Well, we'll begin our worship by singing to God's praise. We're going to sing in Psalm 40, in the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 40, page 259 of the psalm books.
The tune is Earshire, a psalm that speaks about waiting on God, and that's going to be part of our theme today as we look at Habakkuk, continue our study in Habakkuk.
And waiting on God is always worth it, as we see even in this psalm.
The psalmist says, I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear. At length to me he did incline my voice and cry to hear.
He took me from a fearful pit and from the miry clay, and on a rock he set my feet, establishing my way.
So we'll sing from verse 1 to the end of double verse 5 to God's praise.
Amen.
I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear.
A prayer to be, and on a rock he set my way.
I waited for the Lord my God and patiently did bear.
May he shall see it and shall fear and on the Lord rely.
O blessed is the man whose eyes upon the Lord rely.
O blessed is the man whose eyes upon the Lord relies.
Respecting not a crown nor such a stern, a stern, a stern to light.
O Lord my God and patiently did bear.
O Lord my God, who many are, how wondrous thou hast done.
Thy gracious thought to us were far above all thoughts are on.
And all my love are reckoned there, to hear them declare.
And speak of them, I put them on, and can be loved, or not.
Let's join together in a word of prayer.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for these words that we've sung that remind us of the goodness that there is in waiting upon you.
And as we come to worship you today, we pray that it will be a time when we wait upon you in that sense of what you might say to us, what you might do for us.
And we thank you that together as we come, we can rejoice in you that you are God, a God who has given to us all that we need, a God who has provided for us in your Son, Jesus Christ, a God who gives us all that we need on a daily basis.
And as we give thanks for this day and the beauty of the weather this week, the goodness to us in our homes and our families and all our friends, and above all the goodness that we have through your word that speaks to us.
And as we gather together for worship today here in the church and in the creche and Sunday school and tweenies, we thank you for your word and pray that as we hear it, you will bless it to us and that you will encourage us by it.
Build us up, Lord, whatever age and stage of life we are at, that we would know to love Jesus more and more every day of our lives and to serve him with all our hearts.
Thankful for all that he has done for us.
We ask all these things for the forgiveness of our sin.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, again, it's been a beautiful week this week, another week to enjoy.
The glorious weather.
But in the midst of that, you see today that we've got a warning, a warning for thunderstorms this afternoon and heavy rain to come.
You think to yourself, where on earth is that coming from?
But that's what God's word so often does for us as well.
It reminds us of all the good things that we enjoy in life, but it always gives us a warning to not to ignore what God is saying to us and how God has loved us.
Do any of the young people, do you like doing jigsaw puzzles?
I'm sure many of the older people like doing jigsaw puzzles as well.
Maybe people have got jigsaw puzzles on the go just now.
Hands up if you're doing a jigsaw puzzle.
I'm sure there's one or two people with hands up somewhere.
Well, jigsaw puzzles can be good fun.
And I managed to get one this week, a Scooby-Doo jigsaw puzzle.
And it was quite cheap.
It's 250 pieces.
But the reason it was quite cheap was because there's a few bits missing.
So there's only 232 pieces.
But I'm sure it'll be fine, won't it?
I mean, what's the difference in 18 pieces missing?
You'll still be happy when it's done, even though there'll be gaps in the jigsaw puzzle.
Or will you?
It can be so frustrating.
If you've ever been doing a jigsaw puzzle and you find even just one bit missing,
it can be so frustrating because it's just not finished.
It's not complete.
And if you think, well, there's about 18 pieces missing.
What's that going to look like when it's finished?
Maybe Scooby-Doo's face might not even be there.
There'll be something important missing.
Well, Jesus reminds us in his word that he doesn't want anyone missing.
When it comes to making up the number of people that he wants to save,
he doesn't want anyone missing.
Not even one.
And there's a parable that reminds us of that.
And it says to us in Luke 15, Jesus speaks of the parable of the lost sheep.
There were a hundred sheep.
One was missing.
And did Jesus think, oh, well, that's fine.
We can manage with 99.
No.
He said, no, I've got to go and find that one sheep that's missing.
And so the search began until the sheep was found.
And that's what Jesus does for his people.
He doesn't want any to be lost.
He wants all to be saved.
And so missing pieces are important to him.
And he came to seek those who were lost.
He came to seek us because we were lost in this world without him.
He came to find us.
