Skip to content Dealing with Doubt | Habakkuk – Part 1 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Mar 9 · 36 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah! It is a joy and a privilege to bring God's Word into your homes. Today we are bringing a brand new sermon series from the book of Habakkuk.0:13 Now, this morning's sermon is dealing with doubt. Habakkuk chapter 1 verses 1 to 11. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your goodness and0:24 grace. We acknowledge that Holy Spirit is our teacher. Give us listening ears, mighty God, and open our eyes to see the wonderful truth from your word, and give us grace to obey your0:36 word. We thank you in Jesus' precious name and the people of God said, Amen and Amen. Dealing with Doubt, Habakkuk chapter 1 verses 1 to verse 11.0:47 In the course of church history, the church had to deal with many problems. 2 in particular comes to mind. Before the year 19 14 the Church had to0:59 deal with the problem of science. Reconciling Bible with scientific knowledge. Francis Bacon, a scientist said this, A little science1:11 separates a man from God. A lot of science brings him back. See this whole argument about creationism versus evolution1:23 that everything happened randomly by chance rather than a creator who intelligently put everything together. The more someone studies1:34 science they will be convinced that there is a Creator who brought everything together for His purpose and for His glory. Fred Hoyle,1:47 a famous astronomer and mathematician, he was trying to explain the probability of things happening by chance with this example. He said, Imagine there1:59 are blind men. How many blind men? 10 to the power of 50. That means 1 and next to 1 there are 50 zeros. Imagine 10 to the power2:11 of 50, that's the number of blind men and each of them have been given a scrambled Rubik's cube. Imagine if they are all trying to solve and they arrive at the2:22 solution simultaneously. That's the probability of things happening by chance. In another way of explaining it, it's like this. You walk into2:34 a hardware shop and suddenly there is a big bang and right in front of you everything comes together and bam there is a BMW 7 Series.2:46 That is how ridiculous it is when you say things happen by chance or by evolution. You and I, we need to think about this. Science can't explain2:58 everything. Imagine a ball that is bouncing into this room. Science can explain a few things. It can explain what the ball is made of.3:10 Secondly, how far the ball would travel before it stops. That means it can explain the kinetic energy. But science can never explain3:21 who threw the ball in and why. See the question of meaning and significance can only be answered by a creator. That's why the3:33 problem of science is no longer a problem. Why? Because the more they look into it they understand there is an intelligent design beautifully put3:45 together by a creator. After 19 14 the church experienced problem of history. This is reconciling Bible with the events of history.3:57 If God is a good God, why would he allow bad things to happen to good people? If God is truly in charge, he is sovereign, he is good, he4:09 is wise, he is in control, then why there were 2 world wars? Why was there a holocaust? Why are there ethnic cleansings and4:21 genocides in so many parts of the world? If God is truly God and He is good and He is in control, why are there broken marriages and wayward children?4:34 Why would I fail my driving test for the sixteenth time? See, these are questions that we sometimes struggle with. In this4:45 COVID season, the question that plagues everyone is, why would God allow COVID to happen? People have lost their4:57 jobs. People have lost their loved ones. People are recovering and they are saying about the long COVID recovery. I want you to listen to me carefully. Even in the recent5:09 times, why would Afghanistan be given back to Taliban and Taliban are now persecuting the church? The Christians are being murdered, executed for their5:21 faith. Now these are questions that plague us and the question is always trying to reconcile the goodness of God, trying to reconcile a good God who is in5:32 control and trying to reconcile what is going on in the world today. Why would a good God allow bad things to5:44 happen to good people? I want you to think about this. There are 3 views about God. Atheism, deism, and theism. What is atheism?5:56 Atheism is God doesn't exist. In other words, there is no God. Whatever is happening is happening by chance, random. Deism is God exists but he6:08 is uninvolved in history. He is uninvolved in the human affairs. What controls what happens in human history is the social, political, and economic6:19 laws. But there is theism. What is theism? Theism is God exists and is fully involved in human affairs. Now, you and I are