The Promises Of God

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Well, I want to invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to Habakkuk chapter 2.

Habakkuk 2 · chapter mention

Habakkuk chapter 2 is where we continue in our study today.

Habakkuk 2 · chapter mention

We're going to cover the entire chapter with the exception of the first verse.

So we'll begin reading at verse 2 and go all the way down to verse 20.

But we're going to spend most of our time on verses 2, 3, and 4.

That's really where the meat of this particular passage is found.

Verses 5 through 20 is what is called a taunt song.

We're going to talk about that a little bit when we get to it.

But it's really just a specific expression of judgment toward this group of individuals.

And we'll talk about that when we get there, but we're not going to spend a lot of time there.

We're going to focus our attention on verses 2, 3, and 4.

Habakkuk chapter 2, verse number 2.

Habakkuk 2 · chapter mention

And the Lord answered me and said,

Write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie.

Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come.

It will not tarry.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.

Yea, also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home,

who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied,

but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people.

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him,

and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his.

How long?

And to him that ladeth himself with thick clay.

Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee,

and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee,

because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high,

that he may be delivered from the power of evil.

Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.

For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity.

Behold, it is not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire,

and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,

as the waters cover the sea.

Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, and putt thy bottle to him,

and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness.

Thou art filled with shame for glory.

Drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered.

The cup of the Lord's right hand shall be turned unto thee,

and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.

For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee,

and the spoil of beast which made them afraid,

because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land,

of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it,

the molten image, and a teacher of lies,

that the maker of his work trusteth therein to make dumb idols?

Woe unto him that saith to the wood,

Awake, to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach.

Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,

and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.

But the Lord is in his holy temple.

Let all the earth keep silence before him.

The first four weeks of our study of Habakkuk

only covered 18 verses,

and there has been so much to learn

in the dialogue between God and his prophet.

But the passage we study today

is the crucial text of the entire book.

Everything that's been written for us thus far

exists to serve the purpose of this message from God.

After learning that God was raising up the Chaldean Empire

as his instrument of judgment,

Habakkuk had difficulty understanding

how the actions of God

seemed to be inconsistent with the character of God.

With a spirit of worship, humility, and submission,

he issued his question to God

and patiently waited for a reply.

Now, the general confusion of Habakkuk's question,

which is found in verse 13 of chapter one,

is what God addresses in his response.

In fact, let's read that verse together.

Look with me at chapter one in verse 13.

Habakkuk says as a part of this question for God,

thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil

and cannot look on iniquity.

Why then do you look upon them that deal treacherously

and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man

that is more righteous than he?

We find that as we discovered last week,

this same question plagued Asaph as he wrote in Psalm 73.

He said, behold, these are the ungodly

who prosper in the world, they increase in riches.

It's a common question throughout the scriptures.

Job asked the same question in Job chapter 21.

Job 21 · chapter mention

David asked this question in some of his Psalms.

And it all boils down to how can you as a holy God

not do something about the sin that we see?

How is it that the wicked around us seems to be exalted?

How is it that the sinful around us seems to prosper

while your own people are in despair?

And though not given in the way that we would usually hope,

God's answer as we study this book

and as we study Psalm 73 and as we study the book of Job,

God's answer brings great resolution

and peace to the hearts of these men.

But it is here that we must take time to recognize

the way in which God chooses to answer our questions.

When we bring our confusion to the Lord in prayer,

we're typically seeking for him to issue an explanation

of his behavior.

It's like an itch that cannot be scratched

until every single facet of our perplexity is explained.

For some Christians,

this process actually ends up revealing

a very sinful attitude and spirit to the Lord

that shows a lack of trust in God.

Rather than assuming God's perfection and righteousness

when they bring their question to God,

they actually bring their question

demanding that God prove that he is righteous

and that he is perfect and that he is good.

And there's a clear distinction.

The same question can be asked,

but the attitude behind it can determine

whether or not a person's heart is right with the Lord

in a right perspective of God's character

or whether it actually reveals a severe lack of faith.

Whenever we bring our questions to the Lord,

we're to come to him with the assumption

that God is right and that he is perfect.

