1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,360
As has been already said, actually prayed from this pulpit this morning by Michael,

2
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,920
these are the words of God and we want to hear from God this morning. So

3
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:20,640
before we get into our text, why don't we come to our God and ask for his help.

4
00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:37,040
Father, you are the one who tells us that your word never comes back void. So this morning as we

5
00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:45,040
gather around your word, we ask that you would please hold Christ high in our midst

6
00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:51,120
and minister to us by your Holy Spirit. We ask for this in Jesus name, Amen.

7
00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:59,680
One of the things that I love about Armidale is the many different Christian ministries that have

8
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:06,640
prayerfully considered how to reach this wonderful place with the good news of Jesus Christ.

9
00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:13,760
And I mention this because when I first came to Armidale and started to meet some of the brilliant

10
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:20,560
people who are on the ground here, I was under the impression that there was a ministry in our city

11
00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:28,000
called Habakkuk. And I thought to myself, what a wonderful ministry because as we've seen in this

12
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,640
book so far, if you were here last week, a ministry with that name, well it gives the impression that

13
00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:40,800
that's a place that you can go and be open and honest about all the things that's on your heart,

14
00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:48,400
where you can go and speak about what's on your mind because that's exactly what we saw Habakkuk

15
00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:56,800
do with God last week. Well I was quickly corrected that the place that I was thinking about

16
00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:04,880
wasn't called Habakkuk but have a cuppa, which has now come to be known as under his wings.

17
00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:11,840
However, even though I got the name wrong, as I've come to know the people who run that ministry,

18
00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:18,480
that's exactly what they're out to achieve and do. They're about getting people who are in dire

19
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:26,080
circumstances to the right place to meet with the right person so they can pour their heart out and

20
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,920
say what's on their mind, lament over the things in their life and do it in the context of being

21
00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:38,480
led to the good news of Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful ministry under his wings done right

22
00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:45,360
here in our city. Now I'm saying all of this because that's exactly what we were encouraged in

23
00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:51,600
last week when Tom took us through the first part of the first chapter of this wonderful book

24
00:02:52,160 --> 00:03:01,440
that we have before us this morning. It's there in one sense at least, we learnt that we have

25
00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:12,400
a God who isn't aloof out there somewhere in the universe, unaware of all our trials and tribulations

26
00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:19,680
but is so personal with his people that we're invited to boldly come before the throne of

27
00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:27,520
grace and speak to him about everything that's going on in our lives. Why? Well, we're told by

28
00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:36,480
the Apostle Peter it's because God cares for us. That's right, the creator of the universe, the one

29
00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:45,520
who created time, who is eternal and sovereign over all things, not only invites us but welcomes

30
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:55,360
all his people to come to him and cast our cares upon him. Why? Well, it's as I just said, it's

31
00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:04,000
because God cares for us and that's exactly what we saw last week with our prophet, Habakkuk,

32
00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:14,640
a child of God, a man in the covenant community going to his God and pouring his heart out to the

33
00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:21,440
only person in the universe who could really do something about what he was seeing around him.

34
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:28,080
Now for Habakkuk, there were some serious things that he took to the throne of grace, namely the

35
00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:36,480
sin of God's own people. That's what we saw last week, this prophet who's like a go-between between

36
00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:46,080
man and God's people, he cried out to God about how long he was going to have to wait before God

37
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:54,320
did something about all the wickedness that he was witnessing in his nation. And I just want to say

38
00:04:54,320 --> 00:05:00,960
that I love that about the prophet Habakkuk because what we have here in this book is an example

39
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:09,920
of a man who not just laments over the people of God but somewhat intercedes for them, who cries

40
00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:16,720
out to God about all the wrong that he sees. In other words, he didn't just sit around thinking

41
00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:23,840
and complaining to himself and others about all the evil and injustice that he was witnessing

42
00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:33,280
but took all his burdens and anger before God in the prayer closet. What a great example to us now

