Vision Problems.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Habakkuk chapter 1. [0:03] If you don’t know where Habakkuk is, realize that if you hit the New Testament, you’ve gone too far. [0:08] And if you see the book of Psalms, you have not gone far enough. [0:13] But last week, we started this series of vision in famine. [0:20] And last week we talked about that sometimes in life, we don’t really know where God is going. [0:27] Or sometimes, maybe if you’re like me, you’ve found your place in life when you don’t even know where God is.

[0:34] And you’re just like, God, where are you? [0:36] Or you’ve had a Psalm 42 moment where David feels so separated from God, and he’s so hungry for God’s presence, [0:45] that he says, it’s like I am a deer that is panning for water. My soul, God, is panting for you. [0:53] And that is not a Psalm about how good David feels. [0:58] I know sometimes we read it that way, but David is actually in a place in his life where he is consumed with an absentee feeling from God. [1:08] And where David says, God, I haven’t felt your presence in so long. It’s as if I’m dying right now.

[1:18] And I don’t know if you’ve been there in your life. [1:20] I don’t know if things have happened. If you’re human, I’m guessing you’ve had some problems, you’ve had some trials, [1:27] you may have experienced some tragedies in your life. [1:31] And in those moments, it is oftentimes very hard to praise God.

[1:41] Even more so is it hard to say, I love you, God. [1:45] And rarely will you hear people be that honest about it. [1:51] But life’s hard. Life’s not easy. [1:54] But last week what we did is we looked at a place in Habakkuk’s life where Israel, who, Habakkuk’s a prophet of Israel if you know that, [2:01] they’ve gotten completely sinful, they have fled away from God, [2:06] and they’re now at a place where the majority of Israel is worshipping a false god named Baal.

[2:12] And Habakkuk comes to God and he says, we had a good godly king and he was killed by a wicked king. [2:19] Now he’s wicked, everyone in Israel’s following him, now they’re wicked, and I’m a prophet, [2:25] and I’m supposed to speak on behalf of you, God, but nobody’s listening because barely do they even believe in you anymore. [2:33] And he says, God, where are you? Do something! Judge sin! Show me some justice!

[2:45] And we look at the story and God looks at Habakkuk and he says, [2:49] Habakkuk, let me tell you what I’m going to do. [2:52] And Habakkuk’s probably all good. He’s going to fix it, I’m going to be restored to a place where I can be the prophet and they’re going to listen to me. [2:59] And God says, what I’m going to do is I’m going to send the Chaldeans in who were a completely wicked people. [3:06] They were establishing Babylon back into prominence, the Chaldeans were, and they worshipped their own might. [3:14] They were far from God, they were more wicked than Israel according to Scripture and history.

[3:20] And they just went through cities and went through countries, killing everybody in their path, ransacking every nation, [3:29] for one purpose, and that’s to show how powerful they were. [3:34] They were not interested in anyone else’s wealth, they were not interested in having a big kingdom, they just wanted to show how strong they were. [3:41] It’s kind of like the guy in the gym that screams the loudest. He just wants everybody to know how much he can bench.

[3:49] Man, I don’t like that guy. I’m sorry if you’re that guy. [3:52] I’m still your friend, but realize everybody’s like, seriously?

[3:58] Come on, dude. We can see your muscles. You don’t have to make them scream at us. [4:05] But, so that’s who the Chaldeans were. The Scriptures literally say they worshipped their own strength.

[4:11] And so, Habakkuk’s now at a place where he says, God give me justice, and God says, okay, but I’ll give you justice by taking you into captivity to an even more wicked nation. [4:22] And last week, I hope you left encouraged, because we took a look throughout Scripture at the unending faithfulness of God. [4:34] And if you weren’t here, we spent a lot of time looking at the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, where so much tragedy happens in his life. [4:42] He goes through so many trials. He’s sold into slavery by his brothers, accused of a crime he didn’t commit, thrown into prison for years, forgotten by a nation.

[4:56] And then he’s kind of let free from prison. He’s put into a place of power. And it’s almost like one of those moments where it’s like, you know, you repush yourself. [5:05] And his brothers have to come and ask Joseph for food, and they do. And then at the end of the story, we see the brothers come to Joseph, and they say, Joseph, we are so sorry. [5:17] Can you forgive us? Because they’re afraid, because Joseph now has power, that he’s going to kill them for what they did. [5:22] And Joseph looks to his brothers, and in an amazing showing of godly mercy, and in the godly providence, Joseph has the faith to look at his brothers and say, [5:34] What you did, you meant for evil, but realize that god meant it for good. [5:44] In other words, in spite of all of the tragedy that I’ve gone through, and all of the sins that you’ve done against me, and everything that it caused,

[5:51] understand, god was at work, regardless of what was happening, and behind the scenes, he was working it for good, so that I could save you.

