Most people in this world live
with their heads in the sand in a fantasy world, trying to
convince themselves of what they know is not true. And that is
that eternity and judgment are not real. They know better. but they hold
down the truth in unrighteousness in their rebellion against God.
The scripture tells us plainly it is appointed to men who want
to die, and that is the judgment. God is appointed a day when he
will judge the world by that man whom he has ordained, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you don't live in the
conscious awareness of that fact, if you don't live in the conscious
awareness of the fact that soon you must stand before the Holy
Lord God Almighty in judgment, in the awareness and anticipation
of eternity, you live like a fruit. I don't care how highly educated
you are, how smart you are, or how smart you think you are,
you live as a fool, because you deny that which you know in your
heart of hearts to be reality. Like the proverbial ostrich,
you stick your head in the sand and pretend things aren't so,
and so you convince yourself they're not so. To live in unbelief
is to live in contempt of And in rebellion against the God
whom you must soon meet in judgment, it is to store up to yourself
wrath against the day of wrath. In that day there will just be
two kinds of people, the saved and the damned, the just and
the condemned, the righteous and the wicked, those who are those who are cursed with God
forever. Now, if ever you come face-to-face
with that fact, you're going to begin to have some questions.
You're going to be compelled to ask, how can I live before
God? How can I, a sinner, stand before
God Almighty, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity
and be just before him? How can I be accepted of God
and escape his wrath and his judgment that I know I have richly
deserved? Now, if you're interested in
that question and the answer to it, read the book of Habakkuk. And let's begin tonight with
that book of Habakkuk. I'm going to give you just a
survey of the book, but I want to give you the message of the
book. It is not my intention in these messages merely to give
an academic survey. or even a theological or historic
survey of the books, there are plenty of those available. It
is my desire and my intention to give you God's message in
the book for you and me right now. Let's begin in Habakkuk
2, verse 4. There is a statement found here
that's quoted at the end of this verse. It's quoted three times
in the New Testament. Habakkuk says, shall live by
his faith. The just shall live by his faith. This statement is quoted in Romans
1, verse 17, in Galatians 3, verse 11, and in Hebrews 10,
verse 38. We'll look at them in some detail in just a few
minutes, Lord willing. But let me give you this along
the way. In Romans 1, the emphasis is on righteousness and justice. The righteousness and justice
of God that we receive by faith in Jesus Christ. In Galatians
3, verse 11, the emphasis is on faith. Paul is declaring that
believers do not obtain righteousness by their works, but rather by
faith alone in Jesus Christ the Lord. And in Hebrews 10, verse
38, the emphasis is on life, or on live. The believer, those
who have obtained righteousness, believing in Jesus Christ the
Lord, trusting his blood and his blood alone for their acceptance
with God, having obtained righteousness, now they live in this world by
faith. So when this word is used in
the New Testament, and the Holy Spirit quotes this prophecy here
in his Habakkuk three times, And you look at the book of Habakkuk,
where it's used, it seems that Habakkuk has all three of these
matters before his mind when he says, The just shall live
by his faith. Reading and preparing the message,
there are some who say Habakkuk is saying that the just shall
be made to live by his faith. And others say the just shall
be made just by his faith. The fact is that Bacchus is saying
this, by believing on the Son of God, you and I receive righteousness. He is not saying that our faith
makes us righteous, he is saying that we obtain righteousness
by faith. And believing on the Son of God,
we obtain life, that is, we obtain the conscious, righteous, grounded
the right to life by faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. I have
a right to life before God. Do you? I have a right to life
before God, and that right to life is the obedience of his
Son. And now, believing God, I live
before him by faith, by the continual exercise of the gift of faith
which he has wrought in me, my faith. my faith in him. Folks sometimes try to be more
precise in scripture, and when you try to be more precise in
scripture, you become dead wrong. A fellow asked me one time just
a while back, he said, Well, really, it's not my faith, is
it? It's not your faith, is it? I said, Yes, it is. Well, didn't
God give it to you? Yeah, he gave it to me, it makes
it mine. And it is exercised by me, willfully and deliberately
by me. It's his work in me. But it is
a deliberate, willful believing on the Son of God. Now, Habakkuk
says this, and I know that this is what he's talking about. He
talks about this faith in Christ, because in chapter 3, verse 13,
he gives us a plain, clear prophecy of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
says in verse 13 of chapter 3, Thou winnest forth for the salvation
of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed, with thy
Christ. Thou woundest the head out of
the house of the wicked by discovering the foundation to the neck."
