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Let's turn in our Bibles to Habakkuk chapter 1.
Habakkuk chapter 1.
We left our friend Habakkuk last week after exploring the desperate spirit with which he cried to the Lord and prayed to the Lord.
And we saw that his initial question had to do with essentially two things,
God's timing and God's seeming tolerance towards the sin of the nation.
And I want us to be careful not to unwittingly disparage Habakkuk as we examine his prayer.
To be honest with you, I feel like I probably did that too much last week in our study of the first four verses.
I hesitate even to reference Habakkuk's prayer as a complaint because it's really just a result of his confusion,
the same confusion that we deal with.
It wasn't that he was antagonistic towards the Lord or doubtful of God.
He was confused.
He was perplexed by what God was doing or in his perspective by what God wasn't doing.
And so I want us to be careful not to portray this man in a way that he's undeserving of.
God's timing to Habakkuk seemed to be like tolerance.
But Habakkuk knew better than that.
He understood that God is holy and he wasn't questioning God's holiness.
He wasn't questioning God's hatred of sin.
He just couldn't understand why God was silent and had allowed things to seem as if he was tolerant of sin.
Habakkuk was a holy man and he prayed a righteous prayer.
But there's still a lot that we can learn from the dialogue between he and God throughout this book.
And that's exactly why God has so graciously gifted it to us as a part of the Bible.
Well, verses 5 through 11 that we cover today cover God's answer to Habakkuk's first dilemma.
God had actually been active all along, behind the scenes for a long time.
And his explanation to the prophet immediately serves as a reminder to us that God's methods do not often agree with our expectations.
In fact, much about the way God works is actually a mystery to us.
God said in Isaiah 55, he said,
Interestingly, Isaiah recorded those words in the context of God's forgiveness.
But the point is it lost.
God's perfect character means that his methods will greatly differ from what we anticipate.
And it's only as we look at life through the lens of the scriptures that we can begin to comprehend why God works in the way that he does.
We must know him in order to understand his ways.
And even then, we will often feel confused and pray prayers like Habakkuk prayed in the first few verses.
It's in these moments that trusting God is of utmost importance.
As Babby Mason sang,
When you don't understand and when you don't see his plan,
when you can't trace his hand, trust his heart.
And there's going to be a lot of times in our lives where we don't understand what God is doing.
And we're questioning whether or not he's being silent and why he seems to be so tolerant of the wickedness that's around us.
Or why he has brought various things into our lives.
Hardships and so on and so forth.
And when we don't understand all of those things, we can always trust that God is right.
And that though his ways do not always agree with our expectations,
his ways are always best.
And we must continually trust him.
Now, Martin Lloyd-Jones in 1953,
there was a book that was published that was a series of sermons that he had preached
on the book of Habakkuk just after World War II in England.
And I'm actually going to quote him a number of times throughout our message today.
But in regards to this, he said,
We all tend to prescribe the answers to our prayers.
We think that God can only come in one way.
But Scripture teaches us that God sometimes answers our prayers by allowing things to get much worse before they get better.
He may sometimes do the opposite of what we anticipate.
He may overwhelm us by confronting us with a Chaldean army.
Yet it is a fundamental principle in the life and walk of faith that we must always be prepared for the unexpected when we are dealing with God.
And this is how we come to understand Habakkuk's prayer most clearly.
The expectation of his prayer did not match what God was doing.
And it left Habakkuk confused.
But it's not the perplexity of the prophet that is to gain our attention in these verses today, in verses 5 through 11.
Rather, it is the sovereign power of God that is to be our focus.
And consequently, become the motivation for our worship.
God's answer reveals that he is always working.
It reveals that he is in sovereign control of all the events of history, no matter how small or how great.
And that he is working all things according to his divine purpose.
And that's the three observations that I would like to explore with you today.
But let's first read our text.
You're there in Habakkuk chapter 1.
Let's look beginning at verse number 5.
Verse number 6.
The first observation of which we're to make in these verses as it relates to God's response to Habakkuk is the fact that God is always at work.
God is always at work.
