Looking Ahead

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Romans 8:16-25

Habakkuk; Romans 8:16-25

I really hate to use sports analogies because I immediately lose the ladies and many of the guys. But today a sports analogy is really in order. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you of my prowess on the gridiron, though it was outstanding. If truth be told I’m a lot better now in the telling than I was then in the doing. Anyway when someone plays sports, and I’ll use football because I know it best, there is always a goal. The first goal is to get better in the practice sessions, then to win in the game. But in the back of every high school players mind, in the back of every coaches mind is to win district, progress through the playoff and end up in the state championship game and winning the big one. In college it is bowl games and even a national championship and in the NFL it is the Super Bowl. It does not matter how good you are or how good your team is there are always set back along the way; injuries, mental lapses, loses you name it. But still the goal is plainly in sight, until it isn’t any more because too many loses and setbacks. But still there is always…next year. This is all true whether you play the game or are just a fan. If you are not a player or a fan it is still true in whatever you do. You seek the best deal on the new car you need or the best deal on the groceries that you have to go buy so sometimes you may go to more than one store to come out ahead of where you would have been. I guess my point is that we are creatures that look ahead to some kind of outcome that keeps us moving ahead towards whatever that outcome may be and this analogy can all be applied to business, sports, even relationships. Oh and did I mention that this even applies spiritually, especially to followers of Christ. And that is what we are going to look at this morning. Today we will be in Habakkuk and in Romans 8:16-25. Let’s pray asking God to reveal Himself to us this morning.

I know that when I said we would be looking at Habakkuk some of you just froze in your tracks. Either you thought I was making up that book or you were wondering where it was in the Bible. Trust me Habakkuk is a real book in the Bible and it is located between Nahum and Zephaniah if that helps any. It is only 3 chapters long and if I were to just sit here and read it to you it would take about 12 minutes. For the purpose of full disclosure Dan Watson taught from Habakkuk back several months ago in Sunday School so I’m just going to steal everything he said. Seriously Habakkuk is one of the Minor Prophets (minor meaning shorter than the major) and I will admit a lack of knowledge of the Minor Prophets. But I was reading a devotional on Wednesday morning and Habakkuk came up so I looked into it. Habakkuk wrote his prophecy at the end of the life of the kingdom of Judah, he was a contemporary of Jeremiah around the time of the reign of Jehoahaz (for a historical reference). Most of the prophets received a message from God and delivered it to the people but not so with Habakkuk. In his prophecy Habakkuk asks God some questions and God answers them, much like some of the Psalms and Job. In Habakkuk 1:2 he cries out to God: 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save.3Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises.4Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.[1] Habakkuk is complaining about the leader of Judah being corrupt and he seems to think that God had forgotten about justice. So God responds and basically tells him; “I’m sending the Chaldeans (Babylon) and they are going to provide My judgment.” Habakkuk complains or laments some more and even says this to God: 13You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he?[2] A lot of people take this verse out of context saying that God can’t look on evil at all but what Habakkuk is saying is that he knows that God is holy and righteous and cannot just sit back while evil is going on and do nothing so why isn’t He doing something now. In chapter 2:1 he says this: I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.[3] Habakkuk kind of realizes that he may have said too much and it was time for him to see what God had to say before he tried to answer God. Then God begins to respond. This is just an aside from the sermon itself but isn’t it amazing how when we stop talking, complaining, lamenting, we can hear God speak. Anyway God tells Habakkuk to write this down. What I’m going to tell you is going to happen but not today and you will want a record of it. God tells Habakkuk to look at the proud how his soul is not upright (suggesting that the proud person may stand proud but inside he is bent and crooked). Then He says: But the just shall live by his faith. Paul quotes that in Romans 1:17 and much later Martin Luther got sight of it and there came the Protestant Reformation. The just will live by faith in the righteousness of God not their own righteousness. I can’t stay here because there is so much more to cover but what God is telling Habakkuk, and us, is that the proud stand on their own righteousness and the just stand on the righteousness of God. From there God goes on to pronounce some woes on the proud. Hab. 2:6b Woe to him who increases What is not his—how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? God goes on to say that the creditors will get what they are owed. What does that have to do with the proud? The proud believe they are owed what they want so they go out and get what they want even if they can’t afford it. I’ll just let that one sit there and let you think about it because that is what our economy is based on. Hab. 2:9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of disaster![4] The proud are those who think their stuff will make them secure. Hab. 2:12 12“Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity![5] Woe to the proud who build their own kingdom (not the kingdom of God) in violence. Hab. 2:15“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness![6] Woe to the proud that lead others to sin just to bring them down. The final woe is in verse 19: 19Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all.[7] Woe to the proud who make gods that aren’t gods. Then in chapter 3 Habakkuk prays a prayer that is really a psalm with all the trappings of a psalm including the musical notations; selah and at the end “to the chief musician. With my stringed instruments.” In this prayer Habakkuk recognizes the power, the glory and the majesty of God the creator and sustainer of the universe. He states very clearly that God can do whatever He chooses to do with His creation and more specifically with His people.

