Transcript: A Call to Humble Repentance and Prayer

There is a trumpet call being given in this generation to every true believer in Jesus Christ. This clarion call is to be a voice for God, declaring the truth of his word in all honesty, in all purity and integrity. The message of this trumpet sound is the testimony of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. For the Christian, God's trumpet or call to arms is to be diligent while it is still called today. We are to put on the armor provided through Christ's atoning sacrifice, his death upon the cross of Calvary. The sound or the notes from the trumpet should be rousing and stirring to those who hear them. They may not like what they hear, but the sound must go forth. You do not sound a trumpet when you want to put people to sleep. Babies fall asleep to sweet-sounding music and a rocking motion that lulls them to sleep. Too much of this is happening in the church today with our programs and social clubs and easy-believe-ism and user-friendly approaches to God. The trumpet in the biblical dictionary means strung-up intensity. It means a call to arms. It is a vigorous attempt to stir up, to provoke, and to agitate. It is time for God's church to do their part. We are living in a time where there is a great movement inside the church called the Emerging Church that is saying that Jesus Christ is not the only way to heaven. Those who carry this book of life in their hands to the pulpit, professing this lie, are wolves among the sheep, presenting a doctrine of demons, and are doomed to perdition if they persist. It is a time for serious seekers of our Lord Jesus Christ to embed their swords of the Spirit deep into the rock who is Christ Jesus and take serious their call and life in him. There was a man in the Old Testament we know little about unless we hear certain scriptures that are very familiar to us as the just shall live by faith. And the Lord is my strength and he makes my feet like the feet of a deer. Prophet Habakkuk was the man who spoke these truths. There is really very little known about this prophet, but he was known in the Journal of Times as a prophet of faith. There is little known in the way of his heritage, but I felt it befitting today that we should look into what we can glean from the life and the words of this dedicated and devoted and warm, faithful servant of God in his day. Let us remember that prophets were used in this period of time of history to stand and be a voice for God since the people had rejected him all through the ages. They were used as God's trumpets, sounding the clarion call for the people to turn back to God. The people of God had gone their own ways and were doing their own thing according to their own rules. So God raised up prophets to speak his mind, his heart and will to those who would hear him through these devoted servants. Remember God had made a promise that the seed of David was going to bring forth the promised Messiah. and remember also that a prophet according to scripture is one who is divinely inspired to communicate God's will to his people and to disclose the future to them the main role of the prophet was to bear God's word for the purpose of teaching reproving correcting and training the people of God up in righteousness it is still the heart of God today through his true leadership in 2nd Timothy 316 the word declares every scripture is God breathed given by his inspiration and profitable for instruction for reproof and conviction of sin for correction of air and discipline in obedience and and for training in righteousness, in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action. So whether it is warning of impending danger or making known God's will to the people, they were similar in function to our leaders in the position where God had placed them in the body of Christ. Prophets were referred to by various names such as messengers of the Lord. servants of God, shepherds and or watchmen. Amos 3, 7 declares, surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing his secrets to his servants, the prophets. Isaiah 62, 7 declares, I've set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, who will never hold their peace day or night. You who are his servants and by your prayers put the Lord in remembrance of his promises and keep not silent and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes her a praise in the earth Apostle Paul in his epistle declares in first Corinthians 12 27 first Corinthians 12 27 now you collectively are Christ's body and individually you are members of it each part severely and distinct each with his own place and function so God has appointed some in the church for his own use first apostles who are special messengers second prophets inspired preachers and expounders third teachers then wonder workers and those with the ability to heal the sick helpers administrators speakers in different unknown tongues so we can see here in god's word in verse 28 where paul says god has appointed some in the church for his own use first apostles who are special messengers and second prophets who are inspired preachers and expounders of the truth third teachers then wonder workers and those with the ability to heal the sick and helpers and so forth so god has called us all to take our place in his body not all are called to these offices of God's appointment for his use, for his own use. These people in these particular offices have gone through God's furnace of preparation that is unique to his