Habakuk 2:2-5 Faith in The Dark: The Just Shall Live By Faith

Our call to worship this morning is found in Proverbs 19 verse 21 and it says, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." And I invite you now to stand as we continue in worship. Come praise and glorify our God, the father of our Lord. In Christ, he has done his blessings on us. For pure and blameless in his sight, he destined us to be. And now we've been adopted through his son eternally. To the praise of your glory, to the praise of your mercy and grace, to the praise of your glory. You are the God who saves. Come praise and glorify our God who gives his grace in Christ. In him our sins are washed away, redeemed through sacrifice. In him, God has made known to us the mystery of his will. That Christ should be the head of all his purpose to fulfill. To the praise of your glory, to the praise of your mercy and praise, to the praise of your glory. You are the God who saves. Praise and glorify our God. For we believe the word and through our faith we have us healed. The spirit of the Lord. The spirit guarantees our hope until redemption done. Until we join in endless praise to God the free one. To the praise of your glory, to the praise of your mercy and grace, to the of your glory. You are the God who sings. To the praise of your glory. To the praise of your mercy and grace. To the praise of your glory. You are the God who saves. The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend. The agonies of Calary. You the perfect holy one crushed your

son. Who drank the bit cup reserved for me. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The father's wrath completely sisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy, now seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. By your perfect sacrifice I've been brought near. Your enemy you've made your friend. Pouring out the riches of your glorious grace. Your mercy and your kindness know. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy, now seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. Love my soul, I want to live for you, mother of my soul. So I want to live for you my soul. I want to live for you. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The Father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. The Father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy, now seated at your table. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy now seated at your table, Jesus saved you. You may be seated as we have our offering. >> Good morning. >> Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for today and thank

you for washing away our sin. Thank you for your your your love, your grace and your mercy in Jesus name. Amen. our catechism. The question, which day is God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath, and how is it different? Exodus 20, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work. You or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the sojourer who is within your gates. In Luke 24, but on the first day of the week at early dawn they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared. In Acts 20, on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day. He prolonged his speech until midnight. And then Revelation 1, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. in Christ alone. My hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights above? What depths of peace? When fears are still, when striving cease, my comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand in Christ alone. who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless pain. This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on their crosses, Jesus died. The wrath of God was satisfied.

For every sin on him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground his body lay, light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day. Up from the grave he rose again. And as he swift in victory, sin's curse has lost its grip on me. For I am his and he is mine. Bought with the precious blood of Christ. No guilt in life, no fear in death. Visit the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath. Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pull me from his hand till he returns or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever cut me from his hand. Till he returns or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. Jesus, you alone, you alone are the one that can save us. God, I know that um Psalm 121 has been on my heart. And as we listen to your word, help us, God. It says, "I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. You do not rest." I'm just so thankful, God, that you would see fit to to save a wretch like me. I pray Lord that all of our hearts would be open and receptive to your truth. God, would you conform us into the image of your son? For it is him you are pleased. We love you. We thank you for your mercy and

grace on us and it's in Jesus' name. Amen. >> All right, kids. It's that time for our children's lesson. If you are sixth grade or younger, you're welcome to come and uh join us for this lesson. As we were singing that song in our preaching class, we have been uh going through the providence of God. And uh today's lesson was God's providence over evil. And uh just so thankful that uh God had uh ordained uh Jesus Christ to come and die for our sins well before the foundations of the earth had been laid so that no power of hell nor scheme of man could pluck us from his hand. And so uh so grateful. It was a good lesson. It's good song and it's good to be with you guys this morning. And uh uh how was you guys uh snow days? You guys had some >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Was it fun? Do you guys do anything kind of interesting? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. What did you What do you guys do? >> We sle. >> Sledding. Hey. Hey, Nathan. What do you do bro? >> I take a side and and and and take a and and and and take back up the house. >> That sounds like a blast. All right. That's good. Oh, yeah. We had a fun time, too. I'm glad you guys did. Um, we did uh we were uh over the last month we've been uh building some stuff at our house. I'm going to show you a picture here. You guys remember last month uh we what do we talk about? We were talking about Habachok and there's something about a watchtowwer and a treehouse. Do you guys remember something about a treehouse? >> Yeah. >> Well, you know, we started building a treehouse and this is the treehouse we started to build and uh it's uh the top picture there and the bottom picture and it's obviously it's not done right. It's not really a good-look treehouse. Uh you

