Well, I want this morning to
start a short series in the prophecy of Habakkuk, prophecy of Habakkuk,
which I believe is very, very relevant to the day in which
we're living. As all the word of God is all
the time, always relevant to the day in which we live. It
speaks, it's the living word of God and speaks to us. But
this book of Habakkuk, this short book, this three chapters, was
written over 2,600 years ago, just over 600 BC. So it's old. You know it is, isn't it? It's
old. And yet, it's so relevant to today. It speaks of the deep
things of life. It's not the things that we want
to inquire into. What is life about? What am I?
What is this thing in me that's doing the thinking? and the feeling,
and the sensing, and the laughing, and the crying. What is it? What
is life about? The Word of God tells us. The
Word of God shows us. It shows us the mysterious workings
of God, the way God works. God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform, said William Cooper. He plants His
footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. God works in
ways that we don't understand. we look at his word. How should
we understand the world in which we live, the things that we see
happening, the constant uncertainty? I know it's always been the case,
but it just seems like in the days in which we live, nothing
seems predictable. The way you think things are
going to turn out one month, two months later, well, I never
saw that coming. How many times have you heard
the news commentators say that recently? I never saw that coming.
What a shock that was. It really is uncertain. And we
know that things are all moving to the end. I've called this
message living by faith in a fallen world, because that's what we
live in. Living by faith in a fallen world. Habakkuk was inspired
to write, inspired by God, because that's what scripture is. It's
men set apart by God, and for that reason only counted holy,
they're set apart by God. That's what it means. Holy men
who were moved, born along, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. These
are the words of Habakkuk, written in the style of Habakkuk. Nevertheless,
they convey the message of the Holy Spirit of God, which, whether
it was the Apostle Paul or Jeremiah or Moses or whoever, it's the
same, same message. Now, he was writing in the time
of Jeremiah. just around the time of the Babylonian
captivity, just before they were taken away, basically, into seventy
years of captivity in Babylon. And Jeremiah had prophesied it.
And God had said again and again that this people that were nominally
the people of God, the Israelites, those in Judah, that they were
the ones who stood for the truth of the gospel of God's grace
as pictured in everything that went on in the Old Testament
sacrifices. They're all pictured the gospel of grace that we believe
that he's unfolded throughout the scriptures through the New
Testament, made explicit that which was implicit. And around
the time of Jeremiah, 600 years before Christ came, those people
for their idolatry and their walking out on the things of
God, they were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians,
the Chaldean Empire. And at this time, Habakkuk takes
up his pen. And he's burdened, verse one,
the burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see, the burden,
the burden. It's a burden, it's a weight,
it's a load. What sort of a weight and load
is it? Well I think we see as we read and as we read earlier,
he's perplexed, he's puzzled, he doesn't understand, he's got
questions to ask of God. He's weighed down as well, as
all prophets, all preachers are, weighed down with the revelation
that God has given him, with the message that God has given
him. God has spoken by his servants,
and that message has got to be carried to the people. How blessed
we are in these days that it is so relatively easy to carry
this message. You think 20 years ago we'd be
sitting in this room doing this and nobody outside would hear.
We'd make a few copies on a little cassette tape and send it out
to half a dozen people like we used to do and that would be
it. Do you know I'm seeing typically, you look back down sermon audio
at sermons that have been preached here, and you will find in many
cases 250, 260 downloads. How many more people are listening
to each one that gets downloaded? I just find it absolutely amazing.
But the thing is, there's a burden, there's a message, there's a
weight that God has placed on one who is preaching to make
that message known. You can't not do it. Woe is me,
said Paul, if I preach not the gospel. I can't not do it. You
know, why does this guy carry on insisting that he can preach?
