________________________________________________________________________

I chose our text in Habakkuk mainly because I always wanted to preach from Habakkuk and see how long it took people to find it. Just kidding. Actually, although it's not well known, the book of Habakkuk has great truths for us to learn today and goes beyond just being a fun name to say when you are preaching. Habakkuk was a prophet that began preaching a few years before the prophet Jeremiah. He was also a musician and the last chapter is a song that he sang playing the instruments for himself. Many scholars consider the song -- the third chapter of Habakkuk -- one of the most beautiful expressions of praise in the Bible. It is certainly a lesson that we can learn today because although the first two chapters are filled with questions that Habakkuk has for God, yet despite the questions about what is going on in his own life, Habakkuk still ends and closes by praising the things about God that he knows. The name Habakkuk means "one who draws another close" and Habakkuk certainly has a message that -- if we will learn it -- will draw us closer to God and God's plan for our life.

Despite his obscurity and having written a book of only three chapters long, Habakkuk was certainly well known in the New Testament church. It's actually well known to us, you just didn't know it. We sing several songs that quote Habakkuk:

The Apostle Paul quoted the little book four times, with three being our text. It is obvious that this part of Habakkuk, held the key -- at least the Apostle Paul felt -- to living for God successfully.

In the text, the Lord gave Habakkuk a word for the people in the form of a vision. In other words, God gave the prophet a glimpse of what God had for the future and told him to write it down so that "he may run that readeth it." God then went on to command that although He had given something that would happen in the future, they were to "wait for it" because "it will not tarry." And then to sum up everything that He was saying, God said the oft quoted phrase: "the just shall live by his faith." The "just," in other words those who would be in right standing with God and thus saved, would live by faith.

God wanted us to know that there are essentially three ways to live your life and you can find some people living according to all three categories. You can live your life because of the past, according to the present, or with a vision of the future.

There are some people who live in the past. They act and speak and live according to things that happened long, long ago. It's sad when people get this way. I've known people that didn't live for God and everything they did was tinged with bitterness of a hurt by somebody years ago, that doesn't even remember the incident. Or sometimes people allow one disaster or one down time affect the rest of their life and so they live in the present with their heart facing backward and the past is always their excuse and always their hang up. And their are others that despite being born again into this great kingdom of God, they live looking over their shoulder at what they had to leave behind, and like Israel in the wilderness, they long for the sin of Egypt, and like Lot's wife, they are leaving the judgment that that sin will bring reluctantly and eventually look back. Lot's wife is a poignant example that if you live in the past, you will be buried by the past. You can't live for yesterday. What's done is done. That's why true forgiveness is so important and that's why Jesus harped on it so often! Life is too short to allow today to be consumed by yesterday. Your actions today control what you will be tomorrow, so don't let the past dictate to you what you will do today!

I've mentioned before how in Romans chapter 8 the Apostle Paul gave a long list of things that he was convinced that could NOT separate us from the love of God. He said:

It's interesting to note that although Paul mentioned "things present" and "things to come" he conspicuously left out "things past." That's because when people live in the past, they take themselves out of the realm of God's approach. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. As the song says, He's not the great I was, but the great I am! God responds to those who live for Him now. And so it's possible that people would remove themselves from the love of God by living continually in the past, and that's why Habakkuk did NOT say "the just shall live by history." He said the "just shall live by faith!" You've got to move own from the bygones of yesterdays and allow God to heal some of the wounds and not let yourself fall into the trap of living according to the hurts of the scars gained in the past! It's NOT "the just shall live by history," but rather "the just shall live by FAITH!"

It's also possible to live your life with only the view toward the present. This is the place that majority of people live in the world. People who live in the present are only concerned with the "here and now." They want a blessing right now. They want gratification right now. The past means nothing, but the future means nothing either. They don't think about how their actions today will influence their life tomorrow, but rather whether or not it feels good right now. Sin is the king of this "living for the moment:" "don't worry about the consequences of the future, but do whatever makes you happy right now!" And our world is full of people that are trying to live "for the moment."

Unfortunately there are also many Christians that try to live for God in the present only. They are concerned with only what they get right now. They'll respond in a church service if God's presence is moving powerfully and they'll do whatever it takes, even pray with faith if it means them getting something instantly, but start talking about dedication or faithfulness or long-term commitment, and they begin to balk. They'll promise God everything in the here and now, but their word absolutely means nothing because when tomorrow comes, they will be doing whatever feels right then under the set of circumstances. The danger of living for the moment and living only for the present is that not only do you find yourself always reacting, but your life becomes governed by your circumstances. And you are only as faithful as your circumstances tell you to be. People that live for God like this are on board as long as everything is going good, but have a bad day, or put them around people that are not living for God and all of a sudden they aren't faithful anymore. They are living for the moment.

