At a Time Like This

Song:  

1. It is over (2x) the dominion of Satan

2. When I go with the Lord Jesus, every battle I am a winner
Ekariria Sinibu chinike Ekariria Sinibu, nenigwe, nenuwa, ekariria sinibu

A. Introduction

A time of uncertainty, tension, rumours of wars, deprivation, hunger, sickness and diseases. A time where the future appears bleak to many, a time when there are more questions than answers. What do we do as children of the kingdom?

At such time like ours, the love of many for the kingdom is waxing cold.

  1 The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk's Complaint

  2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help,
       but you do not listen?
       Or cry out to you, "Violence!"
       but you do not save?

  3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
       Why do you tolerate wrong?
       Destruction and violence are before me;
       there is strife, and conflict abounds.

  4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
       and justice never prevails.
       The wicked hem in the righteous,
       so that justice is perverted.

Habakkuk's Second Complaint

  12 O LORD, are you not from everlasting?
       My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
       O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
       O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.

  13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
       you cannot tolerate wrong.
       Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
       Why are you silent while the wicked
       swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

  14 You have made men like fish in the sea,
       like sea creatures that have no ruler.

  15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
       he catches them in his net,
       he gathers them up in his dragnet;
       and so he rejoices and is glad.

  16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
       and burns incense to his dragnet,
       for by his net he lives in luxury
       and enjoys the choicest food.

  17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
       destroying nations without mercy? ( Habakkuk 1:1-4, 12-17).

  14 So justice is driven back,
       and righteousness stands at a distance;
       truth has stumbled in the streets,
       honesty cannot enter.

  15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
       and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
       The LORD looked and was displeased
       that there was no justice. (Isaiah 59:14-15).

  4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

  9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:4-13 ).

Godlessness in the Last Days

  1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Future Glory

  18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18).

19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:19).

It is vitally important for you to know that we are fighting a spiritual battle; it is not a battle against flesh and blood.

12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12).

4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4).

  8 Because you have plundered many nations,
       the peoples who are left will plunder you.
       For you have shed man's blood;
       you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

  9 "Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain
       to set his nest on high,
       to escape the clutches of ruin!

  10 You have plotted the ruin of many peoples,
       shaming your own house and forfeiting your life.

  11 The stones of the wall will cry out,
       and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

  12 "Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed
       and establishes a town by crime!

  13 Has not the LORD Almighty determined
       that the people's labour is only fuel for the fire,
       that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?

  14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
       as the waters cover the sea.

20 But the LORD is in his holy temple;
       let all the earth be silent before him." ( Habakkuk 2:8-14 ).

  15 He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's. (2 Chronicles 20:15).

  10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10).

So what are we to do then at such times as this?

B. Live by faith and not by sight

7We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7).

  1 I will stand at my watch
       and station myself on the ramparts;
       I will look to see what he will say to me,
       and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

The LORD's Answer

  2 Then the LORD replied:
       "Write down the revelation
       and make it plain on tablets
       so that a herald may run with it.

  3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
       it speaks of the end
       and will not prove false.
       Though it linger, wait for it;
       it will certainly come and will not delay.

  4 "See, he is puffed up;
       his desires are not upright—
       but the righteous will live by his faith - ( Habakkuk 2:1-4 ).

  16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

  17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:16-17).

  31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).

  4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4).

 C. A life of fervent prayers

 Habakkuk's Prayer

  1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth .

  2 LORD, I have heard of your fame;
       I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
       Renew them in our day,
       in our time make them known;
       in wrath remember mercy. (Habakkuk 3:1-2).

  6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. (Malachi 3:6).

8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8).

  1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. (Proverbs 21:1).

1 It is good to praise the LORD
       and make music to your name, O Most High,

  2 to proclaim your love in the morning
       and your faithfulness at night,

  3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
       and the melody of the harp.

  4 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
       I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

  5 How great are your works, O LORD,
       how profound your thoughts!

  6 The senseless man does not know,
       fools do not understand,

  7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
       and all evildoers flourish,
       they will be forever destroyed.

  8 But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

  9 For surely your enemies, O LORD,
       surely your enemies will perish;
       all evildoers will be scattered.

  10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
       fine oils have been poured upon me.

  11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
       my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

  12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
       they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

  13 planted in the house of the LORD,
       they will flourish in the courts of our God.

  14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
       they will stay fresh and green,

  15 proclaiming, "The LORD is upright;
       he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." (Psalm 92).

  1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

  2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust."

  3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
       and from the deadly pestilence.

  4 He will cover you with his feathers,
       and under his wings you will find refuge;
       his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

  5 You will not fear the terror of night,
       nor the arrow that flies by day,

  6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
       nor the plague that destroys at midday.

  7 A thousand may fall at your side,
       ten thousand at your right hand,
       but it will not come near you.

  8 You will only observe with your eyes
       and see the punishment of the wicked.

  9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
       even the LORD, who is my refuge-

  10 then no harm will befall you,
       no disaster will come near your tent.

  11 For he will command his angels concerning you
       to guard you in all your ways;

  12 they will lift you up in their hands,
       so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

  13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
       you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

  14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
       I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

  15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
       I will be with him in trouble,
       I will deliver him and honour him.

  16 With long life will I satisfy him
       and show him my salvation." (Psalm 91)

  16 I heard and my heart pounded,
       my lips quivered at the sound;
       decay crept into my bones,
       and my legs trembled.
       Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
       to come on the nation invading us.

  17 Though the fig tree does not bud
       and there are no grapes on the vines,
       though the olive crop fails
       and the fields produce no food,
       though there are no sheep in the pen
       and no cattle in the stalls,

  18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
       I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

  19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
       he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
       he enables me to go on the heights.
       For the director of music. On my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:16-19).

D. A life of courage and fearlessness

34But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. (Matthew 5:34-35).

  25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).

  50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:50).

  55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).

13Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 21:13).

In conclusion remember that God is there fighting all your battles and he will give you victory. Ultimately, when the time comes, he will take you home to a place of eternity.

God bless you

 Evang. John B. Oseh