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(Click refresh or reload for current message) Tuesday,
July 18, 2023
This photo was taken near New Holland, PA, demonstrating beauty and function on an old-order Mennonite farm with the Canna Lilies planted in front of large hay bales and field corn. The crop that was planted in the foreground had already been harvested. "Gleanings
From Habakkuk"
(Part
1)
"Living
By Faith"
Message
summary:
The just
continue to
live by faith,
during the
good times but
also during
the judgment
period!
Listen
to our message
on your audio
player.
"But
the just shall
live by his
faith"
(Habakkuk
2:4). “For in
it the
righteousness
of God is
revealed from
faith to
faith; as it
is written,
‘But the
righteous man
shall live by
faith’”
(Romans 1:17).
My
faith looks up
to thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine! For
the last
several months
we have been
studying the
Minor Prophets
in our ABF
class (Sunday
School). I am
part of the
teaching team
along with
several other
men who take
turns. The
study has been
challenging
since the
Minor Prophets
are among the
harder to
understand
books in the
Bible.
The
last two weeks
have been a
study of
Habakkuk
taught by
Gordy, a
businessman
who is also a
careful and
diligent
student of
Scripture.
Today we begin
what we
project will
be four
lessons on
Habakkuk based
on gleanings,
a word
meaning,
"extracting
information"
(among other
definitions).
Have
you found
yourself
earnestly
seeking God
about a
weighty matter
over an
extended
period of time
and yet He
remains
silent. Early
in our
ministry when
we still had
"special
music"
Brooksyne sang
a song that
starts with
these words,
“Often you
wonder why...”
Whether it
relates to our
own personal
story or it
relates to the
state of our
nation or the
world we
certainly do
have
questions,
some which
will not be
answered on
this side. We
think Habakkuk
could have
sung "Often I
wonder why"!
Some historical background: Judah had recently experienced the exhilaration of the glorious days of Josiah, marked by freedom, prosperity, and a great religious revival. But so soon they lapsed again into unfaithfulness. The Assyrians, once the scourge of the Middle East, were phasing out as a world power. In their place, however, stood the Babylonians, (whom Habakkuk calls the Chaldeans, named for the region from which their rulers came). The Babylonian armies were led by the ambitious Nebuchadnezzar, who was soon to succeed his father as king. Habakkuk asked God questions and God answered. God revealed that He was at work sending the Chaldeans as the instrument of His judgment (1:5-11). The prophet shrank from such an idea and posed another question which essentially asked: “Lord, why would you use someone even more sinful than us to bring us punishment?” (1:12-17). When
the answer was
not
forthcoming
immediately,
he took his
stand in the
watchtower to
wait for it.
It was worth
the wait. The
Lord answered
him, “but
the just shall
live by his
faith”
(Habakkuk
2:4). God
contrasts the
proud and
ungodly whose
lives are not
upright with
the righteous
who place
their faith in
Him who in the
end will
emerge
victorious.
Judah
had a long
“recurring
cycle of sin,
sorrow,
supplication,
salvation, and
then sin
again. The
continuous
repetition of
this cycle
obviously
weakened the
people’s love
for God and
respect for
His
authority.”*
But the godly
remnant would
emerge
victorious as
the wicked
would undergo
punishment.
Those who
remain
faithful to
God will
always be
victorious in
the end (if
not in this
life,
certainly in
the life
hereafter)! It
was in the
midst of his
deep
affliction
that Job
proclaimed, “I
know that my
redeemer
lives, and
that in the
end He will
stand on the
earth”
(Job 19:25).
A key text in the book is "But the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). Some 650 years later this phrase was taken by Paul as a central element in his theology (Romans 1:17 & Galatians 3:11). Some 1,500 years after that this passage came alive for an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther, setting off the Protestant Reformation, one of history’s greatest and most significant religious upheavals. Thus a so-called “Minor” prophet had a major influence on those who followed him! This
is a key text
in
establishing
the doctrine
of
“Justification
by faith”. In
this text Paul
quotes the
prophet
Habakkuk who
served God by
providing
comfort and
hope during
one of the
darkest
periods of
Judah’s
history, a
time during
which she
suffered the
deserved
punishment for
her sins. But
Habakkuk was
writing to the
remnant; those
who remained
faithful to
God. How
reassuring it
is to know
that there
will always be
a remnant from
every
generation.
