RUNNING WITH VISION

Introduction

-While the Bible uses a lot of pictures of our life as disciples of Christ, one that is often used is that of running a race. Last week I began a three-part series on running the Christian race.

~Last week I spoke about Running towards Victory. We run in order to win. We don’t run merely to participate. We tackle the Christian life with the mindset that I am going to do as much good for the Kingdom of God as possible in honor of the Lord who died for me.

-Today, I want to talk about running the Christian race with vision. In using the word “vision” I’m not talking about some sort of prophetic dream that seemingly takes you out of the body. I use it in the more general biblical sense of revelation that is given by God.

-You see, it is this vision from God that sets the path of the race that we run.

~To get this picture I want you to imagine the running track for the Olympics. Whether it be a 100m, 200m, 400m, or relay race, you notice on the track that there are lines that designate specific lanes that the runner must remain in during the entirety of the race. If the runner gets off course and strays into another lane, they are disqualified and can’t win the race.

-Just as the lines of an Olympic race help the runner know what lane to stay in, it is vision from God that marks our lane or our path—it gives us the boundaries that we dare not cross, it gives us the motivations that compel us to keep running, it gives us a picture of the reward that is ours should we run successfully, it points us to Christ who is the very reason that we run, preventing us from getting off course to the left or to the right.

-It is so important to run with vision, that Solomon warned us what happens when we don’t have that vision, but then he hints at us where this vision is found. He said in Proverbs 29:18—

18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Prov. 29:18 ESV)

-Without God’s revealing vision people will just do whatever they want, living according to their own rules, casting off all restraint.

~Imagine in a 400m Olympic race if all the runners decided to just do whatever they wanted. Some lined up halfway down the track. Some started to run before the starting gun. Some started to cut through the grass as a short cut. What would happen? They would all be disqualified because there are set standards for the race, there are particular ways in which to run, there are rules to be followed.

-In life, God is the One who sets the rules. And, yes, everyone is born rebelling against those rules, and that is why we need a Savior, Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for breaking the rules.

~But even after we come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, that doesn’t mean then we just live any old way we want. There is a God-honoring, proper way to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and it is set forth in God’s revealing vision.

-And Solomon told us in the proverb where to find this prophetic vision—he calls it the law, but it generally speaks of God’s revealed Word as written in Scripture that we now have contained in the Bible.

-And so maybe another way to state Solomon’s proverb, where there is no vision of God’s revealed Word the people will live in rebellion.

-But, as Christians running the race, we don’t want to live in such rebellion. So, the vision of God found in His Word sets up the boundaries in which we run.

-The prophet Habakkuk who is found in the Minor Prophets between Nahum and Zephaniah receives such a vision (such a revelation) from God for the people to heed. And my hope is that this lead’s us to allow God’s revelatory vision to guide our lives with Christ.

-Now, Habakkuk is probably not a book you know a whole lot about, so let me give you a summary of what happens before the passage that we are covering today.

-Habakkuk resides in the Southern Kingdom of Judah some time after the Northern Kingdom of Israel was carried away captive by the Assyrians. Probably a contemporary with Jeremiah, Habakkuk is having a crisis of faith and he is making sure he let’s the Lord know it.

-He prays to God asking how long God is just going to sit around and do nothing since there is so much violence and wickedness going on in Judah, and especially in the city of Jerusalem. Habakkuk sees injustice everywhere and (as is often the case with us) he is very frustrated with what seems to be God’s lack of action which he translates into a lack of caring.

-God answers and tells Habakkuk that He sees what is going on and is going to punish His wicked people by sending the Babylonian army as His tool of discipline.

-This doesn’t sit well with Habakkuk at all, and he lets God know that. Habakkuk argues that the Babylonians are even more wicked than Judah. And so, we pick up God’s response.

Habakkuk 2:2–4 ESV

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.

-Let me quickly cover 3 principles about running with vision

I) Be ready to obey the Word

-The Lord tells Habakkuk to record the revelatory vision about how He is going to deal with His rebellious people.

~Habakkuk was told to write God’s divine communication on tablets in such a way that it was plain to understand and the letters are big enough for people to see so that there is absolutely nothing preventing the people from grasping what it is God has revealed.

