6/1/21 // Time Of Thanks Meeting // "Finding The Who And Not The Why" Pastor Jon White

[Music] lately i've been looking back along this winding road to the old familiar markers of the mercies i have known i know it may sound simple but it's more than i can say there's no better way to tell you than to say [Music] god's been good in my life i feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams when i go to sleep each night and though i've had my share of hard times i wouldn't trade them if i could cause through it all [Music] god's been good [Music] time's replay and i can see that i've cried some bitter tears but i felt his arms around me as i face my greatest fears i've had more gains than losses i've known more joy than heard as his grace rolls down upon me undeserved [Music] god's been good in my life i feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams when i go to sleep each night and though i've had my share of hard times i wouldn't trade them if i could cause through it all [Music] my savior and my friend his love was my beginning and his love will be my end i could spend forever trying to tell you everything the best that i can say is this [Music] my life i feel blessed beyond my wildest dreams when i go to sleep each night and though i've had my share of hard times i wouldn't trade them if i could cause through it all [Music] god's been good cause through it all [Music] god's been good [Music] jesus is my high tower he's a light in my dark hour without him i could not see he is closer than a brother above him there's no other one without him where would i be oh jesus what a friend is he [Music] for he's the rock upon which i sing [Applause] [Music] when this whole world has left me all alone still i can feel him walking right by me and when everyone walks out that's when he walks in just proven once again that he's my dearest friend and he promised he'd walk with me always even till the end [Music] just as long as this world stands he promised he'd hold my hand that i would never walk alone and he said he'd go with me always through good times and through dark days that he would be my friend my god oh jesus is the best help in when this whole world has left me all alone still i can feel him walking right by me and when everyone walks out that's when he walks in just proving once again that he's my dearest friend and he promised he'd walk with me always even till the end [Music] [Applause] [Music] when this whole world has left me all alone still i can feel him walking right by me and when everyone walks out that's when he walks in just proving once again that he's my dearest friend and he promised he'd walk with me even till the end and he promised he'd walk with me always [Music] are you weary from the battle you're fighting does it seem like the storm just won't break is there a mountain in front of you the doubt says we'll never move and [Music] [Music] tell me a morning his mercies were new tell me a moment that he wasn't able to carry you through [Music] tell me a day he was less than almighty when he could not roll back [Music] there was never a time [Music] so be strong in the lord and remember to take hold of the faith and stand firm you can be confident the lord keeps his promises if you doubt him just read through his word tell me a time he's not been faithful tell me a morning his mercies were rude tell me a moment that he wasn't able to carry you through tell me a day he was less than almighty when [Music] there was never a time oh he can work miracles do the impossible if you don't believe it just go on and try he's not been faithful tell me a morning his mercies weren't new tell me a moment that he wasn't able to carry you through tell me the day he was less than almighty [Music] there was never a day he was less than almighty when he could not roll back the tide child when you look back you're gonna find there was [Music] there [Music] you know he's faithful say amen amen so pastor john white is going to come at this time i appreciate him he does pastor the freedom baptist church some of you know this he was actually here at haynes for a long time and god used him tremendously and god still does but um listen just open your hearts and are you men of god let's just let's love the lord let him pour into us and uh you mind god i know god to help you tonight amen amen thank you brother jason if you have your bibles tonight habakkuk chapter number one the back of chapter number one i'm humbled and honored one thing has always happened at haynes baptist church with me and the sound system and this is it i was saved 35 years ago last month 508 harvard street haines baptist church and i'm thankful to god for it i owe a great debt to this place and thankful to god for your pastor and i want to say to all of you pastors and there could be far better men up here than me tonight and but i want to thank you for being faithful to the lord and you know i'd get on there and watch some of you preaching at night time preaching sweating hot brother brady swinging your coat around a little bit and i'd get encouraged i'd see brother john you know at night i'd see other folks preaching in the night and hot and i'd uh just get strength and encouragement to go on i appreciate each of you men and uh i'm glad you're here tonight in that you didn't quit last year i did things last year that i've never done as a pastor in christian ministry for over 25 years i've never delivered nyquil and daqua to a member's house but i have after this year i mean i took spirometers to people's houses we had 26 families in a three-week period not people families i haven't told my church that so don't tell from january through uh february three three week period 26 families and so i was carrying spirometers you know those things you blow in to keep your lungs inflated and i was carrying the things you stick on your pulsometers i was carrying them to people's houses and and the day quite nice that's not a joke i was carrying that to people's houses too they had covered and uh they'd act like you know i had to drop it off at the porch i'm thinking i've already had it come in give me a hug we we're good you know i'm