All right, look in your Bibles to the book of Habakkuk, near the end of the Old Testament. I think it's about five from the end. The book of Habakkuk is, I find, to be a very interesting book, and it is very, it is very, Timely. We can compare things in Habakkuk's day to things in our day and find a remarkable comparison there, a similarity there in the events. In Habakkuk's day, for instance, the country was in a down spiral spiritually. The people had turned away from God yet again. This had happened many times over the course of Israel's history, but yet again they had done so. They had most recently been through a revival at the end of King Manasseh's reign, but now they're in this downward spiral spiritually, and they had turned away from God. to the point where God's ready to bring judgment upon them, and it's about to get very serious. Habakkuk sees this, and he's very concerned for his people and for his country, and he begins to pray. And that's what the book of Habakkuk is, really. It consists of three prayers from Habakkuk with two responses from God. God responds to the first two prayers. Basically, Habakkuk is praying in the first prayer for revival. Why are you waiting, God? What's going on? Bring revivals. Turn the people back. And to Habakkuk's surprise, I think, God's response to that is, not gonna be revival, it's gonna be judgment. The people have gone too far, and so we're gonna bring judgment upon the nation. God is gonna bring judgment upon the nation. And not only that, but he tells them, I'm gonna use these people called the Chaldeans. from over around Babylonia. I'm gonna use them to bring judgment on you. Now, the Chaldeans were an evil people. I mean, so evil they're known for their evilness, okay? They were very corrupt, they were very murderous. When they took over countries, they invaded, they killed and destroyed. That's what they did, and that's what they were known for. And so in Habakkuk's second prayer, he's like, okay, God, I can see the judgment part, I agree, we need it, that's fine, I'm paraphrasing here. But Habakkuk had a real problem with God using someone, in Habakkuk's words, that is more evil than we are. How can you use a country or people more evil than your own people to bring judgment on your people? Habakkuk is really struggling with this. This does not go along with what he understands about God and God's morality, and he's really struggling with that part, and he tells God that. Now, even Habakkuk feels like he's gone too far. Basically, if you look in Habakkuk, we'll be in chapter two. Our text is gonna be verses two through four, but look at verse one. He says at the end of the prayer, he says I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower And I will and we'll watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved So Habakkuk feels like he's gone too far probably with God in expressing What he's feeling here in his questioning of God now I think we should understand this, something about God in this. God does not, he is not bothered when we question things. What will bother God is our attitude when we question things, okay? If we're acting like we really know what's best and he doesn't, God's gonna have a problem with that, okay? If we are speaking out of pride or we are speaking out of wrong motives, we're wanting you know, we're being selfish, we're wanting something for ourselves, God's gonna have a problem with that. But he doesn't mind us going to him concerned and sharing our concerns with him. In fact, I think he wants that because it's through that that he can respond to us and teach us and train us into how we should look at things, okay? That's exactly, by the way, what happens here with Habakkuk, and we'll get more to that in a little bit. But when Habakkuk leaves off, he's like, okay, I'm gonna go up in the tower, I'm gonna watch and see what God has to say. He's expecting an answer from God. He's also expecting to be reproved, corrected, disciplined by God because he's gone too far in his prayer. To his surprise, that's not how God responds. His second response to Habakkuk's second prayer begins with the verses that we're going to read here and goes on through the rest of the chapter. In this second, this reply, God is, he gives to Habakkuk a vision about what he is going to do, okay? And this vision is filled with some very teachable material to help Habakkuk understand a little bit more about God and how God operates. God understands Habakkuk's concern about using people more evil. And basically, we gotta understand from God's perspective, we're all evil. If you committed sin, that's evil, okay? So he's not really caught up in this, the Chaldeans more evil thing. they, as we were talking just before the service, God can raise up the leaders he wants, and they don't always have to be godly people, okay? He can do as much to an ungodly person as he can to a godly person. And so what God wants the Vatican to understand is judgment's coming, it's deserved, and this is how I'm doing it, because I'm God. And nobody can tell me how to do things, okay? And so he's gonna communicate that to Habakkuk in this prayer. And in so doing, he lets Habakkuk know about two very important things. We're gonna look at just one of those things this morning. What he's gonna give to Habakkuk, especially in verse four, is how God's people should live, okay? And we should live by faith. But most of this vision is God letting Habakkuk know that he's gonna bring judgment. And by the way, he's gonna judge those Chaldeans, too, because they're evil. He's gonna take care of them. But he is bringing judgment for a purpose. And so he gives him this vision. And so that's where we're gonna pick up. Let's look now in Habakkuk 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. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. All right, so first of all, verses two and three, real quickly. What God is doing, he says, Habakkuk, I'm gonna give you a vision, and I want you to write it down. This is gonna be clear. I want you to write it as clearly as you possibly can so that others can read it. That phrase in there, that he may run that readeth it, the idea is we think, we're not positive, but we think maybe what that means is that it would be so simple and so plain that someone could take it, run while they're reading it, and go tell others. He wants his vision to be put out. He wants the nation to hear it, okay? And he wants them to know what he's about to do. There's an appointed time for judgment here. And that judgment's going to speak. It's going to speak on God's behalf. It's going to speak out against evil. And then we come to verse four. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. That's a reference to those who were not God's people, okay? These are people who were caught up in their pride and their arrogance. That really does describe the Chaldeans, okay? They were a very proud and arrogant people. And God's saying, that's the lost person. Pride, arrogance, selfishness, those are chief qualities of someone who does not know God, someone who has not been born again, okay? And that describes some of those who were in Israel and it described those Chaldeans. But then, and this is what we're gonna focus on for the message, is the last part of verse four where he says, but the just shall live by his faith, okay? The just shall live, who is the just here? And how do they live, how do they live by faith? Now, in this verse four, again, we're given a look at two different kinds of people, okay? The lost, the saved, the born again, the proud and arrogant, the humble person who lives by faith. We're given another picture of this in the scriptures in Luke, in a story about a proud Pharisee and a humble publican, okay, who are in the temple. And I'm sure you remember this story. The proud Pharisee is out in the middle of everybody, praying out loud, reciting all the good things that he's done, really patting himself on the back, basically saying, everybody look at me, God look at me, look at how good a person I am. Very proud, very arrogant, okay? Meanwhile, off to the side, is a publican, and you know the Jews did not like publicans. They were the tax collectors and representatives of the Roman government, and they hated, the worst thing you could be in a Jew's mind is an old publican, probably. And so this publican's over here, though, and rather than being proud and arrogant, he's smiting his breast, and he's asking God to have mercy on him, a sinner, right? In his heart, He knew God. And that came with... a great dose of humility and an understanding of who he was in the presence of God and that he needed mercy. He didn't need a pat on the back. He needed mercy. Sets him apart from the Pharisee. And that distinguishes both kinds of people out there in the world today. There are those that believe and live lives of faith and humility and there are those who are proud and caught up in their sin but think they're better than everybody else. So we see this brought out here in verse four back in Habakkuk. Now in the Hebrew, verse four, or this phrase in verse four is made up of just three words. One word means the justified man. Another word means by his faith. And then the third word means will live. So the justified man by his faith will live. So, We are, who is this justified man, okay? Where does his faith come from? How does he live by faith, okay? It raises three big questions for us. God in his wisdom has given us the ability to live by faith. Three commentaries on this, okay? And here's what I mean by that. In the New Testament, there are three times when this verse, that phrase, is quoted, okay? It's quoted in Hebrews, it's quoted in Romans, it's quoted in Galatians. We're gonna look at those three, okay? And so God gives us, later in the New Testament, commentary on what he means by that phrase, the just shall live by faith. I'm sure y'all are familiar with commentaries. We use commentaries. I use, probably my favorite one is John Gill, but I use others too. So we have words written by men to help us try to understand the scriptures. I heard someone say a long time ago, the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself, okay? And so that's what we find here in what we're gonna look at this morning, these three glimpses or three commentaries from the New Testament on this verse. And in so doing, we're gonna look at three questions. Question one, how can we be righteous? Question number two, how do we receive God's gift? And then question number three, how do we live the Christian life? So how can we be righteous? God's reply to Habakkuk, says that we can be righteous, the righteous man. How is that possible? Are we able to be righteous