But many times when we come to him,

we're not coming with that understanding

simply seeking an answer.

We're coming demanding that God prove to us

that he's right before we actually trust him.

A question that should come from a spirit of faith

and submission in reality for many people

is in a spirit of judgment.

Now, I've thought a little bit about this.

What gives us this tendency?

And I do think that perhaps our democratic culture

of Western civilization plays a role

in our sinful spirits toward God.

Let me explain.

We are accustomed to exercising the power

of our individual vote to put people

that we determined are worthy of it

in positions of leadership and authority over us.

And if we're unsatisfied with the way

a particular leader has led,

we exercise that same power and right to vote

to remove them from office

and put somebody else there in their place.

We become the judges

of whether or not a person is performing adequately.

And in this sense, we submit to authority

only as long as that authority submits to us.

We will submit to their position and their leadership

only as long as they lead

based on what we have demanded that they do.

And for this reason,

we refer to these people as public servants.

And I think because we're accustomed

to this relationship between submission and authority,

we often come to our relationship with God in the same way.

But we have not chosen God.

He has chosen us.

We have not voted him into office.

He is the God of creation.

We are not his judge.

He is our God.

He is not our servant.

We are to serve him.

He is righteous, not us.

He owes us nothing.

He owes us no explanation

for why he works in the way that he does.

And any revelation that we have of him and his work

only comes by his own love and grace.

So we are not to come to the Lord

and judge his actions in the way

that we would judge the human actions of a human leader.

We come to the Lord rather in submission to him as God.

And when we bring our perplexity,

it's not to judge him and demand

that he prove to us that he's right.

It's where to come to him with the assumption

that he is God and he is right and he is perfect

and seeking to understand not to accuse.

So because of this relationship with him being God

and us being his servant,

God does not offer explanations.

He does not answer our questions

in the way that we expect.

When it comes to our perplexities,

God deals in promises, not explanations.

Let me say it again.

When it comes to our perplexities and our questions

and our confusions and the prayers that we pray,

God does not answer us on the basis of an explanation.

He answers us with a promise, with a covenant.

He is infinitely more concerned about our faith

than he is about our complete understanding.

His desire is that we trust him

even when we don't understand how and why he's working.

And this is the pattern of God's dealing

all throughout the scriptures.

Think about God's relationship to Abraham.

God comes to him and says,

I'm going to make a great nation.

Your seed is going to bless all other nations.

And Abraham says to God in Genesis 18,

how can I have a son who I'm so old

and Sarah is well beyond childbearing years?

And what did God say?

He didn't give him an explanation

that explained the physiology

of how he was going to make it work

and how it was going to come to be.

God didn't do anything like that.

What did God say?

Genesis 18.

He says, is anything too hard for God?

Abraham brings his question to the Lord.

He's seeking for an explanation.

God doesn't provide an explanation.

He provides a promise.

Is anything too hard for God?

In other words, God looks at Abraham

and he says, believe me, Abraham.

You don't have to understand.

Just trust me.

Think about Moses when God came to him

and spoke through the burning bush

and he told him that he wanted him to go

and speak to Pharaoh

and deliver the people of Israel from Egypt.

Moses argued with God

and there came a point in the conversation

where he said, how can I,

a man with a speech impediment,

I'm not eloquent at all.

How can I go and stand and speak

before such a ruler?

And God didn't give any explanation

about how he was going to bring Aaron

in on the equation

and how he was going to use these signs

through the staff

and how he was going to allow Moses

to speak in a particular way.

He didn't give any of that.

What did he say to Moses?

He said, Moses, in Exodus 4.11,

who made your mouth?

Who made your mouth, Moses?

In other words, believe me, Moses.

You don't have to understand.

Just trust me.

Think about Gideon.

Gideon was threshing wheat

in a time when Midian was taking over.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers

had a mast to take over this tribe of Manasseh.

God comes to Gideon and says,

I want to use you to lead the army

and I'm going to make it interesting

by giving you just 300 men to do it.

And Gideon says,

I'm the least in my father's house

and my father's house is the least

in the tribe of Manasseh.