can see Sam there in the bottom. He's cold. Yeah. He said he said he was bored. So I said, "Go start burning some of this cardboard." And that's what he's doing. But yeah, you can see that this this picture here is kind of half done. Uh and I thought, "No, I'm going to build a treehouse." And I told the kids, "Guys, I'm going to build you guys a treehouse. It's going to be great." They got all excited and we get headed out there and we started working, started building. And then uh and then I ran out of materials. And then I decided I don't feel like going to the hardware store. And then I kind of got tired. And then I kind of got had surgery on my arm. I'm like, well, even if I had all the materials and I had energy, I can't. And delay after delay after delay. And my kids are left waiting. How long, oh, Dad, will it be until this treehouse is done? And uh you know in our lesson in Habachok we Habach is kind of he's kind of crying out to the Lord too. How long will it be Lord until justice is done? How long will it be? And Habachok uh he kind of went up to his watchtower right which is kind of like our treehouse that we talked about. you can kind of scout out and see the horizon where the enemies are going to come and you can go there and pray and it's quiet and uh he's been talking to God up there and God replied to him and he kind of gave him an answer. He says, "Okay, justice is going to be done. I'm going to send the Babylonians to come and we're going to take the Israelites captive." And Habach is like, "Okay, but the Babylonians are evil. What are you going to do with them?" And God, this is what God says. He says, "For still the vision awaits. It's appointed time. It hastens to the end. It will not lie." Basically, God is saying, "I'm not going to tell you when it's going to happen,

but it will happen. I have it set and justice will happen. You one day this will all be made right." And uh you know my kids you know they have a dad who's gets distracted and for them they genuinely can question dad when will this get done but you know what we serve a god who doesn't finish thing who doesn't uh leave things halfway done does he? Have you guys ever um experienced uh maybe starting a project and and and never completing it? >> Yeah. What are some of those? >> A painting. A painting. Okay. >> What else about you? >> Legos. >> Legos. Yeah, Sam. >> A book. >> Reading a book. That's a big one. Yeah. Yeah. We do that, right? We get excited about something and we start something and we don't finish it. But God always finishes things. Even if it doesn't happen in our lifetime or even if we don't know how it's going to happen. And you know what the Bible also says? For those of us who have been saved, how many of you have ever prayed to God before uh about a particular sin in your life where it's like, "God, please help me not do this ever again." Yeah, we all have, haven't we? Have you guys done those sins again? >> Yeah. Right. And we and and it's happened where we are like, "Lord, I don't want to do this, but why is it that I I don't feel like I'm growing. I don't feel like I'm I'm getting closer to you. I don't feel like I'm becoming the kind of man or woman that you want me to be." Well, before we leave that today, you know, um God doesn't finish things doesn't leave things halfway done. And he's given us this verse in Philippians 1:6. Here it says he says, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Okay? So like Habach, God is going to bring justice to the people

to to the to the nation of Israel and to the Babylonians. And like us, God is going to bring us to Jesus Christ and until that day when he fully comes back where all things are going to be made right and we're going to be with him to to forever. But in the meantime, don't let don't be so discouraged God with with where God has you. He is going to bring you there. We just need to be patient and we need to have faith for in Habach it says too, the just will live and walk by faith. So, we can do that. We can trust in him. Okay? And when when I finally get this treehouse done, I'll I'll let you guys know. Okay? All right. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, Lord, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for um being faithful and uh and that and and having your promises be something that we can trust in and we can know that you will complete them and you will carry them out. Lord, I pray that you would help us to have faith to to uh in the midst of our uh struggles down here on earth and and the things that we don't understand. Lord, would we're not praying necessarily for understanding. We're praying for faith and we're praying that we can trust in you. So give us that faith, Lord. And we uh ask I ask that you would uh give that to these kids here. Would you keep them safe and bless them and their families? And we pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen. >> Amen. Well, church, I'm so glad to be back with y'all after uh last week. What a disappointing thing it is when uh the family of God can't get together. Amen. Uh uh I'm so glad to uh Haley, it's good seeing you. I said, 'How are you doing? She's like, I'm glad to be out. Uh she's got a newborn as well as Sarah. It's so good to see that beautiful baby. I tell you what, man, that that's just it. It's awesome. It's awesome to see uh God growing our our people here. And um yeah, let's go ahead and let's open up

