1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:17,560 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,440 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,160 All right, well, let's go ahead and get into our Bible study 10 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:26,880 here this evening. 11 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,520 If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to Habakkuk Chapter 12 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:30,840 two. 13 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,440 I know that's not a passage of scripture that we go to quite frequently. 14 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:38,320 If you want to know where Habakkuk is, it's after Nahum and 15 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:39,320 before Zephaniah. 16 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,480 And for some of you, like, that doesn't help me at all either. 17 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,400 It's there in the Old Testament, considered to be a minor 18 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,760 prophet, not minor in in purpose, but minor in size. 19 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,360 And so this is one of those books of the prophets. 20 00:00:55,140 --> 00:00:57,420 So I'll give you a few moments there to find Habakkuk. 21 00:00:57,420 --> 00:00:59,740 For some of you, you guys just cheat and get on your phones, and 22 00:00:59,740 --> 00:01:00,420 that's okay. 23 00:01:00,820 --> 00:01:03,500 As long as it's you're reading your following, that's a good thing. 24 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:05,980 But either way, we're in Habakkuk Chapter two. 25 00:01:05,980 --> 00:01:07,860 And I appreciate that you're here this evening. 26 00:01:08,180 --> 00:01:12,500 And two weeks ago, we started the study in the book of Habakkuk. 27 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:14,900 And I know that it's been a few weeks, and I know that sometimes 28 00:01:15,220 --> 00:01:16,860 we have a lot between our. 29 00:01:16,860 --> 00:01:19,260 Our services, and so there might be some things that are clouding 30 00:01:19,260 --> 00:01:19,780 your memory. 31 00:01:20,430 --> 00:01:21,830 So what is Habakkuk all about? 32 00:01:21,830 --> 00:01:23,390 Habakkuk is a prophet. 33 00:01:23,710 --> 00:01:25,350 And remember what a prophet is. 34 00:01:25,350 --> 00:01:29,470 In the Old Testament, a prophet is someone who is proclaiming 35 00:01:29,470 --> 00:01:32,110 the truth of God to God's people. 36 00:01:32,670 --> 00:01:36,070 Again, you have to remember at the time of the Old Testament and 37 00:01:36,070 --> 00:01:39,430 even the time of the New Testament for that matter, you don't 38 00:01:39,430 --> 00:01:41,390 have the complete canon of Scripture. 39 00:01:41,390 --> 00:01:44,910 You don't have all the 66 books finished and complete. 40 00:01:44,910 --> 00:01:48,220 And so the way God would speak to his people would be that he would 41 00:01:48,220 --> 00:01:49,580 speak through a prophet. 42 00:01:49,580 --> 00:01:53,100 And that word prophet or prophecy, just means to speak forth 43 00:01:53,100 --> 00:01:53,580 truth. 44 00:01:53,820 --> 00:01:57,580 And so Habakkuk is called by God to speak forth the truth to his 45 00:01:57,580 --> 00:02:02,900 people, specifically the people there in Israel who were going 46 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:03,980 to be facing judgment. 47 00:02:04,060 --> 00:02:08,580 So Habakkuk has a message to tell God's people, and that is a 48 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:11,580 message of judgment, that if they continue on this path of sin, 49 00:02:11,820 --> 00:02:15,760 that God would judge them for that sin and bring a judgment upon 50 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:16,320 the land. 51 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:21,200 Now, Habakkuk actually starts this book with a question. 52 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,680 And really the book of Habakkuk itself is a lesson on how 53 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,160 we can ask God questions. 54 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,640 And there's this phrase that I've been really growing in, in. 55 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:34,080 In this study, and I think it's a helpful phrase. 56 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:36,680 The question is, is can we question God? 57 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,840 And I think that we should not question God in his character, but 58 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,600 we are allowed to ask God questions. 59 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,120 And there's a biblical way to ask God questions. 60 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:46,960 And we see that throughout the Bible. 61 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,560 But here in the book of Habakkuk, we definitely see a good 62 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:56,720 example of asking God in a way that's honorable, authentic, respectful. 63 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:58,240 There's a way to ask God questions. 64 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,080 Now, does God always answer our questions? 65 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:00,720 Not always. 66 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,920 We see instances in Scripture where God does not answer the questions 67 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:06,080 of his people. 68 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:08,880 There's times where God does answer the question, but it's not 69 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:10,320 the answer that people want to hear. 70 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,360 And that's in some ways how Habakkuk is in chapter one. 71 00:03:13,830 --> 00:03:16,830 So chapter one, Habakkuk says, God, I'm looking around me and all 72 00:03:16,830 --> 00:03:17,750 I see is evil. 73 00:03:18,150 --> 00:03:19,510 All I see is violence. 74 00:03:20,230 --> 00:03:21,550 All I see is rebellion. 75 00:03:21,550 --> 00:03:22,950 Why are you letting this happen? 76 00:03:22,950 --> 00:03:24,550 Why aren't you judging them? 77 00:03:24,790 --> 00:03:26,310 Why aren't you taking care of this? 78 00:03:26,310 --> 00:03:27,830 Why aren't you changing their hearts? 79 00:03:28,150 --> 00:03:30,350 And God answers him and says, I am. 80 00:03:30,350 --> 00:03:31,670 I'm going to judge them. 81 00:03:32,150 --> 00:03:35,630 And I'm going to judge them by sending the Babylonians or, or here 82 00:03:35,630 --> 00:03:36,750 we see the Chaldeans. 83 00:03:36,750 --> 00:03:38,790 It's the interchangeable phrase there. 84 00:03:38,790 --> 00:03:40,190 The Chaldeans or the Babylonians. 85 00:03:40,190 --> 00:03:44,200 And he says, I'm going to bring the Babylonians to judge God's 86 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:44,480 people. 87 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,640 And Habakkuk has a problem with that because now Habakkuk says, 88 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,600 God, why aren't you judging the people that are sinning? 89 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,080 Now God answers him, and he's not happy with God's answer and how 90 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:55,840 he's doing it. 91 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,680 And sometimes that's how we are in our own life. 92 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,440 We ask God to do something, and when God does his. 93 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,800 His work, we get upset because we don't like it, how it goes about. 94 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:06,440 And that's how Habakkuk is. 95 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,170 He says, God, why would you send the Chaldeans? 96 00:04:09,970 --> 00:04:11,490 These people are prideful. 97 00:04:11,490 --> 00:04:12,930 They're arrogant, they're. 98 00:04:13,010 --> 00:04:13,890 They're sinful. 99 00:04:13,890 --> 00:04:15,810 They're worse than the Israelites. 100 00:04:16,130 --> 00:04:19,010 And basically God answers him by saying, hey, I'm God. 101 00:04:19,010 --> 00:04:19,930 I'm the one that. 102 00:04:19,930 --> 00:04:21,250 That can do anything I want. 103 00:04:21,650 --> 00:04:25,330 And in this case, I'm going to judge the Babylonians just as I'm 104 00:04:25,330 --> 00:04:26,410 going to judge the Israelites. 105 00:04:26,410 --> 00:04:29,770 But it's God's prerogative on who he uses for his judgment. 106 00:04:29,770 --> 00:04:32,170 And so he says, I'm going to use the Babylonians. 107 00:04:32,170 --> 00:04:34,370 And you have to basically be okay with that. 108 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:39,520 But when Habakkuk asked this question, we're going to see his 109 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,800 response not to God's answer, but his response in waiting. 110 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,880 And so we pick up in verse one of chapter two, this is where we 111 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:47,800 left off last time. 112 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,920 So Habakkuk asked the main question, God, why aren't you judging? 113 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:52,200 God says, I will judge. 114 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:53,320 It'll be the Babylonians. 115 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,800 And basically Habakkuk asks the second question, why are you 116 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:57,800 using the Babylonians? 117 00:04:57,880 --> 00:04:59,160 Why would you do that, God? 118 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:00,440 It doesn't make sense to me. 119 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:03,420 And, and so this is where he's at. 120 00:05:03,660 --> 00:05:05,020 He's asked the question. 121 00:05:05,020 --> 00:05:08,060 And what does it say he does here in verse one, he says, I will 122 00:05:08,060 --> 00:05:14,180 stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to 123 00:05:14,180 --> 00:05:15,980 see what he will say unto me. 124 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:17,980 So, so this is that waiting period. 125 00:05:17,980 --> 00:05:21,900 I've asked God a question, and I'm going to wait to hear what God 126 00:05:21,900 --> 00:05:22,540 has to say. 127 00:05:22,780 --> 00:05:24,860 I'm open to hear what God has to say. 128 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:26,340 So he's asking a real question. 129 00:05:26,340 --> 00:05:28,820 We know that he's asking from a right spirit because he's waiting 130 00:05:28,820 --> 00:05:29,420 for the answer. 131 00:05:29,870 --> 00:05:32,310 Sometimes we ask God questions and we're not really willing to hear 132 00:05:32,310 --> 00:05:32,910 the answer. 133 00:05:33,230 --> 00:05:35,390 We ask it almost in a statement form. 134 00:05:35,950 --> 00:05:38,030 But what he has said here is, God, I don't understand. 135 00:05:38,510 --> 00:05:39,510 Explain this to me. 136 00:05:39,510 --> 00:05:42,510 I will wait for you to give me that answer. 137 00:05:42,510 --> 00:05:45,190 And it might be in God's timing, it might be immediate or 138 00:05:45,190 --> 00:05:48,590 it might take some time, but this is really where we see his heart. 