1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,440 Most of us could probably name people who never really 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:08,400 recovered from something. They suffered, they underwent 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:12,840 some major loss or devastating disappointment, sort of turn 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,960 their whole life upside down. But then maybe even when the 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:22,640 circumstance changed or their life improved in some way, the 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,960 inner darkness remains. Maybe they grew disillusioned, 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,280 unmotivated, basically gave up on life. 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:32,640 Maybe they grew angry and embittered. 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,080 And whenever you talk to them, they are telling you some new 10 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,960 person or group who's the reason for why their life is so 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,400 miserable. Some people see that kind of 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:49,680 inward devastation caused by suffering and they decide I will 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,360 never let life get to me like that. 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,680 And so they build up inward Shields and buffers. 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,360 They armor plate their heart, they protect themselves 16 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,320 inwardly, they harden themselves against adversity. 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,520 They see that care leads to suffering. 18 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,760 And so they decide that they will avoid suffering by refusing 19 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,560 to care. They lock themselves up, wall 20 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:18,200 themselves in so that nothing can get in deep enough to hurt 21 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:21,760 them. If the first type of person is 22 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:26,080 dominated by bitterness, the second type tries to protect 23 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:33,520 themselves by stoicism. Both the embittered person and 24 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:39,640 the Stoic are dominated by their circumstances, but in very 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,040 different ways. One is unhappy because of their 26 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,480 circumstances, the other is constantly on guard against 27 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,480 getting hurt by circumstances, so they can never take the risk 28 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:56,080 of trying to be happy. Of course, it's natural to be 29 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:59,360 happy when things in life are mostly going your way. 30 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:03,000 If you have a good job, good financial circumstances, a good 31 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,520 home, if you have good health, good friends, some time to 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,800 yourself to enjoy things you like, well, anybody could be 33 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,400 happy under those circumstances. But in that situation, your 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,520 happiness is completely dependent on those good 35 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:23,400 circumstances. Change one or two or three and 36 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,200 your happiness might take a nosedive. 37 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:33,720 How can you get a happiness that isn't dependent on good 38 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,120 circumstances or threatened by bad circumstances? 39 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:45,480 If you want to go outside in the rain and stay dry, you need a 40 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,120 waterproof coat. If you want to go into the pool 41 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:53,120 or the ocean and take pictures of your kids, you need a 42 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:58,600 waterproof camera. Is there such a thing as a 43 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:05,360 circumstance proof happiness? Our passage for this morning 44 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:10,680 declares that there is, and it tells you how to get it. 45 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:14,240 This morning we complete our series in the Old Testament 46 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,240 Prophetic book of Habakkuk with the last four verses, chapter 3, 47 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,760 verses 16 to 19. If you don't have a Bible, you 48 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:21,920 can feel free to hold up your hand. 49 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:23,840 Someone will bring you one. Keep your hand up. 50 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,280 We'll have an assistant bring you a Bible shortly. 51 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,840 Here's a recap of the whole book to refresh our memories. 52 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,720 Habakkuk begins by crying out to God against the injustice and 53 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,360 evil of his own people, Judah. He then receives A shocking 54 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,880 answer from God, that God is going to use the Babylonians to 55 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:48,640 come and judge Judah. But God also promises that those 56 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,320 who have faith in him will live, and by that he can only mean 57 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,320 live eternally, live beyond whatever happens in this life. 58 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,040 God also promises to finally judge the Babylonians 59 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,240 themselves, along with all evil powers who oppose him and 60 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,480 oppress his people. And then in chapter 3, those are 61 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,440 the first two chapters. Then in chapter 3, Habakkuk 62 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:17,880 meditates on God's saving work that he achieved in the past and 63 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,079 that he promises for the future. Now, at the tail end of the 64 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:28,000 book, our past, our Our passage concludes the whole thing by 65 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,800 showing us the prophet's personal response to everything 66 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,080 that God has revealed to him throughout the whole book. 67 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:39,080 Please follow along as I read the passage. 68 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:50,480 Habakkuk 3 Verses 16 to 19 I hear, and my body trembles, my 69 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:56,000 lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, 70 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:04,800 my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the 71 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,680 day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 72 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,760 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the 73 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,920 vines, the produce of the olive fail in the fields, yield no 74 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:26,920 food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd 75 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:32,760 in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 76 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,600 I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 77 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:43,440 God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deers. 78 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,320 He makes me tread on my high places. 79 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,280 To the choirmaster with stringed instruments. 80 00:05:55,440 --> 00:06:01,680 How can you have a circumstance proof happiness by faith? 81 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,920 Make God your all sufficient good. 82 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:08,320 That's the point of our passage in a nutshell. 83 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,280 And I'll say it again. How can you have a circumstance 84 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:20,280 proof happiness by faith? Make God you're all sufficient 85 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,240 good. We'll walk through the passage 86 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,640 in three parts. In each point we'll consider 87 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,560 what making God, you're all sufficient good enables you to 88 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:41,120 do and be .1 on verse 16 troubled yet resting. 89 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,800 If by faith you May God you're all sufficient good, you can be 90 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:52,640 troubled yet resting. Look again at the first part of 91 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,520 verse 16. I hear, and my body trembles. 