Now, before God ever got to the description of his instrument of judgment, which we come to find out is actually the Babylonian Empire, the Babylonian army, the Chaldeans.
He said enough in verse 5.
He said enough in verse 5 to strike plenty of fear into the hearts of the Jews.
And I want you to consider with me just here in this verse how this would have grabbed their attention.
Look at this very first phrase.
Behold among the heathen and marvel, God says.
Heathen there is just a reference to nations.
God is saying, look out among the nations and marvel at what I'm about to do.
God informed Habakkuk and subsequently the entire nation that they would have to look beyond their borders to actually see his work.
And of course, his intent wasn't for them to marvel solely at the strength of their captors.
He wanted them to look beyond the instrument of judgment and marvel at the one who raised them up.
He wanted them not to fear the Babylonians.
He wanted them to fear God.
And so right from the beginning, as God begins to answer, he immediately says,
you're going to have to stop looking here at Israel and look outside of the nation to see what I'm beginning to do.
And then in this next phrase, he said, because I'm working a work.
And then he says, in your days.
But consider how that would have come across to these people.
This was not a potential judgment.
Nor was this a prophecy that was to be fulfilled in the distant future.
This was a cataclysmic event that was going to happen in the days of these people.
They would be the ones to face the judgment that God was bringing.
And they would not be able to escape it.
It was coming quickly.
And it would be there in just a matter of months after God delivered this prophecy through Habakkuk.
And then at the very end, he says, this work, you will not believe, though it be told you.
Not only is this indicative of the potential rejection of Habakkuk's message, the fact that people wouldn't believe it,
but it hints towards the enormous scale of God's judgment.
So fierce was this army that God was raising up that many would believe Habakkuk's message to actually be impossible.
And just imagine, as just this very first verse is delivered in the message,
the fear potentially that could have begun to settle in.
God was raising up a power outside of the nation.
This judgment was going to come in their days.
And it was going to be so great that most people wouldn't even believe it.
The essence of Habakkuk's question in the first four verses was,
God, why aren't you doing anything?
And the essence of God's response in verses 5 through 11 is,
I never actually stopped working.
I've been working all along.
And by the way, Habakkuk, you might want to sit down,
because what I'm about to tell you is going to blow your mind.
God had never stopped working.
God had actually been at work long before Habakkuk had even discovered
that there was a problem about which he needed to so passionately pray.
And we come to understand just from that point and that perspective
that no matter what the nature of our cry is,
no matter what the nature of your cry is today,
rest assured that God does not only hear your prayer,
but he is working.
And he was working long before you ever even prayed.
God is always working.
Now, it's significant to know that Paul actually quotes this verse for us
in the New Testament in the book of Acts.
Obviously, the context of God's answer is a warning of a coming judgment.
And the apostle Paul makes that connection
and applies it to the unbelieving Jews in his day.
In fact, why don't you take your Bible and turn there with me.
The book of Acts chapter 13.
And let's begin reading at verse number 40.
Acts chapter 13 and verse 40.
Paul has been preaching about Jesus and his death and his resurrection
and the necessity to trust Christ for salvation.
And he's been preaching to the Jews in the synagogues.
In verse 40, he says,
Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which was spoken of in the prophets.
And then verse 41 is the quote.
He's quoting the Greek translation of the Hebrew text in Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 5.
He says,
Behold ye despisers, wonder and perish, for I work a work in your days,
a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
Now, Paul's purpose was to warn the Jews that rejecting the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
was equivalent to Judah's departure from God in Habakkuk's day.
God was going to judge them in a way that they wouldn't believe.
And the two are paralleled perfectly together.
In Habakkuk's day, there was great rejection and departure from God.
And God was sending a judgment that these people just wouldn't believe that God would do.
And then in Paul's day, there was a departure from God in terms of faith in Jesus Christ among his own people.
And Paul brings up Habakkuk's prophecy and he says,
Beware, lest the same thing that happened in Habakkuk's day happens now.
God's going to bring a judgment and it's going to be so great of a judgment
that you wouldn't even believe it, though I'm telling you now.
And then we come to find out that the Jews, just within a few days,
had continued to reject the message of Jesus.
