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.
We will begin by looking at
I. DELIVERANCE AS SEEN IN HABAKKUK – In these verses we have the vision of the prophet and find two aspects of deliverance seen in Habakkuk
A. The First – Concerning the Dilemma of Babylon
1. Habakkuk was a prophet to Judah and, as such, we can expect his utterances to be directed to the nation of Judah
2. Therefore as the prophet speaks of deliverance it will have some present day (his present day) meaning.
3. As we read through this passage we get the sense we have heard these words before, seen these acts in the past – and the astute reader has.
a. The passage is riddled with references to God’s deliverances in the past – a couple of examples
b. Verses 5 speaks of pestilences – the Egyptian exodus
c. Verse 11 speaks of the sun and moon standing still – Joshua’s deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Amorites (Josh 10)
4. I bring this to our attention because Habakkuk saw the Lord as a delivering God
a. He had heard of His great deliverances in the past and knew God was able and willing to do it again
b. Habakkuk uses the passage to poetically describe the power, glory and ways of God’s delivering hand
c. He wrote this as a prayer – a psalm to be sung in hopeful anticipation that God was going to do it again for Judah!
5. Yes, God would judge Israel, but then He would bring deliverance to His people.
6. Habakkuk saw there was a Time of Deliverance in his day and the Great Deliverer was God Almighty
B. While this is good for Habakkuk and his day, we can also see greater prophetic implications – a future day of deliverance
1. While the passage is filled with past acts of God, we also read of future acts (quite often God’s prophets had a vision for the moment and of the future)
2. There are an amazing number of references that line up with the future acts of God in the book of Revelation.
3. A few examples will suffice
a. Pestilence – Rev 15:1
b. Mountains scattered and hills brought down – Rev 16:20
c. Going forth for the salvation of his people – Rev 19:11
4. Folks, there is coming a day of ultimate deliverance, when the people of God will be delivered from all captive forces whether they be: 1) nations, kings and princes; or 2) sin and death.
5. And God’s anointed, Jesus Christ, King from the tribe of Judah will reign
6. Listen to a review of that day found in Rev. 21:3-5 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
7. A time of Deliverance (still future) and the Ultimate Deliverer (still God)!
Now past deliverances are good to hear about and a future deliverance is good to know about, but we live in the present – what does the Bible have to say about present deliverance? Well, I’m glad this question was presented because the Bible does have an answer. Let’s look at
II. OUR PRESENT DELIVERANCE, 2 Cor. 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
A. In chapter 1 of Second Corinthians Paul tells the church that he serves a faithful God
1. He speaks to them about his trials, not wanting them to worry or lose hope, for they had come from God
2. In his travels he had been delivered from death many times (maybe more importantly, God had delivered him from the fear of death - 2 Cor. 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: )
3. And because of this he knew God would continue to deliver him as he went on his way.
4. The past and present record of God’s deliverance gave Paul a sure hope – knowledge - that He would continue to do so in the future.
5. Paul’s present deliverance had a past, present and future aspect
B. This personal testimony by Paul has been a foundation of hope for all saints. God delivers (past, present and future) His children even today!
1. Past Deliverance: We can look back and see where God’s hand was at work in our lives – delivering us from all kinds of trials
a. I can remember a time I was traveling from Little Rock, AR to Manila, Ar. After graduating from NCO Leadership School. (tell story)
b. No doubt God delivered me.
- As a significant side bar, if you are a child of God He has delivered you (past tense) from the penalty of sin - Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2. Then there is the Present Deliverance: even now God is providing deliverance
a. 1 Cor. 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
b. God is always working on our behalf, providing a way of deliverance in the midst of temptations, trials and testings – He has provided us with His word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit
c. We chose to listen to Him or the flesh (our own desires and cravings)
- And here is another major side bar, God has given us deliverance from the power of sin (present tense), Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
3. And finally, there is Future Deliverance
a. We know from our past and present experiences that God will continue to deliver us – our God is faithful!
b. Paul writes to the Romans: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:35, 37-39
- And as one last major side bar, we shall be delivered from the presence of sin, 1 Cor. 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
C. So how is your present deliverance?
1. Can you see how he has delivered you in the past? Give Him thanks
2. Are you in need of deliverance right now? Follow His word
3. Do you wrestle and worry about the future? Give Him your heart!
4. Now is the time for deliverance and the ultimate deliverer is Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION: As we close
A. It is good to see God’s deliverance
1. It is good to see how God has delivered in the past – as in the days of Habakkuk – it builds confidence
2. It is good to see how God is going to ultimately deliver his people in the future – it gives hope.
3. It is good to see how God brings deliverance in our own lives – it gives us life and a testimony
B. Now is the time for your deliverance and the ultimate deliverer is Jesus Christ – He can bring it to you!