92 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:01,760 My lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones. 93 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:07,360 My legs tremble beneath me. Here the prophet Habakkuk 94 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:11,520 reports his own inward, deeply felt response to God's 95 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,560 revelation. He's telling us what God's Word 96 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,680 did to him when he heard it. Now, a few of you might be 97 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,600 wondering why I've grouped verse 16 with what follows rather than 98 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,960 what comes before. After all, the ESV puts it at 99 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,160 the end of the section rather than the beginning of a new one. 100 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,320 It's important to remember that while the words of the book are 101 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,440 inspired by the Holy Spirit, the little paragraph divisions and 102 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:36,920 headings printed in your Bible aren't. 103 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,360 Those are choices made by editors. 104 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,920 Now, In any case, the important clue here to the shape of the 105 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,840 passage is the verb. In verse 16. 106 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:50,280 I hear it's exactly the same Hebrew word as at the very 107 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,240 beginning of the previous section in chapter 3, verse 2. 108 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,000 There it's translated. Lord, I have heard the report of 109 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:58,800 you. I think the repetition is 110 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,800 deliberate. From verse 2 to verse 15, we 111 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,360 learn what Habakkuk prayed in response to the revelation the 112 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,960 Lord gave him. Now here in verses 16 to 19, 113 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,400 Habakkuk continues the prayer, but it's as if he hits the reset 114 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,760 button, he brings us back to the top. 115 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,320 He's he's showing us that. He's reflecting again on what he 116 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,760 heard from God. What exactly is Habakkuk 117 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:27,120 responding to? I think he's reflecting back on 118 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,720 the two big revelations God has given him throughout the book. 119 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,200 First, God is going to judge His people by the Babylonians. 120 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,480 The Lord first reveals that to Habakkuk in chapter 1, verses 5 121 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,880 to 11. Now, this was going to take 122 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,039 place just a couple decades in the future. 123 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,240 The Lord doesn't tell Habakkuk exactly when it's going to 124 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,520 happen, but Habakkuk can know from sort of reports on the 125 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,320 geopolitical stage that Babylon is rising. 126 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,160 They're on the move, they're on the March, they're coming soon. 127 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,560 We can call this the near judgement. 128 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,680 Near in the sense of it's going to happen within 1020 years. 129 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,320 Secondly, the other big thing God revealed to Habakkuk in this 130 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,880 book is that in the more distant future he's going to judge the 131 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,720 Babylonians. He reveals that most clearly in 132 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,880 chapter 2, verses 6 to 20. When he judges the Babylonians, 133 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,360 he's going to judge all the other evil powers that oppose 134 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:20,440 him. When he does judge the 135 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,080 Babylonians and all other evil powers, he's going to rescue his 136 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:24,880 people. He's going to renew them. 137 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,320 He's going to restore them. As verse 14 of chapter 2 puts 138 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,680 it, Then the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the 139 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:33,080 glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 140 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,720 This will be one act of both judgement and salvation. 141 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,880 It's going to restore God's people perfectly, finally and 142 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,360 forever. And yet one of the key themes 143 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,320 throughout the book is that Habakkuk and all of God's people 144 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,360 are going to have to wait patiently for that day. 145 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:54,640 If it seems slow in coming, wait for it. 146 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:57,880 So we can call this the far judgement. 147 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,680 When Habakkuk describes his response to God's Word, he's 148 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:05,320 responding to the announcement of these two judgements. 149 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:09,600 The first one, the near judgement, makes his bones 150 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,200 shake. It's going to mean suffering and 151 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,840 destruction and desolation for him, along with the rest of 152 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:20,840 God's people. Habakkuk's immediate future is 153 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:25,440 bleak. It is a bleak future guaranteed 154 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:34,120 by God's Word. So one last time, Habakkuk tells 155 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,520 us, and he tells God his struggle. 156 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:44,360 I hear, and my body trembles. My lips quiver at the sound. 157 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:50,680 Rottenness enters into my bones. My legs tremble beneath me. 158 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,960 This isn't exactly lament like we saw earlier in the book, 159 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,640 especially in chapter 1, but it is an honest confession of 160 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:01,440 struggle. Here we are at the end. 161 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,520 God has made his big revelations to Habakkuk. 162 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:06,360 We're at the end of the story and he's still shaking. 163 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,000 He's still trembling. He's still struggling with what 164 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:15,440 God has revealed to him. Habakkuk does not look on the 165 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,320 bright side. He does not pivot to consider 166 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,840 the positive things that must somehow be in this word of 167 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,280 judgement. Instead, God's word of judgement 168 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,680 undoes him. He's devastated and he let's God 169 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,120 know it. He casts himself and all his 170 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,440 trouble back into God's hands in prayer. 171 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,680 When you're burdened, bring your burden to God like Habakkuk 172 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:42,280 does. When you're overwhelmed, entrust 173 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:43,920 yourself to God like Habakkuk does. 174 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:46,360 That's part of what he's doing in confessing how he's 175 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,560 struggling with God's Word. So pray about what's troubling 176 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:55,480 you and leave it with God. Refuse to keep chewing on it in 177 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,000 your mind. If you've given a burden to God 178 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:03,480 in prayer, don't snatch it back out of His hands in worry. 179 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,160 What it means to wait on the Lord is to entrust yourself to 180 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:13,120 Him and leave your problems in His hands. 181 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:20,320 Very often, the trailhead that marks the beginning of the 182 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:26,520 journey toward a circumstance proof happiness is this. 183 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,120 Start by telling God what's wrong. 184 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:33,760 Start by telling God your trouble. 