And Paul revealed a glimpse of what that judgment would be.
Look with me at verse 45.
You're still in Acts 13.
Look at verse 45.
Here's what happens with Paul and Barnabas.
When the Jews saw that the multitude of the Gentiles, that is,
they were filled with envy.
And they spake against those things which were spoken by Paul,
contradicting and blaspheming.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said,
It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you.
But seeing he put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
we turn to the Gentiles, for so hath the Lord commanded.
God had been long suffering to the Jews for many years,
but this marked the official turning point in Paul's ministry away from Israel and to the Gentiles.
And this is significant to us because Paul's quote here helps lay the groundwork for the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
In fact, Robertson is helpful here.
He says,
Now, I don't want to get ahead of myself because we're going to get here as we study chapter 2.
But as we understand the layout of the book of Habakkuk and what the whole point of the book is,
in chapter 1, we see God pouring out this judgment on Israel, who did not expect this kind of judgment.
God had made a covenant that he was going to bring them into the promised land,
and they never believed that God would actually remove them from that promised land.
But that's exactly what he was doing.
And the question then becomes, especially in Habakkuk's mind,
How, God, can you judge Israel in this way?
How can you raise them up and judge your people, your covenant nation in this way?
And the whole point is that salvation and being God's people was never about nationality.
And it was never about a system.
And it was never about religious works and certain deeds.
It was always about faith and following God and loving him and obeying him,
as we see demonstrated in chapter 2.
When God essentially answers Habakkuk again, it says,
All sin will be judged, and the only ones who will be justified are those who live by faith,
those who follow God.
And so Robertson says,
By the devastation of those who thought themselves to be righteous by their deeds,
the foundation is laid for the message of justification by faith alone.
And so it's significant that we notice Paul's quotation in this verse
and how it bears in our understanding of even Habakkuk's book.
But then before we move on from verse 5, we need to consider that God's work was not limited
only to his instrument of judgment.
Now I want you to think about this because this is so encouraging.
While he was working to raise up the Babylonians,
while he was in charge and instrumental in bringing about this weapon of judgment
against the sin of the nation,
he was also preparing the faithful people of Judah to witness of his power
and to be his covenant remnant while in captivity.
Now I want you to turn again in your Bible.
This time turn to Daniel chapter 1.
It's just a few pages back from where you are there in Habakkuk.
And I want you to go to Daniel chapter 1.
Now hang tight.
There's a reason we're going here,
and I think that you're going to be encouraged by it.
Daniel chapter 1.
Look with me at verse number 1.
Daniel writes,
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
That's significant.
We know that Habakkuk is writing this prophecy during the reign of Jehoiakim.
So somewhere in between the death of King Josiah
and three years into Jehoiakim's reign,
Habakkuk is praying this prayer,
and God is delivering this message of judgment through his prophet.
And here's what happened.
In the third year of the reign of King Jehoiakim,
came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem and besieged it.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand
with part of the vessels of the house of God.
Now I want you to skip down to verse 3.
And the king spake unto Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs,
that he should bring certain of the children of Israel,
and of the king's seed, and of the prince's children,
in whom was no blemish, but well favored and skillful in all wisdom.
And I want you to look down with me to verse 6 now.
Now among these were of the children of Judah,
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names.
For he gave unto Daniel the name Belteshazzar,
and unto Hananiah of Shadrach,
and to Mishael of Meshach,
and to Azariah of Abednego.
God had not abandoned his remnant while preparing the judgment.
At the same time that he was strengthening Nebuchadnezzar's army,
God was working in the hearts of the obscure parents of Daniel,
and Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah,
so that they would train up their kids in the ways of God,
so that they would teach them the word,
so that they would protect them from the wickedness around them.
And at the same time that God is working on this massive scale
for this army of the Babylonians,
over here in relative obscurity,
in an unknown place, and in an unknown home,
God was working in the hearts of parents
to sit their son Daniel down,
and to teach him the Bible,
and to raise him up in the things of the Lord.
Now consider how seemingly insignificant this work was,
but God used it in such a mighty way in Babylon.