139 00:05:48,590 --> 00:05:52,950 Here at the end of verse one, he says in what I shall answer when 140 00:05:52,950 --> 00:05:53,710 I am reproved. 141 00:05:53,710 --> 00:05:54,350 Meaning this. 142 00:05:54,830 --> 00:05:55,090 I. 143 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:57,080 I'm ready to be corrected. 144 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:57,720 I. 145 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,320 I'm ready to be told that I'm thinking improperly. 146 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,520 So what can we take about this in. 147 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:03,560 In our own lives? 148 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:04,200 We can. 149 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,560 We can take this lesson that when we see things in a way that 150 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,600 we don't understand, when we're confused, when it seems like 151 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:15,320 God is doing something wrong in our minds and in our hearts, it's 152 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,720 not that God has done wrong, it's that we're seeing it from the 153 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,600 wrong perspective and that we need to change our perspective, we 154 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:21,800 need to change our hearts. 155 00:06:22,250 --> 00:06:24,970 And so when we come to God, we say, God, this doesn't seem to make 156 00:06:24,970 --> 00:06:25,330 sense. 157 00:06:25,330 --> 00:06:27,290 But I know that you are good. 158 00:06:27,690 --> 00:06:29,010 I know that you are holy. 159 00:06:29,010 --> 00:06:30,210 I know that you are just. 160 00:06:30,210 --> 00:06:31,370 I know that you love me. 161 00:06:31,690 --> 00:06:34,850 So teach me why I'm seeing this from the wrong perspective. 162 00:06:34,850 --> 00:06:36,050 Show me where I'm wrong. 163 00:06:36,050 --> 00:06:37,929 That's essentially what Habakkuk is saying. 164 00:06:37,929 --> 00:06:41,450 He says, I'm going to wait for God's answer and be ready to change 165 00:06:41,450 --> 00:06:42,730 where God has me to change. 166 00:06:43,290 --> 00:06:45,610 And I think that's the proper understanding of when we come to 167 00:06:45,610 --> 00:06:49,380 God with questions like, lord, I don't like what you're doing. 168 00:06:49,700 --> 00:06:51,460 I don't understand what you're doing. 169 00:06:51,860 --> 00:06:55,980 I wouldn't do it that way, but I'm sure that I'm the one that's 170 00:06:55,980 --> 00:06:56,260 wrong. 171 00:06:56,260 --> 00:06:59,260 So teach me where I need to change and what I need to change 172 00:06:59,260 --> 00:07:01,780 in my perspective on your work. 173 00:07:01,780 --> 00:07:03,459 And so that's where Habakkuk is. 174 00:07:03,459 --> 00:07:06,300 And I think that's how all of us have to be when we do come to 175 00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:07,300 ask God questions. 176 00:07:07,860 --> 00:07:08,540 God loves us. 177 00:07:08,540 --> 00:07:09,460 He's a loving father. 178 00:07:09,460 --> 00:07:13,060 And every loving father wants to have his children come ask questions 179 00:07:13,140 --> 00:07:14,340 in an authentic way. 180 00:07:15,130 --> 00:07:16,250 We looked at Psalm 13. 181 00:07:16,250 --> 00:07:17,690 Psalm 13 is a great. 182 00:07:18,170 --> 00:07:21,450 A great outline of how to ask God questions. 183 00:07:21,930 --> 00:07:24,410 You come to God with these big authentic questions. 184 00:07:24,730 --> 00:07:27,450 You go through that period of time where you explain to God what 185 00:07:27,450 --> 00:07:28,290 you're feeling like. 186 00:07:28,290 --> 00:07:30,889 You might say, God, I don't feel like you're watching me. 187 00:07:30,890 --> 00:07:32,490 God, I don't feel like you love me. 188 00:07:32,890 --> 00:07:34,010 God, I feel alone. 189 00:07:34,810 --> 00:07:36,170 Why do I feel alone? 190 00:07:36,410 --> 00:07:37,610 Why are you doing this? 191 00:07:37,690 --> 00:07:41,050 But then in Psalm 13, it comes around to the point where he says, 192 00:07:41,300 --> 00:07:43,060 but I know that your mercy is good. 193 00:07:43,060 --> 00:07:44,340 I know that you are loving. 194 00:07:44,420 --> 00:07:48,020 And so you go back to what you know about God and his character, 195 00:07:48,260 --> 00:07:50,020 and then you end in worship. 196 00:07:50,500 --> 00:07:52,380 And that's really what Habakkuk is going to do. 197 00:07:52,380 --> 00:07:54,620 We're going to see that same outline played out here in the book 198 00:07:54,620 --> 00:07:55,460 of Habakkuk. 199 00:07:55,700 --> 00:07:56,900 Come with a real question. 200 00:07:57,780 --> 00:07:59,220 Share with God how you're feeling. 201 00:07:59,220 --> 00:08:00,580 He already knows how you're feeling. 202 00:08:00,980 --> 00:08:04,620 But then recognize who God is in his character, and then worship 203 00:08:04,620 --> 00:08:06,260 him and praise him for that goodness. 204 00:08:06,580 --> 00:08:10,330 So we're going to see God's answer to Habakkuk here. 205 00:08:10,570 --> 00:08:14,570 Why God are you using the Babylonians, these prideful people, 206 00:08:14,570 --> 00:08:15,690 to judge Israel? 207 00:08:16,010 --> 00:08:17,290 I don't understand this. 208 00:08:18,170 --> 00:08:19,290 Well, here it is. 209 00:08:19,370 --> 00:08:23,650 And the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it 210 00:08:23,650 --> 00:08:27,330 plain upon the tables or the tablets that he may run that readeth 211 00:08:27,330 --> 00:08:27,610 it. 212 00:08:28,010 --> 00:08:32,250 God does not answer probably the way that Habakkuk was expecting. 213 00:08:32,900 --> 00:08:34,340 What does God tell him immediately? 214 00:08:34,340 --> 00:08:38,100 God tells Habakkuk to write this down, to record this question 215 00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:39,180 and answer session. 216 00:08:39,180 --> 00:08:41,860 He says, hey, write down what you're experiencing right now. 217 00:08:41,860 --> 00:08:42,180 Why? 218 00:08:42,580 --> 00:08:44,660 So that other people can hear the truth. 219 00:08:45,060 --> 00:08:50,260 And it says there at the end of verse two, that he may run that 220 00:08:50,260 --> 00:08:54,500 readeth it, meaning the person can flee this bad way of living, 221 00:08:54,500 --> 00:08:55,740 this prideful way of living. 222 00:08:55,740 --> 00:08:59,580 So basically, what he's saying here to to Habakkuk is use this time 223 00:08:59,580 --> 00:09:02,940 of questioning as an opportunity to teach others what 224 00:09:02,940 --> 00:09:05,140 it means to know Christ and to know repentance. 225 00:09:05,540 --> 00:09:09,060 And so Habakkuk's revelation here wasn't just for himself. 226 00:09:09,140 --> 00:09:12,540 This wasn't all about him, even though it did relate to him 227 00:09:12,540 --> 00:09:13,220 specifically. 228 00:09:13,700 --> 00:09:15,940 It was also about strengthening others. 229 00:09:15,940 --> 00:09:19,540 And that's how we have to see these times of questioning and answering 230 00:09:20,020 --> 00:09:22,660 when it comes to our relationship with God, as God is 231 00:09:22,660 --> 00:09:25,820 revealing to us certain things in our life when we're going to him 232 00:09:25,820 --> 00:09:28,340 with these hard questions and when God's working in our hearts 233 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,360 and when God's changing our life, and when God's sometimes bringing 234 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,800 conviction and sometimes even in some cases, confusion for us and 235 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:39,920 our human minds that we are to learn lessons from him so that we 236 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,960 can point other people to those lessons, so that we can strengthen 237 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:43,240 others. 238 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,160 And you see that happening there at the end of verse two, he 239 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:50,440 says, write what you're experiencing down so that other people 240 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,240 can be challenged, so that other people can be strengthened. 241 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,810 And so those who read this later on can make progress, so that 242 00:09:57,810 --> 00:09:58,690 they can move forward. 243 00:09:59,090 --> 00:10:01,570 And if Habakkuk didn't write this down, it would have been just 244 00:10:01,570 --> 00:10:02,050 for him. 245 00:10:02,930 --> 00:10:05,810 And then we see here, he says, make it plain, make it clear. 246 00:10:06,530 --> 00:10:09,770 I think this is a great outline for preachers, like, as God 247 00:10:09,770 --> 00:10:11,730 is bringing forth to you truth. 248 00:10:12,450 --> 00:10:14,330 And, and so, you know, as. 249 00:10:14,330 --> 00:10:17,650 As I'm studying scriptures, as any pastor or preacher is studying 250 00:10:17,650 --> 00:10:21,210 the scriptures, we are to proclaim what we are learning, what 251 00:10:21,210 --> 00:10:22,530 we are struggling with other people. 252 00:10:22,530 --> 00:10:25,560 And it says there, make it plain so that people can change. 253 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:26,920 Make it clear. 254 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:28,680 And that's what he's telling Habakkuk. 255 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:32,200 Make your vision clear here, make this lesson clear. 256 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,560 And so Habakkuk first had to see the vision of God, the leading 257 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,800 of God, the teaching of God, because the preacher cannot make 258 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,840 anyone else see the truth if the preacher himself hasn't seen 259 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:42,280 the truth. 260 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,520 And so Habakkuk has to go through this trial, we would call 261 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,840 it maybe a crisis of belief moment, so that he can lead Other 262 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,860 people, when they face those questions and when they face those 263 00:10:51,860 --> 00:10:54,860 doubts, I wish I could get up here and tell you, and I've heard 264 00:10:54,860 --> 00:10:58,260 preachers do this, and maybe they're telling the truth, but I 265 00:10:58,260 --> 00:11:01,380 wish I could get up here and tell you I've never doubted, I've 266 00:11:01,380 --> 00:11:02,300 never questioned. 267 00:11:02,300 --> 00:11:03,900 Everything has been so clear in my life. 268 00:11:03,900 --> 00:11:06,700 I've known every step of the way what God is doing, but that is 269 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:07,420 not the truth. 270 00:11:07,580 --> 00:11:10,620 There's times in my life, maybe in your life that you're confused. 271 00:11:10,620 --> 00:11:13,780 Maybe there's cloudiness, maybe you're not sure why God is 272 00:11:13,780 --> 00:11:16,660 allowing you to go through this trial, or maybe why God has 273 00:11:16,660 --> 00:11:18,740 taken this out of your life or added this to your life. 274 00:11:18,740 --> 00:11:19,020 And. 275 00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:21,740 And there's times in our life where we do have to come and we do 276 00:11:21,740 --> 00:11:23,460 have to wrestle with those hard things. 277 00:11:23,700 --> 00:11:26,540 And so what God is telling Habakkuk is, Habakkuk, it's not all 278 00:11:26,540 --> 00:11:27,060 about you. 279 00:11:27,380 --> 00:11:28,860 It's not even all about Israel. 