Habakkuk - Part 4

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. The just shall live by his faith.

Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews

Now that last statement is quoted three times in the New Testament by the apostle Paul. Romans chapter 1 verse 17, Galatians chapter 3 verse 11, and Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38. Now that caught some of your attention because you said, well, we don't know that.

What do you mean the apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews? Who had that thought? Okay, listen, I admit I cannot be dogmatic about Paul being the author of Hebrews. But remember, it is the traditional view.

Okay, it is the traditional view of the church. And I could have a whole defense and argument about this, but it is certainly my position. And I'll show you in a moment why this is very, very important.

Justification by Faith Apart from the Law

Now let's turn to Romans chapter 1. We're going to look at two of these quotations of Habakkuk 2 .4. So turn to Romans 1. And without question, there is no man more responsible for the spread of Christianity than the apostle Paul.

Disciples, you remember what the Lord told them in the Great Commission, you know, go out and make disciples of all the nations. And what did they do? Well, at least at first they seem content to stay in and around the city of Jerusalem.

You know, the Lord told them, go out. And they stayed right there for a long time. They didn't even leave until the persecution started. So you wonder if they would have ever left. Of course, they did.

But here's the thing about the city of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem. There were a lot of Judaizers in the city of Jerusalem. Now, what is a Judaizer? A Judaizer was a false teacher. They taught and preached Christ.

Yes, they preached Christ. But they also taught that you had to obey the law of Moses to be saved. So, yes, you had to believe in Jesus, but you also had to be circumcised and that Gentiles were to obey the dietary laws and all the rest.

So the Judaizer said, yes, Jesus is necessary. But guess what? Jesus isn't enough.

He's not enough.

You need to obey the works of the law. So the Judaizers basically taught salvation by faith plus works. Is that what the apostle Paul taught? Well, let's take a look. Romans chapter one, verse 16, and then verse 17.

Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. For the Jew first and also for the Greek. Remember that for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written. The just shall live by faith. And where did Paul get that idea? Did he come up with this on his own? Is this something that he just thought of?

No, he got it from who? He got it from the prophet Habakkuk. Where did Habakkuk get it from? Straight from straight from God. Now flip over to Romans chapter three, Romans three. After spending three chapters talking about the sinfulness of mankind, Paul draws his conclusion about the gospel.

So can man add anything? Can man work his way to God? Can man obey the 10 commandments and just do good enough and God will maybe grade on a curve?

Nope.

He says in verse 28, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. So salvation is by faith and not by works. Salvation is by trusting in Jesus, not obeying the commandments or doing rituals or anything else.

And Paul made this clear to the Gentiles. We just read that the Roman church was a Gentile church. But what did he say in Romans? It's for the Jew first and also for the Greek. So he made this clear to the Gentiles in the church of Rome, but he also made it clear to the Jews, I believe, in the book of Hebrews.

So the gospel is for everyone who believes both Jew and Greek, or as we would put it, Jew and Gentile. So where does the apostle Paul look? What verse of scripture does he appeal to to start to form this argumentation?

Habakkuk chapter two, verse four, which says, behold, the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith. Now let's turn to the book of Hebrews. We'll see Paul's quotation of this in Hebrews chapter 10.

Warning Against Turning Back to the Law

Now, when this verse from Habakkuk is quoted in Hebrews 10, what Paul is doing is he is warning the Jews. Many of them claim they believe in Jesus, but because of the false teaching and the societal pressure, they were starting to go back.

You know, we talk about backsliding, right? What is backsliding? You're going back to what you were doing before. Well, what were they doing before? What were they believing in before? The law, the old covenant, the law of Moses.

So they said, we believe in Jesus. But then they started to backslide, if you would, to go back under the law. So the apostle Paul is warning them here because many of them were buying into the lie that Jesus isn't enough.

You need to offer the sacrifices. You need to get circumcised, obey the law of Moses. You know what that amounted to? A denial of Jesus Christ. It amounted to a different gospel. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 26.

Paul says, for if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. And what's the sin he's speaking of? Because he says, for if we sin willfully, what's the sin that he's speaking of?

