In 1976, if I remember correctly,
the date, Brother Henry Mahan and I were preaching together
in a Bible conference over in Appomattox, Virginia, where Brother
Ernie Lucas is pastor. And there were a good many preachers
there, older preachers, fellows who had taught in seminaries,
older men. And I was 26 years old. I was
trying to prepare to preach one day, and Brother Mahan came by
my room and sat down and visited a little while. Right before
he left, he said, Brother Fortner, don't try to preach to those
preachers out there tonight. He said, they're not going to
listen to you. He said, find somebody in your mind's eye,
maybe an old man who looks like maybe he'd been working all his
life digging a ditch. doesn't have much education,
and just lost his wife and his only son last week and preached
to him. And if you can minister to him,
you can minister to the rest of us. If you can't minister
to him, you can't minister to anybody. I want so much to heed
that counsel every time I preach. I'm not interested in Filling
your heads with facts. You can read books and do a better
job of that yourself than I can do standing here preaching to
you. I want you to know God, trust God, and walk with God. I want you to know God, trust
God, and walk with God. was facing a time of great difficulty. He had to tell the people that
he loved dearly of God's judgment upon them, that God was going
to destroy Jerusalem. And that magnificent temple that
the Lord God had directed Solomon to build, he was about to destroy. The only place in the world where
God was worshipped was soon to be destroyed. The only altar
at which God would receive a sacrifice would soon be destroyed forever. The only mercy seat where God
said, I will meet with you, would soon be destroyed, never to be
recovered, never. Because Israel had heard and
despised God's word. Because they had been blessed,
greatly blessed with the privileges of outward worship and chose
rather than the worship of Jehovah, the worship of the gods of men
and called it the worship of Jehovah. Habakkuk desires to comfort those
who are truly gods among the nation. He desires to comfort
those who are God's covenant people among these people who
were called his covenant people. The Israel of God among the physical
seed of Israel. And so Habakkuk's word here for
the children of Israel is as much his word for you and I in
our day as it was for them, you and I who are God's Israel. Elijah prayed when he mocked
the prophets of Baal and mocked their God on the mountain. First Kings 18, you remember
how he prayed? He said, Lord, let it be known
this day that thou art God in Israel. How I pray God will allow us
to make this generation to know that he's God in Israel. that
he and he alone is God, that God will show himself God by
the wonders of his grace performed in our day. When Habakkuk calls
for the children of Israel to deal with the situation they
had to face, he encourages them and encourages himself. He comforts
them and comforts himself. He assures them and assures himself. that God's people will not perish,
though the Chaldeans come to destroy them. The Ishmaelites
are coming. The furious, barbaric, filthy,
vile, decadent, immoral, godless, idolatrous Ishmaelites are coming. And they'll destroy this city.
And they'll destroy this temple. and they'll destroy this nation.
But you who are gods are all right. You who are gods, nothing
going to happen to you. No harm is going to befall you.
You shall not perish. And it gives three reasons. All
three reasons are found in the character of God. Those three
reasons are God's eternality, God's sovereignty, and God's
holiness. That's my subject tonight. Eternality,
sovereignty, and holiness. And I'll get as far as I can
and quit. Look here to back at chapter 1, verse 12. Art thou not from everlasting,
O Lord my God? O Jehovah, art thou not from everlasting? O Jehovah, my God, mine Holy
One, we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them,
these Chaldeans, these vile Babylonians, these Idle worshipers, these
reprobate creatures. Thou hast ordained them for judgment,
to judge your people. Peter said, judgment must begin
at the house of God. He is talking about judgment
at the house of God and almighty God. You have a marginal reference. Oh, mighty rock. Oh, mighty rock. Hold your hands right here and
turn to Deuteronomy 32. Back here in Deuteronomy 32, Moses
speaking about his doctrine. And he speaks of his doctrine
dropping as the dew of heaven. He calls for God's people to
ascribe greatness to God. Back here in Deuteronomy 32,
verse 31. Throughout this chapter, he speaks
of God as our rock. Speaks of the triune Jehovah
as our rock. And he speaks of their rock.
