Untitled Sermon (2)

Introduction

Please turn with me in your Bible to Habakkuk chapter 2. We’ll be looking at several texts in Habakkuk tonight, but especially focusing on verses 12-14.You might be wondering, this seems like a strange book for a missionary to be preaching from, Habakkuk. And your suspicions might even be confirmed after you find this minor prophet and set your eyes on the verses we’ll be looking at tonight, because you’ll discover that our text is set within series of judgements against the ancient nation of Babylon. Not exactly your typical “here am I, send me” missionary verse. However, I trust that after we’ve worked through this text tonight, that you’ll see that there is much unexpected grace to be found here, and much to encourage us tonight as we contemplate together the great need for international missionary work.READ:So let’s STAND TOGETHER AS WE READ these Words given by the Lord to the prophet Habakkuk, and, by extension, to us as well.Habakkuk chapter 2, verses 12 through 14:“Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity! Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing? For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:12–14) PRAY:(Unscripted)ILLUSTRATION:Do you remember the first time you heard that the Coronavirus was headed to the United States? Now I’m not asking what you think of it now or how you think our government has done in responding to it. I’m asking you to remember that initial feeling of uncertainty, fear, and unease. There was so little known of the virus, and so many voices warning us to brace for mass devastation, as an unknown force from a faraway land threatened to upheave our lives and destroy our nation.BRIDGE THE GAP:That initial feeling, if you can remember it, might be similar to what the prophet Habakkuk felt some 2600 years ago. As he was told that Babylon, a hostile and ruthless foreign nation, would be used by the Lord to invade and judge his people, Israel. Habakkuk describes how he felt in chapter 3 verse 16 when he says,“I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me.” (Habakkuk 3:16)Then, as the reality sank in further, Habakkuk’s quivering lips turned turned towards heaven with a series of questions, showing his confusion and frustration,“Why do you look idly?”And“Why do you remain silent?”Questions which, I’m sure, feel all too relevant to us in our own sorrowful, confusing, and frustrating times. When the wicked rise up against God and his people, when it seems that God’s kingdom is on the losing side, when it hurts because things aren’t as they should be, and it hurts even more because God feels silent and indifferent. How should God’s people respond? How should we think and feel about God’s promises and God’s kingdom when the kingdoms of this earth rage and plot so strongly against us?FUNNEL TO CONTEXT:Here’s where our text joins in to Habakkuk’s story.Habakkuk 2:12-14 sits as the third out of five “woes” or judgement oracles against wicked Babylon. And, as the third out of 5 — with two before it and two after it — this particular judgement stands at the center of this passage.And these judgements, they serve to comfort Habakkuk, and us by extension. Because, in his mercy, the Lord hasn’t remained silent, he hasn’t ignored either the suffering of his people or the wickedness of those who oppress them. In speaking these words of judgement, God assures Habakkuk that he does not let the guilty go unpunished, and these Babylonians will be judged by him in the future. And while we don’t face a literal Babylon before us today, as we continue to read our Bibles we find that the nation of Babylon becomes a picture of this world, of worldliness, of the kingdom of man. The New Testament authors use it as a picture of those who labor for their own glory and not for the glory of Christ.And so while we’re far removed from Babylon’s original context, these words serve to provide us comfort in our own day as well. The Lord hasn’t remained silent about the evil and suffering we experience in this world. He knows the Kingdom of Christ is under assault by the Kingdom of man. He sees. He knows. And he will act to bring an end to sin, injustice, and all that stands against him and his kingdom.So let’s consider tonight these ancient but all too relevant words together, as we hear from our compassionate Father, who loves to draw near to his children, especially in their confusion and suffering.Let’s begin in verse 12 as we hear from the Lord address and describe this wicked kingdom of man.

