Habakkuk chapter 2. I'm going to read some verses in chapter 2 as well as some verses in chapter 3. And with God's Word open before us, let's seek the Lord in prayer. O Lord, as we bow now in thy presence, we do ask for the help of thy spirit. We pray that he would bear witness to the truth of thy word and bring that word home to our hearts. We ask O Lord that that will help us to heed what we hear, and that that will guide us, O Lord, even in the matter of formulating a vision for our church or for our own selves individually or as families. Help us, O Lord, to understand the process whereby a proper vision can and should be gained. So Lord, bless thy word to us now. Take me up and make me a vessel fit for thy use. Guide me in my thoughts, O Lord. Purge me in the blood of Christ, and then fill me with thy spirit, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Habakkuk chapter two, we begin in verse one. I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, 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. 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, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. And then if you would look with me in chapter 3, I just want to read verse 1, which kind alerts us to what's taking place in chapter three, and then I wanna read verses 17 to 19. Okay, verse one, you'll notice that this is a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, upon Shigionoth. Jump down to verse 17, some of the most amazing words in all of scripture, in the Old Testament, where the prophet says, although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines, The labor of the olive shall fail, And the field shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. Amen, and we know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word, for his name's sake. These last verses that we read, especially verse 18 in chapter three, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation, that really represents the conclusion of a spiritual journey that the prophet has come through. He doesn't begin the book with that outlook, but by the time he's done, He has arrived at that outlook, and one that is so blessed and so strong that it rises above the circumstances of life, no matter what they are. And that's why I say it's an incredible statement. I wanna call your attention, however, to the vision. Back in chapter two, verse, yeah, chapter two, verse two. And the Lord answered me, and 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. You may recall when I addressed this passage sometime at the beginning of 2024, I pointed out at that time that the prophet Habakkuk, the book of Habakkuk, and the prophet Habakkuk are unlike any other prophet, any other book that you find among the prophets, the minor prophets or the major prophets. Most often what you find when you're reading the prophets is pronouncements that are made, very often pronouncements of judgment. I think, for example, of Amos, if you were to read the first two chapters of Amos, you find him going right down a very long list That includes cities in Philistia, Damascus. It includes the Northern Kingdom, and at last gets to the Southern Kingdom. And there is pronouncement of judgment upon the various nations. And that is very typical of the prophetic emphasis that you find in the Minor and in the Major Prophets. Habakkuk stands in contrast to that. You don't see any of that. in the book of Habakkuk. What you see instead is a dialogue, you could say, a debate, if you will. Not altogether different, I suppose, from the book of Job, where you have the debate between Job and his friends. In the book of Habakkuk, you have a debate between the prophet and God himself. The book begins with a complaint coming from the prophet. There is so much wickedness in the land, dear Lord. When are you gonna do something about it? I'm so distressed, I'm so discouraged at the wickedness. Lord, when will you move? And the Lord answers and tells the prophet what he's going to do. I'm going to raise up that nation from the north, the nation of Babylon. They will come into the land. They are going to devastate Jerusalem and Judea. The people will be taken into captivity. Judgment will come. Not the answer the prophet wanted to hear. Not the answer he was expecting. So he raises his complaint back to the Lord. Lord, that can't be right. Thou art a purer rise than to behold iniquity, Lord. How can you take a nation, I've been complaining about how bad we are, that nation is even worse, and you're gonna make that nation a tool of judgment to come in and judge the nation of Judea and the city of Jerusalem? And that is indeed the case. But the Lord has more to reveal to the prophet that in the end it will be the cause of Christ's kingdom that prevails. And so we find that the prophet then going through a spiritual trial, a difficulty, which in the end gets the best of his heart, he comes to recognize, even as we read it, that the just shall live by his faith, and that he is able to rejoice in the Lord, come what may, upon the land. So, I'm not gonna take the time this afternoon to go through the vision that I have described to our church family here in days gone by. In fact, at our annual meeting, I went through a very lengthy process. I did the same thing at the last minister's week of prayer, explained to them how I have been spiritually speaking through three rounds, so to speak, of visions, the latest one being the potential that I see in this church For this church, reduced as it is, I see such great potential for the Lord to do things within this church that have not yet been done. I see potential for this church to be something far greater