Well, it's good to be in the Lord's house tonight and I am thankful that you are coming back and it seemed like we're gaining people in this class for some reason and Jerry told me last week after it was over he said because there's a lot of people hurting and a lot of stuff going on and I don't think we could go in the Bible anywhere and talk to anybody and and try to learn from them about what it means to hurt and to overcome than it is this man Job. So let's open with a word of prayer and we're going to get right into it. Father, thank you for the gathering of the saints tonight here in this room. And we know there's folks all over the building and in other classes. Thank you that we gather on Sundays, Lord, and we worship and we praise and we hear testimonies and see baptisms and we preach and teach and we give. And then we gather in all sorts of groups all over the place. And then we come back on Wednesday for more. And I just thank you, Father, for this class. It's almost what I call feed the hungry because they're hungry for the truth. And I'm just so thankful that they're here. Lord, bless us in this time. And I pray that you'd help us as we do look at this sixth lesson, talking about this man, Bill Dead, and his attacks on Job and how he responded. Help us now in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, so let's open up to Job now and we're going to look at chapters 8 and 9. We're not going to read it all at once. We're just going to read as we go, and I think this might help us. So how did all of this happen, really? How did this event happen in the life of Job? How did we get to this place where his friends have showed up? And they're not too friendly about everything. They were great when they showed up, but after a little while, their friendship turned to almost being an attack. So this group of friends showed up to comfort Job, and they did at first. They sat down with him, and they wept for seven days, and they didn't say a word. This kind of brings you back to what we've seen over the first few weeks. Everything was okay until Job's humanity showed up, and he cried out in pain. You know, when you hurt, you cry out. How many of you know what I'm talking about? When you hurt, you cry out. And when you hurt more, you cry louder. And when you don't understand and you hurt, then you cry out. Well, don't feel like you're in bad company. Just read about David in the book of Psalms, because he cried out and cried out and cried out time and time and time again. So this man, Job, had lost his prosperity, his health, and his wealth. I think today's modern-day health, wealth, and prosperity preachers would have joined the three friends. They may not have been accusing Job of wrongdoing, but they certainly would have been challenging him for his lack of faith. They would have said, Job, you're just not claiming your position in the kingdom. You're not claiming your status as a child of God. You just need to claim healing and claim your riches to be returned to you. Well, he lost his children. He lost his servants. He lost the faithfulness of his wife. He was in misery, and he said so. So we arrived to the moment that Brother Jerry started last week. We arrived at the moment when the comforters become irritants. They began to tell Job this. They said, look, God always blesses the righteous and he always punishes the guilty. That's the axiom. This is the way it is, Job. You're suffering because you've done something. And people who do right, they have God's blessing. It's always that way. It never changes. You know, if you read the book of Proverbs and you look at the book of Proverbs as some sort of book of promises, which it isn't, it's a book of Proverbs about what usually happens under normal circumstances. But then if you read the book of Ecclesiastes and the book of Job, you find the exceptions, don't you? Because it's just not always A plus B equals C. And so this is what we find out as we look at this man, Job. These irritants, they begin to talk to Job. They declare, Job, you're suffering because you've sinned. Jerry introduced this last week, the idea that these guys were not really friends, but rather they were, modern word, frenemies. They reported to be friends, but their words and their actions were not encouraging, but they were depressing, they were destructive. The other day I was in my favorite breakfast nook on Friday morning. Somebody's going to ask me, what is your favorite breakfast nook? Well, it's Sorriso Grill up there on Ankeny Boulevard, just South Ankeny. Man, they got grits and anywhere that's got grits has got my vote. So anyway. I go there and so I was in there the other day and I looked up on the wall and there was this Italian It's an Italian place and and they had an Italian saying up there and I couldn't read it So I didn't know what it was saying So I had to whip out my phone and see what it said and it said this it said style Zito Emanjia So what does that mean? Well, it means shut up and eat. I That's right on the wall of the restaurant. I thought, that's pretty cool. They had bienvenuto and everything else, which means welcome. So I was looking at it and I said, someone really, when we are in the presence of somebody who is really suffering, instead of just offering all of our opinions and making all of our accusations, somebody needs to tell us Tell us this they need to tell us stays eat. Oh, you stay firm. Oh, what does that mean? Just be quiet and be still that's all that's just what we need Ella faz Jerry told us about it. He spoke up. He said look Joe pipe down about your affliction You can dish out advice to those that are suffering but when you're suffering you can't take it That's pretty much the whole