Well, I can't hear anybody else doing it. Do you know one of
the things I find most frustrating, and so much so that we just don't
bother doing it these days, but we used to go on holiday and
we'd always try and find a local church to go to. And we'd go
to that local church and we'd sit there and we'd listen to
the preaching and we'd come out, and I'd come out nearly screaming
with frustration. I'd want to get up halfway through
the sermon and wander up into the pulpit and say, sorry, he
got it completely wrong, this is not what God is saying, this
is the message you need to, it's a burden, it's a weight. And
Habakkuk was weighed down with this message, this message of
God to people living in a fallen and corrupted world. but God
spoke to him and God spoke by him. Let's hear. As Jesus said,
he that hath ears to hear, have you got ears to hear? Well if
you have, open them. Let him hear. I've got five points
this morning. The state of the world, God's
marvellous work, the unlikely instruments he uses, the believer's
prayer, and the answer to that prayer in a nutshell. The state
of the world. Look in verses two to four of
chapter one. O Lord, how long shall I cry
and thou wilt not hear, even cry out unto thee of violence
and thou wilt not save? Why dost thou show me iniquity
and cause me to behold grievance, for spoiling and violence are
before me, and there are that raise up strife and contention.
Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth,
for the wicked doth compass about the righteous. Therefore wrong
judgment proceedeth." If you are a believer, you believe that
God is, you believe that God exists, that he is that's what
Hebrews tells you, you must believe that God exists and you have
been taught, if you're a true believer you've been taught the
fear of the Lord that beginning of wisdom, that beginning of
knowledge and being taught the fear of the Lord that filial
fear That fear to God who is Abba Father, Daddy Father God,
you've been taught that fear, that reverence, that respect
of Him, to know who He is. You've entered into the secret
of God, as we saw in Psalm 25 a couple of weeks ago. You're
in on His secret. That's an amazing thing. Doesn't
it immediately explain this world in which we live? They're not
in on his secret. They're not. They're not. Oh,
that God would teach us to fear him, and let us in on his secret,
and show us his covenant, how he saves his people from their
sins. And you have a sense of the holiness
of God, and of his justice. There is right and wrong in this
world where everything is turned on its head in these days. You
have a sense of the sinfulness, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. How much sin is a complete contradiction
of the character of the God who upholds all things by the word
of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a terrible thing
sin is. How it is not just wrong things
that we do, it is a complete violation in the face of the
character of a holy God. It is a complete contradiction
of his character. It is that which he must condemn. You know that. You know what
he's like. You know he's a God of judgment. He will judge sin.
You know that ultimately his kingdom will triumph. And you
look at the society that's all around us, as Habakkuk did in
his day, in the people that were supposed to be the religious
folks who knew the truth in Jerusalem of his day, and you look around
and you see In world news and all around us, in society around
us, you see injustice, you see corruption, you see violence,
strife, you see immorality on a colossal scale, on an unprecedented
scale. You see perversion on a scale
that is absolutely vast. Perversion, self-centeredness,
all of these things And all the while, you know, if you're honest
with yourself, that but for the grace of God, we're just the
same. There but for the grace of God
go I. I am what I am by the grace of
God, said Paul. We know that. We know that in
me, that is, in my flesh, there really does dwell no good thing. You know that the seed of every
sin ever committed is there in your heart, because that's what
we are by nature in the flesh. It's only if you're born again
of the Spirit of God that there is a new man, there is a new
person, there is one born of the Spirit of God that hates
sin, that cannot sin. That is there, striving and wrestling
with that of the flesh. and you look and you wonder,
how long? Because it seems to go on and
on and on, doesn't it? Down history, it never seems
to end. How long will God, who is just, allow it to go on. How long will God allow all of
this strife and contention in this world to go on? It seems
that all around sin is committed with impunity. This is what Habakkuk
means when he says the law is slacked. The law's not working.
The law's not restraining people. Judgment isn't going forth. They're
getting away with it. Nobody's being brought to book.