Now, stop and think about that for a while. Jesus Christ is
called Jesus because he came here to save his people from
their sins. In a word, Habakkuk's message
is this. The only way to live before God, now and tomorrow,
would you live before God? The only way to live before God
forever is clinging to Christ. As a matter of fact, Habakkuk's
name, I always find it interesting how the names of prophets parallel
their message. Habakkuk's name means to embrace.
embracing, to cling or clinging. And his message is that we must
live clinging to Christ. That's it. Just clinging to him. In chapter 1, the prophet prays
for Judah. He prays for Judah, against whom
the Lord God was determined to send the Chaldeans in judgment.
In chapter 2, we see this prophet, this watchman, upon his watchtower,
receiving God's answer to his prayer. Then in chapter 3, we
have Habakkuk's prayer of praise and faith. It's given to us in
the form of a psalm to be sung in the worship of God. The word
at the beginning of chapter 3, shidionot, is of doubtful meaning. Some suggest it means others
that it means stringed instrument. Perhaps it's both, ignorance
and stringed instruments. We have lots of words that have
double meanings. Certainly the double meaning is here. Habakkuk
tells us plainly as we go through this prophecy, God, I don't understand
what you're doing. Lord, what are you doing? What
are you doing? I don't know. I don't know. And so he pleads ignorance. And
while he pleads ignorance, he bows to God's will and worships
God in faith and extols him in praise upon the thing that he
is. The word given here in this third
chapter is really a psalm, a psalm intended to be a song in the
house of God, sung like the other psalms given in the book of the
psalms, upon the stringed instruments, to the praise of our God." Now,
let's look at his prayer in verse 2 of chapter 3. Oh, Lord, I've
heard thy speech. Bacchus said, Lord, tell me what
you're doing. Chapter 2, God told him what he was doing. Now
he says, Lord, I've heard. That was a O Lord, revive thy
work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make
known in wrath, remember mercy.' Now, here is what he asks. He
declares that he has heard God's pronunciation of wrath, and he
acknowledges that he is afraid, not for himself, No, no. We see that very clearly. He
speaks plainly about God's salvation. But he's afraid for the people
to whom he sent to preach, who will not hear God's word. The burden of the vision of Habakkuk. I was afraid. Just as we tremble for our sons
and daughters, tremble for family and friends, tremble for you
who hear and will not believe." But Bacchus said, I was afraid,
because I know that God Almighty is determined to punish with
holy indignation and justice. Then he offers this prayer, and
it's a threefold prayer. He prays, O Lord, revive thy Let me pause a minute and say
a word or two about the revival. What you hear about and read
about as revival, regrettably, what you hear about and read
about as revival in the media and around the world by all religious
groups, is precisely what folks who claim to believe the gospel
of God's grace often talk about when they talk about revival.
They talk about fits of emotion, spasms of religion, spasms of
religion that give assurance of God's great presence and God's
great work because of what we see and feel and experience. And all such evidences of revival
are false. They're just false. A Baptist
is not here praying, Lord, send us a revival so that we can feel
a tingling, feeling up and down our spine, so the hell stand
up on the back of our necks and we'll have a wonderful sensation.
