1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,080 Welcome to Common Ground one book. 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:04,720 We are so glad you've joined us for today's message. 3 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:08,160 Whether you tuning in from home or catching up on another goal, 4 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,360 we pray that this word encourages you, strengthens your 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,320 faith, and draws you closer to God. 6 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,040 If you'd like to learn more about our church, connect with 7 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,080 us or get involved, you will find all the details in the 8 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:21,760 description. Now let's dive into today's 9 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:22,400 message. Read from. 10 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:30,720 Verse 2 And this is God's response to Hapaka. 11 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,640 And the Lord answered me right to the vision. 12 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:39,280 Make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it? 13 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,560 For still the vision awaits its appointed time. 14 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,280 It speaks of the end. It will not lie. 15 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:52,640 If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. 16 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:58,200 It will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up. 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,480 It is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by 18 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,320 faith. Our gracious Lord in heaven, I 19 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:15,160 pray that you would help us this morning as we listen to your 20 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,000 word. Fill my lips this morning with 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,280 grace. Fill my lips with truth this 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,040 morning. We ask that the Holy Spirit 23 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,800 would give us faith through this word this morning, that the Holy 24 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,760 Spirit would convict us through your word this morning, O Lord. 25 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,840 And therefore we pray, Lord, that you would be glorified 26 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:45,000 through the preaching and the proclamation of this good news. 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:52,120 We ask this in your name, Amen. So the title of this message 28 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:57,280 this morning is The righteous shall leave by faith. 29 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:03,400 And the proposition for this message this morning is God's 30 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:09,360 divine justice prevails. Therefore, God's people need to 31 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:15,600 wait patiently with anticipation that God's promises will be 32 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,160 fulfilled. We worked through chapter 1. 33 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,960 I think Stefan opened this series for us and you looked at 34 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:29,520 verse one to verse 4. And again, as a reminder, we 35 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,880 know that Habakkuk's heart is broken. 36 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:37,520 In fact, Habakkuk is frustrated over Judah's sin and 37 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,720 unfaithfulness. Judah is not, of course, 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,760 obedient to the Lord, nor are they faithful to God. 39 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,080 And Habakkuk is a prophet that is upset and is upset because 40 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,640 the Lord is not doing anything about it. 41 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,520 And again, this is according to Habakkuk. 42 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:01,040 And so he calls out to the Lord, as you can see from verse one to 43 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:02,760 verse four, he calls out to the Lord. 44 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,240 How long are you going to let this happen? 45 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,960 So Habakkuk is a frustrated prophet. 46 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,160 He's expecting God to act, and God seems to be slow. 47 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:18,480 In verse 5 to verse 11, God answers. 48 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:24,600 He says, Habakug, I am going to do something about Judah's sin. 49 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:30,200 I am going to judge Judah. I am going to discipline Judah, 50 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,240 and I'm going to use the Babylonians of the church, 51 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,520 Aldeans to do this. In other words, God is going to 52 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:44,520 judge His own people for their wickedness from verse 12 to 53 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:49,600 chapter 2, verse one, Habakkuk is not happy with God's response 54 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,440 because God had told him that I'm going to use the Babylonians 55 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,240 to discipline you. And Habakkuk is not happy with 56 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,040 God's response because God, how can you use a sinful and wicked 57 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:08,360 and terrible people to discipline your chosen holy 58 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,760 people? How can you use the wicked to 59 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:18,399 discipline the descendants of Abraham and God saying I'm going 60 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:22,360 to do it, I will discipline my people. 61 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,400 And so as we step into chapter 2, it would seem to me that 62 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,600 there are two major themes that are coming up in chapter 2. 63 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:34,840 One being faith, but again, another one being patience. 64 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,080 In other words, the big question here is how do we respond when 65 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,560 we know God ought to fix something and yet God is not 66 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:48,600 doing anything about it? Habakkuk knows that God is 67 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,040 indeed now going to act because God has responded to Habakkuk. 