Alright, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to the book of Habakkuk chapter 1. Habakkuk chapter 1. Habakkuk has cried unto the Lord. How long? The Lord has graciously
revealed to Habakkuk, this is the reason. for all that's going
on. I'm going to show mercy to my
people, Jew and Gentile. You want to know why everything
is happening right now? It's not happening for no reason.
It's not happening out of control. God Almighty worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. Verse 6, the Lord reveals to
Habakkuk, these that are oppressing my people, and I'm doing this
to correct my people, and I'm using these heathens to do it. The Lord said, for lo, I raise
up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall
march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling
places that are not theirs. The Lord said, this is a marvelous
work that I'm doing. And but for the grace of God,
Who could know it? Who could ever figure out what
person, apart from the grace of God, apart from a new heart,
apart from a heart made willing in the day of God's power, who
would ever figure that out? The Lord said, I'm going to tell
you and you're not going to know it, but for His grace. Can it be that all the oppression
found In this world, against God's people, against the objects
of God's mercy, is divinely ordered for their good and God's glory?
Yeah. That's what's going on. Look
around. Look around. This is it. The
Scripture says we've obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will," listen, that we should be to
the praise of His glory, His glory, the Lord's glory, who
first trusted in Christ. Isn't it a comfort to know when
you see the trials, the tribulation, the trouble, that the Lord is
ordering this? That God is in control, that
God Himself is moving and directing and causing all the stuff that
went on in Baton Rouge. Can that be of the Lord? Well, if it falls under the category
of all things, then I would say yes. All the devastation overseas,
the murdering, that, is for the salvation of God's elect? Yes. He said, I'm going to work a
work. You're not going to understand this. Shall a trumpet be blown
in the city and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil
in a city and the Lord hath not done it? That's in Amos 3.6. I raise up the Chaldeans. Look
at verse 7. They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment, their dignity
shall proceed of themselves. Their horses also are swifter
than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves."
When a wolf has gone through the day, hasn't found anything
to eat, and he comes to the end of the day and he's hungry, and
he's mad, and he's vicious, That's the evening wolf that's looking
for something. And their horsemen shall spread
themselves and come from afar. They shall fly as the eagle that
hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence. Their faces shall sup up as the
east wind. And they shall gather the captivity
as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings,
and the princes shall be a scorn unto them. They shall deride
every stronghold, for they shall heap dust and take it. Then shall
his mind, that is the heathens, change, and he shall pass over
and offend, imputing this, his power, unto his God." Now here's
what's being said. These Chaldeans, This vicious
group of people, they're a picture, a type of all godless oppression
against God's people. This is what's happening. Everything
that's going on in this world is the hatred and enmity that
this world has against God's people because they hate God. People say, I don't think I can
fully understand that. That's okay. I don't fully understand
it either. But that doesn't change it. The
Lord said this is what's happening. This is what God said is going
on. So here's the Lord, and He's allowing these people, He leaves
these Chaldeans, this vicious group of people, to ravish the
land and oppress God's people. And all the while, in complete
control. And He's doing it, for the calling
out of His sheep, making His sheep behold their helplessness
and their need of Him. And the Lord told Habakkuk, He
said, these people are dreaded. They've earned their reputation,
their viciousness. He said, even their horses hardened,
more fierce. than the evening wolves. These
wolves that ravish and tear. And the Lord told him, told Habakkuk,
he said, now when these Chaldeans come through, they don't leave
anything. They're there for total destruction. Verse 9, they shall come all
for violence. Their faces shall sup up as the
east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand." This
is what he's saying. He said, the eagerness of their
faces is always forward to evil. They gather captives like the
sands of the sea. They take all that they want,
just ravage. Then after they've swept through
the land, they give themselves all the credit. That's what verse
11 says. Then shall his mind change, he
shall pass over and offend. Imputed this, his power, unto
his God. Their own strength is what they
worship. And then after the Lord declares
unto the prophet Habakkuk his glorious power, in his hand in
the management of the affairs of this world for the good of
his people, for the glory of himself. Habakkuk again appeals
to the Lord of glory, appealing to the Lord in the Lord's attributes. Listen to what he says. Verse
12, Art thou not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, Thou
hast ordained them for judgment. And Almighty God, Thou hast established
them for correction." Now let me tell you what Habakkuk is
doing. And wisely so. He's bowing to
what God's just told him. He says, Lord, You're from everlasting. You are the eternal God. Lord, You know all things. You
are omniscient. Oh Lord, my God, my Holy One. Lord, in everything that's going
on, here's the comfort that I have. Lord, You said that Your people
would be Your people and You'd be their God. And Lord, by grace,
You're my God. What comfort, what joy! The peace
of knowing that God Almighty is your God. You're God in electing
grace. You're God in redeeming grace. You're God in quickening grace,
in preserving grace. He's your God that God Almighty
would reveal to you. I'm your God. The one who has
everything in control. Habakkuk is saying, Lord, knowing
what's going on, knowing what you're saying, I must have you. Lord, I must
have you. The God of all grace. Lord, You
that set Your affection on me, the everlasting God, I know this,
You being my God, I'm not going to die. I won't
die. Your people are not going to
die. Now this is the promise that we have from the Lord. Now
listen, in the midst of all that's going on, whatever is happening,
If it's sickness, if it's financial, if it's family, whatever is going
on. For God's people, listen to me, you're not going to die. You're not going to die. Almighty God has chosen you to
life. Let me tell you when this is
going to really sink home to all of us. In the day of judgment. When every man, every woman stands
before God, and the books are opened, and all the accounts
are settled. And for me to realize then, You're
my God. You're mine because you chose
to show mercy to me. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. You gave me a heart for you. And Lord, everything
that I went through, everything that you graciously allowed me
to go through in this life, it was good for me that I've been
afflicted, that I might learn of your statutes. Believers never die. Oh now, let me tell you something. This outer shell, this house
right here that you're looking at, now this corruption right
here will go in the ground. There's no doubt about that.
