1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 to be here. Good getting to see everybody, catch up. So yeah, I just love being here. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:11,760 It's great. Today's sermon is on Habakkuk. We're going to be looking at the whole book of Habakkuk. 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:18,320 It's a book that I love a lot. I know about four years ago. I preached on that book, 4 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:24,880 chapter 3, verses 17 through 19, the end portion that Christian just read for us. 5 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:31,520 So I wanted to return to it and look at it again because it's such a good book just for teaching 6 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:38,400 us about the faith that we can have in the Lord. And I hope that it's a blessing to hear from this 7 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:44,640 book from God's Word today. So I've got a question for you as we're starting out. Who here is bound 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:50,240 to a routine? Get a show of hands. Who's bound to a routine? We've got a lot of people in here 9 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:57,440 who love a good routine. Alex especially, I know this, he's pointing at himself. And most of us 10 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,440 who like routines, we really like a good routine because it provides a sense of stability. It provides 11 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:13,440 a sense of security. And it provides a certain predictability to life. But what happens when 12 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:19,680 that routine is interrupted? For me, when that routine is interrupted, it feels like the day's 13 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,560 over from the very start. Everything's off. The balance is off. And I feel totally lost through 14 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:31,040 the rest of the day. And if we think on a bigger scale, not just with our plans for our days or 15 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:40,800 for our weeks, but our plans for our lives, what happens when God interrupts what we think is the 16 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:48,640 plan for our life? What happens when we encounter circumstances that we never thought God had planned 17 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:56,960 for us? And what do we do when God doesn't keep things stable the way we thought he would? 18 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:04,160 Enter the prophet, prophet Habakkuk. The prophet who had the very same question. 19 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:12,000 After Israel split in half after the reign of Solomon, we know that these two kingdoms slowly 20 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:20,160 declined and degenerated. And after a while, the northern kingdom of Israel was judged by God 21 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:26,960 through the nation of Assyria. And if we look at the southern kingdom of Judah, we'll see the prophet 22 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:34,160 Habakkuk there in Judah as the kingdom got worse and worse and worse. And Habakkuk, 23 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:41,040 being a godly man, was rightly frustrated and concerned at all the evil he saw among the people 24 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:48,400 in Judah. He knew that God had promised that he would bless his people and crush the power of Satan 25 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:55,920 through them one day. So he asked himself, how could it be that God would let Judah become more 26 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:05,280 sinful day after day? And this is what the book of Habakkuk does. The book details Habakkuk's 27 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:14,080 wrestling with God's plan. Habakkuk's wrestling with the Lord serves as an example to all believers 28 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:20,400 for dealing with confusion and frustration, teaching us that we can have an unshakable faith 29 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:31,600 in our Almighty God. In chapter one, verses one through four, we see Habakkuk laying out his 30 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:40,400 complaint, especially in verse four, where he says, so the law is paralyzed and justice never goes 31 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:50,800 forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. Habakkuk sees the 32 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:57,760 problem of sin in his day and he cries out to God, why aren't you doing something about this? Where 33 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:08,720 are you, Lord? Why do you let Judah become worse and worse day after day? God wants us to see the 34 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:14,960 example of Habakkuk's prayer because he wants us to see the example of a faithful believer bringing 35 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:23,600 an impassioned complaint before the Lord. And as we study this passage, we should see that God 36 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:31,920 does not want us to hide our frustration with his plan. He wants us to bring it to him in prayer. 37 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:41,840 And this is what we call wrestling with God. It's when we have a deep problem or frustration with 38 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:49,680 life and God's plan. And when we have those moments, we shouldn't hide our emotion, but instead we 39 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:55,520 should bring it to the Lord in prayer and listen for his response through his word. 40 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,680 Habakkuk was concerned about the wickedness in Judah and he wanted to see God restore his people 41 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:13,920 to right worship, but God responds in a completely unexpected way. The next part of his plan for 42 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:22,560 Judah wasn't restoration, but pain and suffering. And sometimes God deals with situations in our 43 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:30,000 lives in ways we don't expect. Sometimes we pray for healing and instead disease spreads. 44 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:38,080 We pray for evil institutions like the abortion industry and sex trafficking to end, 45 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:44,080 but instead they grow bigger, experience legal victories, and are even enshrined in state 46 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:51,520 constitutions. When we as Christians see these things happen, we should not see these shocking 47 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:59,360 events as reasons to be angry with God, but instead we should see them as a part of our conversation 48 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:08,320 with God. There's no such thing as an unanswered prayer, but there is such a thing as a prayer 49 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:14,480 answered in a way we don't expect. Sometimes God responds to our prayers in ways that make 50 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:23,040 absolutely no sense to us. If you read a good story, the author communicates with you through 51 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:29,040 the story. He teaches you lessons about life through the twist and turns the ups and downs 52 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:40,240 of the adventure. This is often how God teaches us. He's placed us into a living story with real 53 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:47,680 disappointments and real frustrations. These moments are not a call to frustration, but a call to 54 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:57,040 conversation. God reveals his actions to us as an opportunity to continue to wrestle. When we 55 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:04,080 don't understand, we pray and reflect. We read more of God's story in his word and we enter into 56 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:10,720 conversation with him again through prayer. I want y'all to imagine a hypothetical scenario with me. 57 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:18,000 Imagine you really care about preserving your community and protecting it from cheap urban 58 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:24,560 development. This is a very hypothetical scenario. You've been praying and working really hard to 59 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:31,520 preserve a beautiful community for generations to come, but after all this work, you lose. 60 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,800 The developers win and you have no hope of reversing the course. 