theists6:31 because we believe we have a God in heaven who is sovereign, who is wise, who is good and he is in charge of all that is happening in the world today.6:42 You and I need to recognize God doesn't create evil but God controls evil to accomplish His purposes. God will bring about His6:54 purposes come to pass but you and I have an issue when bad things happen to good people When things don't go the way that you expect them to go questions arise,7:06 confusions happen. As a result there is a crisis of belief. Crisis of belief is usually identified by 2 things, doubts of the mind and7:18 questions in the heart. There is doubt in the mind and questions in our heart. Why would God let this happen to me? I look at the wicked, they are prospering but I look at the7:30 righteous, they are suffering. Why would a good God allow this to happen? This is the question that is examined in the book of Habakkuk.7:41 Habakkuk means wrestle or embrace. Very little is known of this prophet but he must have been a person who wrestles before God and he embraced7:53 God even in the inconsistencies of life. In this book, 3 chapters, I see a beautiful movement of faith. In the first chapter there was a prophetic8:05 burden. He had a prophetic burden before God that he was wrestling with. From wrestling in chapter 1, in chapter 3 he moves into a place of resting.8:17 From a place of worrying before God and wondering what God is doing in chapter 1 he enters into chapter 3 with worship and with contentment. From confusion to contentment, from a8:29 sob to a song, from wrestling to resting that's the book of Habakkuk. Chapter 1 deals with a prophetic burden, chapter 2 deals with a prophetic vision, chapter 3 deals with a prophetic8:40 intercession. Another way of saying this is faith is tested in chapter 1 and faith is taught in chapter 2 and faith is triumphant in chapter 3. I want to give you8:52 a background of Habakkuk. Habakkuk was written around 600 BC. Habakkuk is a prophet that was contemporary to9:04 Jeremiah and Nahum. Now he was a prophet who prophesied before the exile and he looked at the burden, he looked at the violence, he looked at the strife, he looked at the9:16 contention, he looked at all the injustice that was happening in society and how the people of God, the righteous were being oppressed and he says, Lord, when will you deliver us?9:27 The Lord gave him a reply and the reply confused him even more. First he is perplexed by what he is seeing and secondly he is looking at what he is seeing and God is answering9:39 him and again he is perplexed even more. That is what we are going to explore in this book. Praise God. Want you to think about your own life. Has there been9:51 any situations where you are confused and you ask God why and how long? Maybe you will find answers in this book of Habakkuk. I want to explore just this 1 question with you.10:03 Why do we get confused by what we see happening around us? Why do we get confused by what we see happening within us? Now this, I want to give you 210:15 things, 2 reasons for confusion in troubled times. I want to give you 2 applicational principles. What are the 2 reasons why we get confused during troubled times?10:27 1, the mysterious ways of God. Secondly, the misunderstood work of God. Let's look at it 1 by 1. The mysterious ways of God. See10:39 the Bible says in Habakkuk chapter 1, 1 verse 1 to verse 4 deals with the complaint that Habakkuk brings before God. From10:51 verse 5 all the way to verse 11 the Lord gives him a reply. The reply puzzles him and causes him to have more questions. I11:03 want us to read the first 4 verses and I want you to see the mysterious ways of God in how he dealt with Habakkuk. Look at this, the oracle that Habakkuk11:15 the prophet saw. O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? Or cry to you violence and you will not save? Why do you make me see11:26 iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife and contention arise so the law is paralyzed and justice never goes forth.11:39 For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. In these first 4 verses you see him asking the question, how long? Why I11:50 keep crying out to you and why are you making me see iniquity? Why are you idle? Why are you silent? It is almost like he is questioning the12:02 indifference of God to his prayers. He is questioning the unconcern of God. That's where I want you to understand the mysterious ways of12:13 God. Firstly, it is this, when God seems slow in his response. You may ask this question time to time. I have12:25 been praying and I don't see any answer to my prayer. Why is God silent? When will he heal me? When will He open the borders so that I can reunite with my12:37 fiance? When will He open the doors for me? I'm stuck. When will He bring my loved 1 to salvation? There are so many12:49 questions in our hearts that