our Bibles to Habach chapter 2. Uh we are in the midst of uh walking through this minor prophet who has had some major messages for us. Last week we left Habach on the watchtowwer. He had poured out his prayer to the Lord and he finished with this. I've said my peace. I've said what I have to say and now I'm just going to simply wait for God's answer. And uh anyone else in here really struggle with waiting for God's answer? I we we live in a fast food culture. We're like, uh uh this is what I want God. Where is it? And and that's just not the way that God works. He works on his own timeline. He works at his own pace. It's not that he's unconcerned or aloof, but that he has a plan and it's according to his own timetable. Amen. >> It's not according to our own. And he's not standing there. He's not preaching on the tower. He's not continuing to complain. He's not storming away in anger. He is simply waiting. And that gives us a pretty big question as Christians. What do you do when you pray and nothing happens right away? What's what's your heart's response? What's your natural position? What do you do when you've you've brought your concerns to God? You've anchored yourself in his character, but you're still in the same circumstances. You ever you ever been waiting for a phone call that you really didn't want to get, but you knew that you needed to get it? I mean, like like let's say that you uh you talked to the doctor, you've taken some tests. You know something's wrong and now you're just in that terrible waiting season. Those are awful times, aren't they? Those are awful times. So, you're checking your phone constantly. If it does ring, you jump. You think about the conversation. You're

like, "If the answer is bad, I want to know, but if it's bad, I don't want to know." And and that's where Habach is right here. He's prayed. God has answered. Not in the way that he really wanted or expected. And now Habach is is waiting for what God will say next. And and when God speaks here in chapter 2, he doesn't give Habach a a a treatment plan or a timeline or anything like that. There there really isn't this lengthy strategy explained. There's no softening of the coming judgment on God's people. But what God does give to Habach is a vision of the future. He gives him a promise, a call to live with faith in the season that he is in. And this morning, we're going to see how God answers his prophet by teaching him how to live faithfully during the coming storm. He teaches his people to trust his word, to trust his timing and his righteousness while we wait. And so, let's stand together in honor of God's word as we read Habach chapter 2 verses 2-5. God's word, it says this. And the Lord answered me, "Write the vision. Make it plain on tablets so he may read so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end. It will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him. But the righteous shall live by his faith. Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide a shield. Like death, he is never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples. And so gracious father, we do ask that you would give us understanding for this passage. It is a weighty text and I pray that uh as we examine it that you would help us as as your people uh to live by

faith in a world in a society um where we await uh the fulfillment of your word. We await uh your return and you've given us clear directions on how we are supposed to live, God. And so many times we fall short of that. Help us to to be more obedient to you. Not not so that way we would feel more righteous or or more accepted. Lord, we know that all that was settled at the cross of Christ, but God, we want uh to be useful. We want to have an impact on your kingdom, God. We want to uh reach the lost in the name of Christ. We want to do those things, Father. So, help us to uh stop looking at the situations and the circumstances and to look at the people that are around us and reach out, Father. Help us, God. In the meantime, minister to our hearts. Encourage us. Give us uncction. Give us boldness. and help us to speak the gospel clearly to a culture that is so dark. Help us to not curse the darkness but to light the light of Christ. We love you. Help us, Father, in Jesus precious name. Amen. Um, I want to I want to read to you this uh last verse that we went over last week in Habach chapter 2 verse 1. Uh, this is this is Habach uh uh speaking. He says, "I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what he will say to me, what I will answer concerning my complaint." So now he he gets his answer. And there's no mistaking that this is a revelation from God. And Habach has not abandoned uh he is not abandoned on the watchtower. He doesn't get a rebuke. He gets a gentle response from the Lord. And the first thing that you need to know is that when God speaks, he speaks clearly. I think I may have put my uh Yeah, there we go.