Main Point 1: A Description of the Kingdom of Man

READ:“Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity! Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing?” (Habakkuk 2:12–13) SUB POINT 1:First, we see the nature of this kingdom.Exposition:Do you see the description here? They build their nation on the blood and backs of others. They use others to their advantage and to accomplish their own selfish ends, not caring for their wellbeing, safety, or life. They are violent and oppressive.The Kingdom of Man builds in this world in a way that is ultimately selfish. In a complete reversal of the two great commandments, they build a kingdom that rejects God’s authority and rule in this world, and they do it at the expense of others. Not with love of God and others, but with disregard of God and others. Their motto is “my kingdom come; my will be done.”CROSS REFERENCE:If we look back in chapter 1 verses 15 through 17, we’ll see Habakkuk’s own description of Babylon as he says“He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?” (Habakkuk 1:15–17) To show their dominance over the nations they conquered, Babylon would often put hooks through the mouths and out the noses of their defeated enemies, then pull them together in a line back into their kingdom. And what kind of life awaited these conquered nations? They would be used by this violent and oppressive nation build more Babylonian homes and cities — an empire built on blood and iniquity.From Babylon’s perspective, their glory is increasing, their security is being established, and an impressive nation is being built.But from God’s perspective, he looks down from his throne in heaven and is not impressed. He sees not a glorious nation, but bloodshed and iniquity. The very means Babylon uses to build a name for themselves in this earth, God sees as the reason they will perish from the earth.TRANSITION:But that’s not all we see of the description of the Kingdom of Man from this text. SUB POINT 2:Second, we see the extent of this kingdom.EXPOSITION:Babylon has their eyes set on world-domination. They seek to expand their territory more and more, never having enough.We see this scattered throughout Habakkuk, but maybe nowhere clearer than in chapter 2 verse 5 where God describes Babylon like this,“Wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”” (Habakkuk 2:5) Like wine that always demands more and more.Like death that swallows up all people until his power is felt by all.So wicked Babylon seeks to extend its kingdom across the earth, extending to all people, conquering every nation — the greed of the Kingdom of Man cannot be satisfied until the glory of his kingdom covers the earth and his presence is felt in all corners of creation.They will not be satisfied until their “captives are like sand” Habakkuk 1:9He will not be satisfied until his mark is placed on all men and and his kingdom extends to the ends of the earth.TRANSITION:But Ironically, while they seek to bring their rule across the earth and to establish for themselves peace and security, we find in chapter 2 verse 13 that their labors and ultimately futile, because the Lord is not in them.READ: Let’s look back at chapter 2 verse 13:“Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing?” (Habakkuk 2:13) EXPOSITION:Ultimately these efforts of the Kingdom of Man to make a name for themselves in this world will come to an abrupt and sudden end. Why? Because although they work, the Lord is not in their work. Their works will burn up and their labors will be for nothing.These Babylonians will know from experience that, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) So it is will all labor done for the Kingdom of Man — it comes to nothing in the end. All work not done for God, and for his kingdom is ultimately futile: it will come to nothing.TRANSITION:Why? Because the Lord himself will be sure that all the kingdoms and efforts of man will come to nothing, and only the Kingdom of Christ will endure.

Main Point 2: A Description of the Kingdom of Christ

READ:“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14) These kingdoms ultimately will not endure, because the Lord will ensure that his kingdom, and his glory will fill his the earth.Let’s look further at the description of the kingdom.SUB-POINT 1:First, we see the nature of this kingdom.EXPOSITION:This kingdom is characterized by the knowledge of the gory of the Lord. That is, the Lord will not only be known about, but he will be known for who he truly is; he will be known in his glory. The word that’s used here, It speaks of intimate knowledge, covenant knowledge. It speaks of a closeness between the nearest of companions. It’s used in the Old Testament of a man knowing his wife. And it’s used in Psalm 9 when David writes that all those who know the Lord place their trust in him.As one commentator said it, “[This] Knowledge is seen in fundamentally relational terms.