The rock of these idolaters, the rock that other men trusted,
the rock of salvation, the rock of refuge in which other folks
had. Now look here next is our Deuteronomy 32 verse 31. For
their rock. They've got a rock. Those fellows
across the street got a rock. Those fellas down the road have
got a rock. Those fellas back yonder have got a rock. Your
mama and daddy got a rock? Everybody does. Everybody's got
a religious refuge. Everybody's got a God. But their
rock is not as our rock. Their rock is not as our rock.
They've got a rock, but they can't trust him. They've got
a rock, but they can't build on him. They've got a rock, but
when they take refuge in Him, there's no covering for them.
The bed's too short, the covering's too narrow. There's a refuge
for them, but there's no refuge. Their rock is not as our rock. Now watch this. Even our enemies
themselves being judges. Take what that literally translates.
Even our enemies themselves confess it. They'll tell you. How many times
have you tried to witness to somebody concerning the character
of our God? If I thought God was like that,
I wouldn't worship Him. If I had a God like that, I wouldn't
preach anything. If I had a God like that, I wouldn't
go to church. If I had a God like that, I wouldn't have anything
to believe. They tell you to your face, their rock is not
worth spits. Because their rock's not as our
rock. Their rock's not as our rock. Now here Habakkuk in our
text tells us, what our Rock is. Tells us who he is. Read
on. Habakkuk 1 verse 12. Art thou
not from everlasting, O Jehovah my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, thou
hast ordained them for judgment. And O mighty God, O mighty Rock,
thou hast established them for correction. The only reason they
exist Only reason they exist is that they might be a rod in
your hand for the benefit of your people. Thou art of purer
eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them
that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth
the man. that is more righteous than he. Now here are three attributes
Habakkuk describes by which he assures himself and assures us
of the well-being of our souls for time and eternity, no matter
what we experience on this earth. These three attributes by which
God is distinguished from all his creatures. but not only distinguish
from all his creatures. These three attributes by which
God distinguishes himself from all that men call God. These three attributes. First,
eternality. Habakkuk tells us that God Almighty
is eternal. And because God is eternal, we
shall not die. Art thou not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. When you first
read that, that just doesn't make for good logic, does it?
Since you're eternal, we shall not die. Well, wait a minute
now. Wait a minute. Read that again.
Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Bob Duff, that's
as strong an argument as you're going to find anywhere in this
book for the everlasting blessedness of your soul. He who is our God
is eternal. He whom we worship He whom we
trust, God who has saved us by his grace, is the eternal God,
the eternal one. Indeed, he alone is eternal. The only eternal being is God. He's the only thing, if I can
use such a language, there is that is without beginning, without
end, without change, without succession. And he who is eternal
is of necessity infinite. Now I'm stretching my imagination
and stretching my mind to try to get my mind around these words
eternal and infinite. What do I know about those two
things? Eternal, infinite. What can we know about eternality
and infinity? God alone is eternal. God alone is infinite. John Gill wrote, when we say
that God is infinite, the meaning is that he is unbounded, unlimited. immeasurable, immense, unsearchable,
and not to be comprehended. Did that help anybody? Well, that means God's big. Yeah, more than that. That means God's great. Yes,
and more than that. God Almighty is beyond the scope
of our ability to grasp His greatness. He's beyond the scope of our
ability to grasp who He is. God dwells alone in infinity. There's none before Him to limit
Him. None after Him to limit Him. None above him to limit
him. Turn to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. In these chapters in Isaiah,
chapter 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, Isaiah is speaking for the Lord God,
and the Lord God keeps challenging us. What are you going to compare
to me? How are you going to form some
idea who and what I am? Look here in Isaiah 43, verse
10. The Lord speaks to his people and says, ye are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may
know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me there
was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I,
am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. I'm Jehovah. I'm the Lord, I'm God. And everybody
else who pretends to be God is actually nobody else pretends
to be. They just have people who pretend
they are. Because these other things that being called God
don't have any eyes. And they have, well they have
eyes but they can't see. And they have ears because somebody
carved them out of a piece of wood. But they can't hear. and
they have hands but they can't work and they have feet but they
can't move. Well, we don't worship gods like
that. No, you have something more worthless
than that. You have an imagination of who
God is. God can't do anything without
you. God can't move without you. God's limited by your will. God's
restrained by Satan's power. God has a will, but he can't
perform it. He has a purpose, but he can't
accomplish it. He has a salvation to give, but
it's helpless on his part unless you do something, contribute
something, make some effort of some kind. Read on. I'm God. Beside me, there's no Savior.