in our own works? Well, the scriptures tell us there is none righteous, no not one, okay? So it's impossible for us to be righteous in and of ourselves because that would mean that we have to perfectly keep the law in every point. You and I have not done that, and we can't do that because of our sin nature. Only one has ever done that, and that's Jesus Christ, okay? He kept it in every point. So, instead of being righteous, We are sinners who deserve the condemnation and the full wrath of God, because we've sinned against God. We've sinned against a holy, infinite God, therefore we deserve a infinite punishment of His wrath being poured out upon us. So how can a sinner be righteous? There's only one way, and that's by God's gift of righteousness to us through Jesus Christ. who are any righteousness that we have the god looks upon it is pleased with is the righteousness of christ himself from His time on this earth, when He walked on this earth in the form of a man, and He was perfect in every way. Everything the Father said to do, He did. Everything the Father said to say, He said, okay? And He was perfect. He did not sin in any way at all, and therefore accrued a righteousness through that life, living that, that pleased the Father. God said on more than one occasion, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. When Christ died on the cross, rose again from the grave, he ascended to be at the right hand of the Father, ruling on the throne there. God was pleased with his sacrifice and all that he did. and it is that righteousness that you and I can have and have access to. It's as if, and the scriptures use language that indicates this, it's as if we have been clothed in a robe of righteousness given to us by Christ himself. In fact, what happens is there's an exchange made, or has been made, Christ took from us our sins. Our sins were put upon Christ when he died there upon the cross and he bore the wrath for those sins. So our sins go to him and what comes from him to us is his righteousness. Therefore we can now enter before the throne of grace boldly and stand before God, not because we've earned our way in there, not because of something we can point to and say, look what I did, God, I deserve to be here in your presence, no. We stand in the presence of God because we come clothed in his righteousness. He looks upon us, he sees the righteousness of his son. and He is pleased with that, and thus we are able to come into His presence, okay? And that's the same way, I mean, that's why we'll be in heaven for eternity. We'll enter into glory for eternity, not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done. I want you to turn to Romans chapter one right now. Romans chapter one. And we're gonna look at verses 16 and 17 there. So, continuing this thought, God freely imputes his righteousness to those who are born again. his people, his chosen people from the foundation of the world. And this is what it really means to be a Christian. We stop trying to attain heaven by our own good works, and instead we receive from God what Christ has done for us. The foundation then of our Christian life becomes not what we have done for God, but what God has done for us. And that's what Paul addresses here in Romans chapter 1. Let's look at verses 16 and 17. This is our first commentary in the New Testament that we're going to look at upon this verse. Verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God and a salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also the Greek. So Paul's telling Romans, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I will boldly proclaim the gospel because it is incredible, it's amazing, it's wonderful. In it we see the very power of God to save us. So the gospel's a wonderful thing. He continues that thought though in verse 17 by saying, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. So to answer our question, How can we be righteous? We can only be righteous by God imputing the righteousness of Christ to us through faith. And that's what Romans there is telling us. That the way we apprehend this righteousness, come into this righteousness, is through the faith that we are given by God. Ephesians 2.8. For by grace are we saved through faith, okay? And it's not of us, this faith. It's not my faith that I've conjured up. It is the very faith of Christ given to me. the very faith that he exercised during his time on this earth, when he walked as a man here on this earth, when he faced all the same temptations I faced, yet did not sin, when he encountered every kind of situation and circumstance or whatever that we can face, yet He believed God. He trusted the Father. He did what the Father said. It's that faith that's given to us so that we can believe then on Christ. And when we exercise that faith, we discover and it's revealed faith by faith, we discover the righteousness of God. the standing that we have before God, okay? So therefore, that's how we receive this righteousness, that's how we are justified, and we can know that we are justified before God. When we question, and sometimes we do, probably some more than others, question, am I really saved? The way to really answer that is through this faith that we're given and to see that I'm saved, not because of what I've done, because of what Christ has done for me. If we were relying, here's I