calling for that office. And these people are used to keep truth alive and proclaim the necessity of obedience, of righteousness, and holiness of God through the generations of time. These true leaders in the church history today are echoing the words and the testimony of our former apostles and fathers in the Old Testament. And they are giving a call to arms declaring, stay upon the tried and true path. Do not deviate to the left or to the right. the tried and true is the word of God, which, according to Psalms 12, verse 6, declares the words and promises of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times over. We are these earthen vessels, dear church, whom God's word has been tested and tried in, And if it is pure when it comes out, it is pure, not defiled, with false use to proof texts and manipulate people into giving and doing to get for self. Seven times over means God's perfecting the truth in the vessel. God's true leaders will build up the body with the heart of seeing them built up strong in the truth and in love for the Lord for each other. Paul and other scriptures tell us this in Ephesians 4, verse 11. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, verse 13, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, or let me just add there, to a mature man. Unity in the faith, till we all come to the unity to a perfect man, to the measure of the statute and the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking in truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head that is Christ and if we do not grow up in the truth according to God's pattern there will be a generation of babies trying to feed babies God has used people in every generation to fill the prophetic role of proclaiming his word. Habakkuk was called the prophet of faith, and he possessed a strong living faith in God. But even still, like so many other faithful and devout servants, Habakkuk was greatly troubled and astounded by the blatant injustices happening to the people in his time. His name means embraced by God or favored of God. As I said before, scripture says nothing of his ancestry or his place of birth. He was a man of deep emotional strength. Habakkuk was also known as a poet. His hatred of sin compelled him to cry out to God for judgment. And his sense of justice also led him to challenge God plan to judge the nation of Judah by the pagan Babylonians All his deep faith led him to write a beautiful poem of praise in response to the mysterious ways of God And we'll see his settled resolve upon his conversation with God. He found peace, and it led him to greater heights in his faith. In this small but powerful book of Habakkuk, we find this tender soul appealing God through his complaints. And we can see why he was embraced by God as in and by the meaning of his name. We can see through these scriptures that he was a tender-hearted soul where he comforts and lifts up his people. one would do with a weeping child, calling the child to hush, to quiet him, because pleasing God would be much better for him. He found what was happening in his day quite appalling. Let's keep in mind as we read the tenderness of this man's heart and the respect he demonstrated towards God as he was voicing his complaint. Habakkuk 1.1 The burden or oracle, the thing to be lifted up, which Habakkuk the prophet saw. Verse 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help? And you will not hear, or cry out to you of violence, and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity and wrong? and you yourself look upon or cause me to see perverseness and trouble for destruction and violence are before me and there is strife and contention arises therefore the law is slackened and justice and righteousness sentence never go forth for the hostility of the wicked surrounds the uncompromisingly righteous. Therefore, justice goes forth perverted. You see, Habakkuk in verses 2 through 4 is complaining of the moral corruption. Justice and organization around him had grown so perverse and twisted he cries out to God in his complaint. And God in his response to Habakkuk tells him, There will be no swift or immediate vengeance, which is his righteous judgment, but it will come in due time. Habakkuk wanted the Lord to act now, but God tells him what he is going to do and who he is going to use to bring swift judgment to his disobedient and faithless people. He was going to deal treacherously with them through their own enemies who they were acting like or emulating. I believe this is a sure and timely word for our nation today. The moral decay, the sickening perversion of the occult, and the evil being permeated throughout the literature of our youth, even in the very young, will take its toll one day in outward manifestation of the garbage that has gone in. I was in a bookstore with our five-year-old grandson a few weeks ago, and the books on the shelf for the very young children was absolutely abominable. The perversion of the world has crept into the church, and the moral decay does not stop R-rated movies which many build Bible studies out of and talk about what lessons we can learn and glean from them. I ask you, who is mere man? Man who is a creature of clay to promote or propagate such a lie and call it good or holy and present it to God's people as a revelation or something good to be edified by. We used to teach our son over 30 years ago, Son, garbage in, garbage out. We heard our son, who is an ordained pastor, speak a few weeks ago, and he was sharing this very thing with the people. He said in his admonishing them in the word and the world, My parents used to tell me when I was young, Son, remember what you feed your mind and lay your eyes upon. If it is not godly, it is garbage in and garbage out. Remember that, son. our son said oh how i didn't like my parents to say that but i certainly know what they were speaking about now dear church how we god's people will readily accept such doctrine of demons and put a god title on it and call it christian this is called presumption and compromise and sidling up to evil in Scripture. How can it be that if one who professes to be a Christian holy unto the Lord, take or learn from the heathen and call it holy? 2 Corinthians 6.15 Hear Apostle Paul's warning to the generation from the time he spoke these words in his epistle. 