Look at chapter 44, verse 6. Thus sayeth the Lord, the King
of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. The Lord speak. The Lord, the King of Israel,
your Redeemer. He's the Lord of hosts. That
means he's boss over everybody. I'm the first and I'm the last. And beside me, there is no God.
Only God, only our great infinite God is totally independent. The God of this age, the thing
that men call God, the Jesus that men pretend to worship,
the God your mama and daddy uses for a rabbit's foot, the Holy
Spirit your brother and sister uses as a crutch, that God that's
helpless, that God that can't do what he will. Why? And you know it's not so.
You know it's not so. Only God is totally independent. And dare enough, God Almighty
is totally independent. What does that mean? That means
everything depends on Him. He depends on nothing. Everything
is from Him, through Him, and to Him. But He dwells alone. All things are checked by God. But God's not checked by anything.
None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? All
things are limited and controlled by God. God is not limited or
controlled by anything or all things together. Not God. Not God. People talk about let
God. I don't even like to talk about
my equals talking about letting me do something. Let God. Won't you let the Lord have his
way with you. I got news for you. He has his
way with you. Well, I don't like that. I hope
you learn to, if you don't, you're going to hell. You'll either
bow to him as he is or you'll be crushed beneath him. Our God's
independent. This God, Described here, the
infinite God. Infinite. No creature's infinite. Nothing's infinite, except God.
We talk otherwise, because we talk foolishly. We talk about
things in time being infinite. We talk about things created
as infinite. Only God is infinite. Infinity
distinguishes God from everything. We sometimes speak of sin as
an infinite evil, but that really is not true. That's really not
true. It is an act committed against an infinite God. And
because sin is a transgression against the infinite God, it
deserves infinite punishment. And all sinners shall be punished
with infinite destruction, with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord, except they find an infinite satisfaction
for sin. except they have a Savior of
infinite worth. Jesus Christ, God's darling Son,
is the only one who is able to satisfy the wrath and justice
of God Almighty, who burns against sin with infinite fury. But the Lord God looks on him
and says, that's enough. That's enough. Over and over
and over again, he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. How
often we're told that? He has no pleasure in the death
of the wicked. God can't be satisfied by punishing wicked men. Wicked
men, though the whole world should perish forever under the wrath
of God, though all men should forever burn in whatever the
fires of hell are, the fires of hell cannot be quenched. To
cause man who is but a finite thing, cannot satisfy the wrath
and fury and justice of the infinite God. Look here in Isaiah again,
Isaiah 53. What will it take to please God?