Now, if you think of Scooby-Doo and you watch Scooby-Doo, you start singing the song in your head, I'm sure, just now.
It says, Scooby-Doo-Bee-Doo, where are you?
And that's the kind of question that Jesus asks of us too.
Where are you?
Are you lost or are you found?
Are you safe with Jesus today?
And as we'll be looking in Habakkuk shortly, that's what we're going to be seeing there as well, where God is asking us, how are we living?
And where are you?
Are you lost or are you found?
Well, Jesus wants to find all the missing pieces because they're all precious to him.
We're all precious to him.
May God bless these thoughts to us.
We're going to say the Lord's Prayer together now.
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
We'll sing again to God's praise.
This time Psalm 34 in the Sing Psalms version.
Psalm 34 is on page 40 of the psalm books.
Psalm 34, we're going to sing from verse 11 down to verse 18.
Come here, my children.
Gather round and listen to my word, and I will help you understand how you may fear the Lord.
Does anyone delight in life and long to see good days?
And keep your tongue from evil speech, your lips from lying ways.
The tune of Kilmarnock will sing from verse 11 to 18 to God's praise.
Come here, my children.
Gather round and listen to my word.
And I will help you understand how you may fear the Lord.
Does anyone delight in life and long to see good days?
Then keep your tongue from evil speech, your lips from lying ways.
Depart and turn from evil past, and practice what is right.
Decide to know the way of peace, your lips from lying ways.
The Lord's eyes are upon the just, he lifts us to deathly.
The wicked, he rejects and bought from their fair memory.
The righteous sky, the Lord responds, and pleases them when dispairs.
The Lord calls near the broken heart and rescues the deep air.
The wicked, the wicked, the wicked, the wicked, the wicked.
We're going to turn to read together in the book of Habakkuk.
As we continue our study in this book, our second part today.
Habakkuk, it's in the Old Testament.
You'll find it around page 948.
We're going to read in chapter 1, verse 12, down into chapter 2, verse 5.
Habakkuk, in verse 12, responds to God with these words.
Are you not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die, O Lord.
You have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
You who are of purer eyes and to see evil and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors and are silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler.
He brings all of them up with a hook.
He drags them out with his net.
He gathers them in his dragnet, and so he rejoices and is glad.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet.
For by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich.
Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever?
I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower
and look out to see what he will say to me and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
And the Lord answered me, Write the vision.
Make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time.
It hastens to the end.
It will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it.
It will surely come.
It will not delay.
Behold, his soul is puffed up.
It is not upright within him.
But the righteous shall live by his faith.
Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest.
His greed is as wide as shoal.
Like death, he has never enough.
He gathers for himself all nations and collects all his own peoples.
Amen.
And may God bless that reading from his word.
Well, let's again just unite our hearts in a word of prayer.
Let us pray.
Lord, you are from everlasting, as Habakkuk said so long ago.
You are one who is unchangeable in holiness, in goodness, in mercy.
And we thank you for that.
For every way your word reminds us of who you are.
It reminds us that you are a just God.
But a God who will also bring justice to all people and nations.
And that means, O Lord, that there are times when we have to wait upon you, even as Habakkuk of old did.
And so we pray, Lord, that you will teach us to be a patient people, a prayerful people,
a people who trust in you as the only one who is able to help in the midst of a world that is full of troubles and pains.
And we thank you that there is your goodness around us too.
That you promise us in your word that as we put our trust in you, as we seek to live by faith,
that you have promised your goodness and mercy to follow us all the days of our lives.
That you have promised for your people a place of everlasting rest,
a place that Jesus has gone to prepare for all his people.
And we await his return that is promised in the word of God as well.
And we thank you that in your promises and in your word that we have the word that we can lean upon and rely on.
And help us, Lord, that when there are times when we feel discouraged,
when there are times when we feel our faith is lacking,
when we feel the way difficult, when we feel that the challenges are just too many for us,
remind us that in God we have one who is a strength and a help to all of his people.
That you are with us, Lord, that is your promise.
That you have come, O Lord, that we might know the forgiveness of our sins
through Jesus Christ himself giving his life for his people on the cross.
That he died and rose again.
And that he has ascended now to the right hand of God the Father.
And, Lord, we pray that our knowledge of him will become more and more.
And that the more we understand,
the more that we would see the hope and confidence that there is in the Lord.
