Singing in the Rain - Habakkuk 2:5-3:19

B-Side - Mark 12:18-27

Mark 12:18-27 - Confrontation passages, Day 3 This is the third day of Jesus's confrontation passages in Mark. First the Sanhedrin challenged him, then the Pharisees, and now it's the Sadducees' turn! The religious leadership is challenging his teaching and authority. They denied the resurrection, didn't believe in an afterlife. They were so conservative they only trusted the first five books of Moses (the Torah). So Jesus responded to them using only those books :-) The question of "whose wife is she in the afterlife"... we explore the apocryphal book of Tobit a story of Sarah who is described as having multiple husbands who were killed before she could consummate the marriages. Despite her grief, she decided it would be selfish to kill herself. The Sadducees may be referencing this story. The Sadducees assumed that if Heaven existed, it would just be a continuation of earthly family dynamics, human drama, etc. John 11:25, an "I Am" statement from Jesus... "I am the resurrection and the life"... to accept him is to accept the resurrection! By dying on the cross, Jesus destroyed the one who held the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Satan has no claim over a believer. At conversion, the "old man" dies. The believer is made alive in Christ, and our legal debt of sin is nailed to the cross (Colossians 2). We have no need to fear death, as we've already died! Our life is eternal, and our victory is secured. This is our hope, our song! The great and mighty acts of our Lord. Jesus says that when the dead rise, they neither marry nor are given in marriage; they are "like angels in heaven." The family of God is those whoever does the will of God, who are brought together by Jesus Christ. The last bit, v26-27... Jesus then brilliantly uses a text from the only books the Sadducees accept (Exodus/Moses at the burning bush). God said, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." He is the God of the living, not the dead. Jesus tells them, "You are quite wrong." The Sadducees read the Bible with a predetermined assumption (no afterlife), which threw their entire worldview off. Warning: Like a rocket ship off by one degree, bringing our own assumptions or failing to take the "whole counsel of God" (all 66 books) can lead us to disastrous belief systems. The Sadducees' question treated the hypothetical woman like property: "Whose wife/property will she be?" Jesus's answer dignifies her. In Heaven, we are not property to be owned, or objects for abuse. We are like the angels, children of the living God, dwelling in perfect harmony together, in God's presence! In his presence is fullness of joy, no more tears, no more sorrow!

Eternal Love - Mark 12:18-27

How do we know when our interpretation of the Scripture is correct? Jesus points back to Scripture to answer. Don't let one verse stand on its own authority, but read it in the whole context of the Bible! That's the basis of sound doctrine. v18... Sadducees believed there's no resurrection, no afterlife. They exalted the pentateuch over all else, and it's not resurrection-focused. To their thinking, man is largely in charge of his own destiny. Jesus will respond to their question from the pentateuch!  Sadducees look at marriage as a permanent institution, even in the afterlife. v24... They're off track because they know neither the scriptures nor the power of God!  Sometimes the most learned people are the most backwards and wrong. The Sadducees' education focused on cherry-picking verses in a limited context.  Jeremiah 22:29... God's word is like fire, like a hammer! Hebrews 4:12: it's sharper than a two-edged sword. If the Bible is true, we can trust it completely! All Scripture is breathed out by God.  How do we ensure we're not being led astray in our reading of Scripture? We use Scripture to interpret Scripture! 2 Timothy 3:16... It's all breathed by God, profitable for teaching. It will tell you who God is! Profitable for reproof. For correction, restoration! We need God to constantly lead us in the way. We must be complete, and equipped for every good work. Let the Word beat you up! It'll equip you for every good work. Store his Word in your heart, prepare yourself for reasonable service, so you're ready to serve instantly, in season and out of season.  Your family needs you to be in the Word! Your wife needs a godly husband, your kids need a godly father. Be ready for every good work. The Sadducees were also ignorant of the power of God over death. Believing in the resurrection is an elementary requirement of Christianity. Our country has been raised without God for generations, and the culture no longer believes in life after death. There's no accountability for sin.  Christ died and rose again, so when we die, we will rise again!  v25... Resurrection is not optional; we WILL rise after death, either to eternal life or eternal judgment. Marriage is indeed for a lifetime, but not for eternity! v26-27... He is the God of the living! Is God's love limited by the grave? No! He's faithful until death, and beyond. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord! His steadfast love endures forever! 1 Corinthians 13... Love is patient, kind... He's describing the love of Jesus for his people.  If you know you're a sinner in need of a savior... His love for you cannot be broken! You're never closer to your deceased loved ones than when you're worshipping God! There is no death in his presence. Death is just a beginning for the believer!  Romans 8:31... If God is for us, who can be against us? It's God who justifies!  Who can separate us from God's love? Nobody. Nothing. We are more than conquerors through him! Because he loves us, we live! His love is forever fixed on you! There's no condemnation for you. And because of his love for us, we will love him all the days of our lives!