68 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,720 Habakkuk, I'm going to do something about Judah's sin. 69 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:05,320 But the issue is Habakkuk does not know when God will act, but 70 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,760 he wants to know when God, are you actually going to do this? 71 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,440 And so Habakkuk is not happy, is unhappy with two things. 72 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,760 Yeah, he is not happy with God's timing. 73 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,840 He is also not happy with God's method. 74 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:26,320 God, when are you going to act? But also why are you using the 75 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:31,640 Chaldinians as well? And so we are ought to be 76 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,760 reminded that Habakkuk is saying, Lord, I want to know 77 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,760 when are you going to act against these people? 78 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,200 It is often comforting to us that to know that Jesus is 79 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:49,680 coming back. But often we wonder when, right? 80 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,960 And that's why we've had so many prophecies until the 60s. 81 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:56,760 We know about three months ago someone says Jesus is coming on 82 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,840 this particular date. We know he is coming, but we 83 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:02,280 asking ourselves when is he coming? 84 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,560 So this is the predicament of Habakkuk. 85 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:10,200 He knows God is going to do something, but when Job perhaps 86 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,040 in his suffering, he knew that God would surely deliver him, 87 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:20,360 but he did not know when. When are you going to deliver 88 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,400 me? And God does not tell Habakkuk? 89 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,880 No, God doesn't respond. The only thing God says to him, 90 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,840 write the vision down and make it plain on tablets. 91 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,240 Habakkuk, I want you to do this. Write the vision down. 92 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,040 And the other thing I want you to do is then write it and run 93 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,360 with it. In other words, explain it to 94 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:42,920 other people. Write the vision down and 95 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,560 explain it to that. Those who had may proclaim it. 96 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:51,120 They may spread the word everywhere, but it will surely 97 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,840 come to pass. But what I want you to do now, 98 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,800 write down their vision and make it plain on just so that who may 99 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,640 run with those who read it actually may run with the four 100 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,440 that still the vision awaits its appointed time. 101 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:12,360 God is saying to Abuku, write down the vision, spread it, let 102 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,840 everyone know about the vision. In addition to that, I want you 103 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:21,400 to know as you do that I will deal with the Babylonians. 104 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:27,080 Trust me, I will deal with them ultimately, but I am not going 105 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:28,520 to share with you more than that. 106 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,440 I want you to simply know I will deal with the wicked and with 107 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,920 the evil. I'll deal with them, but it is 108 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:39,600 not for you to know my calendar as to when I'm going to do this. 109 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:45,000 Point number one, God's timing is perfect. 110 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,160 Habakkuk, of course, has been asking the Lord God, why are you 111 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,840 going to judge? These people must remember that 112 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,400 it is after only 80 years, after this God actually deals with the 113 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:01,480 Chaldeans and Habakkuk. All of this time he had to wait 114 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,640 and to wait patiently for the Lord to act. 115 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,840 Saints, let us be guaranteed that God had marked the date on 116 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,200 His timetable that He is going to act not a day before, not a 117 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:15,760 day later, but at God's appointed time. 118 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,760 He is going to act against the Babylonians or the Chaldeans in 119 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,440 His own time. It will happen at the appointed 120 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,400 time, and that appointment will not be missed. 121 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:32,640 But God has His own timetable. In his own time God acts. 122 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,200 He will indeed dethrone the Chaldeans. 123 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,720 He will punish evil. But in his own appointed time, 124 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,120 God acts when He sees fit, not when we see fit. 125 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,560 Colossians chapter 5 verse 22 verse 23 says, but the fruit of 126 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:54,600 the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace and patience, kindness, goodness, 127 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,320 faith. In the gentleness, self-control. 