I'm pleased to joke chapter two this morning. I feel like I want to try and clarify, again, I really do not hate Christmas. I really don't love Christmas. That's part of the problem. Love Christmas, love Christmas songs, love to hear the church sing Christmas songs, love to hear the choir sing Christmas songs. Just some of it is just personal. I very much find my own self kind of checking out. It's holiday season, and what I'd really like more than anything else is to be on a sabbatical until January 1st, and just not do normal work, just the long vacation of endless eating and balloon up to my optimal burial weight. And the other part of it is kind of a self-imposed, and again, that's why I say pastors kind of deal with this, we begin singing Christmas music, at what point in time do you turn the preaching calendar to the holiday season? And just never seem to be happy with that. I resolved many years ago, you know, those of you that are here all the time know this, I just pretty much don't deal at all with cultural holidays, except for maybe a comment. And then try to deal with Bible texts on religious holidays. But generally speaking, only within the realm of the holiday, we talked a little bit about some Thanksgiving things. So this morning, we're gonna turn our attention back for the next few weeks to the book of Job, which we had recently begun. Job chapter two, let me ask you as you're able to stand, please. Job chapter two and verse number nine. Then said his wife unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity, curse God and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh, what? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil? And all this did not Job sin with his lips. Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came everyone from his own place. Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept. And they rent every one his mantle and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights and none spake a word unto him. for they saw that his grief was very great. And then over to chapter four and verse number one. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, if we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking? And we will stop there and let's pray this morning. Well, Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are for the great love that you have shown to us in providing us a savior and salvation, for the great promises that you have made to us about in the forgiveness of our sins, the restoration of all that is wrong and all that is sad and all that is hurtful. And thank you then for this book, for this very early record of your methodology. Please bless it to our hearts, bless our lives through this man's life, and we pray this in Christ's name, amen. And you may, of course, be seated. Really kind of a lengthy introduction this morning, probably as long as the message. And just a reminder again that whatever pretty much wouldn't read, doesn't know. Any book that I deal with, any topic that I deal with, I of course try to find the best resources that I can. The Lord has gifted us for the betterment of the body and While writing is not a distinct spiritual gift, those who write well and clearly are a great blessing to all of us. And so it would be somewhat remiss not to mention the benefit I have received from Christopher Ashe on this. He's not the only source, but is really, I think, an excellent book, a very helpful book that anybody could be blessed by. It's not, you know, it's not written in Hebrew to Hebrew speakers. So, Trusting God in the Darkness, it's a good little book. And as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, you can buy your own copy or you can just come and listen to me read it to you and that's however you wanna do that. One of the things I thought of as I thought about the book of Job is the concept of collateral damage. And those of you guys that are in the military or been in the military, perhaps have a little better understanding of collateral damage than we who are not. Collateral damage is the polite way of talking about accidental or unintended damage. We meant to blow up the building. We meant to blow up the building. We did not mean to kill the civilians that we did not know were in the building. Those are collateral damage, the accidental casualties. The word itself actually goes back to the Cold War. It has military connotations. And I thought about that in light of this, in focusing upon Job and all that he suffered, which is really in many ways the storyline of the book. It is easy to overlook that there are some very real collateral damage along the way. Job's family has been virtually wiped out his children, evidently their families, only his wife remains. His wealth has been obliterated. His health is gone. And his very faith is shaking. It quakes, but it doesn't collapse. Those are the things that we think of in the story. The collateral damage are the relationships that are broken along the way. These three men came to help Job. That was their stated purpose. Chapter two, verses 11 through 13 are very clear that they got together and made an appointment for the distinct purpose of coming to help Job. They did not. They did not. In Job chapter one through Job chapter two and verse number eight, if you're an outline taker, if you're a note taker, we are introduced to the book of Job this way, Job suffers in innocence. That's the first thing that the narrator wants us to know, is that Job is completely innocent. In chapter two, verse number nine, down through chapter three, The narrator tells us that Job suffers in isolation. He suffers alone. His wife tries to help, and there's, of course, all kinds of debate about how to interpret her words, but I interpret them as well-intentioned, but not well-received. His three friends spend a week just sitting, not knowing what to say. Job's lamentation of his situation is the entirety of Job chapter three. Why did I have to be born and why do I continue to live? And in a very real sense, folks, when we suffer, to whatever extent we suffer, we suffer in isolation. Friends may love us, they may comfort us, but we alone are bearing the suffering. But then in chapter four, and all the way through at least the end of chapter 31. The bulk of the book, we learned that Job suffers in ignorance. 