How can you use me?

Why would you ask me to do this, God?

I don't want to do this.

Why would you ask me?

And God doesn't give an explanation.

He doesn't go ahead and tell Gideon,

well, what's going to happen

is you're going to go down the hill

in the middle of the night.

You're going to bang some pots together

and scream out the sword of the Lord

and of Gideon.

And then all of the enemies

are just going to end up killing themselves.

He didn't give him an explanation.

What did he say?

He said to Gideon,

I will be with you.

God doesn't deal in explanations.

He deals in promises.

What about the New Testament?

Remember Thomas asked Jesus,

Lord, we have no idea where you're going.

How can we know the way?

Jesus didn't go into this extensive theological diatribe.

What did he say to Thomas?

He said, Thomas, I am the way.

I am the way.

John 14, 6.

In other words, Thomas,

you don't need an explanation.

Just trust me.

The disciples toward the end of Jesus' time on this earth

said, how will we know when the end is near?

How will we know when your kingdom

is going to be established?

And Jesus gives them a little information.

He says, boys, it's going to get pretty rough,

but let me tell you, no one knows,

but you need to watch and wait.

In other words, just trust me.

I'm coming back.

God doesn't deal in explanations.

He deals in promises.

He is far less concerned with our understanding

than he is with our faith in who he is

and what he has promised.

He's created us with the ability of logic for a reason,

but our capacity of understanding

is limited by God on purpose.

Why?

Because he's far more concerned

that we trust him without understanding

than that we trust him because of understanding.

Instead of providing explanations,

he graces us with his wonderful promises.

And that's exactly what he's doing here for Habakkuk.

Rather than provide a lengthy explanation

that connects all the dots

and provides an explanation for why he's doing it this way

and not another way,

God simply reminds Habakkuk

about this eternal covenant

that he has made with his people.

And he instructs him to share it urgently

and immediately to every generation.

And I want to examine this promise with you today.

Three quick things that we'll say about this covenant.

The first one is we see the significance of the promise.

The significance of the promise.

Look with me again at verse two.

And the Lord answered me and said,

write the vision and make it plain on tables

that he may run that reads it.

Now, when we see Habakkuk in verse one,

it's clear that he was anticipating

God's reply to come with a measure of rebuke.

He seems to have thought that there existed

somewhat of an audacity in the question

that he had just asked at the end of chapter one.

And he expected God to respond strongly.

But that's not how God responds at all.

Consistent with God's nature of love,

he actually responds to Habakkuk very gently.

And it shows and proves once again,

God's great love for those that love and follow him.

The fact that God answered at all

reminds us of his love and care for us,

which is exactly why Peter writes in the New Testament

that we are to cast all of our care upon him.

Why?

Because he cares for us.

God is sympathetic to our cries.

He wants to hear them.

And he doesn't respond with rebuke.

In fact, even in the moments that he rebukes his disciples,

Jesus in the New Testament,

his rebuke is always with tenderness and with gentleness

and with love despite its firm truth.

God deals with us in that way.

It's an example of his love.

And he deals in that way with Habakkuk.

And the significance of this particular promise

and this particular response

is seen in the manner in which God instructed Habakkuk

to record his message.

He told him to write it upon a tablet of stone.

Look with me again at verse two.

Write the vision, make it plain on tables.

That's just a reference to a stone tablet.

There are only a few occasions in the Bible

where God actually makes this command

for his message to be recorded in this way.

Most notably, we see this coming in the 10 commandments.

As Moses went up on Mount Sinai,

God delivered his law to Moses there.

He instructed and he actually did it by his own hand

for the law to be written on stone tablets.

And this was significant.

It's a simple gesture,

but there's two reasons that the way in which God

instructed Habakkuk to record this message

is significant to us and it shows the significance.

The first way is this.

It shows that this is an eternal promise.

The promise God is having Habakkuk write

is an eternal one.

Now the use of stone reveals that this answer

was not meant to serve the people temporarily.

It's an eternal covenant that would echo

throughout every generation.

The message that God was sending through Habakkuk

was not applicable to his experience

with the Chaldeans alone.