128 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,960 Against such things there is no law. 129 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,600 Colossians 312 says. Therefore, as God's chosen 130 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,960 people, holy and dearly love, clothe yourself with compassion, 131 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,360 kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 132 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,440 The apostle Paulia encouraging the Saints to put on Clothe 133 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:20,520 yourself with patience. Patience means we are submitting 134 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,360 ourselves to the will of the Lord and not demanding our own 135 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,080 will. But God will surely ACT. 136 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:32,560 But we must wait for the Lord to act in His own appointed time 137 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:37,680 and simply submitting ourselves to the will of God. 138 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,120 Tindale Bible Dictionary defines patience as the ability to take 139 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,640 a great deal of punishment from evil people or circumstances 140 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,480 without losing 1's temper, without becoming irritated and 141 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,480 angry, without taking vengeance. It includes the capacity to bear 142 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,440 pain or trial without complaint, the ability to for bear under 143 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,120 severe provocation, and the self-control that keeps one from 144 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,000 acting rashly even through suffering, opposition or 145 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:11,160 adversity. I wonder if you can identify 146 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,000 with that definition of patience. 147 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,280 And surely Habakkuk had to identify with this. 148 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,080 He is to wait, as angry as he was, not to lose his temper, not 149 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:28,040 to want to take vengeance, but to wait upon the Lord in spite 150 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,160 of suffering or the adversity that he face. 151 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:37,360 We are called to be patient. We are never called to take 152 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,680 matters into our own hands. Just like Abraham and Sarah. 153 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:45,160 Godhead reminded Abraham that indeed you will have the 154 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,440 promised son. And Abraham thought, listen, 155 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:53,160 biology is not on my side, let me take the matters into my own 156 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,160 hands. And then they had a baby with a 157 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,000 maidservant who was not the promised son, because God knew I 158 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:06,000 have a promised son in mind. When we take the matters into 159 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,000 our own hands instead of waiting, often we end up making 160 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:16,360 bad and wrong decisions. We must often wait. 161 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,960 Habakkuk has to wait and learn to walk by faith in our waiting, 162 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,040 waiting patiently, knowing that God's promises will be 163 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:30,720 fulfilled. Let me remind you as we say that 164 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:35,480 that a time spent waiting for God in prayer is not a wasted 165 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,800 time. Often God uses that time to 166 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,760 conform us to the likeness of His Son. 167 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:46,040 Therefore, I do not know this morning what you are impatient 168 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,640 about, but God's justice normally takes time. 169 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,280 God's calendar is different from ours. 170 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,960 God's timetable is different from us. 171 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,520 Well, Jerry Bridges put it this way, that the cure for 172 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,800 impatience with the fulfillment of God's timetable is to believe 173 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,200 his promises, obey his will, and leave the results to him. 174 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,880 So often when God's timetable stretches into years, we become 175 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,920 discouraged and we want to give up or try to work something on 176 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,000 our own. I can identify with that. 177 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:23,760 I say, Lord, you're too slow for me. 178 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,240 Let me try to do this on my own. Spurgeon puts it this way. 179 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:33,360 Patience, Patience, you are always in a hurry, but God is 180 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,320 not. God is not in a hurry. 181 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,920 We have to wait. Patience demands that we wait 182 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,280 upon the Lord, and we ask ourselves, God, when? 183 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:46,800 What are you going to do about this? 184 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,760 When are you going to show up? God, when are you going to act? 185 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,200 We ask ourselves about the evil in our world and say, God, when 186 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,600 are you going to act? As we listen to the Malanga 187 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,600 Commission, we ask ourselves, God, when are you going to act? 188 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,440 When I How long are you going to allow forced religion? 189 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:05,840 How long are you going to allow senseless killing? 190 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,120 How long are you going to allow evil and injustice in our world? 191 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,880 We ask ourselves this question as though God is not listening 192 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:19,840 and God is saying, wait, I don't act according to your timetable, 193 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:26,200 I have my own. We want God to act, but surely 194 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:31,880 God will act. We never have the full picture. 195 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,440 God has the full picture. We don't have everything figured 196 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,320 out. God has a full picture and he 197 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,600 knows the beginning from the end. 198 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:46,440 God will not delay. He's got his own schedule. 