I did want to try to address just at least a message of encouragement to you all in light of what's going on in our country. I thought it would be, it wouldn't be a wise thing for me just to ignore that. And I know we've said things in application in the last few weeks, but I thought it would be good to just say some things a little more directly. Hoping to encourage us in light of what's going on in our country and overseas and just a lack of stability In the surrounding climate, so I wanted to do that and then Lord willing next week We will get into Ephesians again get back into Ephesians It's a good place if you're going to take a short reprieve because we're moving into the section now that addresses husbands and wives and Ephesians so we have a This is a good place to take a short break if we're going to do it. So if you turn with me in your Bible to the book of Habakkuk, Habakkuk chapter three. Habakkuk is a small book in the Old Testament. It's only three chapters long, but it really is filled with great wisdom, great encouragement, especially when dealing with the issues of lack of stability in life or some of the challenges that you may face in your own country because of the sins of our nation, things that we see happening. It's just a wonderful book that we can relate to and really brings us back to trusting and hoping in the sovereignty of God. This is also that book where Paul quotes from. where we hear quoted from in the New Testament of the righteous living by faith. So it's a wonderful glimpse into the reality of our being justified by faith alone. Habakkuk chapter three, let's read the entire chapter here. A prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet according to Shigioneth. Oh Lord, I have heard the report of you and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years, revive it. In the midst of the years, make it known. In wrath, remember mercy. God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Silah. His splendor covered the heavens and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light rays flashed from His hand. And there, He veiled His power. Before him went pestilence and plague followed at his heels. He stood and measured the earth. He looked and shook the nations. Then the eternal mountains were scattered. The everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways. I saw the tents of Kushan in affliction. The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord? Was your anger against the rivers or your indignation against the sea when you rode on your horses on your chariot of salvation? You stripped the sheath from your bow, calling for many arrows, Selah. You split the earth with rivers. The mountains saw you and writhed. The raging waters swept on. The deep gave forth its voice. It lifted its hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their place at the light of your arrows. as they sped at the flash of your glittering spear. You marched through the earth in fury. You threshed the nations in anger. You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation of your anointed. You crushed the head of the house of the wicked, laying him bare from thigh to neck, Selah. You pierced with his own arrows the head of his warriors, who came like a whirlwind to scatter me, rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret. You trample the sea with your horses, the surging of mighty waters. I hear and my body trembles. My lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones. My legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon the people who have made us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fell, and the fields yield no food. The flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord, he is my strength. He makes my feet like deers. He makes me tread on my high places. To the choir master with stringed instruments. Let's pray. Father, as we look into this text, we ask that you would help us to recognize the universal relevance of this text for all times. We know, Lord, that every great nation will ultimately fall. We know that at the end, Lord, of the day, the only king who will stand is Christ and the only kingdom that will stand is His kingdom. that is united to him by faith. And so we ask, Father, that you would be pleased to meet with us. Give us grace during these difficult and unstable times to stand firm, to persevere and to remain faithful so that others may see the truth of the gospel in us, so that others may see that our hope is not in weapons, is not in armies, is not in technology, but is in the living God. So please, Father, be gracious to us, forgive us for our sins, hear our prayers, and grant us your Holy Spirit now so that we can hear from you and that we can leave here better prepared to minister to others who are still walking in the darkness and to encourage those who are in the light. We pray in Christ's name, amen. COVID, racial tensions, increased corruption and division, Inept leadership, moral demise, inflation, a collapsing economy, international tensions. the ever-increasing threat of a nuclear holocaust, irreparable national debt, increasing cyber threats and warfare, and on and on and on, are all evidences of the coming perfect storm. And yet, there are also gracious signposts from the God who stands sovereign behind all of these things, calling us