Habakkuk | Week 1

You have your Bible like for you to open it to habakkuk chapter 1

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

habakkuk chapter 1. You may think what is habakkuk?

Habakkuk 1 · chapter mention

It sounds like a loogie or the noise you make right before you

spit. It's it's it's true.

It does habakkuk is found in the Minor Prophets which is toward

the end of your Old Testament. It's after noon a home and

before Zephaniah. Again may be equally unhelpful,

I don't know, but I'm feeling a bit of extra energy today this

First time to preach in three weeks.

So you guys are really in for it today.

I apologize, but I'm happy to be here.

It's good to see you guys. I greatly miss being with you

last week. James, thank you once again for

stepping in and unfortunate circumstance.

And for preaching the word brother, it means a lot.

It's good to see you guys here today.

I hope your families are well habakkuk chapter one.

So there's a few things too. To talk about with the back,

I'll give you a little bit now and then I'll Prairie and I'll

give you a little bit more, but habakkuk is a an unusual

prophetic book. As we know, prophetic books,

usually prophetic books are written to the people of God to

tell something that God has spoken to them.

Now back is, is similar. God does tell habakkuk to write

down these oracle's write down, what you've seen, what you've

heard, but in habakkuk, we never see the people direct address

directly. Polly instead, it's a

conversation between habakkuk and God.

And what habakkuk is doing, is he's questioning God, he's

questioning specifically, God's action or maybe even more

specifically the inaction of God, where, where are you?

God? And so, the outline of a bacchic

is really simple to follow. It's only three chapters.

It's broken into three sections. If you have a study Bible or

something, it probably lays those out for you.

Are you they almost follow the chapter headings perfectly but

not quite what? We see in habakkuk are two

complaints and the prayer. The first complaint, there's two

complaints from habakkuk, there's two answers from God and

then there's a prayer and in the end and so habakkuk, first

complaint is what we'll be looking at today where habakkuk

is essentially asking God where are you In the middle of all of

this. And then God responds with a

response that I don't think, oh, back.

It was ready for. And so habakkuk, complains

again, why are you doing this or how could you do this?

Why would you do this and God responds again and then

habakkuk, praise to God. The book of habakkuk teaches us

that the righteous live by faith or specifically what God says,

is that the righteous shall live by his faith?

It's a verse that the Apostle Paul uses three different times

in the New Testament, all in different letters to different

groups of people, and all reinforcing and different idea

about what the faith of the righteous is the first time.

Paul uses it as in Romans 1:17, or the first time we see it in

Romans 1:17

our new testament is in Romans 1:17 where Paul is talking,

Romans 1:17

specifically about justification that the righteous come alive.

By faith, the renewed by faith. The gospel specifically is the

power of Salvation to all who believe and so the righteous

live by faith. The second thing we second time,

we see it is in Galatians chapter 3, if you know anything

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

about the book of Galatians, the Galatians were guilty of running

back on their faith in Christ and turning back to Works.

They're turning to Works to sanctify.

Works to have faith. Then they're putting faith in

their own work so I should say. And so, in Galatians 3:11, Paul

Galatians 3:11

uses this phrase, the righteous live by faith by letting them

know that the righteous are Sanctified by faith.

So you have justification, which is the beginning of Faith, you

have sanctification, which is the process of Faith.

Thought from your first breath, as a new Christian to your final

breath. And then in Hebrews 10, verse 38

Hebrews 10:38

phrases used again. I know I said that all these are

used by Paul so that's putting my cards on the table as to.

I think the writer of Hebrews is most people don't I mean we

don't know who the writer of Hebrews is but that's that's a

pretty widely held belief. Anyway there, he's talking

specifically about your glorification, the righteous

live by faith. And again he's encouraging the

Hebrews not to turn to works, but the Hold On by faith to

Christ until the very end. You will receive your due

reward. So it's talking about your

glorification. So what we see about this phrase

that the righteous shall live by his faith, is that the Christian

Life is a life of Faith. Amen, it's a life of Faith.

It's a life born of Faith. It's a life that's lived by

faith and it's a life that's consummated in faith.

It breathes his last breath in faith.

It goes to, its grave knowing that the grave has no, hold on

him. Amen.

And so from beginning to end the Christian Life is a life of

Faith received as a gift of God's grace.

But what do you do when your faith is rocked?

What do you do when your faith is in shambles or when your

faith is weak? Specifically, what do you do

when your faith is is rocked by world affairs?

What do you do when evil goes unpunished?