than it's ever been throughout the course of my years in the pulpit here. And that is, in a sense, my vision. a vision that comes about as families are created and added to the church. Oh, may the Lord bring it to pass. What I wanna do this afternoon, however, is not so much focus on the content of that vision, I've been over that before, but what I want to focus on this afternoon is the process through which that vision, or any spiritual vision for that matter, can be formulated, okay? We need to have a vision. Without a vision, the people perish, we read in Proverbs 29 and verse 18. But we recognize at the same time, don't we, that I'm not an Old Testament prophet, I'm not a prophet at all after the biblical mode of such a thing. God does not communicate to me in such a way that I become inspired. No, I'm fallible. But there is a spiritual process that I believe can be practiced and that ought to be practiced through which a spiritual vision can be gained. and a spiritual vision can be adopted with confidence. So that's what I want to focus on this afternoon. Largely, the spiritual process of formulating a vision, and then the patient pursuit of that vision. Those are the two points I'll try to cover. The first one will take the bulk of our time. The spiritual process, then, of formulating a vision. Notice, if you would, the words of verse two. And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. Write the vision. And we know, of course, that Habakkuk did write the vision. We have his vision in the book that bears his name. And when it comes then to formulating our own vision before the Lord, whether it pertain to the church or the denomination or on a family level or a personal level, when it comes to formulating our own vision before the Lord, we have to be very careful that whatever vision we feel we've gained from the Lord, it has to be based on visions that have already been given, that were inspired, and that have been recorded. Your vision for your church or our vision for our denomination or your vision for yourself or your family, in other words, must be based on the written word of God. Now, I find the second part of verse two to be interesting. Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it. A number of commentators interpret this statement to mean that Habakkuk was being instructed to write out his vision in large letters, letters so large that anyone passing by, even a man running by, would not be able to miss it. I suppose we could draw a modern day analogy after that by saying it's a little bit, I suppose, like passing a billboard you would see on the interstate as you're driving down the interstate at 70 miles an hour and the letters on that sign are so large you can read them even as you're zooming past it. I prefer the interpretation of another commentator. Listen to this explanation. This comes from Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown's commentary. They note that, commonly explained, the meaning is so intelligible as to be easily read by anyone running past. Okay, that's what I just described, a common interpretation. They go on to say, the true sense, however, would be along these lines, write the vision so that it's so legible that whoever readeth it may run to tell all whom he can the good news of the foe's coming doom and Judah's deliverance. I like this explanation. because that lends itself to a gospel application that we can utilize when it comes to formulating our own vision before the Lord. Let our vision for our church and for the free church as a whole be in keeping with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Whatever vision we formulate must be along those lines, okay? Let our vision for our churches and for the free church as a whole be in keeping with the unsearchable riches of Christ. You're familiar with the hymn. Perhaps we should have sung it today. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. not be all else to me save that thou art. Thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Oh, let our vision be in this new year for more of Christ. Lord, I want more of thee. I need more of thee. There is so much more of thee that I can know that I should know. Lord, grant me more of thyself. Be thou my vision, O Lord. Why is it, after all, that we want to see people added to this church or people added to the churches within our denomination? Is it because, is it not because we want them to gain what we have gained through Christ? That's why I want people here. I don't want them here simply because it'll be easier to pay the bills if we have more people here. It'll be easier for the church to function financially if we have more people here. Well, that's valid, and we do hope and pray for that, but the vision goes so much beyond that. I want people in this church because I want them to gain what I have gained, and I have gained much in Jesus Christ. Is it not because we think that Christ is worthy for souls to be saved by Him, and Christ is worthy for the saints to feed on Him, and Christ is worthy to be praised and worshipped and served? Is it not for those reasons we want to see people drawn into the Lord's house? And Christ is revealed in his fullness in the visions that are written and inspired and preserved and given to us that we may behold him and then run in the power of praise and thanksgiving to make his name known. So our vision must be formulated on the basis of what's written, okay? I'd go a step further to add that our vision must be formulated by right thinking. which in turn is based on what's written. Philippians chapter four in verse eight comes to mind. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. I've used that text in Philippians at times to preach on the subject of revival. Revival is true and honest and just and pure and lovely. I remember a message I preached some while back in which I gave the account of Duncan Campbell. He's the man associated with the Isle of Lewis revival. I gave the account of when Duncan Campbell first arrived on the Isle of Lewis. He's taken to the church, he preaches a message, and after he's given the final benediction and is making his way to the door, they discover that just outside the doors, the place is filled with people that have made their way to the church. They're under conviction of sin, and so the church is reopened and becomes packed out, and the sounds of men and women under heavy conviction of sin fills the place, and souls are closing in with Christ, and salvation is being manifested, and the vision that was given to an 80-year-old blind lady by the name of Peggy is realized." When I described that some while back, I followed it up by saying, wouldn't it be something? If after this service, this afternoon ended, we made our way to the door and discovered the parking lot filled with people under conviction of sin because the Holy Spirit was moving with power and might? What are the chances of that, you might ask? To which I would reply, I don't know, probably not very likely. But on the other hand, it's sure based on a good report. Something to dream of, a good vision to keep before us. So our vision must be formulated based on what's written and our thinking must be based on things that are true and honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report, which things are also based on what's written. Along similar lines, let me point out that our vision must be based on the character of God. It must take the character of God into account. This was the struggle, you know, that Habakkuk was dealing with, as I said in my introduction. First he's struggling with the issue of sin in the land. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? Even cry unto thee of violence and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me and there are that raise up strife and contention. That's how the prophet begins his book. And again, you know the story. I just described it. The Lord had already answered. Judgment is coming. I'll raise up the Chaldeans. They will become my instrument of judgment. That didn't seem right to Habakkuk. Chapter 1, verse 13, thou art a pure horizon to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity. Wherefore, lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he. All of a sudden, Judah doesn't seem quite as wicked in the minds of the prophet. Interesting to note that in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verses 4 to 7, the Lord says through Jeremiah that the people taken into captivity were to settle in the land of their captivity and carry on there. Give your sons and daughters in marriage to each other in the land of your captivity and pray for the peace of the city in which you dwell. Jeremiah instructs them through a letter. Ezekiel adds something to the picture when the Lord through Ezekiel gives the promise that he would be a little sanctuary to the spiritual remnant that would be found among the ones taken into captivity. That's in Ezekiel chapter nine and verse 16. They could still know, in other words, the presence of the Lord even in the land of captivity. The spiritual remnant, you see, were the ones that were able to say amen to the judgment of God on the land. They took into account the character of God and the sinfulness of Judah and Jerusalem. And any vision we formulate for our church must take into account the character of God. This was a struggle, as I said, for the prophet. But by the end of the book, his vision took God's character into account. One of the reasons he was able by the end to submit to the vision is because the vision did include the ultimate triumph of the cause of Christ. I know I've said this before. I remember Dr. Cairns saying that judgment of God, the judgment of God is never an end in itself. It's always a means to an end, that end being the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. So that is yet something else we need to consider when it comes to formulating our own vision as a church, as a denomination. Chapter two, verse 14. for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Christ wins. You might not think so to see the sorry spiritual condition of the nations today. What we see today with the carnal life tempts us to say that the forces of wickedness win and that darkness wins. It appeared the same way, you know, when Christ was nailed to a cross. It looked like apostasy had won. The forces of wickedness had triumphed. But such is the wisdom of God that he knows how to bring the greatest triumph out of what appears at first to be the greatest tragedy. That is one of my favorite ways to view the cross. So when you find yourself in the midst of circumstances that seem inexplicable and that seem to be nothing more than darkness prevailing, you're not really in a strange place. You're treading a path that Christ himself has trod. And he brought forth great triumph out of what appeared to be great tragedy. Triumph out of tragedy. We ought to be able to see that ourselves more fully and clearly than Habakkuk could see it. Because we see now in our age, in this dispensation, we understand the meaning of the cross of Christ. So formulating our vision must take into account what's written, must take into account the character of God, must take into account the times in which we live, and it must take into account the ultimate victory of Christ. And when we