If you have a Bible, please turn with me to Habakkuk chapter 2. We will be continuing our sermon series through the book of Habakkuk, looking at verses 15 through 20. Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 15 through 20. It's on page 999, if you're going to use one of the Bibles that we have underneath the chair in front of you. Here now, God's holy and true Word from Habakkuk chapter 2, starting in verse 15. Well to Him who makes His neighbors drink, you pour out your wrath and make them drunk in order to gaze at their nakedness. You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink yourself and show your uncirc—uncirc—uncircumcision. The cup in the Lord's right hand will come around you and utter shame will come upon your glory. The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them, for the blood of man and the violence to the earth, to the cities and all who dwell in them. What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies, for its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols, woe to Him who says to a wooden thing, awake to a silent stone, arise. Can this teach behold? It is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him. It's the Word of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful that You have given us Your Word, that You have spoken to us through Your Word and primarily through Your Son. We thank You, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit is active in the preaching of Your Word so that when it goes out, it does not return to You void. So we thank You that You're at work within us even now as we look into Your Word this morning. Father, we just pray that You will use this time to mold us and shape us, make us more like our King and our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Help us to trust You more, and I help us to turn from things other than You that we're trusting in. And Father, would You just use this time to equip us so that we are better able and more excited to run with the gospel, to our neighbors and to the nations for it is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. For the kids, if you're doing the Word of the day, it's idle, idle is the Word of the day today. So I want to tell you a question that I used to get asked a lot when I was younger. And lots of different people would ask me this question, my parents asked me this question, my sisters would ask me this question. Teachers at school would ask me this question, I'm pretty sure a few police officers asked me this question. Here it is, this is the question they would ask me. What is the matter with you? What is your problem, dude? That was the question. I'm sure you might have got that question before as well. It's kind of a question that we ask of somebody when they've done something that they shouldn't have done. And it's kind of mind-boggling of why would they possibly do that? Maybe you've seen something recently on TV where somebody was caught doing something and your mind went to like what in the matter is wrong with that person, why would they do that? And as Christians, our answer would go right to, well, they're a sinner. That's a sin and they sinned because we're sinners. And that's true, but that's really not the whole story. There's so much more complexity involved when it comes to why we actually sin, why we do the things that we are not supposed to do and that have consequences on us. So we've been in this journey with Habakkuk now for several weeks and we've seen him express to God that he was very perplexed over the fact that God didn't seem to be doing anything about the people in Judah who were living wickedly. And God's response was, oh, Habakkuk, I am doing something. I'm raising up the Caldeans and they're going to come and bring judgment upon you, which through Habakkuk for another loop because he's thinking, wait, how does that doesn't make sense to me? Why would you have a wicked nation come and bring judgment on the righteous people here in Judah? But that's what God's answer was and God also responded saying that those who are righteous, those who are living by faith will survive. They will recover. They will have a full recovery in the grand scheme of things. And his answer also included a lot more things about the Caldeans and about the wickedness that they were involved in. And we pick up there today and today we basically get to the root of the problem, the real problem with the Caldeans. If we're reading these words about the Caldeans and we're thinking, what is their problem, we get to figure it out today. And the thing is, it's not only the problem that the wicked Caldeans had. It was also the problem that the people in Judah who were living wickedly have and in reality it's the problem that every single one of us has as well. It's a problem that we call idolatry. So we're really going to understand a little more of what idolatry is and how it plays a role when we are in sin and it's effects and things like that. And the good news is that we also can know for certain that Jesus delivers us from idolatry as well as it's effects. So as we look at a hard thing that we all wrestle with, we want to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith knowing that he's the one who delivers us from these things. So here's what we're going to do. So let's talk about the fruit of sin, what comes of sin. And then we'll talk about the root of sin, where it really comes from. And then last year, they're lastly, the