185 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,600 Confess your struggles to God, even if it's God's own word that 186 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,440 you're struggling with. Bring that to God and ask for 187 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:45,680 help. Lament is a pathway to 188 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,840 contentment. But that's not all Habakkuk 189 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,040 does. Look at the second part of verse 190 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,600 16. Yet I will quietly wait for the 191 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,640 day of trouble to come upon people who invade us. 192 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,560 Here, Habakkuk shifts his focus from the near judgement to the 193 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:04,760 far judgement. The near judgement brings 194 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,400 trembling, and the far judgement brings confident hope. 195 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,560 The near judgement brings him trouble. 196 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,640 The far judgement brings him rest. 197 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,160 The Hebrew word for quietly wait here could literally be 198 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,480 translated rest. It's the same verb that Noah is 199 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,280 named after because his father said he'll bring us rest from 200 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:30,120 our laborers. Even amid Habakkuk's trouble, he 201 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,880 can be at rest. He can wait for the Lord quietly 202 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,600 and confidently. He can do that because he lifts 203 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,800 his eyes up to the horizon of eternity. 204 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,720 He lifts his eyes up from the near judgement to the far 205 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,280 judgement. He lifts his eyes up beyond the 206 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:51,880 near horizon of trouble to the far horizon of blessing for him 207 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:57,760 and judgement on God's enemies. He knows that however heavy are 208 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,400 the burdens he has to carry for now, the blessing God has 209 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:07,040 prepared for him outweighs all those burdens easily. 210 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:14,920 The path to circumstance proof happiness often times begins 211 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:19,360 with telling God you're trouble, and it continues with letting 212 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,880 God's promises weigh heavier in your heart than present trouble 213 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,200 does. In order to have peace and calm 214 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:32,320 confidence in God amidst troubles, you must trust His 215 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,040 promises for your future. The only way to find sure rest 216 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,640 in dark times is to let the light of eternity shine in. 217 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,040 One way to do that is by praying God's promises back to Him. 218 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,320 What does that look like? Here's kind of a worked example 219 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:53,920 out loud, real time 2nd Corinthians 417 For this light 220 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,960 momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal 221 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:58,960 weight of glory beyond all comparison. 222 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,760 If you're trying to pray that promise back to God, you might 223 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:06,080 struggle to accept it. It might struggle to sound real 224 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,520 or realistic. Oh Lord, I, you tell me. 225 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:14,520 And so I know this affliction is light and momentary, even though 226 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:20,960 it sure feels long and heavy. Lord, help me to see how short 227 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:22,840 my suffering is in light of eternity. 228 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,520 Lord, help me to see how light my suffering is in light of the 229 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,000 eternal weight of glory. You're preparing for me. 230 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:29,720 The suffering doesn't feel light. 231 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,200 But would you by Your promise, lighten it in my heart? 232 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,640 Then, as you keep meditating on that promise, you might notice 233 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,320 another detail in the verse. This light and momentary 234 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:46,040 affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. 235 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:54,560 The affliction itself is working glory, producing glory, causing 236 00:15:54,560 --> 00:16:00,040 more glory to be added. So pray that part back to God. 237 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,880 Lord, it doesn't feel to me like this suffering is doing 238 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,080 anything. Doesn't feel like it has any 239 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,480 point, doesn't feel like it has any purpose, doesn't feel like 240 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:12,520 it's working any good for me right now. 241 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:19,840 Yet you tell me, excuse me, microphone, yet you tell me. 242 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,880 It's producing glory. It doesn't seem to have any 243 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,360 fruit, any effects, but you say it is. 244 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:34,400 And so I have to trust that Lord help me to take comfort that 245 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,800 this suffering is not futile, but active. 246 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:45,240 Grant me to remember that this suffering is not endless, but 247 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,160 brief. Being troubled and at rest are 248 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,560 usually opposites. Let's say it's 10:30 PM. 249 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,080 You've settled down to bed for the night. 250 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,200 You're about to fall asleep, the lights are off, when you hear 251 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,000 what sounds like a door opening and closing. 252 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,119 You're not expecting any guests. Everybody else in your household 253 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,800 is tucked away from bed, yet a door has apparently opened and 254 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,240 shut. Chances are you are not getting 255 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,599 to sleep until you are confident that you have discovered the 256 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:20,720 source of whatever that noise was and that there is no trouble 257 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,839 associated with it. The rest you were about to have 258 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:26,720 has been snatched away by the threat of trouble. 259 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:31,360 That's how life normally works. If you have trouble, you are not 260 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:34,160 at rest. If you are at rest, that is due 261 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,800 in part to an absence of trouble. 262 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:39,400 But that's not how the Christian life works. 263 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:45,040 The Christian life is a paradox. As Christians, we rest amid 264 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:50,280 trouble, and despite trouble we can rest no matter how severe 265 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,280 our troubles are. We endure all sorts of hard 266 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:57,280 circumstances, loss, illness, pain, poverty. 267 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,880 We endure all sorts of inward struggles like fear and doubt 268 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,840 and depression. There are hard truths in 269 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:11,120 Scripture that make our minds and our hearts hurt, and we're 270 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:15,600 troubled by our own sin and its consequences. 271 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:23,480 Yet by faith, if you make God, you're all sufficient good. 272 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:28,080 You can be at rest despite any trouble. 273 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,280 And in the midst of every trouble. 274 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:36,520 By faith, Habakkuk made God his all sufficient good. 275 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,040 He, like God's promises, weigh heavier in his heart than 276 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,440 present trouble. You hear how he sets the future 277 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,800 judgement against the present trouble. 278 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:51,680 Yet I will quietly wait. Here's the present trouble. 279 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,800 Yet I will be at rest. He lets God's promise set a 280 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:02,880 limit to his trouble. He set his heart entirely on 281 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:07,320 what God would bring him then, and so he can suffer the loss of 282 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,640 anything now. That's how you can be troubled 283 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,240 yet resting. But Havacov doesn't only rest in 284 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:22,720 the Lord, he even rejoices in him, .2 desolate, yet rejoicing. 