[6:03] And it’s wildly encouraging, but it’s also quite convicting for me, because I don’t know that I have that type of faith. [6:12] And we looked at how through the life of one man, and the trials and tragedies that he experienced, god saved the entire nation of Israel. [6:30] And then he continued through the story of the Old Testament, through the history that we find, he continued to endure these people through hard times, [6:39] and good times, so that the son of god, Jesus Christ, could be born out of the nation of Israel.

[6:47] And so, it’s like, wow, the faithfulness of god, he can be trusted. I left here, it was really feeling good. [6:55] And I tell you that, to tell you that this week, I’m not going to make you feel good about yourself, I’m going to spend about 45 minutes beating up on you. [7:04] If this is your first Sunday, welcome to the Village. [7:07] But what I want to do today, is I want to take a look at what G.K. Chesterton, a great philosopher and theologian, many years ago, [7:18] what he said was, he said, total depravity, which is simply a way of saying man’s sinfulness, is the only doctrine of the Bible that has centuries of proof.

[7:32] Centuries. [7:33] Whereas you see people rise to power and fall into sin, rise to power, fall into sin, rise to power, fall into sin, get married, fall into sin, [7:41] have babies, fall into sin, grow old, fall into sin, as children, fall into sin. [7:46] There’s something that we have in common here. There’s something that we all know is wrong. [7:51] There’s something inside of us that is radically corrupt.

[7:56] Where when bad things and good things happen, our first response is never on our own to say, God, glorify him. [8:05] When I do something good, my response is to say, good me. [8:09] When something bad happens, I say, God, why? [8:13] When I’m given a chance to disappoint, I typically will. [8:17] When someone in your life is given a chance to disappoint you, they probably will. [8:21] If you don’t think you’re sinful, clearly you probably have a good picture that everyone around you is.

[8:28] So regardless of what you think about yourself, look at everybody else and you’re going to see sinful. [8:32] And understand that you’re in their circle of friends, so if they don’t think they’re sinful, they think you are. [8:38] And they probably have plenty of evidence to prove it to you.

[8:43] So there’s something inside of us that doesn’t do what is right and is not faithful.

[8:53] And here in the book of Habakkuk, we have a story that I’ve never experienced. [8:58] I’ve never talked to God and then audibly heard His voice respond.

[9:04] I never have. [9:06] But Habakkuk is at a place where he complains to God. [9:13] And says, where are you? [9:14] And God literally says, here. [9:17] And here’s what I’m going to do. [9:20] And what I want to do today is I want to take a look at what Joseph has…

[9:24] Excuse me, I don’t know why I keep doing that. [9:26] At what Habakkuk has to say back to God about his plan to judge Israel through the Chaldeans. [9:34] And take them into captivity to the Chaldeans. [9:37] And what that has to do with our lives. [9:40] And then look at what God says back to Habakkuk about what he thinks about his faith.

[9:45] So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Habakkuk chapter 1.

[9:50] We finished verse 11 last week. [9:52] We’re going to pick up at verse 12 this week.

[9:57] Habakkuk looks to God.

[10:02] And he begins his prayer the same way I do.

[10:06] He praises God. [10:08] Because you want to butter him up, right? [10:11] So he looks to God and he says, [10:14] Are you not from everlasting? [10:16] O Lord my God, my Holy One, [10:19] We shall not die.

[10:22] O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, [10:26] And you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. [10:30] You, who are of purer eyes than to see evil, [10:35] And cannot look at wrong, [10:36] Why do you idly look at traitors, [10:39] And remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

[10:45] You make mankind like the fish of the sea, [10:48] Like the crawling things that have no ruler. [10:51] He brings all of them up with a hook. [10:53] He drags them out with his net. [10:55] He gathers them with his dragnet. [10:58] So he rejoices and is glad.

[11:01] Therefore, he sacrifices to his net, [11:03] And makes offerings to his dragnet. [11:05] For by them he lives in luxury, [11:08] And his food is rich. [11:09] Is he then to keep on emptying his net, [11:13] And mercilessly killing nations forever?

[11:17] Now I want to spend a minute unpacking all that jarble. [11:24] Because it’s easy to read through that and be like, [11:26] I have no idea what he was talking about in half of it. [11:28] What happens here is Habakkuk is praying a prayer of worshipful complaint.