Oh, God, yes, sir. No, no, no, no, no. No, no. Faith
is not that. Faith is not that. What's he
praying? God has announced judgment. And
the word revive would better be translated preserved. And
this is his prayer. while you walk through the land
in judgment. Preserve your church. Preserve
your kingdom. Preserve your work, O Lord. And then he asks this. He says,
Lord, in the midst of the years, make known. That is, God, show
yourself to me. Show yourself to the people.
Make known your glory. Make known yourself in all that
you do. And then he calls for the Lord
God to remember mercy. He says, Lord, your purpose is
sure, and your purpose is right, and your purpose is good. But
as you move through the world in wrath, O Lord, remember mercy. God, who delighteth in mercy,
remember mercy. Now, that's my prayer to God
in this day. O Lord, I've heard thy Either I am totally ignorant
of God and his works, and the heathen that you hear
talking and read about in the newspapers who try to explain
what's going on in our day know him. are there totally ignorant
of him and I know something about what he's doing. I know what's
going on in our day. I know what happens when God
sends pestilence. And I know what happens when
God shakes the earth and splits it in two. I know what happens
when God sends a tidal wave and wipes a nation off the face of
the earth. I know what happens when God Almighty brings his
wrath upon people. Whether he brings it by the hands
of men, brings it by disease and pestilence, or brings it
by some great work of what men call a work of nature, a freak
of nature, an accident, whatever it is they call it, I know what's
going on. God Almighty is displaying his judgment and his displeasure
with Satan. Now, that's what's happening. I'm afraid for the generation
to whom I preach. And so I pray, Lord, O Lord,
revive your work. Thy kingdom come. Build your
kingdom. Preserve your church. Save your
people. Lord, in the midst of the years,
in these days of darkness and wrath and Lord God, make yourself
known. And while you exercise your justice
in your land, remember mercy. Remember mercy. Oh, God, remember
mercy. Now, here's the situation Habakkuk
was in. Judah was going to be invaded. Invaded by the Chaldeans, the
Babylonians. The invasion actually took place
at the end of the 6th century, when Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar
in 586 B.C. But the Lord revealed this to
his prophets long before it happened. He told them plainly that Judah
was going to be punished for her sin, and that the instrument
by which he would punish Judah would be the Chaldeans, the Babylonians. And things haven't changed much
in that land. Those same folks that you see
on the television over there, those dirty-looking folks with
rags on their heads who worship a stump of an imagination they
call Allah, the same folks you see over there. He said, I'm
going to use them to judge you and destroy you. Now wait a minute. Those folks are not only folks
who live in the dirt physically. Those folks who live in the dirt
spiritually and morally. their idolatry, and their moral
degeneracy, their perverse in their behavior, perverse in their
religion. Now Judah, Judah's been guilty
of lots of things, but what it looks to me like, Judah's not
quite like them. And you're going to send them
to destroy Judah? A people who at least profess
faith in you, a people who at least profess some sense of moral
decency, a people who at least profess to be upright and try
in some way to maintain law and order, religious law and order. But Habakkuk speaks differently
about this than all the other prophets. Joel and Zephaniah
and Amos, they all called the people to repentance. They all
said, there's hope, the Lord might spare you. Habakkuk doesn't
call anybody to repentance. Habakkuk declares the facts and
says repentance is too late, judgment is coming. And yet he
declares that the only way to escape the coming wrath, the
coming judgment of God, is by faith, by believing God. Though judgment is certain, he
declares that those who believe shall live. judgment is coming,
God is going to destroy this nation, no question about it.