I mean, physically we're going to die. But according to the
Word of the Lord, that believeth on the Son hath life. Life. Whosoever, the Lord said,
John 11, 26, liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Then the Lord said, believeth
thou this? Lord, I believe it. I believe
that. And Lord, whatever's going on
right now, whatever I go through right now, know with that. Lord, because You live, because
You're my surety, because You're my righteousness, because You're
my redemption, I'm going to live. A believer
can no more die than Christ can die, being found in Him. Habakkuk wisely does. He'd been
crying, Lord, how long? How long? How long? The Lord
told him. He said, Habakkuk, this is what
I'm doing. I'm calling out my elect. I'm
working a work. This is my way. This is the Lord's
way. This fierce people that's causing
my people to suffer, driving them to me. The way of the Lord is right.
And Habakkuk says, Lord, verse 12, we shall not die. Lord, thou
hast ordained them for judgment. Oh now, yes, judgment in that
the Lord will judge them and put them in the lake of fire,
but that's not what Habakkuk is saying. Lord, You've ordained
them for our judgment. Not everlasting wrath, but chastisement. Lord, You raise these people
up. You ordained them for our correction,
for our judgment. Lord, mighty God, Thou hast established
them for our correction. Habakkuk
is saying, We recognize what we are in ourselves and that
these Chaldeans are just instruments in your hand for our correction. Lord, what you're doing is right. It's grievous. I mean, if you
let me make a decision, I'll tell you this, I'll never go
through anything else that's contrary You know, happiness
and peace and comfort. But that's just not what it's
going to be. But you know what he's doing? He's bowing. He's
bowing. A believer bows to adversity. An unbeliever argues. Now why
do I have to bow? Lord, You raised them up. You
ordained them. You made them a powerful nation. that they
might, according to your everlasting counsel of mercy toward us, be
your rod of chastisement for our good. But Lord, though they be your rod of correction,
we know that you look not on their actions with pleasure.
Look at verse 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to
behold evil. and canst not look on iniquity.
Wherefore, lookest thou on them that deal treacherously, and
holdest thy tongue, when the wicked devoureth the man that
is more righteous than he." Lord, your eyes of omniscience beholds
all things good and evil. We suffer grievously under the
hand of these Chaldeans, and they seem to absolutely do nothing
but profit whatever they want to get. That's yours, it's mine. That's
the way it's going to be. David said one time, Psalm 73.3,
I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. You look around, it just seems
as though the evil that's in this world, and they prosper. They don't have any problems.
Everything's going well. Men, women trying to do the right
thing, they lose their job, they lose this, that, and the other,
and everything goes right. Lord, how long? They treat people,
but especially God's people, they treat them like refuge.
Look at verse 14. Make us men, this is what they
do, 14 to 17, and make us men as fishes of the sea. Now you that have, you know,
you may have at one time or you may now or something, this is
generally the way, I hate to say this, but it has come to
a point to where this world is so taken up and it's the Lord's
restraining grace. I don't want to ever make a statement
other than what the Lord has revealed here. The Lord says,
I'm doing this. But as the Lord removes His hand of restraint,
Let me ask you if you can enter into any of this. Have you ever
found that, especially big, huge corporations or something like
that, and you're working for them, you're trying to do the
right thing, you're just a number. You're just a body. You're just... These Chaldeans, they make men
as just fish, fish of the sea. It's just creeping things. They
have no ruler over them. They take up all of them with
the angle. They catch them in their net,
they gather them in their drag, therefore they rejoice, they're
glad, therefore they sacrifice under their net, burn incense
under their drag because by them their portion's fat, their meat
plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their
net and not spare continually to slay the nations?" They just
treat people like they're nothing more than fish bait. That's what
the Bacchic say. Lord, they're using us as the
means of their profit. Then they give praise to their
nets. I'm such a good businessman. They lost their job or whatever. This world, but especially religious
hucksters make merchandise of men's souls. That's what he said.