as a nation and as a people to national repentance so that we could return to him before we, like Heyman, but from a national level, hang ourselves on our own proud gallows. All throughout the reality of the uncertainty, instability, and unpredictability of life is brought to the forefront through our country's many challenging circumstances. It's not a matter of whether or not we will come to face a devastating demise. It's only a matter of when. It were as if the Lord were constantly holding us up by a single strand which at any moment He could snap like a single thread on a spider's web with but the breath of His lips. And every day is one more gracious opportunity for us to repent, one more tremendous display of God's profound grace and patience But at the same time, there is an ever-increasing incurring of the measure of his looming wrath, which sits above our very heads, waiting to fall upon our country like an unrelenting waterfall, and the devastation will be great. We tend to think that our nation is so mighty and powerful and great, and yet God, with hardly any exertion at all, with simply a blow from his lips, He will collapse this nation like a ton of uncemented bricks right down to the foundation. And everything that we have trusted in, every piece of technology and all that was built and put together by our own efforts will be seen for the shallow and empty mirage that these things really are. But brethren, what might God be saying to us during these times and all that we see happening around us? especially as children of the living God who ought to be able to discern the times. We are called to discern the times. How ought we to stop in the middle of the hustle and bustle of life so that we might ponder what God might be saying through these providential events and realities. We know that nothing happens by chance. We know that this is all in keeping with the sovereign will of God, and we know that the scriptures give us the recipe to help us to understand exactly what we ought to expect from a nation such as ours. But what is our place of respite and hope in the midst of such calamities? So, brethren, I want to bring you encouragement and hope from the word of God this morning in light of the bleak prospects that face our nation as a whole. You see, while the world by and large could never even begin to approach such a hope. apart from Christ, by the grace of God we can stand out as lights in this dark world showing that our strength and stability depend upon a solid immovable rock and not upon the economic status or stability of this country. It is within the prophet Habakkuk's short book that I believe we can find the same encouragement that he found in the midst of what was soon to be a shattered economy and a time of great devastation for the people of Israel. Habakkuk was looking on the horizon of a time when his nation was going to be destroyed. And so we will look at how he found encouragement in that light. This short, unique book of prophecy centers upon a burden. It is the burden of Habakkuk, as he petitions the Lord regarding two matters that trouble him. So Habakkuk in this book is actually seeking the Lord. He's seeking a response from God, and it's his interaction, as it were, this short dialogue that he has with God, that we are given this book of Scripture. And the second of the two matters that are given in his petitions comes forth as a response to God's answer to the first matter. So he asks a question, God responds, and then he has a second concern that comes out of God's first answer that he seeks an answer for as well, and he will get a response for that as well. Both troubling issues arise out of the prophet's confused and conflicted conscience as he strives to reconcile his understanding of the character of God with the present and future historical realities. And so it's similar to the psalm of Asaph, where Asaph is expressing a burden in his heart that he doesn't understand how the wicked prosper and how the people of God are always suffering and trying to make sense of that. And then finally, when he goes into the house of the Lord, he has his answer and recognizes that God will deal with the wicked, that their end is coming, and that the righteous will come forth and shine as lights. Well, in a similar way, Habakkuk is confused and he's not able to rectify how things can be happening the way they are in light of the fact that he serves a holy and sovereign God. And so striving to satisfy his conscience, the prophet faithfully and patiently dialogues with God. And we can sum up the dialogue in this way. We're not going to go through the whole book, but I want to summarize the book for you. It is short enough to do that. The book begins with a burdened righteous Habakkuk, a man of God, a prophet of God, petitioning the Lord as to why God is allowing His people to continue on in gross sin in spite of His repeated prayers. Habakkuk sees the evil things going on in his nation. They are things that are not hidden. It is so bad in that period of time that everything is outwardly done and things that are wicked in the sight of God are celebrated. It's kind of like Romans 1. It's kind of like what we see in our own country, things that were once shameful and behind closed doors. We're now out in the open and Habakkuk is pleading for his nation and praying