2 Corinthians 6.15 What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial, the devil? Or what is the believer in common with the unbeliever? What agreement can there be between a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them, and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Verse 17. So come out from among unbelievers and separate, sever yourself from them, says the Lord, and touch not any unclean thing. And I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor. And I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. As I had previously stated, God in his response to Habakkuk told him he was not going to move quickly in that moment or time with his righteous judgment but it would be in due time Habakkuk in his agony of seeing the wretchedness of his people and the moral decay wanted the Lord to act now but God shares with him what he's going to do and also as I said who he's going to use and bringing his sudden and swift judgment to his disobedient and faithless people who had walked in perversion and he was going to deal fiercely with them through their own enemies whose ways they invited by accepting in compromise and turning their backs on God and his holy commands for their way of life look how the Lord responds to Habakkuk in verse 5 look around you Habakkuk replied the Lord among the nations and see and be astonished astounded for I'm putting into effect a work in your days such that you would not believe if it were told you behold I'm rousing up the Chaldeans that bitter and impetuous nation who marched through the breath of the earth to take possession of the dwelling places that do not belong to them the Chaldeans are terrible and dreadful their justice and dignity proceed only from themselves themselves the horses also are swifter than leopards and are fiercer than the evening wolves and their horsemen spread themselves and press on proudly yes their horsemen come from afar and they fly like an eagle that hastens to devour verse 9 they all come for violence their face turns eagerly forward and they gather prisoners together like sand they scoff at kings and rulers there are derision to them and they ridicule every stronghold for they heap up dust for earth mounds and take it verse 11 then they sweep by like a wind and pass on and they load themselves with guilt as do all men whose own power is their God because God's people idolize their own might and skill instead of giving glory to God God was going to bring back on their head in a great chastisement a wicked nation full of evil to deal treacherously with them and these would be the called Ian's these people were a wicked and fierce tribe who were considered intelligent in terms of the world and also very skilled in divination that is the occult and the demonic realm after God spoke this judgment which was to come to God's people through the Chaldeans Habakkuk speaks back to God in verse 13 and note he does this with confidence and with great respect in Habakkuk 1 12 are you not from everlasting oh Lord my God my Holy One we shall not die oh Lord you have appointed the Chaldeans to execute your judgment and you all rock have established him for chastisement and correction You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look inactively upon injustice. Why then do you look upon the plunderer? Why are you silent when the wicked one destroys him who is more righteous than the Chaldean oppressor is? Verse 14. why do you make men like fish of the ocean like reptiles and creeping things that have no ruler and are defenseless against their foes the call being brings all of them up with his hook and he catches and drags them out with his net he gathers them in his dragnet so he rejoices and is in high spirits therefore he sacrifices offerings to his net and burns incense to his dragnet because from them he lives luxuriously and his food is plentiful and rich shall he therefore continue to empty his net and mercilessly go on slaying the nations forever Habakkuk 2 verse 1 please drop down oh I know I've been rash to talk out plainly this way to God I will in my thinking stand upon my post of operation and station myself on the tower or fortress and will watch to see what he will say within me and what answer I will make as his mouthpiece to the perplexities of my complaint against him as I said he speaks to God here addressing God through his complaint of what he sees and for the ease of his own mind because of the burden of what he saw. He was still voicing out his complaint, and that was the violence done by Israel and also the violence done against Israel. So Habakkuk was just like a Jeremiah here wearing his melancholy garments because of what