[11:36] Maybe you’ve done this, understand. [11:38] When I’m praying sometimes,

[11:41] I’ll typically start out my prayer, [11:43] And I have this little thing that I learned when I was a kid. [11:45] I start my prayers with what’s called adoration. [11:48] Where I’m just praising God. [11:49] I’m just worshiping Him for who He is. [11:51] I’m throwing out all the stuff I’ve learned in Sunday school.

[11:55] Where I’m like, God, you’re omniscient. [11:56] God, you’re the Creator. [11:57] God, you’re eternal. [11:58] God, you are mighty. [12:00] God, you are powerful. [12:01] I worship you alone.

[12:05] And then I’m like, and here’s what I want.

[12:11] Alright God, you’re…wow, you!

[12:15] Now can you do this for me?

[12:18] Can you work this out on my benefit? [12:21] But what Habakkuk does here is he starts out with this complaint [12:26] By doing what I do to my wife sometimes. [12:29] Here’s how it’s different than a typical prayer. [12:33] My wife will…and I am a terrible husband. [12:36] If you want to know how to be a husband,

[12:37] Unless you’re about to enter premarital counseling with me, [12:39] Don’t listen to me.

[12:43] But sometimes, I’m telling you, [12:45] Marriage, day one of premarital counseling, [12:47] Marriage shows you your sin. [12:49] And I’ll tell you how it shows me my sin. [12:52] My wife will be doing something that I do not appreciate towards me. [12:56] So I start the confrontational conversation with reminding her who she really is.

[13:04] I’ll say, honey, you are so kind. [13:09] So why are you being so mean to me? [13:12] See what I did there?

[13:15] See what I did? [13:17] It’s like, I love you, but you don’t love me.

[13:23] That’s what Habakkuk’s doing. [13:26] He’s saying, Lord, you are so mighty. [13:33] You are so holy. [13:35] You can’t even look at sin. [13:38] You will not hurt your people.

[13:42] We shall not surely die because you can’t look on sin. [13:47] Evil can’t even be in your presence. [13:49] So how can the wicked triumph over me, the righteous?

[13:57] It’s as if God needs a reminder.

[14:02] See, because what Habakkuk’s doing is, [14:03] he’s appealing to who God is and what he knows of God, [14:10] but he’s turning it to attempt to manipulate Him.

[14:16] Have you ever done that? [14:18] Now, God, I know You want me to serve You. [14:22] I know You want me at church on Sunday, [14:24] and I know You want me in community group midweek. [14:27] So can You give me a new job so that I can make that happen?

[14:38] And Habakkuk turns to God, and he says, God, this is what I want. [14:45] See, his prayer is off base. [14:49] Because what he’s doing is, he’s trying to manipulate what he thinks [14:54] and what he believes about God to fulfill his own plan for life. [15:01] What Habakkuk doesn’t understand, though, is that is not what faith is defined as. [15:06] But I will say that what most people, and probably many of you in this room today,

[15:10] the way that you live lives of faith is to attempt to see where God fits in the life that you are planning. [15:20] So the way most of us do it is, is that we get rooted in our plans. [15:24] We get rooted in our desires. [15:27] We get rooted in our vision for what life is supposed to look like, [15:33] and then we say, okay, what do I know about God? [15:36] What have I learned about Him from His Word?

[15:38] Now, where in my life do I have room to fit Him? [15:45] And you look around and you say, He doesn’t fit there, so I’ll put Him over here, [15:48] because He fits over here, but I can’t change my life to meet what He wants. [15:56] So faith is finding where God fits in my life and where He benefits my standards.

[16:07] That doesn’t take any faith.

[16:13] So what you’re doing here is, is you are actually God. [16:19] You just need a genie inside of the matrix of your life.

[16:27] So you appeal to what you like about Him to meet your standards. [16:34] You’re not alone. I’m there. I struggle with this.

[16:42] Faith must be rooted in God.

[16:48] Faith cannot be rooted in my plans. [16:51] This is why we have to be extremely careful when we use language and we believe, [16:56] and we say words like, I’m believing Jesus for, fill in the blank. [17:01] I’m having faith that God will fill in the blank. [17:06] I know that God loves me, so I’m going to ask Him for this, and that’s how we determine faith. [17:12] I have faith that He’s just going to work it out the way I want it.

[17:17] That type of faith isn’t rooted in God, because God has not been consulted.

[17:23] You consult yourself and then say, hey boss, can you swing it this way?

[17:30] And that’s what Habakkuk’s doing.

[17:35] He says, God, your vision that you’ve given me is not what I want.