Think about it.
At the end of chapter number one of Daniel,
we see that these four young men were immediately shown
to have God's favor above all the other young men in Babylon.
What a witness that was right off the bat to King Nebuchadnezzar.
Think about Daniel's three friends.
We often know them to be Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar had made this idol.
He had commanded that everybody bow to it,
but they refused to bow.
Nebuchadnezzar gets angry.
He heats up the furnace of fire,
seven times hotter than what it normally was,
so hot that just opening up the doors of the furnace
killed the two men that went to go throw Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego into the fire.
And as soon as they threw them in there,
Nebuchadnezzar looks in,
and he sees that they have not been consumed,
that they're walking in the fire.
Not only is there three of them,
there's a fourth one that looks like the Son of God,
and they are in the fire,
but they have not been consumed and not been burned.
What a witness that is of God's graciousness
to his covenant people.
What a protection.
What a sign that was to the wicked King Nebuchadnezzar.
As we continue to study the book of Daniel,
we see that Daniel was the mouthpiece of God's judgment.
And so over here,
we see that God is working in this really large-scale way
to bring judgment.
But then over here,
amongst people that didn't even know
what was going on outside,
there were parents that were investing in their kids,
and God was using that investment.
He was working in their hearts
because he was going to use them in a magnificent way.
Yes, God is always working.
While Habakkuk was asking God why he was silent and inactive,
God was not only raising up his instrument of judgment,
but he was also preparing his remnant
to proclaim his glory and his power and his covenant
while in the midst of captivity.
He is always working.
He's working out his judgment against the wicked,
and he's working out his goodness
for those that love and follow him.
So don't be distraught in your prayer today.
You may not understand all that God is doing,
and you may not understand why God is doing it
the way that he is,
but you can be certain that he is working
for the good of his people and the praise of his glory.
God is always at work.
Daniel's parents would never see the fruit of their labor.
It's likely that they would have been killed
in the midst of this captivity,
but God was working through them anyways,
and he used them in an awesome way.
God is always working.
Not only do we see he's always at work,
but secondly, in verses six through 10,
we see clearly that God is the sovereign Lord of history.
He is the sovereign Lord of history.
Now we've come to the description of God's judgment,
and we immediately hear echoes
of what was once God's power at work
in the armies of Israel.
Even the wicked people in Israel
would have taken great national pride
in the historical conquest of Canaan
and all the historical battles that Israel had won
in spite of all the odds being stacked against them.
So imagine their thoughts
when God uses such a similar description
to speak of Babylon.
Let me just point out a few things about that.
Look in verse six with me.
God says that they're gonna march through
the breadth of the land.
Not only does this speak to the size of the coming army,
but it reflects the notion of total conquest.
They were gonna take the entire nation.
Israel had at one time been the conquerors,
but now they would be conquered.
Think about how God had promised this
in Leviticus chapter 20 to the nation of Israel.
God said, I have said unto you,
ye shall inherit the land,
and I will give it unto you to possess it.
That is, the whole land.
It was to be Israel's,
but now they weren't the conquerors.
They were to be conquered.
Look again at verse six.
They will possess dwelling places
that are not their own.
And this was exactly the blessing
that was bestowed upon the nation of Israel
after they took possession of the promised land.
Consider Deuteronomy chapter six.
And it shall be when the Lord thy God
shall have brought thee into the land
which he swear unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
that he will give you great and goodly cities
which thou buildest not,
houses full of all good things
which thou fillest not,
wells dig that thou diggest not,
vineyards and olive trees
which thou plantest not.
This was a blessing that was bestowed
upon the covenant nation,
but now this same description
was being given to their enemy,
to a wicked nation.
They would now be the ones that come in
and possess dwellings that are not their own.
Look at verse seven.
They're terrible and dreadful.
Everyone would tremble at the news
of the conquering Babylonians
in the same way that they had once trembled at Israel.
Think about Joshua chapter five, verse number one.
The kings of the Amorites
and the kings of the Canaanites,
their hearts melted
and their spirit was not in them anymore
because of the children of Israel.
Now Israel was experiencing that feeling.
