Sermon Outline 7.19.2026

Text: Habakkuk 1:1-11
Title: A Work You Would Not Believe
“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.” — Habakkuk 1:5

I.  The ____________ the Prophet Carried,   Habakkuk 1:1

• “Oracle” is literally a ____________ — something lifted and carried. 
• The prophet ____________ what he was given to haul.

 
II.  How Long? The ____________ of the Righteous,   Habakkuk 1:2 – 4

• “Violence!” (chamas) — the word of Genesis ____________:11, the world before the flood.
• Faith complains ____________; unbelief complains sideways.  (See Psalm 13:1.)
• Watch the phrase “justice goes forth” — it will return in verse ____________.

 
III.  “I Am Doing a ____________ in Your Days,”   Habakkuk 1:5

• Every command in v. 5 is ____________ — God answers one prophet in front of the whole nation.
• “I am doing” — the work is already ____________. Unanswered is different from ____________.
• Baptist Catechism Q. 14: God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful ____________ and ____________ all His creatures, and all their actions.

 
IV.  The Bitter and ____________ Nation,   Habakkuk 1:6 – 11

• “Behold, ____________ am raising up the Chaldeans” — God claims the instrument.
• Judah’s justice went forth ____________ (v. 4)
• Babylon’s justice goes forth from ____________ (v. 7). Measure for measure.
• 1689 Confession 5.4 — God ordains the course; the ____________ belongs to the creature alone. God can wield what He will still ____________.

 
V.  The Work You Would Never ____________,   Acts 13:38 – 41

• Paul quotes Habakkuk 1:5 immediately after proclaiming ____________ by faith (Acts 13:38–39).
• In Habakkuk’s day, God used a pagan empire to ____________ His people
• At the cross, God used a Roman instrument to ____________ them.
• The danger in Antioch and now, is not that God’s work fails, but that we ____________ at it.

Big Idea:  God is always at ____________ but His work may be the last thing we would have ____________.

Family Worship questions for this week:
1.  Is it okay to ask God a question when something seems unfair to you? Whom did Habakkuk go talk to?
2.  Can God be busy working even when we cannot see anything happening at all? (Habakkuk 1:5)
3.  Can God use even bad people to carry out His good plan — without ever once doing anything bad Himself?
4.  What is the most surprising thing God has ever done to save people? (Acts 13:38–39)

Memory verse for the series: “But the righteous shall live by his faith.” — Habakkuk 2:4