199 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:51,560 He is working everything perfectly according to on will 200 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,800 and purposes, not just what it says. 201 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,680 For the revelation awaits upon the time. 202 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,880 It speaks of the end. It will not prove false, though 203 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,640 it lean away for it, it will certainly come. 204 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:11,440 God does not miss a deadline. God has a perfect timing, 205 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,400 therefore be patient. Instead of putting our hope and 206 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,920 our security in this world, we have to wait upon God to put our 207 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:24,320 hope in Him, to trust in Him. That's why the righteous lives 208 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,920 by faith, because they are meant to trust in Him. 209 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,760 Therefore, we wait with anticipation that indeed God 210 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,920 will act. God not only acts, but God 211 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,080 speaks to Habakkuk. He speaks to him. 212 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:44,600 Church, be reminded that there are seasons where we may feel 213 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:49,080 God is silent. May I submit to you that we have 214 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,200 mastered talking to God, but we have not mastered what it means 215 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,160 to listen to God. Perhaps the issue is not that 216 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:00,520 God has not spoken. Maybe the issue is we are not 217 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:06,360 listening to God. He speaks through preaching and 218 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:11,520 speaks through words, but often it means putting your phone down 219 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,320 and opening up your Bible and God speaking to you. 220 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,920 God speaks. The question is, are you 221 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,000 listening? And sometimes God would even use 222 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,680 other people in our lives who would speak things that would be 223 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:32,920 a confirmation of things we know perhaps God has been saying to 224 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:38,800 us. But God speaks when you listen 225 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,840 to him. Perhaps it may transform the 226 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,560 manner and the way in which you wait. 227 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:48,080 But this is what I like about Habakkuk. 228 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:54,600 He is honest with God. When you read the psalmist, one 229 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,520 of the interesting things for me is the honesty of the psalmist. 230 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,400 Often you find David saying, God, where are you God? 231 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:02,880 How long is this going to happen? 232 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,480 The psalmist were honest about their feelings. 233 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,840 They they were never in a position where they could 234 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,680 pretend about how things were going. 235 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,320 They were honest about how they thought. 236 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,280 And Habakkuk is honest. Yeah. 237 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,240 In fact, David would even say, before God, will you forget me 238 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,640 forever? Because he feels as though God 239 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,080 has left him, has deserted him. He says my eyes can't see 240 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,040 anymore. Where are you? 241 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,040 Oh God, I can't see your face. I can't see your presence. 242 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:31,840 Where are you? David is crying out. 243 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:33,880 He can't see God. It is the same picture with 244 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,440 Harper. God, do something. 245 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:39,240 I am anticipating you to do something. 246 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,600 And so often when we feel God has abandoned us, this is what 247 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,680 we do. We look to ourselves. 248 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,920 Every time we feel God has left us, we lose perspective of the 249 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:57,360 reality and then we look to us. That is why we don't make 250 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:01,520 decisions when we are in distress and in pain. 251 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,040 Why? Because often pain and distress 252 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,520 makes us blind to the truth and we don't think really. 253 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,160 That is why when people people quit their jobs when they're 254 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,319 angry, I hate my job and they quit and go home after five of 255 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:16,720 the thing meant it. I just quit my job. 256 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,839 When we are overwhelmed by internal darkness, we don't make 257 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:27,800 good decisions. And so Habaku comes before God 258 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:36,080 in honesty. In addition to that 1.2 he says, 259 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:39,280 how long O Lord, must I call for help? 260 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:41,720 That's two and three verse 1, chapter 1, verse two and three. 261 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,520 How long Lord, must I call for help? 262 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:49,000 But you do not listen or cry to you violence, but you do not 263 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:54,440 save. Habakkuk had voice his complaint 264 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,840 directly before God. So can I say to us this morning, 265 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,600 including including myself, we don't have to pretend that we 266 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:06,360 are OK when we are not OK. You don't have to. 267 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:12,320 The sovereign God knows you're not OK Don't pretend. 