for God to bring repentance and not understanding how God can delay. And so that is the burden that he bears. The Lord seems indifferent to the ungodly actions of His people. And this weighs heavily upon the soul of Habakkuk. And we see this with his understanding about the holy, righteous character of God. He knows that God is a righteous and holy God. And so we see this in chapter 1. When he begins his prayer, as it were, to God. We see Habakkuk trying to rectify and understand these things. Look at the first four verses of chapter 1 for a moment. Listen to these words. He says, Oh, Lord, will the oracles that are back at the sun, the oracle at the back of the prophet saw. Oh, Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? or cry to you violence and you will not save. Why do you make me see iniquity? Why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. And so there's this burden. He's speaking about his own nation and what's going on. And he's been praying and praying and it seems to no avail. But then secondly, the Lord does respond in verses five and following. And He reassures Habakkuk that He is well aware of all that is going on, and that He is planning to deal with the matter in due time. And so God is not ignorant of what is going on, He is not indifferent to it. He is going to deal with it, but He is patient, He is long-suffering, and He will deal with it in His time and in the right way. In verses 5-11, the Lord actually reveals His plan to Habakkuk. He is going to raise up the horribly terrible, wicked, dreadful, and ungodly Chaldeans to bring judgment upon the Israelites. This unrelenting barbaric nation would come in And they would conquer Judah, destroying and exiling many unknowingly fulfilling God's judgment upon His people. And so God's going to use a wicked, terrible, savage-like people to come in and bring judgment on Judah. And the people that He's going to use aren't even going to know that they're being used for that purpose. Their intentions will be evil, but God will use them. Notice real quick, let's just read verses 5-11 and see God's response here. He says, look among the nations and see, wonder and be astonished, for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation who marching through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome. Their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fiercer than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle, swift to devour. They all come for violence. All their faces forward they gather, captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men whose might is their God." So they're not going in as if they're trusting God to do His work. They are a wicked ungodly nation that God has raised up to be powerful and God is using them. But they're trusting in their own might and strength and God's going to use these heathen peoples to come in and to deal with his own people. Well thirdly then, upon hearing this, If you think Habakkuk was already troubled about the fact that it seems like God is doing nothing about his own people, he's even more troubled and it leads him to respond to God with a second question. Look at verses 12 and 13. Here's Habakkuk's response to God's response. Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong. Why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? And so in essence, Habakkuk is now troubled because he has difficulty of understanding how God, who cannot even look upon evil, would in fact use a godless, wicked nation to bring judgment upon a nation more wicked than itself. So first he's concerned about his own people and how they're doing the wicked things they're doing. God says, I'm dealing with that, with this ungodly nation. And then Habakkuk is even more flustered because they're even more wicked than we are. How can you allow that? Perhaps we could better appreciate the prophets concern. We thought about it in our own context. What if God were to use North Korea or Iran or Russia? or China to conquer and devastate the United States of America? As ungodly as our country is, what if God gave us over to torturous, merciless, immoral, godless savages who had no concern for the dignity that comes with being a human being? We're a wicked nation, don't get me wrong. But there is a sense, at least in a general sense, we don't know everything going on behind the scenes, where we, even at war, we tend to try to be careful with what we do because we want to preserve those who are not fighting in the war. We want to preserve those who are innocent, so to speak. But that's not the case with what we're seeing today. And so here, you can imagine for Habakkuk, This is what it was like for God to deliver his people into the hands of the Chaldeans. And that is why Habakkuk was troubled. And so he lays this question at the feet of God and he humbly waits for his response. I love Habakkuk's humility here. It would be so good for us to adopt this humility. How often we can complain to God. We don't understand the circumstances. Things seem to be going in the wrong direction. It seems like God is allowing things to go in a direction that we would never have imagined. And even the evil and the wicked seems to prosper and we're doing the right things. But Habakkuk, In responding to God as he's called to wait, we see a humble response, a willingness to wait and to