take into account the character of God and how unworthy we are of the least of His blessings, and then we take into account Christ's ultimate triumph, it may lead us to wonder, how can I formulate a proper spiritual vision for the Church when I have to acknowledge that God is righteous, we are sinful, and yet Christ's cause is destined to triumph? Well, I think Habakkuk's prayer in the beginning of chapter three takes all these things into account. So we read verses one and two. A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, upon Shigionov. O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make known. In wrath, remember mercy. Judgment is inevitable, and in formulating our visions, we need to be able to say amen to it. If we are the least bit jealous for God's honor, then we must say amen to it. But ultimate victory? What about ultimate victory? Is that something down the road? Is that something so remote that we really can't take it into account in any real here and now sense? Or do we just know that it will come sometime in the future? Oh no, we take it into account as we call on God to revive us in the midst of the years and in wrath to remember mercy. Now before leaving this point of the spiritual process of formulating a vision, I need to wish you a word of caution or warning. We know, don't we, that throughout the history of Israel and Judah, there were also false prophets in the land. There were prophets that proclaimed peace, peace, when there was no peace. There were prophets so-called that said the captivity would be short. Don't even unpack your bags, they would say, so to speak, because you're not going to be in captivity long enough to make it necessary to unpack. That's what they were saying. That's what they were communicating to those who had been taken into captivity. Jeremiah's letter stood in stark contrast to it, which is why they wrote back and suggested that Jeremiah ought to be arrested and imprisoned and executed. What did these false prophets do but formulate their own visions in accordance with their own desires and their own comfort zones, so to speak? I think you could say that their formulated visions could correspond to what James deals with in his epistle when he deals with the matter of unanswered prayer. So we read in James 4, verses two and three, ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not, ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Or in other words, you're doing nothing but pursuing vain glory in your praying. And how much of our praying, do you suppose, is tainted by the pursuit of vain glory? Probably more than we're willing to admit, or more than we even know, how much of my formulated vision springs from that kind of phenomenon? To the degree that it does, I become just like the false prophets of Bible times that formulated their visions in accordance merely with their own personal desires. I did a study a few months ago on the character of Barak in the book of Jeremiah. You remember Barak? He's the one that took down the dictation from Jeremiah, which led eventually to creating the book of Jeremiah. We read of him in Jeremiah 45, verse two, beginning in verse two. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Barak, thou didst say, woe is me now, for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. Thus shalt thou say unto him, the Lord saith thus, Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not, for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord. I have to admit I find myself challenged by that passage, especially in the matter of formulating a vision. Are we seeking great things for ourselves? Do we want our names to gain notoriety in the kingdom of Christ? Why do we seek the things we're seeking from the Lord? How much of it amounts to the pursuit of vainglory? How much of it amounts to asking amiss that we may consume it upon our lusts? I eventually concluded When I confronted myself with the question about my own praying, how much of it is governed by this, by asking amiss in the pursuit of vain glory that I may consume it upon my lust, I eventually concluded that all my praying is tainted with that sort of thing. I'm very much aware of that spiritual law that Paul states in Romans 7, that even when I would do good, evil is present with me. So does that mean then that I should just give up the whole pursuit of formulating a vision at all since I really don't have the capability of doing it without my own interest in pursuing vain glory, tainting everything I endeavor to do? Well, I don't think that I need to give it up or that we should give up the pursuit of our vision, but it does mean that I need to make much of the blood of Christ while I'm formulating a vision and while I'm pursuing a vision. I'm pleading the blood of Christ against all, every petition that's tainted as I bring it before the Lord. And this leads to my final point then, a conclusion really, and I'll be brief. We've been considering all this time the process of formulating a vision. Let me say a word in closing about the patient pursuit of this vision. If we formulated our visions carefully and prayerfully and spiritually, if we've distinguished ourselves from false prophets by aligning ourselves with what is written and thinking in terms of what is true and honest and pure, et cetera, And we've taken into account the character of God, the times in which we live, and Christ's ultimate victory. And if we plead the blood of Christ over all that taints the process of formulating our visions, then I believe we can bring our visions to the Lord in prayer with confidence, and we can wait for them to be fulfilled with patience. The words of verse 