And we pray that for all your people,
near and far around us, Lord,
that your kingdom will come in power as we have prayed.
That you will remember us, Lord, in your mercy.
That you will come and do good to the people of this world.
For we know, Lord, that your mercy is great.
And we thank you that despite the wickedness of man,
despite all that is wrong in our world,
that you are the God who is about the business of reviving,
the business of saving,
and building his church.
And we thank you for every reminder we hear of that,
even as we have had in this past week,
when we've heard from Derek Maxwell
about the work of the Slavic Gospel Association.
We thank you for the many challenges that we heard about,
but above all,
the encouragement that God is at work.
What we are reminded of here in Habakkuk in his days,
when there seemed to be so much turmoil,
nationally and internationally.
We see it in our own day.
And yet, just as Habakkuk was reminded
that God is doing a work,
that we were reminded that that goes on to this day,
that God, you are working in nations and lands
in ways that we can so often find impossible to understand
and mysterious in so many ways.
And yet we praise you,
that you are bringing salvation in the midst of all things.
And so we pray, Lord,
that you will build your church,
that you will continue to call people to yourself,
that people will come to find that salvation that there is in Jesus,
that hope that he gives for now and for eternity.
And so we thank you that your word is powerful and mighty to save,
and that your word, as it goes out today here
and throughout all the churches and gatherings of your people
around our nation and the world,
that your voice would be heard,
that your name would be praised,
and that glory would be yours.
So hear our prayers, Lord,
and continue with us as we seek to live our lives to your glory.
Help us in our homes, in our families,
in our workplaces, in our community,
that we would be your people,
that we would show forth the wonder of salvation,
that we would remind others of their need of Christ.
Help us to be that salt and light that this world needs.
And we pray, Lord,
to that end that you would bless us in all that we do in your name.
Thankful for every opportunity we have to serve you among our young people,
with our community,
with our congregation,
in all the different ways that we see need around us.
Lord, we thank you for opportunities that we have to serve.
We thank you that we have been reminded too in this week of the fact that the gospel is for all people,
no matter what our situation in life is,
as we were reminded on Friday evening and yesterday morning in our training sessions,
that the wonder of the gospel is that it ministers to all people.
And we pray, Lord,
that you will help us and build us up to be encouragers to one another
and to be a people who seek for the gospel to be shared with all around us.
So we pray, Lord,
that you will be with us,
that you will help all who have particular needs at this time.
We remember those who are unwell,
those who are awaiting surgery or having gone through surgery recently,
those who are in hospital or their own homes,
who are feeling unwell at this time.
Lord,
may you surround them,
may you uphold them and strengthen them.
Remember those who mourn as well.
We pray,
Lord,
for your comfort and your grace towards them.
We pray,
Lord,
that you will heal hearts that are,
are broken,
that you would come as the shepherd who is always there.
We pray too,
Lord,
to remember our nation as we have seen a new first minister and deputy first minister appointed in this past week.
We pray for Mr. Swinney,
Lord,
that you would help him in his role and in all the challenges that he faces.
We pray for him,
Lord,
that you will uphold him and strengthen him for it.
And above all,
Lord,
that you will minister to his heart,
that you will be his God,
that you will lead him and guide him and help him to stand up for your truth.
We are thankful too for Kate Forbes and her appointment.
We pray for her in the midst of all the attacks that she has come under and will come under,
Lord,
that you will shepherd her and guide her,
give her the strength that she needs and give her the confidence to serve you with all her heart.
And we pray for our parliaments,
that they would be places of your peace.
And we so often see anger and abuse being hurled.
We pray,
we pray,
Lord,
that they would become places where the good of your people and the glory of your name would be what would be important.
And so we pray,
Lord,
that you will hear our prayers and that you will continue with us in this day and in the days ahead,
that you will go before us,
guide us and protect us.
And as we ask all,
we ask it with the forgiveness of our sins.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
We're going to sing again before we turn back to Habakkuk in Psalm 5 in the Scottish Psalter,
page 203.
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 7.
The tune is Strathcathro.
Psalm 5 at verse 1,
Give ear unto my words,
O Lord,
my meditation way.
Hear my loud cry,
my King,
my God,
for I to Thee will pray.
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 7 to God's praise.
Lord,
thou shalt bearly hear my voice,
I e'erly will I lay.