280 00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:30,100 It's about all those people. 281 00:11:30,260 --> 00:11:30,620 For. 282 00:11:30,620 --> 00:11:33,060 For in this time period in his country. 283 00:11:33,060 --> 00:11:33,860 We'll read this. 284 00:11:33,860 --> 00:11:37,420 And hey, maybe Habakkuk didn't even understand that people, you 285 00:11:37,420 --> 00:11:40,140 know, thousands of years later would be studying this on a Wednesday 286 00:11:40,140 --> 00:11:40,660 night, right? 287 00:11:40,660 --> 00:11:42,580 And so that's the amazing thing that we're seeing here, that 288 00:11:42,580 --> 00:11:45,140 God is saying, hey, make it known, make it clear. 289 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,800 You have to understand this process so that other people can 290 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:49,640 understand this process. 291 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,360 And so Habakkuk is told to make it known. 292 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,880 A preacher and all of us, by the way, can preach the truth of 293 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:57,240 God. 294 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:03,160 A preacher has to proclaim the truth of God that they are obtaining 295 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:03,840 in their own life. 296 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:05,480 And so that's what he's saying here in this case. 297 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,920 And so he says, make it plain, make it permanent as possible, and 298 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:10,920 really make it practical. 299 00:12:11,340 --> 00:12:12,140 Make it practical. 300 00:12:12,220 --> 00:12:13,340 He says, hey, so. 301 00:12:13,340 --> 00:12:16,980 So at the end of verse two, he says, make it so that when they read 302 00:12:16,980 --> 00:12:19,660 this, that they can run, that they can progress, that they can 303 00:12:19,660 --> 00:12:21,180 move, that they can change. 304 00:12:21,180 --> 00:12:21,660 Make it. 305 00:12:21,660 --> 00:12:24,860 Make it to a place where people can see the need to change. 306 00:12:25,420 --> 00:12:30,300 And remember in context, Habakkuk is talking to Israel, who. 307 00:12:31,260 --> 00:12:33,060 They're living a life of sin. 308 00:12:33,060 --> 00:12:34,780 They're living a life of rebellion to God. 309 00:12:34,780 --> 00:12:37,580 So the change would be that they would turn back to God in revival. 310 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,960 And so the whole purpose of all of this is so that the message 311 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,200 can be proclaimed, so that people can change, so that people 312 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,400 can move, so that people can turn their hearts back to the Lord. 313 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,200 And that's really what all preaching should Be all preaching 314 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,760 should eventually get to a place where there's a call to action, 315 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,120 where there's a place to say, you know what, I need to turn my 316 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,120 heart to Christ in this. 317 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,560 I need to turn my life over to the truth of God in this. 318 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:02,040 And so that's what he's saying here. 319 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,170 Preach it in such a way that, that there is, there's activity, 320 00:13:05,170 --> 00:13:08,250 that there's, that there is a choice, that there's a decision that 321 00:13:08,250 --> 00:13:08,970 needs to be made. 322 00:13:09,530 --> 00:13:14,170 Verse 3 Here he says, for the vision is yet for an appointed time. 323 00:13:14,170 --> 00:13:17,210 So he says basically the time has not come for judgment yet. 324 00:13:17,210 --> 00:13:18,170 There's still time. 325 00:13:18,970 --> 00:13:21,130 There's not a guarantee on how long that's going to be. 326 00:13:21,130 --> 00:13:24,930 But this message that is being preached to you right now is going 327 00:13:24,930 --> 00:13:26,810 to be a message that needs to be preached later. 328 00:13:26,970 --> 00:13:30,250 Preach it now so that people later can benefit from this message. 329 00:13:31,060 --> 00:13:35,540 And, and so Habakkuk is speaking for God for an age beyond 330 00:13:35,540 --> 00:13:36,100 his own. 331 00:13:37,220 --> 00:13:41,060 The Babylonians come in later on, right in the future. 332 00:13:41,060 --> 00:13:43,380 It doesn't happen in Habakkuk's lifetime. 333 00:13:43,940 --> 00:13:46,379 And you might say, what's the point in that? 334 00:13:46,379 --> 00:13:49,620 The point in that is that things that we're doing now, yes, 335 00:13:49,620 --> 00:13:51,540 they do impact today. 336 00:13:52,500 --> 00:13:55,380 But the things that we are doing in our lives and learning from 337 00:13:55,380 --> 00:13:58,390 the Lord are not only going to impact today, but they're going to 338 00:13:58,390 --> 00:14:01,270 impact the next generation and maybe a generation after that. 339 00:14:01,510 --> 00:14:05,310 And if God terries generations and generations and generations to 340 00:14:05,310 --> 00:14:08,950 come, like I can tell you this in my own life and my own testimony 341 00:14:09,110 --> 00:14:14,150 that decisions that were made in the 1950s are, are impacting my 342 00:14:14,150 --> 00:14:14,710 life today. 343 00:14:15,110 --> 00:14:16,390 And what do I mean by that? 344 00:14:16,470 --> 00:14:21,110 Well, I, I'm, I'm a first, second, third generation Christian. 345 00:14:21,190 --> 00:14:24,690 So my grandfather was led to Christ as an adult man. 346 00:14:25,090 --> 00:14:28,090 And I don't have a lot of time, but if I had more time, I would 347 00:14:28,090 --> 00:14:28,850 explain to you the whole story. 348 00:14:28,850 --> 00:14:29,810 It's an amazing story. 349 00:14:30,130 --> 00:14:34,370 There was a pastor who knew my grandfather prior to his salvation. 350 00:14:34,530 --> 00:14:38,290 He got saved, he went off to Bible college, he invited my grandfather 351 00:14:38,290 --> 00:14:38,809 to church. 352 00:14:38,809 --> 00:14:41,170 And my grandfather was a little bit standoffish with that. 353 00:14:41,570 --> 00:14:43,570 But anyway, time progressed. 354 00:14:43,810 --> 00:14:46,890 My grandfather got saved and then my dad was born in that church 355 00:14:46,890 --> 00:14:49,970 and my dad got saved and I was born in that church and I got saved. 356 00:14:50,290 --> 00:14:52,810 And it was because of a decision of a man that was willing 357 00:14:52,810 --> 00:14:57,250 to impact my grandfather that, hey, I'm able to be a believer today. 358 00:14:57,570 --> 00:15:02,090 And I don't know why and how that all plays out in the grand scheme 359 00:15:02,090 --> 00:15:05,210 of eternity, but I do know that decisions that I'm making today, 360 00:15:05,210 --> 00:15:08,650 decisions that you are making today will impact those around you 361 00:15:08,650 --> 00:15:10,970 today, but they can impact generations to come. 362 00:15:10,970 --> 00:15:12,290 And who knows what that is? 363 00:15:12,450 --> 00:15:14,850 I do know that there is a classic story of. 364 00:15:15,980 --> 00:15:19,900 I think it's like one Sunday school teacher who led one person 365 00:15:19,900 --> 00:15:22,980 to Lord, who led one person to Lord, eventually came down and that 366 00:15:22,980 --> 00:15:25,540 person was got saved at a conference. 367 00:15:25,540 --> 00:15:26,380 And it was Billy Graham. 368 00:15:26,380 --> 00:15:28,260 And of course, you guys know his ministry. 369 00:15:28,260 --> 00:15:31,140 And so again, you just never know the impact of what one decision 370 00:15:31,140 --> 00:15:31,580 will be. 371 00:15:31,580 --> 00:15:35,140 So Habakkuk has that told to him, like, this is coming for a time 372 00:15:35,140 --> 00:15:36,460 that is in the future. 373 00:15:37,020 --> 00:15:41,900 But then he says this in verse three, but at the end, it shall speak 374 00:15:41,900 --> 00:15:43,260 and not lie, meaning this. 375 00:15:43,570 --> 00:15:44,410 It's all going to come around. 376 00:15:44,410 --> 00:15:45,610 What I am telling you will. 377 00:15:45,610 --> 00:15:46,530 Will come to pass. 378 00:15:47,810 --> 00:15:49,250 This is going to be true. 379 00:15:49,810 --> 00:15:52,250 And so he says, hey, this is not a lie. 380 00:15:52,250 --> 00:15:53,170 This is the truth. 381 00:15:53,170 --> 00:15:54,370 This is the final word. 382 00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:57,890 Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come. 383 00:15:57,970 --> 00:15:59,170 It will not tarry. 384 00:16:00,290 --> 00:16:03,850 And so what God is essentially telling Habakkuk is as things go 385 00:16:03,850 --> 00:16:07,770 the way that it goes, it will come to pass, as judgment will come 386 00:16:07,770 --> 00:16:08,090 to pass. 387 00:16:08,090 --> 00:16:09,490 And it's the same thing with preaching. 388 00:16:10,060 --> 00:16:14,660 Like, if I'm preaching to somebody and we take a timeless truth 389 00:16:14,660 --> 00:16:17,220 from Scripture, hey, you're not the exception. 390 00:16:17,220 --> 00:16:18,580 None of us are the exception. 391 00:16:18,580 --> 00:16:21,820 None of us can thwart the plan of God. 392 00:16:21,820 --> 00:16:24,900 So if God talks about the law of sowing and reaping, we can't run 393 00:16:24,900 --> 00:16:26,060 away from that, okay? 394 00:16:26,060 --> 00:16:28,380 The idea is that what we sow, we will reap. 395 00:16:28,540 --> 00:16:30,180 And so that's a principle to teach. 396 00:16:30,180 --> 00:16:31,980 And it's not like, hey, that's my principle. 397 00:16:31,980 --> 00:16:33,420 I didn't come up with that principle. 398 00:16:33,580 --> 00:16:35,140 That's a principle from the word of God. 399 00:16:35,140 --> 00:16:37,830 And so what God is saying here is like, hey, you can do whatever 400 00:16:37,830 --> 00:16:38,390 you want to do. 401 00:16:38,390 --> 00:16:41,190 You can try to fight against this prophecy, you can try to come 402 00:16:41,190 --> 00:16:43,470 up with your own plans, you can try to come up with your. 403 00:16:43,550 --> 00:16:45,390 Your own religion, your own schemes. 404 00:16:45,390 --> 00:16:47,710 But ultimately the word of God is going to come to pass. 405 00:16:48,190 --> 00:16:48,510 And. 406 00:16:48,510 --> 00:16:50,310 And so I think that's important for us to understand as 407 00:16:50,310 --> 00:16:53,230 well when it comes to those questions that we're having, because 408 00:16:53,310 --> 00:16:55,950 it doesn't really matter where we're at in questioning God. 409 00:16:56,110 --> 00:16:57,710 God, God is still God. 410 00:16:57,710 --> 00:17:02,150 And we can't stop his plan from coming to pass, though we can 411 00:17:02,150 --> 00:17:04,270 do everything that we can to stop what he's doing. 412 00:17:05,300 --> 00:17:06,260 It's going to come to pass. 413 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:07,220 So. 414 00:17:07,220 --> 00:17:08,500 So think about it this way. 415 00:17:09,540 --> 00:17:13,580 There were people specifically, you know, the enemy. 416 00:17:13,580 --> 00:17:16,300 Satan was trying to stop the plan of God to happen when it came 417 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:17,540 to the redemption of Jesus Christ. 418 00:17:17,780 --> 00:17:20,220 But yet, no matter what was happening, and we know that through 419 00:17:20,220 --> 00:17:20,779 the temptation. 420 00:17:20,779 --> 00:17:22,180 Right, Read Matthew, chapter four. 421 00:17:22,580 --> 00:17:22,900 Right. 