A Time For Deliverance & The Ultimate Deliverer Series

A TIME FOR DELIVERANCE & THE ULTIMATE DELIVERER

Habakkuk 3:1-16

INTRODUCTION:

A. Deliverance – it is a grand theme of the Bible – consider this

1. The word deliver and its various forms is written 595 times in the KJV of the Bible

2. One whole book is devoted to deliverance – Exodus, the deliverance of God’s people out of Egyptian captivity

3. One of Jesus’ mission statements is found in Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,….

4. And as the apostle Paul considered the fight within, the fight between good and evil, he cried out O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24

B. But deliverance is not just a biblical theme – it’s a life theme

1. People are crying out for deliverance

a. Deliverance from addictions: drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, cigarettes and more

b. They are crying out for deliverance from debt: secured and unsecured

c. Others cry out for deliverance from starvation, disease, lack of water

d. And still others cry out for deliverance from war and natural disaster.

2. Needless to say deliverance is a big topic today, as well as in biblical times

C. With this in mind, Habakkuk has a lot to offer us for it gives us a sure focus when it comes to deliverance – The Lord God almighty, the Ultimate Deliverer!

1. Deliverance is the theme of our passage and message for this morning.

2. The chapter begins with an introduction, giving us an idea of where we are going: Habakkuk 3:1-2 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

3. The vision has been received and the prophet resigns himself to the message which he is about to complete.

a. God is going to judge Judah with a terrible judgment, and then He is going to judge Babylon, thereby delivering Judah from her grasp - Listen to the message: God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah. Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly. Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops. Hab 3:3-16

b. From this passage I want to draw three points for the Time of Deliverance and the Ultimate Deliverer.

c. The first two will come from the text directly – Deliverance as Seen In Habakkuk

d. The third stemming from the text – Our Deliverance

4. So lets pray and get started.