God is not going to turn back and destroy this nation, but
suggest they will live by faith, believing God. He will not destroy
the righteous with the wicked. Now, carrying the heavy burden
he carried, the Lord God had placed upon him this great burden,
and Habakkuk cries out in chapter 1, verses 2, 3 and 4, that Judah is full of violence,
full of strife, full of contention, that the nation is utterly cast
aside God's holy law. I recognize that. He says, therefore, judgment
proceeds. And then in verses 5 through
11, he faithfully declares the precise method of judgment. So
Batrick says to his people, God is raising up an army Down there in that heathen land,
among the Chaldeans, and he's going to send them in here to
destroy you. He said it's a judgment coming
so contrary to nature, so contrary to reason, that when it happens,
you won't believe God did it. You won't believe it. Though
I told you plainly, you'll still stand up and say, no, God didn't
do this. No, no, no, God wasn't in there. No, no, it can't possibly
be. Look at it, verse 5. Behold ye among the heathen,
and regard and wonder marvellously, for I will work a work in your
days, which you will not believe, though it be told you.' But still
Habakkuk gives a blessed word of assurance and life in verse
12. He speaks with absolute confidence, assuring God's true The true
believer is among those who profess faith in him, that God's judgment,
by which he would destroy the rest of the world, would not
destroy them. Art thou not some everlasting,
O Lord, my God, mine Holy One? We shall not die, O Lord. Thou hast ordained them for judgment,
and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
But still we shall not die. your displeasure, and you're
going to correct us, but we shall not die, we're yours!" And then
he raises some questions. In verse 2 and 3, the prophet
of God cried beneath the heavy weight of his burden, O Lord,
how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? Why dost thou
show me iniquity, and cause me to behold And then at the end
of chapter 1, he asked the Lord to explain himself. Let me give you a paraphrase
of what he said. "'Lord, how is it that you, God,
who is the pure eye of the beholden equinox, will execute your wrath
upon Judah by a people even worse than they are. How is it? Now, these aren't questions of
a rebel with a fist in God's face. They aren't questions of
a reprobate, an unbeliever, but the questions of a faithful man,
a man who believed God, a man who sought God's honor. But a
man who was hurting and in trouble didn't understand what God was
doing. The fact is, there are questions
we probably would not be honest enough to put into words, but
questions that we raise, questions that disturb us too. They're the very same questions
that gave David trouble back in Psalm 73. Come back there
for a minute. Truly God is good to Israel.
He states it as a matter of fact. He said, I understand that, I
know that. Even the such as are of a clean heart, the righteous,
those made righteous by his grace. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well and I slipped.
And here's the reason. I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity I look at my house. I look at my house. And everybody who knows me, knows
my sons and daughters, knows my wife. Everybody. They walk
by and look at me and laugh and shake their head and say something
sneaky in there. But there's something wrong with
that man. He's kept it hidden from us. There's something wrong
with him. Look at his house! He's got judgment on his house.
He's got a house full of rebels and a wife that hates him. I've
had nothing but trouble and heartache and misery all my days. There's that even man. His eyes
bug out with sadness. He never paces the floor. He
never has a trouble. His sons and daughters and grandchildren
and great-grandchildren sit at his table every Sunday and they
all praise him. God, how is it that the righteous
suffer while the wicked prosper? Why is it that your hand is heavy
on me when the man who hates you seems to prosper by everything
you do? Now, if that doesn't trouble
you, either you've got your head stuck in the sand or you're just
not being honest. verse 12, Psalm 73. Behold these,
these folks I envy. These are the ungodly who prosper
in the world. They increase in riches. Verily
I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence."
He said, God serving you hadn't gotten me a thing but trouble. And then he said, Let me put my hand over my mouth. Look at it. For all the day long I've been
plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I will speak thus, behold,
I should offend against the generations of our children. When I'm going through any little
difficulty, in my soul. What difficulties
I've had, ain't significant. But when I get a
hangnail, that's the only thing on the surface I think about.
When I go through some little difficulty, I do my dead level
best. Never to let you know I'm having
any trouble. Never to let you know that I've
got any struggles. Never to let you know that it
even hurts. How come? Because I don't want
to cause you to stumble. I don't want to be a hindrance
to you. That's what David said. If I said that out loud, I'd
offend your children. I'd cause them to stumble. Now,
look at verse 6. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. I couldn't stand the thought
of that. I couldn't stand the thought that what I am thinking
is so, until I went into the sanctuary of God. When I went
into the house of God, I went in to worship God. Then, understood
I therein. Oh, hell, I understand. You fixed it, so they won't trust
you. You fixed it, so they won't call
on you. You fixed it so they won't bother
you. You set them in slippery places.