422 00:17:22,900 --> 00:17:24,900 Satan was trying to do everything he could to get Jesus 423 00:17:24,900 --> 00:17:26,820 not to do what God wanted him to do. 424 00:17:26,820 --> 00:17:29,700 And that's why Jesus was seeking after the will of the Father. 425 00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:31,910 And it's the same thing with us in our own lives. 426 00:17:31,910 --> 00:17:36,150 So we have to understand that God is, is on the throne still, and 427 00:17:36,150 --> 00:17:39,950 there's nothing that we can do to stop his ultimate judgment that's 428 00:17:39,950 --> 00:17:40,910 going to happen in this world. 429 00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:43,550 So look at verse number four with me, because verse number four 430 00:17:43,550 --> 00:17:46,429 is, is, is a, so, so, so important. 431 00:17:46,430 --> 00:17:47,390 Why is this so important? 432 00:17:48,270 --> 00:17:53,550 Because I, I would say that this passage of Scripture, specifically 433 00:17:53,550 --> 00:17:57,590 verse four, is one of the most quoted verses in all of the New Testament. 434 00:17:57,590 --> 00:18:00,520 And we're going to look at that here in a few moments, some 435 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,960 of you, maybe even when I read this verse, will recognize it from 436 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:05,440 another place in the New Testament. 437 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,520 This is the verse, whether you agree with all of his theology or 438 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:09,680 not. 439 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,520 I don't agree with all of his theology, but Martin Luther, if you 440 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,000 know anything about the Protestant Reformation, this was 441 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,320 the verse that Martin Luther read and recognized that was, it 442 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:20,280 was being taught wrong. 443 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,680 Like the, the, the people are not saved by their works, they're 444 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:23,480 saved by their faith. 445 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,770 Okay, so this is the verse that, what, the first time we see 446 00:18:27,770 --> 00:18:31,650 this verse actually stated in Scripture, and then it's quoted again 447 00:18:31,650 --> 00:18:32,130 many times. 448 00:18:32,130 --> 00:18:33,490 So look at it there with me, verse four. 449 00:18:33,650 --> 00:18:37,730 Behold, his soul, which is lifted up is not upright in him. 450 00:18:38,370 --> 00:18:40,930 Now he's making a reference here to, to the proud. 451 00:18:41,489 --> 00:18:44,610 And, and so what he's saying here is like, those that are proud 452 00:18:44,930 --> 00:18:46,450 are never going to find salvation. 453 00:18:47,010 --> 00:18:50,290 And so he's actually referencing Israel and specifically 454 00:18:50,290 --> 00:18:50,810 Babylon. 455 00:18:50,810 --> 00:18:52,850 He says, Babylon is a prideful nation. 456 00:18:53,490 --> 00:18:54,770 You guys are a prideful nation. 457 00:18:54,770 --> 00:18:56,010 He's talking to Israel there. 458 00:18:56,010 --> 00:18:57,970 He says, habakkuk, Israel's prideful. 459 00:18:58,530 --> 00:18:59,810 Babylon's prideful. 460 00:18:59,890 --> 00:19:04,010 But he says here his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright 461 00:19:04,010 --> 00:19:04,450 in him. 462 00:19:05,090 --> 00:19:10,250 And so Habakkuk wondered why Babylon, who was prideful, who was 463 00:19:10,250 --> 00:19:13,890 more sinful than Judah, would be used to bring judgment against 464 00:19:13,890 --> 00:19:14,370 Judah. 465 00:19:14,370 --> 00:19:17,970 And what God is basically answering Habakkuk in is this. 466 00:19:18,340 --> 00:19:22,420 Hey, I'm going to assure you, Habakkuk, I know how prideful Babylon 467 00:19:22,420 --> 00:19:22,740 is. 468 00:19:22,740 --> 00:19:24,580 And their pride will be judged. 469 00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:30,660 We see in the New Testament a theme that, that God will resist 470 00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:33,900 the proud and give grace to the humble, that he will tear down 471 00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:36,020 the proud and build up the humble. 472 00:19:36,340 --> 00:19:38,580 And so that's the same principle that we see here in verse 473 00:19:38,580 --> 00:19:40,660 four, he's talking about the prideful. 474 00:19:40,980 --> 00:19:46,320 And that first part of verse four, he's describing the, the broad 475 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:47,520 spectrum of pride. 476 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,920 And, and there's a lot of areas where people are prideful. 477 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,640 So there are people who are prideful in what they have. 478 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,680 Maybe it's riches or maybe it's power or maybe it's whatever 479 00:20:00,079 --> 00:20:00,480 control. 480 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,720 That, that is something that is a catalyst to pride in many people's 481 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:04,960 lives. 482 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,080 And a lot of times we think that only people that have things 483 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:08,960 can be prideful. 484 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,810 But actually we know that even people without things can be prideful. 485 00:20:12,810 --> 00:20:17,850 So for, for example, you know, someone who has less in their life 486 00:20:17,850 --> 00:20:23,010 materially might see their, their struggle as that object of 487 00:20:23,010 --> 00:20:23,690 pride in their life. 488 00:20:23,690 --> 00:20:26,490 You know, like, well, I'm, I'm a good person because, look, I don't 489 00:20:26,490 --> 00:20:27,930 have all those things that other people have. 490 00:20:28,330 --> 00:20:31,490 It's kind of like, you know, the principle of the, the love of 491 00:20:31,490 --> 00:20:33,530 money is the root of all different type of evil. 492 00:20:34,090 --> 00:20:36,210 Some people think that's only for people who have a lot of money. 493 00:20:36,210 --> 00:20:38,250 But the Bible says that someone who has a little bit of money 494 00:20:38,250 --> 00:20:39,210 can love that money, right? 495 00:20:39,210 --> 00:20:40,490 Because they're trying to hoard it. 496 00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:44,320 And so the idea here is as I think a lot of times for people that, 497 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,480 you know, well, I'm not that type of person, so I'm not prideful. 498 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,160 The Bible says that all of us are susceptible to pride. 499 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,880 It was the, the root of the original sin, lust of the flesh, 500 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,440 lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 501 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,680 And so all of us to some degree, are going to struggle with 502 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:00,320 that area of pride in our life. 503 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,880 And so, you know, you have someone who's talented is proud of 504 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:04,560 their talents. 505 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,680 Okay, now I'm naturally talented. 506 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,590 I mean, playing sports, there were, there were individuals who 507 00:21:09,590 --> 00:21:10,910 just, they didn't have to practice. 508 00:21:10,910 --> 00:21:12,510 They were just the best at everything they did. 509 00:21:13,230 --> 00:21:15,950 So the temptation for that person would be that they are prideful 510 00:21:15,950 --> 00:21:17,790 in their talent, their natural talent. 511 00:21:18,030 --> 00:21:20,510 What about the person, though, that wasn't naturally talented? 512 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:23,710 Well, maybe he would be prideful in his hard work, right? 513 00:21:23,710 --> 00:21:26,910 I, I, I, I went out there and practiced all day, every day. 514 00:21:26,910 --> 00:21:28,590 I'm prideful in what I did in that. 515 00:21:28,670 --> 00:21:31,390 So, so again, you can see how pride can come from every different 516 00:21:31,390 --> 00:21:31,750 angle. 517 00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:35,030 And that's what's being taught here is that anyone who exalts themselves 518 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:40,980 is going to be on, on God's, you know, judgments and God is going 519 00:21:40,980 --> 00:21:42,100 to judge them for their pride. 520 00:21:42,100 --> 00:21:46,820 So pride can be dangerous among obviously the unsaved because 521 00:21:46,820 --> 00:21:48,900 that leads to unbelief, right? 522 00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:51,140 So it's pride that brings people to a place where they're not 523 00:21:51,140 --> 00:21:52,140 going to come to Christ. 524 00:21:52,380 --> 00:21:55,660 But I would even say that even within the church, even within believers, 525 00:21:55,660 --> 00:21:58,140 pride can seep in and cause great issues. 526 00:21:58,780 --> 00:22:02,910 And so there was a quote that I read said wherever pride is found, 527 00:22:02,910 --> 00:22:04,470 it is always hateful to God. 528 00:22:05,350 --> 00:22:06,710 And we don't often think about that. 529 00:22:06,710 --> 00:22:09,190 Our pride is hateful to God, but that's really the product. 530 00:22:09,910 --> 00:22:12,790 When I'm exalting myself, I'm not exalting God. 531 00:22:12,790 --> 00:22:15,510 So it's, it's rejecting God, it's rejecting our need for God. 532 00:22:15,510 --> 00:22:17,990 And therefore it's disrespectful, it's hateful to God. 533 00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:21,910 And so pride is, is, is, yes, it's hateful to others. 534 00:22:22,870 --> 00:22:24,790 It's self exaltation. 535 00:22:25,430 --> 00:22:29,680 And so what we can see here in this case is that God, it resists 536 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:29,960 that. 537 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:31,840 But then who does he receive? 538 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:34,120 The people that do good. 539 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:35,400 Well, we're going to see what he says here. 540 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,680 He says, but the just, the just in this case would be those 541 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,040 who are justified, those who are, are seen righteous. 542 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:46,160 The just shall live by his faith. 543 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,880 So, so I, I think there's a common misnomer that in the Old Testament, 544 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,800 people were saved by their works. 545 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,040 People were saved by keeping the law, people were saved by the 546 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:56,800 sacrifices. 547 00:22:57,630 --> 00:22:59,590 We really never see that in the Old Testament. 548 00:22:59,590 --> 00:23:02,950 Even in the Old Testament, we see that it was through faith that 549 00:23:02,950 --> 00:23:04,030 people found salvation. 