he was beholding. I believe we as the church ought to be affected in this way as well, as was prophet Habakkuk, that the sins and troubles of the church, of the living God, ought to inflame us today too. the church is not to conform to the world and try to live like the world, act like the world, and think like the world. The warning here for us is that we must not grow resentful at what we see and carry our thoughts, our words, and comments too far and thus harbor resentment of God for not taking care of these injustices. If we do, we are liable to lose our place of comfort and fellowship with him. It is just that way, church. No doubt the world is bad in terms of sin and always was and always will be until Christ returns and sets his foot upon it and pours out his glory and redeems his own and the new Jerusalem is set into place. Hallelujah. hallelujah hallelujah notice here in verse 12 Habakkuk speaks some very important truths for us to learn from and with these truths he speaks he sets himself to live by them and comforts himself with them under the growing and impending power of the enemy he spoke in verse 12 are you not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? Shall we not die, O Lord? You have appointed the Chaldeans to execute your judgment, and you, O Rock, have established him for chastisement and correction. The enemies of God attribute their power to their idols, but we are given the mandate today to tell them that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the true and the living God. He is a holy God. We are to trumpet the sound and to announce to them, Your God reigns, and he loves you with an everlasting love and endeavors to draw you unto himself with cords of kindness. prophet Habakkuk also spoke that God is Jehovah that God is Jehovah that he is the fountain of all being of all power and of all perfection and this is saying that the enemy's rock is not the same as our rock who is Jesus Christ the prophet is saying he is my God he is my holy one and he is saying to God in effect in these words I love you you are holy you are my God dear church this deep inward and profound love for God that this man held and it ached within him and the agony of the Prophet that he felt within was out of reverential and obedient fear of his Lord and he loved God for his holiness he is saying he is mine because he is holy and because of that reason he will be my sanctifier my Savior my King because he is a holy God Habakkuk also pleads with God that he is from everlasting to everlasting and because of this it is a matter of acknowledging to future readers the faithfulness and continued comfort God grants his people is still being granted even under the weight of all of our trials and our troubles in chapter 2 verse 1 the Lord instructs the prophet to write the vision Habakkuk 2 verse 1 oh I know I've been rash to talk out plainly this way to God I in my thinking stand upon my post of observation and station myself on the tower or fortress and will watch to see what he will say within me and what answer i will make as his mouthpiece to the perplexities of my complaint against him and the lord answered me and said write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes by may be able to read it easily and quickly as he hastens by verse 3 for the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end fulfillment for it will not deceive or disappoint though it tarry wait earnestly for it Because it will surely come, and it will not be behind time on its appointed day. Verse 4, look at the proud. His soul is not straight or right within him, but the rigidly just and the uncompromisingly righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness. The prophet was instructed to write down the vision that he was shown. And so it was with John in the book of Revelation regarding the vision he was given of the new Jerusalem which he was ordered to write. It was speaking of the same and profound judgment that was to come in its time. I would just like us to break away for a few minutes to see this word and Jesus is giving this revelation to John in Revelation 21.5. Let's just look at that. It is he who is seated on the throne said, See, I make all things new. And also he said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful, accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy. They're true and genuine. And he further said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I myself will give water without price from the fountain springs of the water of life. he who is victorious shall inherit all these things and I will be God to him and he shall be my son verse 8 but as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravingly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive and as for the unbelieving and faithless and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations and as for murderers and the lewd and the adulterous and the practicers of the magic arts and idolaters, those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God, and all liars, those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed, all these shall have their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. And this is the second death. You see, these men were to write it so that God may first imprint it upon their minds, so that it would be clear to them, but especially that it would be carried to in distant places and times for the future ages to come. And now we read it today. We have good reason to thank God for his