61 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:44,160 Now, Habakkuk's got a similar deal. He's a good Old Testament scholar and he's seen God's plan for 62 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:50,240 a holy nation, for Israel to be a shining city on a hill showing the surrounding nations what God 63 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:55,920 is like. And not only has he bought into the vision, he's been working hard to fight for it. 64 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:02,880 He fights against the people who are trying to destroy Israel's holiness and he prays fervently 65 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:10,720 for God to restore Israel to this grand vision. But in the end, as he's praying, God tells him 66 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:18,160 that he's going to lose. Babylon is going to come and destroy Israel. The dream is over. 67 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:27,200 Habakkuk is shocked, saddened and confused. Look at verses 12 and 13 where Habakkuk says, 68 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:34,960 Are you not from everlasting? Oh Lord, my God, my holy one, we shall not die. Oh Lord, you have 69 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:40,880 ordained them as a judgment and you, O rock, have established them for reproof. You who are of 70 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:49,040 purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong. Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent 71 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:58,160 when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? Habakkuk knows the character of God. 72 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:05,120 He knows that God is a God who is for the righteous and against the wicked. He knows that God 73 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:12,720 blesses those who seek him and judges those who fight against him. He knows that God is a merciful 74 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:19,920 God who spares cities for the sake of the righteous. This is why Habakkuk is so confused. 75 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:28,720 It seems like God is acting out of character in this situation and Habakkuk asks, Why is God 76 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:35,760 destroying Israel when there are still righteous people fighting for holiness? Why doesn't God 77 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:41,120 work through them and elevate the righteous rather than judging the nation as a whole? 78 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:47,520 Habakkuk knows that God has a grand plan for the nation of Israel, a plan to set them up 79 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:55,280 as an example of holy worship to all other surrounding nations. Habakkuk wanted to be a 80 00:09:55,280 --> 00:10:03,120 part of fulfilling that grand vision. So why was God withholding something good and instead 81 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:11,200 sending something evil? Habakkuk doesn't understand what God is doing, but let's look at chapter 82 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:18,480 two verse one where he says, I will take my stand at my watch post and I will station myself on the 83 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:24,720 tower and look out to see what he will say to me and what I will answer concerning my complaint. 84 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:33,680 You see, even though Habakkuk doesn't understand, he still approaches God in prayer with holy 85 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:42,160 reverence. This is another critical aspect of wrestling with the Lord. Habakkuk doesn't understand 86 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:48,560 what God is doing, but throughout his second complaint, he expects that God will prove himself 87 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:57,920 to be good in the end. At the beginning of verses 12 and 13, he clings to the promises of God and 88 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:04,000 accepts that God's judgment is good. Even though he expresses his questions in the middle section 89 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:12,080 of these verses, he again takes a posture of trust in chapter two verse one. Habakkuk doesn't assume 90 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:20,160 that God is evil just because he can't figure out what God is doing. Habakkuk truly believes 91 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:26,640 that even though God's actions are confusing, God will prove himself to be just in the end. 92 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:32,880 When we wrestle with God through situations and problems that we don't understand, 93 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:39,440 we should take the same mindset, the mindset that even in confusion, 94 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:47,760 we must trust that in the end, God will prove himself to be good. In debilitating illness, 95 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:53,280 the Christian says, I know that in the end, I will be thankful for what God has done. 96 00:11:53,280 --> 00:12:00,640 So Lord, I trust you even in the pain. When faced with death in the family, 97 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:06,480 the Christian says, in the end, I know that I will be thankful for what God has done. 98 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:11,040 Therefore, I will keep trusting God even in the sorrow. 99 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:19,120 When faced with long periods of waiting for something good, maybe to have children or 100 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:26,160 grandchildren or the salvation of a family member, the Christian says, Lord, I know 101 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:31,760 that when all is said and done, you will prove yourself to be good. Therefore, 102 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:40,000 I will trust you in the waiting. In periods of confusion, frustration and sorrow, 103 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:45,680 Christians can trust that God will prove himself to be good in the end. 104 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:52,240 Let's say that one more time. In periods of confusion, frustration and sorrow, 105 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:57,680 Christians can trust that God will prove himself good in the end. 106 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:07,120 In Habakkuk's case, God does something special. God shows him a vision of what's to come. 107 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:12,240 He gives Habakkuk a sneak peek into what he's doing in all of these confusing moments. 