43
00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:40,880
here in the church, a great example of when we see things going on with people in the worldwide

44
00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:50,160
church. Well how do we deal with it? We take it to God in prayer. Now he didn't use the exact words

45
00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:58,640
that Jesus gave us but it certainly rings of may your kingdom come and your will be done on this

46
00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:07,040
earth as it is in heaven. That was essentially Habakkuk's complaint. The will of God, the law

47
00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:14,800
was not being followed by God's own people and because of that there was wickedness and injustice

48
00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:22,960
that had spread through the covenant community like gangrene. In other words, God's word was

49
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:30,640
not being obeyed in any sense and it was causing God's very people to be ineffective and perverted.

50
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:39,680
To say it plainly, Judah had put a bowl over the light that they were meant to shine to the nations

51
00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:48,000
and Habakkuk was furious. Now as I said before, God is not aloof out there in the universe,

52
00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:54,800
not in any sense and we saw that last week as God replied to our prophet essentially saying,

53
00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:01,600
not only do I see what's going on Habakkuk but I actually have a solution for all of this

54
00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:09,360
and that solution is the raising up of a nation that's even more lawless and infected with sin.

55
00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:17,280
That's right. God had not ignored the sin of his people in any sense but had a solution and that

56
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:25,200
solution for the time being at least, well it was an even greater sinful nation that was on their way

57
00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:32,480
to sweep through the nation of Judah and deal with God's very own people. So with that said,

58
00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:38,640
with that context and that understanding, let's go through our text this morning.

59
00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,680
If you have your Bibles with you it would be very handy because we'll be in a lot this morning

60
00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:51,920
but look with me at verse 12. This is Habakkuk coming to God again in a second prayer saying,

61
00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:57,840
Lord are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you'll never die. You Lord have appointed

62
00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:06,960
them to execute judgment. You my rock have ordained them to punish. So notice this,

63
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:16,880
notice what Habakkuk reveals of God in his prayer. He reveals that God knows exactly what's going on

64
00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:24,400
with his people and Habakkuk even shows, he shows us that because of the sin of his people,

65
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:32,320
he even shows, he shows us that because of the very nature of God, he is sovereign over not just

66
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:39,920
his own people but the entire world to the point that he's able to raise up a Gentile nation,

67
00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:49,440
being the Babylonians to punish Judah. To say it simply, Habakkuk praises God that he's eternal

68
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:56,240
he's sovereign, the ruler of nations, the king of kings, the Lord of lords and that he can do

69
00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:06,560
whatever he wants not only with but also in his creation. We see that in verse 12. Habakkuk praises

70
00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:13,600
God for his awesome wonder that he's both totally sovereign over all history and also totally

71
00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:21,120
involved in all history. But it's here that we see our prophet start to seriously wrestle with

72
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:30,880
something in his own understanding of who God has revealed himself to be. Verse 13, your eyes are

73
00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:37,360
too pure to look on evil, you can't tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?

74
00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:43,120
Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

75
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:52,000
Hear that. God is sovereign but he's also holy and that's what Habakkuk is trying to wrap his

76
00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:59,280
head around here. On the one hand God isn't ignoring sin but on the other hand he's raising

77
00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:09,440
up an even more sinful nation to deal with the sin of his own people. You can hear the clogs ticking.

78
00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:16,000
Habakkuk's in the prayer closet going thank you Lord that you're eternal, that you're sovereign,

79
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,400
that you're not ignoring any of this that's going on with your people, that you have a plan to deal

80
00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:30,800
with this, to get things back on track. But wait Lord, you're holy, you can't stand the works of

81
00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:40,480
the wicked, you can't tolerate the treacherous ways of people and wicked they are. Look at how

82
00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:48,320
Habakkuk illustrates the Babylonians in verses 14 through to 17. You've made people like the fish of

83
00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:54,640
the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls them up with his hooks,

84
00:10:54,640 --> 00:11:00,240
he catches them with his net, he gathers them with his drag net and he rejoices and is glad.