550 00:23:04,430 --> 00:23:07,070 If you want to know more about that commentary, you can read chapter 551 00:23:07,150 --> 00:23:08,550 11 of the book of Hebrews. 552 00:23:08,550 --> 00:23:12,430 It tells us that by faith all these individuals found salvation. 553 00:23:12,750 --> 00:23:15,910 And so even here in the book of Habakkuk, we see that it's faith 554 00:23:15,910 --> 00:23:18,830 in God that brings people to that place of righteousness, the 555 00:23:18,830 --> 00:23:21,190 place of being justified before God. 556 00:23:21,190 --> 00:23:25,440 Now that term justified just literally means to be declared righteous. 557 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,640 And so it doesn't say here that the person is righteous because 558 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:30,640 of his good works. 559 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,840 It doesn't say this person, these people are righteous because 560 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,000 of their, you know, traditions. 561 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,400 It says that they are righteous because they're living 562 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:39,199 by faith. 563 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:45,280 And so in, in contrast to the proud you have those who are in faith. 564 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,920 Now to have faith, we have to be humble, right? 565 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,740 Because to, to come to a place of faith, we have to recognize that 566 00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:54,540 we cannot do what we need to do in our lives. 567 00:23:54,620 --> 00:23:55,980 We cannot save ourselves. 568 00:23:56,300 --> 00:24:01,140 And so to have faith in God means to humble ourselves and say, 569 00:24:01,140 --> 00:24:01,900 I need Him. 570 00:24:02,380 --> 00:24:05,740 So if someone said, you know, I don't need forgiveness, I don't 571 00:24:05,740 --> 00:24:09,860 need God, but I'm still a Christian, do you see the disconnect 572 00:24:09,860 --> 00:24:10,060 there? 573 00:24:10,060 --> 00:24:10,380 Right? 574 00:24:10,460 --> 00:24:14,220 Because to be a Christian means I need God, I need his salvation. 575 00:24:14,220 --> 00:24:16,060 I need what Jesus Christ did for me. 576 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,280 And so to live in pride is to live with a lack of faith. 577 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:21,760 Well, it's a lack of faith in God. 578 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,640 It's a faith in ourselves really is what it is. 579 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:24,000 Right? 580 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,920 If I have pride, I believe that I can do it. 581 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,000 So it's faith in me. 582 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,080 And faith in me is always going to fail. 583 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,640 But when we reject that pride and say, I can't do it, God can do 584 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:32,920 it. 585 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:34,040 And that's faith. 586 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,200 And so you could look at it from, from the contrast of pride 587 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:38,840 and faith. 588 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:40,640 And that's really what he's saying here. 589 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,750 So true faith looks to the Lord, pride looks to self. 590 00:24:45,390 --> 00:24:50,350 And so this brief statement here in the Book of Habakkuk is one 591 00:24:50,350 --> 00:24:53,870 of the most important and most quoted passages of Scripture. 592 00:24:55,150 --> 00:24:57,230 You be familiar with Paul's writings. 593 00:24:57,390 --> 00:25:01,070 Paul uses this phrase quite frequently, talking about the just 594 00:25:01,070 --> 00:25:02,910 shall live by faith and not the law. 595 00:25:03,470 --> 00:25:07,070 You can see that in the book of Galatians, Galatians, chapter 596 00:25:07,070 --> 00:25:07,390 three. 597 00:25:08,910 --> 00:25:11,350 I want you to see some of these references because I think 598 00:25:11,350 --> 00:25:13,790 it's important to connect the dots between the Old Testament and 599 00:25:13,790 --> 00:25:14,270 the New. 600 00:25:14,510 --> 00:25:16,950 So if you go to Galatians chapter three, and if you know anything 601 00:25:16,950 --> 00:25:22,150 about the book of Galatians, Paul is making a case for faith, 602 00:25:22,150 --> 00:25:25,390 basically making a case for our need for Christ. 603 00:25:25,630 --> 00:25:28,910 It's not about the law, it's about Christ. 604 00:25:28,910 --> 00:25:31,310 It's not about the flesh, it's about the Spirit. 605 00:25:31,710 --> 00:25:35,320 So in the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter three, Paul is 606 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:36,000 making his case. 607 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,760 And he gets the verse number 11. 608 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:44,120 And he says, but that no man is justified by the law. 609 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:50,320 In the sight of God, it is evident for that the just shall live 610 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:51,280 by faith. 611 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:52,160 And so he quotes. 612 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,640 He quotes Habakkuk 2, 4. 613 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,000 So he says, it's clear that someone cannot save themselves in 614 00:25:58,000 --> 00:25:58,280 the law. 615 00:25:58,280 --> 00:25:59,280 No one can be perfect. 616 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,240 Therefore the just shall live by faith. 617 00:26:02,110 --> 00:26:06,670 Another passage of Scripture that we see that quoted in is Romans, 618 00:26:06,670 --> 00:26:08,590 Romans chapter 1, verse 17. 619 00:26:08,670 --> 00:26:10,430 And I find this so interesting. 620 00:26:10,510 --> 00:26:14,910 This has happened to me, just happened to me last time I preached 621 00:26:14,910 --> 00:26:15,630 on Sunday night. 622 00:26:16,190 --> 00:26:18,110 So I preached about something on Sunday morning. 623 00:26:18,270 --> 00:26:20,670 I said that Paul's theme was, I am ready. 624 00:26:20,750 --> 00:26:22,390 And we read Romans Chapter one. 625 00:26:22,390 --> 00:26:24,030 He says, I am ready to preach the gospel. 626 00:26:24,030 --> 00:26:25,150 That's Romans 1:15. 627 00:26:25,630 --> 00:26:28,630 And then we were looking in the Book of Acts and Paul says, I 628 00:26:28,630 --> 00:26:33,300 am ready to go to Jerusalem, to be in bonds and to die for my 629 00:26:33,300 --> 00:26:33,700 faith. 630 00:26:34,820 --> 00:26:37,100 So I was like, wow, I didn't even plan that when I started the 631 00:26:37,100 --> 00:26:39,100 study in Acts, you know, months and months and months ago, 632 00:26:39,100 --> 00:26:40,420 I didn't plan for those two to come together. 633 00:26:40,820 --> 00:26:43,060 Well, just so happened that. 634 00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:44,580 It's not just so happened. 635 00:26:44,580 --> 00:26:46,419 I believe it's by God's divine providence. 636 00:26:46,420 --> 00:26:49,220 But here in Habakkuk Chapter two, we're preaching the just shall 637 00:26:49,220 --> 00:26:49,820 live by faith. 638 00:26:49,820 --> 00:26:51,380 Guess what I'm preaching on this Sunday? 639 00:26:51,380 --> 00:26:52,780 Romans 1:16 and 17. 640 00:26:52,780 --> 00:26:54,180 The just shall live by faith. 641 00:26:54,260 --> 00:26:56,500 And that's exactly what Paul says in Romans 1:17. 642 00:26:56,500 --> 00:26:59,360 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from 643 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:00,280 faith to faith. 644 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,000 As it is written, the just shall live by faith. 645 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,120 And so in Romans Chapter one, Paul is building this case of the 646 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:09,160 Gospel being the center of everything that we do. 647 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:12,720 And he says, at the center of the Gospel is this truth that the 648 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,760 just, the righteous shall live by faith and not by their works. 649 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,320 And so that's another case where this is quoted. 650 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,400 Another passage of Scripture where this is quoted is Hebrews chapter 651 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:23,480 10, verse 38. 652 00:27:24,770 --> 00:27:28,250 And again he says in this verse now, the just shall live by 653 00:27:28,250 --> 00:27:28,610 faith. 654 00:27:28,610 --> 00:27:31,450 But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 655 00:27:31,450 --> 00:27:35,490 So he's talking about that push forward in faith like don't 656 00:27:35,490 --> 00:27:36,930 doubt, don't hesitate. 657 00:27:37,330 --> 00:27:38,370 And so there's that. 658 00:27:39,330 --> 00:27:45,610 So much of our faith, so much of our whole relationship with Christ 659 00:27:45,610 --> 00:27:48,970 is based around this principle of the just living by faith. 660 00:27:48,970 --> 00:27:50,770 And so it's such an important verse. 661 00:27:51,090 --> 00:27:53,250 It's a really neat a thing to see. 662 00:27:53,250 --> 00:27:57,250 Even in the Old Testament, this idea that God was still from 663 00:27:57,250 --> 00:27:59,370 the very beginning preaching about faith in him. 664 00:27:59,370 --> 00:28:04,010 So we are called to live by faith and nothing else. 665 00:28:05,210 --> 00:28:11,010 Some Christians live their Christian life based in, hey, you 666 00:28:11,010 --> 00:28:12,970 know, everything's centered around my devotion life. 667 00:28:13,210 --> 00:28:15,930 What I'm reading in the Bible, and that is so important. 668 00:28:15,930 --> 00:28:20,050 I'm not downplaying what we read in the Bible, that it's a necessity 669 00:28:20,050 --> 00:28:20,930 for Christian growth. 670 00:28:21,810 --> 00:28:25,050 But it doesn't matter how much you read in the Bible, if you have 671 00:28:25,050 --> 00:28:28,290 no faith in God, it's just another book, right? 672 00:28:28,450 --> 00:28:30,930 Some people have faith in their works. 673 00:28:31,090 --> 00:28:32,930 And again, works are good things. 674 00:28:33,730 --> 00:28:34,250 I think. 675 00:28:34,250 --> 00:28:38,370 I think we are saved to work, but those works outside of faith 676 00:28:38,370 --> 00:28:39,170 are just works. 677 00:28:39,170 --> 00:28:39,810 They're nothing. 678 00:28:40,130 --> 00:28:43,890 Some people in the Christian life have have they lived their life 679 00:28:43,970 --> 00:28:45,130 around their feelings? 680 00:28:45,130 --> 00:28:47,170 And feelings and emotions are a good thing. 681 00:28:48,060 --> 00:28:49,900 I don't believe we're called to be robots. 682 00:28:50,380 --> 00:28:53,980 But again, if everything that we do is in our emotional sense, 683 00:28:54,140 --> 00:28:56,580 we're missing the point because our faith is in vain. 684 00:28:56,580 --> 00:29:00,860 Then Christians sometimes live by circumstances, sometimes live 685 00:29:00,860 --> 00:29:03,260 by their condition of how their day is going. 