Look again at verse 10.
They will deride every stronghold.
They will mock at and laugh at every fortification.
No fortification was gonna be able
to prevent this enemy.
And one need only to reflect on the battle of Jericho
to consider how God had once favored Israel
in the same way.
Now the warning here is abundantly clear.
Judgment is coming.
Judgment's coming.
God will not wait forever.
Though he is long suffering,
judgment will eventually come
to all who refuse to follow Christ.
In Genesis chapter six and verse three in Noah's day,
God said, my spirit shall not always strive with man.
In other words, there's gonna come a day
when enough is enough.
And in Genesis chapter six,
it would be 120 years
that God was gonna give the people to repent.
And Noah preached and Noah proclaimed
the message of God, but they did not repent.
And they were swept away in the judgment.
Isaiah chapter 55 again says,
seek ye the Lord while he may be found,
indicating that there's a time
when you will not be able to find him.
Call you upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return unto the Lord
and he will have mercy on him.
Let him turn to our God
for he will abundantly pardon.
Though judgment will come,
God is patient
and he allows ample time
for us to turn to him.
If you will only forsake your way
and follow Christ,
what awaits you
is an abundant pardon.
He will forgive your sin.
He will wipe you clean.
You will be his,
but he will not wait forever.
His judgment is coming.
And the time right now
is the only time
that you have to repent of your way.
It's the only time
that you have to turn to God.
Eventually, his patience will run out.
Eventually, God will say,
enough is enough
and your period and your window
will be closed.
Judgment will be here.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6,
behold, now is the accepted time.
Behold, now is the day of salvation.
The writer of Hebrews
in chapter 4 and verse 7
quotes David when he says,
today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your heart.
Listen to me, friend.
If you're watching this video
and you are not a true believer,
I'm not asking if you take Christianity
as your labeled religion.
I'm not asking if you go to church.
I'm saying,
have you really turned
from your wicked ways
and truly trusted in Christ alone
for salvation?
If you have not done that,
judgment is coming for you,
but mercy awaits you
if you will but cry out to God
and turn from your ways
and follow him.
But he will not wait forever.
Sin always loses the blessing of God.
Always.
And if you're a believer,
nothing can take away your salvation,
but God will not allow your sin
to go without consequence.
You cannot expect in Christianity
and in your walk with God
to live however it is you please
and not have to deal
with the repercussions.
Just like David with his sin
with Bathsheba and Uriah,
God will remove his blessing
from your life
and he will allow you
to reap the consequences of your sin.
Sin always loses the blessing of God.
And the nation of Israel
heard that loud and clear
in the message of Habakkuk.
Now that's a bit about
God's warning of judgment,
but we cannot ignore the fact
that all of this came
from the divine hand of God.
He does not sit passively
as life for us progresses.
He is in sovereign control
of all that takes place,
including the monumental events
of history.
God took complete responsibility
for the rise and fall
of the Babylonians.
Look back with me
at Habakkuk chapter one,
verse six.
He said,
I raise up the Chaldeans.
God was taking responsibility.
This was in his plan
and his purpose
and his control.
And he did not arbitrarily
choose a nation
that had already been established.
He was totally responsible
for their rise
and only the power of God
could perform such a feat
in the way that he did.
And again,
Robertson is so helpful here.
He says,
this whole international escapade
underscores the prominence
of the divine hand
in raising them up
and also bringing them down.
Who would believe
that a virtually non-existent entity
could conquer the old capital
of Assyria in 614,
Nineveh in 612,
Haran in 610,
and rout the armies
of Pharaoh Necho
at Carchemish in 605.
They became the world rulers
of Babylonia,
Assyria,
Syria,
Palestine,
and Egypt
when 20 years previously
they hardly were known
to exist.
Yet their energy dissipated
almost as rapidly
so that they were easily overcome
by Cyrus,
king of Persia
in 539,
just in time
to fulfill the prophecy
of Jeremiah
concerning Israel's return
in 70 years.
Astounding indeed
are the ways of God
among the nations,
not by their own instinct,
but by the hidden impulse
of God
do the nations
rise and fall.