-But I want to focus in on the last part of v. 2 where God gives the purpose behind what He tells Habakkuk. He says the reason to make the vision clear is SO HE MAY RUN WHO READS IT

-What it is talking about is that, when the person sees God’s revelation, that person takes action in light of what God has said—you see the Word of God, you grasp what it says, and then you do something about it.

-For the person in Habakkuk’s day there were two reactions that the person was to take:

~First, they were to run away from their sins. They see the vision, then they were to change their ways and turn back to the Lord their God. When they saw the judgment that was coming their way, they were to repent.

~But then, second, after seeing and understanding they were given a chance to literally run out of Judah and leave before the judgment came. God wanted this written down so those who had a right heart before Him would see the vision of judgment and then do what they needed to do to run to safety.

-In both senses, though, the point is that when you read God’s revelatory vision, and you understand God’s revelatory vision, you then respond to that revelatory vision with an appropriate action.

-Jesus Himself said that this was the right response to all His teaching—you hear or see the Word, then you obey it and do something about it. As He explained in Luke 6:46-49—

46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." (Lk. 6:46-49 ESV)

-Jesus recognizes that to obey God’s Word is the right response to being exposed to God’s Word, and then your faith will not be shaken when the troubles of the world come.

~But when you ignore God’s Word or you choose to disobey God’s Word, everything will fall down around you.

-God gives us the choice on what we do with what He gives.

~He gives the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ (that Jesus died for sins and rose again and all who believe in Him have everlasting life); and so you either obey the call of the gospel and believe in Jesus and receive eternal life, or you ignore the gospel and receive the just punishment for your sin.

~And in His Word He gives the principles for living as a part of His Kingdom family, and you can obey them and enjoy close fellowship with God, or you can ignore them and live a spiritually frustrating life with many dark nights of the soul.

-God told Habakkuk to write the vision clearly so they may run who reads it—and we have the revelatory vision of God clearly written for us in Scripture that gives us the boundaries for running the Christian race. The question is, are you going to run in obedience when YOU read it.

II) Be patient for the fulfillment of the Word

-In v. 3 God tells Habakkuk that according to His own will and purpose and plan the vision that He gives will happen in His timing.

~It hastens to the end, meaning that world events are working toward their intended goal, and things will happen in their intended time

-And so, even though it may seem like the vision is not happening, all that Habakkuk and the rest of Judah need to do is wait, because it might seem like it’s not going to happen, but it will happen because God said it will happen. So, if the Word of God seems slow in being fulfilled, act on it anyway because God will see it through.

-God is not a liar, so His Word will come to pass according to His eternal decree. Even the false prophet Balaam recognized in Numbers 23:19—

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 ESV)

-God’s Word will be fulfilled—all of God’s prophecies and promises are reliable.

So, God gave this promise through the prophet Isaiah—

10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

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. (Isa. 55:10-11 ESV)

-Even if it seems that the promises and prophecies are slow in coming, that ought not to slow us down from obeying the Word that we have. God told Habakkuk that even when the vision seems slow, wait for it because it will surely come to pass.

-God’s timing ought not to have any bearing on our obedience. We are patiently awaiting the fulfillment of all things, but until that happens, we obey the Word that we have.

-Imagine that on a Saturday you tell your children that at some point that weekend you are going to take them out for some ice cream. You don’t know exactly when, but you will take them out. Then, after making that promise, you give them a list of chores that you want done immediately.

Hours later you get back to your kids to see how they’re progressing on their chores, and you find out that they didn’t do a single thing on their list. You confront them about why they didn’t obey what you told them to do, and they reply: Well, you promised us ice cream, so we’re just waiting around to go get ice cream.

You explain a few things to your kids. First, you remind them that you are not a liar. If you promised ice cream, you’ll take them for ice cream on your schedule according to your own plans and purposes. Second, you remind them that you are the authority and when you give a word to be obeyed, they are expected to obey regardless of you actually fulfill your promises. Your word can be trusted, and until you do what you said you would do, they are to obey your word.

