Untitled Sermon (2)

The Just Shall Live By Faith

Habakkuk: The Just Shall Live By Faith

Church at the Ridge: September 18, 2022

Introduction

Thank you so much for the opportunity to worship and to share with you today. May name is David White, and I have the privilege of serving as Executive Pastor for the church we attend, First Baptist Church of Douglasville.

I am so happy to have my wife, Debbie, here with me. She has been for me such an encouragement, comfort, and partner in life. We have been married almost 38 years now, and I will say though that we are navigating a new lifestyle since I retired early a few years ago from a career in consulting so that I could begin serving in this role at our church. I had a position that involved significant travel and working with large teams of consultants. So, Debbie has made it a point to be certain that our Senior Pastor and our Executive Assistant keep me busy and out of the house for extended periods!

Before I retired, though, I served as the Chairman of our Pastor Search Committee. The longest serving pastor in the history of our church announced his retirement in 2017, so our church formed a pastor search committee and spent time in prayer seeking the man whom God was calling to Douglasville. So, my heart is with you as you are praying and seeking the Lord for his man for you. This is an important time for any church, and I would be very happy to talk with you about any questions you may have and to share our approach. There is much to consider, and much prayer is needed, for your church to walk in faith during this interim period. Because the needs of our church family, of our neighbors, and of the nations do not stop while we look for a new pastor.

I have been a follower of our King Jesus now for over 50 years, and in that time, I have discovered – and rediscovered – some of the foundational truths from Scripture that are always relevant to the issues we face each day. The Lord has laid on my heart to share with you today one of these foundational truths, one of the “fundamentals of our faith,” that has so many points of application in our world today.

Fallen Condition Focus

One of the things that you cannot help but notice today is the brokenness in the world in which we live. People are killing other people or themselves in record numbers. We have exploding child suicide rates. Drug overdose deaths exceed 100,000 per year. More people aged 18-45 died of fentanyl overdose last year than any other cause. Douglas County has the highest rate of death by overdose in the state of Georgia. This is astounding because there is a callous indifference to the suffering of others.

How can we make sense of all of this? Looking at all the brokenness that we see around us – drug use, violent crime, racial injustice, hatred toward one another – many people unfortunately conclude that God is not in control or that there is no God at all.

But that is exactly what I wanted to speak with you about today. I want to ask and answer the question: Where is God in the midst of our problems, our fears, our uncertainty, and our battle with the forces of evil in the world today?

This question is brought out very clearly in the book of Habakkuk. So this morning, I want to walk with you through the book of Habakkuk, which is only 3 chapters, 56 verses in total. The book is not typical for books of prophecy in the Old Testament. It is simply a dialogue between the prophet and God. He lived in times like our own, and he asks the same questions that people ask today. His name means “to embrace” or “to wrestle,” and in this book, he does both. It is a powerful message from a prophet who questions God, actually who is complaining to God, and who then receives God’s answer, which causes him to step back to worship God for who He is and what He is doing, and then to rejoice in his salvation.

Main Idea of the Text

So let me state at the outset the main idea of Habakkuk. The righteous person lives by his faith and rejoices in the God of his salvation. [Repeat]

Open your Bibles or turn your Bible on and go with me to the book of Habakkuk. This is one of the collection of “minor prophets” near the end of the Old Testament. These 12 minor prophets are minor in the sense that they are smaller books, not in the sense of the power of their message. I am going to read selected verses as we go through this book this morning, and we will look first at the questions Habakkuk had for the Lord; second, what answers he received from the Lord; and third, how he responded to this. Habakkuk is clearly a book for our time.

1. The Question: Why does God not hear us and act against the evil all around us?

Hab. 1:2-4. 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. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.

The opening verses in this chapter indicate that times were difficult and dangerous, for he uses words like violence, iniquity, destruction, strife, and contention. He prayed that God would do something about this injustice, but God did not seem to hear him. In verse 2, the first word translated “cry” simply means “to call for help,” but the second word means “to scream, to cry with a loud voice, to cry with a disturbed heart.” As he prayed about the wickedness in the land, Habakkuk became more burdened and wondered why God seemed so indifferent.

