remember that the Lord Jesus said that the Holy Spirit, when he shall come, he shall glorify me. Christ is the subject. Now we'll look at verse four, please, in our chapter. I want you to know what the prophet writes. Behold, God speaking to him says, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. but the just shall live by its faith. Look at your lesson sheet briefly for a moment. As we look at paragraph D on page number three, the all importance of faith. And to make the vision good for the soul before it is fulfilled, faith is needed. Oh, beloved fellow believer, may I say, you know what I need more than anything? I need faith. There's a promise. The Lord's coming. And to make it good to my soul now, well, I need faith. Remember the words of Paul in Corinthians, First Corinthians thirteen? At the end of the chapter, now abide of faith. Hope, love, these three. But the greatest of these is love. Faith, when the Lord Jesus comes, I'm not going to need faith anymore. Faith will give place to sight. I'm not going to need hope. Hope will give place to reality. Though love will forever abide. Let now. He said if he's coming in a little while. What do I need? Faith. But no first of all. Let me read the next sentence. For we have an explanation of the first words of that fourth verse. The first words in verse four apply to the proud Calvian. Who is mentioned in chapter one. Hordy. Popped up with pride. which can be true today of both unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, who say, where is the promise of his coming? Note the words in verse four. Then it cannot be applied except to the proud Chaldean of whom the prophet has written and spoken and got to the prophet in chapter one, in which he will later in the second chapter. And it evidences the condition of that man as that empire. Lift him up proud. Not upright in souls. Now, may I make an application? I think I've got it written, perhaps. Note this. No, I do it. Well, even today, please let me give you this thought. There is a prophetic propelling of this statement you can apply to the days we're living in. The Gentile nations are no different in their character of pride being puffed up today than in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Please may I say, national pride, it sticks out all over the world today. Whether you, wherever country you go to, one of the trends of the end times according to the prophetic scriptures when Jesus spoke in Matthew twenty four is that nations shall rise against nations within themselves there will be an uproar and they will be rising up and beloved what you have seen and what I have lived to see in the last decade or two decades the national ambition of nations, rising to accept their rights. You've got it in Africa. You've got it in India. You've got it in China. You've got it in all the lands of South America. And you've got it even in our country. The demand of our rights popped up with pride. And if you'll only may I say, when the Lord Jesus comes to the earth, there's going to be more human pride on the earth than ever has been before. pride, parked up by the conquest or by their knowledge and by that which they may have achieved and believe that they can still do. Please let me give you the thought. You got Babylon in spirit and in character today as you had it in the days of Nimrod. When you read in chapter ten of the book of Genesis, they sought to build a tower whose top would reach to heaven to consolidate To unite. Rather than spread abroad. And do what God had commanded. Fill the whole earth. And populate it. No. We want to unify ourselves. And before the end of the age. You're going to see the world. Under the Antichrist. The beast and the false prophet. And Satan. The great energizer. Of that Trinity of evil. Manifesting. Pride. Pass up. Now you find in such conditions what God's people should be doing, how they must face it. Note it at the end of the verse. But the judge shall live by his faith. Note your lesson comment, please, on your lesson sheet. We've got it. God's command to the prophet is the judge shall live by his faith. The one who is the pious follower of God must face this situation with faith and in faith, shall live by his faith. And every pious Israelite, not too many of them, but every pious Israelite, and we have the expression, the true Israelite would be a believer with confidence in God's words. God's word, God's word, God's word. One wrote the lovely little chorus, Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to God alone, lasts at impossibilities, and cries which shall be done. Now let me apply it. We made mention of the word that you find in second Peter chapter three, an epistle that's so relative to the last day conditions. And in chapter three, you've got the Peter writing by the Spirit, in the last days, scoffers shall come, saying, where is the promise of his coming? Let me ask you a question. Tell me, where is there a nation on the earth today, as a nation, looking for the coming of the Lord? Where is there a government upon the earth today that expects and believes? and knows only the coming of Christ can rectify and correct conditions as they prevail as a