Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Today as I was studying for my sermon, it got me thinking about boat anchors.
-You might be wondering why, and I’ll shortly tell you
An anchor is used to secure the boat at one place in the waters without drifting away along with wind or current while the boat is not in motion.
Without an anchor, the boat will slowly drift away with the wind or current if the boat is not in motion, putting the vessel and crew at risk.
While you wait for help, it’s imperative to remain still rather than putting yourself and rescuing crews in danger by traveling with the current.
Improper anchoring can cause boats to capsize, passengers to be swept in the water by tangled rope, and damage your boat.
In the same way, in our own lives, we endure the hardships and frustrations that batter away at our soul like waves
-We endure physical ailments
-Family hardships
-Those we love rejecting the Gospel
-Anxiety and uncertainty about the direction of our country or the affairs going on in the world
-The sinful choices of those around us
And in these times, we need something to anchor our souls to
As we saw last week, the prophet Habakkuk struggled with the sinfulness going on in His nation of Judah, God’s chosen people
-He struggled to understand how such sinful behavior could go on while God seemed to sit idly by
-So he brings his questions and doubts to God
-God then answers that He is not sitting idly by, but will shortly bring the Babylonians to come and destroy and kill and plunder the nation of Judah
-This leaves Habakkuk with even greater questions, concerns, and doubts
-How could God judge Judah with a nation even more wicked??
-He brings this question to the Lord, to which God replies and gives the overarching theme of this book, and arguably, maybe the central theme in all of Scripture when it comes to sinful man’s relationship to a holy God
-In contrast to the wicked person who is arrogant and crooked
-The righteous or just person will live by their faith or faithfulness
-The person who is a child of God will be preserved and have life, only through faith in God and the faithful living that follows this
-When a person trusts in God and His unchanging character, then and only then can a right relationship with God ensue
-this faithfulness to God by trusting in Him brings about sweet communion with God in hardship, as well as never-ending communion with Him in eternity
And we saw how this idea was rightly understood by Paul!
-He understood that only through faith in the Crucified and Risen Son of God could one have a relationship with their Creator
Now, due to me getting sick a couple of weeks ago, and Jonny taking my last Wednesday of the month to preach next week, we’re going to have fly through these next 2 chapters today
-And in these chapters, I’m going to show 3 truths about God that Habakkuk saw and anchored his soul to, and we can as well today
-If the theme of this book is faith in the character of God in the midst of hardship, what about God can we put our faith in that will anchor our souls?
1. God will be Known
The first portion of our text is a series of 5 woes given by God, through Habakkuk, against the injustices around him
-Whether these refer to the Babylonians or the Jews is not super clear
-Some commentators take different sides
-I tend to think the Babylonians are more in view here, but I think they can refer to both!
-The woes here are applicable to those who are living in the kind of sin that is being denounced
Now, I wish I could spend a whole week here in these woes!
-You could honestly preach a separate sermon on each of these 5 woes
-But we can’t
Habakkuk had questioned God:
-Why God was allowing injustice
-And why God would use a wicked nation to judge a nation that was more righteous than itself
And God hear answers Habakkuk’s questioning of His justice with resounding assurance that wickedness will be judged
Vs. 5-20
The 5 woes God gives are woes against (Waylon Bailey):
-the extortioner (5-8)
-the arrogant (9-11)
-those who build on bloodshed (vs.
12-14)
-the drunk and violent (15-17)
-the makers of idols (18-19)
God assures Habakkuk and his audience that the day of reckoning is coming for those who are arrogant and wicked
-God will judge wickedness
but notice vs. 14
Vs.
12-14 constitute the 3rd woe and it’s against people who build in violence
-These are people who build a town on bloodshed and iniquity
-This refers to when human life and human rights are not cared for or respected
-When those who are powerful prey upon the weak to take advantage of them
A great example of this is found in 1 Kings when Ahab desires the vineyard of Naboth
-When Naboth refuses, Jezebel, the king’s wife, arranges to have false accusations brought against Naboth
-Naboth, and innocent man, is stoned, and his vineyard goes to King Ahab
Notice the result in verse 13
-It’s all futile
-It all comes to nothingness
-Those who do these things weary themselves in vain
-As a kid, every night before bed, without fail, we had to clean up our rooms
-And me, I hated this task
-I’m sure at least part of it for me was that it seemed pointless
“Why clean it all up and put it away since I’m just gonna take it all out again tomorrow??”
-It probably seemed futile, pointless
-The room wasn’t going to stay clean anyway!
-That’s what nations do when, or what people do when they do wickedness and live in rebellion to God
-It’s pointless, meaningless, and futile in the long run
But look at the next verse
vs. 14
-What an awesome promise
-God will cover the earth with the knowledge of His glory!!
-What is God’s glory?
-In the OT, it referred to His powerful presence (as one commentator puts it)
-It was God manifesting Himself to His people
And this knowledge does not just mean that people will know facts about God
-This refers to an intimacy
-A knowing someone, not just knowing about someone
When was the last time you were at the ocean?
-How much of the ocean is covered in water?
That might seem like a dumb or absurd question to you
-How much of the ocean is covered in water?
“All of it . . .
duh . . .
that’s why it’s the ocean”
-Exactly
-And that’s how God will cover the earth with the knowledge of His glory
Brothers and sisters, the righteous person, the person of God lives by and is preserved by their faith which produces faithfulness to God
-And one thing we can be confident in, be dead-set sure about, is that God’s knowledge glory will cover the whole earth
-It is unstoppable
-There’s no “if this happens” or “if this goes right”
-The knowledge of God’s glory will cover the whole earth
-And brothers and sisters, when we use up our physical strength, our time, our money, our possessions, our very lives towards seeing the Gospel advance and the Kingdom of God being built, it is in a winning effort
-Every dollar spent on missions
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