But you need to be reminded that the prophet did NOT say "the just shall live according to their present moment." He said "the just shall live by faith." That is those who will make it into eternal life and who will be saved and who will live in right standing with God, will live by "faith." They will live now with the future in mind. They refuse to act now because of the past, and they will not decide how to act based upon their present circumstances, but they will always be looking forward. They will have vision. Somebody needs to understand that this principle was obviously important enough for the Apostle Paul to quote it three times and it's obvious very important for you to get. If you want to be saved, then you've got to change your vision to looking forward.

________________________________________________________________________

The just shall live by faith. Most people who quote it don't even realize what they are saying. That doesn't mean that you just say you believe and close your eyes to truth. Faith is not just believing something, but rather believing that something in the future will happen so much, that you act now upon it! Faith is believing something in the future so much that action is produced in the here and now.

In our text in Hebrews, we read a little bit of the great "hall of fame" of faith. The chapter began with the words:

Faith is more than just believing and is acting according to things that have not yet happened and that you can't see right now the evidence and proof of. And then the next verses outline people who had such faith.

By faith, Abel offered up his sacrifice. He didn't know about Calvary one day or have a clue at that time why God wanted a blood sacrifice. All he knew was that God had said "in the future this will turn out to be important" and so he acted in the present according to things that he couldn't see or know.

By faith, Enoch was translated and didn't die. Jude tells us that Enoch prophesied about the Lord coming back with ten thousands of His saints! And he did all of this before the Flood and Enoch had received a word from God about the coming back of Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter 19. He didn't understand it, but Enoch lived his present life so that he would be righteous and ready. He had faith in something in the future that caused him to "live" according to that belief.

By faith, Noah was warned of a judgment coming by a way that nobody had ever seen. And yet he dedicated his life to building a way of safety and warning others. He was saved because he had faith that moved him into action right now according to the future.

By faith, Abraham answered the call of God. He became the father of a mighty nation, but he didn't understand how God's promises were going to come to pass. He just understood that God had commanded him to leave his home land and so he obeyed. He had genuine faith enough to live according to it.

"The just shall live by faith." What that means is that if you are to be saved, then you must live today according to a vision of the future. You must act now based upon what is coming and not on what is or what has been. If it's so important to grasp, let's break down what it really means to "live by faith."

God told Habakkuk to "write down the words of the vision" so "that he may run that readeth it." God said "I want you to write down the future that I have spoken will eventually come so that people can live their lives and run their courses according to the vision of what is coming." In other words, God said "my Word explains the future and those who will be saved will be those who live today because of what is coming tomorrow." God told Habakkuk that in response to his questions of "why?" God never answered all of Habakkuk's questions and only said "the just shall live by faith." "Habakkuk, read the vision and run."

We need to understand that the Word of God is the vision of God written down for us. The Bible is more than just a bunch of stories that happened long ago. But it clearly tells us the right way to live and the wrong way to live. It tells us what will be judged and what will not inherit eternal life. And the prophet Habakkuk makes it very clear that the Word of God was written with a purpose: "so that those who read it will run!" God's Word was meant to be acted upon! And it will only impact and change the lives of those who read it and then act upon it. That's not to say that you will completely understand always why God says not to do this or to do this and that. Like Habakkuk, it could be that there will be some things that will be written that you will never find out why, until you are in Glory. But you'd better obey them, even if you don't see completely why, that's living by faith because you are acting today on something that you've not yet seen come to pass. And the just -- those who will be saved -- will live by faith. That is, they will obey the Word of God even if God chooses not to explain why He has commanded and written what He has written!

And since I'm here, let me say that we need to understand that the Bible is not a good luck charm. There's nothing powerful about having it in your car or in your house. It's not a good fortune spell and it does no good unless it's in your heart. The vision only affect those who read it and run with it!

The magazine Newsweek did a poll last month which surprised me a bit. They found that:

93% of all Americans believe Jesus really lived.

82% see Jesus as God or the Son of God.

79% say they believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary.

67% of Americans think that the entire scriptural account of the Christmas story is historically accurate.

84% consider themselves Christians.

Not bad. Now catch this:

55% believe the Bible is literally accurate.

52% believe Jesus will return to earth some day.

15% believe Jesus will come back in their lifetime.

