Live by Faith
Habakkuk • Sermon • Submitted
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· 29 viewsGod will give life to the righteous and he will humble the proud. And we know this not because we see it, but because he has revealed it in his word.
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2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
This week is our third week in the book of Habakkuk…
Subtitle is tough questions and honest answers:
For those who may have missed I want to catch you up to speed
Because you are literally coming in the middle of a conversation that is taking place between Habakkuk and God
The first week we read 1:1-4 where Habakuk brings his first complaint to the Lord
The first week we read 1:1-4 where Habakuk brings his first complaint to the Lord
He sees all sorts of violence and injustice
and it seems like God doesn’t care and so he says
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
and then last week we saw God’s response:
in short God tells him that he is raising up the Chaldeans (also known as the Babylonians) to punish the nation of Judah for their sin…
a bit of history in 586 BC God’s vision to Habakkuk came to pass
to wich Habakkuk brings up a second complaint against God
While Habakkuk was troubled by the sin of his own people, he was far more troubled that God would use Babylon to punish Judah because the Babylonians were even worse than Judah was
to which Hab asked
17 Is he then to keep on emptying his net
and mercilessly killing nations forever?
1 I will take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and look out to see what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Leads us to God’s answer to Habakkuk’s second complaint against God
1) God will keep his word.
1) God will keep his word.
Let me show you this in the text
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
The vision (or the word) is from the LORD
The vision (or the word) is from the LORD
what do we k
Now, doesn’t seem to have anything to do with God answering that he will keep his word...
In fact, God doesn’t replies to Habakkuk not with an answer immediately
rather replies to Hab’s question with a command
First off… why write the vision down?
2 sub points
The vision (or the word) must be remembered
The vision (or the word) must be remembered
The reality is this: The vision that God revealed to Habakkuk did not happen over night…
The reality is this: The vision that God revealed to Habakkuk did not happen over night…
in fact it likely didn’t even happen within Hab’s lifetime
it wouldn’t happen in Hab’s day
in fact it likely didn’t even happen within Hab’s lifetime
consider Abraham - God promised that he would have many children
And how about bringing Israel into the promise land
And furthermore, promises that take time to be fulfilled get forgotten… But God did not want Hab to forget this vision
and the vision wasn’t just for Habakkuk…
it was for Hab’s children
his children’s children
It was for the captives in Babylon after Judah was in exile
It was for those who came back from the Babylonian exile
In fact this vision gets recorded three times in the NT
so it was for the earliest Christians
Specifically for Paul
And for the church in Rome
and For the church in Galicia
and for Hebrews....
But it was for the church in the first century…
And it’s for the church today
The vision (or the word) must be remembered
The vision (or the word) must be remembered
And it has been remembered for thousands of years…
(and forgotten many times as well)
What promise has taken the longest to fulfill?
8 And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
8 And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”
8 And now, go, write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.
2 Sa
The vision (or the word) must be shared
The vision (or the word) must be shared
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
2 And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
The one who runs reading the tablet is the archetype for the prophet
21 “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
8 And now, go, write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.
Already been alluded to, but let me say it more clearly…
the vision God gave to Habakkuk was not given solely for Habakkuk
Here is why the vision being written down was so important:
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
The vision (or his word) will come to pass
The vision (or his word) will come to pass
The vision (or his word) will come to pass
in other words… it will happen - he will keep his word
This is a message from the LORD
and we must know the nature of God in order to grasp this point
19 God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Num 23:19
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
19 God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
God is faithful to his word
Old faithful
The vision (or God’s word) may seem to be delayed
The vision (or God’s word) may seem to be delayed
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
The reality is this: The vision that God revealed to Habakkuk did not happen over night…
for in
in fact the fulfilment of Hab’s vision likely didn’t even happen within his lifetime
consider Abraham - God promised that he would have many children
took 25 years before Isaac would even be born
And how about bringing Israel into the promise land
took 40 years for them to enter into the promise land… and that entire generation died
And furthermore, promises that take time to be fulfilled get forgotten… But God did not want Hab to forget this vision
so write it down… so it isn’t forgotten
continue to read it… so that all might hear
because the vision wasn’t just for Habakkuk…
it was for Hab’s children
his children’s children
The vision given to Habakkuk was for the exiles in Babylon after Judah was destroyed by the Chaldeans
It was for those who came back from the Babylonian exile
In fact this vision gets recorded three times in the NT 3 times
so it was for the earliest Christians
Specifically for Paul
And for the church in Rome
and For the church in Galicia
and for Hebrews....
Put it plainly Habakkuk’s vision was for the church in the first century…
And it’s for the church today
2) The righteous live by faith in God’s word.
2) The righteous live by faith in God’s word.
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
Contrast to the proud and arrogant to the righteous
Contrast to the proud and arrogant to the righteous
They are large - puffed up
They are doomed - not upright
the bigger they are - the harder they fall
17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
Consider every king in the OT that was not godly
whether it was Pharoah - in the exodus
Nebuchadnezzar - the king of Babylon himself
Or even Saul - the first kind of Israel
What was their final outcome?
humiliation.... and for those who didn’t repent and turn from their sin… it lead to death…
More about the humiliation that God will bring upon those who are proud in a bit… but I want us to focus on the latter half of v 4
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
The righteous
The righteous
they will live
What does this mean for Habakkuk?
Remember
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
Hab, the righteous wants God to justify him
to protect him
to defend him…
and here God gives Habakkuk a vision:
“The righteous shall live”
God will sustain the life of the righteous
but it’s not just sustaining his life here and now…
Continue reading
“the righteous shall live by faith”
their life comes from faith in God’s word
What is another word for faith?