… To know God is to be in a right relationship with him, with characteristics of love, trust, respect, and open communication.”This is the knowledge God says will fill his earth. Close and intimate knowledge of God himself, his ways, his character. Fellowship and companionship with the God of heaven and earth will be felt and known throughout heaven and earth.EXPOSITION:What what exactly is it here about the Lord that is known? Do you see it? It’s his glory. The Knowledge of the Glory of the Lord will cover the earth. The Glory of the Lord which filled the tabernacle and the temple in the midst of God’s people under the Old Covenant. The splendor and majesty of God. Direct contact with the Lord. The very presence of the Lord himself. GOSPEL / CHRIST-CONNECTION:And this description of the knowledge of the glory of God, where is that felt and known today? not in idealistic movements or political parties. Not in morally bankrupt systems or in following those who promise us peace and prosperity if we’ll only help make their vision known and felt in this world.No, it’s felt and known through the One who has revealed to us God himself.“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)Do you hear that? What has been revealed to us? The knowledge of the glory of God. Where? In the face of Jesus Christ.Where do we find this knowledge of God? In the gospel itself. As men and women put their faith in Christ.The knowledge of God described here is nothing less than the knowledge of God himself made known through the gospel of Christ.The good news that, although we once labored for ourselves, our own glory, our own name in this world — although we were like Babylon -- Jesus Christ came to us. Although we are all too deserving of this very same judgement from God for our selfishness, Jesus Christ came to earth to take that punishment for us.While Babylon exploited men and women, and made them slaves for their own glory and benefit. Jesus Christ willingly came to earth, and he came “not to be served, but to serve. And to give his life a ransom for many.”And while Babylon built their empire on the blood of slaves, Christ is the one who “loved us, and freed us from our sins by his blood.” How precious in God’s sight is that blood of Christ, that blood which cries, not for our judgement and condemnation, but for our freedom and justification before God.So reading this text through our New Testament glasses, we can say that it’s the knowledge of God, found in the gospel of Christ, this is what is spoken of here.TRANSITION:But that’s not all that’s said here. Not only will the Lord be known, he will be known throughout all the earth.SUB-POINT 2:Second, we see the extent of this kingdom.EXPOSITION:What is the extent of this kingdom?Throughout the earth itself.And not just here and there throughout the earth, but the earth will be filled with this knowledge. ILLUSTRATION:I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered fast food and I open up my bag to find the french fries only fill the container half-way. Or how many times I’ve opened up a bag of chips only to find that half of it is filled with air.BRIDGING THE GAP:But that’s not what we see here. What we see here is a world that is full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Not partially, but fully. Completely. Every tribe, tongue, people, and nation.And as if this language were not explicit enough, the Lord etches it into our minds for us with a picture. That just as the waters cover the sea, so the earth in its entirety will be covered, filled, and submerged in the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. That glory of the Lord which Moses saw and experienced on top of Mt. Sinai, that glory will be felt and known by on every mountain top on earth as men and women are brought face-to-face with the glory of God through the gospel of Christ.GOSPEL/CHRIST-CONNECTION:Oh, the Kingdom of Man might take in their captives like sand, but the Kingdom of Christ will be as numerous as the Sand of the Sea and the Stars of the Sky.The Kingdom of Man may pull in men like a dragnet, but the Kingdom of Christ “is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind until it was full.” (Matthew 13:47)The Kingdom of Man may pull in its victims with the appetite of death, but Christ, who has swallowed up death itself, brings in to his kingdom a vast multitude that no man can count, and no man can number.“He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”The knowledge of the glory of the Lord that was felt and known in Israel will be felt and known in Moscow, and Beijing, and Berlin, and Washington D.C., and New Delhi, and Istanbul, and Bangkok, and Havana, and Warsaw, and Addis Ababa. Do you believe it?What is our confidence this will happen? Not because we are worthy, but because Christ has died to ensure this victory. This kingdom will fill the earth because it’s built, not upon the blood of slaves and iniquity, but upon the blood of Christ and his righteousness. That blood of Christ, which purchased men and women from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, it is so precious in the sight of God that Father that victory is certain. While Babylon was conquered by God because of the blood spilt by their hands, of the church it is that that we “conquer by the blood of the Lamb .” So let us say with the psalmist, “Blessed be the Lord who alone does wondrous deeds. May the whole earth be filled with his glory!” (Psalm 72:19) ILLUSTRATION/APPLICATION:Oh, this vision, it encourages us, but it also confronts us. Because we feel as keenly as Habakkuk did that this vision hasn’t been realized yet. As many of us know, it’s all too common here in American for people to know of God, but not to know God himself. To think that just because they are “good people” that they are somehow followers of Christ. Those who go to church for Easter