Sin is committed with impunity. And it seems almost like believers,
as they say, if you can't beat them, join them. What's the point
of continuing? Perhaps you're tempted to ask
that question. If you can't beat them, well,
join them. Is it worth continuing? Do you
know that was the case with the psalmist in Psalm 73? It says
it's a Psalm of Asaph. whether it was a Psalm of Asaph
written by Asaph it was certainly for Asaph it might have been
written by David for Asaph who was the to do with the music
and the worship in the temple but he wrote Psalm 73 one of
them did anyway and said God is good to Israel but as for
me My feet had well nigh gone, I'd almost slipped, I'd almost
gone down. Why? Why had he done that? Because
he was envious at the wicked. He said, what's the point? What's
the point of being a believer? What's the point of trying to
serve the living God? What's the point of trying to
do that which is right? We don't get any advantage for
it. Look at them, all the ones all around who pay no heed whatsoever
to the things of God. They prosper. They're having
fun, they're having a great time, they seem to die peacefully,
it doesn't seem worth it. Until, until the writer of that
psalm went into the temple of God, went into the sanctuary,
went into the truth of the gospel of God's grace. went into the
place where God reveals his truth concerning eternity. And then
he says, then knew I their end. Then I understood things. In
God's light we see light. Oh, we live in a fallen world. We live in a world of great strife
and anguish. And he lays it before the Lord.
Lord, why are things like this? And immediately God comes back
and answers him. Verse five. God's marvellous
work. God's marvellous work. Behold
ye among the heathen and regard and wonder marvellously for I
will work a work in your days which ye will not believe though
it be told you. So he's perplexed. Habakkuk is
perplexed and he asks God why is it like this? And quickly
God answers unexpectedly and this is what he says. Effectively,
don't think for one moment that God is not in control of all
things and working out his sovereign purposes to their ultimate end.
But you'll be astonished at how he will do it. You'll be staggered
at how he will do it. In the context of Habakkuk's
day, 600 years before Christ, he would use a most unlikely
instrument to answer Habakkuk's complaint. he would use a most
unlikely instrument, as we'll see in a minute, the Chaldeans,
I raise up the Chaldeans, what? The Chaldeans? What? You're gonna
use them? A most unlikely instrument. In Paul's day, the Apostle Paul,
turn, keep your finger in Habakkuk, because you'll need to come back,
but turn to Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 13, where Paul is
preaching at Antioch that Jesus is the Christ, And he talks about
the history of the people of God, of Israel, of Abraham, and
Isaac, and all of them. He talks about the history of
them all. And he talks about how Christ
came to fulfill everything, and how he was crucified, and God
raised him from the dead. Very, very clear gospel message.
And in verse 37, he says, but he whom God raised again saw
no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore,
verse 38 of Acts chapter 13, be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, Jesus Christ, is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which he could not be justified
by the law of Moses. There's the gospel in a nutshell.
Beware therefore, verse 40, beware therefore. lest that come upon
you which is spoken of in the prophets. Which prophet? Habakkuk
chapter 1 verse 5. Here he quotes it, or almost
quotes it. It's clear that verse 41 is a
quotation of Habakkuk 1 verse 5. Behold ye despisers, ye doubters,
you unbelievers, and wonder and perish. For I work a work in
your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a
man declare it to you." You're going to be staggered. Do you
know what it was in Paul's day? It was the coming of the Romans
to Jerusalem in A.D. 70, which destroyed the temple
and all those things around it. A most unlikely instrument was
used to accomplish God's purposes. He'd said that he would write
off as the people of God that nation. which had so carelessly
rejected the message that he sent, and even rejected the son
whom he sent. He said he would cast them off,
and they never believed him, and in A.D. 70 he did, just as
they never believed that they would go into captivity, and
600 years B.C. they did go into captivity. But
you see in the middle of it, in the middle of it, that's God
working his work, he rules over history, he performs the marvellous
work. And at this time, in Habakkuk,
and in Paul's day, in Acts 13, and in our day, that marvellous
work of God is Gospel salvation. That's the truth. That is it. Just as it is today. It's Gospel
salvation. Many times in Scripture, The
word marvellous is used to describe the redemption that God has accomplished
in Christ. He has accomplished it. He's
not left it open. He's accomplished it. He's finished
it. And it's marvellous. In the scriptures, for example,
I could give you dozens of examples, but we haven't got time. But
Christ is the chief cornerstone. on which the kingdom of God is
built. You know, without a cornerstone, without the fundamental foundation,
there is no building. He is the chief cornerstone on
which the spiritual temple of God, the church, the people of
God are built. And it says, Christ being the
chief cornerstone is marvellous in our eyes. It is marvellous
in our eyes. the wonderful works of God, in
a world that seems to be ploughing along, completely ignoring the
existence of God and accountability to God, yet God is doing his
marvellous work. What's going on, Lord, verses
2 to 4? Ah, don't you be concerned. I'm
working out my purposes, my marvellous work. I use what instruments
I use for my own ends, you see. Do you remember when we looked
at Revelation? And you remember that there were the seals, the
seven seals on the book of the purposes of God throughout world
history. And only one was found who was
fit, qualified to open those seals and that was the lion of
the tribe of Judah. But he was only qualified in
the office of a lamb that had been slain. In that office, that
gospel redeeming office, he was qualified to open the seals.