What do you do when good receives persecution and evil

receives reward? What do you do when it looks as

though the battle is being lost? What do you do when you're

pleading to God for mercy? And he appears silence Jasper,

Just prayed for the end of abortion.

It's a prayer that Louis likely all give a hearty.

Amen. To But if we are to look

honestly at the war on abortion, we would say we're losing.

And so our cry is for Mercy or cry, is for Justice For The

Unborn. but even in looking at that, we might think God, where

are you? This is what habakkuk is facing.

He's facing very much similar questions to what we face today.

And so this is a great book and it's a great book because it

teaches us as Christians how to respond.

It's much like the Book of Job and many other stories in

Scripture. Habakkuk teaches us that the

righteous live by faith. And today, what I want us to see

is that the faithful turn to God and their distress, the faithful

turn to God and their distress. Let me pray for us.

Heavenly Father. We thank you that you are with

us today. We thank you Lord that your word

is good and right and true. And father, we ask that you be

near to us today as we open up your word.

And as we read, we ask Lord that you would help us to know your

presence. God, we can look into our own

world and have many many questions that go.

That go unanswered. We can wonder God, where are

you? We can feel alone.

We can feel as though we've been forsaken.

And not just us as Christians here and America but all over

the globe. as we look at the persecution of our brothers and

sisters, Across the world. God, would you help us to be

faithful? Would you help us to live by

faith? Would you use this book

habakkuk? Did you use your word?

To help us to live father truly live strengthen our faith.

Bolstered Lord, help us to learn how to live in Babylon.

As men and women of God as boys and girls who are seeking your

face. In Christ's name.

I pray this prayer. Amen.

As many of your Bible, studies point out.

There's various things about the background of habakkuk that are

really important for us to understand as we understand, why

is habakkuk lobbying. These complaint grenades at God,

why is he doing this? And so a couple of the things

that you want to know is how bacchic is likely a contemporary

of the prophets, Zephaniah and Jeremiah, he lived in 7th

Century BC, the only hint that we have.

That date is the prediction of the Babylonian Invasion or the

invasion of the Chaldeans, as you see in Chapter 1 Verse 6,

which will read here in a moment, but it's really unclear

to us how far into the future. That would be the book.

Just doesn't give us a lot by way of dating ability.

The Babylonians do not appear yet in this to be an imminent

threats when habakkuk was riding.

But it seems as though he could see the writing on the wall.

It seems as though he had a maybe even had a vision.

I don't know from the Lord about what was coming.

He seems very aware of the potential threats.

And so habakkuk timeframe for riding is probably not as most

Scholars point out. Probably not later than the end

of Josiah's. Ranking Josiah's ring, which was

in 642 609 BC. Long time ago.

Before Josiah was raining. As king Judah had radically

turned away from God. Under the leadership of the

extremely Wicked Kings Manasseh and Amon that the nation was

right, for punishments, Judah was supposed to be the nation of

God's people. But the people had become

morally and spiritually corrupt, they were worshiping by Al on

the high places, they were brutally.

Murdering is a better word than sacrifice of brutally murdering

their children as a sacrifice to Molech.

They were allowing the temple to fall into ruin and many other

such calamities. The place was not happy.

It was not full of joy. Jude experience.

The significance, though. Short-lived time of Revival.

If you will during Josiah's rain when we're He restored, the all

here, instituted, the Feast of the Passover, he reminded them

of the word of God and tried to abide by it.

Tried to get the nation to abide by its Remember, The God Who had

delivered them so many times before. but the nation return

quickly to its evil ways following his death It was a

politically turbulent time as well.

There's much going on outside of Judah, not only within Judah,

but outside of Judah, Assyria had ruled Judah with a heavy

hand for well over 100 years inflicted punishments.

On them. But Assyria was beginning to

weaken. And soon Babylon would be the

world power. A backache probably lived to see

the following events. The destruction of Nineveh by

Babylon and 612 the Battle of haran and 609 in which King

Josiah died, as he tried to hinder the Egyptians from

reaching the battle. He probably saw the final defeat

of this, the Assyrians at the Battle of Kharkov, mesh and 605

and he possibly saw the Fulfillment of his own prophecy,

which is the Babylonian invasion of Judah in 605 and 597 and in

586 BC. Habakkuk.

It's seen a lot spiritually. Spiritual corruptness, it's in

political upheaval. A backache lived during a time

of great turmoil. And it, especially that turmoil,

especially resulted in the persecution of God's people.