Trust… belief.... Faith is taking God at his word
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Faith is taking God at his word…
Which is so important in regard to the first point…
It believes that God will keep his word
That God is not a liar
That he speaks, and all creation obeys
He spoke… and light shined out of darkness
And Jesus too spoke - and the wind and the sea obeyed him
Do so when read God’s word… do you believe in it?
to you trust God
without needing evidence and proof that what he says is true?
Remember the last two weeks… Hab’s primary concern against God was what he was seeing…
The righteous are being sinned against
and it seems like God doesn’t even care
And God responded to Hab, revealing his active presence in his creation…
And God’s response is hab 2:4
and when that answer did not satisfy Hab.... God responds again
And God’s response is hab 2:4
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
And I want us to see how important this verse is:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
and faith is crucial in light of what was said in the first point
God will keep his word
Must be told
It will happen
Though it seems delayed
So God is telling Habakkuk… do not put too much stock in what you see…
Instead trust God who is faithful
We can have faith in God because God is faithful
This was the problem that Thomas upon hearing about the resurrection of Jesus…
he lacked faith in what he heard - this is why we call him doubting Thomas
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Jn 20:2
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jn 20:2
Faith is believing without seeing
And furthermore we see here: “The righteous shall live by faith”
And furthermore we see here: “The righteous shall live by faith”
That to say, the live according to what they believe.
If you have faith, it will affect the way you live
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
3) The appearance of success will not last.
3) The appearance of success will not last.
5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
wine - some of the ancient texts say wealth
But what what is wine but a symbol of wealth
Of celebration
For the proud and arrogant nation that will overthrow the nation of Judah where Habakkuk is living
Wine/wealth /or for our sake I’m calling it success - is a traitor
Wine/wealth /or for our sake I’m calling it success - is a traitor
that is to say it will turn on you
It seem safe now, but tomorrow it will be dangerous
Success seems like something we should aspire to have - but do not be tempted to pursue it, because success is fleeting
and not only fleeting, but will be the very thing that destroys us
records this very prophecy for the Babylonians
1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
1 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
Dan 5:1-2
As the story unfolds, the Lord reveals something to king Belshazzar…
the hand of God writes in the wall a message for the proud and arrogant king
25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Dan 5:25-
30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.
Success is a traitor
5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
Success is so attractive
Success is so attractive
“an arrogant man who is never at rest”
Success - (greed for wine, wealth, popularity, fame… you name it) kills
Success - (greed for wine, wealth, popularity, fame… you name it) kills
What the vision of God is saying is this:
put your confidence in God
not in wine
or wealth… success… victory…
or any of the things that are seen
Wine is fleeting… and in fact it will betray you
I mean it… let’s follow the logic
What are some things that people place their trust in?
Money? - ask the wealthy this question: if that money ever has fulfilled their appetite for money…
Family (or love) - even for the best most fulfilling relationship you could ever desire
(that is assuming that your spouse never ever sins against you)
But even if they didn’t, what are you going to do the day they get sick and die?
What else do people put their trust and hope in?
at your age it’s likely getting through school
(be it for the sake of popularity, GPA, or even just flat out survival until summer break)
Popularity - you will one day be a middle aged person
GPA - literally in 10 years you will not remember the grade you got on your test this week
Summer break?! - You already know this… every summer comes to an end
as does every spring break…
every weekend…
and every evening after you get off school.
Are these things really worth pursuing and placing your hope and trust in?!
and every eve
Well not according to God’s word…
because what God is revealing to Habakkuk is there is a close connection between the pursuit of success… and death.
5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
God is saying this in effect:
do not be deceived by the attraction of success
(wine - the drink of celebration)
(greed - the desire for more and more)
do not be deceived by the appearance of what will satisfy you and give you life…
because ultimately it will bring only death.
This will become abundantly clear even next week…
But for now this is where we are going end in our reading....
because v 5 is closely linked to v 4 and I want us to end right there in the center of the two verses…
4 “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
but the righteous shall live by his faith.
5 “Moreover, wine is a traitor,
an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
like death he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations
and collects as his own all peoples.”
God will give life to the righteous and he will humble the proud. And we know this not because we see it, but because he has revealed it in his word.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
1) Why is it so important that we have God’s written word?
Spend time working on memory verse with students.
2) What does it mean to live by faith?
3) Habakkuk writes about the folly that comes from pursuing the appearance of success. What are the dangers in pursuing only what you see apart from God’s word?
1) Why is it so important that we have God’s written word?
4) Babylon’s victory over their enemies was their god and here God reveals that will punish Babylon for pursuing that which they see. What things are you pursuing that are not
The promises of God were given many years ago and with time things get forgotten.
God’s word is good news. Just as in Habakkuk’s day, we live in a broken world that desperately needs to hear good news.
We need to hold on to the promises of God when our faith is week, because God will accomplish everything that he said he will do.
There will be times when it doesn’t feel like God cares out our situation. We need to trust not what we see with our eyes, but what God says in his word.
2) What does it mean to live by faith?
Living by faith is the grounds of the gospel. Read .
Living by faith means we live not according to what we see, rather we live by what we have heard in God’s word. Faith requires not having seen all the evidence but holding onto the promises of God. Read . Living by faith also means living a life that is changed by what we believe. Read .
3) Habakkuk writes about the folly that comes from pursuing the appearance of success. What are the dangers in pursuing only what you see apart from God’s word?
Living for what we see as success is the very opposite of faith and God demonstrates the folly in such living. Faith requires not seeing, while pursuing success requires pursuing that which we see. Everything in this life apart from the word of god is perishing. Read .