Today we are all enriched and indebted to Habakkuk, a relatively obscure but faithful man who served God over 2,600 years ago. Are you living by faith today? Is your hope and confidence anchored in the Lord? The equation has not changed. Actually the equation was fundamentally clear to Adam and Eve but willfully broken in the garden. It was also very clearly understood by Abraham in Genesis 15:6: "Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness." The just continue to live by faith, during the good times but also during the judgment period! While
life’s dark
maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread, be Thou my guide; bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away, nor let me ever stray from Thee aside. Be
encouraged
today, (Hebrews
3:13)
Daily
prayer:
Father, we
know that
without a
fresh
manifestation
of Your Holy
Spirit power
in our lives,
our faith will
not prevail in
the midst of
the evil that
abounds in our
day. Just as
Habakkuk
pleaded for
You to
manifest
Yourself to
Him, we also
pray for
renewal in our
spirit so that
we remain a
part of the
faithful
remnant fully
committed to
You. We choose
to rejoice in
the Lord our
God who
enables us to
hold tightly
to our godly
faith in the
midst of enemy
invasion. We
pray for
deliverance
and sustaining
power so that
we emerge
victorious
during the
battle even as
Job declared,
“Though God
slay me yet
I’ll trust
Him”.
Amen.
*
Myrna
Alexander
“With Him in
Life’s
Struggles”
On
Sunday Gordy
shared this
quote so
needed today:
“For who does
not know
history’s
first law to
be that an
author must
not dare to
tell anything
but the truth?
And its second
that he must
be bold to
tell the whole
truth? That
there must be
no suggestion
of partiality
anywhere in
his writings?
Nor of
malice?” -
Cicero (Roman
statesman,
lawyer,
scholar,
philosopher –
1st century
BC)
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
"My
Faith Looks Up
To Thee"
Click
to watch on
YouTube
Steve Green
"Tears Are A Language" Click to watch on YouTube Booth Brothers This is the song popular when we were in college in the 70's that Brooksyne sang as a "special": Often
you wonder
lwhy tears
come into your
eyes
And burdens seem to be much more than you can stand But God is standing near, He sees your falling tears Tears are a language God understands This
song was
written by
Gordon Jensen
(so we have
two "Gordy's"
today that we
feature - the
teacher and
songwriter).
Gordon
accepted
Christ at six
years of age
and expressed
His love for
Christ through
his music in
such songs as
"I Should Have
Been
Crucified"
"Redemption
Draweth Nigh",
"As Close as
the Mention of
His Name", and
many other
soul stirring
classic songs
over the
years.
"Living
By Faith"
Click
to watch on
YouTube
Homecoming
Singers
An old song
from our early
years. What a
great message!
When
I recalled
this old song
in preparation
for today's
message I
considered a
recent Babylon
Bee satire
piece: ‘This
Is An Oldie,
But A Goodie’
Says Worship
Leader About
Song From 2021
This is far
too true!
Pronunciation
of Habakkuk:
Unless an
audio
recording can
be discovered
from 600 BC we
will have to
wait for
heaven to know
with certainty
just how to
pronounce
Habakkuk!
However you
first heard it
you probably
think is the
right way.
Ester
was born in
Guatemala and
the Spanish
pronunciation
is Estair.
About 15 years
ago we were in
Boston at
Boston
Children's
Hospital and
met a Jewish
rabbi's wife
who, upon
hearing the
way we said
Ester's name,
informed us
that's also
the Hebrew
pronunciation.
Who knew! So
actually
Estair is
probably how
the Bible
name, Esther,
was originally
pronounced.
However if I
were to
pronounce it
that way when
teaching
people from
the book of
Esther
listeners
would think I
was
practically
Biblically
illiterate!
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