not dropping this ain't no drop off you know if i'm gonna bring chicken i'm at least gonna get a hug from you you know and uh because well went on boys well i guess we're okay i said i guess we are because we both had it sir i said give me a hug and i'll drop this bojangles right here in your driveway right but i appreciate this church and i want to say haynes baptist church thank you thank you for remaining faithful but i will say this at best my faithfulness has been sporadic at best my faithfulness to encourage has been sporadic and you fellows have been much more of an encouragement to me than i've ever been to you and i want to say thank you it's like in december 1914 thomas edison his house laboratories everything was destroyed by a fire there in new jersey and two million dollars worth of equipment burned up and his son came out charles trying to find his father he was frantic and as he looked and saw his heart ached for his for his dad no longer young in his 60s looking at things that were totally destroyed as thomas edison come out the next morning walking in the embers and the ashes he told his son he said where's your mother he said i don't know he said well go get her. he said she's got to see this and uh he said she's never seen anything like it and she won't ever see anything like it as long as she lives the next morning he brought her over there amidst all the hopes and dreams of his whole life where they're burned up and he said you know there's great value in disaster all the mistakes are burnt up and we can start anew and i got to be honest i made a lot of mistakes last year i did i there's a lot of things i wish i could have back a lot of decisions i wish i could make over but though my faithfulness sporadic to him his faithfulness to me was never sporadic it was steadfast secure in the book of habakkuk chapter number one back at chapter number one we find habakkuk and many commentators you look at it cut one commentator and he'll say this and another commentator will say that am i okay here i need to use this one okay you'll look at one commentator and he'll say the term habakkuk means embraced embracer and another will say it means wrestling i guess you know if you think about it it could be both one time um you're wrestling one time you're embracing but you're embracing both times just not in a good way i guess but the term habakkuk means wrestling embracing and we find habakkuk here arguing if you will questioning god and he starts out in chapter 1 and verse number 1 the burden which habakkuk the prophet did see oh lord how long shall i cry and thou will not hear even cry out unto thee of violence and thou will not save he starts with problems and it ends with praise he starts in gloom he ends in glory in chapter three he starts in chapter one with question marks he ends in chapter three with exclamation marks he starts in chapter one wondering what is god doing in chapter three he figures out who god is and the title of the message tonight is finding the who behind the why finding the who behind the why you know in our life we want to know why we want to know when but god so patiently this last year dealt with us and showed us to who behind the why when the why is not possible and the why is not available god showed us something much greater than the why or the wind he showed us to who and tonight i think we see habakkuk trying to question and argue and really say god why are you bringing judgment you know on one hand habakkuk said we need judgment judah needs judgment on another hand he says why does it have to be the babylonians of all people you know the truth is we don't get to pick the pressure god puts on us god doesn't depress us and to make something wonderful out of us to be conformable to his image we don't always get to choose what he uses but he's questioning god's motives god's means of judgment here and so he complains chapters 1 chapter 2 and then chapter 3 he's singing again in chapter one he's troubled chapter two he's taught chapter three is triumphant habakkuk a troubled man number one we see the tragedy here in verses one and two and with this meaning the word meaning wrestling and embracing uh there's a dialogue here and you know usually you have uh the prophet um talking to the people about god but here he's talking to god about his questions he's talking to god about his problems and he's voicing his concerns and he's wondering about the wind and the why as i mentioned instead of the who you know god is sovereign and he is our king he can do what he chooses well it's a glad day in our life when we look back over a year and a half and say you know what i i wish this and i wish that but we got to understand god is still in charge right now tonight god was in charge march 14th god was in charge march 15th god's been in charge all the while and it's a good day when we understand that and so the tragedy habakkuk sees is god's not doing it like i think he ought to do it he's going about this different and i much like pastor have wandered over this past year and and boy if you only knew the heartbreak that this pastor has felt for you church and for this church and how many conversations we wept together well i'll tell you sometimes if some members could get in on those conversations i think it changed the way you view your pastor boy i tell you just heart-wrenching conversations about the pain that you were going through and trying to please the lord and try to honor you and help you and you have a man here tonight who loves you cares deeply about you this tragedy it did some things for habakkuk number one it evoked some questions there were some questions that arose and no doubt there's some questions i have about this past year and a half there's questions you have had there may be questions about some some point some period some instance some circumstance in your life uh the tragedy brought this question and you you've asked god and but i want you to know that god is faithful that means 100 of the time god is always correct he's always right he's faithful 100 of time all the time there's never a time when he's not when he doesn't do right there's never a time like