savior who speaks. So if you're making an outline, the fruit of sin, the root of sin, and the savior who speaks. So let's talk about the fruit of sin, what happens when we sin. And I think one of the main things we want to recognize about a back at two is that when we sin, there's always negative consequences. And Pastor Michael talked about this last week, but it bears repeating, and it's helpful to look at it again a little bit in the way to shape up for what we are going to look at in the later part of this passage. But if you take all of Habakkuk 2, what's interesting is in God's response to Habakkuk, he's got these five woes, announcement of destruction. And it all has to do with the fact that they have sinned, and therefore there is this consequence that is going to come. And so there's a woe in verse 6 through 8, talking about their extortion, how, because of that, the consequences, they're going to lose their possessions, they're going to lose everything, they're going to be plundered. There's another woe in verse 9, and going through 11, talking about their evil gain. And the consequences, they're actually going to lose their lives, 12 through 14, really thinking about their imperialism, the way they're trying to advance themselves and build cities by killing people. And what God says is their labor will be in vain. And then in our passage from this morning, 15 through 17, is really focusing in on their immorality, the way they were treating human beings, the way they were treating animals, and even the environment. And all of that was going to come on their own head, and they would be unbelievably ashamed and filled with shame. And then the last one is found in verse 19, it's tucked between 18 and 20 there, and it refers to their idolatry, and the way that they're believing lies, which we're going to spend most of our time on this morning. But what is so important that we understand is God is saying that these things that they're doing, the things that the Caldians are going to do to Judah, it's going to bring consequences, not just judgment at the end of time, but also in the present time. In fact, it wasn't long after the Caldians at that time called the Babylonians came through and wiped out Judah, it wasn't long after that, that the Persians came through and wiped them out. So all these things have come true. But basically, we may not be a tyrannical wicked Caldian warlords, I don't think any of us have that title, but we all do wrestle with sin. Every single one of us, it's one of the reasons that we confess our sin together as a church body every week, we are sinners. And the reality is whenever we do sin, there are consequences. It's a key thing for us to remember, especially in light of what Jesus commands us to do, why he commands us to do the things that he does, because you cannot sin without there being some sort of consequence. Just like when you drop a ball because of gravity, it's going to hit the ground, the scriptures are very clear that when we give into sin, there's going to be some sort of consequence. Now, granted, we believe the gospel here. We teach the gospel, we believe the gospel, and that is that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, and so that we'll never face punishment in hell because of what we've done. Jesus took that for us. In fact, we just affirmed our faith earlier this morning, quoting from Colossians 1, 13 and 14, where we said he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, not because anything we do, but all because of what Jesus has done. And so when we think about that, what we're talking about and what we're focusing on right now, this reality that all sin has consequences, it helps us to understand that even though life, eternal life, is a free gift received by grace through faith in Christ, there are still consequences. This is why even though we're not made right with God by what we do, he still commands us to do what he says. And there's a multitude of reasons, but one of the reasons is because God, our good, good father, who loves us and doesn't want us to, don't want to see us miserable, he knows that when we sin, there will be consequences and he wants to deliver us from that misery by teaching us to obey him by helping us to follow Christ. I mean, this is why Jesus says follow me. He says follow me so that we will learn to live like he lives and in doing so, we end up avoiding a lot of the consequences of living a life of sin. We avoid a lot of that misery. This is why Jesus flat out says, obey me. He says, do what I say because he knows that he gives us through the power of the Holy Spirit the ability to trust him and to obey him and that saves us a lot of misery, not only glorifies God, but it also saves us misery. What the Bible does teach is that when we sin, there's going to be a consequence. I read about this burglar in South Carolina back in 2013 and he broke into a convenient store and stole only about $160 worth of groceries, but he did a significant amount of damage to the building itself, to the door and then he just kind of ransacked the place a little bit. And then he left and as far as he knew, he was, he got away with it, he went home, he was sitting in his living room just eating some of the things that he had stolen and sure enough, it wasn't too long. Also, there's a knock at the door and he answered the door and there's some police officers there and they look at him for a second and then they put him in handcuffs and