national government none of them and I say this lovingly and earnestly because I can look back to my early boyhood days in the early part of this century when the country of England my birthplace was one of the most faithful countries to the word of God in the past century But which today is even worse than America and the United States and its percentage of devotion to go to hear the word of God. Percentage-wise, the more people going to church in the United States than in England. When I was the lad, I had to go five times every Sunday. It wasn't the question whether I wanted to, but we went. And that was the spirit of England in that day. Not today. But within the whole condition, whether it's in our country, whether in any nation, the whole condition is this, to meet it with faith. And what's the faith for? Trusting, believing with confidence the promises of God. Jesus is coming again. He's coming again. Please note, let me read the rest of the sentence and the paragraph there on your lesson sheet. In spite of Gentile oppression and power, faith would secure the righteous, even in the presence of Chaldean invaders. For faith alone can give comfort, can give assurance, and security when resting on the divine promises. And this phrase in the prophecy is so important that the New Testament quotes it three times. Let me dwell for just a few minutes upon this. Expression is really important. The judge shall live by his faith. And the background of it is this. There is the oppression of the enemy. But there is the promise in the vision. The Messiah is coming. When he shall come, he will not tarry. Wait for him. And faith says, I will wait. And endure the conditions until he comes. But the importance of this statement is tremendous. Let me give you just quickly the references you've got in at the foot of the page on your lesson sheet. You've got the quotation three times in your New Testament. Romans one, seventeen. You've got it in Galatians three, eleven, and in Hebrews ten, thirty. And strange, in Hebrews ten, where we saw verse thirty-seven, it's all in connection with what Habakkuk said. Even the judge shall live by his faith. But please note the Emphasis on each one. For in Romans one seventy, now if you know the book of Romans, and I hope you do, the great section that is the doctrinal section beginning in chapter one, going down into chapter five, presents the great truth of justification by faith for the sinner. And you have the quotation, the emphasis. The judge shall live by his faith. For the theme of Romans one through five is the justification of the sinner. And you've got a reference there in Romans three. How God is just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. The just. Let me give you the illustration again from Simeon. Dear old Simeon, you haven't noticed the illustration of his character. He was just and he was devout. Just. There's no question. In the sight of God, he was a justified saint. And he was a devoted saint. Now, how do you and I get justified before God through faith in the blood of God? He's only one basis. Faith in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. My faith, wrote the hymn writer, is found a resting place. Not in devise nor creed. I trust the ever-living one. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, that he died for me. And thus by faith, God has justified me in his sight. Not works. Faith. And you've got it in Galatians chapter three, as you've got the notice of it in chapter three, verse eleven. The quotation is there. Now, in relation to the pieces of the Galatians, you'll find that in the Galatian situation, false teachers, Judaistic teachers were coming in, putting them under the law, a system of works for salvation, as well as the principle of life to follow. But the apostle writes, you began in faith. You must go on in faith. And thus, faith is the principle upon which the life of the believer should be followed. Now, let me give you this thought. I remember meeting a friend up in Pennsylvania at one meeting one night that I was holding in a certain place in Pennsylvania. I didn't recall a man that I introduced myself to who came in to that night before their service and told me he'd only been saved a little while. And you know, the next thing he told me Now I can keep the law. I said, Brother, you're in for trouble. We're not under law as the principle. It's faith. Faith, faith. And the dear Galatians, oh, they will be set by the false teaching of these Judaistic men, putting them under the law, the law of Moses, the ceremonial law, and all the things of the law. Paul says the law was our schoolmaster. It whipped us in order that we would come to Christ. And I'll tell you, as a boy in England, we have some rough schoolmaster. I tell you, I dare you to find a boy in my early days that went through school without getting a lickin. They believe in that truth of giving a sound application of the Board of Education to the seed of knowledge. That's what's needed today. But let me tell you something. Today, the authorities demand that you never punish your child. What are we coming to? The law was our schoolmaster, showed us our wretched condition to