686 00:29:03,660 --> 00:29:06,740 You know, we don't just say that God is good when everything's 687 00:29:06,740 --> 00:29:07,420 going our way. 688 00:29:07,740 --> 00:29:08,500 You know, that's. 689 00:29:08,500 --> 00:29:12,780 That's sometimes what we as Christians in our culture today will 690 00:29:12,780 --> 00:29:13,500 do, Right? 691 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:14,640 God is good. 692 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:16,280 We'll praise him because everything's good. 693 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:17,120 I have a testimony. 694 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:18,480 I got a raise at work. 695 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:19,200 God is good. 696 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,360 But how many times have we, and this is. 697 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:22,680 I'm preaching to myself tonight. 698 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,600 How many times have we, when we're in the midst of a trial, say, 699 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:26,720 God is good? 700 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:27,760 Amen. 701 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:29,760 Thank you, Lord, for this difficulty. 702 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,040 I mean, we don't say that. 703 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:36,320 That's foreign to us because that isn't a type of Christianity 704 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,560 that is palatable for the average person. 705 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,560 Because we're taught in our society that if we believe in God 706 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,840 and we trust in him, that everything will go the way that we 707 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:45,120 want. 708 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:46,960 But that's not what the Bible teaches. 709 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:48,800 It's the just shall live by faith. 710 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,160 And so sometimes what happens is, is that to. 711 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:56,480 For faith to be a real thing, it has to be tested. 712 00:29:57,119 --> 00:30:00,560 It has to be tested, and no one wants to talk about this, and 713 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:01,200 that's okay. 714 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,160 And I used to be very superstitious, okay? 715 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,200 I would be always afraid to talk about this kind of stuff. 716 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,800 I'd be like, well, if I talk about testing my faith, that means 717 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:09,880 God's going to test my faith. 718 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:11,240 And I got to be careful about that. 719 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,640 We need to be wise, and we don't need to be prideful about this, 720 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,160 but we do need to just clearly and comfortably talk about what the 721 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:18,680 Bible says. 722 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,480 And so the Bible very clearly says that there will be tests of 723 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:22,120 faith. 724 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:23,160 Okay? 725 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:24,599 So is God Is. 726 00:30:24,599 --> 00:30:27,560 Is God truly the one that we are putting our trust in? 727 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:30,120 And so there's going to be times in our life where we are tested. 728 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,560 Going back to the book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk is being tested 729 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:34,280 in his faith. 730 00:30:34,590 --> 00:30:34,790 Why? 731 00:30:34,790 --> 00:30:37,950 Because God is doing things that don't make sense to him. 732 00:30:38,350 --> 00:30:40,910 Basically, Habakkuk is being told that his people are going to 733 00:30:40,910 --> 00:30:43,310 be destroyed by their enemies. 734 00:30:44,510 --> 00:30:47,270 That would not be something that would be comfortable to talk 735 00:30:47,270 --> 00:30:47,550 about. 736 00:30:47,550 --> 00:30:50,549 Because now, remember, Habakkuk has to go to his people 737 00:30:50,549 --> 00:30:51,310 if he's obedient. 738 00:30:51,310 --> 00:30:51,870 To God. 739 00:30:51,870 --> 00:30:54,510 He's got to go to his people and say, guys, if we don't change 740 00:30:54,990 --> 00:31:00,230 our hearts, God is going to send the Babylonians to kill us. 741 00:31:00,230 --> 00:31:01,550 And they're going to say, well, who are you? 742 00:31:01,710 --> 00:31:03,070 You're not all part of us. 743 00:31:03,230 --> 00:31:03,790 Get away. 744 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,640 But, but what God is telling Habakkuk to do is do a very difficult 745 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:07,840 thing. 746 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,440 And so not only is Habakkuk's personal faith being tested, but 747 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:14,280 even his public faith, right, he's got to come and now proclaim 748 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:16,600 this to all those people that are around him. 749 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,160 And so there's going to be private tests of faith. 750 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,400 And those private tests of faith are always going to be manifested 751 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:23,720 sometimes in a public way. 752 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,160 So, so the way that I deal with things in my personal life will 753 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,560 be manifested by the way that I deal with things in the public 754 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:30,280 square. 755 00:31:30,940 --> 00:31:31,820 So, so what does that mean? 756 00:31:31,820 --> 00:31:32,540 That means this. 757 00:31:33,100 --> 00:31:36,260 If I don't trust God in private, I'm not going to be able 758 00:31:36,260 --> 00:31:39,060 to do those things that are going to publicly profess my faith 759 00:31:39,060 --> 00:31:39,500 to him. 760 00:31:40,300 --> 00:31:45,580 So like, if I'm struggling with trusting God and eventually 761 00:31:45,580 --> 00:31:49,460 it becomes something that other people are aware of, my testimony 762 00:31:49,460 --> 00:31:51,100 can affect other people around me. 763 00:31:51,260 --> 00:31:53,860 So if I get up and say all day, trust God, trust God, he is 764 00:31:53,860 --> 00:31:55,340 good, he's perfect. 765 00:31:55,340 --> 00:31:56,620 He's the one that loves us. 766 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:01,990 And, and then when I'm tested in a trial and I go, well, God doesn't 767 00:32:01,990 --> 00:32:02,710 love me anymore. 768 00:32:02,950 --> 00:32:05,590 Then, then everything that I've said has been discredited because 769 00:32:05,590 --> 00:32:08,110 I have been professing something that is not real to me. 770 00:32:08,110 --> 00:32:10,150 And so Habakkuk is being tested in this. 771 00:32:10,950 --> 00:32:16,550 And, and so God says, hey, the prideful trust themselves, the righteous 772 00:32:16,630 --> 00:32:17,670 trust in the Lord. 773 00:32:18,070 --> 00:32:19,990 And, and that's really what it boils down to. 774 00:32:19,990 --> 00:32:23,270 And that's, and that's in many sense, in many ways the gospel. 775 00:32:24,250 --> 00:32:26,370 And so he goes a little bit further here and he continues to 776 00:32:26,370 --> 00:32:29,810 talk about this, this prideful people that, that he's eventually 777 00:32:29,810 --> 00:32:30,730 going to judge. 778 00:32:31,050 --> 00:32:35,490 So it says in verse five, yea, also because he transgress, transgresseth 779 00:32:35,490 --> 00:32:37,850 by wine, he is a proud man. 780 00:32:38,570 --> 00:32:43,930 So it speaks to this idea that he's abusing and he, he's using one 781 00:32:43,930 --> 00:32:46,970 man as a personification for everyone who struggles with pride. 782 00:32:47,370 --> 00:32:49,850 So he said, if that makes sense to you guys, he's using like 783 00:32:49,850 --> 00:32:54,830 an example of one person to demonstrate what all people deal 784 00:32:54,830 --> 00:32:55,910 with in the area of pride. 785 00:32:55,990 --> 00:32:59,910 He says he transgress us or sins by wine, meaning he's not able 786 00:32:59,910 --> 00:33:02,590 to have self control. 787 00:33:02,590 --> 00:33:08,390 He's not able to be able to take things in a way that is godly, 788 00:33:08,390 --> 00:33:09,990 but he goes and he feeds his flesh. 789 00:33:10,230 --> 00:33:13,030 He is a proud man, neither keepeth at home. 790 00:33:13,030 --> 00:33:16,590 So what that means is like privately, he's not able to have 791 00:33:16,590 --> 00:33:17,150 discipline. 792 00:33:17,150 --> 00:33:19,440 He's not able to be. 793 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:20,640 Be in a place of. 794 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,600 Of care and concern to the things of God who enlarges his desire 795 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,600 as hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied. 796 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:33,400 So this speaks of this idea that God sees the proud man in the 797 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:35,120 sense that he can never be satisfied. 798 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,920 So someone who is characterized by pride is always 799 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,560 going to be insatiably after something, whether it's wine, whether 800 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:45,520 it's materialism, whether it's illicit relationships, whatever it 801 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,080 is, it's just always going to be something that he's going after. 802 00:33:48,990 --> 00:33:50,430 And so God says, hey, you know what? 803 00:33:50,430 --> 00:33:52,990 That, that person is not someone who's living by faith. 804 00:33:53,070 --> 00:33:55,070 That is someone who's trying to satisfy themselves. 805 00:33:55,070 --> 00:33:56,910 And they're always grasping, they're always wanting. 806 00:33:56,990 --> 00:33:58,590 They're not satisfied by God. 807 00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:00,750 They're not satisfied by the things of God. 808 00:34:00,910 --> 00:34:03,830 So here in this case, he says, hey, that's, that's the person who's 809 00:34:03,830 --> 00:34:04,190 prideful. 810 00:34:04,190 --> 00:34:07,310 It says, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth. 811 00:34:08,510 --> 00:34:13,070 Excuse me, and heapeth unto him all him, all people shall not 812 00:34:13,070 --> 00:34:17,190 all these take up a parable against him and a taunting proverb 813 00:34:17,190 --> 00:34:20,670 against him, and say, woe to him that increaseth that which is 814 00:34:20,670 --> 00:34:21,750 not his, how long? 815 00:34:21,910 --> 00:34:25,630 And to him that layeth himself with thick clay shall they not rise 816 00:34:25,630 --> 00:34:28,910 up suddenly that shall bite thee and awake that shall vex thee, 817 00:34:28,910 --> 00:34:32,230 and thou shalt be for booties unto them, because thou has spoiled 818 00:34:32,230 --> 00:34:35,830 many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee because 819 00:34:35,830 --> 00:34:38,470 of men's blood for the violence of the land and of the city 820 00:34:38,470 --> 00:34:39,550 and all that dwell therein. 