[17:46] Have you seen who the Chaldeans actually are? [17:49] Because here’s what he says about the Chaldeans. [17:51] He says, how long will you allow a nation that does not worship you, [17:57] a nation that just constantly rebukes you, a nation that sins against people that you say you love, [18:04] a nation that is just wicked and they’re just disgusting to me, [18:09] how long will you allow them to have any power over me?

[18:17] What’s Habakkuk saying? [18:19] Habakkuk’s saying, God, you need a new game plan so that it can fit my standards.

[18:34] Because when faith happens, and it’s rooted in this, and what I want, [18:43] I’m on a path, I’m going a direction, and I want it to look like this. [18:47] When that happens, what I’m doing is I’m not rooting my faith in God. [18:53] I’m rooting my faith in my life, my dream, and then I’m saying, God, do you want to be a part of this? [19:01] If so, work these things out.

[19:07] And that’s why so many people experience such radical disappointment at how God works in their lives. [19:18] Because what you’ve done is you’ve started with a faulty foundation for what faith is to begin with, [19:23] and of course God cannot comply because God never says, have faith in you. [19:29] God says, have faith in me. [19:32] So when we hear some of the self-help stuff that comes out, [19:36] what just says believe in yourself, trust in yourself, have faith in yourself,

[19:41] understand that that is not a firm foundation to build your life on. [19:45] Because I don’t know about you, but I’ve disappointed myself many times. [19:50] I’ve disappointed my parents thousands of times. [19:53] I’ve disappointed my wife a million times in the six years we’ve been married.

[20:01] How can I have faith in this?

[20:04] I can’t even get on a consistent diet.

[20:09] And that’s just like the little minuscule thing.

[20:15] So your problem is not that you don’t trust yourself. [20:18] Your problem is actually when you say you don’t trust yourself, you’re the only one you’re trusting.

[20:24] And when you start your life and you go throughout your days with nothing but a trust in you and the plans that you’re making, [20:32] you’re going to be disappointed because you are a sinner.

[20:39] Since Adam and Eve, there has been nothing but a line of sinful, rebellious people. [20:47] And when you say, well, what’s rebellious about believing in yourself? [20:51] Because God said to believe in me. [20:54] And when I live a life that is outside of a trust in God, firmly rooted in Him being the only unshakable, [21:03] uncompromisable person in the entire world, what I’m doing is I’m living in a rebellion of how He created me to be. [21:12] He did not create us to be self-sufficient.

[21:16] He created us to be absolutely God-sufficient.

[21:21] He created us to be dependent upon Him.

[21:26] And when Habakkuk looks to God and says, your vision is not what I think should happen, [21:33] what Habakkuk is actually doing is he’s showing his own sinfulness. [21:39] And it’s not that he’s so terrible. [21:40] I mean, it is, but according to us, he’s the same.

[21:46] Go to the doctor and get a bad report and see what happens to your faith.

[21:52] I’ve been there.

[21:56] I mean, it’s like you start crying out to everybody. [21:59] Maybe I should watch more Oprah. [22:01] I don’t know.

[22:06] What does it take to shake your faith?

[22:11] And then you see the source of what it really is. [22:14] When you do, though, have faith that is firmly rooted in God, your faith will submit to His purpose. [22:24] Okay, here’s what I mean. [22:26] Let’s go into chapter 2 now. [22:27] So, Habakkuk has just unpacked what he really believes about God. [22:32] And he’s just unpacked that he does not trust the pathway that God has chosen for his life to take.

[22:40] He turns back and he says, God, I don’t understand what you’re doing, [22:45] and I don’t understand the path that you’re taking. [22:47] And God looks back to him, excuse me, and then Habakkuk looks to God, and he says what he says. [22:53] But then look in 2-1. Look at what Habakkuk says. [22:55] This is where you really see who he is. [22:58] He says, I will take my stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the tower,

[23:04] and look out to see what He will say to me, or what God will say to me, [23:10] and then what I will answer concerning my complaint.

[23:18] How bold is that? [23:21] He cries out to God, and He says, God, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. [23:25] I’m going to go up to the watchpost. I’m going to wait for the Chaldeans to come. [23:29] I’m going to look out and see if they’re coming. [23:31] And then I’m going to wait also for you to respond to what I said to you, [23:36] and then what I’m going to say back.

[23:40] This is like when I fight with my sister. [23:44] This is like, oh, I got her on this one.

[23:48] Oh, yeah. I was like the smartest 10-year-old. [23:52] I owned her. [23:55] She’s not in here. Thank God.

[23:58] She may have seen things differently. [24:00] So what Habakkuk’s actually waiting for is a different plan. [24:04] He says, that’s not the plan that I want. [24:07] He says, I want a different one. [24:09] But here is where, the least offensive way I can say this, [24:13] is our biblical ignorance comes into play.