And do you remember what the seals were? The first four of
them were four horses that were sent forth, a white horse, a
red horse, a black horse and a pale horse. And there were
other seals as well. And the seventh seal issued in
seven trumpets which blew and brought various judgments and
calamities on the people of the earth. And then the seventh trumpet
opened and revealed itself as seven vials of the wrath of God
in final judgment on the kingdom of Satan. And we saw that which
so few who claim to be Christians understand. So few understand
it. The purpose of these things is
God's purpose to frustrate and render impotent the seemingly
triumphant kingdom of Satan before the final end of things, before
the final eternal triumph of God's everlasting kingdom of
peace and righteousness. God is not silent. God is not
defeated. God is not subdued. God is not
cowering away as Satan triumphs. He is not dead. Literally, in
my lifetime, people used to say, God is dead, there is no more
God, God is dead. No, he's not dead, as many have
claimed. God is working his purposes out. And he uses all of these things.
He is justifying his sinful people out of the clutches of Satan.
by the redemption that Christ accomplished, that which we read
about in Acts 13. He is justifying his sinful people. So with his white horse of gospel
preaching, he's taking his people out of this kingdom of Satan.
Satan is not triumphant, he takes his people out of this kingdom. And as the red, the black, and
the pale horses ride forth, obviously, symbolical, they wreak the observed
confusion that we see all around us in history. The red horse
was the one of war, the black horse was of economic hardship,
the pale horse was the horse of death that keeps sweeping
swathes of humanity away. No! It's not evil triumphing,
but God frustrating Satan's kingdom of false peace and of corrupt
justice. Never suspect that God is inactive
or impotent even as we look around us, not at all. No, he will deal
with sin. He can do, and he will do, and
it will not go unpunished. Don't worry Habakkuk, don't worry
believer in these days. God is on the throne of the universe,
and he is the judge, and the judge of all the earth will do
right. But in the process, what it teaches us here is that he
uses the most unlikely instruments. the most unlikely instruments.
You see, the view of so many so-called Christian religious
folk is that our mission in this world is to make this world a
better place. You know, by making poverty history
and by doing this, that and the other and by bringing peace and
getting us to a state where we all live in peace and harmony.
I'm sorry, You may think it sounds nice but that is not the purpose
of God. The purpose of God is that his kingdom will be triumphant. And this kingdom of this world
which is the kingdom of Satan is destined for destruction.
Read Revelation again, you will see it clearly. This is not God
wringing his hands in frustration on the sidelines, unable to do
anything about it. This is God actually bringing
these things about, that he might accomplish his final purposes,
which is the establishment of his kingdom. In verses 6 to 11,
We read how God will deal with iniquity among the Jews of his
day. That's what it's about. How's
God going to deal with iniquity among the so-called nominal people
of God in the day of Habakkuk, and we can read in our day, nominal
churches, those that call themselves Christian, our Christian country,
so-called, the civilised western world, so-called, in which we
live, etc, etc. What's he going to do? For lo,
I raise up the Chaldeans. What? Can you imagine the shock,
the astonishment What? How are you going to deal with
this injustice in our land? I'm going to bring even worse
upon you. That's what I'm going to do.