they take him to jail. Now, he thought he'd gotten away with it, but actually in his ransacking, he had burst open several bags of cheetos and there were cheetos strewn all over the floor and the convenience store and even out into the parking lot and they was all over his shoes and when the police officers arrived on the scene, they followed a little cheeto dust trail right to his door. And so when he answers the door and they look down, he's got orange all over his shoes, they put him in handcuffs. Consequences, right? And see, this is what, this is what numbers 32-23 says, be sure your sin will find you out. You know, it's, this is why we call one another to holiness, this is why we talk about what God commands us to do here and we're not ashamed to do so because we don't obey the law in order to be right with God. Jesus makes us right with God on the cross, but we do obey God because he loves us and he knows what is right for us and what will bring joy to our hearts as well as what will bring misery, holiness matters. Think about Jesus' message, think about what Jesus preached. He would say repent and believe, not just believe, repent and believe, is he being a legalist when he says repent? No, he's being unbelievably loving because yes, when he says believe, it is through faith that we receive salvation from sin's condemnation, but it's through repentance that Jesus leads us out of the consequences of sin by empowering us to become more like him and live a life that glorifies God and brings joy to our hearts. That's, I mean, he is such an amazing Savior. He's not just concerned with our joy after this life. He's concerned with our joy right now. And so the Bible clearly lays out that even for believers, when we sin, there will be consequences which is why Jesus says, follow me, trust me, do what I say because he knows in the long run that that produces more and more joy for you and me. So if we believe that, if we really take that to heart, then we see how glorious Jesus is not only from saving us from the consequence, or I'm sorry, not only from not only that he has saved us from sin's condemnation on the cross, but he also, through teaching us and leading us, he delivers us from the consequences of sin by teaching us how to live as he lived. And when we really believe that, then we really want to understand why we sin. We want to get to the matter, the heart of the matter. What where is our sin coming from? And that's what's next. Let's talk about the root of sin, looking at verses 18 and 19. Now, we're, keep your Bible open for this. We're going to go, we're going to really drill down on these verses. And one thing to notice is that it's, it's listed last. This is the fifth of five woes in Habakkuk too. And the scholars look at that and they say, it's because it's the fountain. Out of this sin of idolatry, basically, is the, is what, where all the other sins come from. And so that's what we want to focus on here, that idolatry is the sin from which all other sins flow. So in other words, you've never sinned just one sin that comes in pairs. Anytime you have committed any certain sin, first you've committed the sin of idolatry. Okay. And think about the, the first commandment, the first commandment of the ten commandments that we shall have no other gods before God. That means we make nothing as important as him. That means everything is, is beneath him. He is the number one most important thing in our life. And what's interesting is, a lot of people have talked about how really if, if we could obey the first commandment. We weren't damaged by the fall. We really could have no other gods. We wouldn't need the other nine commandments or we wouldn't need any of God's law because we would simply do everything that is pleasing to him as, as well as brings joy to us. But we are sinners. And so we, we, every time we do sin, is because we've first given our heart over to something else. And that would be an idol. That's what idolatry is. It's trusting in something other than God. Look at, Ken Sandy, I've got this quote for you on the screen. In his book, The Peace Maker, he has a great description of what an idol is, helps us understand what idolatry is. An idol is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. In biblical terms, it is something other than God that we set our heart on, that motivates us, that masters, and rules us, or that we trust, fear, or serve. In short, it is something we love and pursue more than God. That's what idolatry is. It's loving and pursuing something more than God. Now, we can also commit idolatry by worshiping God in ways that he has not commanded us to worship him, but that's not the focus of what we're looking at this morning. This morning, we're talking about the way in which we commit idolatry when we love something, when we trust something, when we value something, when we long for something, when we pursue something more than we are loving, trusting, valuing, and pursuing God. And there's a lot of ways we can help each other find out what our idols are. D.L. Moody has a great question. He says, whatever you love more than God is an idol. That is your idol, whatever you love more than God. And the reality is, because of the fall, we all wrestle with this. We all struggle to keep our heart fixed only on God. We continue to give our hearts away. And we do it in so many different ways. In fact, John Calvin says that every one of us, even from his mother's womb, is a master