[24:20] I’ll tell you why. [24:21] Because if I read what’s going to happen, I find myself sometimes on the Habakkuk side. [24:26] I’m like, yeah, that doesn’t make much sense. [24:29] Why would God use a more wicked nation to come in and take a less wicked nation captive? [24:34] Because Israel is technically, by my standards, less wicked than the Chaldeans. [24:41] Because I’m judging things based on a human perspective rather than a godly perspective.

[24:46] When you never sin, and you’re completely holy, [24:52] and then people start yelling about their own righteousness, [24:56] it doesn’t really compute. [24:58] Everybody’s unrighteous. [24:59] So nobody’s less righteous or more righteous than anyone else, if everybody’s unrighteous. [25:03] And that’s the standard that God’s taking.

[25:06] But understand, in Isaiah chapter 60, I want you to take a look at verses 1 through 5. [25:10] Isaiah lived a little bit in a little bit of a different period. [25:13] And here’s what God said to Isaiah about what he’s doing with Israel. [25:18] And what his purpose for Israel is. [25:19] In Isaiah chapter 60, he says, [25:21] Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

[25:26] For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people. [25:31] So in verses 1 and 2, here’s what God is saying. [25:33] He’s talking to the nation of Israel. [25:35] He says, arise, for out of the entire world I have given a revelation of myself to you. [25:44] So he says, arise, because my revelation will serve as a light, [25:49] because darkness covers the entire world.

[25:53] What is darkness? Darkness in this passage is sin. [25:56] And he says, and the darkness covers the people of the world as well. [26:02] In other words, Israel, everyone is living in sin, [26:07] but I have given you a picture of myself to show to the world. [26:15] So arise, and then in verse 3, [26:17] and the nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

[26:23] Lift up your eyes all around and see. [26:26] They all gather together. They come to you. [26:28] Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. [26:32] Then you shall see and be radiant. [26:35] Your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you. [26:40] The wealth of the nations shall come to you.

[26:44] So man, wow, that’s some prophetic imagery. [26:46] You’re going to bring out the chart now and show us where that fits in prophecy? [26:49] Absolutely not. I’m just going to tell you that what God is saying to Israel right here is very simple. [26:56] And how He set about fulfilling that is also very simple. [27:00] Like God said, understand, you exist as My people, [27:04] not to separate yourself from the world and just be in awe of the fact that out of everyone I chose you.

[27:10] He says, no, I’ve chosen you so that you will stand up and go into the world and shine My light, [27:18] because I’m going to gather the world and I’m going to bring them to your doorstep so that that can happen. [27:25] And here’s how I know Habakkuk is just living his life ignoring this. [27:30] Because what God is doing with the Babylonians when He takes them into captivity [27:35] is He’s just fulfilling what He said in Isaiah chapter 60 that He was going to do.

[27:43] God says, fine, you won’t go to the nations? Well guess what, I’m bringing them to you.

[27:53] God’s standard, I guess you could say, God’s mission, His purpose throughout all of Scripture is completely unchanging. [28:04] It’s the same from Genesis to Revelation.

[28:08] It’s that He desires for people to worship Him, and He will move heaven and earth to make it happen. [28:17] And so He looks to Israel and says, take My light to the nations, and they won’t. [28:26] So God says, okay, I’ll just bring them to you, and you’ll have no choice to live among them, [28:33] because I’m going to put you in captivity under them. [28:35] Then they’ll just be there, so then you can live My mission. [28:41] And Israel says, no, we’re just going to be mad at you, because we want to be separate from the world,

[28:49] we want to have our own kingdom, we want to have our own religion separated from everybody else, [28:54] and we don’t want anybody else to be allowed to take a part of it. [28:57] That’s where the moral majority started, if you didn’t know. [29:00] I think the Christian coalition was in Israel at that point. [29:04] Sometimes you’ve got to pick on your own team, right?

[29:09] Well, I don’t want to get in trouble, but sometimes I think I might.

[29:17] So they say, that’s uncomfortable. I know you said that’s what you want, but I’m uncomfortable with that. [29:25] Because, let me tell you, what does Habakkuk say about Israel? [29:31] Look back. I want you to look in verse 13 really quick. [29:35] What does he say? He says, you are of purer eyes than to see evil. [29:40] God, you can’t look on evil. Yes, He can. [29:45] And cannot look at wrong. Yes, He can.

[29:48] And you say, how do I know that? [29:50] Because, Habakkuk is totally not wanting to live in light of what God has revealed in His Word about the mission of Israel. [29:56] That’s a sin, and he’s still talking to Habakkuk.