85
00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:07,840
Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his drag net for by his net he lives

86
00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:16,480
in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without

87
00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:25,760
mercy? Well in other words and to put a more modern spin on it, Habakkuk laments that God's

88
00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:32,640
people are like sitting ducks and wandering sheep without a shepherd and that the wicked are going

89
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:40,720
to come along and easily wipe them out. So much so it's going to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

90
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:47,120
Look at what else he has to say about the wicked. He says that they fill their nets to the brim so

91
00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:54,000
much so that they empty them and start again and because it comes at such ease for them it's like

92
00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:02,960
the favor of the universe is on their side and so they look to the tools of the trade as their very

93
00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:11,200
gods that bless them with all that they're doing. And so the question becomes in the mind of our

94
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:18,960
prophet, are these wicked people going to get away with that forever? Well I don't know about you

95
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:27,920
church but this tension that we're seeing with our prophet here might not be so far removed from our

96
00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:36,480
own prayers in the prayer closet right? I mean we couldn't be any further in time and geography

97
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:43,200
from the world of Habakkuk but don't we wrestle with the very same tension that our prophet has

98
00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:53,840
here? I mean on the one hand we praise God that he is indeed so personal and so involved in his

99
00:12:53,840 --> 00:13:03,360
creation. That's a biblical truth that should bring us so much peace and joy. God is not like some

100
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:09,840
distant deity out there who has made a clock, who then wound it up and then just left it so that it

101
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:18,000
could tick along without any personal involvement. No, we know that our God is personally involved

102
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:24,560
in his world because not only does he tell us that he is and we see it clearly here with the

103
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:33,600
rise of the Babylonians in his hand in history but we also see it in the way that he tells us

104
00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:43,520
to come and speak to him and ask that things might change in his world. Ask that his kingdom come

105
00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:52,160
and his will be done. Ask that our sin would be forgiven. Ask that the Lord of the harvest

106
00:13:52,640 --> 00:14:01,040
might send out workers. The list goes on and on and on and the sovereign eternal God of the universe

107
00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:09,120
tells us to do that because he's personally involved in his creation and wants his people

108
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:18,000
to come to him and ask for things so that he might do them. He is personally involved in his creation.

109
00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:27,600
He answers prayers, which means on the other hand that all the wicked and evil that we see in this

110
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:34,720
world, all the pestilence, war, murder, disease, earthquakes and economic troubles, all the stuff

111
00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:44,320
going on with the nations and in our personal worlds right now. That's all under his sovereign

112
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:51,840
hand as well. And so as we go to the prayer closet and see the things of this world, well

113
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:58,720
on the one hand we know that God is very much in control and we can rejoice in that

114
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:07,120
and we know that he listens to the prayers of his people. But on the other hand we might wrestle

115
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:14,080
with the knowledge that all is in his control and wonder why he doesn't seem to be doing anything

116
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:22,160
and when he does, why it doesn't quite fit the way that we would go about it. We might even wonder,

117
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:31,920
will this wickedness and the wicked go on like this forever? Well that's our prophet's dilemma

118
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:40,640
here. He sees God as totally sovereign and eternal. He sees God as not aloof out there in the

119
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:48,880
universe but personally involved in his creation. So much so that he is not just a prophet,

120
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:56,240
but a prophet who is involved in his creation. So much so that Habakkuk wrestles with the very fact

121
00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:03,280
that God is going to deal with things in the way that he is. That's the tension that we have here

122
00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:11,680
and I love that Habakkuk is wrestling this way with God. However what he does next is brilliant.

123
00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:18,640
He kind of has this serious tension in his understanding of God in the so-called prayer

124
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:25,440
closet but then notice what he says. I'll go stand my watch and station myself on the ramparts.