and Christmas and somehow call themselves Christians. Those who attend a service for two hours on a Sunday morning, but live for themselves for the rest of the week.And this shallow knowledge of the Lord isn’t just an American problem. It’s felt around the world.This past Summer as I was teaching on Ephesians at Evangelical Theological College out in Addis Ababa, one of my students began having a seizure as I was finishing up a class. Another student was able to help him as I finished up teaching. After the class, I approached him and asked if he was OK and there was anything I could do to help him. He told me that he was fine and that he had had epileptic seizures since birth. He told me terrible stories of him waking up at the bottom of a flight of stairs, having fallen down them during a seizure. Of him waking up with his face in a puddle, having almost drowned. Of him waking up with his head in the middle of a busy road with cars rushing by. Then he looked up at me and he said these words, “and I hate God because he hasn’t kept his promises to me.”You see, this man had been promised that if only he gave his life to Jesus, his sickness would be gone, he would have all the money he needed, he would have all the children he wanted. And he had bought into the lies of the prosperity gospel. And remember, this student is at Bible College studying to become a pastor. And the sad thing is this, his story is not unusual, it’s the norm for protestants in Addis Ababa. As Paul said in Romans 9, they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.The Lord says this isn’t enough. He will not only be heard of, he will be known in all of his earth. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea, but we’re not there yet.May this student and millions more like him say with Job, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;” (Job 42:5) TRANSITION:So what do we do? How do we live now? How should we think and feel about God’s promises and God’s kingdom when the kingdoms of this earth rage and plot against us? How do we live as those who desire and pray for Christ’s kingdom to come but, like Habakkuk, are aware of the many ways in which it hasn’t yet. For the answer to that question, let’s look back further in chapter 2 verses 2 through 4.

Main Point 3: Living Between Promise and Fulfillment

READ:“And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:2–4) EXPOSITION/APPLICATION:The simple answer is this: we live by faith. God’s people, who live between the days of promise and fulfilment, we live by faith. Foundationally, we live a life of undisturbed confidence in the God who always accomplishes his will in heaven and on earth. It’s a life lived in faithful trust, and steady, unshakable confidence. It a life built upon a deep-seated, sure conviction that the Lord, his purposes, and his kingdom will prevail on this earth. It’s a life of inner stability in the midst of outer chaos.It’s a life that prays, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1–3)The life of faith believes the Lord is accomplishing his purpose is in the world, even when current events seem to deny that. Even when it seems and feels impossible, and even when the enemy seems to be winning, because “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).fOh weary Christian, let this truth sink deep into your soul, the Lord in his ways will win. Even when the wicked appear to have overwhelming power, their kingdom will not stand. They labor for nothing. And their fire will soon go out, just like the Babylonian’s did.But what does that look like? In the day to day? What does it look like to live this life of faith? I believe this verse gives us two principles that will help us. The life of faith works faithfully for the progress of the kingdom, and waits patiently for the fullness of the kingdom. The life of faith works faithfully for the progress of the kingdom, and waits patiently for the fullness of the kingdom.Or, put simply, we work faithfully and wait patiently.We work faithfully and wait patiently.SUB-POINT 1:First, we work faithfully.READ:“And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2)EXPOSITION:When the Lord gave this vision to the prophet Habakkuk, he wanted him to make the message clear, easy to understand, easy to remember, and easy to repeat. Why? Because he wanted the person who read it to be able to run with it. The Lord wanted this message to spread from person to person, from house to house, from city to city, and from nation to nation. How? Through people. People like you and me. People who hear the Lord’s message and who share it. As one friend says to the other, I need to tell you something.Really, this might be the closest verse we get in the Old Testament to what will later become, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19–20).APPLICATION:We must labor. We must get our hands dirty. We must be at work for the spread of the kingdom in this world, with a confident assurance that the Lord will be victorious.ILLUSTRATION:When the missionary William Carey argued in the late 1700s for the importance of for international missions, he was told by an older member present,"Young man, sit down! You are an enthusiast. When God pleases to convert the heathen, he'll do it without consulting you or me."ILLUSTRATION/APPLICATION:Of course we hear that and find it hard to believe that anyone would say that, but do we live our lives as if this is true? Do we pray for the conversion of our neighbors and family members without actually sharing the good news with our neighbors and family members? You see, the Lord will make his kingdom come, but he uses means. He uses people like you and like me. He uses conversations over coffee and at the dinner table. He uses invitations to church. He uses bible studies. He uses moments where we say “can I pray for you?”Brothers and sisters, we are members of a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us labor for it with unshakable faith. It is the Kingdom of Man that is laboring for nothing. Not us. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)TRANSITION:But that’s not all this passage leaves us with. It both comforts us with promises of victory and it also consoles us when victory seems so far off.We not only work faithfully, but.... SUB-POINT 2:Second, we wait patiently.READ:“For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:3) Exposition/Application:The Lord knows our impatience and our tendencies towards discouragement when things don’t work out like we had hoped, in the way that we had hoped, or in the timeline that we had hoped.2600 years later certainly seems slow. And the longer we live, the slower it seems.But this verse gives us confidence that, though the spread of Christ’s kingdom in this world may be slow, it won’t be late.Exposition/Illustration:In the original, the word used here for “delay” brings with it the idea of being late, showing up after the time you were expected. Getting to the meeting or to the party after it’s already started. God has set a date, and he isn’t going to miss this appointment. Like Gandalf, he arrives precisely when he means to.Exposition/Illustration:When it says that it hastens to the end, we’re meant to feel here a sense of urgency, that the prophecy will be fulfilled. And it’s even more explicitly urgent in the original. This could be translated that it “pants” for the end, or it “breathes” for the end. There’s a sense of longing for the fulfillment of this prophecy intending to show us God’s own sure desire for his kingdom to come.Exposition/Application:Christ’s kingdom will surely come, and as Calvin says in his commentary on this text, “God will not disappoint you.” If it seems slow, wait for it. Don’t lose heart. Don’t become discouraged.In our zeal for the kingdom to come, let us not forget the words of our Lord,“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”” (Matthew 13:31–32)It grows like a tree, and that takes time, and patience.Application/Summary:The life of faith both works faithfully and waits patiently.Holding these two realities in check, it protects us from the duel traps of naïve optimism and nihilistic pessimism because it’s easy to fall into one extreme or the other.The missionary William Carey, after working and waiting on the mission field of India for five and a half years, finally saw his first conversion. On the evening of his baptism, he wrote,“He was only one, but a continent was coming behind him. The divine grace which changed one Indian’s heart could obviously change a hundred thousand. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord – that is enough. We can afford to work in faith, for Omnipotence is pledged to fulfill the promise...The seed being sown, the least of all seeds now, but it will grow a mighty tree. It is as it were a small stone cut out of a mountain, but it will fill the whole earth.” That is the model of working faithfully and waiting patiently.Application:What are some ways we can make this even more practical? How can we work faithfully and wait patiently in our day to day lives? I’d like to leave you this morning with four ways: First, work faithfully and wait patiently in your church.If you want to know where the Lord is most at work in this world to bring in his kingdom, look no further than your church. All around you are people the Lord has saved and brought into his kingdom along with you.Your pastors have shared with me how so many of you have been intentional in pursuing one another, even in the midst of the pandemic. How you’ve faithfully watched the services, watched the facebook live videos, and sought to meet each other’s practical needs by doing things like delivering groceries to those who can’t shop for themselves right now. When Alex described you all to me, he said that you’re a faithful and loving church. The Lord is clearly at work in you all, and I hope you feel the Lord’s pleasure in your faithfulness to his body, especially when it would have been so easy to fade into the background.Keep up the good work, and continue to press in to people and ministries in your church. The Lord is using this church and millions more like it to bring his kingdom to the ends of the earth. You are no less on the front-lines laboring in Silvis than we will be laboring in Addis Ababa. And your work of the Kingdom here is no less pleasing to Christ than ours is. Know and feel that laboring alongside your brothers and sisters in this very room with you will have eternal rewards.Second, work faithfully and wait patiently in your family.Perhaps the greatest ministry we have is with those we see every day. Our spouses. Our children. And this is perhaps the ministry where we most keenly feel the need to “wait patiently” as we see change coming so slowly. But let us faithfully preach