Lord,
thou shalt bearly hear my voice,
I e'erly will I lay.
Lord,
thou shalt bearly hear my voice,
I e'erly will I lay.
may ye'erly fear,
I erely may.
I erely hear my hand,
And what that does in wickedness delight,
Neither shall we dwell with thee,
Nor fools stand in thy sight.
All that hell through a time of grace,
God's love, the carriers be,
The bloody and deceitful man
A forerest by thee.
What I went to, thy house will come,
Then thine upon that face,
And I will worship,
Then I fear,
To watch thy holy race.
I'll turn with me back to our reading in Habakkuk.
We can read again in verse 4 of chapter 2.
Habakkuk chapter 2 at verse 4.
Behold, his soul is puffed up,
It is not upright within him,
But the righteous shall live by his faith.
You see in this verse,
There's a comparison between two different kind of people.
There are those who are puffed up,
Who are trusting in themselves,
But then the Lord says,
But the righteous shall live by his faith.
What do you think of God in the midst of our world
That has so much chaos going on?
That's the question that Habakkuk had to face up to in his own day.
As we saw, as we began our study last week,
There was so much going on around Habakkuk,
Both nationally and internationally,
That led to him to cry out to God with this question,
How long shall I cry for help?
And you will not hear.
How long do we have to cry out?
That's the kind of cry that we can feel ourselves today.
And what do we think of God
In the midst of the chaos and turmoil
That we so often see around us today?
Reading through Habakkuk is challenging.
It's a hard read.
There are so many things that are going on.
And we think,
Well, surely God would come
And just change things immediately for his people.
That he would bring peace for them.
That he would bring a change in their circumstances.
And yet God seems to allow things to go on
And on and on.
And we can come to the point where we think,
Well, where is God?
And what is he doing?
And that's a challenge that we have
That Habakkuk had in his day.
And when we look through this book,
As we see this interaction that Habakkuk had with God
As he was bringing his complaints as it is to God
And hearing God's responses,
We saw that it's a challenge
And yet God is working.
As you read through Habakkuk,
As I was making clear last week,
You find these nuggets,
These precious verses that remind us
That God is not standing still.
That God has not abandoned his people.
That God has not forgotten us.
That God is doing a work.
We saw that in verse 5 of chapter 1 last week.
This nugget that we saw in the middle of verse 5,
For I am doing a work in your days
That you would not believe if told.
He was doing a work.
He was not standing still.
And yet it was a work that was hard to understand.
As God was bringing the judgment of a nation,
The Chaldeans,
An army that was wicked,
An army that would bring destruction
And disarray to God's people.
God is saying,
I am working in this way,
In a mysterious way,
That you will not understand.
But that you will see my hand in.
And so we are reminded today ourselves
That we can see that God is working.
In the midst of all the chaos of this world,
God is still working.
And today we want to see another nugget,
Another precious text for us
That reminds us of how we are to live
In this world of chaos.
And that we are to live by faith.
That this is the key to our lives,
To the Christian life,
That the righteous shall live by faith.
So here is another nugget for us.
The righteous shall live by faith.
It's a verse that's quoted three times
In the New Testament by Paul.
You have Romans chapter 1,
Galatians chapter 3,
Hebrews chapter 10,
This very text quoted.
And it's quoted to remind people
About how we are right with God.
How we are justified with God.
It is not through our works.
It is not through what we do.
We are made right with God by faith.
And the more we understand of this,
The more peace with God
We would have in the midst of all the chaos.
There was a man called Martin once.
And he wanted to be right with God.
He was searching God.
For God.
But he was fearful of God.
Because he heard of God as a just God.
A righteous God who condemned sin.
And Martin knew in himself that he was a sinner.
Because everywhere he looked in his life,
All he could see was sin.
And this left him almost terrified.
In despair.
And one day he said to himself,
How can I speak to a holy God?
For I am just dust and ashes.
And full of sin.
And I am speaking to the living God.
The eternal.
And through God.
How can I speak to him?
And in this fear he began a search.
As to how he could be right with God.
And his search for this took him in different directions.
He tried serving God with all his heart.
He tried spending time in prayer and service to God.
In the hope that he would find this peace with God.
And yet all he could see was his own sinfulness.
How he couldn't possibly do anything to please God.
And so then he began to think,
Well if I confess my sins before God.
Then I can be right with God.