think where we can really start to question whether or not we're born again, whether or not we've been saved. It comes in, we see that I'm a sinner still. I still sin against God on this earth, and I struggle in the flesh with things, and I'm not faithful as I should be at times, and so forth. And that can create doubt in us, because what we're looking at is what I'm doing. I'm looking at what I'm doing, and I realize I fall short. It's only when we look, by faith, at what Christ has done for us, that we can know, yes, I am born again, yes, I am saved, not because of me, because I'd mess it all up, but because of Christ, who does everything perfectly, and has done everything perfectly, and I can trust that, and know, then, that He has saved me, okay? So that answers that first question. Let's go on to the second one. How do we receive this gift? And we've really touched on it. The simple answer is by faith. Now turn to Hebrews. Book of Hebrews. Our passage is gonna be in chapter 10, verses 37, 38, and 39. This'll be our second commentary. But before we go there, I wanna look in chapter 11, verse six. We're very familiar with chapter 11, verse one, where it gives us a definition of faith, if you will, but if we continue looking down to verse six, it says in verse six, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So we begin to move into this faith and can begin to understand a little bit more about how it is that we receive God's gift of righteousness. If you look on through Hebrews chapter 11, It teaches us much about what faith really and truly looks like. In every example we're given, we see a person or persons who are taking some action based on faith. Faith, the faith we're talking about here is more than just belief in something. It is action based on that belief, okay? And that, I think, is an important distinction. If I were I'm a big fella, so for me, if I'm gonna sit down somewhere, I'm looking pretty carefully at what I'm about to sit down on, and I'm making a judgment. Is that thing gonna hold me up, right? Well, I can say, I believe that chair will hold me up, but as long as I'm standing here and not testing it, do I really believe it? I can say it. There are a lot of people that say that they believe that Christ is their savior. Does it mean that that's so though, okay? Does their life show evidence of that? That they truly have been born again? It's one thing to say it, but if I sit down on that chair I'm demonstrating my belief that it's gonna hold me up, right? So with faith, I can say, and you can ask somebody going down the street, hey, do you believe in Christ? Oh, sure, yeah, what do you think I am, an atheist? Of course, these days, there's no telling what kind of answer you get to that question, but some people are gonna say yeah. And what they're basing it on is that they went to church. Their parents went to church. You know, maybe they signed a card or they were baptized or something, but that's what they're looking at. That's not really the faith that Hebrews 11 talks about, okay? Hebrews 11 is, I believe in what God has done. Remember what we said there in verse six? It's impossible to please him without faith, that is, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, okay? It's more than just a head knowledge that Christ died on the cross for our sins. A lot of people have that. It comes down to heart knowledge. What do you know right here? What's going on inside your heart? Has God moved there? Has he given you spiritual life? Do you know that? And are you living accordingly? So it's important to stress action and action. Because the definition of faith in our day tends to reduce it down to just mere intellectual assent. Yeah, I believe in God. I believe God exists. But it's much more than that. It involves action. We have to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who died in our place and thus turned from sin and followed Christ. So back to Hebrews 10, verse 37, Here's our second commentary, look for the phrase from Habakkuk, verse 37, for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now that's language that we get out of Habakkuk there in and of itself. in God's vision that he has just given to Habakkuk, he talks about not tearing. Now this verse, verse 37, refers directly to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, his second coming, okay? So he that shall come will come and will not tear, verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back into perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. What the writer of Hebrews, and I believe that's Paul, but different people have different ideas on who wrote Hebrews. I really think it was Paul. But whoever it was, what they're saying there is, it's one thing to say, yeah, I'm a Christian, It's another thing to live a life that shows that until Christ does return, okay? There are a lot of people, and I think we saw this back in 2020 with the pandemic, so-called pandemic, where a lot of people quit going to church. A lot of people said they were Christians, they were members of the church. They quit going, they haven't gone back in a lot of cases, okay? Life has a way of winnowing out those who have made false professions. They tend not to stick it out, especially when things get tough. They don't fall back on faith because they don't really have true faith. All they have is