[30:01] Why do you ought to look at Traitors and Remains Silent when the wicked swallows up and catches this? [30:07] The man more righteous than he.

[30:14] Habakkuk believes that he is more righteous than the Chaldeans who are coming in. [30:22] He believes that because God has given His law to the Israelites, that they are more righteous than everyone else. [30:29] And you say, that’s right, Steve, that’s what I’ve always thought. [30:33] No. Look back in Deuteronomy. [30:37] It will be up on the screen. Deuteronomy chapter 9. [30:41] Verse 6.

[30:42] Know therefore that the Lord your God is not giving you this land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. [30:57] In verse 5, he actually says, I’m going to drive out all of the people in your promised land because they are wicked. [31:06] And see, when we read stuff like that, we get the idea, oh, okay, so the Israelites are less wicked. [31:11] No. Then God turns around and says, but understand, it’s not because you’re righteous either, because you suck too.

[31:21] You’re a stubborn people. And you’re not righteous. And that’s not why I’m giving you this land. [31:27] I’m just doing it because I want to. How dare you? Well, I’m God.

[31:37] The back doesn’t understand God’s purpose. God’s purpose is people worshiping him, people coming to him. [31:44] He wants the nations. He doesn’t just want Israel. He’s not satisfied with Israel. [31:49] He wants everybody in Israel is just his instrument to bring people to himself. Sound familiar?

[31:58] Faith not only submits to God’s purpose, but it also submits to God’s vision.

[32:06] God’s purpose is the mission. The mission to gather the nations. [32:12] But here’s his vision. There’s a contemporary of Habakkuk. His name is Jeremiah. [32:17] They lived in very similar times. Possibly even at the same time history tells us. [32:23] But God gives very similar prophecies to Jeremiah. And Jeremiah doesn’t really receive them much better. [32:30] He’s known as the weeping prophet. As a man, I really wouldn’t want to be called the weeping prophet. [32:36] But he’s called that because he spends a lot of his time crying over the prophecies that God gives him.

[32:42] Because he doesn’t like them. In Jeremiah chapter 20, he actually looks to God and he’s like, oh God, you’ve deceived me. [32:49] In other words, you tricked me into being a prophet.

[32:54] In the book of Jeremiah chapter 29, God gives Jeremiah a vision for what the nation of Israel should look like while they’re in captivity. [33:02] Look in Jeremiah 29, start in verse 5. [33:05] Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. [33:10] Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. [33:18] Multiply their, do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. [33:26] And pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

[33:32] God says, I’ve sent you into exile. I’ve sent you into captivity. [33:38] Because I want you to live in those nations. I want you to reach them with my mercy. [33:43] I want you to tell them who I am. I want you to show them my revelation. I want them to worship me.

[33:52] And Israel says, no, give us a religious, moralistic, utopia that’s pure of any outsiders.

[34:03] We haven’t gotten much smarter in the past 4,000 years.

[34:10] That’s what many of us want the church to look like.

[34:15] Just a religious utopia in a wicked world.

[34:23] Bacchic doesn’t submit to God’s vision.

[34:27] He doesn’t understand what the purpose of Israel in the world is because he doesn’t understand the mission that God is on.

[34:38] Understand God is on a mission to win the world to himself. [34:45] And Israel is completely disobedient to this mission. [34:49] Israel never comes around. So what does God do? [34:53] God says, okay, if you won’t, I will. If you can’t, I will. [35:03] If you can’t be faithful, I’ll be faithful. [35:06] If you can’t have faith, I’ll have faith.

[35:09] If you can’t pay the punishment for your sin, I’ll pay the punishment for your sin.

[35:15] So out of Israel comes Jesus Christ. [35:20] Out of Israel comes the Son of God. And what does Jesus do? [35:24] He says things like, if you raise me up, my name before people, I will draw all men to myself. [35:33] God’s mission hasn’t changed at all. [35:35] It’s just that he’s perfected his mission through Jesus Christ. [35:38] Because what does Jesus do? Jesus dies for our sins.

[35:42] Jesus takes our sins onto himself. [35:45] He who knew no sin becomes sin on our behalf. [35:48] And then he gives us his righteousness. [35:50] And he says, now you can now obey. [35:54] You now have the ability. [35:56] Because I have one righteousness for you.

[35:59] Through my death and my resurrection. [36:01] And this is why a faith that submits to God’s purpose, a faith that submits to God’s vision, [36:08] can scream out and say, Romans 8.28.

[36:15] Because we read this for so many times in times of trial, but we don’t. [36:19] All we want to see is the part that says everything’s going to work out for good. [36:23] Without the qualifiers. Look at this. [36:25] It says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. [36:29] For those who are called according to what?