Now, Habakkuk had likely seen the revival and expanding empire under good king Josiah, who became king at 8 years old and led the people well for 31 years. But now, Habakkuk saw a time of great national corruption, when crime, hatred, and division were on the rise, and when evil and immorality were flaunted openly, and when ethical and moral standards and family values were breaking down. The nation’s problems were caused by new leaders who would not obey the law. The people were living in wickedness. He wanted to see revival. He desperately prayed for revival. But he did not see God at work. Looking at the injustice that he saw around him, he faced the problem of unanswered prayer.

And God responded.

Hab. 1:5-8. 5 ”Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. 6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.

God answered His servant and assured him that He was doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. God was at work among the nations even though Habakkuk could not see it. God gave Habakkuk a revelation, not an explanation, because what we always need in times of doubt is a renewed view of God. The Lord does not owe us any explanations, but He does graciously reveal Himself and His work to those who seek Him.

Habakkuk learned that God was not indifferent to the sins of the people of Judah. The Lord was planning to judge His people by allowing the Babylonians, also known as the Chaldeans, to invade the land and take them into exile. This was not the answer Habakkuk was expecting. He wanted God to send a revival to His people, judge the evil leaders, and establish righteousness in the land. Then the nation would escape punishment and the people would be spared.

So, Habakkuk was praying for a revival, and God told him He would send judgment. How is that for an answer to prayer! God said that Habakkuk should look around and see the work that God is doing. God was preparing the Babylonians to rise up so that He could use this evil nation to judge other evil nations. God had been answering Habakkuk’s prayer, but in a very different way than expected. In fact, the work that God was doing was one that would cause Habakkuk to wonder and be astounded. It was a work that you would not believe if told. God was not silent. He was just working in ways that we do not understand. As our Sovereign Lord, God is in control. He controls the destiny of nations, but this turn of events was astounding. What God was doing was so amazing, incredible, and unheard of, that even His prophet would be shocked. Well, this raised another question for Habakkuk. How could a holy God use a wicked nation to punish His own chosen people?

Hab. 1:12-13. 12 Are you not from everlasting, O Lordmy God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. 13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

So, Habakkuk essentially asks how this can be, that a nation more wicked than Judah is the instrument of judgment of the Lord for Judah. This is what bothers many people as we look at the world around us today. Why does God allow things to happen the way they do? Why does He permit such terrible events to occur? Well, those are the wrong questions to ask. God is not standing by, watching world events unfold. He is in control of history. The ways of God are mysterious to us. We cannot understand them. In fact, Paul writes about this very thing:

Rom. 11:33–36. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

2. The Answer: God IS acting now, therefore, the righteous shall live by his faith.

This is how Habakkuk begins Chapter 2.

Hab. 2:1-3. 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. 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.

Habakkuk saw himself as a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem, waiting for a message from the Lord that he could share with the people. The watchmen were responsible to warn the city of approaching danger. It was a serious responsibility. The image of the watchman carries a spiritual lesson for us today. As God’s people, we know that danger is approaching, and it is our responsibility to warn people to flee from the wrath to come (Matt. 3:7). If we do not share the Gospel with lost sinners, then their blood may be on our hands. We want to say with Paul, Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all (Acts 20:26).

You get the impression that Habakkuk was fearful of what the Lord might say to him because of His servant’s “complaint.” But the Lord graciously answered Habakkuk and gave him the vision he needed to turn his worrying and questioning into worshiping. Warren Wiersbe said it well: “When you behold the glory of God and believe the Word of God, it gives you faith to accept the will of God.”

Habakkuk was ordered to write down what God had told him and shown him. This writing was to be permanent so that generation after generation could read it. It was also to be plain, written so that anybody could read it, and it was to be public so that even somebody running past the tablets on display could get the message at once. Habakkuk was not the only person in Judah who needed this message, so it was his obligation to share it.