trust that God still somehow in all this is righteous and good. Notice chapter two, verse one, you see his response to God after he offers up this second response. It says in chapter two, verse one, 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 and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And so although Habakkuk was a prophet of God, brethren, we notice something interesting here that we ought to take to heart. He says he readies himself like on being on a watchtower. In other words, he's going to wait with his eyes wide open and just wait patiently for God to respond. But notice, brethren, something that we see here. He too, even as a prophet of God, had to patiently wait upon God for a response. See, we tend to have this understanding of prophets of old as if they had this unending communication with God in a way where God would constantly immediately respond to their request. They send out a text and God immediately responds. Or they send out an email, God immediately responds. Or they pick up the cell phone and call God, and God picks up the phone immediately. That is not how the prophets conducted themselves. God did not often respond to them right away. And in fact, a lot of times God didn't communicate information to prophets regularly. A lot of times there were long delays and stretches where they had to wait. to hear from God. Now, sometimes God responded right away, but a lot of times they had to wait. And God strengthened their faith much in the same way that He does ours, by causing them to wait upon Him so that they might strengthen their faith and trust in God during times of confusion and trouble. They had to wait, like us. Here, the prophet humbly waits, anticipating that in due time, God will correct his understanding of things. He knew that the dilemma rested within his own confused soul, and that his all-knowing, perfectly righteous and holy God would, in due time, provide him with a word of instruction and correction. He assumed that in some way, he knew he must be wrong, even with his first challenge to God, his first prayer. He's not accusing God, but he's saying, I don't understand God. I don't understand how you're allowing this and how you're not hearing my prayer. So he's expressing a lack of understanding, but he's not calling God evil or wicked. There's a difference there, isn't there? And so sometimes we may be confused. We may not understand things. And yet we can still trust that somehow God is righteous through this and that he will make things clear in his due time and we can be confident in him and not lean on our own understanding. He knew that those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength and mount up with wing like wings, like eagles, Isaiah 40, 31. Well, in due time, the Lord does eventually respond to Habakkuk, and he gives him a universal statement of blessing concerning the righteous, followed by universal statements of woe against the wicked, which leads the prophet to the only place where he can find strength and ability during the terrible times of judgment that would soon come upon his people. And so God in his response, as we're going to read in a moment, he responds not just something that, it wouldn't be something that's just directly applicable to Habakkuk and Israel and the Chaldeans, but he gives him universal principles that we could apply to us today. Things that will definitely happen to the wicked, that which will certainly come upon the wicked, that which will certainly happen to the righteous. General principles that we could hold on to even when the immediate circumstances seem to confuse us. Look at verses 2 to 4 in chapter 2. And the Lord answered me, write the vision, make it plain on tablets 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. So here we have that foundational Old Testament text, which the Apostle Paul used to confirm his understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Isn't it amazing? Right here in the Old Covenant, right among the people of God, that same principle applied to the Jews as it does to us today. In the New Covenant, God gives to him in these circumstances and says, it will come to pass The vision will not delay, it will happen abacic, but understand that the just and the righteous will live by faith. They will be confident in God no matter what happens. Even if the mountains are torn up and thrown into the sea, even if the earth cracks and splits in the middle, even if all the nations are in an uproar, we can trust in God and know that we are justified by faith and that we will stand. Our Lord ensures Habakkuk that those who humbly set their trust in him, that those whose lives are governed by God's promises, no matter what our senses tell us, are those who are just and righteous in his sight. And that's all we really need to know, to be honest, no matter what happens. And that confidence in God and in His promises, brethren, will be used to carry God's people through every difficulty that life brings their way. That simple reality, that just will live by faith, is all we need to know. Then in verses 5 through 20, and I'm not going to read this for the sake of time, The Lord also confirms that the wicked will not succeed in their endeavors, so the righteous will prosper no matter what they endure in this life, no matter what's going on in their