It's the sin of knowing the truth and then turning away from it. In this case, a Jew who knew the gospel, that Christ was the only sacrifice that could take away sin. They knew that, and yet they turned away from it.

Instead of trusting in Christ and in him fully, they went back under the law. And Paul says, if you do that, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. Christ is the only sacrifice. And incidentally, about two years after this was written, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.

And now there was really no other sacrifice even possible. Verse 27. So there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries.

Anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you suppose he will be thought worthy who has trampled the son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace?

If you know the truth of Christ and the gospel, if you turn away from it, what is that? You are trampling the son of God under foot. How much worse punishment do you suppose he will be thought worthy?

Who would do something like that? Now go back to Habakkuk chapter two. This is serious stuff. And when we go back to Habakkuk two, hopefully we'll see how all this fits together.

All right.

The True Gospel: Grace Alone Through Faith Alone in Christ Alone

So this is the true gospel of Christ. Every person sitting in this room should know this. All right. I'm serious. Every person should know this. If somebody comes to you and what is the gospel or what sets it apart from these other gospels, quote unquote, the true gospel is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

And then we can say to the glory of God alone. And how do you know that? Because the scripture alone is our authority. These are also referred to as the five solos of the Reformation. Whether you identify as a Protestant or a Baptist or whatever, this is true.

The five solos. The true gospel is salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That is the good news that the apostle Paul taught. And it's the good news that the other apostles taught.

And they eventually did go out to preach it to all the nations. And one of the other apostles, many of you, your favorite book in the Bible is the gospel of John. And we love the gospel of John because he makes it so clear that salvation is by what?

Believing. Believing.

You are saved because you believe in Jesus. Now, what does that mean? Does it mean you just have these facts in your head that you affirm? Is that what belief is? No, it's a trust. Believing in Jesus means you are trusting in Jesus and in him alone.

What if somebody said, why do I trust in Jesus? Fifty percent. I trust in Buddha. The other 50 percent. You say, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. There's people who do it.

This is a big world.

Anything you can think of.

Somebody is doing it.

Or why believe in Jesus? You know, 90 percent. But my own good works for my own baptism. Ten percent. You don't get it. Believing in Jesus is a trust in him and in him alone. You add anything to that or take away something from it.

It's another gospel. It is a denial of the son of God. So we need to believe in Jesus and in him alone.

And you know what?

That's a humbling thing. It's a humbling thing to admit that you are a sinner in need of God's grace. Some people are completely unwilling to do that. I found it sad. I still find it sad. There's one man that many of you, hopefully all of you pray for.

And he said, you know, I've I've never asked for forgiveness. I don't need to ask for forgiveness. It's a humbling thing to say. I don't have any hope in this world. The only hope I have is Christ. I need Jesus.

That's a humbling thing. And what is it? The refusal to do that.

I refuse.

I will not say that.

It's pride.

It's pride that prevents people from doing that. And really, what keeps people in unbelief? Pride, the love of their sin and pride. I think these are the two things. The love of sin and pride. You know what the Bible says in 1st John 2 16.

For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. So people are proud and thinking you can add something to your salvation, thinking you can work your way to heaven.

That's pride.

And here's where it hopefully all fits together. Okay, look again at what the Lord tells the prophet Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4. Behold the proud. Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.

So these are the two options. These are the two options that you have. You either trust in the Lord or essentially you're trusting in yourself. And let's get reoriented in the book of Habakkuk and his prophecy.

What's the prophets objection? What is it that he cannot understand? He cannot understand how the Lord could use a wicked nation like Babylon to bring correction to God's people. The Chaldeans, they did not have faith in God.

They trusted in themselves and they glorified themselves and their own military power. They would not give the glory to God. Remember, what did they say? They offered sacrifices and burned incense to their net and their dragnet, which was a symbol of military power.

What were they?

They were proud. You know, these nations all throughout history that have had the largest military, they seemed unbeatable.

What happens?

End up destroying themselves from within because the Lord lifts his hand of protection and gives them over to a debased mind. The only hope a nation has is to trust in Christ. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.