the song said when he's not been faithful so if we're not careful tragedy can evoke some questions and questions are not always bad if it points you to the who and not the why if questions about things that have happened point you to see god in a new light and to understand uh that the faithfulness of god is really the oil that makes the whole engine of everything we do run just like oil in a car you try to put sawdust or water you're going to have problems those pistons those valves that block that engine depends on the oil running through it and everything we believe about god tonight hinges on his faithfulness if god is not faithful then nothing else he says about himself can be believed can be trusted can be counted on but i'm here to tell you god is 100 reliable 100 of the time because he never changes and he is sovereign but the tragedy here is it evokes some questions in habakkuk's life maybe you have some tonight i have some i have some about past year not only that number two sometimes tragedy escalates into quarrels i don't i'm not saying we had any church fights but i will tell you anytime you get baptist people mad about who's got a mask and who don't have one on you got problems and we had them too bro trust me um he's right i mean you didn't know who to go visit if you don't go visit them you're incense i mean you're you're you know lazy and don't care if you go visit them you're insensitive you don't care about their health and so i i just i thought man i'm gonna just send a letter here send a little google form and they figure out if they want me to visit them or not you okay with this you know and and finally i just started showing up you know and just put on a mask and a white suit if you don't want me around amen respirators whatever you got to do i'll bring my own respirator if you need it but sometimes when when tragedy can escalate in the corals and with habakkuk the quarrel was with god god i know that you you're you're righteous you're holy how in the world can you use the filthy cowardians of babylonians to to set us straight to to judge how can you do that but again god's ways are not our ways not only does it evoke questions it escalates in the quarrel sometimes and number three can end in quitting it can end in quitting and we have seen that all of our churches i i don't hesitate to say tonight i think there's some folks that are no longer coming to our church that did before march 2020 i don't know if there's a pastor here that would say that's not true for you and i would tell you that you know i'll be honest it breaks my heart i'm not glad about it you say well you know if they're going no i want them back in church whether it's over at walmart said they couldn't come to church because covet you've seen him at walmart well see them at walmart or not seeing him at walmart i want them in church because i know god's the only thing the only constant that can help them in their situation you know no matter why they're doing what they're doing and they can still go play bingo but they don't want to get covered from church i know we all know it only lived at church right it's only it originated church and that's it's probably you know some chinese church i'm just kidding oh boy i had to say that it's still the china virus like it or not right verse 12. let's get back to the bible art thou not from everlasting oh lord my god my holy one we shall not die hast thou ordained them for judgment and almighty god thou hast established them for correction he's getting a clue here he starts seeing the who he's not all the way there but he's getting behind it art not thou from everlasting oh lord my god my holy one i mean he sees the eternal nature of god he sees his holiness he sees that he's in charge lord he's he's getting it you've established them i know you put them there he has the wrong motive for what he's saying uh but he's he's getting he's got a clue he's getting warm you know like a dog on the trail when he gets that first yelp you kind of you you sick him on a little bit you want him to follow so habakkuk's not exactly right here but he's getting on it number two not only we see the tragedy we see the truth look at chapter 2 verse 4 behold his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him but the just shall live by his faith back at 2 20 but the lord is in his holy temple let all the earth keep silence before him so he sees the truth of god's word here and he understands i mean he he gets it now he's getting it he sees this is the transforming truth of this whole book is verse number four the just shall live by faith the just shall live by faith and i'm glad that joseph learned that by faith joseph when he was betrayed he didn't become bitter by faith when joseph was bedazzled by potiphar's wife he didn't buckle by faith when he was bypassed by the butler he didn't break up by faith when he was built up by pharaoh he didn't blow up and by faith when joseph met his brothers he didn't blow up why genesis 50 20 because god had a job to do and god used all of those elements in joseph's life the only way that god could use them the only way god was able to use him in joseph's life is his faith towards god his faithfulness to the lord and to the person of who god was it wasn't the fact that he was just necessarily he said look i'm i'm obedient to potiphar but there's somebody bigger than potiphar in this house the lord and i think we saw last year that it's really it's not trying to figure out why everything happened and why this one is left and and why this person is widowed and this one is not and why this happened over here and this happened over here if we try to figure out everything that's happened in the past year and a half we will be deranged individuals there is no way that a human being with a finite mind uh can put together all the pieces of god's puzzle at any time but especially when things go awry and haywire uh there's no way that we can sit day on end and try to figure it out and try to second guess and try to recap and recount uh there is no way to go back over uh the truth is the just shall live by faith and the key about that verse is the object of our faith