surrounding circumstances, no matter how much their physical health is touched in this life. They will prosper. The just will live by their faith. But not so with the wicked. He moves on to pronounce woes universally upon all of the wicked who have not faith in God, who continue in their prideful ways of disobedience. And to this end, the Israelites and the Chaldeans had something in common. The Israelites who were living in their wickedness and the Chaldeans, both would face judgment. God here reassures Habakkuk of the fact that his justice will not fail. Brethren, we look upon our nation, we look upon this world, we see all that is going on around us. We want to see people saved and converted and we pray to that end. But those who are not converted and those who continue on in their wicked ways, justice will not fail to meet them. God's justice will prevail. Nobody is getting away with anything in this life. The just will live by faith. The wicked will be judged in God's glory, we're told in this wonderful section. We're not going to read it now, but in the end of the day, God's glory will fill the whole earth. May not seem like that right now. We could pray like a back. Lord, this is your. This is the country, United States and the whole world belongs to you, all things belong to you. How can you leave this to go astray in the way that it is? How can a created earth with glorious beings created in your image continue on ignoring you, denying you, disobeying you? How can this happen? And God says, justice will come. And in the end, his glory would fill the entire earth. Every knee will bow. And then this comment, this response of God's leads Habakkuk to the only place of contentment and rest in light of the coming Chaldean invasion. And his rest is in the sovereignty of God. Think about this for a moment. Habakkuk just was just told that a foreign nation that is merciless, savage like people who will spare not women or children, is going to come in through his borders into their nation and ravage their people and level that nation to the ground. And Habakkuk is still able to find comfort in the sovereignty of God. While what he was beginning to see before his own eyes recorded at the beginning of this book of the wickedness of his own people, while it caused him to wrestle with that would seem to be in conflict with God's holy character and also recognizing that another nation, even more wicked than themselves, would come in to destroy them. Habakkuk was reassured by the word of God that God is just. and good and that he will fully accomplish all of his holy will in accordance with his holy character. And as the oceans cover the seas, his name would predominate upon the earth. He was reminded once again of the big picture of God's sovereignty over all matters. And that was God's resting place. In chapter 3 verses 1-16, we read it. I'm not going to read the whole chapter again. We read it earlier. Habakkuk further builds upon then what God had told him. And notice what he does, or remember what he does. Recall what he does there. What did he mention? What was he doing in chapter 3 we read earlier? He brings back up to mind the events of the past, what God had done for His people. How God had delivered them, how He had spared them, how He brought them out of Egypt, how He judged the Egyptians, how He judged the Ethiopians, how He judged the foreign nations, how He caused the sun to stand still. He just reflects a bit on the history of God with His people, and His faithfulness, and how His sovereign power, His sovereign hand, always brings about His desired ends. And that helped. that helps strengthen Habakkuk, so that he can now be prepared for the future. Brethren, that's one of the reasons we need to be in the Word of God. We need to constantly meditate upon God's Word, and even look at our own past, and what God has done in our lives, and meditate upon God's faithfulness there, so that as we can't see two feet in front of us in the present, As things seem so helpless in the present, we can apply God's faithfulness in the past and all that he's done in the past. And look at his majesty and his power and his sovereignty. And we can carry that into the present. And there's a sense in which you can clean away the fog, at least giving us the assurance that we have a straight path to glory, no matter what is in front of us by way of circumstance, by way of providence. And so his faith was strengthened. And so Habakkuk can then joyfully close with the unnatural words in verses 17 to 19. Listen to these words for a moment again in chapter 3, verses 17 to 19. Listen to these words. Think about what these mean. We'll update this for ourselves in a few moments. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the product of the olive fell, and the fields yield no food. Though the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like deers. He makes me tread on my high places. What does all of this have to do with us here in the year 2022. How can this provide us with strength, stability, and encouragement amidst the calamities, trials, and tribulations that we must continually face in this life? Well, let me answer that for you in a few applications, brethren, before we close. First, brethren, first, Let us continue to thoroughly remind ourselves of the sovereignty of God over all matters. Sometimes wrestling with the sovereignty of God can be a hard pill to swallow. But I can assure you, once you get the pill down, it's the most comforting pill you could ever swallow. It is the most joyful thing to know that God is sovereign. There's nothing worse to me than to think that God has something that's out of his control. That somehow there are cracks where things can slip through that are outside of God's will, that somehow in the end, when the ocean of all of history comes together, there are some drops that are on the outside that God can't account for. That's a fearful thing. Every intricate detail of life is holy within the bounds of his sovereign care. There are times when God may stretch us with his silence, but by faith in his promises, even when things seem to conflict with our own reasoning, we must humbly trust that God is working with the big picture in ways that we cannot comprehend. We're on this little dot of a timeline that goes back several thousands of years. And now God is gone very quickly as far as being in this world. God has this big picture of the entire timeline in mind and he's accomplishing everything perfect according to plan. We don't need to know the future, brethren. We don't need to know the future. We don't have to understand all of the whys and the hows of life regarding circumstances that surround us and what's going on here and there. We should know those things as far as what's happening, but we don't have to know the end results of those things or where this is all heading in that sense as far as what country is going to do this, what's going to happen to the American dollar, what's going to happen to our economy. If we needed to know that information, God would have given it to us. But to have that information would require us not to be a people of faith. But rather God has given us, brethren, those things that we do need and are far better. Things which strengthen and improve our faith. He has given us all of the promises in His Word. We have certainties in God's word. We may not know exactly how certain things historically are gonna unfold. We may not know how A is gonna get to B, to C, to D, to E. We may not know how David is gonna go from being on the run, fleeing for his life from Saul, living amongst the Philistine enemies, and somehow get to be king in Israel. We don't know how that's gonna connect. But we do know that God promised David that he would be king. And it would happen. We do have certain promises that he's given us that we can be assured of. And that's all we need. And the good thing, brethren, is not one of God's promises can fail. Not a single promise that God has made. Wouldn't it be a terrible thing if he said, well, God makes 100 promises in his word, and we know for certain that 90 of them are going to come true. I'd be worried about the 10 that aren't going to come true. But every promise is yes and amen in Christ. And those promises are far more sufficient to provide us with all that we need to find strength and stability to persevere, even though every unknown path and conflict we will face on this side of heaven, even in the midst of that, of every unknown path, all the unknowns, we can have certainty because of those promises. We know for certain that at the end of the day, when the dust clears, we will be reigning with Christ in glory. And nothing can change that. It doesn't matter what happens with Russia and China and Ukraine. And I'm not saying we shouldn't pray and we shouldn't be concerned for the people. It's a grievous thing. There's a legitimate sorrow there. We don't have to worry about what's going to happen to our own nation, what's going to happen to our food chain, what's going to happen to gas prices and taxes and all this. I'm going to be with Christ in glory. And that's not going to change any of it, no matter how we what we face. Is God not sovereign over viruses and gas prices and all of the conveniences and inconveniences in life? See, there's a real sense in which we can say, even as we can say about the Chaldean army, yes, there are wicked things going on in our government. Yes, there are wicked things going on in our country. all kinds of things with causing the inflation, things related to how this virus got here, how they're handling the virus, all kinds of things related to racial tensions and everything else we can bring up in this country. Man needs it for evil, but God at the same time means it for good, doesn't he? God ordained those very same things. And he uses even the evil of man to bring him praise and to bring him glory and to accomplish his will, such that we can say all things, even increased gas prices and inflation and the collapse of the economy and all kinds of other problems that we may face in this life. All things work together for our good, for our sanctification as we become more like Christ, for those who love the Lord. another called according to his promise. That's as certain as those who have the evil intentions. Is God not sovereign over every aspect of our economy? By faith, brethren, We must stand fast today and concentrate on today, trusting God for tomorrow. We have to be a people. I'm not saying that planning isn't important. We do need to have plans. We don't want to bury our hands in the sand. We're making plans even now to try to be wise as a church to see if