Think about God's
sovereign control
over the events
of history.
He raises up
the Babylonians
and at the same time
that he's raising them up
and allowing them
to conquer the world,
he's raising up Cyrus
and the Persians
to immediately be
his instrument
of judgment
on Babylon
and be his instrument
of blessing
on his own nation
as he allows
the people of Israel
70 years later
to come back
to the promised land.
What a God that is.
The scriptures are clear
that he is truly
the Lord of history.
Nothing happens
apart from God's
divine determination.
He is in control
of all things.
It is he
that raises up kings
and puts them down.
It is he
that is in control
of the circumstances
of your life
as well.
Proverbs 21
and verse 1
The king's heart
is in the hand
of the Lord.
As the rivers
of water
he turneth it
whithersoever he will.
Daniel chapter 2
and verse 20
Blessed be the name
of God
forever and ever
for wisdom
and might are his
and he changes
the times
and the seasons.
He removes kings
and he sets up kings.
Nothing is out
of his control.
His ways may be mysterious
but the Lord of history
is to be trusted
and worshipped.
City of Light
is one of my favorite
musical groups
throughout of a church
in Australia
and they wrote this song
called Ancient of Days
and the first verse
goes like this
Though the nations rage
kingdoms rise and fall
listen
there is still
one king
reigning over all
so I will not fear
though this truth
remains
that my God
is the Ancient
of Days.
The chorus goes on
to say
none above him
none before him
all of time
in his hands
for his throne
it shall remain
and ever stand
all the power
all the glory
I will trust
in his name
for my God
is the Ancient
of Days.
So we clearly see
not only is God
always working
but he is indeed
the Lord of history
and it is to this
great God
who is sovereign
over all
that we will face
judgment
it is to him
that we must repent
and turn
before it's too late
and it is to him
that we must give
all of our worship
and all of our praise
and all of our attention
and then finally
we see that God
has a purpose
God has
a purpose
now I told you
that I was going to
quote Martin Lloyd-Jones
a number of times
and I have only done it
once up to this point
but I have several things
that I just want to read
to you that
he is so helpful
in this book
in fact
I want to encourage you
to get the book
it is called
From Fear to Faith
you can get it
from InterVarsity Press
it would be an encouragement
to you
but he said
great powers
have been raised up
and have conquered
for a while
but they have always
become drunk
with their own success
and suddenly
they in turn
have found themselves
cast down
the real significance
of history
never dawns
upon them
the Chaldeans
thought that
their conquest
was a result
of their own strength
in fact look with me
at verse 11
then shall his mind
be changed
and he shall pass over
and offend
this is just speaking
of the actual defeat
of Israel
imputing this
his power
unto his God
in other words
he was saying
I am God
Nebuchadnezzar
set himself up
as a God
and demanded
to be worshipped
because of this
demonstration of power
as he
marched across
the entire world
at that point
he failed
to see
that he was
nothing more
than a tool
in the hand
of God
indeed
God always
has a purpose
and it has
to do
exclusively
with his kingdom
again
Lloyd-Jones
says
the key
to the history
of the world
is the kingdom
of God
the story
of other nations
mentioned in the
Old Testament
is relevant
only as it
bears upon
the destiny
of Israel
and ultimately
history today
is relevant
only as it
bears upon
the history
of the Christian
church
what really
matters
in the world
is God's
kingdom
think about
Romans chapter
9
and verse 17
for the scripture
says Paul writes
unto Pharaoh
even for this
same purpose
God says
have I raised
thee up
that I might
show my
power in thee
and that my
name might be
declared
throughout all
the earth
Pharaoh thought
he was in
charge
Nebuchadnezzar
thought he
was in charge
Cyrus thought
he was in
charge
but it was
God who
was at work
it was he
that was affecting
their hearts
and it was his
purposes
that were being
accomplished
considered his
divine purpose
being worked
out
amidst the
establishment
of ancient
Rome
and Roman
society
it was through
his work
in raising
up Rome
that salvation
was provided