The prophecy finds its fulfillment in every generation

before and after Habakkuk.

As Robertson says,

the specific instructions to inscribe the vision

and make it plain on the tablets underscore

its significance not only for the crucial hour

in which Habakkuk lived,

but also for the generations to come.

Now culturally speaking,

any new covenant made between people in Habakkuk's day

was recorded first on stone

and it represented permanency

and it demanded that the promise be kept.

This message of God was to be viewed

in light of eternity,

not just the time of the Chaldean invasion.

So he tells Habakkuk,

not like he told Isaiah to write it on a parchment,

not like he told Jeremiah to write in a book,

he told Habakkuk,

write it on a table of stone.

It is an eternal covenant.

It's an eternal promise.

Secondly, it shows that it's an urgent promise.

It's an urgent promise.

There's a practical note that God gives Habakkuk

about the way in which he's to write on this stone tablet

and it relates to its size.

Look with me again at verse two.

The Lord answered and said,

write the vision and make it plain on a table

that he may run that reads it.

And this is significant.

The tablet was to be large enough

to be clearly read and understood,

but it was to be small enough

to be carried throughout the nation by a runner.

The message was to be clearly presented

and then it was to be immediately proclaimed.

And this indicates for us the urgency of the message.

Pictured here is a herald that would go from town to town,

maybe on horseback or maybe running from town to town

and would cry in the midst of the town,

an urgent message or an important or significant message

that came directly from his king.

The scriptures refer to angels as heralds

and even preachers in the New Testament

are referred to as heralds.

The task is the same for each one of them.

Proclaim the message from your king.

So paired with the eternal nature of this promise,

it becomes plain that its truth

is to be just as urgent today

as it was when it was written.

It's the message of God's judgment against sin

and his offer of salvation

through Jesus Christ that is so urgent.

And listen to me, church.

Church, we are the runners.

We are the heralds.

The task has been given to the church of God

to spread this message.

And he's entrusted us as Lakeside Bible Church

to proclaim this urgent message

to the people of Lake Norman.

That's our mission.

What we do on Sundays when we gather back together,

Lord willing, next Sunday,

what we do when we gather back together

is worship the Lord.

We disciple one another.

But our mission is to take this proclamation

that God is coming to judge sin

and that he provides salvation through Jesus Christ alone.

We are to take this urgent covenant,

this eternal covenant,

and preach it to the people of Cornelius

and Huntersville and Davidson

and anyone else who will hear it

and even those who will not hear it.

Our job is to proclaim the vision of the Lord.

Our proclamation is to be clear

and our spirit is to be urgent

because it is the promise of God that we share.

Our king church has given us a message to proclaim

and it's sinful if we do not go to our neighbor

and to our family and to our community

and proclaim the message of our king.

So we see the significance of the promise.

It was written on a tablet.

It's eternal.

It's urgent.

Secondly, we see the surety of the promise.

The surety of the promise.

Look with me at verse three.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time,

but at the end it shall speak and not lie.

Though it tarry, wait for it

because it will surely come.

It will not tarry.

Now it's here that we have to remember

that Habakkuk is a prophetical book.

And the nature of biblical prophecy

is that it often has a near fulfillment

that foreshadows a future or ultimate fulfillment.

In Habakkuk's case,

the near fulfillment is the destruction of Babylon

and the restoration of Israel.

But this is only meant to foreshadow

the ultimate fulfillment

of God's judging of the sin of all mankind

and the eternal establishment

of his eternal kingdom.

Habakkuk's prophecy is not only meant

to tell us of God's work 2,500 years ago.

It's also a revelation of how God works now

and in the future.

And we cannot understand God's message to Habakkuk

without seeing it as an eternal message that it is.

Now think of it in the terms of the other covenants

in the Old Testament.

God tells Abraham,

I'm gonna give you a seed

and in that seed all nations of the earth will be blessed.

The near fulfillment of that prophecy

is in his son Isaac.

But the ultimate fulfillment of that prophecy

is in the person of Jesus Christ.

Think about the Davidic covenant.

God comes to David and he says,

I am gonna provide a king.