You cast them down into destruction. Oh, how are they brought into
desolation, as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terror!
As a dream when one awakens, so, O Lord, when thou awakest,
thou shalt despise their Thus my heart was grieved, and
I was pricked in my reins, so foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before Satan.
I couldn't think with anything but my feet, just like a dumb
animal. Nevertheless," oh, don't you
think God knows nevertheless? Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou hast told me by my right
hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and when you get done, whichever way it is you guide
me, whatever way it is you take me, thou shalt receive me up
to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
There is none on earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my
heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever. They that are far from thee shall
perish. Thou hast destroyed all them
that go ahoy from thee. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. And it's good for me, whatever
God Almighty does, to make me draw near to him. It's good for
me. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted It's good for me that I've been afflicted, therefore
I've learned to keep thy statutes. I have put my trust in the Lord,
that I may declare thy works." Now back to Habakkuk. We must admit that we've had
struggles with the same questions as Habakkuk. The earth is filled
with glaring inequity. The wicked do seem to prosper
while the righteous suffer. And after raising these questions,
Habakkuk resolves the thing for me to do. Now, I've spoken to God what's
in my heart. I've spoken to God what I'm thinking. Now, I'm going to wait right
here until God tells me what he's doing. Until God gives me
an answer. And so in chapter 2, we see him
in his watchtower waiting for God to answer. And God gave him
his answer. He answered him by a vision.
But Habakkuk never tells us what the vision is. He simply tells
us what the vision means. Look at 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. Now
watch this. When I am reproved, when I am
instructed when I am corrected, when I am encouraged, when I
am comforted. That's what the word means. And
the Lord answered me. And this is what he said. Write
the vision and make it plain upon tablets. That is, take out
a chisel and a hammer and a piece of rock and make signposts on
tablets of stone that he may run. for the vision is yet one
upon a 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.' And the declaration
of God's vision, first and foremost, was a word of instruction. A
word of reproof, a word of correction, a word of encouragement and comfort
for Habakkuk and for Bobby Estes and Don Ford. Here it is. Verse
4, Behold, his soul which was lifted up is not upright in him. Proud man, he is not right, but
the just shall live by his faith. Now here's the instruction God
gives. Number one, God Almighty is running everything
exactly on His schedule, doing exactly what He pleases everywhere
and all the time. We're always in a hurry about
something. We get in a hurry to try to get
things happening that we think ought to happen. We get in a
hurry to get the kids to make a profession of faith. We get
in a hurry to try to get the church built up. We get in a hurry to
do this or do that, always in a hurry. And we think things
aren't happening the way they ought to happen. We're just in
a hurry. Well, God doesn't operate by the same clock we do. He's not on our schedule. We are on his schedule. And God
Almighty does everything exactly when he will. He is doing everything
exactly as he will to accomplish his purpose. The Jews, for centuries,
offered sacrifices in anticipation of that sacrifice that God promised
to Adam back in the garden, who would come and put away sin by
the sacrifices himself. But over the years, the vision
grew dimmer and dimmer. And after a while, they quit
looking for the sacrifice to come and started worshiping their
sacrifices and turned the whole thing into idolatry. And by that
means, they stumbled over the stumbling stone and stumbled
right into hell. to submit themselves to the righteousness
of God, not understanding that Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth they weren't about
to establish their own righteousness. But you know what God was doing?
While they were stumbling over the stumbling stone, he was accomplishing
his purpose. And in the fullness of time,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law. The prophet of God tells us plainly
that God's work is always being accomplished exactly on his schedule. This is God's answer to Habakkuk. He says, Habakkuk, you can count
on me. You can count on me. And if you
believe me, you do. The just shall live by his faith. Now, when we began the message, I pointed
out these references to this statement in the New Testament.