craftsman of idols. In other words, we're always coming up with things that we will put our trust in, that we will love and pursue more than God. That's why Habakkuk 2 is so relevant. It's what they were dealing with the Caldeans we're involved in. We are too. Look at 18 through 19. He says, what prophet is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies, for its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols. Woe to him who says to a wooden thing awake, to a silent stone arise. In this teach, behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver. And there is no breath at all in it. Wanna kind of draw out of those two verses some key things that we need to understand about idolatry. Number one, notice that he says, what prophet is an idol? He's not asking a question, he doesn't know the answer to, it's a way of stating, there is no prophet, there is no benefit. We will never be glad that we trusted something more than we trusted God.
So he says there's no prophet, he calls idols a teacher of lies in verse 18, which is another way of telling us that when we love something, when we trust something, when we pursue something more than we're pursuing God, we are deceived. In fact, this is not the first time that we've talked about the way the Caldeans were deceived. We talked about that a couple of weeks ago as well, but that's the issue, that's why he says there are teacher of lies because we are deceived when we trust something other than God. It says also that the person who is committing idolatry, it's maker trusts in his own creation. And there you see like the embarrassing irony of idolatry because basically what that saying is, instead of me trusting in the one who's made me knows exactly everything about me, knows what will make me happy and what will make me sad, knows exactly what I want and when I need it and all these things, though instead of me trusting my maker, I would turn and trust something I've made or something I've decided is what I need. You realize when we do that, it's like, wow, I mean the foolishness of it just shines right there. And so he says woe to him who says awake or arise to the stone or to the piece of wood. In other words, because basically when we do that, when we are trusting something else, sin will follow and then so will the consequences that come with those sins, idolatry is the sin beneath the sin, it's what kick starts all of our other sin. And here's the thing that's also, we have to understand something about idolatry is when we see these things that we end up making into an idol, I mean they're really pretty. They're really attractive, that's why he's saying they're overlaid with gold and silver. They look amazing, but there's no breath in them at all, they're dead, okay. They are not anything that can actually help us. Now, just before, you know, you think, well, this is cool, I can check out now because I don't actually carve things of wood and then bow down to them in my garage, I don't do that, okay. Before you think you're off the hook, yes, you and I probably are not involved in what we would call external idolatry, which is what we see. The Kaldians involved in here where they're literally making something physical and then bowing down to it. But every single one of us is struggling with what we would call internal idolatry. And that's not something I'm just making up, that's, we see that in the scriptures, we see both external and internal idolatry or heart idolatry. If you were to look at Ezekiel 14 verse 3, God is speaking to Ezekiel about some elders that are in sin and he says, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their face is the stumbling block of their iniquity. So in the scriptures, there's two types of idols, there's the physical one, the external one. But what's more common here where we live is that internal idols, the ones that we make in our own hearts without ever using our hands. And internal idolatry, internal idolatry is everywhere we look, it's rampant in our own hearts. And it's basically what's happening in our hearts is we end up giving our heart to something that's other than God. We end up beginning to trust something other than God. Circumstances arise or things are going on. We begin to think maybe, you know what, what I really need right now is to make more money. That's what I need. Idol, or money is a very common idol in our country because we think, you know, that's what I really need. I don't need to worry about my faith or growing or doing anything like that. What I really need is I've got to figure out how to make more money. But if I had more money than everything would be okay if that's going through our hearts that we are on route to idolatry if we're not already there. We make idols out of all sorts of things, popularity, I mean, I think of the students in our church, the younger kids and I think, you know, when I was younger man, I wanted so badly to be popular and I would even do things I knew I shouldn't do just to be popular because I in my heart made the idea that popularity will give me everything I want. And you begin chasing it more than you chase our true savior. Having a girlfriend or a boyfriend or a husband or a wife, we can make idols out of these things. Success, man, a success, a huge one, we begin to think that no matter what happens in this world, no matter what happens to my family, I have to be successful. I have to be able to say, I'm a success, it becomes an idol, it becomes