Your throne will be established forever.

Your seed will rule forever

in an eternal kingdom.

The near fulfillment of that is in his son Solomon.

But the ultimate fulfillment of that

is in the person of Jesus Christ,

not only in his first coming,

but ultimately in his second coming

when he establishes his kingdom.

So when we look at biblical prophecy,

we see God delivers a message.

He uses a near fulfillment

that foreshadows the ultimate

or future fulfillment of his great work.

And we must remember then

that prophecy is not fortune telling.

This is not the guesswork of a man.

This is the true message from the mouth of God

who cannot lie.

Therefore, what we have in Habakkuk's vision

is a message of certainty.

It is sure to come about.

Verse three assumes that many people

will doubt the validity of the message

because of what they will perceive as a delay.

But since it doesn't happen immediately,

they doubt that it will happen at all.

But God reminds us that his work is sure to take place.

Just because it doesn't happen on our timeline

doesn't mean that it won't happen.

And there's two ways that I believe God

reveals the surety of this promise

in verse number three.

The first thing we see is that there is a certain time,

a certain or a sure time.

Look at the first phrase.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time.

Now, the destruction of Babylon

had a specific date set on God's calendar.

It wouldn't take place immediately

following the exile of Judah,

but it would be less than 70 years

when it would find its fulfillment.

And the ultimate fulfillment of this judgment

has yet to take place.

But we are still assured that it will.

It is on God's calendar.

It has an appointed time.

It's not only an appointed judgment,

but it's an appointed salvation.

We have to look at the book of Revelation to see it.

In Revelation chapter 20,

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

we see that the ultimate fulfillment

of this prophecy of Habakkuk

is seen in an appointed judgment.

John writes in Revelation 20,

he says,

I saw a great white throne

and him that sat on it,

that is Jesus,

and I saw the dead,

small and great,

stand before God,

and the books were opened.

And another book was opened,

which is the book of life.

And the dead were judged

out of those things

which were written in the books

according to their works,

the way that they lived their lives.

And whosoever was not found

written in the book of life

was cast into the lake of fire.

Listen to me.

There is a coming judgment.

It has already been prophesied

all throughout the scripture.

One day it is appointed.

God has put it on his calendar.

We will all stand

before the judgment seat of Christ.

And when we stand there,

the books will be opened.

And if your name is not

in the Lamb's book of life,

you will be cast

into the eternal lake of fire,

into eternal hell.

That prophecy,

that message from the mouth of God

is true,

and it is certain,

and it is coming.

It's also an appointed salvation.

Immediately after this,

in Revelation 21,

we read of the other part

of this promise.

John says,

I heard a great voice

out of heaven saying,

Behold,

the dwelling place of God

is with men,

and he will dwell with them,

and they shall be his people.

This is a picture

of God's eternal reign.

And God himself

shall be with them,

and he will be their God.

And listen to what he will do.

God will wipe away

all their tears

from their eyes,

and there shall be

no more death

and neither sorrow

nor crying,

neither shall there be

any more pain,

for the former things

are passed away,

the former sinful things,

the curse of this sin,

wretched world

will be passed away.

And he that sat

upon the throne

said,

Behold,

I make all things new.

And he said unto me,

Right.

Why?

Because the words

that I am saying

are faithful

and they are true.

It is said,

there is an appointed time

for judgment.

And for those

that follow Christ,

there is an appointed time

for salvation.

Though it may seem

to delay now,

don't think that God

is not going to fulfill

his promise.

It's on his calendar.

It is coming,

and it's coming

at a certain time.

But then we also see

that what seems like a delay

has a certain purpose.

There's a certain time.

There's a certain purpose.

Look again at verse 3.

Though it tarry,

wait for it.

Because it will surely come,

will not tarry.

Now don't be confused

by the usage

of the word tarry

in this verse.

There's two perspectives

at play here.

The first time

tarry is used

is from the perspective

of man.

And the second time

it's used

is from the perspective

of God.

In other words,

our perspective

views God's fulfillment

of promise

as a delay.

But he views it

as exactly on time.

His work may seem

delayed for us,

but it's working

exactly as he has

divinely determined.