Remember Habakkuk has stated the corrupt condition of his people. God has stated that He is sending the Babylonians to correct them and then lays out the indictment (woes). Habakkuk recognizes the authority and the power of God to do what God said He was going to do then we read this beautiful statement of faith from Habakkuk in verses that I want us to look at: 17-19 of chapter 3: 17Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.19The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.[8] Do you hear that? Even though my world falls down around me, my nation is destroyed, and my people taken into captivity still I will rejoice in the Lord and find my joy in the God of my salvation knowing that in the end He will restore me. This guy that we know nothing about except that he is a prophet of God at the end of the life of Judah has a view of the goal ahead. To take this back to the original analogy; there are injuries and errors and losses that set us back but there is the ultimate goal ahead that keeps us working, keeps us moving ahead.

Evidently Habakkuk had his eyes or maybe I should say hope set on something other than today or something other than the struggles of today. And he states pretty clearly that his hope was in the God of his salvation knowing that the God who created the world was his strength. That was where he set his vision if you will. So that brings me to my question for the day (you know I like to have a question for the day). Where have you set your vision? Last week we noted that we continue on in our struggles to further the gospel, to give boldness to those behind us, for opportunities to preach Christ, to magnify Christ and for the good of others but what is the end motivation that causes us persevere in the struggles when it looks like all is lost, what is our “there’s always next year” motivation? Where do we set our vision?

Paul had a lot to say about that in a lot of different places but since I’m the preacher I want us to look at Romans 8:16-25. I really cannot say enough about Romans 8. If I had to choose my favorite chapter in all of Scripture Romans 8 would definitely be at the top of the list. In Romans 8:16-17 Paul makes this great statement: 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.[9] Let me define suffering briefly. Suffering can include the work of the evil one, Satan, with the permission of God, it can be persecution by the world, or it can be the events that occur in a fallen world; disease, storms, earthquake, accidents…So what Paul is saying in verses 16-17 is that we inherit everything the Son inherits including the suffering. Then he goes on to say in Romans 8:18 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. So we inherit suffering along with Christ but the suffering is nothing in comparison to what we look ahead to; that end goal. In Hebrews 12:2 we are told that we are to be 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. While Jesus was walking this earth His eyes were on His goal, His purpose, which was the redemption of His people; the joy set before Him was the redemption of all who would place their faith in Him. Because He kept His eyes on our redemption He considered the shame of taking upon Himself our sin, literally becoming sin for us and enduring the cross as joy. If He can count that as joy then surely we can look at the suffering we experience, whether it is illness, persecution, covid 19, financial downturn or any other suffering and consider it not worthy of looking at because there will be much glory revealed in us as we are conformed into the image of Christ and as we inherit our resurrected bodies and stand in the righteousness of Jesus with Christ seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Then in verses 19-22 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. I remember when I lived on Crooked Creek close to Harrison, Arkansas that I would go out in the morning and look out across Brown’s Bottom as the morning fog would roll through and I would stand and listen to the creek out behind the house and think how beautiful God’s creation is. And it is beautiful, just look at the spring time here in the Ozarks. But here Paul reminds us that this is the fallen condition of God’s creation and creation itself is waiting to be restored just like we are. This life and creation itself is just a vague shadow of what God has in store for His people through the work of Christ.

Romans 8:23-25 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.[10] There is so much here and I am not going to attempt to hit it all but what I want us to see this morning is that we who have received Christ, having the resurrection of Christ within us, not that we have resurrected bodies yet but we have been buried with Christ and raised to walk in the newness of life are eagerly waiting for the finished product of our salvation. We are saved with the hope, not a vague wish but the confident expectation, of that being realized. We have not seen it yet but because of our confident expectation (now listen to this), because of our confident expectation of the glory of God being revealed in us we eagerly wait with perseverance. We entwine ourselves (that is what wait means) with our redeemer and we look forward and we move ahead.

Just like Habakkuk who saw his world coming down around his shoulders kept his eyes or his hope on the God of his salvation. We inherit everything the Son inherits including the suffering (just like Habakkuk) and we keep our eyes on the One who is our restoration, thereby we just keep on keeping on, we persevere even when our world is falling down around us. We do not have our hope in this world! We have our hope in the next world where we will be seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Let’s pray.

I pray that this has encouraged you who are believers in these times of struggles. We do have hope, a confident expectation that what is ahead is better than today. But for you who are not believers this is the best it will be. Oh there may be better times without the financial struggles and the pandemic but you have nothing to look ahead to that keeps you moving forward except for stuff in this world. I invite you to consider Christ so you can say as Habakkuk did and as followers of Christ are ever learning to say: 17Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls—18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.19The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.[11]

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 1:1–4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 1:13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 2:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 2:9). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 2:12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[6] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 2:15). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[7] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 2:19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[8] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 3:17–19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[9] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ro 8:16–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[10] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ro 8:18–25). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[11] The New King James Version. (1982). (Hab 3:17–19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.