285 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:29,280 We see this in verses 17 and 18. If by faith you make God your 286 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:36,520 all sufficient good, you can be desolate yet rejoicing. 287 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:43,200 Look first at verse 17. Though the fake tree should not 288 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,160 blossom nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive 289 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:48,920 fail and the fields yield no food. 290 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,080 The flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the 291 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,880 stalls. Pause there. 292 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,000 Here. Habakkuk certainly has in mind 293 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,720 the coming Babylonian invasion, both in ancient times and still 294 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,440 even today. One major tactic and warfare is 295 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,800 to cut off food supply. Burn the fields, slaughter the 296 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:14,760 animals, uproot fruit trees and vineyards, starve the enemy into 297 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,400 surrender. If they can't eat, they can't 298 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,640 fight. Now the list of 6 food sources 299 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:28,720 that fail probably moves from the optional to the essential. 300 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:34,920 Figs, fruits, olives, those all make life better in a wide 301 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:41,000 variety of ways, but bread and meat make life possible. 302 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,160 Habakkuk is anticipating a time when the Babylonians come in and 303 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,360 demolish all of it. What he anticipates is not a 304 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:54,160 recession, not a downturn, not some budget readjusting and belt 305 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,280 tightening. He's not even considering a 306 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:00,160 major economic depression that his country might emerge from in 307 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,560 five or ten years. He's looking to the end of 308 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,920 everything that can keep body and soul together. 309 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,800 He's looking at desolation. He is considering, quite 310 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:18,040 soberly, a worst case scenario. And because he's looking at an 311 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:23,440 absolute worst case scenario, that net that he casts is wide 312 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,240 enough to capture and include any of our lesser suffering. 313 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:32,640 What he's saying when the absolute worst happens, well, 314 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,840 any of the worst case scenarios you might live through are 315 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:41,440 included. What worst case scenario do you 316 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,560 fear? What worst case scenario have 317 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:51,280 you lived through? Habakkuk is describing the 318 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,520 experience of being desolate, devastated, empty. 319 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,560 Life is in ruins, everything is destroyed. 320 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,440 Even if you've never lived through starvation conditions 321 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,280 like that, have you ever felt like your life just got wiped 322 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,120 out? That everything you look to for 323 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:11,440 satisfaction, fulfillment, support, meaning, comfort, even 324 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,720 survival in a sense, is just gone. 325 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,880 The experience of loneliness can be a kind of desolation. 326 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,080 You're bearing heavy burdens. Just feels like there's no one 327 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:27,480 in your life who can bear them with you. 328 00:22:28,360 --> 00:22:32,520 Doesn't seem like there's anyone who's near enough or who knows 329 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,000 enough or who cares enough to carry the sorrow you're 330 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,480 carrying. When you're desolate, where do 331 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,440 you turn? What hope do you have? 332 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,320 What help do you have? If you're not a believer in 333 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,040 Jesus, how would you answer those questions? 334 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,320 When you are desolate, where do you turn? 335 00:22:55,360 --> 00:22:59,760 What gives you hope? Who gives you help? 336 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:03,720 When Habakkuk is desolate, where does he turn? 337 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:09,240 Verse 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 338 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,440 I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 339 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,280 We have to notice that Habakkuk's attitude toward the 340 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:21,520 Lord here is not resignation, but rejoicing. 341 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,200 This is not grudging submission, but glad delight. 342 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,640 Habakkuk is not saying, well, I guess I'm stuck with God. 343 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,360 You know, I've gone this far with him. 344 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,360 It's not really working out great, but I don't really have a 345 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,200 better option. So I'll just kind of tough it 346 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:40,080 out with the Lord. No, instead he's saying even 347 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:48,040 when I have 0 ground in my life for rejoicing, the Lord will be 348 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,120 my all sufficient ground for rejoicing. 349 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:55,800 As we've studied the book of Habakkuk over these past 7 350 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,760 sermons, it's my experience of studying and preaching and 351 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,080 certainly talking to some of you, is that there are parts of 352 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:07,640 Habakkuk that are so human it's hard to see how they're holy. 353 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,400 His, his wrestling with God, his anger, his accusations. 354 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,240 Well, that feels very human. We got that doubt, anger, 355 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:16,920 uncertainty, accusation. Yep. 356 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,800 But how can he be saying that stuff and not sinning? 357 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:21,840 That's what the sort of dilemma in the first part of the book 358 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,960 feels like. But now we have the opposite 359 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:28,840 problem. It's not so human. 360 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:34,120 It's hard to see how it's holy. It's so holy, it's hard to see 361 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:38,800 how it's human. How can you total up even the 362 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:45,480 necessary supports of life and find 000 and then still say, yet 363 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,520 I will rejoice? That's an equation that makes no 364 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,440 sense whatsoever in worldly terms. 365 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,760 Now, one of the important points to keep in mind, try to make 366 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:00,520 sense out of this, is that this is the goal of the whole book. 367 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:05,200 This is the conclusion that all of Habakkuk's wrestling with the 368 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,160 Lord has been leading to. This is the destination of his 369 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,840 whole journey of lament. It's the place the Lord has 370 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,440 patiently, lovingly guided him to. 371 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,720 So he didn't start off here. He didn't get there instantly. 372 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,720 It's the result of the whole process the Lord is walking him 373 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,240 through. The goal of lament is 374 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:32,080 contentment in God, and contentment often comes only as 375 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:36,920 the conclusion of a long journey of laments. 376 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,920 Again, Habakkuk is not spotting a silver lining. 