When God speaks, he speaks clearly. He reveals his will clearly. God says, "Write the vision. Make it plain on tablets. It's not some instinct or intuition or mystical feeling. God is speaking clearly to the prophet Habach." And Habach is to write down what God says because it is revelation. It's not what we think of if we if you're thinking of Revelation like at the end of the Bible. That's that's not what we're talking about. It is, but it's not. Uh we're talking about a a a word from the Lord that is revealed to us through the prophets or through the apostles. Uh here's a the Hebrew word here is hazison and it means the primary essence is not tied so much to the vision or dream itself as the message conveyed. It signifies the direct specific communication between God and people through the prophetic office. And this message that Habach is writing down, it's to be made plain and it's to be made public. And the truth, it should be easily read. It should be understood so that future generations can benefit from what Habach is learning from the Lord. That's why Habach's ministry even exists. It doesn't exist for his ministry. It exists for the future generations. And this is important because he's learning that he is serving future people, not himself in Spain. That's what that uh that picture is. If if you don't mind uh helping me now. Yeah, there we go. That that that image right there. That's a beautiful cathedral that is still under construction today. Uh it's called Sigrada the Familia. I learned about this because of a board game called Sigrada where you build stained glass because I'm a nerd and it's an amazing game. But uh it began construction back in March of 1882. The architect's name was Anthony Gaudy and he knew as he drew up plans for this beautiful cathedral. I mean those spires are just very unique. everything kind of

looks like it's it's drawn up from the earth. It's designed to lift your eyes towards heaven. That's that's how that architecture is is done. And he knew as he was drawing this out, this great plan that he would not live to see its completion. He knew that from the outset, I'm building something for future generations. And it's the construction has survived the Spanish Civil War, World War I, World War II. I mean it's it's so beautiful and one of the things that he famously said he said my client is not in a hurry and it points us to the truth that faithfulness is not measured by our obedience uh is not measured by our completion of the task. It's measured by our obedience and it has some of the most stunning stained glass in the entire world. How incredible is that work of art? It's absolutely breathtaking. For for the last 40 years of his life, he spent working on this gorgeous cathedral and he knew he would not live to see it completed. In that same way, Habach, he never got to see the fulfillment of the revelation that God was showing to him. God's word, it was written down. It was preserved for future generations sake, for your sake. Like this is why we have the word of God. It is preserved for you. It is passed down through the blood of martyrs and saints. Passed down for thousands of years for you to feast upon, for you to look at and examine and to touch and taste and feel and see that the Lord is good. And how often we neglect what a gift God has given to us. Daniel Ezra Zerubbable, they would be able to look at Habach's writings and they would say, "We know that we are in captivity. We are in the exile, the diaspora."

But God has a plan. He has a plan to bring us all back together. And that was God's good plan for his people working out. Although a generation had to endure judgment, God was going to raise up another generation that could plainly read the vision of the Lord and they could believe because faith does not rest on wishes and hopes. It rests securely on what God has said. And that's where faith rests. And it's formed by our submission to the word. God has spoken. I believe it. But how do I live in light of that belief? We don't we don't gain greater faith by experiencing new things and trying things out. It's formed by believing what God has said. Verse three says, "For still the vision awaits its appointed time. It hastens to the end. It will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not delay." We learn that God fully displays here. I think some things are out of order. God, he fulfills his plan patiently. The vision being revealed to Habach has an appointed time in the future. He already determined that that word appointed here in this passage is the same uh uh word used to describe appointed feast days, right? Those are the days that it's happening or or even uh agreed upon military points. This is the this is the place that we're going to meet up once the battle's done. It's appointed to a specific time, not some sort of uncertain judgment. But what about Habach? What about the righteous that are in the land of Judah? Why don't they get to see vindication? Why don't they get to see God's judgment? It's because God, he works in his own time. And when it feels like he delays, it's not because he's okay with sin. It's because he is longsuffering. Paul, he