12,000 words, Job 4 through 31, in excess of 12,000 words. We recently noted that Solomon talked to us about the power of words. And perhaps part of our challenge in reading the book of Job is that, 12,000 words. I am, folks, this is, I am the product of the 20th and 21st century. I am a bullet point guy. Get to the point, give me the points, let's go. That's what I wanna know. So for something to be incredibly wordy, I just, whether it's like the book of Job, or whether it's a long, long letter, or whether it's a long, long set of instructions or a contract, I pretty much quickly tune out, my eyes glaze over and I am hopelessly outgunned. But God in his inspiration has chosen to pause in the ignorance section and let it go on. and to expose us to a variety of perspectives, explanations, recriminations. God does not, right? Very quickly, God makes a point. Job is innocent. Very quickly, God makes the point. Job is isolated. Very slowly does God make the point. Job is in ignorance and so is everybody else. So is everybody else. Structurally, chapter four through 31 contained three cycles of conversations. Eliphaz will speak in chapter four, chapter five, chapter 15, chapter 22. Job will respond to him, chapter six and seven, chapter 16 and 17, chapter 23 and 24. And Job will point this out as best we can as we go. Sometimes Job is talking to his friends, and sometimes Job is talking to the Lord, and sometimes Job just seems to be talking to himself. Bildad, the second speaker, speaks in chapter 8, 18, and 25, and Job responds to him in chapters 9 and 10, 19, and 26 through 31. Zophar, the third speaker, speaks in 11 and 20, and Job responds to him in chapters 12 through 14 in verse number 21. And then of course there is Elihu, and we'll talk about him. And then God himself enters into the cycle of conversations in chapter 42, at the end of the book. God himself, and part of what comes at the end of the book, folks, part of the great glorious light that shines is God pulling back some of the curtain on the ignorance that has colored chapters four through 31. If we take this entire section as a whole, chapter four through chapter 31, three large pictures emerge, and this is one of the reasons that I spoke to you about collateral damage. Three unintended, unexpected consequences that happen in the course of the suffering of these people and ignorance. Number one, Job's friends are not impressed with Job any longer. For instance, look, if you will, we're just gonna take a little bit of time this morning. I told you a long introduction to survey some of this. Look at chapter eight and verse number one. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, how long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall thy words, the words of thy mouth, be like a strong wind? How long, Job, will you be just a blowhard? How long? Job 11, verse number one. Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, should not the multitudes of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified? Should thy lies make men hold their peace? And would thou mock us, shall no man make thee ashamed? You think we're just supposed to sit here and let you get away with this nonsense, Job? The lies you tell, the emptiness of your words, we're just supposed to sit here, take it because we're your friends? Job chapter 15, verse number one. Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said, should a wise man utter vain knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he reason with unprofitable talk or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? You're no help. like eating air to be around you, Job, when you talk. So collateral damage, number one, is that Job has lost the respect of his friends. And this is a guy who's lost everything. Now he's lost the respect of his friends. But secondly, Job has lost respect for his friends. He feels about them the way that they feel about him. Job chapter 12 in verse number one. Job chapter 12 in verse number one. And Job answered and said, and you have to read the sarcasm, you have to read the sarcasm into his voice. No doubt, but you're the people and wisdom shall die with you. You know everything. You're convinced I know nothing, but you guys, you know everything. You've got all the answers. Or Job chapter 16, and verse number one. Job answered and said, I have heard many such things, miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end? Or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you. shake mine head at you. See the recrimination? Are you guys ever going to get stopped saying nothing? If I sat where you sat and you sat where I sat, I could do the same to you. Or chapter 19 and verse number one. Then Job answered and said, how long will you vex my soul and break me in pieces with words? These 10 times have you reproached me, are you not ashamed that you make yourself strange to me? Or chapter 26 and verse number one. But Job answered and said, how hast thou helped him that is without power? How savest thou the arm that hath no strength? So as we work our way through the book, folks, we're focused on the suffering of Job, rightly so, it is a major part of the storyline. But in the course of these four men, who are premier men of their world, sorting through Job's suffering and Job's conflict, They lose respect for him. He loses respect for them. And saddest of all folks, 12,000 words. Saddest of all. God is not impressed with any of them. Job chapter 38 and verse number one. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? What a terrible condemnation. 