He doesn't work

on our timeline.

He's not bound

by time in the way

that we are bound

by time.

He has said

it's a point in time.

And what may seem

like a delay to us

is right on time

from his perspective.

But that brings up

the question.

If God is so intent

on judging sin

and establishing

his kingdom,

why would he delay

it all?

What's the purpose

in all these years

that have passed?

And the early church

in the New Testament

faced this same question.

They believed

that Jesus Christ's

second coming

was very near,

but because it still

continued,

life still continued

on without Jesus

returning,

many people began

to doubt whether

or not it was

actually true.

So Peter writes

about it.

In fact,

you may want to

turn in your Bibles

to follow along

with me.

2 Peter 3.

Peter addresses

it first in verse 2,

that ye may be

mindful of the words

which were spoken

before by the

holy prophets,

including Habakkuk,

and of the commandment

of the apostles

of our Lord and Savior,

knowing this first,

that there shall

come in the last days

scoffers walking

after their own lusts,

saying,

where is the promise

of his coming?

For since the fathers

fell asleep,

all things continue

as they were

from beginning

to creation.

There will be those

that will mock,

they will laugh at us,

they will laugh

at the church,

they will laugh

at the Bible,

they will laugh

at this proclamation,

saying,

where is this coming?

You say he's coming soon,

where is it?

And they will doubt it,

and they will mock at it.

But Peter wrote

that what seems

like God's delay

is actually a sign

of his love

and long-suffering

to us.

Look at verse 8.

Beloved,

be not ignorant

of this one thing,

that one day

is with the Lord

as a thousand years,

and a thousand years

is one day.

He doesn't work

on our timeline.

He's got his own timeline.

It doesn't matter

if it's a day

or a thousand years,

it's all the same

to God.

And then he says,

the Lord is not slack

concerning his promise.

He's not lazy.

He's not a liar.

He's not delayed.

What it is

is that he is long-suffering

to us,

not willing

that any should perish,

but that all should come

to repentance.

God's love

this scene here.

What is this delay about?

We long for the coming

of Christ.

Why does it continue

to delay?

But it's not a delay

because God has determined

he will not return.

He will not institute

this final

and ultimate judgment

until all that belong

to him

come to faith

in Jesus Christ.

He is long-suffering

and loving to us.

And if he were to

come and return today

and institute this judgment today

knowing that a month

from now

someone would have come

to faith in Jesus Christ,

he is unwilling

to come back now.

He is unwilling

for that person

to perish

before they have

trusted Christ.

What love

and patience

and long-suffering

that is for us.

That's the answer

to God's delay.

It's not a delay at all.

It's love.

And then Peter

reminds them again

of the certainty

of Christ coming.

Verse 10,

But the day of the Lord

will come as a thief

in the night

in the which the heavens

shall pass away

with a great noise

and the elements

shall melt

with a fervent heat.

The earth also

and the works

that are therein

shall be burned up.

And then he says

in verse 14,

Wherefore, beloved,

seeing that you look

for such things,

be diligent

that you may be found

in him in peace

without spot

and blameless.

And account that

the long-suffering

of our Lord

is salvation.

Why does God tarry?

Because he loves us.

But there will come a time

when his patience

has run its course.

Now is the time

to repent

and turn to Christ.

So we see

the significance

of the promise.

We see the surety

of the promise

and we're out of time.

But we must see

the substance

of the promise.

Now if you're watching

this video at home

and you're in your living room

wherever you're at,

I know it's gone long

and I know there's

a tendency maybe right now

for you to lose focus.

If you're gonna focus anywhere,

focus here.

What is this promise

that God is actually making?

Please listen to me now.

Look at verse four.

Behold,

his soul

which is lifted up

is not upright in him,

but the just

shall live by his faith.

This verse

contains the key

to God's eternal,

urgent,

and certain promise.

And here's what it is.

God

will judge

all sin,

but salvation

is available

by faith

alone.

This is the promise

of Habakkuk's prophecy.

And it's also

the answer

to his question.

No sin

will go unpunished.

The sin

of the wicked

Chaldeans

will not go

unpunished,

Habakkuk.