written vision of love being handed down through the ages and that we have the privilege of knowing his great love his kindness and his mercy to a thousand generations now we like the rest must wait patiently for the vision to come to pass in our times there is an appointed time for all things and we must wait on God for his appointed time in our lives we are told we will not be disappointed this promise seems to be silent for some but through all the generations god has been at work delivering his people healing his people and setting them free second peter 3 9 declares the lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what he promises according to some people's conception of slowness but he is long suffering extraordinarily patient towards you not desiring that any should perish but that all should turn to repentance oh I can say what love I think you can too oh God what love well let's finish reading the Lord's reply to Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2.4. So let's go back. Habakkuk 2.4. Look at the proud. His soul is not straight or right within him, but the rigidly just and the uncompromisingly righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness. Moreover, wine and wealth are treacherous the proud man the Chaldean invader is restless and cannot stay at home his appetite is large like that of Sheol and his greed is like death and cannot be satisfied he gathers to himself all nations and collects all people as if he owned them verse 6 shall not these victims of greed take up a taunt against him in scoffing derision of him and say woe to him who piles up that which is not his how long will he possess it and woe to him who loads himself with promissory notes for usury verse 7 shall your debtors not rise up suddenly who shall bite you exacting usury of you and those awake who will vex you and toss you to and fro and make you tremble violently then you will be booty for them verse 8 because you king of babylon have plundered many nations all who are left of the people shall plunder you because of men's blood and for the violence done to the earth, to the city, and all the people who live in each city. Verse 9, woe to him who obtains wicked gain for his house, who thinks by so doing to set his nest on high that he may be preserved from calamity and delivered from the power of evil. You have devised shame to your house by cutting off and putting an end to many people, and you've sinned against and forfeited your own life. The stone shall cry out of the wall built in sin to accuse you and the beam out of the woodwork will answer agreeing with its charge against you Woe to him who builds a town and establishes a city by iniquity Behold it is not by appointment of the Lord of hosts that the nations toil only to satisfy the fire that will consume their work, and the peoples weary themselves only for emptiness, falsity, futility. But the time is coming when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the water covers the sea. verse 15 woe to him who gives his neighbor drinks who pours out your bottles to them and adds to it your poisonous and blighting wrath and also makes them drunk that you may look upon their stripped condition and pour out foul shame on their glory you yourself will be filled with shame and contempt instead of glory drink also and be like an uncircumcised heathen the cup of wrath in the the Lord's right hand will come around to you, O destroyer, and foul shame shall be upon your own glory. Verse 17, for the violence done to Lebanon will cover and overwhelm you. The destruction of the animals, which the violence frightened away, will terrify you on account of men's blood and the violence done to the land, to the city, and all of its inhabitants. What profit is the graven image when its maker has formed it it is only a molten image and a teacher of lies the maker trusts in his own creations as his God when he makes dumb idols verse 19 woe to him who says to the wooden image awake and to the dumb stone arise teach yet it cannot behold it is laid over with gold and silver and there's no breath at all inside it verse 20 but the Lord in his holy temple let all the earth hush to keep silent before him again God was laying out his judgments in the woes of the people and the problem with their sin is still the age-old problem with the lusts of the eyes lusts of the flesh and pride of life all of which encompass greed it should be a warning to us in the church in this day that God changes not God is a holy God and he has spoken he has an appointed time for his appointed work and we must wait on him church the vision shall not perish in the last chapter of Habakkuk we read of his great joy and resolve in the waiting on the Lord's time and this is to be the real crux and the message for us today Habakkuk 3 verse 1 a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet set to wild enthusiastic and triumphant music verse 2 Oh Lord I have heard the report of you and was afraid Oh Lord revive your work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make yourself known in wrath earnestly remember love pity and mercy verse 3 God approaching from Sinai came from Timon which represents Edom and the Holy one from Mount Parm in the Sinai region. Selah. Oh, his glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the sunlight, rays stream from his hands. And there in the sunlight splendor was the hiding place of his power. Before him went the pestilence as in Egypt. A burning plague followed his feet, and