821 00:34:39,550 --> 00:34:41,350 So what is he talking about here? 822 00:34:41,790 --> 00:34:44,190 Essentially what he's doing is he's describing Babylon. 823 00:34:44,190 --> 00:34:47,550 He's describing that, hey, even though I'm using Babylon as 824 00:34:47,630 --> 00:34:51,030 a tool for judgment, they're still going to face their judgment. 825 00:34:51,030 --> 00:34:54,030 And he's describing the way that they go after people and they, 826 00:34:54,030 --> 00:34:56,510 they want more, and they want more, and they're never satisfied. 827 00:34:56,510 --> 00:35:00,590 So here I would say God is answering Habakkuk's question by 828 00:35:00,590 --> 00:35:01,230 saying this. 829 00:35:02,110 --> 00:35:04,990 Hey, I God, I'm God. 830 00:35:05,230 --> 00:35:09,080 I'm assuring you, Habakkuk, that I know how to deal with prideful 831 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:09,360 people. 832 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:10,680 I know how to deal with Babylon. 833 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:12,000 I'm going to deal with them properly. 834 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,960 And he promised that the Babylonians would, would, yes, they 835 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:19,560 would take over a lot of nations, but one day someone would 836 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:20,240 conquer that. 837 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,880 And so he's saying the Babylonians are perfect examples 838 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,120 of prideful people who are trusting in themselves. 839 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:27,360 They're not living by faith. 840 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:29,680 And so basically, Habakkuk, don't worry, they're going to get 841 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:30,160 theirs too. 842 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:30,960 That's what he's saying. 843 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,120 He's like, don't worry Habakkuk, they're not going to get 844 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:34,000 away with what they're doing. 845 00:35:34,270 --> 00:35:37,990 I'm, I'm using them as a tool for judgment because I can, because 846 00:35:37,990 --> 00:35:38,590 I'm God. 847 00:35:38,910 --> 00:35:40,830 But it's not like they're going to get away with it. 848 00:35:40,910 --> 00:35:44,150 Everyone who lives in rebellion to God will eventually, 849 00:35:44,150 --> 00:35:49,110 at some point in time, face judgment on this side of eternity 850 00:35:49,110 --> 00:35:50,429 or right? 851 00:35:50,429 --> 00:35:52,670 And we know that there's something one day called the Great 852 00:35:52,670 --> 00:35:54,670 White Throne Judgment seat. 853 00:35:55,710 --> 00:35:57,830 We know that as Christians we're going to face something called 854 00:35:57,830 --> 00:36:01,110 the Bema seat, which means we're judged for our works and how 855 00:36:01,110 --> 00:36:02,510 God's going to reward us for that. 856 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:05,800 And thankfully none of us that are believers in Jesus Christ are 857 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,600 going to face the Great White Throne. 858 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:11,240 But those who do not believe in God, whether they were successful 859 00:36:11,240 --> 00:36:13,880 on this earth or not, if they were rebellion to God, they will 860 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,120 face God's judgment there at the end. 861 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,280 And so that's what God is assuring Habakkuk of is like, hey, 862 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:20,280 no one's getting away with this. 863 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,400 I'm going to eventually make all things right. 864 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,680 And I think that's what we have to do in our own questioning 865 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,480 to God is like, God, why did you allow this to happen? 866 00:36:28,970 --> 00:36:31,130 God, why are you allowing these people to get away with this? 867 00:36:32,090 --> 00:36:34,170 Why are you allowing me to go through this struggle? 868 00:36:34,330 --> 00:36:36,610 I think at the end, and I know this isn't something that we want 869 00:36:36,610 --> 00:36:39,690 to hear all the time, is that first of all, we're not the center 870 00:36:39,690 --> 00:36:40,410 of the universe. 871 00:36:42,330 --> 00:36:48,810 We are obviously cared for by God, but we are not the focus of 872 00:36:49,210 --> 00:36:52,570 the eternal scheme of God, the eternal plan of God. 873 00:36:53,290 --> 00:36:55,690 But at the end of the day, God is going to make all things right. 874 00:36:56,190 --> 00:37:02,590 God is going to judge those that are who are with him in faith. 875 00:37:02,750 --> 00:37:05,710 And we can't think of it in such a short sighted model. 876 00:37:06,350 --> 00:37:11,550 So sometimes we think about it from the day that we're in or the 877 00:37:11,550 --> 00:37:16,110 week that we're in, or even if we're like farsighted out, you know, 878 00:37:16,190 --> 00:37:17,590 70, 80, 90 years. 879 00:37:17,590 --> 00:37:20,910 But the Bible speaks of eternity, right? 880 00:37:20,910 --> 00:37:23,350 And so instead of thinking about it from the perspective of 881 00:37:23,350 --> 00:37:25,710 A human being who's limited to a certain amount of time. 882 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,360 Think about it from the perspective of eternity, that God 883 00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:29,680 is going to make all things right. 884 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,280 And what we're doing here isn't just for the here and now, 885 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:33,200 but it's for eternity. 886 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:33,760 And that's. 887 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:34,520 That's really. 888 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,240 I think, one of the best helps that we can have when it comes to 889 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:39,360 confusion and questions in our life. 890 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:40,040 It's. 891 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,960 It's having that eternal perspective, knowing that I'm not 892 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,040 living for the here and now. 893 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:46,520 I'm living for eternity. 894 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:48,800 I'm living for that day where I'm going to see my Savior face to 895 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:48,960 face. 896 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,440 I'm living for that day where I'm going to be with him forever. 897 00:37:52,020 --> 00:37:54,260 I was talking to someone recently, and I said, you know, what's 898 00:37:54,260 --> 00:37:55,860 the greatest gift of salvation? 899 00:37:56,580 --> 00:37:58,820 And, you know, the. 900 00:37:58,900 --> 00:38:00,900 The person was like, everlasting life. 901 00:38:01,460 --> 00:38:06,780 And I'm like, yes, but I think that sometimes we forget that the 902 00:38:06,780 --> 00:38:10,660 greatest gift is we're going to be with our Savior forever. 903 00:38:11,540 --> 00:38:12,220 And I think that. 904 00:38:12,220 --> 00:38:12,940 That we missed that. 905 00:38:12,940 --> 00:38:14,220 Yeah, I get to live forever, right? 906 00:38:14,220 --> 00:38:15,380 Because everyone would want that. 907 00:38:16,340 --> 00:38:17,500 You know, I'm not going to hell. 908 00:38:17,500 --> 00:38:17,740 That. 909 00:38:17,740 --> 00:38:18,260 That's great. 910 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,240 But really, if you look at scripture, the greatest joy, the 911 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:26,520 greatest blessing of salvation is that I get to be with my Savior 912 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:26,880 forever. 913 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:27,320 I get to. 914 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:28,480 I get to dwell with Him. 915 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:29,120 I get to. 916 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:30,560 I get to be in his presence. 917 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:30,800 And. 918 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:32,640 And that's a really amazing thing to think about. 919 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,400 And when we think about it from that perspective, it really 920 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,320 changes the way that we deal with those minimal things that we're 921 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,280 facing here on this earth that may seem very big in the moment. 922 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,360 For Habakkuk, this was life or death. 923 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,760 But at the end of the day, in the grand scheme of eternity, God 924 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:48,000 says, hey, I've got it under control. 925 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,000 And so God doesn't give him the answer that he wants. 926 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,760 He gives him the answer that he needs to hear, though, that, hey, 927 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:58,600 look, I have the right to use Babylon as my judgment, but don't 928 00:38:58,600 --> 00:38:59,960 worry, they're going to be judged as well. 929 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,640 And so what does this look like practically for us? 930 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:03,640 Well, it could be this. 931 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:06,840 God, why are you allowing this to happen to me? 932 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:10,160 And that person over there just getting to do what they want 933 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:11,160 to do, having joy? 934 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,320 Well, first of all, we don't know what's going on in their life. 935 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:14,920 We don't know what's going on behind the scenes. 936 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:15,440 We don't. 937 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:15,760 We don't. 938 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,200 And this is all recorded in Psalm 73. 939 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:18,960 It's a good passage. 940 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:20,280 Of scripture to talk about this. 941 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:24,280 But basically God is going to make all things right one day. 942 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:25,840 And, and I, I've struggled with this. 943 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,080 I've looked at people who are not doing things right and say, you 944 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:30,320 know, why, why are they getting away with this? 945 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:32,040 Why does it seem like they can be successful? 