And he would spend up to six hours a day in confession.
Pouring out his heart about all the sins in his life.
And yet as soon as he had finished doing this.
The thought that it would immediately come to him is.
What if I've forgotten a sin?
And this would trouble his heart.
And then he began to be troubled and nagged by other questions.
He was questioned like.
What about the sins I don't even know I've committed?
There must be things I've done.
And I don't even realize that they're sins.
And how am I going to be right with God?
And so his life was in turmoil.
He was struggling to find a way to God.
He tried pleasing him himself.
Or finding a way to please him through others.
And it just got worse.
Until he threw himself into God's word.
And there he found the answer.
And it was through his studies in the book of Romans.
And especially chapter 1.
That it opened his eyes.
He was looking at the justice of God.
And how he could be right with God.
And then his eyes fell upon these words of Romans 1.17.
Quoting Habakkuk 4.
The righteous shall live by faith.
And it was like a rebirth.
He described it.
He said,
It felt like I had just come through the very gates of heaven itself.
And had found this peace with God.
Martin had found this nugget.
This precious truth that gave him peace and made him right with God.
The righteous shall live by faith.
It's not what we do.
But faith in what has been done for us.
Who was this Martin, you might ask?
It was Martin Luther.
In the 1500s, when he came to this point to find this nugget.
The righteous shall live by faith.
And through him as an instrument in God's hand.
The reformation began in Europe.
The gospel began to be opened up to many.
To realize it's not about law.
It's not about making payment to God.
It's not about what we do.
It's about faith.
And the gospel became alive in Europe.
The gospel flourished.
The nugget made all the difference to him.
And has made all the difference to so many.
And it will make all the difference to you as well.
The righteous shall live by faith.
I want us to think of this text in three ways today.
Three things that Habakkuk shows us here as we think of what living by faith means for ourselves today.
And the three things are this.
We see that there is a watching.
There is a waiting.
And there is a warning.
So we are going to go through these three things.
First of all beginning with the watching.
Habakkuk as we saw last week.
Had this complaint against God.
In the midst of all the troubles that he was seeing around him.
He asks God.
How long will I cry out and you will not hear?
But God's response was as we said.
I am doing a work.
That you would not believe.
If I told you.
And this work was a mysterious work.
A strange work in so many ways.
That God was raising up the Chaldeans.
The Babylonians.
A nation.
A power.
An enemy to God's people.
An enemy that was powerful.
And that would bring so much devastation to them.
And it's a confusing time for Habakkuk.
Trying to understand the ways of God.
That seems so different to the ways he might expect.
And it's the kind of day that we find ourselves in.
And you see as we read in verse 12 down to verse 17.
There's this talk of the way that God is working.
The way that he has brought this response.
He says in verse 14.
And you make mankind like the fish of the sea.
And then there's this hook.
There's this net that just seems to gather up God's people together.
And it's a judgment coming on God's people.
It's the symbol of the Chaldeans.
Just bringing devastation to God's people.
Gathering them in as a reward to themselves.
And living of them.
Becoming rich of other people.
And it's like the world we live in today.
Where people are not precious.
People are just things that can be used to bring power and wealth to others.
Where life is not precious.
And where we see it so much around us.
There's this just ongoing devastation all around us.
People's lives being lost on a daily basis.
And the cry is to God.
Do you not care?
Are you not seeing what is happening?
And how long will we go on crying?
Well God is saying I am doing a work.
And as Habakkuk is hearing this.
He comes to this end of this second complaint.
Where he's seeing all this devastation.
And he says in verse 1 of chapter 2.
Well this is what I am going to do.
And what he says is.
I will take my stand at my watch post.
And it's not standing in the huff.
This is not Habakkuk turning his back on God.
Well I'm just going to go and stand at my post.
And I'm going to watch and wait and see.
This is actually a trusting in God.
I will take my stand at my watch post.
And station myself on the tower.
And look out to see what he will say to me.
That's what God will say.
And what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Habakkuk is talking about the watch tower.
The watch man.
And in the Old Testament.
This was the place where a guard would be set.
Over a city.
An important place.
An important place where they would watch out for the enemy.
Or things that were going on round about them.
Excuse me.
And if action was needed.
Something could be done.
The watch tower.
And the watch man was an important role.
And so what Habakkuk is saying here.
Is not I'm literally going up a watch tower.
But I am going to watch for God.