bring us to Christ. By faith we found him. By faith we must live before him. And go on. And the last one is found as you have it in Hebrews ten, thirty-eight. And the emphasis there is on the word live. The just shall live by his faith. And you've got the example in chapter eleven. The heroes of faith. Here's how they live. By faith Abel. By faith Enoch. By faith Noah. By faith Abraham. By faith Isaac. By faith Jacob. By faith Joseph. By faith Moses. And you read on. They live by faith. And all the joy of realizing the implication of that one scripture from the Old Testament coming into the New Testament truth for the believer today. Let me close the page with what we have on the footnote. Salvation for the sinner, life for the believer, and the principle of truth has to be faith. And remember Ephesians two, eight and nine, where the apostle said, For we are saved by grace through faith. That not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Oh, beloved, please remember that expression. Look, we are facing in principle the same situation, as did Abaka, the departure and the declension, the lawlessness, and all that the world faces in itself, as well as even the weaknesses of God's dear testimony. But the individual... believer in the Lord Jesus by faith can hold on to the promises and particularly let me please express it particularly that blessed promise I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also And whither I go ye know and the way ye know. And what joy to realize. By faith. You and I know. He's coming and take us to the Father's home. By faith. By faith. Oh my beloved. Look. How do I know the loved ones that leave us. Are in the presence of God. His word tells me so. What do I do? I rest by faith. on what he says. The word of God. The word of God. The word of God. What a promise. And if a backer was still living, he still had to obey this, wouldn't he? And today you and I are living. And a backer says, it's the same for you today. Live by faith. Now go on your next page, if you don't mind, where we have what God now tells the prophet what he will do. in relation to the Chaldean, beginning at verse five. If I may, let me just read from verse five through verse eight. For what you find here, you note it in your chapter. In verse, you find in verse six, the word woe. You find it the opening of verse nine, woe. You find the opening of verse twelve, woe. Verse fifteen, woe. And then you go down into verse nineteen, woe. Now these are five specific woes. You know, you may have noticed it. The Lord Jesus used this expression. Have you noticed it in Matthew's Gospel? Oh, the Lord Jesus so vehemently denounced the Pharisees. War to you, you Pharisees. War to you, you scribes. War to you, you lawyers. What did he mean? A solemn judgment for what they were and for what they had done. And as you come to this prophecy of the Vatican, this section, God tells the prophet five woes of judgment that are coming upon the enemy for what they have done and would do to God's earthly people. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Please, how about the book of the revelation? How about the book of the revelation? Did you ever notice in the book of the Revelation when you have, you've got the sealed judgments, you've got the trumpet judgments, and you've got the vile judgments. But did you ever notice in the trumpet judgments, the last three are woe judgments. Woe, woe, woe, meaning it's going to get worse in judgments of the world. Beloved, can I say lovingly? Well, to God, it was on my heart and conscience more. You and I should look at this world and say, Whoa, realize what is coming upon it. My, I little realize what's going to happen to this world. The men and the women around. Let me give you one example from Scripture. Very briefly, the words of Revelation one seven. Behold, he cometh with clouds. and every eye shall see him, even they that pierced him. And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so are men. I want to tell you, the world does not wish to see Jesus come. Tell me this unsaved world in the hands of the wicked one. Do they at large wish to see Jesus come? No! For when he comes, he'll put an end to all iniquity. And I want to tell you, the dear people of the singing, their songs of pleasure and of mirth, and the pleasures of sin that they're enjoying, their songs are going to turn into shrieks of horror, despair, confusion. They'll seek to hide in the dens and the rocks. and call on the mountains, fall on us, keep us from the wrath of the Lamb and the wrath of him that sitteth on the throne. Look, God's going to scare this world right to his heart. And if you want my humble opinion, they need to be scared in the lawlessness and wickedness of the day. Woe. Woe. Now mark this. Though God permits the nations to scourge his earthly people, though God permits the nations, even in our day, to be as they are, the day of judgment's coming. Please know verse five to eight in chapter two. Let me read it. Ye also, and this is a description of the Chaldean nation, ye also because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlarges his desire as hell or the grave, and is as death, cannot be satisfied. But gathereth unto him all nations, heepeth unto him all people, shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe, to him that increases that which is not his? How long? To him that ladeth himself with thick clay? Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee? and a weight 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, because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, and of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Let me read the first two paragraphs on your lesson sheet, page number four. We have the first woe in verses five through eight, but please note the commenters we read on. The Lord reveals the wicked conditions prevailing among the Chaldeans. Though they were used of God to chasten his people, yet the character, the conduct of the oppressors was not unknown to him. Chapter one, the prophet wondered why God was so silent against the oppression of the enemy. But now the righteous God announces five woes upon the wicked world power. And while this applies primarily to the Chaldeans, it is likewise a prophecy concerning the future. The world powers remain the same in character to the end of the age. There is no improvement to be expected from them. Please can I say, think of the words of the dear Apostle Paul in Second Timothy chapter three, evil men shall wax what? Worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. The world will never get any better. In fact, the world is going to get worse. And some of us wonder even now how much worse can it get. And so with the Chaldeans in their oppression. Let me read the paragraph on the letter A. The first woe is on the Babylonians for their rapacious and plundering ways. They were inflamed with the ambition for conquest as a drunken man is inflamed with wine. And the intoxication for conquest made them treacherous, haughty, restless, and like death, which is never satisfied, and this is from the Proverbs chapter thirty, where the grave and death are never satisfied. Do you ever notice that? You can always find somebody going to the cemetery. Every day. Death and the grave, constantly taking in their victim. And here was the Chaldeans, who in their particular ways so treacherous and haughty and restless, they were never satisfied. They were constantly plundering the nations. And in verses six and seven which we have read, as well as eight, the divine retribution is declared. Now go to the second womb, verse nine through eleven. Wore to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil. Thou has consulted shame to thy house by cunning up many people, and have sinned against thy soul. For the stones shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber, shall answer it. Will you please note on the letter B, the comment we have? Let's look at it carefully. This second womb, it was on account of their covetousness, their self-exaltation. Possessed with abominable pride, they imagined themselves secure and able to avert the power of evil. And you've got reference there. You may remember Nebuchadnezzar and in the book of Daniel. All that powerful king, the most mighty monarch of Gentile power, does ever live, ruling and dominating this world in his great power and his authority that God gave him, for which he gloried in that it was by himself he had conquered all. Remember in chapter four? How Daniel warned him, as Nebuchadnezzar informed Daniel of the dream of the tree that was cut down. Daniel pled with the king. He said, King, the dream's against you. It's in favor of your enemies. And he gave him the interpretation as only Daniel could under God. Yet the king didn't listen. And old Daniel sought to persuade him to give up his iniquities and turn in humility and confession to Jehovah. He went on. And then the moment came when he was in his palace of Babylon. saying and exalting himself, Is not this Babylon that I have built? Then the voice came from heaven. Cut it down. You know the rest of the story. Like a tree that had become so powerful. And the branches of his government covered the whole earth. God cut him down to eat grass like the oxen for seven years. Till he learned the lesson to look up and acknowledge there was a God in heaven. that ruleeth over the kingdoms of men. Personally, Nebuchadnezzar suffered that woe and came through, I believe, even in conversion to Jehovah. But the humiliation came on the king is even more prophetic of his kingdom when it was fulfilled in Daniel five, the reign of his grandson, Belshazzar, who took the vessels of gold out of the temple. that belonged to the sacred vessels of Jehovah in Jerusalem. And with his thousand of lords and princes, and all of it, their wives and concubines, they made sport and drank out of those holy vessels in their revelry and orgy of pleasure and sin and lawlessness. They had that. Well, what happened this night? Meany, Meany, Tikal Euphorsen, wrote the hand of God. And it was the end of the Babylonian Empire. This night, thy soul shall be required of thee, said Daniel to Belshazzar, as he accused him of not learning the lesson that God had taught Nebuchadnezzar his grandfather. Your kingdom is divided. You perish. And that night, Belshazzar was slain. It was the end of the Gentile power of the Babylonians. Please, let me say this. Let me quote the words of another. It is indeed impossible for anyone to save. For a nation. For a nation. And for a people. To despise what God said. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. Whatsoever a nation soweth that shall it also reap. And under God. It's an impossibility to get away. With him. in doing such things to realize that whatever we sow, we reap. And how sad to say that even as nations, we reap what we sow and God's judgment is inevitable upon us when it comes. And none of us can say that God won't judge. He will judge. And how sad to realize the insensibility of nations in not facing the God of providence and the God of sovereignty who holds them responsible. Oh, what a day of judgment is coming upon the nations when the Lord comes back. Let me go to verse twelve and thirteen before we close down through fourteen. Lovely place to stop, it would be. The third wall. All relating to Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, the Babylonian Empire. Woe to him that buildeth a town, no, with blood. Oh, beloved. Building a town with blood. Oh, beloved, here you can see the violence, the shedding of innocent blood, or the blood of others just to get property, just to get control, political control. as well as literal control of a nation or a people and establish the city by iniquity. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very badly? Read your comment, please, on your page. Let me read it before we get to the next verse. The third wall gives us a picture of the godless civilization and its appointed end. Their cruel oppression... Their ungodly gains had built up a magnificent city. A marvelous civilization existed when Babylon was mistress of the world. But it was built on iniquity and the blood of their victims. Is it any better today? No. Verse thirteen. The people's labor for the fire. The nations weary themselves for vanity, meaning purposeless. And our present civilization will be swept away. And there will be fires of judgment. Please may I state, please may I make it clear that in verse thirteen, you got a picture of today? Can I put the expression in this particular vernacular? The nations are nearer to hell today than they ever were. More people are nearer hell today than ever before. And the day of judgment. is approaching. Inevitably. And the people, they labor, yes, they're laboring. What for? Look. Look at the city before us. You go to the Chamber of Commerce. You go to the City Council. You go to the city leaders. You ask them, what's the future of Charlotte? Boy, will you get a rosy picture. They'll never tell you we're going to hell. They'll never tell you that judgment is round the corner according to the word of God. No. And oh, beloved, as you and I see it, people are laboring. Laboring for what? Frankly, please let me tell you, when the Lord Jesus is through with all of this civilization, squash, squash. You got the picture in Daniel two? Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the Gentile age, head of gold and so on, down to the feet. And that stone cut without hands lifts the image on the feet, and it crashes. Now I want to tell you frankly, the nations are headed for a crash. And said the Lord to Jesus, and you have it in Psalm chapter two, thou shalt visit them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron. Beloved, beloved, frankly, please, look, let me say frankly, don't think we've got a rosy picture in this world? God says there's nothing ahead but judgment. Likewise for Nebuchadnezzar in his kingdom. And what will follow? Look at verse fourteen as we close. And you can recognize that. even prophetically, dispensationally, after that judgment, the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And may I give you something to think about? You've got two things to think about in this chapter as a believer, as did Abaka. First in verse four, the just shall live by his faith. And now in verse fourteen, ah, when he comes, the earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea. Hallelujah. I'm glad he's coming. And when the judgment falls, following it, there'll be the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covering the earth. Oh, how well. He'll come. Just said, let's wait for it. And wait by simple faith for Jesus to come. Shall we pray? Oh, beloved, blessed Father, how we marvel at thy words. It surely is the definite proof that it is the word of God. As we read this prophecy of all time, through thy servant of backup, we bow in worship, we bow in reverence, we thank thee for it, and how it points us to in our own hearts that may be even today in need of encouragement. Grant that we shall cling to those blessed truths Jesus is coming. And until he comes, the just shall live by his faith. One thing we would pray as we close, Lord, when thy disciples came to thee on one occasion, we come to thee now. Say, Lord, increase our faith. We ask it as we commend ourselves in separating to thy blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. The Lord bless you. Oh, my. I wonder if this will be in the observer tomorrow morning.