946 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,040 Why does it seem like they're not going through trials? 947 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:36,520 Ultimately, what we have to understand is that they're in rebellion 948 00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:36,840 to God. 949 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:38,040 You go back to verse four. 950 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:42,720 That is the person whose soul is lifted up, it's not upright in 951 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:42,920 him. 952 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:43,840 That's a prideful person. 953 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:45,920 That's a person who's in rebellion to God. 954 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:47,880 And so ultimately God is going to make things right. 955 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:49,200 And so that's the answer to Habakkuk. 956 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:50,120 I'm going to make things right. 957 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:52,840 And so then we're going to look at this next week. 958 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:57,640 God then starts explaining to Habakkuk, basically four different 959 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:02,480 individuals, four different types of people, I should say that 960 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:04,040 that are characterized in their sin. 961 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,280 So he talks about the greedy, he talks about all these different 962 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,160 ones that, that we'll talk about. 963 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:10,040 We'll break those down. 964 00:40:10,380 --> 00:40:12,460 And so he goes, woe to those that covet. 965 00:40:12,460 --> 00:40:16,900 Woe to those who are in awe that, that are violent. 966 00:40:16,900 --> 00:40:19,900 He talks about people who build a town with blood and all that. 967 00:40:19,980 --> 00:40:21,660 So we're going to talk about the next week and we're going to 968 00:40:21,660 --> 00:40:23,100 see how God really sees sin. 969 00:40:23,500 --> 00:40:24,340 And we need to know that. 970 00:40:24,340 --> 00:40:26,860 We need to know how God views sin and rebellion. 971 00:40:27,180 --> 00:40:30,860 Because if we see God just viewing rebellion and sin as, hey, 972 00:40:30,860 --> 00:40:34,300 you know, try not to do that, guys, it's not really the best thing 973 00:40:34,300 --> 00:40:34,540 to do. 974 00:40:34,540 --> 00:40:37,390 That's like, you know, it's okay, but, you know, that's not how 975 00:40:37,390 --> 00:40:38,110 God sees sin. 976 00:40:38,110 --> 00:40:39,430 God is repulsed by sin. 977 00:40:39,510 --> 00:40:43,470 Now, God is gracious, but God cannot look upon sin and condone 978 00:40:43,470 --> 00:40:43,910 sin. 979 00:40:44,150 --> 00:40:45,750 And that's the beauty of the gospel. 980 00:40:45,830 --> 00:40:48,630 God sent his only begotten son for us who knew no sin. 981 00:40:48,790 --> 00:40:53,630 But we, we as Christians need to understand the gravity and the 982 00:40:53,630 --> 00:40:55,830 destruction of sin and how God actually views. 983 00:40:55,990 --> 00:40:59,670 Because when we see it through that lens, we're a lot less likely 984 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:04,320 to love it and to, to wallow in it and be in it for, for a long 985 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:04,600 time. 986 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:06,920 So one of the things that I try to help people with and I've 987 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:12,680 tried to help even, yeah, I see it way in my own life is I, I 988 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:17,840 want to see this sin that I'm drawn to as, as how God sees it. 989 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,000 And, and I think that that helps us when it comes to fighting 990 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:21,800 Those things in our life. 991 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:22,840 So anyway, that's. 992 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:26,960 That's a part of chapter two in Habakkuk and asking God questions. 993 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:27,680 And I think that. 994 00:41:28,900 --> 00:41:31,980 I think actually it would be spiritually healthy for us to ask 995 00:41:31,980 --> 00:41:32,980 God more questions. 996 00:41:33,540 --> 00:41:35,700 Sometimes we just assume we know what God's doing. 997 00:41:36,420 --> 00:41:39,180 And, you know, I think that a lot of times we can get in trouble 998 00:41:39,180 --> 00:41:41,300 when we assume the heart of God. 999 00:41:41,780 --> 00:41:44,179 And so I would say, ask God. 1000 00:41:44,180 --> 00:41:45,420 And one of the things. 1001 00:41:45,420 --> 00:41:46,420 One of the things that we. 1002 00:41:47,140 --> 00:41:48,660 What do you do when you don't know what to do? 1003 00:41:48,660 --> 00:41:50,780 Like, maybe you're at a point in your life, or maybe you have been 1004 00:41:50,780 --> 00:41:52,500 in the point in your life, or maybe it will be at a point in your 1005 00:41:52,500 --> 00:41:55,880 life where you're thinking, I have no idea what I should do in 1006 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:56,440 this situation. 1007 00:41:57,800 --> 00:41:59,560 Well, the Bible gives us an answer of what to do. 1008 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:03,160 James, James, chapter one says, if any, you lack wisdom, ask 1009 00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:03,560 God. 1010 00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:05,080 Ask God for wisdom. 1011 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:08,640 And I think that so many times it's such a simple thing, but we 1012 00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:09,480 forget about that. 1013 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,920 Just go to God and ask him for wisdom and what to do in the situation. 1014 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,240 And that's asking God a question. 1015 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:16,640 But God wants us to ask questions. 1016 00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:17,880 Look at Matthew, chapter seven. 1017 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:19,480 Ask and you shall receive. 1018 00:42:20,310 --> 00:42:20,910 You know, they're. 1019 00:42:20,910 --> 00:42:21,150 They're. 1020 00:42:21,150 --> 00:42:21,350 And. 1021 00:42:21,350 --> 00:42:23,070 And we know that there were people in the. 1022 00:42:23,070 --> 00:42:25,350 In Scripture that asked God the wrong question. 1023 00:42:25,670 --> 00:42:28,990 Remember the lawyer that comes to Jesus in Matthew 22, and it says 1024 00:42:28,990 --> 00:42:31,190 that he was asking Jesus a question to tempt him. 1025 00:42:31,270 --> 00:42:31,710 Okay? 1026 00:42:31,710 --> 00:42:32,430 So we don't want to do that. 1027 00:42:32,430 --> 00:42:36,070 We don't ask God questions to tempt him or to question his character. 1028 00:42:36,070 --> 00:42:38,430 But it is a point in time where we need to ask God questions 1029 00:42:38,430 --> 00:42:39,030 for clarity. 1030 00:42:39,110 --> 00:42:41,470 And sometimes God will answer, and then sometimes he won't answer, 1031 00:42:41,470 --> 00:42:42,710 and then we've got to be okay with that. 1032 00:42:42,950 --> 00:42:44,310 And, And I think that that's. 1033 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:45,680 That's important. 1034 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,480 And like some of you that have had children understand that principle. 1035 00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:50,560 There's times where in love, you. 1036 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:53,640 You need to give your children answers, and there's times in love 1037 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:55,160 where you don't need to give your children answers. 1038 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,120 And that's okay because you're the parent and you know what's best. 1039 00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:01,519 And God's the greatest father and he knows what's best for us. 1040 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,320 And I'm trying to work through that right now because I. 1041 00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,560 If maybe some of you are not like this. 1042 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:07,520 For me, I. 1043 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:09,920 I have in my mind how everything should be. 1044 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:12,080 And if everything's that way, I'm a happy person. 1045 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:13,200 I'm a happy camper. 1046 00:43:13,390 --> 00:43:15,070 When everyone's doing what I think they should do. 1047 00:43:15,470 --> 00:43:18,350 If everything in the world is the way that I want it to be when 1048 00:43:18,350 --> 00:43:21,550 my plans are being fulfilled, but the moment that those start going 1049 00:43:21,550 --> 00:43:24,830 astray is when I start going, what's going on? 1050 00:43:24,830 --> 00:43:25,630 Everything's wrong. 1051 00:43:25,630 --> 00:43:29,030 And so again, we have to go back to say, I'm not the center. 1052 00:43:29,030 --> 00:43:29,870 That's pride. 1053 00:43:29,870 --> 00:43:33,550 I need to die to my flesh, and I need to allow the Lord to guide 1054 00:43:33,550 --> 00:43:34,870 me and trust him in faith. 1055 00:43:34,870 --> 00:43:35,790 It's all about trust. 1056 00:43:36,270 --> 00:43:37,230 It's all about trust. 1057 00:43:37,230 --> 00:43:40,400 And if we can trust him in his goodness, we're going to be okay. 1058 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:45,000 Well, I'm going to go ahead and close there now and we'll be 1059 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:51,680 back next week looking at Habakkuk Chapter 2 thank you again 1060 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:54,240 for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast. 1061 00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:56,800 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1062 00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,800 You would like to find out more information about our church 1063 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,200 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1064 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,120 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1065 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:11,400 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch. 1066 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:11,800 Com. 1067 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:15,760 If you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 1068 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,520 along for future podcast and updates. 1069 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:20,120 Thank you so much. 1070 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:21,080 God Bless. 1071 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:22,680 Have a wonderful day.