feelings, emotions from a particular time they were in church or some sort of head belief, head knowledge of what they have been taught along the way. And when it really comes down to it, they don't have true faith and they don't live like it. They don't live lives of faith like a Christian should. So it is through faith with action, this faith with action, that we can know that we have obtained the righteousness of Christ and the salvation of our souls. And this faith is such that a person will live a life of faith, persevering through life as a follower of Christ. All right, third question. How do we live the Christian life? So faith involves commitment. Go ahead now if you want and turn to Galatians chapter three where we'll find our third commentary. Galatians chapter three, verse 10. So how do we live the Christian life? Faith involves commitment. How do we carry this commitment on through life? The text in Habakkuk, does not say that the righteous will begin by faith and then somehow proceed through life in some other way or principle. Not faith, okay? It does not say that the righteous shall draw on faith from time to time as needed. The indication, the implication is that the just will live continuously by faith. This means 24-7, 365, as long as life lasts, the just person is living by faith. Now, whoa, I know, we see it. I know there are times we backslide, and you don't see the evidence of that faith sometimes in our lives. I understand that, and God certainly understands that. That is our daily battle. But by and large, you should be able to see a person, look at your own life, and see that you are growing in faith, and that you are continuing in faith. Yeah, we have little setbacks. Maybe we should look at them as opportunities to learn more about God and grow and be corrected and know what to do next time. But by and large, as we go through our lives, we should be living a life that demonstrates this faith with action that we've been talking about. And that is what is implied there in Habakkuk. To back this up, To address this particular issue, Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, tells them this very thing. He had been to Galatia early in his missionary travels, and he had taught them the full counsel of God. the gospel, and how to live. He'd given them that before he moved on and continued his missionary journeys. But at some point after he left them, they had seized living by faith and had brought in the Jewish ordinances and begun to live by them. They effectively were saying faith was okay when we were new Christians, when we were baby Christians, But now we've gotta add works to faith. Now this is different from faith with action, okay? The works they're adding in, basically they're saying is we're only gonna have healthy, productive Christian lives when we observe the feasts, practice circumcision, and add other ceremonies to what we're doing. When Paul heard about this, this blew his mind. He couldn't believe it. And he quickly writes this letter to them to correct these notions and make sure they understand that's not what the Christian life is about. We are living by faith. He warns them that they're following another gospel and this false gospel would enslave them. And he uses Habakkuk 2 verse 4 to challenge this idea of living lives by the law. Let's look in Galatians 3 verse 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law and the sight of God, it is evident. For, what does he say? He quotes Habakkuk, the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith. But the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. So we aren't living, or should not be living our lives by man-made rules that seem good, but really are only gonna draw us into the curse of the law. We should be living by faith with actions, obedience to God's ways, that show our faith. If you're doing that, then the world can crumble to pieces around you, and yet you can continue to live by faith. All we may know and love may vanish before us, but we will live by faith. We will live by faith not only in the moment of our initial belief in Christ, but in every moment of every day that we draw a breath. Let me connect us back to Habakkuk's day. Habakkuk, the people had turned against God. They were in a terrible state of sin and rebellion against God. God's bringing judgment on them. Now look at our day. Has our nation not done the same thing? Has our nation as a whole not turned against God? And we have left The principles of godly living enshrined in our nation and in the government we established to follow after false gods. People worship today the cultural issues of our day, okay? All of it so ungodly and so contrary to the scriptures. Do we not deserve judgment? I pray for revival like Habakkuk prayed for revival. But I'm more and more convinced it ain't gonna be a revival. And I think judgment's already started. And it's gonna get bad. Habakkuk knows how bad it's gonna get for them. and he's praying to God and he's trying to work through this, we need to be doing the same thing. Habakkuk is looking at a time where his country is gonna suffer greatly. Everything they know and cherish is gonna be torn down around them. People are gonna die, people are gonna suffer. It's gonna be terrible. But what Habakkuk now begins to understand is God is with us. And by faith, we will come through