God is telling Habakkuk that the answer is coming. Not immediately. But be patient and wait for it; it will surely come. Along with the scoffers Peter wrote about, some readers might ask, Where is the promise of his coming? (2 Peter 3:4) and God’s reply is, “Wait for it! It will surely come!” A discouraged Jew in Babylonian exile might ask, “Will the Lord come and deliver us?” and the answer is, “Yes! Wait for him!”

Ray Stedman has written that Habakkuk offers us four simple steps to revive our faith relationship with God when these questions arise.

(1) Stop and think.The first thing that Habakkuk does is stop and remind himself, Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? He remembers that God is an everlasting God. He is the God of eternity – from the beginning and at the end. He created history.

(2) Restate the things you know about God. Why did Habakkuk remind himself of God’s everlasting nature? Because there were people saying that God is dead. Just like today. He reminds himself that God is the eternal One.

(3) Bring your knowledge of God to bear on the problem. He reminds himself of the holiness of God. God, like His Son, Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

(4) Be patient.We need to patiently leave the problems with God and ask Him to show us the answer. You will see your faith and trust in Him strengthened as you patiently way for God to speak to your heart. No human mind – not yours, not mine, not the prophet Habakkuk’s – is capable of fully grasping the purposes of God. We must have patience and humility to wait for God to reveal His truth to us.

These are four excellent applications for us today. And this is relevant both in the big questions on how we as a church should engage with all the brokenness around us, as well as the type of leader whom you may call as your next pastor. One of the things that is particularly important is to seek a shepherd-leader who does not avoid these difficult conversations, but who also will take the time to provide clear teaching from God’s Word and apply it to all that we are experiencing in our world today.

Hab. 2:4. 4 ”Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

The contrast here is between people of faith and people who trust themselves and leave God out of their lives. The immediate application was to the Babylonians, but there are applications for us today!

The sinner. The Babylonians were puffed up with pride over their military might and their great achievements. They had built an impressive empire which they were sure was invincible.

But Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians are not the only ones puffed up with pride and self-sufficiency. This is the condition of most people today who belong to the world and live for the world. John warns us against the boastful pride of life that belongs to this present evil world system which is against God and without God (1 John 2:15–17, NASB).

Besides puffing them up, what else does pride do to people? It twists them inwardly, for the soul of the unbeliever is not upright, which means his heart is crooked and sinful. He delights in the things that God hates. They are never at rest and never satisfied. They are constantly seeking some new experience to thrill them or some new achievement to make them important. Pride makes us greedy. The Babylonians were not satisfied with what they had; they coveted even more land and wealth, and therefore set their course to conquer every nation that stood in their way. More than one king or dictator in history has followed this path, only to discover that it leads to disappointment, ruin, and death.

The righteous. Now for the contrast: The righteous shall live by his faith. This was the watchword of the Reformation, and they may well be the seven most important words in all of church history. It was verse 4, quoted in Romans 1:17, that helped to lead Martin Luther into the truth of justification by faith. “This text,” said Luther, “was to me the true gate of Paradise.”

Justification is the gracious act of God where He declares the believer righteous and gives him a perfect standing in Jesus Christ. The righteous person is not someone who has met all of God’s requirements by means of good works. No amount of effort can save a lost sinner. We cannot justify ourselves before God because we stand guilty and condemned before His throne. All we can do is put our saving faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross because that is the only way to be saved.

The victory. We are not only saved by faith (Eph. 2:8–9), but we are instructed to live by faith. Faith is a lifestyle that is just the opposite of being “puffed up” and depending on your own resources. Habakkuk knew the difficult times were coming to the people of Judah, and their only resource was to trust God’s Word and rest in His will.

Living by faith is the major them of the Book of Hebrews (Heb. 10:30), for in that book the phrase “by faith” is found over twenty times. It has well been said that faith is not believing in spite of evidence; it is obeying in spite of consequence, resting on God’s faithfulness.