he stood and measured the earth, and looked and shook the nation, and the eternal mountains were scattered, and the perpetual hills bowed low. His ways are everlasting, and his goings are of old. I, Habakkuk, in vision, saw the tents of cushioned, probably Ethiopia in affliction, the tent curtains of the land of Median tremble. Were you displeased with the rivers, O Lord? Or was your anger against the rivers you divided? Was your wrath against the Red Sea that you rode before upon your horses and your chariots of victory and deliverance? Verse 9, your bow was made quite bare, sworn to the tribes of Israel by your sure word were rods of chastisement scourges and calamities with rivers you cleave the earth bringing forth waters in dry places the mountains saw you they trembled and writhed as if in pain and the overflowing of the water passed by as if a deluge the deep uttered its voice and lifted up its hand on high the sun and the moon stood back as before joshua in their habitation at the light of your arrows as they sped by then the flash of your glittering spear you marched through the land in your indignation and you trampled and threshed the nations in anger and you went forth and have come for the salvation of your people for the deliverance and the victory of your anointed people Israel you smote the head of the house of the wicked laying bare the foundation even to the neck you pierced with his own arrows the head of the enemy's hordes and they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me the people rejoicing as if to devour the poor secretly you've trodden the seas with your horses beside the heap of great surging waters verse 16 i heard and my whole inner self trembled and my lips quivered at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones and under me, down to my feet I tremble and I wait for the day of trouble and distress when there shall come up against my people him who is about to invade and oppress them. Verse 17, Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, Though the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no fruit, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will exalt in the victorious God of my salvation and the Lord God is my strength my personal bravery and my invincible army and he makes my feet like the hinds feet and will make me to walk not to stand still in terror but to walk and make spiritual progress upon my high places of trouble suffering or responsibility hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah how encouraging for us today church what a wonderful word of exhortation and encouragement we as the church of the living God ought to be a praying people storming the gates of heaven on behalf of those in our generation we ought to carry the heart of a bucket who was a visionary for revival God told him don't be astounded or astonished at what you see Habakkuk God was saying to him and to us today don't be surprised don't be fearful don't turn white and let your knees buckle underneath you in terror dread he's saying to us to get up on your post and pray for your family and your friends and your pastors and your churches pray enthusiastically just as a back it prayed in his outburst to God in chapter 3 verse 2 Oh Lord I have heard the report of you and was afraid. Oh Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make yourself known in wrath. Earnestly remember love, pity and mercy. Oh Lord, we should pray. Revive your work. Revive your church, which is the work of your hands according to your plan. Oh Lord, revive your people. Lord reprieve them in their bondage preserve your work oh God even your chastisement of your church in her sin please be merciful God and let not your remnant die but be saved from generation to generation protect your seed heavenly father and grant your grace in her support and sanctify her Lord lest she become weak and come to nothing again dear church let Habakkuk's enthusiastic heart cry to God be ours too let his firm decision no matter what it looks like all around us be one of encouragement to us as well but not only for us but also keeping the church of Jesus Christ in prayer always close to your hearts this watcher on the wall declares in chapter 3 verse 16 I heard and my heart pounded my lips quivered at the sound decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine though the olive crop fails and the field produces no food though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls yet I will rejoice in the Lord I will be joyful to my God my Savior the sovereign Lord is my strength and he makes my feet like the feet of a deer and he enables me to go on the heights He, our dear Lord, he will too also make us go to the heights and take our stand on the wall as watchmen. And he will give us the patience to wait for the vision he gives us, for it shall not perish. In the meantime, we will trumpet the sound in our generation declaring, Behold the Lamb of God. He has come to take away the sins of the world. Awake, O you who sleep. Arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you his light. Hear, O people, your God reigns. Awake, O my soul, from your slothful slumber. This is no time for you to fall asleep. O my soul, arise. This is no time for Christians to fall asleep, nor to take lightly his or her Christianity or call. Saint and your adversary is on the prowl, seeking whom he may devour. And I say to you, stay on your post and run with the vision and declare the praises of him who died for you. Thank you.