377 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:44,960 He is not reinterpreting these bad conditions as somehow being 378 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,880 good. He is not looking on the bright 379 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,360 side. He is not an optimist somehow 380 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,440 staying an optimist against overwhelming evidence. 381 00:25:54,680 --> 00:26:00,160 No, he's saying there's no earthy reason to be happy, yet 382 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:04,920 he's going to be happy in God, in God, and because of God. 383 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:09,160 This is a circumstance proof happiness. 384 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,400 This is the paradox of Christian contentment. 385 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,640 This is a happiness the world can't take away because the 386 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,680 world didn't give it. This is a happiness nobody can 387 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,560 take away because only God gives it. 388 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,560 This is a happiness that you can have so long as your heart is 389 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,840 anchored in God and tethered to God, and as long as God means 390 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,040 more to you than anything in this world. 391 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:36,280 Happiness always has a reason. It always has a ground. 392 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,360 It always has an explanation. Whenever you're happy, you're 393 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:42,920 happy because of something, even if a consciously aware of it. 394 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:45,800 It might just be you're in good health, you got a good night's 395 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:48,400 sleep, the sun is shining, it's a beautiful day, it's not too 396 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,120 hot. That might be enough to make you 397 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:52,720 happy today, but it's still a reason. 398 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:57,320 It's still a ground. Rejoicing and happiness are 399 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:01,800 always a response. They always depend on something. 400 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:06,480 You cannot get happy just by trying to get happy. 401 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,840 You cannot rejoice by commanding yourself to rejoice. 402 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,760 Soul, rejoice. Now get happy. 403 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:18,040 Didn't you hear me? Where? 404 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:19,280 Where's the rejoicing? We have. 405 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:20,760 We have instructed you to rejoice. 406 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,400 And I'm not saying it. Soul, rejoice. 407 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,840 It's not how it works. You can't summon it up on cue. 408 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,360 You can't will your way into rejoicing. 409 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:37,600 Joy and happiness are always resting on something, like a 410 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,240 house. Happiness has to rest on 411 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,200 something solid. The embittered person is unhappy 412 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,040 because their life has gone S. The stoic person won't take a 413 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,560 chance on happiness because they see how risky it is to let your 414 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,440 heart attach itself to anything in this world, because it could 415 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,080 always break, it can always disappear, it could always 416 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,560 vanish. The Stoic person rightly sees 417 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:03,360 how fragile every earthly source of happiness is, but then they 418 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:05,280 just resign themselves to never being happy. 419 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,960 How can you have a circumstance proof happiness? 420 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,120 By making God your greatest good. 421 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,080 And if that feels abstract, if that feels hard to get your mind 422 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:20,040 around, just start looking for competitors in your heart and 423 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,400 your thoughts and your motivations. 424 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,360 The things that you naturally turn to the when you wake up 425 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,040 first thing in the morning, thing that you're thinking about 426 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,040 last thing at night before you go to bed. 427 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:33,800 The things that you sort of tie your heart to with many knots 428 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,760 and think, well, if I get this, I'll be happy. 429 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,760 If I get this, I'll be set. If only I can arrive here, then 430 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:43,360 I'll be good. Whatever those things are, those 431 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,920 are the things that are competing with God to be your 432 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:53,640 greatest good. Only by setting your heart on 433 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:58,120 the God who is Himself infinite happiness can you get a 434 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,480 circumstance proof happiness. First Timothy 111 calls God the 435 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,840 blessed God, which you could also translate the happy God. 436 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,040 God is infinite happiness in himself. 437 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,280 If you tie your heart to Him, you'll always have grounds to 438 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,720 rejoice again. How can you find this happiness 439 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,240 in God? Consider again Habakkuk's 440 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:24,840 resolve. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 441 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:33,440 I will take joy in the God of my salvation, God of my salvation. 442 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,360 Habakkuk trusts the Lord to save him. 443 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,400 Habakkuk knows that his people are going to suffer for their 444 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,720 own sins, and under the terms of the Old covenant, even though 445 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,440 Habakkuk is presumably righteous, he's going to suffer 446 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,560 along with them. But Habakkuk's soul wouldn't be 447 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,480 lost. His eternal destiny was not 448 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,720 under any threat by the Babylonian invasion. 449 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,280 We still see a picture here. Habakkuk is trusting in the Lord 450 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,880 to save him, to deliver him. He knows he's going to face 451 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,160 temporal judgement. He knows by God's grace and 452 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,480 mercy and forgiveness, he's going to inherit eternal life. 453 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,640 Habakkuk understands God's holiness back, He understands 454 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:17,080 his own sin, and if you want to be happy in God in a 455 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:22,960 circumstance proof way, the only way through there to there is 456 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:28,200 through the gate of repentance and forgiveness of turning from 457 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:33,520 sin and trusting in Christ. God created us to share in his 458 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,280 own happiness. He created us not because he was 459 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:37,720 a little bit unhappy, a little bit lonely. 460 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,560 It might be nice to have some creatures to kind of relate to 461 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,800 and hang out with. There's no deficit, no need, no 462 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,760 lack in God that led Him to create. 463 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,400 He created out of an abundance, an abundance of goodness, an 464 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:53,680 abundance of love, an abundance of happiness so that we could be 465 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,560 happy by sharing in the happiness that He is. 466 00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,560 God created us to find satisfaction in Him. 467 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,800 He created us to give our hearts back to Him and have them filled 468 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,000 with Him forever. But of course, ever since Adam 469 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,760 and Eve turned their backs on God in the garden, we've been 470 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,160 repeating that same sin over and over again, looking for 471 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,080 happiness and everything but God, striving for happiness in 472 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,600 every single way except the way God holds out to us. 473 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,520 That's very close to the heart of what the Bible calls sin, and 474 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,160 it deserves judgement. It deserves condemnation. 