108 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:18,560 Let's look again at chapter two, verses two through five. 109 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:25,040 And the Lord answered me, write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 110 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:31,520 For still the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end. It will not lie. 111 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:38,240 If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. It will come. 112 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:46,240 Wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up. 113 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:52,080 It is not upright within him. But the righteous shall live by his faith. 114 00:13:53,360 --> 00:14:00,960 Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as shield. 115 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:08,720 His death has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples. 116 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:18,640 God's response to Habakkuk in these verses has three sections. The first section begins with 117 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:27,680 a declaration of the greatness and surety of his plan. The last section is a declaration of the 118 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:36,800 surety and of the downfall of the wicked. And in the very center is God's plan for the righteous. 119 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,880 The first section, it declares the greatness and surety of God's plan. 120 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:51,440 In verses two and three of chapter two, God tells Habakkuk that his plan is great. It will be one 121 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:57,760 of the great moments in history that must be recorded and must be written down. And it will be 122 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:05,280 written so clearly that even a running messenger will be able to read it. God tells Habakkuk 123 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:11,200 that in his time this plan hasn't come yet, but it's a plan worth waiting for. It's a plan that 124 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:19,680 will unfold perfectly and perfectly on time. Nothing will happen out of order. This is the 125 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:27,840 surety and greatness of God's plan. Now that was the first section. And this is the last section 126 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:34,160 of these verses in God's message to Habakkuk. This last section of God's plan is in verse five. 127 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:41,040 The desires of the wicked may have won, but their desires are their downfall. 128 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:49,360 Their arrogance and evil ambition, these things that propelled them to the top, never feel like 129 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:56,800 they're high enough. These, this arrogance and evil ambition will drive them to work harder and 130 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:06,080 harder, but they will never find rest. These evil doers will never sleep peacefully at night. 131 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:13,360 And the greed, the greed that got them their wealth, it will devour them like death, like shield. 132 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:23,280 Their greed will always want more from them. And in the end, it will consume them. But what's in the 133 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:31,440 center? In the center is one of the deep and ancient truths of God's word. The wicked have no 134 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:40,720 stability. They are puffed up on an unstable foundation that will not survive the judgment of 135 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:49,760 God. Yet the righteous, the righteous have a foundation that will not be destroyed. Faith. 136 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:59,440 The foundation of faith will survive the judgment of God. Now there's something shocking about this 137 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:06,800 passage that we as Christians have to wrestle with. The difference between Christians and non- 138 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:13,840 Christians isn't that one experiences the curse of sin and the other doesn't. The difference 139 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:19,440 between Christians and non-Christians is that the non-Christian is destroyed by the curse, 140 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:27,920 and the Christian isn't, all because of faith. Faith in God is what saves us from the 141 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:36,240 curse of sin. And later on in the Bible, as God reveals more of his plan, we learn that it is 142 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:45,840 faith in Jesus, God's ultimate plan that saves us from the curse of sin. This is a sobering 143 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:51,040 truth in this context. God is telling Habakkuk that the Babylonians are still coming. 144 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:59,440 They're coming with their swift horses and their violent warriors. They're coming to steal the land 145 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:06,640 and enact evil laws. But the righteous will live. They will survive through their faith. 146 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:15,120 In all things, this affects how we as Christians pray. Instead of first praying, 147 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:22,400 Lord, fix this situation. We pray, Lord, help me to trust your plan in this situation. 148 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:29,920 Faith, not our circumstances, is our source of security. 149 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:37,760 God gave us a great example of this kind of faith in George Mueller. George Mueller was a 150 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:43,520 German man in London who felt God's call to found an orphanage for the poor, homeless children of 151 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:51,920 the city. He never asked for money and they never went hungry. Year in and year out, they survived 152 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:59,600 and God provided for their needs as they prayed in faith. George Mueller embodied these verses 153 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:09,680 from 1 Timothy, chapter six. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing 154 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:17,600 into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, 155 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:24,960 with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, 156 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:31,040 into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 157 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:38,400 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some 158 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:45,440 have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. We as Christians 159 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:52,160 need to remember what God has promised. God has not promised us wealth and prosperity in this world, 160 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:58,800 but he has promised us that we will survive the pain and suffering of this world. 161 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:06,880 If we have faith in wealth and prosperity as a source of comfort and security, 162 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:12,800 then our lives will constantly be crashing down. It will be on an unstable foundation. 163 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:22,080 But if we have faith in God, faith in God as our source of hope and security, then we will never 164 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:31,440 want anything. We will be like the tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season. 