Now, as I'm reading that, as I was studying this and one of the

reasons I want to present this book to you, I hope it's obvious

now that there's bears and this is something we want to be we

want to be careful of but this Bears many resemblances to our

own day and time. Not only in what we're seeing in

America but just world-wide right now.

Again I don't think that the nation of I want to make this

clear. The nation of America is not How

the nation of Judah. Right.

But what we see is the persecution of God's people

because evil is prevailing and what we see is God's people are

God's man God's Prophet coming to God saying where are you?

And I feel that deep in my soul. I do, I'm sure many of you do.

The people are worshipping false gods.

The people today worship, many false gods, Many of the people

who are worshiping the false gods in habakkuk.

Are people who once considered themselves, God's people, and

today many of the people who are worshiping false gods and our

time are those who once considered themselves, God's

people, the people are sacrificing children.

To Molech. This is not unlike the

modern-day Gina side. We soften by simply calling it a

boarding, a clump of cells. And so, somebody making tests

for what God, our babies being offered to.

Well, I would say it's the god of their own comfort and

entitlements, it's the god of their own belly.

Pun intended, right? They destroyed the temple.

The place that was initially meant for God's residents his

worship. We know that today on the

backside of the death and resurrection of Christ, the

sending of the holy spirit that we are the Temple of the Holy

Spirit, God resides in us not in buildings or tents to be moved

around but no less today. Are Christians and local

churches being destroyed by the wicked.

Amen. And so a backache looks at the

mounting and the further incoming destruction.

He sees what's going on. He says God, where are you?

Where are you? I want everybody to listen to me

for just a second because I think this is one of the most

important things we learn from habakkuk.

I think it's one of the things we have to remember, We have to

remember this. Believers, you are not promised.

You are not promised by God to be saved from Babylonian

captivity. You are not promised by God to

be saved from Babylonian persecution and Earthly rule.

You may experience it. in many ways, we are experiencing But

what you are? Chao.

Is that you have a refuge in God?

Always. And you are shown in this book.

How Christians are to live faithful to God when under

Babylonian rule in captivity? That's what the bakic teaches

us. And I think the challenge goes a

bit further than that parents. You have been given the

god-given rights to raise children, who will be arrows in

the hands of warrior Psalm says and 127.

To fight. Against the Babylonian rule.

Believers, you are lights in the world that is ruled by Darkness.

I was talking with a dear brother the other day and and

one of the things we were discussing is just how maybe sad

is a good word. it is that we live at a time right now where

Christians men, Old men men who in Titus 2 or supposed to be

leading the charge for young men, training, young men.

I hear old men lamenting Oh, I'm so glad I don't have to raise

four children in this world. And I think that I've reached

the moment where my response will change.

Used to it was just kind of a soft chuckle in like a, I

understand. But how?

How cowardice is that statement? As a belief as someone who

professes to Believe In The Sovereign Rule and authority of

God? And so my response, that least

the gut feeling I have the confidence, I have in Christ.

Is that not how terrible is it? But how fortunate in my eye?

To get to raise children in this world.

Praise God for the opportunity. Praise God for it.

You see, you don't choose. Babylonian rule.

It's not something you just wander into one day or wake up

one day saying man I would love to live under the rule of the

Babylonians. It's chosen for you by the

faithless naseeb generations that have gone before you.

And what you're responsible for, is your faithfulness in the

generation that you're currently dwelling in.

How will I change the future? So you don't do this just as

parents just one that's one application points.

You don't have to be a parent to raise arrows.

You raise Arrows by raising disciples, amen, disciples.

Don't have to be your children. If you're a parent those are

your first disciples. Absolutely.

If you're not a parent God hasn't solved for whatever

reason to make you a parent yet and maybe he never does then

he's given you an incredible opportunity to be a disciple

maker either way as a child of God.

And so you get to make disciples You to make disciples.

And so again, I think one of the main things about habakkuk is

that Babylonian rule happens. And you might look at Americans.

Oh man this is really tough. What we're going through blah

blah, blah of a change over the last 100 years. 50 years even 20

years. It's like nothing we've ever

seen sure, I don't disagree with you, but do you realize how

fortunate we've been to live in America?

There were brothers and sisters all over the world who have

never experienced the freedom we've experienced.

And yet in persecution, the church thrives the church grows.

In fact, persecution has a way of weeding outs, unbelievers,

separating the wheat, from, the chaff.

How do we know who's in, and who's out?

Let them endure persecution and we'll find out.

You'll know for sure then who's in and who's out?

So voting matters standing for the right things matters.