475 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:32,560 That's what God promises to give to all those who persist in 476 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,120 rejecting him and refusing him. But he sent his Son into the 477 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:40,120 world, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, 478 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,400 despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God. 479 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,960 Jesus came to bear the curse we deserve for turning our backs on 480 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:51,760 God and seeking our happiness our own way. 481 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,960 He came to bear the full penalty and punishment for sin, and he 482 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,480 rose from the dead. He triumphed over death, over 483 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:03,160 sin, over the devil, and now he holds out the offer to come to 484 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:07,480 him in faith and repentance. Be made happy in him forever. 485 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,960 That's what Jesus holds out to you today. 486 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,840 If you don't yet believe in Him, all you have to do is turn from 487 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:21,240 sin and trust in Him. The only way to rejoice in God 488 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:27,760 amid desolation is to know God as the God of your salvation. 489 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:33,520 When you have nothing, God Himself is the only sure ground 490 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:39,080 of rejoicing, because in Christ he's given you everything. 491 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,560 How can you make God you're all sufficient good? 492 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,000 How can you progress toward that end? 493 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,000 One way is to put to death desires for sinful 494 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:55,720 satisfactions, and even put to death desires for good things 495 00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:00,640 that have grown too big, Put to death desires for the wrong 496 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:04,040 things, and desires for the right things that have grown to 497 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,800 the wrong size. Confess those disordered desires 498 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,520 to God in prayer and ask for the Spirit's help in pulling those 499 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:18,000 desires up by their roots. Also, cultivate a greater love 500 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,560 for God. Meditate on His character. 501 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,680 Meditate on His saving work. Meditate on the promises He's 502 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:29,600 made to you. The key to desiring sin less is 503 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:34,280 desiring God more. The key to loving sin less is 504 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,160 loving God more. And the key to loving God more 505 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,720 is knowing better how much He already loves you. 506 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,640 How can you rejoice in the Lord when you have nothing? 507 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:51,480 It's by remembering that even if you have nothing here, you have 508 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,080 every spiritual blessing stored up for you in the heavenly 509 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,600 places in Christ. And sometimes having nothing 510 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:04,480 here is the means God uses to remind you that you have every 511 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,360 spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 512 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:09,400 The missionary Old Testament scholar Chris Wright tells the 513 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,080 story of a man who fled a war zone in Rwanda after the 2004 514 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,880 genocide. The man was holding an empty 515 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,080 bowl, praying in a refugee camp. He owned nothing. 516 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:22,719 He was dressed in rags. He told of how he was in his 517 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,040 80s. He had seen his own wife and 518 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,040 children killed, his home burned to the ground. 519 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,280 After recounting these horrific losses, he turned and said to a 520 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:37,560 missionary who is serving there. I never realized that Jesus was 521 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,120 all I needed until Jesus was all I had. 522 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,800 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the 523 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:51,320 vines, the produce of the olive failed in the fields. 524 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,760 Yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be 525 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:58,960 no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 526 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,360 I will take joy in the God of my salvation when you say that. 527 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:07,560 Yet when you total up hard circumstances and say, 528 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:14,520 nevertheless, I'll rejoice in God, you give God a unique 529 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,520 glory. You show that He means more to 530 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,760 you than those earthly goods you've lost. 531 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:25,480 You show that you care more about getting Him than what you 532 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,840 can get from Him. You prove that He's able to 533 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,080 satisfy you in a way that nothing on earth can. 534 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,960 You show him. You show yourself, you show 535 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:38,680 others that God holds first place in your heart. 536 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,960 Empty circumstances reveal the fullness of God. 537 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:49,200 If you still love God when he takes away everything, then you 538 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:52,240 know it's still God that you're loving. 539 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,440 That's one crucial way in which trials prove the genuineness of 540 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,080 your faith. Like Job trials show that you're 541 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,000 not trusting God for what he can get you. 542 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,360 You're trusting in God so that you can get God. 543 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,440 One of the key goals of corporate worship is to train 544 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:12,640 our hearts to do that, to train our hearts to rejoice in God, no 545 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:16,160 matter how severe our trials, to train us all together to say, 546 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:21,920 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, To learn to say that together. 547 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,240 Corporate worship is not the only time and place when we 548 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:27,360 rejoice in the Lord, but corporate worship helps to renew 549 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,800 and refresh our rejoicing. How often do you is your heart 550 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:36,280 more invested in rejoicing in the Lord, more able to rejoice 551 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,640 in the Lord 45 minutes into corporate worship than it was 552 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:44,080 when you showed up? Corporate worship reminds us of 553 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:45,680 all the reasons we have to rejoice. 554 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,400 It gives us an occasion to rejoice. 555 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,440 You might not feel ready to rejoice in God, but come to 556 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,520 church anyway. You might receive more help than 557 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:58,000 you expected from the experience of hearing, listening, reading, 558 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:02,120 confessing, singing, praying with several dozen other 559 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:06,640 believers. In the mid 18th century, the 560 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,440 great Congregationalist theologian Jonathan Edwards was 561 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:11,600 pastor of the church in Northampton, MA. 562 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:14,600 There's a long story behind it, but basically a conflict between 563 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,600 him and the congregation came to a head and they had a vote on 564 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:22,720 whether to fire him as their pastor. 