summary of what? this first speech from Eliphaz was, you can dish it out, but you can't take it. Anyway, it's all your fault, you've got hidden sins. If I was Job and I was sitting there, I think by this time I would be groaning, I would be, as I reach another piece of pottery or a broken piece of pot over there and I'm scratching myself, I think, boy, come a little closer, I'm gonna claw your eyes out with this thing. But that's what I would be doing, that's not what Job did. So we come to this next section here in chapter 8, and it's time to pile on. You'd think the second guy along there would have rebuked Eliphaz and said, man, can't you see the guy's suffering? Can't you see he's going, what are you doing? Can't you just leave him alone? No, no, no. Bildad said, huh, I heard Job's response to his correction, and man, his response wasn't very good. And so I'm going to pile on. So this man's name is Bildad. He is the Shuhite. This guy must have been kin to the other short guy in the Bible. His name was Nehemiah. You remember him, don't you? I just had to throw that one in there. He was no doubt, this man named Bildad the Shuhite, or from Shua, he was a descendant of Shua, no doubt. Shua was the son of Abraham and Keturah. Which is always a confusing thing about me because Abraham was supposedly so old that he wasn't really fit to be having a bunch of kids anymore. But even after Sarah died, he got married again and had a bunch more kids. I hadn't figured that one out yet. I'm going to ask the Lord about that. But anyway, Abraham and Keturah, his second wife, had a son and his name was Shua. Note something about the timing of the Book of Job in that statement, because if he is the descendant of Abraham and Keturah, and he's alive and he is old enough to come and counsel with Job, then it tells you when the Book of Job and when the events of Job probably happened, sometime after Abraham within the next generation. That's probably when this all took place. So build ad is a different sort of a guy. He's black and white. No nonsense. He doesn't use much diplomacy So let's just look at it and see what he has to say. Let's read the first seven verses. Oh Lord. Oh, I'm in Psalms That won't work. I thought I turned to Joe. Let me get over to Joe then build add the shoe hide answered How long will you say these things the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? Does God pervert justice or does the Almighty pervert what is right? If your son sinned against Him, then He delivered him into the power of their transgression. If you would seek God and implore the compassion of the Almighty, and if you are pure and upright, surely now He would rouse Himself for you and restore your righteous estate. Though your beginning was insignificant your end will increase Greatly, so just think about bill dad's investigation of job And he starts off with a direct assault. The first thing he says was look He said he the first thing he did was insult job's character. Look at verse number two He said how long will you say these things the words of your mouth be a mighty wind in other words? Look here you blowhard This is pretty much what he said to him the verse number two you win back You can't get away with complaining about your situation. Why well he indicted joe's children This man has just lost 10 Children look what he says in verse number three does god pervert justice or does the almighty pervert what is right if your son sinned against him Then he delivered them into the power of the transgression. They died because they're big sinners. They had it coming. Wow. They were wicked sinners and they got their just desserts. You know, God never said at any point that Job's kids had done anything wrong. Did you know that? Never said it at any point. And don't forget this man Job prayed over and he sacrificed offerings for his kids just in case they were sinning and doing something wrong. This is a righteous man. I don't know about you, but sometimes in my life when I see people going through stuff and I know some of the things that led up to it, I'm kind of guilty in my mind of saying, you made your bed, now sleep in it. How many of you ever done that? Be careful now, be careful, don't raise your hand. How many ever had that said to you? Now I can raise my hand on that one. You made your bed now sleep in it. So we have to be careful about this. Here's something else he did. He insisted that Job confess, verse five to seven. He said this, he said, God is merciful, so just go ahead and tell him what you've done. If you'll just fess up, I'm just trying to get through to you here. Job, if you'll fess up, God will forgive and he will restore. Well, folks, there are times to confess, repent, and cry out to God for mercy. But here we have Job and what is he doing? He's racking his brain trying to figure out all of this. Why has all of this happened to me? That's what chapter 6 and 7 were all about when he was talking back to the Lord and asking all kinds of questions. It's because he can't figure out what is going on. And so Bildad assumed, by hearing what he said in 6 and 7, he assumed that he was blaming God, he was charging God with evil and disrespecting him. The biggest issue is this, Bildad is not taking into account that Job is in deep depression due to the incredible loss and suffering. I want to ask you this, how many of us have said things in pain that we would not say under normal circumstances? How many of you have said something in suffering? and you wish you hadn't. Well, why would Bill Dad not be able to look at the man? Kids are dead. Wife is just pretty much completely put out with him because he won't curse God and die. He said, you'd be better off dead, Joe. Why