something should happen. Practical things we can do. We want to do that. But at the same time, we have to live today. We have to be lights today. We have to present the gospel today with confidence, showing the world that we're not afraid of tomorrow, whatever it might bring, because our God is faithful. The sovereignty of God is the very cornerstone of our sanity and our comfort. We would easily cave into the numerous inward and outward trials that we face were it not for his absolute control over all things. I struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder. I know there are a few here who can relate to that with me. It's a horrible thing. But one of the challenges with obsessive compulsive disorder is the desire to have control, the desire to understand and know all things and not to be able to just settle for the fact that we can't have all knowledge. It comes back to a sovereignty of God issue. Now, there are physical components to that as well, but it comes back down to trusting in the sovereignty of God. And that's the only reason I'm sane today and able to preach. from this pulpit is because I know God is sovereign. If we could but continually bring ourselves to say that God is sovereign even over this present matter, that this is His handiwork for some good work in me and for His glory, that God has a special thread that's in the eye of the needle that He is using to weave my life in the right direction to make me more like Christ. If we could do that, then we can stand firm no matter what challenges come upon us. See, one of the things that hit me, I was like, okay, God, I can do that. But what about our children? What about my children? Now, when you have nine kids, that's a lot of responsibility, isn't it? That's a lot of concern if something happens. But then I was reminded of Moses. I was reminded how when the Jews were called to have their children killed, how God preserved Moses. and when he was raised up from Pharaoh's own daughter to become the deliverer of Israel. And I said, can't God do things like that without children? Isn't that God's sovereignty over Moses? Isn't that the kind of care he gives us as his children? Brethren, secondly, by way of application, along with our understanding of God's sovereign direction over our immediate circumstances, let us always reflect upon the fact that God's sovereign direction has an ultimate goal in mind, and that is our salvation. There's no circumstance and no created thing that can ever change your completed salvation in Christ. That can't budge, no matter how much everything else in this world shakes. It remains complete in the sense that Christ has already completed our salvation. We're not trying to add to it or merit something for our salvation. It's not God saying, okay, it's 90% here, but you gotta finish this before you can have assurance. Christ completed the whole package of our salvation. Now it's incomplete in the sense that we're working out that salvation. It's having its effect in changing us. We're not what we will be because of it. In other words, the full result of that salvation is not coming to place. But it's certain to come about because of what Christ has completed on the cross. That can't change. In spite of the horrible judgment that was to come upon the nation of Israel. Habakkuk could joyfully sing the words that we just read in verses 17 to 19, where he could rejoice in one thing, no matter what else happens, if everything else breaks down, he says, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. That's where his joy was. Now brethren, let me just take the rest of that text, the rest of what he says there, and translate it into contemporary terms for you. Though I have no occupational means of supplying for the needs of my family. And though every grocery store and every restaurant and means of acquiring food is shut down. This is what he's saying in an agricultural society. Though the stock market crashes and the U.S. dollar completely loses its value, though the economy of the United States of America completely collapses, and though God closes every material window of blessing that we have taken for granted, and though a foreign people invade our land and take our homes and all of our goods, and we are exiled into captivity, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation, of my salvation. I know where I stand with God in Christ. Isn't it wonderful to know that? I know whom I've believed in and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. My salvation is not in my hands, it's in his hands. And he will finish what he started from the beginning. And no one can take that away from me. One of the most horrible diseases to me is Alzheimer's or dementia. I'd rather have anything else with the body, as horrible as the suffering can be with cancers and all that, but to lose your mind in a sense and to not be able to recognize reality and to lose an understanding of who your very loved ones are. It's a horrible thing to witness. We've seen it in our own family. And some, probably many of you have seen that and witnessed that. But even if our mind goes off in that kind of way, We're not the ones holding on to our salvation, it's God. He has our salvation in his hands. And he will not fail us. I know that I will sit and stop at the marriage supper of the land. Nuclear bombs