12,000 words that haven't made anything lighter, but have made it only darker. Now that's not true of every one of those 12,000 words. but there's God's judgment. Job, you have clouded the issue even further because you don't know what you're talking about. Or chapter 42 and verse number seven. God is not particularly impressed with Job's words and he is clearly not impressed with his friend's words. And it was so Job 42.7, that after the Lord had spoken these words under Job, which of course is, you know, the whole scenario. The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends. For you have not spoken of me, the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Whatever Job did to cloud the issue in verses chapter four through 31, he had God right. And Job was, of course, instructed to make an offering on behalf of his friends. But you have to wonder, folks, right? I mean, just from a human relations standpoint, what did their friendship look like from that point forward? In the movies, everything would be well and fine, but in reality, we don't very often come very far back from these kinds of wounds. But that really isn't the storyline, because it's not the storyline of the book of Job, but there is how the, right, just to kind of look at it through one lens, to look at that whole section broadly, what we discover is that in the course of this man's suffering, His friends are somewhat alienated from him. And he is somewhat alienated from them. And God is somewhat alienated from all of them. And it is all tied to the fact that everybody is talking and nobody knows what they're saying. Words are so powerful. So with that, let me make some observations to you this morning. Has everything that Job said been in the wrong? No. Has everything that his friends said been in the wrong? No. Did his friends help him? No. Do they come to right conclusions? No. And we know that because that's what God said. I mean, when you get to the end of it, folks, Job's three friends were so wrong that they needed a sacrifice to make things right. They were not just a little bit off, but a lot off. So observation number one, when we are facing our own trial, or when we are trying to minister to another person in their trial, we need to understand that there are some things that are pretty easy to get right. There are things that are pretty easy to get right. It is easy to affirm some Bible truths, which these men, to go back to Job chapter four. One of the things that all of these men understood clearly, folks, was what we would call the sovereignty of God. They recognized that God was always in control. They firmly believed that God was always good. They were completely anchored to the fact that God was always just. This is part of what trips them up. We will see this as we go, but they have a very clear image of retribution that can be easily and simply traced. You do wrong, you get punished. that simple. And there is a sense, folks, in which it is that simple. If you do wrong, you will get punished. If I do wrong, it will be measured. It will be judged. I will be punished. In chapter four, for instance, in verse number seven, Eliphaz, who is the first speaker by virtue of his age and wisdom and status, he is recognized as the main guy by virtue of being the first to speak. He asked this question, remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent, or where were the righteous cut off? Because after all, God is always just. God is always right. God is always in control. Or is it easy to get this right that God is a loving parent who disciplines his children? Job chapter 5 and verse number 17 is one of several references to the book of Job that we find in the New Testament. Job 5.17, Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth. Therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. Job, your perspective is wrong. You should be pleased to have this. Happy is the man that God corrects. He corrects you. You should be happy to receive it. Or that even in our trials, God is gracious. In Job 11 5, Job said, oh, that God would speak it, open his lips against thee, and that he would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they are double to that which is. Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. That's true. That's true, isn't it? I mean, anybody who has any reasonable confidence and expectation that they're going to die and go to heaven and be with Christ eternally, instead of being cast into eternal fire, is somebody who should be able to acknowledge, I am getting less than I deserve. But with Job's three friends, folks, while it is easy to get many things right, There is for these men always the suspicion that Job is not the innocent he proclaims. And their position is not, well, you know, Job, it's a sinful world and everybody suffers. Their position is, Job, you have obviously done something that is wrong. And what you need more than anything else is to admit it and to confess it and to forsake it. And then, if you'll do that, if you'll do that, then God will return the favor. And this is, folks, the common denominator. Each of these men will have a little bit of a different perspective. We'll take the time to look at it. But their common denominator is this. Job, you have committed some sin. You must have. These things don't happen to people that don't sin. You just need to fess up to the sin that you have committed. Bildad asked Job in Job chapter eight and verse number three, doth God pervert judgment? Doth the Almighty pervert justice? If like children have sinned against him and he have cast them away for their transgression, right? Why did Job's kids die? Bildad's explanation, they sinned. And in Job 8, Bildad goes on to explain, Job, you need to learn the lesson. Look what God did to your family. And if you don't get things right, he's gonna do it to you as well. And it is also right, folks, that we do live in a cause and effect world. Our actions do have consequences. One of the great dilemmas we're facing as a culture is that we are increasingly filled by people who want to have actions that don't have to experience the consequences. Right? And I realize I'm probably pulling the pin on a hand grenade, which is not the intention. But look at the whole student debt debacle. I need to borrow money to go to college. Do you promise to pay it back? Yes. Sign here. I shouldn't have to pay it back, but let the taxpayer pay it back. It is, by the way, one of the evidences of New Testament predictions about the end times. Covenant breakers, men will not be bound by their words. We live in a cause and effect world. What I want desperately is to be able to do whatever I want and experience none of the effects. That's the nature of being a sinner. I want to eat without gaining weight. I want to spend without incurring debt. I want to act without experiencing responsibility. Everybody knows it's a cause and effect world, but how do you explain Job? Job's kind of the outlier. Everybody is going, you did something, and Job's going, no, I didn't. So the caution is, folks, that we, whether we are experiencing the suffering or trying to minister to one in their suffering, we cannot reduce all human suffering to this very simplistic, well, you've obviously done