The Chaldeans, the Babylonian Empire, the Empire of Nebuchadnezzar,
that cruel empire, that unstoppable empire, that dreadful military
machine, it had already, you know if you go to the British
Museum you will see loads of the ancient history, the archaeology
of Assyria, all the Assyrian artifacts, because that was the
greatest empire before this, it was the Assyrian empire that
overran the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes in
the north, and basically from the days of the Assyrians onwards
nobody could trace their lineage to any one of the ten tribes
of the north. They were just totally intermarried and intermingled
and the Jews in the south, in Judea, Judah and Benjamin, those
tribes around Jerusalem, used to regard the northern kingdoms
as Samaritans, with a nasty connotation to it. They had nothing to do
with them. So we read about the Samaritan woman. And Jesus in
the parable uses the good Samaritan. How could a Samaritan be good?
They were despised. They were completely overrun
by the Assyrians. But God raised up Nebuchadnezzar
and the Babylonian Empire in his purposes. Are they not another
manifestation of God sending forth his red horse to bring
confusion and frustration in the kingdom of Satan? Who raised
them up? Who raised up? Oh, I couldn't
do anything about it. Satan has raised up the Chaldeans. That's what most religious people
today think, don't they? Read God's word. Satan didn't
raise up the Chaldeans. Look who says he raised up the
Chaldeans. Look in verse six, for lo, I, who is it speaking? It's God via Habakkuk. I raise up the Chaldeans. God
has done it. He has done this thing. God has
raised up the Chaldeans. He has done it. He does this.
In Isaiah 45 and verse 1, we read this, Thus saith the Lord
to his anointed. Oh, you think he's talking about
Christ? No, he's not at this point. Thus saith the Lord to
his anointed, to Cyrus, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden
to subdue nations before him. That was 800 years plus before
Christ came. Cyrus was one of the rulers of
the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. The Medes and the
Persians destroyed the kingdom of the Babylonians, the Chaldean
Empire. And yet, three or four hundred
years before, God says via Isaiah, Cyrus is my anointed. This pagan ruler, Cyrus, is my
anointed, and I'm holding his hand. for the purpose of subduing
nations before him. God does it. God does it. Think of the day in which we
live. Oh, how terrible is world history, isn't it? Oh, how frightening
and uncertain is world history? Oh, gosh, what's going to happen?
Who has raised up Kim Jong-un? Hmm? Oh, couldn't possibly be
God, could it? Oh, I think it could. I think
it could. Who has raised up Donald Trump?
Many, many people think, I know loads of people think it most
definitely is of God, but there are many others who think it
couldn't possibly be of God. Well, I think it is. Wherever,
Vladimir Putin. Who is in control? It is God. It is God that does all of these
things. God's purpose is always to frustrate
Satan's lie in this world. This world will never be a united
utopia that Satan seeks to bring about, because it's filled with
lies. And the biggest lie of all is
that the justice of God can be established without the redemption
that Christ has purchased. He uses all things. You know,
read that verse, Romans 8, 28, differently. All things work
together for good to those that love God who are called according
to his purpose. Now, read it with these spectacles
on. All things. There is nothing
that God doesn't control to accomplish his purpose. And Habakkuk's reaction
to it was shock, was astonishment, was perplexity, was a crying
out to understand. What is a child's response? when
something's puzzling. Daddy, why is it such and such
a thing? Daddy, and this is what the child
of God does. Abba, Father, what, explain,
I don't understand. And so he prays, the believer's
prayer, verses 12, down to chapter two, verse one. He begins, art
thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, mine Holy One, we shall
not die. What do I know? Let's start,
what do I know? I'm confused, I'm perplexed,
but what do I know? I know this, because God has
taught me this. When he took me into his secret,
he told me this, in his secret, God is eternal. Yes, he's eternal. He's outside of time, eternal.