this and be delivered. I say the same thing to us this morning. Same thing. By faith, we too shall be delivered. How do we know Habakkuk got that? Because he prays a third time. Whole nother issue, whole nother sermon or two, Habakkuk chapter three. But in that prayer, by the way, there's no response from God to his third prayer. His book just ends with that third prayer. Why does God not respond the third time? Because Habakkuk has gotten it. What he prays the third time is in agreement with God's will and not Habakkuk's. Habakkuk starts out asking for what he wanted. He ends up praying for what God wants. and acknowledging that God is in control. There was a progression to his prayers. The same thing should happen with us. We start out asking God for something. If we don't get exactly what we want, sometimes we throw a fit. We get mad. We question God, why aren't you giving me this? I figured it out, God. This is the way it should be. Why aren't you doing it this way? That's how we sometimes are. That's how Habakkuk starts. But as he continued to pray and listen to God, he gets changed. That's what prayer really is, by the way. We don't go in prayer to God to change his mind about something. We go in prayer to God so he can change our mind to match his mind, okay? That's what should happen. There should be a progression there in our prayers. And so that's happened with the back. How do we know? If you've still got Habakkuk candy, look at the end of chapter three, and we'll close with this. 17, 18, 19. Here's what Habakkuk 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." What is he saying there? When these Chaldeans come, everything we know is about to be wrecked. Our economy, everything we depend upon to survive and live, it's gonna be gone. Woe is me, right? Oh, how awful, right? No, look at what Habakkuk says in the next verse. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. How can he say that? Knowing what's about to happen. I'm going to tell you, we need to look at what's about to happen to our country and be saying with a back hook, I'm going to rejoice in the Lord. I'm going to join the God of my salvation because I know no matter what happens, God's in control. He's going to deliver us. Verse 19, the Lord God is my strength, not my money. not my livelihood, not how I'm making a living, not the things we treasure in society and whatever, not those things. Those things will let you down. The Lord God is my strength and he will make my feet like hind feet, like deer, so that I can make my way through all this calamity that's about to happen. I can dart here and there swiftly, avoiding some things, because God's gonna get me through this. And he will make me to walk upon mine high places. That's a reference to when one people conquered another, in Bible days, a lot of times what they would do, they'd get in their chariots, on their horses, whatever, and they would circle around on the tops of the hills and mountains around. demonstrating they were in charge, they were in control, they were the triumphant victors. What Habakkuk is saying, when this is all said and done, because I'm God's and he wins, that's where I'm going to be. Victory will be had. And I'm gonna be suffering in the meantime till we get there, but in the end, I'm gonna win. Folks, that's what's gonna happen with us, no matter what happens to us in this life. Now, I'm gonna tell you, things could get very, very bad for Christians in a very short period of time. It already has, it's been going that way, okay? It's been going more and more and more. But no matter, in the end, Christ prevails. All these evil people rebelling against Him, proudly going their own way, they're gonna have to face Him in judgment. And then they'll bow, then they'll confess with their mouths that He is Lord. I choose to do that now and throughout and in the end, I'm gonna be standing with Jesus victorious. That is what living by faith is it's not about, oh no, God, something bad's happening to me, take it away. It's about, God, it's bad, something bad's happening, take me through. Teach me what you want me to learn. Take me to that place you want me to be. I'm gonna follow you and I'm gonna trust you. May hurt, may be painful, that doesn't matter. because I'm God's. And I have all eternity to be separated from pain and suffering into just joy in my Lord. Can you say that? Can you say that this morning? Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this time together and we pray, oh Lord, that you would just speak to our hearts about these things. Help us to understand even more what it means to live a life of faith, how the just can live by faith and help us to demonstrate that around us and the things that we do, the things that we say. And may you be glorified by this. We just pray, Lord, that everyone here believes on you, on Christ as their personal Savior, that he died on the cross for them, that he has given them eternal life. We just pray for that to be the case, Lord, that you quicken and then bring to knowledge and understanding that Christ is Savior. Lord, we just thank you for your patience with us, that you listen to us, but more than that, that you teach us and that you guide us and that you take us to that place where you want us to be. We thank you that you are a sovereign God. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.