Absolutely. But what matters most is your

day-to-day to commitment to the Lord to serve him as his

disciple to grow in Christ likeness and to make other

disciples. That's what matters.

Because you have to prepare people to live under Babylonian

rule. And, and weather.

Whether it comes or not faithfulness is the only way to

live in it. And so back is a book that's

about the Judgment of God. On God's people.

And how he uses. evil people to exercise, his judgement on

seemingly are people who think they are good, but that way,

Look at verse 11. The Oracle that habakkuk the

prophet saws, so in Chapter 2, he sold a write this down.

So that's his that's his introduction.

Here's the Oracle that I saw. Now here's his complaints in

verse 2, through 4 O Lord. How long shall I cry for help

and you will not hear or cry to you violence, and you will not

save. Why do you make me see iniquity?

And why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction and violence are before me strife and contention

arise. So the law is paralyzed and

Justice. Never goes forth for the wicked.

Surround the righteous so Justice Goes Forth, perverted

When you can hear in his voice right though.

The pain, the suffering, the doubt, the fear, the Calamity,

that's all around him, and God why?

Why are you silent? Where are you?

Before we get into God's reply, I want you to see at least three

things that that I think back it does that show us how the

faithful go to God in their distress.

Because you can go to God in your distress in a sinful way.

And you can go to God in your distress and a righteous way.

And I think a back it comes largely in a righteous way.

Here's a few things that I think helped us see that the first is

that habakkuk remembers his Covenant with God.

How do we know he remembers his Covenant with God?

He didn't name his Covenant. Did he?

He didn't say God, I'm one of your Covenant people.

I mean mentions the righteous so maybe that's a hint but the very

first hint we have is that he uses the Covenant name for God

lord. it says, oh Lord, this This is how the Covenant people

of God address God. And so the use of the name Lord

emphasizes his relationship with God.

And what we need to take from this is that the presence of

evil the presence of suffering or not negating.

His relationship with God. They're not taking it away these

tumultuous times that he's experiencing.

Don't make him run from God. They make him run to God, right?

Oh Lord! Where are you?

He's running to God. God's faithful people turn to

him during their distress. Well the first thing is we need

to see they remember their Covenant with him.

O Lord. Where Are You?

O Lord. You see, in using the Covenant

name of God. He's also recalling past works

of God. He knows that he can call on God

because he has the past works of God to point to and say, God

hears for you were faithful to deliver your people.

Where are you now? This is why remembering your

Covenant matters. Is why knowing your scriptures

matters? You were not alone when you

question where is God you stand in a line of great great

company. Many Believers across thousands

of years who are saying the very same thing.

Oh Lord where are you? It's like a thing.

I observed here about habakkuk dealing with the Lord.

And this way is that he deals honestly with God.

First thing is you remembers his Covenant but the second thing is

that he deals honestly with God, he doesn't sugarcoat his

complaints. What would it matter boys and

girls would it matter? If he had tried to hide his

thoughts from the Lord, or does the Lord know everything?

Any boy or girl want to take a shot at the young ones?

Yeah it's God know everything. Yeah he does.

All right, God knows all things. So we can't hide our thoughts

from him. Now, the boys and girls are

shrinking down there. She's like, please don't call

him me. So habakkuk comes honestly

before the Lord. He says, how long shall I cry to

you? In other words this has been

going on a while. This isn't his first prayer.

How long shall I continue to do this?

Lord. Where are you?

Why do you idly look at wrong? In other words, why do you

twiddle your thumbs? While wrong is being done to

your people. Habakkuk is observing the

spiritual Corruption of God's people.

He's observing the tumultuous political pressure going on all

around him in the world and the prophet begins to doubt, maybe.

Maybe doubts, beginning to creep in.

Maybe the mockers are getting to him, you know, the outside

voices. Who say, where is your god when

they look at evil, right? This is one of the great

atheistic questions of the day. If God is good, and if God

exists, why is there evil in the world?

I'm sure habakkuk was hearing similar.

Thoughts. The prophet begins to doubt

potentially whether there will be Justice against evil, whether

there will be Mercy shown to the faithful.

Where are you? God, how long shall I cry to

you? Are you going to show your

people? Mercy?

Have you, forsaken us? Where are you?

God, will you allow evil to go unpunished?

I'll back. It goes on to make some

accusations against God. He says the law is paralyzed And

he says, justice never goes forth.

These are heavy accusations against the Lord.

Well, the one thing, the prophet recognized for sure, is that the

Mosaic law had no perceivable effect on the people, it wasn't

changing the nation, the, the Mosaic law, The Ten

Commandments, right? And all the rest had no

perceivable effect on the world. People were still evil God's

people even were turning away from God and turning to idol

worship. What's commandment number one?