The righteous shall live by his faith. It takes faith to wait patiently for God’s plan to unfold, but the righteous believe that God will accomplish it. The prophet’s statement “The righteous shall live by his faith” is quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:37-38). The emphasis in Romans is on the just, in Galatians on how they should live, and in Hebrews on faith. The righteous person trusts in God; he believes that God’s promises are true and that He will bring to pass His righteous purposes. This trust anticipates trust in Christ in whom the promises of God are fulfilled (2 Cor. 1:20). We are saved by grace through faith, and we also now live by faith. This kind of faith continues trusting in God and clinging to God’s promises, even in the darkest days. God has designed us to live not according to our circumstances, not according to our own reasoning, but by faith in what He has promised.

3. The Response: I will rejoice in the Lord.

Habakkuk again prays to the Lord. He has seen his answer. God has told him his plans for the judgment of Babylon. Ironically, the very thing in which they trust will be their downfall. And God will be glorified!

Hab. 2:14, 20. 14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lordas the waters cover the sea….20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.

Hab. 2:14 emphasizes the glory of the Lord and assures us that, though this world is now filled with violence and corruption, it shall one day be filled with God’s glory. God ended His reply to Habakkuk in Hab. 2:20, saying, But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him. Empires may rise and fall, but God is on His throne, and He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God is on the throne and has everything under control. Therefore, we should not complain against God or question what He is doing. Like faithful servants, we must simply stand and listen for His commands. One day, the light of the glory of God will be shining to all nations. Silence is commanded so that everyone will consider God’s awesome nature and realize His sovereignty over all creation. The Lord is the God of history. Everything is under His control. Our problems are only settled when we come into a faith relationship with God.

Hab. 3:2. 2 O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

The prayer of Habakkuk 3 is one of the most remarkably poetic passages in all of Scripture. Habakkuk recounts what God has done in the past, and this is what convinces him that God can be trusted and that we can put our faith in Him. God has already moved in human history, and He is still moving in human history. And this is where faith must rest. We live by faith. We believe in a God who has acted in the past and who will continue acting in the future. He is our Sovereign Lord, our Creator, and our Redeemer. God moves in human history to accomplish events that no human being ever could.

Hab. 3:17-19. 17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.

No matter what trials come our way, even if those trials will not be removed, still we can rejoice in the fact that our God is the great eternal Lord of the universe, and all things are under His control. In John 16:33, we read: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

By the time Babylon was through with the land of Judah, there would not be much of value left. Buildings and homes would be destroyed, treasures would be plundered, and farms and orchards would be devastated. The economy would fall apart and there would be little to sing about. But God would still be on His throne, working out His divine purposes for His people. We read the following encouraging words in Rom. 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Habakkuk could not rejoice in his circumstances, but he could rejoice in his God! His testimony here reminds us of Paul’s admonitions to Christians today: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess. 5:16–18). Habakkuk discovered that God was his strength and song as well as his salvation, and therefore he had nothing to fear.

Summary

You see, Habakkuk saw the rapid moral and spiritual decline of Judah, and this deeply troubled him. He was praying for revival in the land. But God’s response was shocking: He would use Babylon, a nation that was far more wicked and feared than others, to punish a nation like Judah that was less wicked. This made no sense to him. But God makes it clear to Habakkuk that both nations are to be judged and appropriately punished for their evil acts. Although Habakkuk did not fully understand, he learned to rely totally on the wisdom and justice of God to bring about His purpose in ways that could never have been imagined. God is worthy of Habakkuk’s praise and worship. The book ends on a high note of confidence and trust in God.

By the end of the book, Habakkuk is a changed person—he has learned to wait and trust in God, who works out all things for His glory. He is trusting that God knows best and will bring about justice. Although Habakkuk may not fully understand, he has learned to rely totally on the wisdom and justice of God to accomplish His will in ways he could never have imagined. This God is certainly worthy of Habakkuk’s praise and worship.

In Habakkuk, we understand that God is just and merciful, even though His people may not always understand His ways. We are taught that wickedness will eventually be punished and the righteous will ultimately see God’s justice. We see that God uses some wicked nations to punish other wicked nations, but ultimately God will judge all nations.

