Living by faith means stepping out for God and leaving the results to him.
Sermon Title: WHEN TIMES ARE TROUBLING
Sermon Text: HABAKKUK 2:2-20 (NIV)
Sermon Series: HABAKKUK: FAITH IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S FRUSTRATIONS
By: PTR NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
HABAKKUK 2:2-20 NIV
2 Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
4 See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright-- but the righteous will live by his faith--
5 indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.
6 Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’
7 Will not your debtors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim.
8 Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
9 Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin!
10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.
11 The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.
12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime!
13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
15 Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies.
16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
17 The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.
18 Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
I. GOD’S REVELATION
THERE IS AN APPOINTED TIME
God always gets there just in time, at the appointed time.
2 PETER 3:8 NIV
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL
1st Indictment: Their Extortion
2nd Indictment: Their Arrogance
3rd Indictment: Their Cruelty
4th Indictment: Their Immorality
5th Indictment: Their Idolatry
GALATIANS 6:7 NIV
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
PSALMS 7:16 NIV
16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.
II. OUR RESPONSE: LIVE BY FAITH
Righteousness is what we need but do not have.
ROMANS 3:10-12 NIV
10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
ROMANS 3:21-24 NIV
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Faith is never meant to be a one-time experience.
LIVING BY FAITH IS NEVER PASSIVE
LIVING BY FAITH ACCEPTS GOD’S CALL EVEN IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY, DOUBT AND OPPOSITION
Living by faith means stepping out for God and leaving the results to him.
LIVING BY FAITH IS FAITH IN THE PERSON OF JESUS
The right side of history is always on the side of God.