Thesis:              God is in everywhere and everything, no matter how much
                        we may think God is NOT with us!

Object:              To motivate the audience to a patient wait on the Lord.

Song of Invitation:  # 242;  I'll Be Satisfied Then
 

Introduction

I.   A man who trusted God, but was perplexed.
       A.   He preached from circa 625-607 BC at about the time of Jeremiah.
       B.   He preached "justice" and "salvation."

II.    (1) Why did God permit the increasing evil in Judah to go unpunished?
       (2) How could a holy God justify using the Babylonians, a people more
            wicked than the Jews, to punish the Jews?
       (3) Habakkuk complained that God was slow to answer or was not listening.

III.   A defense of God's goodness and power in view of the existing evil.

IV.   It's truth is central to the doctrine of justification by faith.              [Hab 2: 4]
 

Body
I.   God may tolerate wickedness for a season, but NO longer!
       A.   Habakkuk does not understand this, so he complains.          [1: 2]
              1.   God is slow to answer.
              2.   Maybe He will not answer.

       B.   God's not slack.                                             [2 Pet 3: 9]
              1.   Thus, He requires us to repent!
              2.   He will patiently wait for us until we do so.

II.   Fate is God's
       A.   Nations are under His control.
       B.   My life is under His control.
              1.   We must confess our sins to Him out of obedience.[Neh 9: 5-38]
              2.   He will deliver us out of His mercy for us.          [Neh 9: 28]

III.   Righteous will endure forever.
       A.   The just are motivated to endure forever.                 [2: 4]
       B.   We're motivated to spread the Word of God.            [Rom 1: 17]
       C.   We must have faith that God will provide.                 [Gal 3:11]
       D.   Our faith must be unchanging/confident.                 [Heb 10: 38]
       E.   Believe and live or disbelieve and die.                        [Jn 3: 36]

IV.   Suffering is for the purpose of disciplining
       A.   Discipline leads to righteousness.          [Heb 12: 5-7-10-11]
       B.   Start early!                                          [Pr 19: 18]
              1.   We discipline/chasten too late; we are ineffective.
              2.   Our lives are to be committed to Christ-like, loving, discipline.
       C.   God wants us to move from lukewarm to hot!              [Rev 3: 19]
              1.   True love chastens/disciplines.
              2.   Let's be excited about correcting and edifying one another.
       D.   Discipline is good for the soul.                        [Ps 69: 10]
       E.   God will discipline, but not beyond what we can handle.   [Ps 118: 18]
       F.   You do not listen to chasten, you will be devoured.          [Jer 2: 30]

V.   Turn your mistrust into trust
       A.   Habakkuk is still acting like a doubting Thomas,       [Hab 3: 17-19]
              but with a lot more long-term trust - all will work itself out.
       B.   David asked the people to trust in God at all times!              [Ps 62: 8]
 

Conclusion

I.    Faith is the ability to feel so sure of God, that, no matter how dark the
      day, there is no doubt as to the outcome.  For God's people there is a
      glorious future.  It may be a long way off.  But it is absolutely sure.  Thus,
      in the midst of his gloom and despair, Habakkuk was an optimist of the first
      magnitude.

II.   Cling to the Lord as we wait on His 2nd coming.  Our prayers at the injustices
      and imperfections of this world are not going unheard.

III.   In the meantime, we should study God's Word to wipe our tears.

IV.   One day our prayers will be answered and the world's injustices righted!
 

Invitation
I.  A disciple of Jesus Christ's is obedient to God's Words ONLY!
            [Zeph 1: 14-18; Pr 30: 6; Gal 1: 6-8; 1 Peter 4: 11; Jude 3; Rev 22: 18-19]

II.   This includes the steps of obedience to salvation.
 

OUTLINE

I.   Introduction.                                                           [1: 1]

II.   Hab.'s problems
       A.   (1) Why does God allow wicked practices to cont in Judah.          [1: 2-4]
       B.   Ans. to (1): 1: 5-11]
       C.   (2) Why will God use wicked p to punish Judah?                    [1: 12-2: 1]
       D.   Ans. to (2) 2: 2-20
 

III.   Hab. praise [3: 1-19]
       A.   Praise for the people of God [3: 1-3]
       B.   Praise for the power of God [3: 4-7]
       C.   Praise for the purpose of God [3: 8-16]
       D.   Praise because of faith in God [3: 17-9]

Sermon:  The book of Habakkuk 1: 1 - 3: 19/"To embrace, cling, caress"
 
 

Copyright 1999 by Neil C. Prokop may be reproducted for non-commercial purposes at no cost to others.