268 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,960 Often God meets us where we are. There is a pastor that I 269 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:20,680 followed online, Alexander Len. I loved this man so much and one 270 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,160 day he wrote a post that perhaps shook many of us, but I love the 271 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,000 honesty. He writes the following. 272 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,440 I have made the decision that I am no longer leaving. 273 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:35,720 That I'm no longer leaving my post as head stuff, but I'm 274 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,160 going to be leaving the pastorate all together. 275 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,520 I no longer have a desire to serve as a pastor in a church. 276 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:47,200 In my sermon, I told my congregation that I am exhausted 277 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:51,080 from writing, memorizing, and preaching sermons week after 278 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,520 week for 10 years. I'm done. 279 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,240 OK, please, that's not me. I'm just reading. 280 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:03,160 It's too please, it's too soon to be tired, but it's just 281 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,720 saying I'm quitting. Can't do this anymore. 282 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,840 And, and, and I mean, if you follow his ministry, He did not 283 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,880 leave Christ. He did not turn back his, he 284 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,280 turned his back on Christ and the gospel. 285 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,560 But he simply says, I cannot be a pastor anymore. 286 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,800 It's too much, he said. I'm tired. 287 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:36,000 God is often working in our waiting, in his own pace and in 288 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,800 his own timetable. Notice verse 3, the last part. 289 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,000 It will come and it will not delay. 290 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,400 God reminds Harper Cook. Listen, don't, don't, don't take 291 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:49,400 justice. It's not your place to do so. 292 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,240 God says I am committed to justice, but if justice has to 293 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,720 happen in my own terms, I know you're seeing evil running 294 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,480 rampant, but I want you to know that I will deal with this. 295 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:05,120 And God Outline is going to outline what that means to 296 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:11,040 Harper Cook. Perhaps we may this morning even 297 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,960 be feeling like Haper Cook. That there are people in our 298 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,800 lives who have done things. It feels as though they're 299 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,880 getting away with it. It may feel that someone is 300 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:25,000 getting away with it. Perhaps you were betrayed by a 301 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,720 close friend. Perhaps you were betrayed by a 302 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,000 business partner. You were betrayed by a family 303 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,560 member, a dishonest Co worker. You may be feeling this morning 304 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:35,920 someone betrayed me. They should have paid for that. 305 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:42,760 Perhaps you've been overlooked for a promotion and someone got 306 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,960 it through nepotism or bribery and you feel overlooked and you 307 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,440 say, self Lord, where's the justice in that? 308 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:55,200 Can I say to you, God sees you, he cares about you. 309 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:01,760 Evil will not go unanswered. But you are not to take up the 310 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:07,960 arms and say I'm going to fight. Justice belongs to God. 311 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,640 So Habakkuk do nothing about this. 312 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:17,680 I am going to act. Notice God speaks this and 313 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,560 actually use the the in six ways in which he's going to do that. 314 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:26,800 Notice the following verses. He highlighted these 6 rules to 315 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,480 do not only to Judah, but specifically to the Babylonians. 316 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,040 Verse 4 to verse 6. The arrogant and greedy will be 317 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,120 taunted. There's 6 to 8 he who steals 318 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:40,560 with plunder. There's 9 to 11. 319 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,240 He who gets wealth unjustly is for feeding his life. 320 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,240 There's 12 to 14. He who builds with violence 321 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:52,160 builds in vain, 15 to 17. He who uses power to abuse will 322 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:56,120 taste his own medicine. There's 18 to 19 He who tends to 323 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:01,400 idols, in other words, lifeless stones for help will find no 324 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:07,000 help at all. God lays it down and He says to 325 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,200 him, I am going to do this. Listen, do nothing. 326 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,160 He says in Proverbs 2220 verse 20 says do not say I will pay 327 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:19,000 you back for the wrong. Wait for the Lord and He will 328 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,160 avenge you. That's the point God makes here 329 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,800 to Habakkuk. I'm going to deal with them in 330 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:27,640 all of this. I'm going to do that, but 331 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,320 Habakkuk, do nothing. It's not your job. 332 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:37,720 Perhaps as you read those verses from verse 4 to verse 19, maybe 333 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,080 we can keep that slide up there. As you read verse 4 to verse 19 334 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,880 and you look at that list and perhaps you're saying the 335 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,360 Babylonians are so evil, wicked people of God. 336 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:56,400 But may I suggest that maybe few fingers are pointing at us. 337 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,520 Arrogant. Can you identify with arrogance? 