And having called on the Lord, having had the Lord reveal to
him what's really going on, and then admitting, Lord, you're
right. We bow, we bow. Then Habakkuk
makes his petition before the throne of God, and then he waits.
Chapter 2, verse 1. Here's what he said, I'm going
to stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch
to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when
I am reproved. Here's what he's saying. Habakkuk
was made a watchman. God called him to be a prophet.
He said, I'm going to stand up, I'm going to wait, I'm going
to see what the Lord has to say. What's he going to say to my
petition, to my plea? And these words of this watchman,
like every watchman that God raises up that looks out for
the well-being and the comfort and the souls of God's people,
I would be remiss if I failed to tell you What's going on? It's a comfort to me to know
these trials are not out of control. I'm glad to know that. I'm glad
to be reminded of that. I'm glad that God would teach
me. But as we pray and ask the Lord for mercy, we wait. And
Habakkuk kept his place. Be careful. Be careful. Questioning
God's providence. Why? Why do I have to go through
this? Why did this happen to me? It
would have been a lot easier if I wouldn't have had this.
If I hadn't have gone through that, that would... Be careful,
be careful. Respectful, patient, humbly waiting
on God to know the Lord's mind, know the Lord's will, that He
might know what to say to the people. You know, somebody that's
never gone through anything, no suffering, you don't have
anything to say. Somebody's going through something,
you say, well, I know how you feel. Not unless you've gone
through it. But listen to verse 2 through 4. And the Lord answered
me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for
an appointed time. But at the end it shall speak,
and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it.
Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his
soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just
shall live by his faith." In the Lord, in mercy, God answered
Habakkuk. He gave him this answer. He said, Habakkuk, I want you
to write down the vision. Write it down in a book. Here
it is. He wrote it down. Habakkuk wrote
down the vision, the gospel. This is what Habakkuk was told
to preach. You tell the people that are
suffering and suffering justly because of their rebellion. under
a people that I've raised up, and I'm doing this for their
good, and I'm going to judge this people right here for doing
what they've done. Because they did it because they
wanted to do it. Is that not sovereignty? God ordered these
things, and then judged those and blessed these because He
chose to bless. Here they were doing what was
just as chargeable as anybody else. And God Almighty said,
you're not going to die. And you are. Habakkuk, you write this down. Write this down, and he says,
and you make it plain upon tables. I want to make something plain.
When I'm preaching, I want you to understand what I'm saying.
Glenda told me one time, she said, you know what? People may
not agree with you, but they know what you're saying. I want
you to understand. Make it plain. I'm going to tell
you, He said. Here's the issue. This vision
is the gospel of God's grace that is proclaimed by every faithful
preacher. And it's concerning the coming
of the Messiah. and the destruction of the enemies
of the church. This was the message of Habakkuk. Is that not the message this
morning? The proclamation of the gospel of God's grace and
the destruction of rebels against God Almighty who will not bow. He said, I'll tell you what it
is. This vision, all this calamity,
He said, you proclaim that God has a people. And he said, this
vision is yet for an appointed time. God is going to bring it
about. He said, it breathes. The vision is yet for an appointed
time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. The literal
of that is this. This message breathes. And the end of it is going to
be that it shall not lie. Heaven and earth is going to
pass away. But let me tell you what's not going to pass away.
God's Word. He says, though it tarry, wait
for it. It will surely come. It will not tarry. I know this. All that God Almighty has everlastingly
loved in Christ, they're going to come to Christ. All the trials
and tribulations that they're going through, God has ordered
them to bring Him to Himself. He's going to teach them. Though
he appears to tarry, God is long-suffering, not willing that any of his elect
should perish. It's going to come. Then he says,
Behold, verse 4, his soul which is lifted up is not right in
him. But here's what I want you to do, brethren. Listen to me.
Wait on the Lord. Wait. on the Lord. The just, those justified by
the grace of God, are going to live by His faith. His faith. The faith of the Lord Jesus Christ
imputed to you, and God gives you faith to believe it. Why do God's people suffer? Because
the Lord's going to bless them. He's going to bring them to Himself.
and you're not going to die. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.