[36:36] His purpose.

[36:41] His purpose is his mission.

[36:44] You struggling? A lot of us are in these days. [36:48] You got trials? A lot of us do these days.

[36:56] Will it work out for good?

[36:59] Do you love God?

[37:04] Do you trust his purpose?

[37:07] Or do you trust your own?

[37:12] Look at the trajectory of your life.

[37:17] Jesus said, go make disciples of all nations.

[37:21] Jesus said, I’ve come to seek and to save that which was lost.

[37:26] Jesus said, lift my name up and I’ll draw all men to myself. [37:30] Jesus said, live my mission. [37:35] But you can only do it if you trust it first.

[37:41] Have you trusted in Christ? [37:43] Have you trusted in Jesus?

[37:46] Have you trusted this mission that God has spent unraveling, unveiling to us over centuries? [37:52] We don’t live in Habakkuk’s time. We have the entire vision. [37:56] We have the entire purpose. We have the entire story. [38:00] We know how it turns out. We know what happens. [38:04] Because in times of trial, when Habakkuk is running into captivity, [38:08] when Habakkuk is about to go into exile, he must look to the story and say,

[38:13] Isaiah 60 says that we’re going to the nations and this is how God’s doing it. [38:19] He’s bringing them to us. Put your weapons down. [38:24] Shine the light of Jesus.

[38:29] Build houses. Live among them. [38:33] Plant gardens. Have babies. [38:36] The most fun part.

[38:40] Bring them to me.

[38:44] But they never do. [38:46] So God accomplishes his mission himself through Jesus.

[38:51] Do you know that God? [38:54] Or do you just know the God that you try to give you everything you want? [38:58] Because that’s not Jesus. [39:00] If that’s the God you believe in, you have nothing but a functional Savior [39:04] who serves as a genie in a bottle for you. [39:07] And you are lost.

[39:13] Faith in God produces hope.

[39:20] Just a couple of verses before. Verse 28. [39:24] Here’s what we read. Verse 24 of Romans chapter 8.

[39:29] He’s spent most of chapter 8 unpacking the gospel where he says, [39:33] In Jesus there’s no condemnation. [39:35] He’s adopted us into his family through Jesus. [39:38] He’s loved us through Jesus. [39:39] He’s brought us into his kingdom through Jesus. [39:41] He’s made us a joint heir with Jesus.

[39:45] Then in verse 24 he says, [39:47] For in this hope we were saved. [39:49] In other words, we were condemned. We were going to hell. [39:52] But he says, In this hope, in Jesus we’re saved.

[39:57] Because of his plan. Because of his purpose. [40:00] And then he says, Now hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for what he sees. [40:07] But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. [40:13] It also says in there, it’s his creation itself groans in anticipation [40:17] for the coming of Jesus to restore his kingdom fully. [40:21] To bring his people home.

[40:25] That’s the hope that Israel was to take into captivity, but they never did. [40:31] And that’s the hope that took Jesus to a cross. [40:33] And then he said, Take my righteousness and I’ll just take your sin.

[40:38] I’ll be the scapegoat.

[40:41] Just trust me. [40:44] But what we do is we want to trust him without giving our life. [40:48] We want to trust him and still believe alive by the way we live our lifestyles. [40:54] We want to trust him and have no real hope. [40:57] We want to trust him and live like Habakkuk. [41:00] We want to trust him and never ever see that hope spring up in our life.

[41:06] And we want to constantly say, Well God, if I have so much hope, where is it? [41:10] When Paul writes in Romans chapter 8, he says, Faith waits for it in patience.

[41:17] Faith lives the mission of Jesus. [41:20] Faith begins to put its roots in God. [41:23] And then a hope wells up within you to where you walk through life. [41:26] And like Israel could have walked into captivity with a faith through the mission that God has given them, [41:31] we can walk into cancer treatment with the hope that God is producing hopefulness in us. [41:41] We can walk into counseling sessions with our spouse that might leave us.

[41:46] And we can walk into it with a hope that it’s all part of God’s plan somehow. [41:52] We can walk hand in hand with a child that’s absolutely belligerent with a hope [41:57] because we know that God hears our prayers. [42:00] And while we may not get what we want, as long as we’re rooted in him and we trust in him, [42:08] we will see redemption in his face someday when we see him. [42:13] We can walk hand in hand in the foreclosure with him because our treasure is not of this world.

[42:18] Now look at the end of this. Look at what Habakkuk actually wants from God. [42:21] Look in verse 2 and I promise I’ll finish. [42:24] And the Lord answered me.