something we don't even realize but we are worshipping it. And pastors are not immune to this, okay? I think we struggle with this maybe even more than anyone else, you know, just true confession here, just us girls, can I tell you something? I struggle every week not to make an idol out of standing here and speaking to you. I have to battle against that, don't clap for me, you clap for Jesus, listen, I have to battle against that every week. It is such a temptation for me to find my happiness and whether or not you like what I say, for me to hope, hope, hope, hope, hope, hope they like it every week I have to battle with that. It's not just you, it's me. We all wrestle with this, we in our hearts we think, if I have that then everything will be okay. Can I tell you the sweet irony of our Father? The sweet, sweet irony is that every time I've come up into this pulpit thinking I've got a great sermon here, afterwards usually nobody says a word, and then every time I walk up here thinking this is going to be a stinker but I'm going to get through it, it's like I get emails out the, you know, you know, I mean it's just like, you guys, it's amazing, you guys really like it when I think it's bad. So it's just, it just shows you that God will get the glory, but I just want you to see that. I'm not just saying you're an idolater and I'm not, you should be like me, what I'm saying is we all wrestle with this. We make just about anything into an idol, our children, our job, our yard, our house, our future, our past. We can make just about anything into an idol and it begins to draw us in and cause us to worship it more and more and more, just believing, that's what I need, that it's not God that I need, it's that thing and if I get that thing then I'll have everything I want and we are believing lies. And then we devote ourselves to those things and when they truly become an idol what happens is we devote ourselves to those things to the extent that we begin to sin in order to get them. You see? That's why the vast majority of our sins are the second sin in a series of two. First what we've done is handed our heart over to something that is not the living God and then we have sin trying to get it, trying to pursue that thing. In fact, one of the greatest questions we can ask ourselves if we're trying to identify what are the idols in my life? This is the one of the greatest questions, what are you willing to sin in order to get? Now notice something here, this is what's, again, it's a little hard but here's what we're realizing here, if you look at 18 and 19 again what you see is God's emphasis on the fact that idols can't speak, he calls them speechless idols, it's a silent stone, can this teach? The end of the verse 19 saying there's no breath in them at all, he's emphasizing the fact that an idol actually cannot teach, it actually cannot give you instructions that would lead you to what you really want, the joy you really want, they're speechless, they can't say anything and here's the real smack in the heart on that. What's that telling us is if I believe that something is speaking to me saying I'll give you what you want, it's not actually saying anything, who am I really listening to? This guy, you're listening to the evil in your own heart. This is what one author says about the Caldience, he's saying as the creators of God's with a little g, as the creator of God's who could not speak, the Caldience had to make up their own standards for a way of life and as they made up their own standards, they got more and more into sin to the point where they were a wicked and tyrannical nation that ended up getting crushed by Persia. And the other problem with that is David Pryor says this constitutes the complete antithesis of Habakkuk's key truth that the righteous shall live by faith, instead of trusting in God, the creator, a person who turns to idols is trusting in his own creation, ultimately in himself. And so for God to see that we do this so often, for God to see that we give our hearts away all the time to all these different things and to still love us, like with an unending love, it's unbreakable, even by doing that, man, no question we will worship him forever, effortlessly when he returns. So if we're, you know, how do you apply that? What you do is you realize, yes, I wrestle with idols, my heart is going out to things that are not God. I do, you know, you can say that I do, I think I value things more than God and we repent to that. We turn away from that, believing that God really is all sufficient. He really is all that we need. We can sing the words of William Cooper's song, oh, for a closer walk with God. You want a closer walk with God? You ask God to rip those idols out of your hands and your heart and your life. Listen to this, I wish we could sing it today, but I'll at least say the words as a line in this hymn. It says, the dearest idol I have known, the dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be, help me tear it from thy throne and worship only thee. And what we're doing when we say that is we're saying we repent, we're saying, yes, God, we value things more than you, get them out, whatever it takes, get them down to the position where they belong, so far below how I love and serve you that are almost not even there. And there's a lot of different ways we can try to identify idols and asking, what is the most important thing in my life? What am I thinking about all the time? What do I worry about