165 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:36,800 God the Lord will be our strength and he will give us the faith to walk through rocky places. 166 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:45,520 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 167 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:51,120 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God and if it begins with us, 168 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:56,640 what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is 169 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:02,160 scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore let those who suffer 170 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:07,520 according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good. 171 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,520 First Peter 4, 16 through 19. 172 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,400 God continues to reveal more to Habakkuk in the rest of chapter two and he details exactly how 173 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:26,720 he will judge Babylon for the evil they will do. God walks through every evil action of the Babylonians 174 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:32,480 and shows that at every turn he will punish them with the very same punishment they gave to others. 175 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:40,160 And after Habakkuk hears about God's plan, he prays this in chapter three, verse two, 176 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:48,640 oh Lord, I have heard the report of you and your work, oh Lord, do I fear? In the midst of the years 177 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:56,000 revive it. In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath, remember mercy. After hearing about God's 178 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:03,840 plan and what he is going to do, Habakkuk is brought to his knees. He doesn't fear the Babylonians 179 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:12,560 anymore. Now he fears the Lord. He says that God's work is good and prays for mercy in the midst of 180 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:19,280 the pain that is to come. Then Habakkuk does something that I really love. He spends the rest 181 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:27,360 of chapter three praying a prayer describing the wonder of God's plan. He describes God marching 182 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:35,440 out from the mountains just east of Israel. God is on the warpath coming to destroy. His power is 183 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:43,200 great and fearsome. He shakes the ground with his steps. The ground behind him and before him looks 184 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:48,800 as if it was under the shadow of death in his judgment. But yet in all of this, the God's 185 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:57,520 vision looks as if it was under the shadow of death in his judgment. But yet in all of this, 186 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:06,080 fearsomeness, verse four tells us that even this terrifying vision was a veiled version of his great 187 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:14,800 power. We've all experienced this kind of feeling to some degree. It's the fear of something truly 188 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:20,640 terrifying. You might think of a spy experiencing this when he realizes he's been caught. 189 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:27,760 Or a child has this feeling when he or she's been caught doing something wrong by his parent. 190 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,120 Or a parent experiences this feeling when they realize they can't find their child. 191 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,360 A worker has this feeling when he sleeps through his alarm and misses an important event. 192 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:47,520 We've all experienced this emotion at some point. It's that dread of something terrifying 193 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:55,680 marching towards us. Habakkuk, after hearing about God's judgment, had this to say, 194 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:05,200 I hear and my body trembles. My lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones. My 195 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:13,760 legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who 196 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:23,440 invade us. Habakkuk describes his whole body as shaking in terror, his lips quiver, his bones 197 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:30,320 become brittle, and his legs knocked together as they shake. Yet after wrestling with God, 198 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:36,560 Habakkuk has learned that even in a place of great fear, God can be trusted. 199 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:44,000 So he ends his prayer with these words, though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond 200 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:51,760 the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food. The flock be cut off from 201 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:59,840 the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy 202 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:06,960 in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deers. He 203 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:17,280 makes me tread on my high places. When we experience pain and suffering, we must remember that we 204 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:26,880 deserve the judgment of God. This truth should terrify us. Yet at the same time, we hold to the 205 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:33,280 promise of God's deliverance in faith, knowing that whatever happens, we will survive the judgment 206 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:40,160 of God upon the earth. Not every instance of pain and suffering is God's direct punishment. We learn 207 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:46,640 this through the book of Joe. However, we do know that all pain and all suffering is a result of the 208 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:55,840 first sin. And we should meet this pain with faith in God, trusting his good plan, knowing that all 209 00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:01,840 he does is just, and that in the end, we will praise him for his goodness through all of it. 210 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:09,520 We stand secure in the midst of pain and suffering because we have faith in God. 211 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:17,440 Pauli Karp, a church leader in the second century, when he was faced with martyrdom at the end of 212 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:25,200 his life and told that he must recant his beliefs about Jesus and the gospel in order to not face 213 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:35,760 certain death, said this, 86 years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme 214 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:43,440 my king and my savior? Throughout the ages, Christians have met every circumstance with one 215 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:52,320 cry, not a cry for God to immediately change their situation, but a cry of faith, faith that God is 216 00:26:52,320 --> 00:27:00,480 good all the time. Yes, we pray for relief from pain. Yes, we pray for an end of suffering, 217 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:09,200 but in everything, we hold on to faith in God. So as we close together, let's join with our 218 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:24,080 Christian brothers and sisters throughout the ages with faith in God and his work. Let's pray together.