we wrestle with sometimes because God seems slow in his response. The second thing that helps me understand the mysterious ways of13:00 God is when God seems strange in his answers. From verse 5 to verse 11 the Lord is giving the prophet a reply and this reply looks very strange.13:13 See sometimes God is like this, He does answer our prayers but the answer to our prayer doesn't come in the form of a result but it comes in the form of13:25 a reply. What do I mean by that? You go before God and you say, Lord I want a car. I need a car, provide for me 1. But rather than providing you a car the Lord says, take the13:36 bus. Take the public transport. Now, He didn't give you the result you wanted but He gave you a reply. The same thing here. The prophet cries before God and says, Lord, how long13:48 will I suffer? How long will the injustice go unpunished? God says, No, I am going to deal with it. The answer he gives in verse 5 and verse 6, I want you to read it together with me.14:01 Look among the nations and see. Wonder and be astounded for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up Chaldeans that14:12 bitter and hasty nation who march through the breadth of the earth to cease dwellings not their own. Wow! God says to the prophet, I am doing14:24 work. You think I am not doing work? I am doing work. Prophet says, How long? Why? God says, No, I am doing the work14:36 but even if I tell you, you won't believe it. Want you to listen to me carefully. This answer seems so strange. Why? Because God says, Behold I'm raising the14:48 Chaldeans. Who are the Chaldeans? During the time of Habakkuk there were 2 superpowers in the world. 1 was the Syria in the north14:59 and Egypt in the south. But God says, I am going to raise a new superpower and this superpower are most treacherous. They are most wicked. They are bitter and hasty15:11 nation and they will be used by God to crush Judah, to bring judgment upon Judah, to bring discipline into Judah. When the prophet hears this, this15:23 is a strange answer. He says, Lord, I am crying out to you for help. I am crying out to you for injustice. I am crying out to you that you will come and rescue us and deliver us and do15:35 a work of revival among us. Instead God says, I am going to raise an enemy who will come and crush you. That seems strange, isn't it? Our God is a God who does strange15:47 things, mysterious. Sometimes we don't understand. For Moses, Moses was raised in the palace but God used him mightily in the15:58 desert. As far as Joseph was a young man who was raised in the desert and he was mightily used by the Lord in the palace. God's ways are mysterious.16:11 That's why you and I we cannot figure out sometimes and we are wondering why God what are you doing in my life? It's like this, you are stuck in a tunnel and you can't see any16:22 light and suddenly you see light at the end of the tunnel and you are happy before you realize that light is not the end of the tunnel. It is a light that is coming from an oncoming train. You and16:34 I, we need to recognize that there are times in our lives are overwhelmed by what we are seeing. We are confused. A student was walking around the campus with a t shirt and the t shirt had16:46 a big K in front of her. The professor looked at that big K and said, Hey, what does this K stand for? So the student explained, This K is16:58 for confused. The professor said, But confused is not spelled with K. The student replied, You don't know how much I'm confused. I want you17:10 to listen to me. You're going to need to recognize that there are times that we are confused about what is going on. That's why we can't figure out in our natural17:21 mind what God is doing. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 8 and verse 9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so17:33 are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. The third thing that seems mysterious in the ways of God is this, when God seems wrong in his choice.17:45 God says, behold I am raising up Chaldeans, the Babylonians. Verse 11 says, these are guilty men whose own might is their God. In other words, they trust in17:57 their own might. They depend upon God. They don't depend upon God. They depend upon themselves and they make themselves as gods and here the bible says God is going to use18:09 them. For Habakkuk this was a wrong choice. Lord they are not righteous. They are wicked. At least there are righteous people in Judah but would you18:20 raise this unrighteous Babylon to come and crush Judah? It seems like God this is an unlikely person for you to use. God uses18:32 unlikely people. In the Old Testament there is a king by the name of Cyrus. Cyrus was the king of Persia who allowed the Jews to return back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.18:44 God used a pagan king to accomplish his purpose. God is wise enough