speaks to this in Romans chapter 2. He says, "Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance, but because of your hard and impenitent heart?" Then it's like a a unrepentant, right? You are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. God, he works this way because he understands the times and the seasons infinitely better than you or I do. He operates according to his will and his good pleasure, not according to our immediate feels of urgency and our needs and things like that or even our feelings of fairness. But we also learn that this delay tests our trust, but it does not impact God's truth. The judgment will come. Habach, do you believe that? Yes, Lord. I believe that. But it's not for you to see, Habach. That had to pierce his heart. Here he is seeing his country and his nation collapse. He sees the immorality everywhere. And he knows that judgment is coming, but he won't participate in that. He knows that uh liberation is coming, excuse me, freedom, restoration, it's coming, but he won't participate in that. You know, we live in a world that is extremely concerned with injustice. The assumption is is that if there's no justice now, then the unjust just get away scot-free. Uh there was a man uh he was king of Belgium back in the late 1800s. His name was Leopold II. He owned the Congo back in the late 1800s, uh early 1900s. And uh he he ran labor camps uh forced uh pretty much when he bought the Congo, all of the Congo, uh he enslaved the people and he said uh you have to make as much rubber as possible. And uh through that enslavement, although the slave trade had collapsed, uh he was still running slave trades uh there in

the Congo. And he would he maimed men and brutalized women and uh starved children. villages burned. There were all sorts of atrocities. Missionaries from America and Britain, they were there ministering, uh, doing what they could to raise the alarm in places like England and and and and America and places like that. And all of their cries fell on deaf ears. Even the great missionary William Henry Shepard, he worked hard and was influential in the Congo gaining independence. But it all it all fell apart. And so when Leopold II died, he he died with all the honors and all the accolades and all of the wealth. He had everything. He was a king. But what about those 10 million that died? If you do not believe in the Christian God, then you must believe that, well, he got off scot-free. But we know better because the word of God says that it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment. There is a certainty of judgment. We don't know when it will happen. And just because God he bears with you and he allows you breath today, it doesn't mean that God is idle. It doesn't mean that God is late. Habach is like all of us living between the time of the promise and the time of fulfillment. And from our perspective, God, he may seem delayed. He may seem slow. But from God's perspective, everything happens in his perfect timing. But that doesn't mean that we should be fatalistic. Doesn't mean that we need to roll over. I fully believe in the in the sovereignty of God. I fully believe in the responsibility of man and God. He calls us to pursue the best and most God-glorifying results that we possibly can. None of God's promises will ever fall.

They will not fail. But the promises are fulfilled on his schedule, not ours. It's not going to delay a moment in its appointed time. Think of a train if you would. It won't delay a moment beyond its appointed time. When it's time to leave the station, it goes. Unless you're an impatient passenger. If you got places to go and you're worried about making it to the next station, of course, it's going to feel like time is moving so slow. But God's promises arrive exactly when they're supposed to. And when it seems slow, you need to wait for it. Wait on the Lord. It will surely come. It will not delay. And so there is a call for you and for I to wait on the Lord and to wait with faith that what God has said he will do. Even if I don't get to see the end result, I am sure that he will do it. Let's go ahead and let's look at verse four because it says, "Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright within him." And so let me draw this connection for you real quick that judgment is coming to Babylon. Habach he has described the Babylonians as like this. He says uh he brings all of them up with a hook. He drags them out with his net. He gathers them in his drag net. So he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his drag net. For by them he lives in luxury and his food is rich. So the Babylonians, they are relying on their strength, on their tools, on their false gods, on their pride. And God, he has allowed them to see success, to bring them low because God judges pride. Certainly, to be proud and self-reliant is to be spiritually dead. All believers are saved by grace. We understand that we cannot have a relationship with God except by his grace alone. But pride is not arrogance or excuse me. But pride is just

arrogance. Excuse me. Pride is saying I can do what I want. I don't need God. I can do this myself. But some that views themselves as enough does not have an upright spirit. Their pride condemns them. Pride says I can manage. I don't need righteousness apart from myself. I am sufficient. Sometimes I struggle with legalism in my own life. Sometimes I think today was a good day. I got my devotional done. got into the word real good. Checked up on all my people on my list. Today was a good day, God. I'm more acceptable in your sight. You ever felt like that before? We're not justified or viewed better because of our merit. We're justified and we're saved because of what Christ has done. And yeah, now we live righteous lives. Now we do those things. But not because we're better, but because God has changed us. Imagine for a moment a man drowning in an ocean, barely treading water, and he's slipping beneath the waves, and a fisherman comes across, throws him a rope in a flotation device, and the MAN SAYS, "IT'S OKAY. I'M ALL RIGHT." That's what pride ultimately is, and it's dangerous. In Numbers 14, the spies, they had come back from the land of Canaan. The people, they heard these terrible reports of giants in the land. The people, they were proud, and they listened to their hearts and they trusted their eyes and the eyes of those spies over what God himself had said. It was so bad. Here's here's what they said. They said, "And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt or that we would have died in this wilderness? Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our