90% of the church voted 565 00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:26,200 to fire him. Only 10% opted to keep him as 566 00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,800 their pastor. There was a witness, David Hall, 567 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,520 who reflected in his journal. He even saw the meeting, I 568 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,200 believe, where the committee delivered to Edwards the news, 569 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,880 you're gone, 90% vote. See you later. 570 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:43,440 Here's what Hall recorded in his diary, his journal about seeing 571 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:49,880 Edwards in that time. I never saw the least symptoms 572 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,800 of displeasure in his countenance the whole week. 573 00:37:54,080 --> 00:38:00,080 But he appeared like a man of God whose happiness was out of 574 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:04,800 the reach of his enemies, and whose treasure was not only a 575 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:11,160 future, but a present good over balancing all imaginable ills of 576 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:16,000 life, even to the astonishment of many who could not be at rest 577 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,880 without his dismission. How would you like a happiness 578 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,400 that's out of the reach of your enemies? 579 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:24,200 How would you like a happiness that's out of the reach of any 580 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,080 human, any demon, any hard circumstance? 581 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,680 How would you like a happiness that can endure any trial? 582 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:36,320 If you make God your all sufficient good, that's what He 583 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:41,480 promises you. No trial or struggle can finally 584 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:44,800 do you in. No suffering can finally defeat 585 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:51,560 you, which brings us to .3. Dependent, therefore triumphant. 586 00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:55,480 If by faith you make God, you're all sufficient. 587 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:59,720 Good. You can be dependent, therefore 588 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:05,520 triumphant. That's what Habakkuk shows us he 589 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:08,960 is in verse 19. God, the Lord is my strength. 590 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,440 He makes my feet like the deers. He makes me tread on my high 591 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:16,400 places. The choirmaster with stringed 592 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,840 instruments, if you look up at chapter 3, verse one, you see 593 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,400 similar instruction. It's showing us that this is not 594 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:27,680 merely a prayer, but a Psalm. It's to be sung. 595 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,600 This closing prayer of Habakkuk is meant to be sung corporately. 596 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,920 So it's not just by him, even though it's in the first person. 597 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:38,920 Other believers in ancient Judah and then throughout the history 598 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,280 of God's people are meant to take this up and make Habakkuk's 599 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:45,520 words our words. His struggle gives voice to our 600 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,480 struggle. His confidence helps become our 601 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,800 confidence. Suffering so often isolates. 602 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,840 It makes you feel alone. You walk into a crowded room, 603 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:58,480 everybody looks smiling and happy, and you feel 10 times 604 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:03,600 more alone than you did before. Suffering makes you feel like no 605 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,840 one gets you, no one cares about you, no one can help you. 606 00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,960 But one way corporate worship helps. 607 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:15,400 Honest hymns. Of praise amid hardship give 608 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:19,520 voice to our grief and our hope. They help us share our grief not 609 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:21,120 only with God but also with each other. 610 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:26,600 Songs that are suitable for miserable Christians to sing can 611 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:30,960 help us bear our grief to God. And they give us words to help 612 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,520 open up our grief to each other and bear it together. 613 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:41,360 Singing songs of sorrow and joy shares sorrow and strengthens 614 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:44,760 joy. What Habakkuk gets from God in 615 00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:47,760 this verse is strength. He has joy in God. 616 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:52,320 He receives strength from God. God is His joy and God is his 617 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:54,440 strength. This means that Habakkuk is not 618 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:58,760 relying on himself, but on God. Habakkuk is not self-sufficient, 619 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,120 but God sufficient. Because God is. 620 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,760 Habakkuk is all sufficient good? He is also Habakkuk's all 621 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:07,800 sufficient strength. Now, this also means that 622 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,040 Habakkuk sought strength only in God. 623 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:13,640 He people. People often try to be strong 624 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:18,160 through all kinds of schemes and stratagems, reasons, plans, 625 00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:23,440 powerful friends, storing up money, possessions, hardening 626 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,320 your heart against others, tearing other people down to get 627 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:29,200 power over others. Habakkuk didn't do any of these 628 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,960 things. He did not come up with any 629 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:37,960 plans for strengthening himself. He only sought strength in God. 630 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:42,600 The path to a circumstance. Proof. 631 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:48,360 Happiness is one of constant dependence, constantly living by 632 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:52,160 faith and walking by faith. This picture in verse 19 of God 633 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:54,560 making his feet like the deer and causing him to tread on high 634 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:56,280 places. It conveys a sense of strength, 635 00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,520 security, skill. Maybe you've seen a nature 636 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:00,080 documentary like the Planet Earth series. 637 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:03,360 You see these mountain goats on like what seems to be sheer 638 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:05,960 cliffs, and you have the sort of dancing along the sides of them. 639 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:07,960 That's how God has made them. He's given them incredible 640 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:12,960 agility, reflexes, sure footedness in dangerous places. 641 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,440 That's what Ivanka is saying he gets from the Lord. 642 00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:20,840 Sure, footedness even in dangerous places. 643 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:26,280 Hard circumstances and the strength to endure them are both 644 00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:30,200 from God. Trials and the grace to sustain 645 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,400 them are both from God. The trials come straight from 646 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:37,200 Providence. The grace to endure comes as an 647 00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:41,080 answer to prayer. God gives trials whether you 648 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:45,280 like it or not. God gives timely help in your 649 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:49,560 need in response to your requests. 650 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:55,000 If you need God's strength, ask for it in prayer. 651 00:42:55,840 --> 00:43:02,040 The right response to difficulty is desperate dependence. 652 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:06,560 So often you think you're at a certain stage of spiritual 653 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,320 maturity. You think you're doing pretty 654 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:14,600 well, and then God throws you a curveball and you swing and miss 655 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:20,000 and you realize I'm not quite as advanced a Christian as I 656 00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,920 thought. I need to lean on the Lord 657 00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:25,440 harder. I need to ask for more. 658 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:30,000 I need to get lower in my own opinion of myself and ask God, 659 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:31,040 Lord, what would you have me learn? 