the gospel to one another, prayer for one another, forgive one another, and love one another.And perhaps no one feels this more keenly than the mothers here, especially the mothers of young children. I know motherhood is a hard, long, and often thankless job. Let me encourage you that what you do every day to faithfully care for your children and point them to Christ, it will have an impact far greater than you can know. I know it’s difficult to see that and to feel that when you’re picking up food off the flood again, and changing a dirty diaper again, and getting up in the middle of the night again. But what you do is perhaps the greatest and most difficult task imaginable. For all of us laboring in our home, and especially for mothers, let these words from Isaiah encourage you as he describes the growth of the kingdom in our homes, “They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat. My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.”Third, work faithfully and wait patiently in your neighborhood.If families are the hardest place to “wait patiently” our neighborhoods are perhaps the hardest place to “work faithfully.” But there are people the Lord has sovereignly placed next door to us, down the street from us, and around the corner from us. People who are hungry for the good news of Christ’s kingdom. Let us not neglect them simply because we see them so regularly.And again, if I can encourage you here. Alex shared with me how the Lord has already been moving you all towards greater faithfulness here already as you have been pursuing better relationships with the city of Silvis by giving out masks and caring for the practical needs around you. It’s God who sparked this desire in your hearts. This is excellent soil to plant the good news of Jesus Christ in.Fourth, would you work faithfully and wait patiently alongside us?Ever since Abraham, the Lord has been calling some of his followers to uproot their families and travel around the world for his glory. And as you know, my family is excited to follow in this path. And while the Lord doesn’t call all of his servants to leave their culture to labor in another, he does call all of us to labor together, and to partner with the missionaries the Lord does sent across the world.We are convinced the Lord has called us to work faithfully and wait patiently in Ethiopia by planing a church and by training pastors. We are excited to go. And we anticipate the Lord meeting us with a fruitful harvest. But we need your help.When Andrew Fuller heard of William Carey going to bring the gospel to India, he said that it felt like God has called a few men to go into a deep, dark, unexplored mine. Carey replied to Fuller, “Well, I will go down, if you will hold the rope.” We need people like you as we go. People who can hold the rope as we bring the light of the gospel into the dark mines of Ethiopia. Because deep down in those mines are precious gems and jewels the Lord has ready for us.So how can you do that? I’d like to give you three ways:First, would you pray for us? We need people who can pray for us regularly, who can put on their calendars to pray for us for 60 seconds once a month, or five minutes twice a month, or at family devotions once a week. People who can put it on their calendars to faithfully and regularly pray that the Lord will prosper our efforts for his kingdom in Ethiopia.Second, would you become financial partners with us? Very simply, we need people like you who can not only pray for us, but who can partner with us financially in our mission. We want our time and efforts to be spent fully on the church plant and so we’re asking you to invest your money in our efforts to bring the kingdom across the world. We’re looking both for people who can partner with us both through one-time and monthly gifts. Your financial gifts will be what makes this church plant possible. We can’t do it without you. This was Paul’s strategy. He asked churches to help fund his mission. Here’s Paul’s words to the Philippians, a church who partnered with him financially for the spread of the kingdom,“Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:17–20) We’re committed to making Christ known in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Would you help make that possible by partnering with us financially?Third, would you help connect us with friends, family members, and other churches? As we’re reaching out to our contacts, we know that through you our network can be greatly extended. Do you know of anyone who would be interested in hearing about our efforts in Ethiopia? Would you sit down with your family for 15 minutes one night and think if there’s anyone you know that you could help connect us with?

Conclusion

And let us all together work faithfully and wait patiently. Because one day our prayers, “your kingdom come” will turn into the joyful celebration, “the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” Let us work, knowing that one day we will no longer be working, we will be resting. And let us wait, knowing that one day we wait, but we will be seeing face-to-face.Because one day, the Holy City, the New Jersualem, the city not built upon blood and iniquity, but built upon the blood and righteousness of Christ, one day it will descend on this earth, all will be made right, our striving will be over, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.