WHICH WAY WILL YOU CHOOSE?
Habakkuk 2:2-20 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."
1. THE WAY OF FAITH – 2:4
a. THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH
i. Quoted three times in the NT
b. The basis of RIGHTEOUSNESS
Genesis 7:1 The Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God’s friend.
i. Never what we have done
ii. Always what God has done
c. The responsibility of the righteous
i. Live by faith
ii. Faith here means steadfastness; loyalty to God’s will and commands.
iii. Faith involves commitment
Hebrews 10:37-39 For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
d. The Activity of the righteous
i. To LIVE!
ii. To live a life as a believer even in a time of crisis
iii. Living a faithful righteous life is living a life that experiences God’s blessings even in crisis
1. Resting in God’s grace
2. Resting in God’s protection
3. Resting in God’s control
NOW WE CAN LIVE THIS KIND OF LIFE – A LIFE OF FAITH, OR WE CAN LIVE THE OTHER LIFE – THE LIFE OF “UNFAITH”
2. THE WAY OF “UNFAITH” – 2:4a, 6-20
a. “puffed up” with wrong desires
i. “Puffed up”: swollen with evil passions
b. The “Woes” of Habakkuk
i. Woe: distress in the face of judgment
ii. Woes are the characteristics of living a life of “unfaith”
c. The Woe of Greed – 2:6
i. Greed is a characteristic of one who does not trust God
1. It is God who supplies our needs based on his knowledge of us.
2. Greed negates trust
Matthew 6:30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
ii. The world is an insecure place
1. God provides security in this life and in the future!
1 Corinthians 15:55-56 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
2. Sin – the evidence of a life of “unfaith” provides no hope for the future
d. The Woe of Injustice – 2:9
i. Injustice get ahead on the backs and work of others
ii. Injustice sneaks in when others have entered openly
John 10:1 "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
iii. Injustice accumulates by dishonesty
iv. The result of injustice is to forfeit your own life
e. The Woe of Violence
i. We have built our cities on bloodshed
1. We do not punish the guilty anymore
a. We have an ever growing list of conditions and diseases that justify brutal actions, and give mercy to the perpetrators but no relief for the victim.
b. We live in a nation that condones and supports the termination of human life by abortion
• In 1994
o 760,849 legal abortions in the United States
o 260,289,237 Population of the United States
o 2.95% of the population aborted
o NJ -- 32,947 abortions
o 8,682,61 Population of NJ
o 3% of state population aborted
c. We have built our city on the blood of the unborn
i. Abortion has harmed the ONLY innocent party
2. We call what we do a choice
a. The fetus was not a choice
b. The fetus was not an inconvenience
c. The fetus was a CHILD
i. With a soul
ii. With a sin nature
iii. With the image of God
3. God calls what we do murder
Revelation 6:9-10 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"
Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
f. The Woe of Seduction – 2:15
i. We live in a nation that has seduced men and women into all manner of sinful behavior.
ii. We twist God’s Word to condemn both the sin and the sinner when God’s word says no such thing.
1. God died for mankind
2. Mans nature has drawn him away from his Creator and Savior
James 1:14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
Romans 1:24-32 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
g. The woe of Idolatry
i. America’s Idols are no longer made of wood, but of gold, silver, and chrome
ii. We ride in them, live in them, and worship them.
iii. We dress like them and mimic them
iv. All of the idols in the world can give no guidance and only draw us further from God
We have only one hope:
Joshua 24:15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
• America is making her choice!
• You need to make your choice!
o There is no sitting on the fence
Revelation 3:5 (NIV)
5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Revelation 20:15 (NIV)
15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
• You can choose the way of “unfaith” and have a nice life
• You can choose the way of faith and have an eternity with God
• To choose ‘unfaith’ do nothing
• Choose faith:
o Means full commitment
Luke 9:62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
o Means repentance from the woes all around us
o Means living the life of a believer EVEN in the time of crisis