I shall have no other gods before me.

Commandment number two, don't worship.

Idols, don't make any thing in my image and worship it.

The people have disobeyed, the first two Commandments.

And he looks and he says, the law must be paralyzed.

It's not working. And so the prophet thinks that

God silence is causing Injustice to fester and to grow like a

wound. That's becoming infected.

It's getting worse and worse and it's affecting the whole body.

And he's not wrong. This festering, it is growing.

The wicked were surrounding the righteous.

He says And throughout the history of God's people from

Genesis to revelation. Into where we are today.

The children of God have often expressed these same complaints

job made the very same complaints to God.

Job even tries to justify himself in the process and which

he receives a hearty rebuke, From God.

And from a friend, there is a rights Israelites wondered where

God was during their Wilderness journey is God, even Among Us,

they said, so the the righteous bring their distress to the

Lord. That go to the Lord in their

distress but they do it by remembering his Covenant name,

remembering their Covenant with him.

And they do it by dealing honestly with God.

The third thing that I think of bacchic recognizes that I think

we must recognize and this is one of the things that keeps us

from being sinful and our approach is that habakkuk

understood the sovereignty of God in all this.

Again, I think this is one of the things that grounds us.

It's one of the things that helps us remain humble.

Before the Lord, how long will I cry to you for help?

And you will not hear or cry to you violence, and you will not

save. Why do you make me see iniquity?

And why do you look idly at wrong?

You see all the use the word you in there?

He's holding God responsible. But it but he's holding God

responsible because he knows that God is sovereign.

He knows that God that the sovereignty of God means is it

means that God is the supreme ruler of all things.

Not merely objects or persons but he is the ruler of every

events of History. Nothing happens apart from the

hand of God. And his Sovereign rule by

definition is not subject to anything or anyone outside of

himself. It is his own God works all

things together for the purpose of his own Glory.

And His glory will spread throughout the Earth that will

cover the earth. Isaiah says, as the waters,

Cover the Earth. Psalm 115 3.

The psalmist there says our God is in the heavens and he does

all that. He pleases she got is not

forwarded in his plans, not once not at all.

And so habakkuk, recognizing this truth, he goes to the

source He seeks answers for his complaints from the only one who

could give an answer. You see the presence of evil

gives the appearance of the absence of God, but it does not

prove the absence of God. All right.

Especially as evil grows, especially as it begins to kind

of overwhelm God's people. It can.

It can look, Like God is absent. But the righteous walk by faith,

they don't walk by sight. That's what First Corinthians

tells us or we may say as it said here that the righteous

live by faith And not by sight. Another words, the righteous man

or woman the righteous boy or girl does not.

Look at the events going on around him and decide whether or

not he or she is going to remain faithful to God.

The righteous person looks at the events going on around them

and says, no matter what I'm going to remain faithful to the

Lord. He is worthy of my faithfulness

because he is always faithful and steadfast and love.

Never relented. Habakkuk teaches us how we

properly bring our complaints to God.

It is true that the faithful turn to God in their distress

with the faithful do. So in faith, they don't do it as

unbelievers. Unbelievers mock, God,

unbelievers mock, his people unbelievers scoff, Someone uses

this illustration so perfectly. It talks about not sitting in

the presence of scoffers, not standing in the way of Sinners

not, not being like the mockers, But this is what unbelievers, do

they mock God and they mock his people.

They look weak. Look at them believing in their

fairy tale. God, who is non-existent?

He's clearly non-existent. Because evil is present if he

were really good. There would be no evil.

Right. And that's what they say, right?

Agreeing It's really just a straw man argument.

Believers on the other hand, They come to God in faith.

And so just to kind of reiterate what I've just told you

believers do that. They come to the Lord by and

Faith by remembering their Covenant with him.

If you missed that the first time around, that's step one.

Remember your Covenant with God, he is your Lord because he saved

you by his grace through faith. If you were in Christ, Jesus.

It's because of the work of God Almighty.

On your behalf, do not forget your salvation Just because the

world is burning around you. Believers deal.

Honestly with God. It's okay to question God.

What are you up to? What's going on?

It's normal to feel alone at times.

It's normal to wonder. It's normal to doubt your

finite. You're not infinite.

The Bible, clearly states, that his ways are higher than our

ways. His thoughts are greater than

our thoughts. How could you think on the same

level of God, you can't. So, what is your natural

response going to be? It's going to be times of doubt

and fear. Worry, anxiety.