to use the Chaldeans and the Babylonians and powerful enough to use them to fulfill his18:55 purpose. These are the mysterious ways of God. It reminds me of a story of a soldier who was running from the battlefield. He was surrounded19:09 by the enemies and he was panicking because was without any help. He had no ammunition anymore. He found a tunnel and he ran into the tunnel and he started to hide.19:22 He could hear the enemies coming near him, surrounding him. He cried out to God and said, Lord please save me, please save me, please send me some help.19:33 At that time all he saw was only a spider, a little spider starting to build a web in the opening of the tunnel. He was quite upset. He19:45 said, Lord, I was expecting 2 angels to appear and deliver me but rather I see a small spider weaving a web. Little did he realize when the enemy soldiers came near and19:57 they looked within the tunnel they saw a spider web and the soldier commented, Hey, I don't think anyone has gone in here because there's a spider web here and it's20:08 undisturbed. So they walked away and that's how he got spared. God didn't send him angels to rescue him, God sent him a creature, a spider. This is sometimes how20:20 mysterious the ways of God is but sometimes when God seems silent it doesn't mean that he is not working. He is still working his purposes in your life but you don't20:32 see it. Let me give you an applicational principle. Take this to heart anytime you are going through a painful season. God's ways is often mysterious. In other20:44 words, always recognize this that God is working out his purposes in your life. God's will is being fulfilled in your life. Years ago I preached a whole sermon series20:56 on knowing God's will. It's still available on the internet. It's a 5 part series but it's based on this 1 theological statement that I want you to capture. God's will is totally21:07 sovereign, gloriously redemptive, sometimes puzzling but always perfect. When you're going through your tough time recognize this that God's will is totally sovereign.21:20 He's gloriously redemptive. He can bring all things to work together for your good. Sometimes it's puzzling but it's always perfect, hallelujah.21:32 Even in my own life I've gone through so many things that I didn't understand. Why would a good God allow these things in my life? You know what, 1 of the core things that I've come back time and21:44 time again is that God somehow weaves it all together for his glory and for his purpose. In time you will recognize how beautiful21:56 the tapestry that he's weaving together. I want you to recognize that. Secondly, the second reason for confusion in troubled times is the misunderstood work of God.22:08 See in these 11 verses there are 3 groups of people that misunderstood what God was doing. I want to highlight this because some of us are part of this group. The first22:20 group that misunderstood God's work are careless believers. Careless believers. Look at verse 5. Verse 5 says, look among the nations and see. Wonder and be22:31 astounded for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. He says, you would not believe it even if I tell you. You couldn't see it22:43 yourself but I tell you this is what I'm doing and yet you couldn't see it and yet when I tell you you wouldn't believe it. In other words, these are careless believers who don't take to22:55 heart what is going on in the world. What God is doing in their life. They don't reflect upon their life. They don't carefully study the scriptures to see what God is saying.23:07 They lack discernment and they don't have any faith. They don't believe. Sometimes we think, if God appears to me and tells me, I would believe.23:19 Can I humbly say this? God sent a man by the name of Noah to preach righteousness to his generation. God said to Noah, Build an ark because I'm going to send a flood and the flood will23:31 destroy the whole earth. Did people believe? The Bible says they ridiculed Noah and they didn't believe. They refused to believe. Just because someone comes and tells you doesn't mean that you23:43 will believe. See, Lot and his family they were sent 2 mighty angels. The angels came and they proclaimed judgment is coming upon Sodom and Gomorrah. So23:55 run for your life to the mountains. They did run but Lot's wife turned back and she saw the fire and she turned into a pillar of salt. In other words, just because you are24:06 told doesn't necessarily mean that you believe. That's why in the last days 1 of the core things that you and I we need to develop is that we need to develop faith and we need to exercise24:18 discernment. Jesus has already said before He returns these are the things that will take place. There will be rumours of war. There will be nations rising against24:30 another nation. There will be famines. There will be floods. There will be