125
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:31,520
I'll look and see what he has to say to me and what answer I'm to give to this complaint,

126
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:39,600
chapter two verse one. In other words Habakkuk was so confident that God had heard his prayer

127
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:46,320
that he was now going to wait on the Lord which is a massive theme in our Bible. Wait on the Lord

128
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:56,720
for his answer. Such a wonderful faith shown to us here in the face of mystery. We read on,

129
00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:04,000
the Lord replied, write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run

130
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:11,040
for the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end it will not prove false.

131
00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:17,440
Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay.

132
00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:26,000
I heard it said the other day that with the rise of the newspaper in the Victorian era

133
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:34,160
that when England used to sneeze Europe got a cold. Yet now because of the rise of the internet

134
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:41,680
when America sneezes the world gets pneumonia and that's what God wants Habakkuk to do here.

135
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:49,120
He wants in effect the nation of Judah to catch what has been said to him personally.

136
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:56,800
Now as you heard last week God he used to speak by the prophets at different times and in various

137
00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:04,000
ways and that's what we're seeing here. God had spoken to his man and he wants Habakkuk to publish

138
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:11,040
clearly what had been revealed so that Judah could clearly understand what God had to say to them.

139
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:18,640
Because it was paramount that they got his revelation. What did God want to tell his people

140
00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:24,400
through the prophet Habakkuk? Well there's two things that we're going to look at this morning.

141
00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:34,000
First he wants to tell them about the enemy and second he wants to tell him wants to tell them

142
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:42,720
about what will happen to the enemy. So first who is the enemy and second what will happen to the

143
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:50,000
enemy? So first who is this enemy? Well we read about them clearly in verses four through to five.

144
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:59,120
See the enemy is puffed up his desires are not upright but the righteous person will live by his

145
00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:06,720
faithfulness. Indeed wine betrays him he's arrogant and never at rest because he's as greedy as the

146
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:13,120
grave and like death is never satisfied. He gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive

147
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:20,400
all the peoples. Okay so there's a couple of subheadings for you note takers out there

148
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:28,800
under this first point of who the enemy is and we need to see this before we move on. It has to do

149
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:38,400
with the language of what God has revealed. See we might automatically cast our minds to this being

150
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:47,520
exclusively about the Babylonians versus the Hebrews and that this revelation was not just

151
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:53,440
about the Hebrews and that this revelation was essentially God saying to his people

152
00:19:54,160 --> 00:20:02,240
that the Babylonians that I'm raising up well they're like this. But I want us to take note

153
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:09,760
of the broadness of the language here. Yes God is speaking about the Babylonians in one sense

154
00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:17,760
however we might ask the question why was Habakkuk driven to his knees in the first place?

155
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:26,720
Well it was because God's own people had abandoned the law and become a wicked nation.

156
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:35,040
That's what we see in the opening verses of this book. Habakkuk was driven to the prayer closet

157
00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:44,080
because he saw the law being ignored and conflict and strife escalating more and more among his own

158
00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:52,800
people. So it's not like the Hebrews are totally innocent here. Now Habakkuk was living in a wicked

159
00:20:52,800 --> 00:21:01,600
nation among wicked people. In other words no one was innocent. God's covenant nation had abandoned

160
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:11,920
the law and was oppressing their own people. So Habakkuk he cries out to God. So we might say

161
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:19,520
that the application of the language around the enemy here well it's broader than just the

162
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:27,360
Babylonians. Something else that I want you to know church what is the enemy like? Well it's

163
00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:37,600
the enemy is set in contrast to those who live by faith right? That's what we see in verse four.

164
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:43,600
The enemy is proud and his desires are not in accordance with the will of God.

165
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:52,640
In other words they not only reject the word of God but they desire what's contrary to it

166
00:21:52,640 --> 00:22:00,000
and thus they are described as being not upright which is to say they're crooked in the way that

167
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:07,360
they live. That's further described in verse five there. Well compare that with the righteous person.

168
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:14,640
Well that's the person who has faith in God and his revelation and actually does something about it.

169
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:25,120
He lives not by his fishing net but by his faith or faithfulness as the NIV puts it.