Bring those to the Lord Faithfully.

Third thing they do is they understand the sovereignty of

God. God is completely in control of

all things at all times. Nothing happens.

Apart from his hand. R.c., Sproul, the late Caster

r.c., Sproul. He had this wonderful quote, he

said if there's one Maverick molecule, if there's one

molecule that decides to do its own thing and all the universe,

then God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, he

is not God. So faithful Christians, may not

understand why something happens, we make question it,

but you can trust that all things happen.

According to God's Sovereign Rule and so when a Christian

does, is it Christian learns to pray?

Then like this God help me. Help me see your glory.

During all of this helped me. See your Sovereign hand at work

and all of this helped me to overcome my fears and my

frustrations and my doubts. Help me God That's how you

Faithfully Pray when you're seeking answers.

Prayers like that over and over again though.

They may not receive the answer you're looking for.

But you may not have all the knowledge of God in a moment.

Prayers like that produce Joy. Prayers like that, produce

strength prayers, like that produce, comfort, and peace, and

faith during times of distress prayers, like that, helped you

and the Brotherhood of Christians keep marching

forward. You recognize and moments of

dependents that you are not alone.

God gives you all sorts of things that you cannot handle,

so that you will depend on him. If God only gave you things, you

could handle, you would be God, not him.

God doesn't want you to be God, he created you to worship and

glorify his name, not yours. Amen.

So you come under, Babylonian rule, you come under Babylonian

impact, you come under the impact of Sinners.

You come under persecution, you come under Strife, you come

under difficulty, so that you will learn to praise the name of

the Lord, most high above every other name.

It teaches you to be humble it, teaches you.

To not think by my strength, look how awesome I am. teaches

you to trust and The Only Name That's worthy of trust, the name

of Jesus Christ, Our Lord And that happens in those prayers,

whether it's about personal distress or Global distress.

Would you look at God's response?

I promise to be a bit shorter here.

Habakkuk 15 through 11. Look among the Nations and see

wonder and be astounded. God says, for I am doing a work

in your days that you would not believe if told for behold I'm

raising up the Chaldeans. That's the Babylonians that

bitter and Hasty Nation, who marched through the breadth of

the earth to seize dwellings that are not their own.

That means they're coming to take y'all stuff.

Right. It's like done every other

persons. They're coming for you.

They are dreaded and fearsome their Justice and their dignity

go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than

leopards more Fierce than the evening.

Wolves, their Horsemen press proudly on their Horsemen come

from afar. They Fly Like an Eagle Swift to

devour. They all come for violence, all

their faces, forward together, captives like sand.

You ever taken a handful of sand and just hold it.

And who knows? How many?

Potentially millions of grains of sand.

You're grabbing in one handful. All their faces are forward.

The captures likes, and at Kings, they scoff at rulers,

they laugh. They're not afraid of any ruler.

They laugh at every Fortress for they pile up Earth and take it.

This means that this is kind of a neat.

God is telling of a battle tactic that they had where they

would pile up the ground in front of fortresses, in order to

get over the Fortress and take the place, I mean, they're

moving dirt literally to get into your place and season and

you and your family. I think about the spiritual

significant that Suzy kind of survey the landscape.

The Babylonians are piling up ground all around us today.

And I don't mean necessarily in a physical sense, I mean more in

a spiritual sense. They're coming for Christianity.

They've already begun. You're raising children and a

time where? You might even but your children

will certainly see. Barring a great Revival, of

course. That that anything that

professes to be Christian is hate speech.

Condemnable likely. My Punishment of law.

This isn't fear-mongering I think you need to know how to

raise your children. How to raise disciples?

How to think about your own Christianity and just how

serious this is. In these days. men, it's time

for you to stop sitting on the sidelines, if you are I don't

know any other way to put it. We need you, women, we need you,

we need faithful men and women to run after the Lord, God above

all else. Harder Than You, Train Your

Body. Harder than you train for work.

Harder than you train anything else.

You need to train yourself for godliness because it matters

right now in your life more than it's ever mattered before.

Man, I love you. I really expected more.

I'm insane. Not for me but because you see

the desperation of this. But know that you don't beat the

air as a boxer, beats the air, you don't train for something

that you're not gifted to train for the.

Holy Spirit has filled you with life and godliness for this very

time. And as you turn from sin as you

turn from your own desires and you turn to the Lord, he fills

you up. With the fruit of the spirit.

And you get to go into battle with the Lord's army.