What will it take to satisfy God's justice? What will it take
to satisfy God's fury? Isaiah 53 verse 10. It pleased
the Lord to bruise him. With the bruising of his son
to death, James, God satisfied. Justice is satisfied. Fury is
no more in him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. Thou shall make his soul an offering
for sin. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his head. He shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Everything
that God is is infinite. We're told that his understanding
is infinite. His power is infinite. His goodness is infinite. Turn
over to Micah. Micah chapter 7. I was reading
this today. I've just got to preach from
this again soon. Micah chapter 7, verse 18. God's goodness is infinite. Micah
says, verse 18, who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth
iniquity, that passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever,
Because he delighteth in mercy. Oh, what wonderful words those
are. He delighteth in mercy. Read on. He will turn again. He will have compassion. He will
subdue our iniquities and thou shalt cast all their sins into
the depths of the sea. Thou will perform the truth to
Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers
from days of old. I've heard men say there's a
limit to God's goodness. Well, that's not so. Oh, no. Oh, there may be a limit to your
enjoyment of God's providential goodness in this world, but there's
no limit to God's goodness. He's infinite, infinite in all
his holy being. I'll say more about that in a
moment, but there is none holy, but God. None holy, but the Lord. Infinitely holy. Incomprehensibly
holy. Whole is God. So if we are made
righteous, if we are made holy, if we obtain any salvation, It
is all together by His doing and not by ours. This God, infinite,
this eternal one in His love. No beginning, no end, no variation. His love is eternal, infinite
love. Love worthy of one who is God. The infinite God measures all
things. He's measured of none. He comprehends
all things. He's comprehended by none. He's
called the eternal God. The eternal God. What a name
for our God. The eternal God. The everlasting
Father. Now unto the King, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, the honor and glory forever and
ever. Eternal. without beginning, eternal
without change, eternal without boundary, eternal without limit,
eternal without end. Every character of God, every
attribute of God is infinite and eternal. Every character,
everything that sets God apart as God. is infinite, eternal,
and immutable. Everything. His love, his mercy,
his goodness, his power, his wisdom, his grace, everything. Everything. All God's purposes,
all his counsels, all his decrees are infinite, eternal, and immutable. Said me, the covenant of grace
There's a covenant revealed to us in terms that we can get some idea of what
it's talking about. It's called an everlasting covenant. Ordinary things, it's called
a covenant. Those are just human terms, so
we get some idea of what God has done for us from everlasting. Don't ever get the idea, and
it's all right to think like this, because God's revealed
it this way. God made a covenant. The Father, the Son, the Spirit
agreed upon terms in a covenant. It's revealed that way, but don't
ever get the idea that somehow God thinks about things. God doesn't think. God knows. There's a huge difference. I
try my best to think. And more I think, the more I
realize I don't know much. God doesn't think. He knows. He never learned anything. He
never forgot anything. God just knows. God just knows. His covenant is revealed as it
is in human terms, in His acts in human terms, but all His purposes
and decrees and works are from everlasting. The Book of Life
of the Lamb is called the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. I wonder what that means. No,
you don't know exactly what it means. It was before the world
began. Done from eternity. We're told
in Hebrews 4.3 with regard to all the vast work of God's grace
and salvation. with regard to all this that
makes up our eternal Sabbath rest in Jesus Christ. That rest
that is awaiting us on the other side of this pilgrimage. That
rest that is ours by faith. All that's involved in that,
Hebrews 4.3 says, the works were finished from the foundation
of the world. Now, do you see the reasonableness
of Habakkuk's logic and his argument with God? He says, art thou not
from everlasting? Oh, Jehovah, my God, my holy
one, we shall not perish. If you're my God and you're the
eternal one, I'll not perish. You are my savior and you're
eternal. I'll not perish. If you're my
redeemer and you're eternal, I'll not perish. No matter what
comes down the pike. Doesn't matter what happens.
Everything's all right. I won't perish. Doesn't matter
what happens around me, through me, or in me. Doesn't matter
what comes from heaven above, from the earth beneath, or from
hell beneath the earth. Doesn't matter what men bring,
or what devils bring, or what Satan brings. Doesn't matter
what my friends bring, or my foes bring. It doesn't matter
what comes to pass. If I'm yours, I won't pass. Everything's all right. Everything's
all right. That hymn Darren sang a little
bit ago, Jane Bonar wrote it. Her husband, Horatius Bonar,
one of those men I like to read after, was dying. He had consumptions,
they called it back in those days. And she went in and tended
to him and got him easy and comfortable. Walked in the other room and
sat down and wrote those magnificent words, Fade, Fade each earth
with joy. Jesus is mine. So you tell me what else is important. You tell me what else is significant.