170
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:33,040
All this to say there's an essence of the psalmist's words ringing here which reveal in

171
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:41,200
Psalm 1 which we heard early this morning that there are only two ways to live. One way is

172
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:48,000
egocentric prideful rejecting our creator's revelation and thus walking in a crooked and

173
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:56,720
perverse way. Heeping up sin upon sin and never being satisfied. That's the wicked. That's the

174
00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:04,240
enemy of God over against the faithful one who puts their trust in God and in his word and walks

175
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:12,160
in accordance with the straight and narrow way. That's the blessed one. Doesn't that bring to

176
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:18,320
mind the words of Paul to the Philippians when he said do everything without grumbling and arguing

177
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:26,720
so that you may be blameless and pure children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverse

178
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:34,880
generation among whom you the people of God shine like the stars of the world. How? Well by holding

179
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:44,880
firm to the word of life. Philippians 2 14 to 16. So Habakkuk, well he's getting an answer to his

180
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:52,960
prayer here. That is to reveal to others and that's that God is sending a proud and arrogant nation,

181
00:23:52,960 --> 00:24:00,800
the Babylonians to deal with them and as we've seen anyone who is puffed up and arrogant, anyone

182
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:10,560
who rejects God and his ways is really God's enemy. Even and hear this even if you belong to

183
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:17,120
the Hebrew nation. Now the one who receives the word of God and lives out their faith is righteous

184
00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:26,240
before God's eyes. But there's more. That's the first thing. That's who the enemy is.

185
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:37,040
But what about the problem of evil in this world? What about the people who are the enemy of God?

186
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,400
Will wickedness and the wicked go on forever?

187
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:48,960
Well to that we get a resounding no. And that's the second thing God reveals here. The wicked

188
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:56,320
and in fact all wickedness will come under the judgment of God and they won't endure forever.

189
00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:04,720
Verse 6. Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn? Now if we're going to be

190
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:13,200
consistent here this morning we want to take this all of them language not just as the oppressed

191
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:20,400
Jews and nations who have been gobbled up by the Babylonians. However that's certainly one way to

192
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:29,200
understand it and interestingly Babylon will become an example of what happens to any nation

193
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:37,600
and people that sets itself up against the people of God and God himself. But if we're going to be

194
00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:46,000
consistent in our view here then what's being said is for the benefit of anyone at any time who has

195
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:52,640
been oppressed by the wicked and thus wondered if the lawless will get away with it forever.

196
00:25:52,640 --> 00:26:00,320
Well this is what God has to say. First woe to those who have planned plotted and played out

197
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:08,160
their wicked schemes on others. They will eventually fall prey to their own devices. It's like it says

198
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:16,800
here in verses 6 to 8 those who plunder those who pillage will themselves come to ruin. In other

199
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:26,240
words it won't go on forever. Every evil person and on a larger scale every world empire that

200
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:35,040
ruins others will come to ruin itself. So as Jesus said those who live by the sword will die by the

201
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:43,760
sword. We certainly see that in the narrative of history don't we? Judah was indeed a man of

202
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:53,840
power. Judah was indeed plundered by the Babylonians. However in turn Babylon was wiped out by the

203
00:26:53,840 --> 00:27:07,440
Persians, Greece, by Rome, Rome by barbarian tribes. The list goes on and on and on and it will go on

204
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:16,240
until the appointed time when God will judge the nations. Anyone who plunders and pillages others

205
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:22,480
well it will come down on their heads one day. Second woe to those who find their security in what

206
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:30,080
they've unjustly built. We see that in verses 9 through to 11 and that's a theme that runs all

207
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:37,360
throughout the Bible. Those who collect and store up treasures on this earth and find security in

208
00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:45,280
things that they have made dishonestly maybe from ripping off others and stealing from them.