3 can be applied, 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. You see how patience is required? There's an appointed time, even for the visions that we have carefully and spiritually formulated, there is an appointed time for their fulfillment, and there may be much that needs to be done in our hearts to prepare us for the fulfillment of our visions in the meantime. But we can and we should be praying over our visions and praying with assurance that the God of all grace will answer us if we grow not weary in well-doing and continue to ask and seek and knock. How far away after all this revival? That's a big part of my vision. It's been a big part of our denomination for as long as I've been a part of it. I measure that time by my son's age. I think James is 43 years old now, which means I've been a free Presbyterian for 43 years. We joined right about the time he was born. And during those times, practically from day one, we were taught about revival. We were given the vision for revival. Let's pray for it. Let's seek God for it. For something that's real, not something that's contrived, okay? How far away is it? Well, I remember the very first time I spoke at a week of prayer after my ordination, it was in Buffalo, the one and only time that Phil Owens Church hosted the week of prayer. This would have been October of 2001, just a month after 9-11. I preached from 2 Kings 6. You have the account in the second half of that chapter of the city of Samaria being under siege by the Syrians. The famine became so severe, we're told that an ass's head was sold for four score pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a calf of doves' dung was sold for five pieces of silver. When the king was called on by a mother to deal with another lady for breaking her agreement to cannibalize her son the way they had done the day before with her own son, the king becomes so outraged that he determines to execute the prophet Elisha by cutting off his head. You remember the story? The king's messenger comes to Elisha's door, and Elisha makes the announcement. 2 Kings 7, verse 1, Hear ye the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. Verse 3, Then a lord, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the man of God, and said, Behold if the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be Tied out into what we contemplated this morning What was this servant of the king basically saying it's impossible It's impossible couldn't happen not even God could do it not even by opening windows in heaven the situation's just gotten that dire and that bleak Well, you know the story. It came to pass exactly as Elisha predicted. The Syrian armies heard a noise, thought they were under attack, hastily fled for their lives, leaving their camps with all the provisions that were needed to bring Elisha's vision to pass. The deserted camp was discovered by four lepers who broke the news to the city of Samaria, and they rushed upon the spoil. and the famine came to an end. The point I sought to stress from that narrative was that it didn't matter how long the famine lasted, nor did it matter how severe the famine had become. Those factors were no barrier to the blessing of God coming once the appointed time, which in this case was the next day, had come. So how far was the blessing of God? And how far away is it from us today? It's a word away. That's all. Once God gives the Word, nothing can hold it back. Doesn't matter how bad things have become. Doesn't matter how severe the spiritual famine has become. All it takes is a word from God and the Reformation comes, or the Great Awakening comes, or the Isle of Lewis revival comes. where 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. What should our vision be then for our church? What should our vision be for the FPCNA? We need a vision, have to have a vision, and it needs to be the right vision, spiritually sought out. Where there is no vision, the people perish, Proverbs 29, 18. Where there is no vision, there's no vitality. Where there is no vision, there's no sense of purpose. May the Lord give us the vision of his glory, and may we find the needed grace to patiently pursue it. If we're guided by the vision, then we'll walk by faith. If the vision of the Lord's glory and the advancement of His kingdom fills and thrills our souls, then we'll persevere in faith and in hope, even when the fig tree fails to blossom, and there's no fruit in the vines, and the fields yield no meat, and the flock is cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, with the vision We, like Habakkuk, will be able to say, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. Oh, may the Lord in this new year grant us the vision that we need for his church to flourish and grow. and for revival to come. When I preached that message years ago in Buffalo, as I recall, I made the remark, we do better to go to our grave pleading for revival to come than to cease seeking the Lord for it, because it will come at the appointed time. Well, let's close then in prayer. Oh Lord, as we bow in thy presence and bring this meeting to a close, We pray that thou wilt help us to be captured by the vision of the glory of Christ and the ultimate triumph of his kingdom. We know, O Lord, that thou art pleased at times to give us over to difficulties, to trials, to circumstances that seem to go against the very vision that we would harbor. But Lord, even as we were reminded this morning Nothing is too hard for Thee. Thou art that God that can do the impossible. We ask, therefore, Lord, that we may see Thee do many impossible things in this new year. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.