something wrong and that's why you're obviously experiencing this consequence. Second observation, the book of Job helps us to understand that suffering is far more complex at times than simply tying the effect to the cause. One of the things that is made very clear in Job chapter one that is never brought into consideration in the 12,000 words of Job four through 31 is the existence of, the presence of, or the activity of Satan himself. And I realize that we live in a very modern world, and believe me, folks, I really am a very modern guy. But the Bible, which we profess to believe, nevertheless informs us that we are living in a world in which both good and evil invisible beings are not only present, but active. That God ministers to his people through his angels. And that the world is under the influence of evil angels. In the book of Job, Satan, and not his sin is clearly the cause of his suffering. But part of the ignorance of Job and his three friends is that they do not account for that. And let's be realistic folks, in the average independent fundamental Baptist church, it would not be the most popular conclusion to draw to say to somebody, I think that you are completely innocent, I just think Satan's out to get you. Because when people say things like that, we walk away and go, gotta be something. Not just, not just, nah, it's not that. It's not that. Standard disclaimer, we cannot deny our own responsibility by ascribing everything to Satan. But the reality is that a biblical view of suffering must allow for the existence of and the activity of God's enemy, who is out to inflict damage on God by inflicting damage on God's followers. Neither do Job nor his three friends make much in the way of account Job does more than his three friends do. But nobody views a future day in which all judgment will occur. To them, it was very clear cut. You did something wrong, you experience the consequences right now. God must act, which is true, and God always acts now, which is not true. Now we do have the benefit of much more Bible along those lines than they did. But a future day of judgment and reconciliation was not a part of the input, not a part of the process, not a part of the explanation. You can turn to it if you want, but let me just read this to you. I'm gonna read it to you from my, I put it in my notes. 2 Thessalonians chapter one and verse number three. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, suitable, because that your faith groweth exceedingly in the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. So we just like to tell everybody else about how faithful you are in the face of your trials. Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God. What an interesting perspective. Their trial's a token of God's judgment. That you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer, seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When? Because there is a when. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. See, there's a when. Not a now, but a when. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. When. future event. He shall come to be glorified in his saints and be admired in all them that believe. Because our testimony among you was believed in that day. So to the Thessalonians, Paul didn't say you're suffering because you're sinning. He said you're suffering and it's a token of God's righteous judgment. It is an evidence that the righteous judgment is coming and it is coming when Jesus comes. He is bringing vindication This is something that is completely absent from Job that should never be absent either from our own suffering or from our minister to those who are suffering. And again, as New Testament people, this is much more part of our dictionary and vocabulary. And finally, Job's friends have no real concept of suffering and innocence, which is really the storyline of the book. Not simply that Job suffered, but that Job suffered in innocence for nothing that he had done. In a cause and effect world, the cause and effect are far removed from Job. It is a Satan and God conversation that brings Job's suffering, not a Job and his sin situation that brings Job's suffering. Whoever perished that was innocent, asked Eliphaz. Great question. Whoever suffered that was not guilty, ask the fundamentalist. And this then becomes, folks, the template of Christianity. I made mention of this. There is a sense, right? It is not the main point of the book, but there is a sense in which the book is incomplete if we do not recognize at some level the connection between Job and Christ. the most righteous of men, the most tortured of men, the most misunderstood of men, the most humbled of men, the most exalted of men. The things that are true of Job on earth are true of Christ in the face of God. And this then becomes the template of Christianity. We all do to some extent, we can, we will, we do suffer. because of the consequences of our own actions, our own bad decisions, our own sins. But that is not the explanation for everything that happens to people. It is just not. We suffer in the world to some extent because we are associated with Christ. This is what Peter tells us, for this is thankworthy, 1 Peter 2.19, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. What glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently? But if when you do well, you suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. So again, as New Testament people, we should have a more well-rounded understanding of human suffering that some people suffer because they have done good, not because they have done evil. Peter goes on, for even here unto where he called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps who did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Who in his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sin, should live under righteousness by whose stripes ye are healed. All right, so Jesus didn't do anything wrong, and yet he suffered on our behalf. And no matter what they did to him, he didn't sin. And yet he suffered. And this is the example. Human suffering is real. You know that, but it is also very complicated. And it is, as I said, folks, at the outset, it is the trial of your faith is not the trial of your friendships. Will your faith stand before God in the trial that cannot be explained? That is what the book of Job is aimed to help. Let's pray. Father,