209
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:53,280
Well their foolishness will testify against them one day. No house that is built upon the sand

210
00:27:54,000 --> 00:28:02,640
will last forever. It will be shown for what it is. Third woe to the cruel and we see this in verses

211
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:12,960
12 through to 14. Anyone who treats other people's lives as cheap will come to nothing. Every single

212
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:22,480
human being is made in the image of God and is precious to our creator and so those who are

213
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:31,440
are violent against them and build their own empires on the backs of others and cause people

214
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:39,200
harm only fuel the fire of their own judgment. Verse 13 is clear they will come to nothing.

215
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:47,840
Fourth woe to the immoral. It's right there in verses 15 through to 17. God does not turn a

216
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:57,120
blind eye to those who exploit others in any which way. God hates the sin of those who encourage

217
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:05,760
others to act in obscene ways especially when their victims have been manipulated and then abused

218
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:16,640
and taunted. God's words clear those people will come to shame and disgrace. Fifth and the final woe

219
00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:24,720
belongs to the idolatrous. Verses 18 to 19. Now what God is saying here is that all idols that

220
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:31,920
are carved by the hands of mere men well they're utterly useless and we might look back into the

221
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:39,280
ancient world and think well I don't burn incense and carve out little wooden figures and sit and

222
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:48,480
pray to things but all of those things are only a product of a crooked heart and so though we might

223
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:56,480
not see those things so much in our western world the point is clear anything other than God that

224
00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:04,240
we put our trust and hope in that replaces our faith in God well it's become a functional saviour

225
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:12,160
and that functional saviour will be shown for what it is one day and that's no saviour at all.

226
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:20,720
Extremely heavy stuff. God's revelation, God's words to God's people and we could spend so much

227
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:28,880
more time on this however I'm aware of our time this morning and so I want to end by saying this

228
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:36,480
though we've seen our prophets struggle to keep in tension the sovereignty of God and the way that

229
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:44,000
he is going to deal with sin one thing is made clear in all of this and it's so important that

230
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:51,280
we see it it's so important God is not just speaking about a particular nation and people here

231
00:30:51,680 --> 00:31:00,240
this isn't just the Babylonians and Jews on view here but God revealing through his eternal word

232
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:06,400
that though we might not understand all the mysteries of the universe and God's way of

233
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:14,000
dealing with things though we might not understand all the wicked empires that come and go all the

234
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:22,720
lawless people in this world that seem to be doing so great all the evil that seems to prevail at

235
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:30,720
every turn well through it all we must remember this the righteous will live by their faith

236
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:37,760
that is so important that you hear that this morning brothers and sisters God's response to

237
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:45,840
Habakkuk's prayer to his struggle to his complaint and lament is that God is not unaware about it all

238
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:53,760
not indifferent not aloof but is going to deal with it all however though we might not see it clearly

239
00:31:54,800 --> 00:32:03,200
or understand it all our end remember this the righteous one will live because they have faith

240
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:12,640
in God and that's exactly what the apostle Paul draws on in his explanation of how one should

241
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:19,840
ultimately come to be saved you see we're told in the book of Romans that because of the holy

242
00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:28,160
justice of God all sin is going to be punished one day that's what the holiness and the justice

243
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:38,240
of God demands that all sin is punished however we have a massive problem all people are guilty

244
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:47,920
all people are guilty of breaking the law of God of being somewhat included in those woes

245
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:55,280
that we just heard we have a massive dilemma on our hands as no one is righteous before God

246
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:04,480
and worthy to be punished worthy of the judgment and wrath but this is the good news of the Lord

247
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:12,800
of Judgment and Wrath but this is the good news of Jesus Christ says Paul in Romans 3 28 it's this

248
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:24,640
a person is justified by faith hear that a person is made in total right standing

249
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:31,840
with God by who they trust in that's Paul's argument in the first three chapters of the

250
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:39,920
book of Romans one cannot be right standing justified justified never sinned before God

251
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:50,800
except by faith and faith alone in him so it's a little wonder that Paul draws directly on what