the most? And the best question I think possible is what is so valuable, so sweet, so amazing, so important in my life that I'm willing to sin in order to have it or get it. Or what's so valuable to me that if I don't get it, I will sin. If you can put your crosshairs on whatever that is or those things are today, you definitely will have a closer walk with God, you will feel his forgiveness as well as the freedom from that hold that that thing has over you. Because Christ's death not only paid for our sins but also broke the power of sin. We need someone to come and rip our hearts off of our idols and place them back on the living God. The God who speaks, the God who does have instructions that will lead us into the way of life, into the way of joy, into the way of experiencing a closer walk with God and a life that is just like Jesus's life, a life fully devoted to God. So let's talk about the Savior who speaks. Look at verse 20. As ultimately what we want to do, the way you apply this, when you realize what the Bible teaches about sin and its consequences and you back up and why do I sin? Because I commit idolatry and you want those idols to go away. It's about turning from those idols, it's about real repentance, turning from the silent idols and listening to the Savior who speaks. Because that's what he wants for you and me today. Look at verse 20. It says, but the Lord is in his holy temple. He's not like some idol. He is in his holy temple, raining over all things, sovereign over all. Here's what he says. Let all the earth keep silence before him. In other words, stop talking to your idols and be silent. Listen to him. In fact, this is actually very sweet. The, you know what, Anamanapia is. It's when a word sounds like what it is, a crash. Kind of sounds like a crash. Listen to this. Here's the Hebrew word for keep silence. Hus, our loving Father is saying, listen, you're going on and on and on with this idol. It's not getting you anywhere. Stop talking to the idol. Hush. It's placing his hands on our cheeks and saying, hush, child. Why do you ever hush a child so that they can listen to you? They're going on. They're frantic. They don't know what to do. And we say hush, hush, so that we can tell them what is true, so that we can direct them in their steps so that they can experience joy in their life. God says hush and he says it most loudly in the cross because what's so amazing is we know that God speaks to us through his word, but his word tells us in Hebrews 1 verse 2 that God has spoken most of all through his son and so as we look to Jesus that is God speaking to us and Jesus on the cross died not only to pay for our sins, but think about this in the process. He was dead and ended up even being speechless like the idols that we cling to so much. But he's willing to become like that because he also knew that he would rise triumphantly from the grave proving that all of our sins have been forgiven if we believe in him proving and promising that we have a future in the New Heavens, a new earth where we will live in perfect harmony with God and everyone else that is there. And he's also proved that everything he's ever said is true, so he's not only the God who speaks, but he's the God who speaks, the Savior who speaks, and he speaks things that are true. And as we frantically try to figure out what our hearts are really wrestling with, we need to hear the voice of Jesus in one of my favorite things that the speaking Savior said to us, Matthew 11, 28 through 30, Jesus says to us, so God the Father says, hush, listen to me and then he points to Jesus and Jesus says, come to me. All who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And I want you to notice something about that verse. He's not saying there's nothing to do. He's not saying you have physical rest. He's saying take a yoke on you. In other words, be his student, learn from him, listen only to him. And in the promise, then, as we yoke ourselves to God, make him the number one thing in our lives, what we get in return is rest. And the nuance of the Greek word there is sweet, sweet, beautiful. And it says it's tranquil beauty, or tranquil rest, a very tranquil rest is what is promised to us as we pursue God above all things. This is why we come together in worship, where we're saying we want that yoke upon us, put it on me, let me only listen to you. That's why we want to be in a life group. So we come together in a small group and we say we want that yoke upon me. I want you to teach me Jesus, how do I live in a way that not only glorifies you, but avoids the consequences of sin. It's why we want everybody to have a personal devotional life and a family devotional life, where you're in the word, where you're learning and growing every day about this amazing savior, because his promise is true, forsake all others and make him the number one thing in your life, take his yoke upon you, and he will give you rest. Let's pray, Father, we repent. Many of us right now realizing, I think, that there really are many things in our lives that have taken a spot on your throne, and would you remove them, would you get those things out of the way so that we can fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, would you tear our idols from us, no matter the cost so that we can see you for who you are, so that we can experience the joy of knowing you and being yoke to you, would you give us the rest, that soul rest, that you promise. In Jesus' name, amen.