His purposes are eternal and unchanging. He has determined
the salvation of his elect, that multitude that no man can number.
He has determined it before the beginning of time, before there
ever was time, before there ever was a creation. He determined
it. Therefore, those people whom he has saved through the blood
of Christ cannot possibly perish eternally. He hasn't just said
it, he has already accomplished it. The everlasting nature of
God is tied up with eternal redemption of his people. He is the Lamb,
says Revelation 13.8, slain from the foundation of the world.
What does that mean? Before there was ever a creation,
God has ordered all things for the good of his people. Everything. The God of eternal justice now,
if he's just as he is, Having redeemed his people by the blood
of Christ and his coming to satisfy justice for them as a substitute,
the eternal justice, God who is eternally just, cannot not
save his elect out of this fallen world. It's absolutely guaranteed. The doing, dying, and rising
again of Christ is the unchangeable guarantee of it. So let's stand
there, for sure, right at the start. That's a solid rock. You
know when you're in boggy ground, and you're trying to pick your
way across boggy ground where you might sink? Well, if you
find a rock, you go, hey, here's a good place, let's stand on
this. I know we're on solid ground here. I know that God is from
everlasting. We shall not die. He will save
his people. Whatever else happens in this
world, what you see or experience, nothing can change that. But
I still don't understand God's means. Yes, they're God's instruments
of judgment. But how can he use them? Oh Lord,
thou hast ordained them for judgment. Yes, I can accept that. And oh
mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. These Chaldeans,
that's what they're for. But you're of purer eyes than
to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity. So why are
you looking upon them that deal treacherously? Why do you use
them to punish a people that are not as wicked as them? You're
using the more wicked to punish the less wicked. It just all
doesn't seem right. They've got such power. They
pull men out of the sea, as it were, like an angler pulling
fishes out with their angling rod and their net. They seem
unstoppable. I don't understand your means.
Yes, they're God's instruments of judgment, but how can he use
them when God is holy, when he's pure, when he's perfect? So how
can he make use of that which is inherently corrupt and defiled?
In Amos chapter 3 and verse 6 we read, Shall there be evil in
a city and the Lord hath not done it? Did you ever come across
that verse? Shall there be evil in a city
And the Lord hath not done it? Ooh, wow. Isaiah 45, verse 7,
God speaking. I form the light and create darkness. Yes, and I make peace. Yes, go
along with that, yeah. What? And create evil? That's what he says. I, the Lord,
do all these things. How can this be? How can God
be holy of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, who canst not
look upon evil? How can he be that and yet use
that which is evil to accomplish his purposes? Because when it
says, shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done
it, it doesn't mean that the Lord, who is pure and holy and
undefiled and perfect, he cannot ever be the author of sin, but
in working out his purposes, These judgments, these seals,
these trumpets, these vials that come from the throne of God,
in that sense, God does evil. In that sense, God causes that
evil to come upon people. And Habakkuk's praying, give
me understanding. Show me, we could say in our
day, show me today why the church, which is meant to be your beacon,
O Lord, in this earth, seems so weak. Why does it seem so
weak? so scattered, so insignificant,
so compromised. Why does religious falsehood
seem to prosper? I don't understand these things.