wives and our little ones will become prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Thankfully, God, he directly intervened. The people there, they were picking up stones to kill Moses and Aaron, but they rejected the Lord. They refused to take God at his word. They were trusting in themselves and in their own abilities and in what they could see and what they understood. They were leaning on their own understanding and and their own wisdom. And as a result, they were cursed. They were cursed to wander the desert for 40 years. And it was then they were like, "Well, we don't want to go back to the desert. let's go to the promised land. But then God said, "No, don't do it." And they were slaughtered and they still went into the promised land. They were trusting in their own abilities. And that's the root of all sin. Pride. When we trust in our own reasoning and our own abilities rather than the Lord, it's pride. But what does God say to Habach? The righteous shall live by his faith. That's how that's how he does. He saves the righteousness, but the righteous by faith. When we understand that God has clearly spoken and we place ourselves in agreement with what he has said, that's faith. When Abraham trusted his own reasoning and his own abilities about having a son, he had an illegitimate son. It was not a son of promise. It was a son of pride. But when he trusted God, God fulfilled his promise in his own timing. And he was even willing to offer up that one son even when he didn't understand it. Maybe God will resurrect him. I don't know.

But he was even willing to offer up his son to the Lord. But Abraham, he had to have a revelation because revelation precedes faith. So faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. If you want a fresh word from the Lord, pick up the revelation that he has given to us, the word of God. It's sufficient. It's all sufficient. This is enough. He's not going to speak to you any more than what he's spoken right here. Faith does not have its origin in self. Moses, he was called to from the burning bush. Abraham, he was met by God and it was only then that he believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness. Paul, he was on the road to Damascus and he had a revelation on the road to Damascus. Faith precedes righteousness. This is why Paul when he writes, he says, "For in the righteousness of God, it is revealed from faith for faith. as it is written and he quotes Habach here, the righteous shall live by faith. He quotes it again in Galatians chapter 3. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. In Hebrews chapter 10, the author here, he says, "But my righteous one shall live by faith." Listen, Christian, you are called to live by faith. And your faith is not merit. God's grace is his unmmerited favor. Be careful not to confuse that. Faith is not some sort of lighter law where we are compelled to keep the whole law of Moses and we just add faith to it. No, we have a new covenant in Christ. Faith is not moral improvement either. Faith is coming to God not on your own merit but the merit of Jesus. So what does it mean that the just shall live by faith? It means firstly that life is a gift from God. So delight in God. That spiritual life that you have, it's a gift. The physical

life, it's a gift, a common gift, but still a gift. But it also means that righteousness is received. It means that we live not with a puffed up soul knowing that we are fully, you know, deserving of of his gifts or anything like that. If we feel like his gifts are owed to us, it's it's not grace anymore. But rather, we like like that tax collector, we beat our chest and we look down and we say, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." So, let me restate this very clearly here. Habach is not saying that faithfulness earns righteousness. But those who receive fa life by faith will live faithfully even when God's promises are delayed. or we don't understand his ways. Notice this last point though. Pride always overreaches. Always does. Habach 2:5. Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide a shield. Like death, he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples. You know, a proud man is like a man that's addicted to wine, drunkenness, it shows no restraint, shows no wisdom, living in excess. When someone lives in in greed and self-indulgence and a desire for more and more, their downfall is sure. It's like what the writer of um oh, excuse me, sorry. Uh Proverbs 25:28. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. And isn't that exactly what happened to the Babylonians on October 12th, 539? The Babylonians, they were having a feast. They were having a party. They were getting drunk and, you know, having a great time when Cyrus the Great threw down the empire. And one night, he threw it down. And it fulfilled the word of the Lord. For 87 years, the Babylonians, they ruled and