338 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,000 Perhaps I can. Can you identify with 339 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,800 greediness? Can you identify with abusing 340 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,360 power? As a manager, as a boss, as a 341 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:16,200 colleague? Have you stolen something? 342 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:20,960 Perhaps what I made her to say. That's them. 343 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:30,720 Perhaps just to say I see myself here as well and I need the 344 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:35,840 Lord's sanctifying power in my own life to transform me to the 345 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:43,840 image of his Son. And then lastly, he says which 346 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:49,080 is 4 verse 4B point #2 put your faith in God by the righteous 347 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:54,280 shall live by faith. For those of you who know church 348 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,560 history and we've just come through the the Reformation 349 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:02,200 period and you would know who in some ways has been the main 350 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,920 figure of the Reformation is Martin Luther the Reformer. 351 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,320 And I shared this because this particular verse has a bigness 352 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,280 significance in the Reformation because Luther was a monk and 353 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:21,200 often he wanted to subject his body and you know, to submit to 354 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:22,880 God. And in doing so, and sometimes 355 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,720 he would actually lash himself, beat himself and starve himself 356 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,680 in order to become right before God as a monk. 357 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:36,160 He wanted to use external ways. He wanted to use works in order 358 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:39,600 to become right with God. One day. 359 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:46,080 Luther is reading Romans chapter one verse 17 quoting Habakkuk 360 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,080 chapter 2. But the righteous shall live by 361 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,480 faith. Martin Luther's eyes open 362 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,800 instantly. He realizes at that moment, this 363 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:01,320 is not my own righteous. I cannot make myself acceptable 364 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,160 before God. It's not because anything I can 365 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:08,720 do to become right with God. At that moment he realizes that 366 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,160 righteousness is a free gift of God. 367 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,960 He changes his theology all together that salvation is no 368 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:21,600 longer by works, but salvation is in Christ and Christ alone. 369 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,520 The righteous shall live by faith and in this context the 370 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,960 especially when you look at the Hebrew words, you find that in 371 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,280 this context the word righteous is not really talking about 372 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:37,200 justification by faith alone. In this colleagues of Abacoog, 373 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,960 that word righteous, in fact is a synonym for the word innocent 374 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,240 or right. So Habakkuk uses this word here 375 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:50,280 is to oppose or in opposition to those who are wicked or those 376 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,600 who are evil, who are the Babylonians. 377 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:56,960 So he's using this phrase of ours to talk about innocent and 378 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:58,880 right. But also in addition to that, 379 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,880 he's saying in the context of this book that those who are 380 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:07,720 righteous are those who live according to the law of God or 381 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:12,800 the Mosaic law of God, who are loyal and faithful remnant of 382 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:17,200 Judah, who obey God. Therefore, those kind of people 383 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,800 will live by faith. How the translations use the 384 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:26,240 word faithfulness. So Habakkuk's anecdote on how to 385 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:32,760 live in dark and evil days is to live by faith, to persevere in 386 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:37,560 spite of adversity. And therefore you may choose 387 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:42,120 this morning to place your faith in God or to withdraw all 388 00:26:42,120 --> 00:26:46,040 together. But those who live by faith are 389 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,640 governed by the truth of God's word. 390 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:52,800 Notice the final thing, Hapa Good. 391 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,960 Instead of bringing all of this together in verse 16, you will 392 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,240 be filled with shame instead of glory. 393 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,440 Now it is your turn. Drink and let your nakedness be 394 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,760 exposed. The cup from the Lord's right 395 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:09,680 hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your 396 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,080 glory. What do you notice there? 397 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:18,960 Few words. Cup, nakedness, disgrace. 