Singing in the Rain - Habakkuk 2:5-3:19

Verse 5... Pride and arrogance are the mark of those outside the faith. Sin is never satisfied; it will progress infinitely if you let it, until it destroys you.  So submit to Jesus. You belong to him, and your soul is satisfied in him! The world is restless, chasing their sin.  V6-8... One day the nations will collect... You reap what you sow.  V9-11... Babylon thinks it's safe. But it's built on the blood of others.  V12-14... Babylon may be beautiful, but it was built on injustice.  We proclaim not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord!  Satan wants you to believe you're in a losing battle. That's a lie. The light overcomes the darkness! There are so many Christians in heaven they can't be counted!  Gates are defensive, not offensive. The church lays siege to Satan's kingdom! All false gods... Zeus, Caesar, Ra... are all gone. But Jesus remains!  Habakkuk says the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. We need to be ready to give a defense for the Gospel, in season and out! So read his Word and submit to it, every day! V15-18... ill-gotten power will be put to shame.  V19-20... Babylon has put its trust in a false god, but the Lord is high and lifted up in his holy temple! When our God moves and speaks, the whole earth stands in silence.  Chapter 3... V1-2... Habakkuk remembers the great works of the Lord, and pleads with him to revive it!  God can change the whole world with a small group of people! Equip us, strengthen us, God! Revive your great works! God can pour out his spirit whenever he wants, and he's looking for humble servants who depend on him completely. He's faithful to a thousand generations! V3-7... He's reflecting on the Exodus.  V8-12... How God uses creation to enact his justice.  V13... This recalls how God put enmity between the woman and the serpent (whose head was crushed)... Jesus on the cross was the bruised heel. V14-15... The Father is already talking about sending his Son! V16-19... He quietly waits for God's wrath to come upon the unrighteous enemy! God is his strength.  1. Habakkuk is the praying prophet... God's not going to answer his prayer the way Habakkuk wants; he has his own purposes. Yet true faith says "I trust the promises of God!" 2. Singing in the rain... In 1 John, we see that perfect love casts out fear... here Habakkuk is trembling in fear! But through it all, he knew God was good, no matter what would come his way. God is more powerful, more able, more glorious, than anything else!  What to do when your earthly comforts are taken from you? Remember that God makes you tread in high places. ...Psalm 123:1... We lift up our eyes... Our strength comes from the Lord! Colossians 3... Seek the things that are above! Your life is hidden in Christ! Our strength comes from the Lord.  In Heaven, all things will be made new! This is our hope, our peace! Stop ruminating on what scares you, and look up!

SUNDAY B-Side - Habakkuk 1, 2, 3

Habakkuk 1... Hab 1:1-4 - Begins with a question: "How long shall I cry for help?" Habakkuk is wrestling with God in prayer. He's confused about God's justice and timing. Judah is sinning, but Babylon is worse. Why is God using Babylon to judge Judah? Word for "violence" here is the same Hebrew word used in Gen 6:11 (Noah's flood) - things are so bad they need a total reset. The Law (Torah) is "paralyzed" - not defeated, but grown numb/cold in the Promised Land. Today, western countries are abandoning the Lord. When the Word of God is abandoned, justice becomes perverted. Hab 1:5 - God responds: "Look among the nations... doing a work... you would not believe." New Testament: Paul quotes this in Acts 13:40 as a warning against hard-heartedness and rejecting Jesus (the cross/resurrection). Hab 1:6 - God is raising up the Chaldeans (Babylonians). They are fierce, fast, and worship their own might. Hab 1:12 - "My God, my holy one." Habakkuk claims a personal relationship. (Good prayer model: claiming God as our Father, like Jesus taught). Habakkuk describes Babylon dragging nations away in nets and fishhooks. A New Testament reversal: In the Old Testament, the enemy "fishes" men into slavery and death. In Matt 4, Jesus calls us to be "fishers of men," netting people alive into the Kingdom of God! Habakkuk 2... Hab 2:1 - Habakkuk goes to his watch post. He's waiting on God. Waiting on God isn't being lazy! It is faithful, vigilant responsibility. Hab 2:2 - God says, "Write the vision... it awaits its appointed time." - This reminds us of the Rapture. It's written and will happen right on God's perfect, sovereign schedule. Hab 2:4 - "The righteous shall live by faith" (massive verse, quoted 3 times in the new testament). Babylon appears multiple times in scripture: - Tower of Babel (Gen 11) - "Let us make a name for ourselves" = Pride. - Babylonian Empire (Habakkuk's time). - 1 Peter (referencing Rome). - Revelation 17 & 18 (Future Babylon). - The "Spirit of Babylon" = pride that defies God. Do we have this spirit in our own lives or culture today? Woe 1: Plundering. "He who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Warning against a culture of endless war. Christians should be peacemakers. Woe 2: Evil gain. "The stone will cry out from the wall." Woe 3: Building a city on blood. Without Christ, there is only chaos. We share the gospel not just to get people to heaven, but to bring order and life to them right now! Woe 4: Making neighbors drunk to exploit them. Woe 5: Idolatry. Making wooden/metal images. Idols are ridiculous, and powerless! Habakkuk 3... We turn from a complaint into something more like a Psalm... Hab 3:2 - "Revive your work... in wrath remember mercy." How is our prayer life? Is it urgent? Bold? We need to repent of puny, lukewarm prayers! Luke 11 shows God wants to answer us. Revival starts with us. We need to be the spark in our own homes and neighborhoods. God's Power (v8-15): Creation bends to His will. He will pierce the enemy with their own arrows. Verses 17-19: Habakkuk realizes God isn't stopping the invasion, but he is at peace. "Though the fig tree should not blossom... yet I will rejoice in the Lord." Earthly things (health, money, nation) can be taken away. Salvation in Christ cannot be plundered. God makes his feet like the deer's on the "high places." The book starts with Habakkuk in the dirt, crying and desperate. It ends with him dancing on the high places. His circumstances didn't change, but his heart did because he learned to trust the living, sovereign God.