don't you just go ahead and curse God and get it over with? His wife's given up on him. His kids are dead. All of his servants are dead. All of his money, his sheep, animals, camels, everything's gone. He's got nothing. He's sitting in an ash heap at the city dump by the burning barrel. So you can picture it there. By the burning barrel, he's out there and he's just, He's just, he's in misery. And so what does Bildad do? He hears some of the things that Job says, and instead of having any inkling of understanding that the guy is hurting, suffering, and going through it, and offering real comfort, what does he do? Lowers the boom on him. Do you know sometimes Christians are the world's worst at shooting their wounded? Do you know what I'm saying? Sometimes we're the world's worst when people make bad mistakes, do the wrong thing, get themselves in trouble. Instead of coming along and lovingly helping, encouraging, correcting, it's just we shoot them, kick them when they're down. Christians are not supposed to be that way. Well, we move on to the next part. Bildad has some foolish assumptions about this whole thing, and we're going to read about them in verses 8 to 10. Please inquire of past generations and consider the things searched out by their fathers, for we are only of yesterday and know nothing, because our days on earth are as a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you and bring forth words from their minds? So build that has this foolish assumption about the past He says you're just not we need to consider the past here We need to look back see if anybody's ever suffered like you joe If anybody's ever been through this stuff because I mean then we can make a comparison but man, you're it you're the worst That's pretty much what he's saying Well, there was a Spanish-born guy that he was raised in the United States, and his name was George Santayana. And he wrote a book called Reason and Common Sense. And in that book, he made this statement. You've heard it before. Those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. I mean, have you heard that statement before? It was a guy named George Santayana that said it. It is a very good statement, a true statement. By the way, he was a philosopher educated at Harvard. I wish Harvard was still putting out that kind of philosopher today, but sadly, they're not. But in any event, he said, if we can't remember the past, we don't learn from it, we're condemned to repeat it. Well, that's sort of what Bildad is saying. He's saying, let's look back at the past. And let's figure out why you're going through all of these things because evidently you've done something really, really bad because we haven't seen that before. Now folks, we can learn from tradition. We can learn from history. It can guide our thinking. It can save us trouble and provide a launching pad for the future. You know, history is a really good thing. In fact, if we look back at history and learn from it, then we can improve on the present. What if every year the automobile had to be reinvented? And we had no information from the past about how the Model A was made or the Model T. In other words, we had to reinvent the internal combustion engine, or we had to reinvent, I mean, we'd never make any progress if you weren't building and building and building, taking the past, learning from it. History's the same way. We're supposed to be like that. And so, this author here has an interesting way of saying this. Tradition, our author, Dr. Jeremiah, says, tradition is living the faith of the dead. And traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. So we're not supposed to take anything from the past that just because it's tradition and let that be our only teacher. The past is not supposed to be a parking lot from which we never leave. That's what Bildad was saying. So we just need to get back to the past. If you just get back there, everything will be okay. Well, the past is never supposed to be a parking lot which we never leave. It's supposed to be a point of departure from which we take our journey. Bildad was saying, in effect, only the ancients had anything to say. People like Job and his contemporaries shouldn't say anything, shouldn't expound, shouldn't try to teach us anything. Let's only listen to the past and listen to those people in the past. Well, if we'd listen to, what was it, President, I forget which president it was that said, man will never go faster than 40 miles an hour. and they were trying to say that trains will never, this was back before we even had cars, trains will never achieve the speed of 40 miles an hour. Wow. So Bildad had foolish assumptions about the past, and now we see something else. Bildad then is gonna make an, he thinks he's very eloquent and he's very smart, and he's just giving all kinds of illustrations trying to show Job how bad he is, and so he appeals to nature. It's rather lengthy, but listen to this. Verse 11. Can the papyrus grow up without marsh? Can the rushes grow without water? While it is still green and not cut down, yet it withers before any other plant, so are the paths of all who forget God, and the hope of the godless will perish. whose confidence is fragile, and whose trust is a spider web. He trusts in his house, but it does not stand. He holds fast to it, but it does not endure. He thrives before the sun, and his shoot spreads out over his garden. His roots wrap around a rock pile, and he grasps a house of stones. If he is removed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, I never saw you." So he's Bringing all these illustrations together and he's trying to say look man, you know If there's anything to you you would have survived he starts off by