I'm going to set a guard.
And look out for God.
I'm not going to turn my back on God.
But keep watching to see how he will respond.
And how he will act.
And what he is doing here is the righteous shall live by his faith.
He is watching in faith.
He is doing what he can.
He is not turning his back on God.
Or losing hope in God.
But he is watching and trusting.
That God will work.
And it's a reminder to ourselves today.
We are not to be a people.
Who turn our back on God.
We are not to be a people.
Who listen to the voice that says.
If God was real.
He would have done something by now.
If God was real.
He would not allow this devastation and destruction.
That we see all around us to take place.
We are to be a people who live by faith.
A people who realize that God is working in our day.
In a way that we cannot believe even if he told us.
The mysterious ways that we see around us.
That we don't understand.
But we are still to live by faith.
We are still to take our place in the watch post.
And that means just setting our heart towards God.
Keeping on in prayer.
Keeping on in meeting together.
Keeping on in worshipping and crying out to God together.
On Wednesday evening.
We are reminded of that in a powerful way.
When Derek spoke to us.
Of the work of the Slavic Gospel Association.
He was speaking of the war in the Ukraine.
And the devastation and despair.
Heartache that it has brought.
But yet he was saying there is still hope.
In the midst of the terror.
The church.
The people of God are still being blessed.
At one point he said.
The closer you get to the front line.
The fuller the churches get.
People are still at their watch post.
In their watch tower.
Looking to God.
But they have not turned their back on God.
What a powerful reminder to ourselves.
To keep our place at the watch post.
To keep our place.
Looking to God.
Trusting in God.
We have something to believe in.
Someone to believe in.
That makes all the difference.
That as God is speaking through Habakkuk.
About the challenges.
But the deliverance that can come.
He is reminding us today.
That we too have a deliverance.
A deliverer.
A redeemer.
The Lord Jesus.
Habakkuk's name.
It means embrace.
That God has not forgotten us.
And that we can still look.
For this God.
And as John Calvin once put it.
Faith is not a distant view.
But a warm embrace.
Of Christ.
Faith.
Keeps us close.
Psalm 130.
Speaks of it.
I wait for the Lord.
My soul waits.
And in his word.
I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord.
More than the watchman.
For the morning.
More than the watchman.
For the morning.
My soul waiting.
For God.
In hope.
That is Habakkuk.
At the watch post.
So let us.
Keep faith.
As we watch.
For God.
The second thing we see here.
Is that there is.
A waiting.
And we see this.
In the way the Lord.
Answers Habakkuk.
In verse.
Verse 2.
To verse 4.
Watching and waiting.
May seem to have a sense of.
Uncertainty for us.
So we watch and wait.
For something to happen.
There is a sense of.
Wondering.
Will it actually come.
To pass.
And you can imagine.
Habakkuk here.
Having that mind.
After all.
He has already said.
To God.
How long.
Will you not hear.
So.
This waiting.
Will be wondering.
Well.
Will God.
Do something.
But now.
As God.
Has responded.
And said.
Well.
This nation.
Is going to come.
And almost.
Just gather.
Your people.
Away.
From this place.
And take them.
Into bondage.
And slavery.
And captivity.
So you have all.
Of these things.
You can imagine.
As questions.
Only increasing.
How long.
Will this.
Go on.
But it is not.
To lose.
Hope.
Just like Psalm 130.
Says.
The watchman.
It is waiting.
In hope.
And so Habakkuk.
Is waiting.
In hope.
As well.
And that's what.
Faith does.
Faith.
Looks.
To God.
In a sense.
Of anticipation.
That God.
Will act.
That God.
Will do.
A preacher.
Called.
George.
Campbell.
Morgan.
He once.
Put it.
This way.
Waiting for God.
Is not laziness.
Waiting for God.
Is not going.
To sleep.
Waiting for God.
Is not an abandonment.
Of effort.
No.
Waiting for God.
Means first.
Activity.
Under command.
Second.
Readiness.
For a new command.
That may come.
And thirdly.
The ability.
To do nothing.
Until that command.
Is given.
Waiting for God.
In faith.
You think of it like.
The dog.
Who is trained.
He's given a command.
To wait.
To sit.
And he's to wait.
For another command.
And he's to wait.
With patience.
And a well trained dog.
Will do that.
But an impatient dog.
Will just go.