through Jesus
Christ
God might have
been silent
in that 400
year gap
between Malachi
and Matthew
but despite
his silence
in the nation
God was working
and he was
raising up
the Romans
so that he
could bring
his son
to provide
redemption
for us
again Lloyd
Jones says
it was when
the fullness
of time
was come
that God
sent forth
his son
he allowed
the great
philosophers
with their
clarification
of thought
to come
first
then emerged
the Romans
famous for
ordered government
building their
roads and
spreading their
wonderful legal
system throughout
the world
it was after
this that
God sent
forth his
son
God had
planned
it all
all things
are under
his divine
control
in order
that he
might work
out his
saving
purposes
for his
people
think of
Ephesians
chapter 1
and verse 11
in Christ
we have
obtained
an inheritance
being
predestinated
according to
the purpose
of him
who worketh
all things
according to
the counsel
of his
own
will
all things
related to
salvation
are being
sovereignly
worked out
according to
the counsel
of God's
own
will
think of
2nd Timothy
chapter 1
and verse 9
Christ has
saved us
and he has
called us
with a holy
calling
not according
to our
works
but according
to his
own
purpose
and grace
which was
given in
Christ Jesus
before the
world ever
began
God had a
plan set
forth
and everything
you see
happening in
history
whether it
was ancient
history
or whether
it's modern
history
is all
within the
sovereign
control of
God
that he
might work
out his
purposes
among his
purpose
among his
people
God's work
among the
nations
is to
provide
redemption
for mankind
and the
events of
your life
are being
orchestrated
by his
divine
hand
even now
he is
calling
sinners
to repent
and receive
his grace
through Jesus
Christ
and this
is his
ultimate
purpose
1st Timothy
1 15
tells us
Christ
Jesus
came into
the world
to save
sinners
and if
you're
watching this
video today
and you
don't know
Christ
and you
don't believe
him
God has
orchestrated
the events
of your
life for
this moment
to hear
his gospel
preached
if you
would but
trust
him
and turn
from your
own way
what awaits
you is
abundant
pardon
and mercy
but he
will not
wait long
his judgment
is coming
and he
is sovereign
over all
things
and nothing
can stop
his
purposes
so turn
to him
whether it
be through
a worldwide
pandemic
a contentious
election season
or any
number of
events
taking place
in our
lifetime
God
is working
he is in
control
and he
has
a plan
finally
Lloyd-Jones
says
what God
is permitting
in the church
and in the
world today
is related
to his
great purpose
for his
own church
and kingdom
we
Christians
should therefore
judge
every event
in the light
of God's
great
eternal
and glorious
purpose
church
let's keep
our focus
on the
kingdom
God
is in
control
of the
pandemic
only he
knows how
serious it
actually is
and he
is using
it for
his purpose
don't get
wrapped up
in the
chaos
of the
pandemic
keep
your eyes
on the
kingdom
it is
God
who will
raise up
a president
and it is
God
who will
put down
a president
ultimately
our hope
is not
in the
White House
it is in
the sovereign
control
of God
don't get
caught up
in the
politics
trust
God
keep
your eyes
on the
kingdom
there will
be times
of loss
don't get
in such
despair
over loss
that you
lose sight
of the
kingdom
God is
working all
of these
things out
for his
purpose
they are
but tools
in his
hand
put your
trust in
him
for he is
working all
things
for your
good
as Romans
8 reminds
us
and we know
that all
things work
together for
good to
them that
love God
to them
who are
the called
according
to his
purpose
and Paul
goes on to
say that
purpose
is to
conform you
and me
into the
image
of his
son
Jesus
Christ
what's
happening
right now
the fact
that we
haven't been
able to
gather as
a church
for six
weeks
maybe
longer
all of
that
God is
using
this
to
fashion
us
into
the
likeness
of
his
son
the
sickness
the
hurt
the
potential
job
loss
the
economy
all of
these
things
they are
serving
God's
purpose
you can
trust
him
trust
the
sovereign
God
so I
will not
fear
for this
truth
remains
that
my
God
is
the
ancient
of
days
thank you
for listening
to this
sermon
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by Lakeside
Bible Church
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Bible
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