You tell me what else is to be weighed in the balances. Eternality. And then the prophet draws assurance
of our everlasting welfare and his own from this eternality
of our God, because our life is hid with Christ in God. Whatever it is that he who is
my substitute is, Whatever it is that he who is
my covenant head is, whatever can be said of him as the God-man
my mediator, I am and it is true of me in him from whence springs
my being with him from eternity. One with him, blessed with him.
accepted of him, one with him, so much so that before he ever
made the world, we're told, his delights were with me. He rejoiced
and delighted in me and in you from eternity. Read Proverbs
chapter eight. And then second, the prophet
draws joy and peace and assurance from the fact of God's sovereignty.
Oh Lord, Thou hast ordained them for judgment. O mighty God, thou
hast established them for correction. I'm going to say very little
here. I'm going to move on. When your soul is heavy, when adversity comes, trials
come, heartaches, darkness, afflictions, pain, sorrow, don't pretend they're
not real and don't pretend they don't come. Children of God don't
ever walk around and act contrary to what you know is real and
true. Don't do that. Don't try to fake
things with God especially. Especially. Don't try to laugh when you're
crying inside. Acknowledge things as they really
are. But in the midst of difficulty, fall into the arms of the almighty sovereign that he is. Do you know how consoling it
is when you're shaking with a fever to be wrapped in strong arms by someone who's able to stop
the shaking? Do you know how consoling it
is or used to be when you were a child and you were terrified
to crawl up on your daddy's laps and him just hold you? Crawl
up on your mother's lap and her nurse you like a baby up next
to her breast and pat your head and wipe your forehead. That's God's sovereignty for
his own. Back in 1969, our dear friend,
Brother Henry Mahan, his boy Robbie, his oldest boy, apple
of his daddy's eye, volunteered for military service, went to
Vietnam. On his way to his camp, as soon as he landed, the vehicle
he was in was hit with mortar fire and Robbie was killed. And
one of the local preachers who hated God, and since he hated
God, hated God's servant, called with a mayhem the next morning
as soon as the news came out. And he said, where's your God
now? This is what he said. My God
is right where he was the day my boy was born. He's on his
throne. Where's your God? Our God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. He's on his throne, all is well. And here's the third thing from
which the prophet draws great consolation, God's holiness. He calls the Lord God, mine holy
one. Then he asserts in verse 13,
thou art of pure eyes than to behold evil and canst not look
on iniquity. And then the prophet makes our
righteousness an appeal to God, the holy one, to defend and protect
us. Look at this, verse 13. Thou
art a purer eyes than to behold evil. Thou canst not look on
iniquity. Wherefore lookest thou upon them
that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth,
watch this now, the man that is more righteous than he. Hmm. Dares Larry Brown speak to God
like that? Dare you speak to God like that? A good many people terribly misunderstand
the book of Job because they think that Job is behaving self-righteously
when he speaks concerning his righteousness, defending himself
against his enemies. In Job chapter 27, Job spoke very plainly. He says, my righteousness I hold
fast and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me
so long as I live. You can't say that. You can't if it's true. We're not more righteous. God's
saints are not more righteous than anybody else by nature.
And God's saints know that. You know you're just like everybody
else. We're not more righteous than
somebody else. Our hearts are just as evil as
anybody else's heart. But we are more righteous because God
made us more righteous. He didn't make the reprobate
righteous, but he justified us. He gave us a new nature, a new
heart and a new will. And by His grace causes us in
our day-by-day conversation to walk before Him in uprightness. Lord, do you mean for us to understand
that you're going to destroy a righteous people by the wicked? Shoot, I know better than that. I know better than that. That
ain't going to happen. That ain't going to happen. You
just established them for judgment and for correction, to teach
us to lean more heavily on you, to teach us to trust more confidently
in you, to teach us to walk with you, to believe you, to set our
hearts upon heaven and eternity. You've just established them
for our correction. So that we understand, Lord,
we understand that these things come upon us. And though the Ishmaelites come,
and even if they succeed and they destroy the city that we
cherish, and the nation we love and the temple where we worship. Still, it shall be well with the righteous. Is that what God said? Say ye
to the righteous, it shall be well with the righteous. And
so it is because God, our God is eternal. He's sovereign and he's holy. Amen.