It'll bolt.
It'll do.
Its own thing.
And that's the way.
We so often are.
When it comes to waiting on God.
We don't have.
That patience.
We want to do it.
Ourselves.
To take something.
Into our own hands.
But the Lord.
Says.
To wait.
In the middle of verse 3.
There it says.
If it seems slow.
Wait for it.
It will surely come.
It will not delay.
God is saying.
Wait.
He's saying.
Wait.
To Habakkuk.
And he's saying.
Wait.
To ourselves.
And there's two things.
For us.
In these words.
Of the Lord's response.
Two things.
When it comes.
To faith.
And the first is.
If God has said it.
It will.
Come.
To pass.
Even when things.
Seem impossible.
To us.
George Muller.
Was a man of faith.
He.
He ran orphanages.
That had many young people in them.
And often he had to wait in faith on God.
But he was praying.
And he said.
Well if I've prayed.
God will answer.
And so often God answered.
In marvelous ways.
His prayers.
And he said.
This faith does not operate in the realm of the possible.
There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible.
Faith begins.
Where man's power ends.
And God would deliver his people in Habakkuk's day.
He would deliver them from their enemies.
It would take.
As you read through.
About 90 years.
For it to happen.
But then they were freed.
90 years.
Do we have the patience to wait that long?
We want God to do it now.
But in God's bigger picture.
We can go back to verse 5 of chapter 1.
And say.
I am doing a work in your days.
He is still working.
We don't know how long it's going to take.
But we are to wait upon the Lord.
And God.
As he has said.
Will deliver his people here.
He did.
God who said.
I will send a savior for this world.
He has done it.
And the son.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus who said.
He would die on the cross.
And rise.
Again on the third day.
He has done it.
It is finished.
And he has ascended to heaven.
And we await the promise of a savior from there.
That he will come again.
And we are to wait in faith.
Philippians 3 verse 20 says.
Our citizenship is in heaven.
And from it we await a savior.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
We are a people who are waiting.
On the Lord's return.
Return.
But we are a people who wait on the Lord.
To work in different ways.
In our lives individually.
In our congregation.
Collectively.
In our nation.
In our world.
We wait.
But we wait because we believe.
God will do.
It seems slow.
Wait for it.
For it will surely come.
It will not delay.
God does not ignore.
The cries of his people.
So if God has said it.
He will do it.
But the second thing we see about waiting.
Is that we have the word.
To wait upon us.
Well.
The Lord answered me in verse 2.
And says.
Write the vision.
Make it plain on tablets.
So he may run.
Who reads it.
Write this down.
He says.
And make it plain.
Do we over complicate.
The gospel.
And faith.
There are times.
Yes we often.
We want to study.
And to dig deep.
Into the word of God.
And understand more of it.
Because it gives us assurance.
And confidence.
But the gospel.
Is to be plain.
Make it plain.
He says.
To Habakkuk here.
Write this down.
So that people.
Will understand.
And the gospel.
Is to be made plain.
To us.
As well.
And it is clear to us.
In the.
In the word of God.
Just how clear.
It is.
Think of the texts.
Of the Bible.
That so often.
Stand out for us.
Even this text.
In verse 4.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By faith.
It is plain.
It is clear.
Yes.
There is depth.
To it.
But there is a simplicity.
To it as well.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By faith.
In the New Testament.
Jesus spoke.
With Nicodemus.
Who came to him.
Looking for answers.
In life.
And what answer.
Did Jesus give to him.
That wonderful text.
In John 3.
16.
For God.
So loved the world.
That he gave.
His only son.
That whoever.
Believes in him.
Will not perish.
But have.
Eternal life.
Depth to it.
But simplicity.
As well.
Paul.
And the Philippian jailer.
In Acts 16.
The Philippian jailer.
Comes with a question.
Sars.
What must I do.
To be saved.
Is it a complicated.
A complex answer.
No.
He said.
Believe in the Lord.
Jesus Christ.
And you will.
Be saved.
It is plain.
It is clear.
It is simple.
Believe in the Lord.
Jesus Christ.
And you will be saved.
We have this word.
Plainly before us.
The righteous shall live.
By faith.
How are you right with God.
In your anxieties.
And your worries.
And your fears.
Just like Martin Luther had.
How are you right with God.
The righteous shall live.
By faith.
Believe in the Lord.
Jesus Christ.