Now if only 55% believe the Bible is literally accurate, then I wonder what percentage actually tries to obey all of the scripture? Probably not much. But God told Habakkuk, that "although the vision is for an appointed time, it will happen." The judgment of God's Word on sin may have not completely happened yet, but it will LITERALLY according to the Word of God. I'm going to submit to you that if you say you "believe in Jesus Christ," and yet don't believe that God's Word is literally accurate or should be literally followed today, then you REALLY DON"T believe in Jesus Christ! Because the Bible says that He was the "Word" become flesh (John1)! Jesus is the Word of God in living form. You can't say that you literally believe in one and don't literally believe in another.

Only 52% believe Jesus will return to earth some day? What they are saying is that they believe in the past to some extent, but they don't really believe what the Bible says for the future. If they claim to be Christians, they are living according to history, or according to the moment, but they certainly aren't living by faith. Remember that Jesus not only promised that He would come back "in like manner" but He said the real issue was this:

That does seem to be the pertinent question! You are commanded to "watch for His coming" and "expect" it soon. Obviously very few Christians are doing that. But let me remind you that God said "the just shall live by his faith!" You'd better live according to the Word of God whether God answers your whys or not! You'd better live believing in the promises of the Word of God and live today according to what it says will happen to the future. That's the only way you can be "just." That's the only way you will be saved!

Say it: "the just shall live by faith!"

Let me tell you why the majority of Americans don't believe that the Word of God is literally accurate. Because when you begin to read the Bible you will find that somewhere it contradicts your opinion. Somewhere it's going to point to an area and teach something that goes against your flesh and will. It's eventually going to correct and reprove an area that needs correction that isn't pleasant for us to change. And so most Americans say "well I'm not going to change, so I'll just ignore that scripture, and maybe the Bible isn't very accurate." Actually it was very accurate and it read your mail, but you didn't want to submit.

When you choose to not obey something in the Word of God that contradicts your opinion or will, let me tell you what you are telling God. You are telling God that you think that your will is a better way to live than His will. You are basically saying that you don't need Him as your God. And that you know best for your life. And God will let you make those decisions. But He will also let you reap the sad results of those decisions.

But let me remind you that there is a God and you ain't it! And the God who holds the future has given us some guidelines to live by today, not because He likes punishing us or taking things away from us, but rather He knows that there are some things that are going to bring heartache and pain and suffering in your life if you don't change them, so He loves you enough to instruct you in them and show you what you need to change.

And the scriptures say that the just shall live by faith. That means that those who are truly saved will respond to a command of God that contradicts their will by saying "His will is better, and even though I can't see why right now, I'm going to do things according to His way!" That's living by faith. That's doing things today in faith believing that God's Way is better. People who can't take correction from the Word of God are not truly saved, because they are living by faith. They are living according to what they think is good right now.

And since I'm here let me say this. God has always used a man or woman to preach His Word. And men and women are imperfect, but God's Word is not. Sometimes people get mad at a preacher because "of what he said." But you'd better check why he said what he said. If it's in the Word of God, then really God is the One who said it! And although God used a mouthpiece, if you have a problem with something God said, then you really have a problem with God. 99% of the time when people get upset at me, they're really upset at God's Word that I have spoken. But you'd better not be a fool and not heed the correction, because let me remind you that although I am human and thus fallible, the Word of God is infallible and ultimate truth. And the Bible says that the proof of sonship is the ability to take correction. If you are really a Son or Daughter of God, then you will obey and change and humble accept when the Word of God contradicts your will and realize that His Will is greater than yours. If you can't take the correction of the Word of God, then you are not really a child of God and you aren't walking by faith, so you really aren't just or saved!

And let me say this before I move on. Paul instructed the young pastor Timothy to "preach the Word" and then he said "in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves." If you get mad at the Word of God and disobey it, you aren't hurting the preacher, because it's not his word that you are breaking. You aren't hurting God really either, because God is unchanging and He'll still be God and on the throne long after you've turned to dust. When you disobey God's Word, you really are "opposing yourself." Because if you would have humbled yourself and changed to match the Word of God, then you would have been blessed and better for it and saved yourself a lot of hurt and pain, but since you chose to rebel, your life will reap what you have sowed. You really hurt yourselves more than anybody when you choose to not live by faith that God's Word is true.

________________________________________________________________________

I must move on., but I'm talking about "the just shall live by faith." Live for the future. Live now according to what the Word of God says. Submit to God's Will even though we can't see how or why God's will is better in the here and now. Living by faith!