are going off left and right. Nations are leveled. The earth is reduced to one plot of land. Christians are persecuted. All this is happening. But fast forward and every single child of God is sitting at the table of the marriage supper of the land, drinking a glass of wine and celebrating. And nothing can change that. And I know that even here in this life, as Habakkuk says, the Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet and he will make me walk on my high hills. My God will uphold me. Nothing could ever rob me of my eternal joy in Christ, even in this life. It's not that God just says, OK, just wait till you get to heaven. Look to that joy. We do do that. But even everything we go through in this life, every hardship, every iota of suffering, every single thing we go through is for our good and shaping us into the image of Christ and preparing us for glory so that not a drop is wasted. of the providences that come our way, ordained by God. Nothing could rob us of that joy. In Psalm 73, verses 25 and 26, what does Asaph say as he comes to that conclusion after wrestling with questions about the goodness of God in light of his suffering and circumstances and what seems to be going good for the wicked? He says, whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. So even when everything else collapses around me, even my own body and my own heart and all of my organs. My eyes are on Christ and if I have nothing else, I have everything in Christ, everything that I could ever need. And he is the strength of my heart and he is my portion. He is my exceedingly great reward. Such confidence, hope and assurance only belong to the true children of God. Let me ask you in closing, are you a child of God this morning? Are you a Christian in truth? Are you one who God has justified through faith in his son, Jesus Christ? If not, then you can expect nothing but the woes and curses of God upon your soul. If you're not in Christ, the fact that you can remain sane is amazing in light of everything going on right now. What do you have to hold on to of everlasting that's of any eternal value? How do you wake up in the morning and face life with any sense of joy when you know at any moment everything can collapse and will? If you're resting your confidence in the United States of America, if you're resting your hope in our economy, or your job, or the stock market, or our military, or technology, or anything else that is bound to this short-lived life, then you're banking everything on a mirage that will soon blow away like a vapor. And then you will face God, and you will have to give an account to him for how you have lived this short life with a body and breath that he has loaned you to use for his glory. And you will be held to the standard of His holy law, given in His word, those commandments which every one of us have failed to keep. But if you repent of your sins now and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you call upon Christ, trusting only in him to bring you to God through his sacrifice, through his cross where he suffered for sinners, then you can have the full assurance of hope that only God's people are entitled to. You can have that hope. You can confidently rejoice in the God of your salvation no matter what trials come upon you. If you're in Christ, if you're outside of Christ, you ought to be terrified, you ought to be frightened. You're always one breath and one step away from eternal hell. But if you're in Christ, no matter what happens in this life, no matter what it is, if your limbs are pulled apart, you can have the confidence that God will raise you up and that you will be in the presence of God, beholding his glory, where there are joys forevermore. May God give us the grace to give heed to his word. Brethren, let us be encouraged to make use of the times. Let's not lose sight of what God is giving to us on our lap at Sovereign Grace Church to be a testimony and a light during very difficult, unpredictable, and unstable times. May God be our hope. Let's pray. Father, we do give you thanks for your word. We thank you for your promises. We thank you, Lord, that in this small book of Habakkuk, there's so much relevance for us As we see the prophet facing in in his view, facing the reality of the destruction of his own nation and people. Lord, we thank you that you answered him. And we know, Lord, that looking on the other side of what happened to the Jews, it happened exactly as you said. We know that you did exactly what you said you would do. And we know that Habakkuk and all of your people, Lord, you have brought home to your glory and that those who remained in exile as well. We know, Father, that you sustained them, that your people grew in that exile and were able to be lights. You still spoke to the people even there. And Father, we ask that you would speak to us now through your word, that we, as your church, would be lights during this dark time, that we would show ourselves as being stable, as being standing firm on the rock of Christ, no matter what happens to the sinking sand that surrounds us. And Father, we ask that you would rescue those who are perishing this morning, that you would give grace and save and bring them into that eternal refuge of Christ so that they do not die in their sins. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.