saying the papyrus plants They wither without water and he's saying to joe joe just like these these hollow tube type plants that grow up in marshes the only reason you're withered up is You are dried up is because you're a hypocrite and you know how you don't have any real root in living water That's what he was saying to job job. You're not real. You're a fake and that's why you're drying up Then he says this he talks he goes from the peppers plants and he talks about spider webs and he says look job He says you built your whole support system like a spider web. It can hold a spider, but it can't hold you and It's just not strong enough. Your testimony is as weak as a spider web, and that's why you are falling. Bildad is relentless if you watch him in all of his accusations. Then he goes on, he says, uprooted plants cannot survive. Bildad likened Job, likened his seeming success and blessing as having been uprooted by God. And God knows what he did or what he didn't do, and he has uprooted Job, therefore he is withered So once again think of the sight of Job in the dump by the burning piles of rubbish. This is the same drumbeat It's interesting Satan said this I don't know if you saw that you've ever thought of this Satan said God is Satan said to God, God, Job doesn't serve you for nothing. And we examine that in the first week. Job doesn't serve you for nothing. It's because you've given him so many blessings. Bildad comes along and he says, Job, God doesn't punish you for nothing. It's because you're a big sinner. Isn't that interesting? God said this about Job. God said he is upright, he hates evil, and he loves me. And have you considered him?" And Satan says, well, the only reason he doesn't serve you, it's not that he serves you. He doesn't serve you for nothing. He serves you because of all the blessings and the protection and the hedge of protection around you. That's why he serves you. Take it away and he'll curse you. Bildad, on the other hand, turned around and says, God has not punished you for nothing. In other words, look at Bildad's point of view, and look at God's point of view, and look at Satan's point of view. Satan admitted he was righteous. He knew he was righteous. Bildad didn't think he was righteous, and he charged him with being evil. Then he's got this parting assurance. I can't get over this part of it. This is so much like humans, so much like us. Just watch this now look at verse number 19 behold This is the joy of his way and out of the dust others will spring low or look God will not reject a man of integrity nor will he support the evildoers He will fill your mouth with laughter job and your lips with shouting Those who hate you will be clothed in shame and the tent of the wicked will be no more so In three sections, he has lambasted, criticized, told him he was the worst sinner on earth. You're dried up because there's nothing to you, and what happened to your kids should have happened to your kids. He's just been hammering, hammering. But now he's getting ready to back off, and he's gonna go walk away, but he puts his arm around him at the last second, and he says, yeah, but now come on now, Job, cheer up, because if you'll do this and that and the other, everything's gonna turn out all right. How many times are we like that? We hammer somebody and try to, in the parting words, we try to make it, you know, okay so they don't hate us. Look at Bill Dad's parting assurance. After unmitigated attacks, criticisms, and you deserve this, he tries to give him hope. Quite often we do that. We dress people down for their own good, of course, and then we try to give them a hug and tell them we really love them and we just want the best for them. We do this without knowing the depth of their pain, the knowledge of what's going on behind the scenes, and no real empathy with the person. We just have to put in our two cents worth, Give our opinion and supply the remedy along with the pat on the back With assurances 18 to 20. God's going to deliver deliver you hang in there joe. God's not going to reject a man of integrity Integrity then verse 21. Listen. God's going to delight in you. You will be able to smile again. Cheer up You're going to laugh again if you do if you just admit all the evil in your heart and confess Then god's going to put a smile on your face again Let me ask you again, what had Job done that brought all of this stuff on him in his life? What had he done? Nothing. What was going on that Job knew nothing about? What was happening? God and Satan were in a duel, and it was playing out in the life of Job. Cheer up, Job, it could be worse. Has anybody ever told you that? When you're just really going through it. Listen, you know, you just need to look at the bright side. We hear that all the time. So it'll be all right. Those who hate you are going to be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked will be no longer. And so who is he talking about? Who is it that hates Job? Bill that is trying to soothe his own conscience. That's what he's doing by pointing out He's pointing to a straw man saying there's people out there who hate you. Well, I don't know who those people are But bill did you hadn't done me any favors since you've been here and I'm satisfied. He's saying here's what he's thinking I'm satisfied that all of my criticisms and advice are actually good and sincere. Let's say it this way I'm giving you constructive criticism job You just need to pay attention and do something with it and you're everything's going to turn out. All right, so Well, that's Bildad. Now, Job is going to respond to Bildad in chapter 9, and it's quite an interesting and lengthy response. Job responds to Bildad. And he, as he does