660 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,080 What would you have me do? How would you have me grow? 661 00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:41,480 Let trials teach you to pray with fiercer determination and 662 00:43:41,480 --> 00:43:46,200 more desperate dependence. What strength does God give us 663 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:48,960 as Christians? How does He enable us to be 664 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,880 dependent, therefore triumphant? Here are five ways out of many 665 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:55,920 that the New Testament holds out to us. 666 00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:57,920 And I mean, for these just to kind of be prompts to 667 00:43:57,920 --> 00:43:59,640 meditation, prompts to application. 668 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:01,760 If you take notes, fine. If you want to write them down, 669 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,360 fine. Just kind of five examples of 670 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,480 the ways, specific ways, the Lord holds out His strength to 671 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:14,160 us in the Christian life #1 He gives us strength to endure 672 00:44:14,160 --> 00:44:17,480 trials with joy. Colossians 111. 673 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:21,000 Paul prays that we would be strengthened with all power 674 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:26,840 according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience 675 00:44:27,280 --> 00:44:29,320 with joy. What does that sound like? 676 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:35,040 A back experience #2 He gives us strength to continue hoping in 677 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:42,840 His promises despite hardship. In Romans 1513, Paul prays. 678 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:47,240 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in 679 00:44:47,240 --> 00:44:51,800 believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may 680 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:56,200 abound in hope. He empowers us to have hope. 681 00:44:56,560 --> 00:45:01,800 He strengthens us so that we keep hoping #3 He gives us 682 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:06,200 strength to know and to be filled by Christ's love. 683 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:11,520 Ephesians 316 to 19. Paul prays again that according 684 00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:14,920 to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened 685 00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:19,960 with power through his Spirit and your inner being, so that 686 00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:22,760 God, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 687 00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:26,040 That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have 688 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,720 strength to comprehend with all the Saints what is the breadth 689 00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:32,240 and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ 690 00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:36,240 that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the 691 00:45:36,240 --> 00:45:44,920 fullness of God #4 He gives us strength to work for the Gospels 692 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:52,480 advance Colossians 128 to 29 Him we proclaim, warning everyone, 693 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,840 and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present 694 00:45:54,840 --> 00:46:01,040 everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with 695 00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:08,760 all His energy, that He powerfully works within me #5 He 696 00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:13,360 gives us strength to endure persecution for the sake of the 697 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:17,640 gospel, as Paul says in Second Timothy 18. 698 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:23,600 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, 699 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:29,920 nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the 700 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:39,880 gospel by the power of God. Which types of strength have you 701 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:43,600 received from the Lord lately? What strength from the Lord do 702 00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:47,360 you need today, and what can you do to get it? 703 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:52,880 Each of these kinds of strength we see in the New Testament. 704 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:59,760 When God gives them to us, it enables a triumph of faith. 705 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:05,840 Every type of spiritual triumph is a real victory. 706 00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:08,360 It's important not to miss this. We can get so discouraged. 707 00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:10,760 We can think our lives are so kind of small. 708 00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:13,560 One step forward, 2 steps back. What is God really doing in my 709 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:15,120 life? It's easy to think nothing's 710 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:17,440 really happening. Christian faith doesn't feel 711 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:19,440 like a whole lot of victories, feels like more defeat. 712 00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:25,280 But every spiritual triumph is an eternally significant 713 00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:27,120 victory. Here's how John puts it in 714 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:30,600 first. John 54 For everyone who has 715 00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:35,880 been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory 716 00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:40,760 that has overcome the world. Our faith, he's saying faith is 717 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:43,160 victory. Faith itself is the victory that 718 00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:46,840 has overcome the world. Endurance is conquest. 719 00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:50,600 Sustained trust in Christ is triumph. 720 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:55,360 Perseverance and believing in Him is victory. 721 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,680 As Christians, we triumph despite hardships and in the 722 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:01,320 midst of hardships. The triumph of faith, for now, 723 00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:03,840 is in some ways an ironic triumph. 724 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:06,760 It's hidden, it's veiled. We don't see it in its full 725 00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:09,920 dimensions, but it is a triumph nonetheless. 726 00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,040 As Paul put it, after this laundry list of hardships and 727 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:18,360 suffering and all these things, we are more than conquerors 728 00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:22,400 through Him who loved us. If you continue to live by 729 00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:27,200 faith, if you make God your greatest good, then nothing can 730 00:48:27,200 --> 00:48:30,480 finally demolish your faith. Nothing can destroy your soul. 731 00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:34,560 And one day faith will become sight, anticipation will become 732 00:48:34,560 --> 00:48:39,800 possession, longing will become satisfaction. 733 00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,600 If by faith you make God your greatest good, you can be 734 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:50,680 troubled yet resting, desolate yet rejoicing, dependent, 735 00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:57,120 therefore triumphant. That is how you can have a 736 00:48:57,120 --> 00:49:01,720 circumstance proof happiness. No suffering can bury your soul 737 00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:05,080 in bitterness. No desolation can lead you to 738 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:09,680 despair. No matter what you lose, God 739 00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:14,440 remains your greatest good, and therefore you're never failing. 740 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:18,160 Reason to rejoice. Let's pray. 741 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:28,120 Heavenly Father, we pray that you would work this paradox of 742 00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:31,480 contentment in our hearts. Or may we be able to say, 743 00:49:31,480 --> 00:49:35,360 whatever sorrow and hardship you ordained for us, that we rejoice 744 00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:40,520 in you, and we'd be able to look honestly at circumstances that 745 00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:45,320 would undo us and still rejoice in you. 746 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:49,720 Father, would you work that in us for your glory? 747 00:49:50,240 --> 00:49:54,160 Would you cause the light of the gospel to shine through us as we 748 00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:57,080 rejoice in you even amid suffering? 749 00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,600 We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.