We read it already how that Habakkuk said that there is coming a day that God's glory and power will cover the earth like the sea! The scriptures also say that there is coming a day where:

I want you to understand one thing. You can believe whatever you want to believe down here because God has given you a free will. But there is only One way of believing that is right! And there is coming a day that even the atheist will have to bow before Jesus Christ and admit that there is a God. That even those who are confused as to how many there are will bow before the One throne in heaven (Revelation 4:2) and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There is coming a day that every Muslim will admit that "Allah" is not the name of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. There is coming a day that every sinner will admit that they had need of a Savior. They will not be saved, understand, but they will ALL bow a knee! There is coming a day when every skeptic and faithless person will firmly know that God's Word is true and the ONLY way that they should have lived. And one day, there will be many that will find out the truth of God's Word when he said -- and I read it in Today's English Version:

There will be many who gloss over that stuff and say "it's not literally true or accurate." But that will find out that it is literally accurate and those who have done such things and not allowed the Spirit of God to change them and wash them, will not enter into eternal life! One day everyone will find out that God wasn't kidding when He said:

One day they will find out that the Word of God means exactly what it says! And the scripture goes on to say that Jesus said:

The word for angel there is literally "messenger" in the Greek. Jesus is going to look at some of them who will be speechless because they know that they have not lived according to the Word of God and He'll say "I sent a messenger to you. You heard him on a Sunday morning preaching my Word and reading to you from my vision." "He did it so that you could run to obey it and perform it." "But you didn't think it was true. You didn't think it was serious. You passed it off as just another message. Therefore depart from me you worker of sin, I never knew you."

And people will be lost, because they did not walk by faith.

But I'm going to walk by faith. I'm going to live NOW according to the future that is coming. I won't wait until then to admit that I needed a Savior, but I'll admit it now! I won't wait until then to swallow my pride and admit that I needed to change my will, but I'll change now, while there's still time! I won't wait until I stand before that great, lone throne to admit that Jesus Christ is the "image of the invisible God" but I'll bow a knee now and confess it over and over! I'm not going to wait until that day to realize the accuracy of the written vision called the Bible, but rather I'm going to admit it now and live by it today! I'm going to walk by faith, and so I'm going to live today according to those things that will happen in the future!

And to you Spirit-filled believers I also say: I'm not going to wait until that day to praise Him with everything that I have, but I will do it now! I'm not going to wait until I see Him face to face to talk to Him, but I will talk to Him everyday now! I'm not going to wait until I'm on a new earth to proclaim His name and the power of His Glory, but I'll testify and be a witness now on the old earth! I'm not going to wait until I have a glorified body that doesn't get sick or feeble to give Him my best, but I'll start now despite what I feel like! There will be no tears there and no crying, but I'm not going to wait for then to say "blessed be the name of the Lord" but rather I'll do it now with the tears! I'm not going to wait until I'm on streets of gold to start listening to His voice and being faithful to His kingdom, but I'll start listening and being faithful right now!

Call me crazy. Call me radical. But see I'm living in the future. I'm in this world, but not of this world. And so I follow different rules than this world has. I follow the rules of the heavenly kingdom that is to come! I haven't seen it yet, but I know it's coming. And so I'm living by faith! I'm walking by faith! I'm living driven by a world that I have not yet seen, but that one day will be mine! The just shall live by faith!

And I close with this:

In all of Jesus' parables, the reward was always more of the same. The man who was faithful with 5 talents got to keep his extra 5 talents and then gained more. Jesus' wording was "you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many enter thou into the joy of the Lord." Those who make it to heaven will be those who were faithful to the things of God here on earth. In other words, you can't live according to the kingdom of sin and it's principles here on earth and expect to suddenly become this perfect angel once you step on other side. The "just" shall live by faith. Those who will be found in right standing with God. Those who will be saved. They are the ones who will be living by faith. They will already be faithful to the things of heaven, even on earth.

Realize what that means. To be saved, means that you will be one of the ones praising Him for eternity. You will be one of the ones talking to Him forever. You will faithfully do His will and obey His Word forever. And if you are to be a part of that group, the just, you will already be living it such down here. In other words, if you can't dance on aisles of carpet because of your great faith of what is to come, then you won't be dancing on the streets of gold. The scriptures say that everything in heaven will "praise Him!" You aren't going to go from sitting through church services that are singing and talking about the great things of God sitting there like a wart on a chicken's beak to suddenly this perfect angel leaping and shouting and praising God. If you refuse to worship Him down here, by faith, then you won't be one of the ones doing it up there!

If you can't by faith obey God's Word now and talk to Him. Then you won't be suddenly obeying God's Word for eternity and having an eternal relationship with Him then! Those who will get to serve God faithfully for eternity under perfect conditions are those who will "live by faith" and serve God faithfully now under imperfect conditions! He will be the King of Kings to those who will let Him be Lord of All now! The just -- those who will be right with God -- shall live by faith!