As a Christian, it's a man or woman with Christ written across

your heart. It matters.

God in verse 11. He says then they sweep by like

the wind and go on another words.

I just It's like the destruction of a F5.

Tornado on a small town. There's just nothing left, the

suite by like the wind and they go on guilty men.

Here's where the righteous hangs.

His hat guilty men, whose own might is their God.

You should God and his response, he doesn't tell, he doesn't tell

habakkuk what he wants to hear. This is not what habakkuk came.

Looking for back at came looking for immediate relief.

Immediate Mercy, he doesn't get it.

What he says is, oh, it's about to get worse.

But what you can trust is that they are guilty men.

And there might is their own God.

God has judged them right even though he's letting them.

Act. He's using them as an act of

judgment against Judah. God is saying, I'm among you.

I'm with you. I'm here to help you.

I will bring them Justice. But I'm going to do it through

this violent and prideful Nation.

I'm going to use them, and that's why he says you would not

believe it. Even if told the prophet refused

to believe that a just, God would use the sinful Babylonians

to deal with his people. But again, God's sovereignty is

on display. He says, I am raising up the

Chaldeans. He doesn't say the child beans

are coming. He says, I am raising up the

Chaldeans for this purpose. This is The Sovereign Judgment

of God on his people. God controls everything.

He uses Nations even for his own purposes.

The god of habakkuk is the same God, we serve today.

He knows the Chaldeans are bitter and Hasty Nation.

He calls them that he says they're guilty yet.

He will use their character to punish Judah.

They've dominated the world. They're destroying lives through

murder, in captivity. Their own might, is their God,

according to the Lord. And it's in that that you see a

glimpse of their impending, judgments.

God's response doesn't silence habakkuk for long.

He will see next week, his second complaints there.

Habakkuk essentially says, how could you do this?

God, how could you use an evil and perverse people?

To exercise judgment. On your people.

Let me wrap this up for us. That this perplexing response

through this perplexing response.

God, challenges, not only habakkuk Faith, but ours as

well. That God can bring about good

from Evil. Is a theme that Echoes down

through the whole Bible. You see it?

One of the first times you see, it is.

Well let me see it everywhere. You see in Genesis 3, but

Genesis 50 is one of the times where it's so plain to us as

Joseph. There makes a statement to his

brothers after they sold him into captivity.

He lives in prison for a while. He becomes a dream, he's able to

interpret dreams for Pharaoh, he gains a lot of prominence of

gains, a lot of authority. And he's able to deliver God's

people. And this is what he says to his

brothers, as they realize what they've done the place they've

given him and now he's saved them and they're repenting of

it. He says, as for you, you meant

evil against me, but God meant it for good.

God used evil in my life for good. it takes a ton of faith

and yet a small minutiae Faith at the same time to be able to

say God used evil for my good. But that's what Joseph does.

The Apostle Paul reaffirms this, he expounds on it for the sake

of time, I can't read it all goodness sake of time while

Romans 8:28. And we know that for those who

Romans 8:28

love God, all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to his purpose.

That's that's the Apostle Paul essentially restating what

Joseph said in Genesis 50 but then in 29, through 38, sorry,

39. He He just expounds on it.

He goes so much further. Encourage you to read that if

you're struggling. The best thing though, about

God's have back response to habakkuk is that it also really

hang with me, just for a minute here, it also foreshadows the

ultimate good. It foreshadows when we look

forward to something, right? It tells us something that's

coming and this is what happens in this God saying.

I'm going to use something evil for your good.

God is foreshadowing. The ultimate moment of when evil

is used for good, and that's in Eternal salvation, Eternal

salvation. Your Eternal salvation was

accomplished through the ultimate Evil.

There is only one man who ever walked the face of the Earth.

who was punished, put to death, unrighteous Unjustly.

Everyone else whether in so you can make that set me right now.

There's probably evidence of somebody who was, you know,

received the death penalty who wasn't really guilty.

Well, maybe they weren't guilty of that crime, but they're

guilty before God. Right?

And so, this is why all men die. But not all men.

Stay dead. There is eternal salvation in

Christ, Jesus. And that comes through the

ultimate Evil. The execution of the sinless Son

of God upon a cross. I don't know if you recall, I

want to recall for you Acts chapter 2 verse 22, through 24

Acts 2:22

Peter is towards the end of his sermon on the day of Pentecost,

and he makes a seemingly wild statement about what's just

taking place to Jesus Christ, and this is what he says.

He says, men of Israel. Hear these words, Jesus of

Nazareth, a man attested to you, by God, with Mighty works, and

wonders, and signs. That God.