The wicked

will not prosper.

The sin

of what would

seem to be

the righteous Israelites

will not go unpunished.

All

will

be judged,

but salvation

is made available.

But it's not made available

on our terms.

It's made available

on God's terms.

Habakkuk's first question

had to do with

the absence

of judgment

on Judah.

And the second question

had to do with

the absence

of judgment

on Babylon.

But God's message

clearly states

that every single

person on earth

will answer

for their sin.

The vision

given to Habakkuk

narrows everything

down into two

groups of people.

Those who follow

after self

and those

who follow

faith.

Let's first look

at the one

who follows self.

This is where

verses 5-20

come into play.

It provides

a specific

description

of the destruction

that will come

to the Chaldeans

or the Babylonians.

Now in Habakkuk's

prophecy

the Babylonians

represent

all people

who reject

God

and follow

after their

own self.

They follow

after their own

heart,

after their own

way.

They do what

they want

in opposition

to what God

has commanded.

This section

of verses

is a literal

song.

Scholars refer

to it

as a taunt

song.

Now a taunt

song is a

judgment

that is

sung

by a

formerly

oppressed

people

towards the

people that

oppressed

them.

In this

case,

God's

judgment

on Babylon

is delivered

as one of

these songs.

There's five

stanzas to

the song.

Each

stanza

consists

of three

verses

and each

stanza

pronounces

a

woe

against

Babylon.

It highlights

a specific

category

of their

sin

and then

it announces

God's

judgment

against

that

particular

sin.

Now we're

not going

to explore

all of

this,

but let

me just

mention

the five

stanzas

to you

for your

own

study.

Verses

six

through

eight

is the

first

stanza

and the

sin

that God

is judging

is greed.

It's a

reference

to piling

up wealth

through

extortion

and insatiable

appetite

for more.

Verses

nine

through

eleven

is

injustice,

covetousness.

One of the sins

listed in the

Ten Commandments

is what's at the

heart of this

particular

stanza.

Verses

twelve

through fourteen

is violence.

They were

ruthless

and merciless

in their

greedy

pursuits.

Verses

fifteen

through seventeen

is immoral

self-indulgence.

This element

of judgment

involves

gross

immorality.

Verses

eighteen

through twenty

is idolatry.

This went

well beyond

for the

Babylonians

the worship

of idols

and of

carved images.

They were

the headquarters

in that

day of

spiritism

and sorcery

and divination

and even

what would

modernly be

called

astrology.

It was all

wicked

and pagan.

The song

doesn't include

an exhaustive

list of

sins

but it's

a summary

in verse

five

that holds

us all

guilty.

The wicked

person

that is

pictured

by the

Babylonians

is consumed

with self.

They follow

their own

way

which only

leads

to eternal

death.

As Proverbs

tells us

Proverbs

sixteen

twenty

five

there is a

way that

seems right

unto a

man

but the

end thereof

are the

ways of

death.

The promise

of God's

message is

that all

sin will

ultimately be

judged by

sin.

It's an

eternal

promise and

it will

result in

a certain

judgment.

And we

must remember

then Paul's

writing in

Romans that

we are all

guilty.

We've all

sinned.

We all fall

underneath the

scope of

God's judgment

from the

greatest to

the least

from the

oldest to

the youngest.

We are all

guilty.

So we see

the one who

follows self

but fortunately

we finish

with the

one who

follows

faith.

Look again

at verse

four.

Behold

his soul

which is

lifted up

is not

upright in

him but

the just

shall live

by faith.

Verse

four is the

most important

verse in the

entire book

of Habakkuk.

It's the

verse that

brings hope

to the

prophecy.

Without

it there

would be

no hope

at all.

We would

be utterly

hopeless as

a people.

And so

significant is

this part of

the prophecy

that it's

quoted three

different times

in the New

Testament in

regards to

salvation.

Let me give

you the three

times.

First we see

it in Romans

chapter one

and the

context of

its use

there is

that salvation

comes by

faith alone.

Salvation

comes by

faith alone.

