Live By Faith? Series

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON? A SERIES FROM HABAKKUK

Live By Faith?

Habakkuk 1:12-2:4

INTRODUCTION:

A. Let me summarize (quickly) last weeks message:

1. Habakkuk was asking God why He did not do something about all the ungodliness in the land of Judah

- He just could not understand why He allowed it to go un-reproved.

2. God answered him and said: Don’t worry son, I got it covered, I’m raising up a nasty bunch, the Babylonians, who will judge Judah for her sin.

3. God answered Habakkuk, but in the process gave the prophet some very unwanted news!

4. In the process we learned God is sovereign working out His will on His timetable, His way, for His kingdom’s purposes.

5. But God’s answer further perplexed the man and brought forth another problem and another whole set of questions.

6. Thit is where we find ourselves this morning.

B. I imagine many of us have found ourselves in a position much like this.

1. Either we can’t seem to find out what God is saying, or when we do, we don’t really like it.

2. Or maybe, we are at the point that we just don’t understand, like Habakkuk, why God would allow something, seemingly so unjust, to happen

3. Unfortunately, neither I nor anyone else, can give definitive answers, but God did not leave us out in the cold to die in despair, either.

4. This is where Habakkuk might be able to help us.

C. As you can see by the title, the question for this morning could be, With all that is going on in the world and my life, how am I to Live By Faith?

1. Lets look at the course of events in this passage and see how it can help us: first we see

a. The Confession, which moves us to

b. An Investigation, and on to

c. A Declaration

2. It is amazing how this process worked for Habakkuk, may be it will help us deal with the things that effect us, as well.

PRAY

We will begin with

I. A CONFESSION, Habakkuk 1:12-13a Art thou not from 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. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:….

A. When I said confession I mean it in the sense of a set of beliefs

1. What do we believe, in this case, about God?

2. Note what Habakkuk believed about God – His attributes

a. Everlasting, O LORD – God is Eternal - the self existing one

- It should also be noted that Habakkuk, used the covenantal name for God, that is the relational name – My God

b. Mine Holy One – God is Holy - that is God is absolutely separate from and exalted above all his creation, and is equally separate from all moral evil and sin.

c. Thou has ordained – God is Sovereign – he rules over all things and is in control of all things including nations and people

d. O mighty God – God is mighty, in fact Omnipotent, there is nothing stronger and He can do as He wills

e. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity – God is just and righteous, He does what is right at all times

3. Now look at what Habakkuk believes about God – His actions

a. Judgment – God establishes judgment (He will judge sin) and this is in line with all His attributes

b. Correction – God’s purposes in judgment is to correct, to bring back into fellowship and conformity to His word.

B. This is where we must start if we are going to sort out all that is going on around us and to us.

1. What do you believe about God?

2. Jay Adams, one of the leaders in the biblical counseling movement, wrote a book entitled, The Theology of Christian Counseling

a. He did this because it was his belief, one that I hold as well, that all problems that require counseling are at their root theological problems

b. They stem from or are aggravated by wrong thinking about God and His word.

3. What you REALLY believe about God forms the frame work for everything else you believe and do.

4. Here is an interesting question to consider, If someone was going to form an opinion about God based on your life and actions what would it look like? 5. This might be the real test of what we believe about God.

Lets move on. It was his knowledge about God and who He was that was causing Habakkuk such problems. They seemed to be in contra diction. This brought on