earthquakes. There will be pestilences. If we take this to heart we need to recognize that we are living in the24:42 last leg of the last days therefore we turn to Him. We live a Godly and a holy life. But do we do that? We don't because we misunderstand the work of God24:54 by not believing but not exercising discernment. The second group of people that misunderstood the work of God are the world. In this case the Babylonians. Look at verse 11.25:06 The Bible says in verse 11, They are guilty men whose own might is their God. In other words, they thought they are victorious because they are very powerful,25:18 very strong. They had the military might. They had the strategic wisdom to be able to take all the nations. But what they didn't recognize is verse 6, Behold I am raising25:29 up Chaldeans. In other words it was God who was raising them up. They were instruments in the hands of a mighty God. They were pawns being25:41 moved by the finger of God. That is why you and I need to recognize what goes on in the world is history and history is history. He25:53 is writing history. See I told you earlier God doesn't create evil but he controls evil to accomplish his purposes. He uses every evil26:04 intention of men to bring about his purpose on planet earth. That's why you and I, we don't need to be confused. We can be fully aware26:16 that this is how God is working out his purposes. Thirdly, who misunderstands the work of God? The people of God. Sometimes it's the godly people like Habakkuk. In verse 2 and verse 326:28 he cries out to God and he says, Lord, how long? Why are you causing me to see iniquity? In other words, he should be aware. He should be discerning. He should be wise. He should know what God26:40 is doing. He should be He should recognize the presence of God. He should recognize the promise of God. Yet, he was confused. Even the godly are confused. That's why I believe in26:51 the leg of the last days many people will walk away from faith because even they will be deceived. Even godly people may27:03 be duped into thinking, believing into a lie, thinking that God is not at work but can I humbly say this, recognize this, that God is always at work? Let me give you the second27:15 applicational principle. God's work is always magnificent. God's work is always magnificent. Whatever you see today is happening in your life27:27 that you don't understand, just allow it. Just trust in his sovereignty. Trust in his wisdom. Trust in his plan of salvation. He will work it out. He will bring27:38 together a beautiful tapestry for his glory. See years ago I went before God and I said, Lord I'm not sure why you bring an Indian man into a Chinese church. Our church was a Chinese church when I27:50 joined. Today it is a flourishing multicultural church In those days as an Indian man I was crying out to God, Lord why would you bring me here? I saw a lot of closed doors that28:02 caused me to be anxious in my soul and saying, Lord I want to serve you but there are no opportunities. I want to do your will but all I see is pain and hurt. That season28:14 God sent some prophets into my life, people who prayed for me. There was 1 man who particularly prayed and he said, God will take you through a school of hard knocks where you and your wife28:26 will go through painful seasons and when you come out of it God will bring you out of it 1 day and in that season God will use you for his glory. Pastors will be educated and trained through your ministry28:38 because you will have a bible college that helps them. Little did I understand at that time because I was going through painful season. I was in a pastor's retreat many many28:49 years ago and I was crying before God because there was a period of, it was a painful period in our ministry. The person who was leading that session said, Turn to the person next to you and29:01 let the person pray for you. I turned around, there was a man of God who happens to be a mega church pastor and he laid his hands on me and prayed for both29:13 pastor Iza and I. This is what he said, I see a beautiful tapestry. God is weaving a beautiful masterpiece together but before it is adorning the walls29:25 it goes onto the floor on the front door and for people to trample on it. After a while God takes it and puts it on a wall as a masterpiece. Right now29:37 you're going through the trampling season, just hold on. I want you to listen to me carefully. There is suffering and suffering precedes glory.29:50 Cross precedes crown. Whatever you're going through today, you may not understand what God is doing. You may think that, Lord, I don't see it. I don't get it. I don't I it seems like you're30:02 not working. But know this, God is at work and He is accomplishing His purpose. In conclusion, can I give you this? In your30:14 darkest hour, God is doing His deepest work. Know this, that God is actually doing