Let's look at them one at a time. Romans 117. You see it there? Paul is talking
about the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
it's the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes
it. He says, in this gospel, the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, that just shall live by faith. Understand where this
is put. Like smack dab at the very threshold
of this great great epistle explaining justification. And this is what
Paul declares. St. Edison obtained righteousness
before God, believing him who is revealed in the gospel, trusting
Christ Jesus the Lord. That's how we get righteousness. Not by what we do, not by works
of our hands, but by faith. It's not by our obedience to
the law, but by faith. Not by our religious exercise,
but by faith. Not by an outward form of godliness,
but by faith. The just shall live by faith. So here he's talking about us
standing before God, justified, clear of all guilt, clear of
all sin, right before God. He said this is by faith. We
have received the atonement. Look in Galatians chapter 3. Here is the second quote. Paul
is here talking about something else. He says in chapter 3, verse
11, that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. In other words, anybody with
good sense ought to be able to see that. For the just shall live by faith. Here he is talking about the
same thing. No, not at all. not at all. He's talking about
sanctification here. He's talking about growing and
preserving and persevering and being made perfect in Christ.
A preacher just said, it's evident that no man is justified by the
law. Read the context. Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? He's talking about sanctification
by the law. being made perfect by your obedience."
Well, Brother Don, you're just confusing justification and sanctification.
No, Paul got it right. He says, if it were possible
for you to make yourself better and make yourself perfect, make
yourself more holy until at last you arrive at the completion
of salvation by your works, then you could justify yourself by
your works. That's exactly what he said. He said, oh no, no,
no, no, no. As you have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. And that's what he's talking
about here. He's talking about the believer walking with God
in this world. My only hope is him. My only
righteousness is him. My only acceptance with God is
him. Now, look in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38. Here are Habakkuk's words again.
And here the Holy Spirit is talking about still a third aspect of
God's grace. He's talking about perseverance,
preservation. Not the possibility of it, but
the absolute certainty of it. Now, the just shall live by faith.
But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him. Don't forget to read the next line. But we're not of them
to draw back. We live by faith. The just do. All of them do. And they're not
going to draw back. They're not going to draw back because they're
kept by grace. They're not going to draw back
because they've got no other hope. When the night is darkest,
faith pierces through the darkness. And seeing the light of God's
promise and grace in Christ, faith just refuses to quit. Like Habakkuk's name implies,
faith embraces and clings to Christ. I don't know where I
saw it. Sometime back, a long time ago,
I saw a picture. Somebody was trying to encourage
somebody else to take a rope and swing it across this gorge
to the other side. And they'd seen somebody else
do it, and the fellow was scared to death. He said, what if I
didn't start to slip? He said, You've got no choice.
