Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones
“When Nothing Makes Sense”
Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:2-3, 3:17-19
A SORRY SOCIETY
Habakkuk 1:1-4 (ESV)
1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 (ESV)
2 And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
3 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.
A SORRY SITUATION
2 Corinthians 11:24-27 (ESV)
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
THE FATHER STAYS IN OUR STRUGGLES
Psalm 138:7-8 (ESV)
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
THE SON DEEPENS OUR CHARACTER
Romans 8:28-29 (ESV)
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Proverbs 17:3 (ESV)
3 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.
THE SPIRIT WIDENS OUR MINISTRY
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (ESV)
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer”™s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.