The key phrase but the righteous shall live by his faith summarizes the path of life God sets for his people. Habakkuk teaches us to face our doubts and questions honestly, take them humbly to the Lord, wait for His Word to teach us, and then worship Him no matter how we feel or what we see. That is what it means to live by faith.

This book presents important gospel truths for people who encounter difficulties that seem incomprehensible. As this man of God saw the chaos of idolatry and immorality that was consuming those who ought to know better, he cried out, beseeching God to act with justice against the wicked and to give mercy for those who were faithful. God responds in ways that shock and surprise the prophet, but give him a deepened, resilient faith in the middle of chaos.

This gospel shines forth in Habakkuk, as the prophet recounts God’s faithful deliverance of Israel during the wilderness wanderings and calls God’s people to renewed faith in His provision. As Israel experienced deliverance from Egypt and establishment in the Promised Land, so also believers today experience a much greater deliverance, a deliverance toward which every earthly Old Testament deliverance pointed—deliverance from sin, with the promise of a heavenly home. The New Testament proclaims the good news that in God’s wise and purposeful providence, God himself has come in Jesus Christ to deliver his people from the bondage of sin through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son.

The gospel response that the prophet finally realized and that every generation must discover afresh is this: the righteous shall live by his faith (Hab. 2:4). Habakkuk helps get us there.

The book of Habakkuk reveals four realities for anyone who is in desperate need of hope.

1. Hope slips away when we focus all our attention on our problem. It leads us to ask many questions that have no real, satisfactory answers. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? (1:2) Where are you, God? Why don’t You do something?

2. Hope clings to God’s promises. God reminded him that His vision awaits its appointed time …. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come (2:2-3). Our hope rests on the truth that whatever God promises He will surely perform. In the kingdom of God, we live by promises, not explanations. Sometimes, all we have are the promises of God. But that is enough!

3. Hope realizes that God is in control. The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him. God reigns over the affairs of men.

4. Jesus Christ is the personification of hope – our only real and lasting hope. Hab. 3:17–19. He will enable me like the deer to gracefully scale over all obstacles that come my way and will lead me on to higher ground.

God’s ways of preserving and purifying His people are mysterious to us as believers. Yet God calls His suffering people to show faith that His purposes for the world will at last prevail. Again, this is a good application for your church family as you seek a new pastor, and it is a good application for us in all of the challenges that we face each day.

Conclusion

Besides “Amazing Grace,” there might be no better-known old-time gospel hymn than “It Is Well with My Soul.” As a child, I remember standing next to my Mom and Dad, or next to my Aunt and Grandmother, singing “It Is Well.” We sang it often at our church. It was such a family favorite that it was used at the funerals for my Mom and my Dad.

The words to this song were written by Horatio Spafford, a successful lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago, married with five children. In 1871, he suffered great loss when his only son died and he lost all his investments in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Looking to regroup, he planned a family trip to Europe. At the last minute, he stayed behind to sell some property, but he sent his wife Anna and four daughters on ahead of him. While their ship crossed near Newfoundland in the dead of night, it collided with another ship and rapidly sank in the North Atlantic. Spafford received a telegram from Anna from Wales, where another ship had taken survivors. That telegram said, “Saved alone…What shall I do?” All four of their daughters had perished in the freezing waters. Spafford quickly took a ship to meet his wife in Wales. Horatio and Anna had three more children, but one died young of scarlet fever. The words he penned to “It Is Well with My Soul” have undoubtedly connected hearers and worshipers toward finding comfort in God in the midst of tragedy.

It Is Well With My Soul (the first three verses and refrain)

When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain It is well, (it is well), With my soul, (with my soul) It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

“It Is Well” brings hope in the midst of heartache. Its themes travel into the deep, hurting places of the human soul and remind us that God is with us always. We can trust Him, even when our hardships do not make sense. It points us toward the sovereignty of God and promises peace during life’s stormiest seasons.

And that is the basic message of Habakkuk. Where is God in the midst of our problems, our fears, our uncertainty, and our battle with the forces of evil in the world today? He is actively at work. In spite of all of the difficult circumstances of our life, we know that the righteous person lives by his faith and rejoices in the God of his salvation.