Faith In the Risen Lord - Habakkuk 1:1-2:4

Habakkuk 1:1... Written around 600 BC.  Habakkuk was the praying prophet. The whole book is one long prayer.  We know God is perfect, but sometimes we feel he's too slow, or forgets about us. The Chaldeans (Babylonians) are so awful they're bringing Habakkuk to his knees. He wants God to get rid of them or change their hearts. Those who know God is good still call out desperately for God to do his work!  V5-11... Habakkuk prayed for revival, and God responded that he'd never understand what God is doing if he showed him. If we only knew what he was planning for us! V12... Habakkuk doesn't like the response. When is God going to show up? And he compares Israel's righteousness with the Chaldeans'.  Habakkuk 2:1... We won't have to strive to reach up to God, to impress him. We have Jesus! If you pray genuinely to God, he hears you! You can wait on his goodness. Jonah... When asked "who is your God", Jonah revealed he's the God of everything, not just the sea. It's all God's! Nothing is beyond his ability. So pray big prayers! V2-3... God says to write down the message he gives Habakkuk. It will come to pass in time. So he must learn to wait on the Lord. V4... The deadliest sin is pride. It will sneak in unexpectedly, subtly. Satan wanted worship, some of God's glory. That one unchecked sin led to all the death and sin in human history. Pride rejects humility and submission, and keeps people out of heaven.  The bad news: you are a sinner.  The good news: John 3:16! Pride is deceptive... We can even take pride in how little pride we have! The Pharisees... everything pristine and perfect on the outside, but prideful on the inside.  We must be humble! We must DAILY submit to the Father. It's hard to pray because it's spiritual. We need the holy Spirit to convict us daily.  Pride opposes submission to God, but the righteous shall live by faith! There should be no prejudice, it's never justifiable. We must come to the cross and see what WE did to Christ. We are NOT "pretty great." At the cross, pride melts away. Faith... Hebrews 11:1... The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  Real righteousness is faith. God here wants to see us the assurance and conviction in God's Word, and his justice and mercy.  Hebrews 10:32 quotes Habakkuk. The early church received the holy Spirit, and all hell broke loose... Persecution of all kinds, suffering. During suffering, Christ is doing something in you that's greater than your comfort. Trust that God is good even if you don't see it. The righteous shall live by faith! When you're waiting for God to do something, trust him, even if it takes a long time, because he's true to his word. The righteous shall live by faith. Who's really righteous? Those who are in Jesus. The just are those who have faith in God! Righteousness can only come through faith. Romans 3... All have sinned, and are justified only by grace, as a gift!  Propitiation... the wrath of the Father has been eternally satisfied in the work of Christ!  The full measure of God will come down again, in even greater measure than before. Jesus is the hope: though we will die, we will live!  Waiting on the Lord is not passive, but an active endurance, an anticipation of the coming works of the Lord! Being faithful until the works of the Lord come. God is able to deliver, provide, revive, help you endure a trial!  Isaiah 40:31... Wait for the Lord, and God will be with you!