So what do we do? We do what Habakkuk did. Chapter
2 and verse 1. I will 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. He waits. And not only does he wait, he
goes to a position, you know this thing, the watch and the
tower, is a position of detachment. Imagine an ancient battle going
on down in the plains below, and the commander goes up onto
the watchtower, detached from the battle, so that he can see
what happens. In a sense, that's what we have
to do. In prayer, We must leave the problem. When you pray, leave
the problem with God. I know that sounds trite and
cliched, but it's true. There are situations that arise
that confuse us all the time from the seemingly trivial to
these great big issues. Leave it with God and ask him
to tell you and show you and wait and wait and detach yourself
from it. Don't immediately go and confer
with flesh and blood to try and get an answer. Wait for God to
show you because until God shows you in your heart you won't fully
understand Wait in a detached state from the issue and he will
give the answer. Now in the minutes that we've
got left, the answer in a nutshell. And obviously we'll come back
to it next week as we look in more detail in chapter 2. But
in verses 2 to 4, here's the conclusion of the whole matter.
It will definitely happen, as I have said, says God. The Lord
answered me. He waited, and the Lord answered
him. Write the vision. Write it down.
This is a message that all need to know. Make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for
an appointed time. He's going to do something. and
the time of it is fixed, but at the end it shall speak and
not lie." It will certainly come true, exactly as God has said.
Though it seems to wait, though it seems to delay, so it seems
as though it's never going to come. Where is the promise of
his coming, says Peter? They say, all things carry on
as they were from the beginning. Where's the promise of his coming?
It seems to delay. No, no. It will surely come.
It will not tarry, it will come in the appointed time. And then,
he says, behold, his soul which is lifted up in him is not upright,
but the just shall live by his faith. The kingdom of God shall
finally triumph. God says, the instruments I use,
the red horse, are definitely accountable for their sin. Behold,
his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him. He's definitely
accountable for his sin, though I use him now. They will be judged
and found wanting. You know, one of Nebuchadnezzar's
sons was Belshazzar, who had the feast. In the book of Daniel,
you read about it. And the finger came and wrote
on the wall at Belshazzar's feast. And the finger wrote, many, many
tekel uphasin, which means, you are weighed in the balances and
you are found wanting. You are weighed in the balances
and found wanting. That kingdom was found wanting
and was judged and was taken away. And the Medes and the Persians
came. But he says, these things happen
to frustrate the kingdom of Satan, but this is it, the just shall
live by his faith. What does that mean? The just
shall live by his faith. There are those that are justified
by substitutionary redemption. accomplished by God in Christ. They are the just. Are you among
the just? Is that you? Are you the just?
Are you one who knows that my Redeemer liveth, and that he
shall stand at the latter day upon this earth, and the worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God? Is that
you? Are you one of the just, justified? How should a man be just with
God? I am just by what Christ has done in him, by his redemption. by that which his blood has purchased.
If you're amongst those justified ones in the Lord Jesus Christ,
whilst judgment shall fall on everything and everyone else,
these justified ones shall live by their faith. What is it to
live by faith? Galatians 2 verse 20. Paul says,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. I'm killed
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, his faithful
work, his accomplishment at Calvary, who loved me and gave himself
for me. As a child of God, living in
this fallen world, seeing evil and injustice all around, I see
all through the perspective of what Christ has accomplished.
Is this what it is? For the just to live by his faith?
As a child of God, living in this fallen world, seeing evil
and injustice all around, I see all of it through the perspective,
through the lens of what Christ has accomplished, and seeing
it like that, all these things happening, God's in control of
it all, and Christ is accomplishing the redemption of his elect.
Seeing all of that, in this life, now, I have peace. I know I have
peace. I have peace with God about these
things. I am comforted in my soul. he
puts his arm around me and comforts me as his child to show me these
things I have understanding I may not be the brightest spark by
a long way there are much more bright intelligences around this
world than me but they don't have this understanding unless
they have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God which is
in the face of Jesus Christ and I whatever my intellect however
clever and smart I am As the scriptures say, I have more understanding
than all my teachers, because your teacher is the spirit of
the living God. I have the understanding that
comes from faith in Christ. I have assurance. I'm not concerned
about the future. I have assurance. I have rest
for my soul. I have a confident hope, a confident
hope. I'm confident that the end will
come, and that God will take all of his people to eternal
glory. Now, living like that, in that
knowledge, is that not life? Is that not what Jesus said?
I'm come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly. Amen.