-God’s revealed vision in His Word contains many prophecies. Some of them have been fulfilled in history, some are yet to be fulfilled. God has given those who have trusted Christ many promises of the blessings of being in Christ, some of them we have right now, some are yet to come.

-Regardless if God’s Word has been fulfilled already or not, all Scripture will come to pass. We must be patient. But, until all things come to pass, we know His Word is reliable, and so while we wait, we obey.

~The race of the Christian life is bound in obeying God while trusting in God and His Word. This leads…

III) Be firm in believing the Word

-In v. 4 the Lord says that wicked people (probably specifically Babylon) are arrogant and puffed up and live according to whatever comes to their own mind and heart, but the righteous of God, those who belong to Him, live by faith.

-This last part of the verse is quoted by both Paul and the writer of Hebrews. For Paul, it is a reminder that a person is not justified in God’s sight by following the law, but by placing their faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins. For the writer of Hebrews, it is a reminder to endure in the faith during the trials of living on earth.

-Within the immediate context of Habakkuk it is a reminder to faithfully live out the Word of God while we trust God despite current circumstances.

~Sure, for Habakkuk’s day it seemed like the wicked were prospering in Judah, and then when the Babylonians came it would seem like they were prospering, but the righteous have the Word of a trustworthy God, so they are to believe God and then live like they believe God.

-For the Christian, we come to God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But then, after being saved through faith in Jesus, we then live by faith in Jesus. The faith that saves is then the faith that is lived.

-That is James’ point in his letter. We have faith, and then we live according to that faith. We believe God, and then we live like we believe God. James saw this illustrated in the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command. And James gives this analysis in James 2:22-23—

22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"-- and he was called a friend of God. (Jas. 2:22-23 ESV)

-It was Abraham’s faith that caused him to take Isaac up on that mountain with the willingness to do whatever God had said, knowing that somehow God would still fulfill His promise of making Abraham’s descendants as many as the stars in the heavens and the sand on the shore.

-Biblical belief is a trust in God’s Word that brings you to action. I’ve heard it put this way:

If you are on a cruise ship that is sinking, what do you do? You know you need to get to a lifeboat. You hurry to the side of the ship, and there you see a lifeboat bobbing in the water alongside the ship. You know that this lifeboat is seaworthy and that everyone that gets into it will be saved. But simply knowing this isn’t enough. You may believe the lifeboats are designed and constructed to save you and that there is food and drink and blankets on board – everything for your survival, but having that conviction is not enough to save you. You know that you have to climb over the side and climb down the ladder and get into the boat. But even that knowledge is not enough. You have to do it. You must personally get into the lifeboat.

-This is the righteous living by faith. There is a firmness to believe the Word of God, to stand on the Word of God, to act on the Word of God, and then to continue in the Word of God.

Conclusion

-If you haven’t seen the movie OVERCOMER yet, I suggest that you do. It is the story of a young lady who has a bit of a rough life, and she tries out for the cross-country team of her school. As she learns about Jesus, and eventually comes to believe in Jesus as her Lord and Savior, she still has a lot of adversity in life, and she has to choose to live by faith in her new-found Savior. Her faith journey is paralleled with her life as a runner in cross-country races where she has a lot of adversity but must choose to live by faith.

But it comes to a point where she chooses to believe the Word of God and allow that vision to set the boundaries on how she is going to run the race of the Christian life and the race of running cross-country.

-And my question to you is what vision is guiding your race? Is it the divine communication of the Word of God, is it the values of a lost world, or is it the imaginations of your own heart and mind?

-Christian, would you come to the altar today and commit to God that you will allow His Word to set the boundaries of your Christian life? Will you come and say: Lord, whatever your Word says I will believe it and obey my part, trusting that you are going to fulfill all of your part?

-But maybe you aren’t in the race yet. The righteous will live by faith, and the race begins by personal faith in Jesus Christ. Knowledge about him is essential but not enough. Even a conviction that you need Him, and he is the only Savior is not enough. True saving faith in Christ means throwing yourself body and soul upon him, trusting him to save you for time and eternity. That is the response of a man or woman declared righteous by God, and for the rest of their life they live trusting in Christ.