they consumed and they destroyed. And it was never enough. But wine is a traitor. A lack of self-control destroys and God judges arrogance in his timing. Babylon did fall and Habach was not there. It wasn't when it was the most convenient for Habach or for his people, but it was exactly when and how God intended for a purpose because God is the Lord of all history. When God said, 'The righteous shall live by faith, ultimately he's not pointing to an Old Testament promise, but pointing to a future covenant, a new covenant, a better covenant, pointing us to the promised son, Jesus Christ. Why? Because none of us are righteous on our own. Left to ourselves, we've become proud and self-reliant and untrusting sinners. Sinners that can't endure God's judgment. And because of that, God, he sent his only begotten son who lived with perfect faith and trust in the father and he suffered and he died under God's wrath. He rose again in victory so that anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ will and can be forgiven and given Christ's righteousness. He removes from us the penalty of sin and he gives us his own presence and righteousness and he imputes that to us. And because of that we are declared righteous not by works not by our own efforts but by faith alone and that's why we wait and that's why we trust and that's why we live for him now because Christ has secured our salvation. It is there and it is yours when you believe. And if you are here this morning and you have been trusting in yourself and your goodness and your church attendance and your morality or your baptism or whatever, then God is calling you today to repent of your pride and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. So turn from yourself, turn from your ways and trust in Jesus and live. For the righteous shall live

by faith, not by feelings, not by their own effort, but by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Head, heart, hand, head. God, he wants you to know that he has clearly revealed his will in scripture and he will accomplish every promise in Christ at the right time. He wants you to know that his promises are sure, but tied to that is the heart. God, he wants you to believe that you don't have to panic or control or despair because Jesus is already finished your salvation. It's done. So you can have full confidence in Christ in hand. This is what God wants you to do. He wants you to repent of self-reliance and trust Christ in your decisions, in your prayers, and in your own obedience. At this time on the first Sunday of the month uh in directly connected to family worship Sunday uh we participate in communion. Uh with uh Ethnos being here and uh uh so many folks that are here uh we practice what's called open communion. What that means is that you do not have to be a member of our church. Um I'd love it if you were. I think that membership is biblical and right. Um but uh many of you can't and I understand that. And so we want to invite you to come and participate in the Lord's supper. Uh if you are a Christian, if you're not a believer or you're not walking with the Lord, then just quietly let it pass from you. Uh don't participate in it. Um just maybe talk to me or talk to another elder and say, "How how do I become a Christian?" and and that way next time, next month, uh you can participate in communion as a born again believer in Christ. We want that for you. Uh but don't drink that judgment upon yourself. Uh because God, he's very clear in his word uh not to do that. I want to invite uh the elders to come forward u and uh as they distribute the elements. PJ, you'll be leading us today. Thank you, brother.

On the front of this table, it has a portion of the verse from 1 Corinthians 11 verse um 24 and it says, "Do this in remembrance of me." These two symbols, the bread and the juice, um they represent the body of Christ, the gospel, his body that was broken for us so that we might have eternal life. And in contrast to that, we do this as remembrance. Um, we've talked earlier about uh alcohol and you could even add food to that as an abuse as a way of numbing pain, self soothing. We're doing the opposite. We're remembering and we're remembering and we're looking to the completeness and the the atonement of Christ's blood that was shed for us. It paid our sin debt in full. There is no outstanding debt whatsoever. So with that, that's what we're we're celebrating now as uh we uh take the bread and the juice. Um just by way of refreshment, uh verse 23, it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread." Our deacons are going to pass this out now. Thank you. Heat. Heat. I invite you now to bow your heads as we give thanks. Father God, thank you for this symbol that represents your body that was broken and was bruised and was pierced for us. Lord, help us not to become complacent, but to remember Aresh um the totality of what this blood paid for and that you willingly gave it for for us. We thank you and praise you for this in your name. Amen. Take he eat. In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in

remembrance of me. Just taking care. 2. Let's drink together. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this opportunity and privilege we get to um drink this juice, to eat this bread that reminds us of the sacrifice that you paid for us. And I pray that Lord, it would not stop here, but Lord, even in a few minutes as we're gathered around another table, that Lord, we'd be faithful to proclaim your death until you come. Thank you for providing all that we need. And I pray that Lord, as we disperse, that you would just help us to be alert to every opportunity to give reason for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. I ask this in your name. Amen. >> Amen. If you all mind, we would uh like to conclude our service by standing together and singing the doxology. Praise God from all blessings. Praise him all. Praise him above the heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.