Paul writes

I am not

ashamed of

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ for

it is the

power of

God unto

salvation to

everyone that

believes.

Not to

everyone who

does their

best and

tries their

hardest but

to everyone

who believes.

And then he

says for

therein is the

righteousness of

God revealed

from faith to

faith as it

is written the

just shall

live by

faith.

Salvation

comes by

faith alone.

And as we

understand the

New Testament

and the

New Covenant

that salvation

that faith

is specifically

in the

finished work

of Jesus

Christ on

the cross

and in his

resurrection

and making

him our

Lord.

Then we see

it in Galatians

chapter three.

The context

here is that

works cannot

save us and

that Christ

has paid the

penalty for

our sin.

He has taken

our death.

Galatians

chapter three

in verse

ten.

For all

who rely

on works

of the

law are

under a

curse.

For it is

written,

cursed be

everyone who

does not

abide by

all the

things written

in the

book of

the law

and do

them.

Now it

is evident,

Paul says,

that no one

is justified

before God

by the

law.

For the

righteous

shall live

by faith.

But the

law is not

of faith.

Rather,

the one

who does

them shall

live by

them.

Christ

redeemed

us,

Paul says,

from the

curse of

the law

by becoming

a curse

for us.

For it

is written,

cursed is

everyone who

is hanged

on a tree,

so that in

Christ Jesus,

the blessing

of Abraham

might come

to the

Gentiles,

so that we

might receive

the promised

spirit through

faith.

Christ became

a curse

on our

behalf.

And he

says,

if you

will just

trust me,

that salvation

that awaits

in Revelation

21 will

be yours.

Just believe

me.

You can do

nothing on

your own.

Surrender

all of your

works and

trust in

me.

Follow

me.

Let me be

your Lord.

The third

place is in

Hebrews 10

in the

context here

is that those

with true

faith will

continue in

faith and

in righteousness.

They will

not fall

away.

Verse 35,

cast not

away therefore

your confidence

which hath

great recompense

of reward for

ye have need

of patience

that after

you have

done the

will of

God you

might receive

the promise.

And then the

writer says,

for yet a

little while

and he that

shall come

will come

and will

not tarry.

That's a

quote of

verse number

three.

And then

comes the

quote of

verse four.

Now the

just shall

live by

faith.

That is the

just will

continue to

live by

faith and

that faith

will result

in a

righteous

behavior.

But if

any man

draw back,

the writer

says,

my soul

shall have

no pleasure

in him.

But we

are not of

them who

draw back

unto

perdition,

but of

them that

believe to

the saving

of the

soul.

Just as

eternal judgment

will come

on those

that continue

in sin

by rejecting

Christ,

so will

eternal life

come to

all of those

who live

by faith

in Jesus

Christ.

The promise

of salvation

is absolutely

certain,

but it only

applies to

those who

trust in

Christ alone

for it.

As James

Boyce said,

the foundation

of our

Christian

life is

not what

we can

do for

God,

but what

God has

done for

us.

Therefore,

the entrance

into that

life is

not by

working,

but by

receiving.

Receiving

what?

The free

gift of

salvation

that Christ

offers,

if you

will,

but believe

in

him.

According

to Habakkuk's

prophecy,

if salvation

comes as a

result of our

goodness,

we would

all be

doomed,

but praise

be to

God that

salvation is

not of

works,

it is of

faith,

and it is

offered freely

by the

gracious hand

of our

loving and

merciful God.

We each

and everyone

belong to

one of these

two groups.

We are

either living

by faith in

Christ alone,

or we're

not.

Judgment

day is

coming,

and we

will all

give an

account of

our lives

to God,

and in

that judgment

you will

not be

declared

righteous for

working hard

and doing

your best.

Only those

who have

trusted Christ's

sacrifice for

sin and

followed him

as Lord

will be

declared

righteous.

And this

is ultimately

the message

of the book

of Habakkuk.

The promise

of judgment

is urgent,

and it is

certain.

The question

is,

to which

of these

two groups

do you

belong?

Will you

be judged,

or will

you stand

justified?

God.

Thank you for

listening to

this sermon

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by Lakeside

Bible Church.

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