March 1, 2009
Sermon #773
The Three Hardest Words to Say
Introduction: If I were to ask you what the three hardest words were for you to say what would you answer?
I’m sorry? No that’s only two!
I love you? What do you really mean?
How about – I don’t know!
I don’t know, I believe they are the hardest words for a minister or a teacher to say. Have you ever heard a politician admit, I don’t know? How about an economist? Could you believe a prophet? Well, there is one in the Old Testament that is asking questions instead of giving answers. Habakkuk!
Habakkuk 1:1 - 4 (NKJV) 1The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2O Lord, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” And You will not save. 3Why do You show me iniquity, And cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises. 4Therefore the law is powerless, And justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
What Habakkuk saw:
Perverse judgment
Habakkuk 2:6 - 7 (NKJV) 6“Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his—how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? 7Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty.
ILL: “It’s the economy stupid!” Are we talking about 659 BC or today?
Listen to Habakkuk!
Men make huge profits while driving their companies into bankruptcy
We have been encouraged to have big loans, credit cards, mortgages etc. and suddenly your creditors want payment.
You have lost your retirement funds
Now your company is cutting back and you may or have lost your job
You wake up each morning with the spirit of fear
He was angry about it – he didn’t know and wanted to know what God was doing
ILL: Being angry about injustice is not sin! It is part of God’s nature in us.
Psalm 7:11 (NKJV) 11God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.
Jonah 3:5 - 9 (NKJV) 5So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
ILL: Winston Churchill said, “A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.”
ILL: In 1807 Wilberforce became angry at Slavery – was he wrong?
Isaiah 58:6 - 8 (NKJV) 6“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
ILL: It is all right for you to be angry about the right things.
Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV) 26“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath…
What God answered
Habakkuk 1:5 (NKJV) 5“Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
If God told you what He was doing you would not believe it
ILL: I recently taught on the 10 commandments. When I taught on adultery I received a nasty note in the offering. Though, it was a name the person wrote, the name was something profane to call me. I am going to tell you what it was. They called me “Republican.” No, I am not being political, I am however being moral! The problem is not the economy it is a moral problem!
The root of the economic crises is symptomatic of and flows from a deeper fundamental moral crisis.
ILL: Pastor Walter Hoye has been found guilty of unlawful approach under the Access to Reproductive Health Care Facilities Ordinance of Oakland, CA. He has been fined $4000 and a possible jail sentence. His crime? He held up a sign that said, “Jesus loves you and your baby.”
Pastor Hoye “harassed” the center. It is located in the inter-city which is 50 percent black and 40 percent below the poverty line. One hundred abortions are performed per day at $600 per person, or $3 million per year. The state is paying out $52 million per year for abortions. Did you know that the state of California has a $40 billion deficit and that it will be receiving from the “stimulus” package?
Before you accuse me of politics may I tell you that Pastor Walter Hoye is African-American and his arrest is for violating the “right to privacy.” What about the First Amendment of the Constitution of the U.S.? What about Pastor Hoye’s right to freedom of religion and speech?
“Well Pastor that’s just a little incident.” NO! It’s a symptom of a moral disease!
Wait!
Habakkuk 2:2 - 3 (NKJV) 2Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
Is this the beginning of the tribulation? I do not know!
When is the rapture coming? I do not know!
When is Jesus coming?`` I do not know!
When is the economic crises going to end? I do not know!
What can we do?
ILL: Now here is a question that I do know the answer to.
Praise Him!
Habakkuk 3:17 - 19 (NKJV) 17Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— 18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.
Keep the wonder!
Habakkuk 2:14 (NKJV) 14For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:20 (NKJV) 20“But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
Habakkuk 3:2 (NKJV) 2O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.
Live by faith!
Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJV) 4“Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
Conclusion:
It is not an economic problem – it’s a faith problem. When will it end? I do not know! How can I be saved? Ah! That’s a question I can answer – by grace through faith!