398 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:28,840 May I ask you who do those words remind you of cup, nakedness, 399 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,200 disgrace or shame? Hebrews 12/2 and looking into 400 00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:37,640 Jesus, the author and the Perfector of our faith, who for 401 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,360 the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the 402 00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:47,200 shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 403 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,760 Matthew 2727. Then the governor's soldiers 404 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,840 took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and gathered the 405 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,120 whole company of soldiers around him. 406 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,720 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 407 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,400 There is only one in this world who has taken our shame. 408 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,280 Indeed, because of Adam and Eve, we were naked. 409 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,960 But Christ took our shame, He took our guilt. 410 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,560 He is the only one who drank the cup. 411 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:20,320 He drank the cup of suffering. He drank the cup of God's wrath 412 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,800 on our behalf. He is the only one who was 413 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:27,200 beaten, who was flogged, who was exposed on our behalf in order 414 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,240 for us to be reconciled before a holy God. 415 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,680 And therefore this morning he calls upon all of us here to 416 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:40,240 repent and believe, to turn away from sin and to turn to Christ 417 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,800 and to place our faith in him and him alone. 418 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:48,480 Then what the author does in the last verse in verse 19 to 20. 419 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:54,800 I love what he does. The 19 and 20 who to him who 420 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,400 says to he wouldn't think awake and what the author is doing 421 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,240 they saying these other gods are not alive, they are they are 422 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,800 made of stone. They are laughless stones. 423 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,960 They are unable to communicate or to speak to those who follow 424 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,240 them. In other words, the God of the 425 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,840 Babylonians is dead, but not in verse 20. 426 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:19,840 Our God is not dead. He is sovereign. 427 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:26,120 He is alive, He is in control. That is the posture of waiting, 428 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:30,640 to know that God is sovereign, but also God is in control. 429 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:36,960 He speaks in all situations and he continues to do so. 430 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,720 The question we have to ask ourselves this morning, are we 431 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:46,240 listening and are we waiting in anticipation and are we waiting 432 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,120 in the right place and in the right position? 433 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,040 Justice belongs to God. Amen. 434 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,640 Father, we pray this morning and thank you. 435 00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:02,800 Thank you for your words that reminds us to wait in 436 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:08,800 anticipation this morning, to wait on you for you. 437 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,280 We know that you act not according to our calendar, not 438 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,280 according to our schedule, nor according to our timetable. 439 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,440 And so, Lord, at times we are in a hurry to say, God, do this, do 440 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,120 that. And often that you remind us to 441 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,960 wait. And therefore, Lord, help us to 442 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,520 write, to wait in the right place, in the right position, 443 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:32,480 with the right posture. We want to wait in prayer. 444 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,400 We want to wait to listening to you because that we know that 445 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,400 perhaps you have been speaking to us and perhaps we simply are 446 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,720 not listening. Help us to hear from you. 447 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,360 Perhaps that will transform our waiting. 448 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:49,760 Perhaps that will transform our hearts. 449 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,400 And so that we pray that also give us the faith to wait, 450 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,600 because the righteous shall live by faith that in this wicked 451 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:03,680 age, in this wicked world, help us our God to wait a faith 452 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,840 trusting that indeed you will come through. 453 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,160 And so, Lord, we place our hope in you this morning. 454 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,040 We placed our trust in you this morning as the one who is 455 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:19,080 sovereign, the one who is in control of all things, in Jesus 456 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:24,680 name, Amen. Thank you for listening to 457 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,320 today's message. We hope you are encouraged and 458 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,440 challenged in your faith. If you're in the Southern 459 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,800 Suburbs, would love to welcome you in person at one of our 460 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,920 serves. Don't forget to subscribe, share 461 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,120 this message with a friend, and stay connected with us on social 462 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,320 media for more inspiration throughout the week. 463 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,680 Until next time, stay clear and keep shining your light.