If you start to slip, tie a knot and hang on. What do you do while
you go through this world? I've got no choice. I just hang
on to Christ. That's all. That's all. Well, there ain't much faith
to that. No, but it's sometimes more than I can muster. More than I can muster. he hangs on to me, and graciously
causes me still to hang on." Now, let's look back at Habakkuk
for just a minute. Judgment is coming, but even
in the midst of providential judgment, providential calamities, and when that great final day
of God's wrath has come, those who live by faith have their
eyes fixed on him who is the anchor of their souls. Chapter 2, verse 14, we are told,
The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of
God, as the waters cover the sea. Certainly that's talking
about the last day, talking about this gospel age in which we now
live, and the gospel is spread to all the earth. But it's talking
about still more than that. In the marginal translation,
if you have one, You'll see the words might be translated, the
earth shall be filled by knowing the glory of the Lord. And we
who believe, behold his glory. Isn't that what our Lord said
in John 11? If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God through all the earth and everything. So we get
to chapter 3 and see Habakkuk's prayer. The word Sela is used
three times in this third chapter. It's only used in the Psalms,
elsewhere in the Scriptures. It's a written-out pause. It's like a long period. I read
this today, and I liked it. I don't know who came up with
it originally, but it said, it means, listen to the divine illumine. Listen to the divine light. Three
times the Bacchus goes through this day, and he says, Now listen,
stop, stop now, and listen to the light God's given you. Listen
to the light. He says, As it was upon Mount
Sinai, verses 3 and 4, the whole earth was full of the glory of
God. So it is right now. Even when
God marches through the earth in wrath With his glittering
sword drawn, he is riding upon chariots of salvation, we're
told in verse 8. And he goes forth for the salvation
of his people by Christ, his anointed one, we're told in verses
12 and 13. We're justified by faith, we
walk by faith, we shall be delivered by faith. And Habakkuk gives
us a tremendous declaration of God's greatness, his majesty
and his glory. And then he wraps this up with
a declaration of faith. A resolution. Oh, not much resolution. I've made a few in my life. I
just got through, just a few weeks ago, performing a wedding
for you and your wife. And I required you to make some
resolutions. That man pledged for the rest of his life. To
love that woman, honor that woman, cherish that woman, take care
of that woman, no matter what comes down the way. Oh, you can't
require me to do that. I do it every time I perform
a ceremony. Every time. It's right. And if it's right
that a man should make a deliberate, resolved declaration of adherence
and love and commitment and consecration to a woman, and a woman to a
man. It is right for a believing sinner,
saved by God's grace, to respond to God's goodness to him just
this way. Lord, I will. Say, well, if the
Lord will give me grace, I will. Yeah, I know that. I understand
that. So I know if God doesn't give me the ability to breathe,
I'm not going to breathe. when judgment comes, and I can't
see my hand, and I don't know what God's doing. I'm going to bow to the wisdom,
goodness, and grace of God's adorable providence, even when
it appears dark, heavy, and difficult. Verse 17, Although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit be in the The labor
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stocks." Now Bob, that's getting down
where the rubber hits the road, buddy. That's nothing. Everything I worked for, God
took it away. I treasured that to retire on. God took it away. Everything
I hoped to leave for my family, God took it away. I don't have
anything for today, much less for tomorrow. What are you going
to do there? This is what I'm going to do.
Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. And you know what? When God fixes it so you've got
nothing else to joy in, you just might rejoice in him. Our glory in him. We don't. The Lord is my strength. He will make my feet like hinds
feet. And he will make me to walk upon
the path, upon my high places. Now this I commit to you, the
chief singer upon my string instruments, sing praise to God. I think William Cowper captured
so very well the message Habakkuk gives us. God moves in a mysterious
way his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps. in the
sea, and rise in his chariots of salvation upon his door. Deep
in unfathomable minds of never-failing skill, he treasures up his bright
designs and works his sovereign will. You fearful saints, fresh
courage take the clouds you so much dreaded. and they shall break in blessing
on your head." Every one of them. Every one of them. Now let me
tell you when Cowper wrote this. He had hired a coach one night.
It was dense, dense fog in England. Cowper, you may or may not know,
was what we call today a manic-depressive. He was institutionalized several
times in his life, before God saved him and afterwards. John
Newton, his faithful pastor, administered shock treatments
to him. He stayed in a little house just a pathway away from
where Newton lived. Kalper hired a coach who was
determined to go out to clear, commit suicide, plunge to his
death. And when the coach got to where
he was supposed to drop him off, it was so densely fogged, the fog
was so dense that night that when Kalper got out of the coach
and started I'm not joking. He started to walk through the
cliff, commit suicide. He walked right up to his own door. The
fellow got plum lost. And Calvary says, Judge not the
Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind the
frowning providence, O child of God, believe him, he hides
a smiling face. His purposes, we'll write them
fast, unfolding every hour. The bud, it has a bitter taste,
but sweet.