is an omnipotent an omniscient uh almighty god that we are to focus our eyes upon the truth is the who and not the why the truth is the who and not to win it's about knowing more about who god is miss harris i can't imagine what you've been through i cannot imagine and i've watched that service over and over in my living room and wept and i'll be honest i don't understand i really don't but i want you to know there's a god in heaven and you know sometimes even for the pastor there's some basic things i got to go over some truths we got to go over number one god's good uh all the time you know the mantra all the time god's good he is good he's holy i mean i'll be sitting outside by my garden brother brady sometime and just just going through stuff and just thinking okay i know he's good i know he's holy i know he's just he's going to do right i know he knows all things he keeps score i don't he sees the score i can't even see the score i can't even see the scoreboard he does he keeps score he knows everything god's love god doesn't make any mistakes jesus christ is the son of god i mean it gets pretty simple after everybody go you know i know jesus died and rose again on the third day amen and he ascended into heaven he's seated at the right hand of the father make an intercession for you and me i'm sealed with the holy spirit of god unto the day of redemption and i mean just god's always with me i'll never leave you nor for safety all things work together for good god will complete his work in me and just go through things that you know about god because it's more important to know the who than to try to wrap your brain around all the details of the why and when and god if you'd have been here on this side like mary martha told told jesus lord if you'd just been here he wouldn't have died we run ourselves crazy with the gifts of this life really we need to back up and get the first person on that sentence lord lord if we see him the if will grow strangely dim if we see the lord not only the truth the tragedy the truth number three the target look at verse 14 chapter 2 for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the lord as the waters cover the sea habakkuk 2 20 but the lord is in his holy temple again let the earth all the earth keep silence before him what's the target what's the intended target you hear all these uh progressive churches talking about target audience target audience i'm just helpless preachers tonight target audience is the world all these hyper calvinists i'm getting tired of it on the internet and uh it's just us here and it's probably only in that right i mean i'm getting tired the target audience is the world it's not a select few and all this you know easy and i understand what easy believe is and i know what the term means but tell me what hard believism is i want somebody to tell me that one i never been explained what hard believism is all right amen isn't it funny how people like that it's always their families get saved and nobody else you know the select it's always their families it gets saved the target what's the target verse 14 look at it again for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the lord as the waters cover the sea what's the target for all this you say pastor really can you just give me some explanation as to why we went through everything we went through this year and pastors i i i can sympathize i went through things you went through things this year and a half i've never been through before and i'm just going to be honest some of them i hope i never do again right i don't even want to talk about covington anymore to be honest with you i mean this this this whole service gave me flashbacks i mean i was trying to get rid of covey i went to the doctor this morning she said do you have a mask i said i don't have one in my car i don't have one in my house i don't have one anywhere on me nowhere i didn't determine i didn't need to see the doctor that bad if they didn't have one i could borrow i was going to the car go get some breakfast or something i wasn't going in the doctor i was done determined to just you know i'm done with it i've learned my lessons you know like school sometimes it's got to break you know you got to get out of school i was ready to get out of school with cove but i promise number four not only the target the turn i want you to see chapter three and this is really where it begins to turn chapter 3 verse 2. oh lord i have heard thy speech and was afraid o lord revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in other words in the midst of all the chastisement i want you to make yourself known not outside of it you know we've seen the target what's the target the target is the world the target is the world that they may know the glory of god he said pastor why do we go through all this well i can tell you a little bit of why so that everybody around could see his glory that's why he said habakkuk this is bigger than you it's bigger than your corner it's bigger than your dress this is for the world this is for the world to know that i'm god so christians and and christian servants don't get discouraged over the past year and a half god used you to show the world his glory and i want to say job well done job well done we come to the the turn where he says revive thy work in the midst of years in the middle of it sometimes we want god to do a work outside of the chastisement we want god to do a work in easy times that's not usually how it works but habakkuk here says lord i want you to revive your work right in the middle of it right in the middle of it he said i want you to revive your work he starts turning now there's a turn and number five the triumph look at verse 16. when i heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entered in my bones and i tremble to myself that i might rest in the day of trouble when he cometh up unto the people he will invade them with the troops although the fig trees shall not blossom neither shall fruit be in the vines the labor of the olives shall fail that was their whole livelihood right there the fields shall yield no meat the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls verse 18 yet i will rejoice in the lord i will joy and the god of my salvation do you know if you can't be joyful in your situation you can be joyful in your salvation amen amen he said i will join the god of my salvation disappointment doesn't have to lead to despair job said in chapter 13 verse 15 he said though he slay me yet will i trust him yet will i trust him his crisis through was followed by a crescendo of yet we may always know what god's doing but we can trust him to do what's right we can trust god to do what's right he rejoices in the lord takes joy in his salvation somebody said this this is god's universe and he will do things his way you may have a better way but you don't have a universe it's the lord's he's in charge we're called to live by his promises not by our explanations not by his explanations god's ways are better god's heart is better god's thoughts are better god's plans are better all that god does and is is better as i look back over this year and a half i see things that god did that i would have never imagined him to do i mean i we have people drive up that have never done darkened our doors in 11 years i was taking pictures of license plates on the way out i don't know if it's legal or not but i did it i'm telling y'all a whole lot of stuff that i know we got some highway patrolmen in our church and i was just just taking if i didn't know them i was taking pictures they all had to cut we had it fixed where they all had to come by me on the way out that's never happened in 11 years people always slip out preachers i don't care what you say if you threaten death brother brady this if anybody moves this morning i mean i've just about done that like no moving no talking during the invitation and you know what happens here five or six people going out that way you know as you're saying it well at the drive-through service everybody those men knew everybody funneled in one way and everybody went out one way and so i was standing at that back that side door and i got to see everybody that came and i said honey you know them she no i don't know them i said get a picture of that tag right there i said we'll find i send them visits or letters i think how they work they get my address you know i send them visitor letters to people with just taking pictures of their tag you know coming by but you know he gets to the place here and he says it doesn't matter what's in the stall what's not in the stall it doesn't matter what's in the cupboard or what's not in the cupboard he said i'm going to rejoice in the god of my salvation he says i'm going to i'm going to rejoice i'm going to make much of what god has done and i want to say tonight the the constant through all of this has been the faithfulness of god it has been the steadfast watch care of god over his children you know when we worship a lot of times it's just celebration sometime i worship is celebration it's like a pep rally we used to have them at school i'm for i'm for celebrating in church let me just tell you i believe in it but you know sometimes we we it becomes like a pep rally um about who god is but you know grief and hardship and pain that's an unpleasant emotion but you know what makes real worship worship he had to get to where there was no ox in there he couldn't be happy about the ox or not he couldn't be happy about the olives they weren't in he couldn't be happy about the figs there weren't any of those either he got to a place where his vision was only on the lord you know when true worship becomes worship it's when it's not just celebration in the good times it's coupled with the pain of those rough spots when we've experienced the faithfulness of the lord and all that he is and all that he means to us it's when we see him i'll read to you genesis 50 verse 20 and close but as for you you thought evil against me but god meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive finding the who behind why i don't have all the answers for you but i will tell you this through every bit of it god's been faithful to me i can't say as much about me and him but i know he's been faithful to me i praise him for it tonight let's bow forward a prayer father we thank you for your goodness it is a joy and a privilege to be able to know that you've tuned in and i pray that today that the word of god that was shared will be a blessing to you if somehow some way that the lord has spoke to your heart and maybe you're sitting where you are and you don't know for sure that you're saved by the grace of god and you've ever trusted jesus christ as a personal savior and i want you to know that the word of god says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of god the bible makes it very plain for the ways of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ our lord he say how do i get saved you have to trust in christ in christ alone repent of your sin and then know as the bible says where jesus says i am the way and i pray that today that that will be your desire to be able to seek out for the lord jesus christ to be able to trust him as a lord and savior if you do that today and you repent of your sins and you take him as your savior would you do us a favor and contact our church office at 336-788-8051 we would love to be able to speak with you we would love to be able to encourage you maybe be able to help you find a local church no matter where you are today and maybe even possibly disciple you so we want to say thank you so much and we are definitely going to be praying for you in this ministry that our church has if you know you're saved and maybe the lord spoke to you in a different way and there's something heavy on your heart again that same number if you can contact us we'll be so thankful to be able to reach out be able to speak with you but again on behalf of the church and myself thank you so much and may god bless you

Channel: Hanes Baptist Church

Views: 19

Rating: 0 out of 5

Keywords: Truth, Trust, worship, Life, Salvation, God, Jesus, Spirit, Gospel, Bible, Real, Happy, Heaven, Hell, Joy, Revelation

Id: VEvQ6PIZisg

Length: 44min 49sec (2689 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021