[42:32] I believe that Habakkuk’s writing this at the end of his life.

[42:37] And this isn’t in the Bible so it’s probably not even what happened. [42:41] But right there he writes that in tears.

[42:47] Tears.

[42:49] Look at the mercy of God and the fact that he answers.

[42:56] Write the vision.

[42:59] Make it plain on tablets. [43:02] So he may run who reads it. [43:04] For still the vision awaits. [43:06] It’s appointed time. [43:08] It hastens to the end. [43:09] It will not lie.

[43:11] If it seems slow, wait for it. [43:13] It will surely come. [43:14] It will not delay. [43:15] Behold, his soul is puffed up. [43:18] It is not upright within him. [43:22] But the righteous shall live by faith.

[43:26] Moreover, wine, in the Hebrew the words for wine and wealth are interchangeable. [43:31] Wine or wealth is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. [43:35] His greed is as wide as sheol. [43:37] Like death, he has never enough. [43:39] He gathers for himself all nations and collect as his own all peoples. [43:45] Now, Habakkuk 1.13, Habakkuk says, you can’t do this to righteous people.

[43:50] In Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 God says, if you were so righteous wouldn’t you have faith in me?

[43:59] If you were so righteous wouldn’t you submit to my plan? [44:03] If you were so righteous wouldn’t you submit to my vision? [44:06] He says, Habakkuk, you are not righteous.

[44:13] Habakkuk, you don’t have faith in me. [44:15] You have faith in yourself.

[44:19] He says, you just want the wealth that the Chaldeans have. [44:24] That’s your treasure. [44:25] You want hope in that. [44:27] And I’m just going to tell you flat out, there is no hope in wealth. [44:30] He says, because it is deceiving. [44:31] It just puffs you up.

[44:32] It makes you arrogant. [44:33] It makes you rely on yourself. [44:35] And you are asking me, Habakkuk, to do the worst possible thing that I could do for you. [44:41] You are asking me to give you over into self-reliance. [44:44] And I won’t do it. [44:47] Because I want you to trust me.

[44:52] God says, in this time of suffering, trust me.

[45:01] Trust me. [45:03] Because you can’t trust yourself.

[45:08] You were never meant to.

[45:16] There’s a reason that God is no respecter of persons.

[45:21] And it’s because we’re not God.

[45:28] So my question for you as you go this morning is, is whose mission are you living?

[45:34] Yours or God’s?

[45:36] Whose plans are you investing in? [45:39] Yours or God’s?

[45:41] And if you just started arguing in your brain about what that looks like, you’re probably planning your own.

[45:52] God’s speaking to some of you to trust Him in something.

[46:00] And some of you don’t know where to go. [46:01] And I want you to know that that’s not a bad place to be. [46:04] It’s okay.

[46:07] Some of you don’t know how to live the mission. [46:10] That’s okay. [46:11] I’m still trying to figure it out too. [46:15] But understand that God is not compromising in His vision because He’s God. [46:20] And His vision is better than yours. [46:23] It has more joy than yours.

[46:26] And all you need to do is humbly submit and say, God, I want to learn. [46:30] I want to know. [46:32] I want to trust You. Help me. [46:35] And that’s why we exist. [46:38] That’s why we have community groups.

[46:42] It’s because we know that you don’t know how. [46:46] Even if you won’t admit it. [46:49] We know because I know myself.

[46:53] So this morning in your response, come.

[46:59] If you’re a believer and you’ve trusted in Christ and you know Him, come and partake of communion. [47:06] The body, the blood. [47:08] It’s not literal body and blood. That’s illegal.

[47:13] But it represents it. [47:16] It represents the righteousness of Jesus Christ being given into our lives. [47:22] Nothing mystical about what’s up here. [47:25] But there is something holy about what it means. [47:29] It’s the gospel. [47:31] It’s His life given to us.

[47:34] And if you believe it, if you trust it, these tables are open.

[47:40] But if you don’t believe it and you don’t trust it, [47:43] understand that until you trust Jesus, life will not make sense.

[47:55] Trust Him today. [47:57] You can come down. You can go to the back.

[48:01] Come talk to us. [48:03] Father, we come before You right now.

[48:08] We love You. We trust You. [48:11] We find our hope in You.

[48:15] God, we are a sinful people.

[48:20] And You’ve given us Your righteousness through Your Son Jesus. [48:24] Your mission, it’s accomplished.

[48:28] But it’s currently being delivered through Your church.

[48:33] God, give us the strength to be that church. [48:37] Give us the hope to trust in Your plan and to repent of our own.

[48:44] Give us a passion for You because You are our King.