252
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:58,880
Habakkuk reveals here and drives home what has always been true for the people of God over the

253
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:08,880
two testaments the righteous will live by faith Romans 1 17 church for those in the old it was to

254
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:18,480
look forward and for us in the new we look back to the cross of Jesus Christ this was and is and

255
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:27,360
always will be God's solution to the problem of wickedness in this world God's wrath was poured

256
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:35,120
out upon all wickedness of humanity at Calvary so that God's holy justice and merciful love might

257
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:44,560
be both demonstrated and satisfied and the good news is this all those who trust in that sacrifice

258
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:52,400
will be justified so we might say in the fullness of God's revelation the righteous will live by

259
00:34:52,400 --> 00:35:03,280
faith in Jesus Christ church it's by faith that we are saved and it's by faith that we live

260
00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:12,240
but might I also say a great expression of our faith is in the way in which we pray see we

261
00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:20,320
observe an incredible thing with Habakkuk his faith and his trust caused him to get to the

262
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:26,880
so-called prayer closet and cry out and so here in these verses that we have seen this morning

263
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:34,960
might I say that when not if when we see the effects of wickedness either out there in the

264
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:44,320
world in the church or even in our own lives don't run from but run to the God of heaven

265
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:51,840
he is sovereign over all the earth says verse 20 and yet as we've also seen he not only hears

266
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:59,840
our prayers he answers them now we might not understand everything that's going on we might

267
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:08,720
not like God's timing or even fully comprehend his ways but here in our passage this morning

268
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:16,960
in God's words to us we see that though we might not understand everything we were invited to come

269
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:26,400
to the one who knows exactly what's going on and exactly what he is doing with and in his creation

270
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:36,160
and brothers and sisters no more clearly do we see this than in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ

271
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:44,880
and how God determined to use lawless people to nail his perfect son to a cross so that the

272
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:54,720
problem of our wickedness could be ultimately dealt with it's because of God working sovereignly

273
00:36:54,720 --> 00:37:06,960
sovereignly over and in history that we can now approach him in his holiness so church let's learn

274
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:13,600
to wrestle with God in the prayer closet to be consistent in going to him with all our concerns

275
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:21,920
all our laments all our questions that's the invite from the king of heaven and all the earth to anyone

276
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:28,480
who has put their trust in Christ and lives by that wonderful gift of faith and know this

277
00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:37,120
whatever is going on in your world whatever is going on in my world in the world we are told by

278
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:42,320
the one who is in control of it all that there will come a day when all wickedness

279
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:51,280
will be swallowed up in victory and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory

280
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:59,920
of the Lord as waters cover the sea like these words from the apostle Paul encourage us all this

281
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:09,200
morning therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus

282
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:18,240
Christ we have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand and we boast

283
00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:26,480
in the hope of the glory of God let's come to our great God in prayer now

284
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:36,320
father we began our time this morning by asking

285
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:44,080
that our Lord and Savior would be held high among our among us this morning

286
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:49,600
that by the work of your spirit through the word that you would draw all manner of people

287
00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:51,840
to our Lord and Savior

288
00:38:54,080 --> 00:39:02,320
father we are in various and varying degrees of life in this room at the moment

289
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:10,720
some of us are questioning some of us may be angry some of us incredibly hurt

290
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:19,280
some of us with our heads so spun around that we can't make heads or tails of anything

291
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:28,080
but father as we hear your word proclaimed this morning you were the one who invites us to come

292
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:37,920
to you father might we see that for what it is that we are welcomed that we are not a nuisance

293
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:40,160
that you love your people

294
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:52,800
father we don't want to become a church that abandons your word we don't want to be a church

295
00:39:52,800 --> 00:40:00,720
that puts a bowl over the light that is here so father we ask for wisdom and guidance that you

296
00:40:00,720 --> 00:40:10,960
would lead us all the days of our life and that Christ would be preached boldly from this place

297
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:29,920
father we thank you for your work in Jesus name amen