his deep work in your life. Pastor, I don't30:25 see it. That's why in this church we call this the necessary journey. If are in a necessary journey where you don't see it and all you see is confusion, misunderstandings and30:37 everything is a mystery, can I humbly give you this suggestion that Andrew Murray wrote in his book? He says there are 4 anchors for people who are going through a tough30:49 season that they need to anchor their faith in these 4 things. Let me give you these 4 things. Number 1, I'm here by God's appointment. In other words, I'm in this situation because31:01 God brought me here. I'm appointed. This is an appointment of God in my life. Number 2, I'm here in his keeping so I'm surrounded by his love and he will give me grace to behave as his child.31:13 He is keeping me. He's loving me and he will give me grace. I'm here by God's appointment. I'm loved by him. I'm kept by him and he will31:25 give me grace. What's the third 1? While I'm here, I'm under God's training to teach me the lessons I'm to learn. In other words, in every situation I find myself in, God is teaching me something. What is he31:37 up to? What does he want me to learn? Become God centered in your orientation. Be spiritual in your orientation. Recognize that God is at work. And number 4,31:48 I'm here for God's time and he will bring me out again. How and when he alone knows. In other words, I'm here until God wants me. But a day will come He will bring32:00 me out of here. If He brings you in, He will bring you out. You stay in His mighty hand because the lifting up of your head is coming says the32:12 Lord. I want you to listen to me carefully. You and I sometimes we look at situations and we get confused But what we need is a reorientation.32:24 What we need is a recalibration of our heart. We need to come back to recognize that God you're always at work and God you're always able to32:36 deliver me, to provide me the grace I need in times of my need. Hallelujah. Are you confused? I pray that through this series that God will bring us from a place of32:48 confusion to contentment. Are you wrestling in your soul today? I pray that God will bring you to a place from wrestling to resting just like he brought Habakkuk. I want to pray with you33:00 church. I want to pray for people who are especially going through a tough season. Maybe you feel like God is silent. He hasn't answered you. Or maybe you feel like God has forgotten you. He's not working.33:12 But I wanna prophesy over you that God is at work in your life. God is actually doing a deep work in you and for you. In time to come you will see the deliverance of the Lord. In time to come you will see33:24 the salvation of the Lord in your household. In time to come he will bring you together for his glory and for your good. But don't be in a rush. Don't be hasty. Don't take matters in your own33:35 hands. Don't rush to do things in a fleshly manner. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord for Him to lead you, to direct you and He will33:47 do His work in you and it will be glorious. Hallelujah. Let me pray with you. Heavenly father I pray for my dear families.33:59 Each and every 1 of them, the beloved of God. I pray for them mighty God even now. Lord that you watch over them in this season. Father, I pray for that person34:11 who is crying before you even now. For this person, I sense in my spirit, it's a mother praying for her 2 children, a daughter and a34:23 son. They are going through confusion of the mind. There is so much chaos in your household. The peace has left for many years.34:35 Today, I declare in the name of Jesus that what the enemy meant for evil, God, you turn it for good. I pray for shalom upon that family. I pray, father God, for that cloud of darkness34:46 on that girl will be removed right now in Jesus' name. I pray in the name of Jesus that son will be healed of his infirmity. I pray for that mother to lay hold of you34:58 and hold on to you even now. I pray in the name of Jesus for that person who is in the sick bed watching this. I pray that you will rise up in Jesus' name. The Lord will bring all of this35:10 together. The Lord will work all things together for his glory and for your good in Jesus' name. Today, in the name of Jesus, I declare this over your family. That the confusion35:22 will leave you. That instead of confusion, you will have contentment in knowing that my God is with me and he is for me. Hallelujah. I bless you in the name of Jesus. In35:33 Jesus' precious name. And the people of God said, amen and amen. Receive this benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to35:45 you. The Lord lift up his countenance and give you shalom. Go in his peace church. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. We love you. God bless you.
Paul Jeyachandran
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