Did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. this

Jesus, Peter says, And he's standing before a crowd of

people who are just there listening intently at what in

the world is just happened to the disciples as they begin

speaking in tongues and their proclaiming, the excellencies of

God and languages, they didn't previously know.

And so he has a captive audience especially of men of Israel.

Who just days earlier, put to Death Christ Jesus.

And this is what he says, this Jesus.

Delivered up according to the definite plan and for knowledge

of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of Lawless men.

Wow. You see what?

Peter is saying, he's saying that the hands of Lawless men

put to death, the only person who ever fulfilled the law, who

only who they only person ever kept it perfectly the only

sinless person to live And that they did that, according to the

definite plan and foreknowledge of God, it was not a part from

the hand of God. The decree of God.

God worked evil. The greatest evil for your

greatest. Good.

That you might be saved from your sins by belief in him.

Amen. Peter goes on God raised him up.

Loosing the Pains of death because it was not it was not

possible for him to be held by it.

Praise God. And so what we see is that in

the unfathomable wisdom of God, on that cross, Justice and mercy

met Justice and mercy met Jesus receives the penalty.

That the justice of God requires for sin, which is death.

According to Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death.

Romans 6:23

Jesus received the penalty and the justice of God for sin.

And we receive through faith, God's mercy, and forgiveness of

sin and the promise of eternal life.

Amen. Justice and mercy meet.

Paul in Romans chapter 3 says, but now the righteousness of God

Romans 3 · chapter mention

has been manifested apart from the law of the law and the

prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through

faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe for there is no

distinction, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

All are justified by his grace as a gift through the

Redemption. That are in that is in Christ.

Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation.

That is a payment a substitute by his blood to be received by

faith. If you were going to be saved

from your sins today, it will not be through your works.

It will not be through your evil.

It will not be through. Fleeting your own case.

It will be by humbling yourself before the Lord and placing your

faith in Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins.

Repent, repent. Repent of your sins, turn to

Christ and live eternally with Jesus.

Pleaded of you. And then help us make disciples.

Help us spread the light of the Gospel into all the Earth.

It says that this was to show God's righteousness, he can't be

accused of being unrighteous because he's righteous because

in his Divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he

might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in

Jesus. You see, if God Justified people

apart from the sacrifice of Christ, that would not be just

That would be unjust to overlook sin.

Instead he condemns Jesus to death so that he can righteously

justify us by faith in Christ Jesus.

Praise God. And this is why we can continue

to have faith amid frustration. God's providential use of people

and events is both purposeful and personal.

It's meant for your good. It's meant for the good of his

people. The righteous will never be.

Forsaken ever. Believers in here today, live by

faith. In Jesus Christ.

Walk by faith in Christ. Not by the side of your

circumstances. Go to God and your distress.

Whether that distress is personal or Global trustee.

Unbelievers. All have sinned and fallen short

of the glory of God and are justified by his grace.

As a gift through the Redemption that is in Christ.

Jesus, God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be

received by faith receive Jesus Christ today by faith in him.

Amen, me pray for you. Heavenly Father, we love you.

We thank you, Lord, for your kindness and your goodness

toward us. And ask Lord that you would help

us too. Turn to you in order to stress

to honor you as only, you can be honored.

Help us to live lives. That glorify your name, Above

All Else, Above All Else. Father, forgive us of our sins.

Forgive us Lord of perpetuating the sins of our forefathers.

Forgive us. Lord for being unaware, even Of

sin. That's inherited.

Warrant Lord, would you help us to see our sin and to repent of

that? We might be faithful men and

women that we might be faithful boys and girls of Jesus Christ.

God, we don't know what's in store for the world at all.

We don't know what's in store for our day.

We don't know what's in store for our lifetime.

But we know that we have the honor.

We have the opportunity to live for you.

Above all else, to serve your name and all that.

We do to glorify you in this earth help us to do that.

Personally. but you first, in all things to trust you Above

All Else, And God help us Make Disciples of all nations of all

people, whether they live down the street from us or the live

across the globe. Bless our efforts, Lord help us

to serve you. We thank you Lord for the

opportunity of granted to us. Lord, we ask that you would save

Sinners by your grace to do it through your word.

You do it through your calling, what they would hear your call

and could not run from it any longer.

May we see hearts change right here in Magnolia Columbia

County. Lord, may you grow your church?

Grow your people in this place? That we might glorify your name.

We love you submit ourselves to you, amen?

We love you submit ourselves to you, amen?