And you will be saved.
We wait.
In a God.
Who has promised.
To work.
And who has given us.
His word.
As we wait upon him.
That we can trust in.
And find security in.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By faith.
Thirdly.
And finally.
Thirdly.
And finally.
Here.
We have.
A warning.
Habakkuk is watching.
The Lord is saying.
To wait.
But then in verse 4.
There is a warning.
We have the word.
Plainly speaking to us.
This warning.
In verse 4.
And it's saying.
How are you going.
To live.
Behold.
His soul.
Is puffed up.
It is.
Not upright.
Within him.
He's speaking here.
About.
The Chaldeans.
The wicked army.
That would come.
And invade.
And live.
For themselves.
Pride.
And self-importance.
Was all that mattered.
To them.
God.
Was nothing.
They are living.
Puffed up.
And you think of the world.
We live in today.
And you see how.
God is mocked.
God is ridiculed.
The Christian faith.
Is something that is to be.
Condemned to the past.
How sad.
It is.
And you think of.
Very.
Clever.
Smart people.
People.
With degrees.
And doctorates.
And so many different things.
And yet no thought of God.
Stephen Hawking.
He once said this.
I believe the simplest.
Explanation is.
There is.
No God.
No one created the universe.
No one directs.
Our fate.
And this leads me.
To a profound.
Realization.
That there probably is.
No heaven.
And no afterlife.
Either.
We have this one life.
To appreciate.
The grand design.
Of the universe.
And for that.
I am extremely grateful.
How sad.
That that is all.
There is.
This one life.
There is no God.
He said.
And probably.
No heaven.
There is no hope.
In these words.
To live puffed up.
Is to live.
Without God.
That is a warning.
To us.
But it is a warning.
That leads us.
To think.
Well there must.
Be another way.
And that is.
The way that we are looking at here.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By his faith.
Faith.
That keeps.
A people.
Worshipping God.
Even on the border.
Of a conflict.
And war.
In the Ukraine.
A faith.
That keeps.
Us going.
In the midst.
Of sadness.
And sorrow.
In the midst.
Of joy.
And happiness.
That we have a savior.
To rejoice in.
A faith.
That Martin Luther.
Found.
That made all the difference.
In his darkness.
It brought him.
To see.
The joy.
Of salvation.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By faith.
This is what it is.
To trust.
Faith.
Is trusting.
In God.
No matter what.
As someone put it like this.
Trust him.
When dark doubts.
Assail thee.
Trust him.
When thy strength.
Is small.
Trust him.
When to simply.
Trust him.
Seems the hardest.
Thing of all.
Trust him.
He is ever faithful.
Trust him.
For his will.
Is best.
Trust him.
For the heart.
Of Jesus.
Is the only place.
Of rest.
Do you.
Trust him.
Today.
We began.
By thinking.
Of how Martin's.
Luther life.
Was transformed.
By this nugget.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By faith.
He later said.
God.
Our father.
Has made all things.
Depend on faith.
So that whoever.
Has faith.
Will have everything.
And whoever.
Does not have faith.
Will have.
Nothing.
How are you living.
Today.
Are you living.
Puffed up.
In your own pride.
Are you living.
In fear.
And worries.
And anxiety.
About your sin.
The answer is.
This nugget.
The righteous.
Shall live.
By his faith.
Come.
And live.
In this way.
May God bless.
These thoughts.
To us.
We're going to conclude.
By singing.
To God's praise.
In Psalm.
55.
In verse 19.
Psalm 55.
At verse 19.
Page 72.
Sing.
Psalm's version.
Psalm.
My God.
Enthroned.
Forevermore.
Will hear.
And will repay.
Those men.
Who have no fear.
Of God.
And never.
Change.
Their way.
In verse 22.
Says.
Oh cast your burden.
On the Lord.
And he will care.
For you.
He'll never let.
The righteous fall.
But bring him.
Safely.
Through.
We'll sing.
These three stanzas.
To God's praise.
And the tune.
As bellman.
Amen.
But in his heart must go.
Oh, pass your burden on the Lord.
And he will give for you.
Till never let the righteous fall.
And bring him safely through.
After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my right.
We'll close with the benediction.
Now may grace, mercy, and peace from God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon
and abide with you all now and forevermore.
Amen.
So, you can here to.
Thank you.
I will be glad you've ever met.
Thank you.