that, he's gonna respond to Bildad. Bildad is the person who's sitting there listening to the response, but it is as if he talks to God as he's looking at Bildad. You know, he's looking, here's Bildad, he's the one that said all this stuff, but Job doesn't even wanna deal with him. This guy's just an irritant and I don't even wanna deal with it. I'm just gonna talk to God and just listen as he does that. Here's the first thing, it's pretty awesome. The words in the passage are these. Listen to these words that you will find throughout the passage. The word righteous in verse two. The word dispute in verse three. Answer in verse number 14. Mercy and judge in verse number 15. Justice and summons in verse number 19. Righteous, condemn, guilty and guilty in verse number 20. Judges in verse number 24. Complaint in verse number 27. Acquit in verse number 28 and court in verse number 32 and umpire mediator in verse number 33. Where do you what? What was the scenario that? Job is doing here. Well, what does he what is it? What is this? Scenario in which he's talking he's saying I want to be in what? Court. This is all courtroom terminology here. Job has decided, man, we're gonna put this in a legal scenario. I'm gonna try to get God on the witness stand here. I've got some questions for him. That's pretty much what we're talking about. Wow. Have you ever wanted to put God on the witness stand? Have you ever said this, you know, I'm kinda mad at God right now? Wait a minute now, be careful. Don't say that out loud, don't raise your hand. shared many, many moments with people in suffering and hurt, just terrible things going on, a divorce they're going through, sick child, sick spouse, loss of job. I sat down and talked to them and said, well, I said, have you prayed? Have you talked to the Lord? I'm not talking to God right now. I'm on the outs with God. I'm mad at God. God's got some things he's got to answer for. I've heard people say that. I just got a few questions for God. In a sense, as we read through this, you're gonna see that Job, he starts off with a bunch of praise and recognition of his greatness, but it's a little bit sarcastic. You're gonna see it as we go through here. Job takes us to an imaginary courtroom. He's saying, how can I, a mere man, stand and get in a word in my defense? You, my friends, have tried to convict me. He's talking about Eliphaz and Bildad so far. You have tried and convicted me, and surely God has done the same. I'm done for, but I have no clue what I have done. Job wants to know what is going on, and in the passage, Job shows both his incredible awe for God, and at the same time, his utter confusion with God. Now, how many of you are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? Raise your hand. All right, put your hand down. How many of you don't always understand God? Raise your hand. Okay, put your hand down. How many of you wish things were a little more clearer and they didn't seem to be so foggy and cloudy as you look into the heavens? Raise your hand. Yeah, that's where Job is. Job's gonna say, you're God, you're it, you're amazing, you do this and you do that, you created everything, and I mean, nobody can stop you, nobody can change you. You are the beginning and the end. Basically, he just says all of these things And then he says, and I don't understand anything. Now, let's read this. This is pretty, pretty interesting. I'm gonna read it, then we'll go back and comment. Verse nine, this is a little lengthy, one to 13. You don't mind reading the Bible when you come to church, do you? All right, let's do that. Here we go. Then Job answered, in truth I know that this is so. But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. Wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has defied him without harm? It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how. When he overturns them in his anger, who shakes the earth out of its place and its pillars tremble? Who commands the sun not to shine and sets a seal upon the stars? Who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea? Who makes the bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south? talking about the astral figures in the sky. Who does great things unfathomable and wondrous works without number? Were he to pass by me, I would not see him. Were he to move past me, I would not perceive him. Were he to snatch away, who could restrain him? And who could say to him, what art thou doing? God will not turn back his anger. Beneath him crouch the helpers of Rahab. This is what he's saying here in these verses. In the verses three and four, he's saying God is beyond knowing. He's beyond finding out. He is all wise. And then he's saying in verse number four, the second part, God is invincible. He's mighty in strength. Nobody can contend with him. And you know what? I can say amen to that. The devil is no match for God Almighty in heaven. Amen? Aren't you glad we're on God's side? Now, we don't always understand what God is doing. We don't understand his methods. We don't understand why he allows this and he doesn't allow that. The things we would like God to do, he doesn't always do. And the things that we really wish God wouldn't do, sometimes he does. I mean, we can't figure it out. But, I'd like to say with Jehu, he was on the Lord's side. And I wanna know that God is on my side and that I'm on his side. And this is just so awesome. He is invincible. Something else he says in verse four, the third part of it, God is invulnerable. He cannot be defied. Nobody can defy God and get away with it. Then verses five to 10, God is incredible. He does great things, unimaginable, unfathomable, wonders without number. All of that was stated when I read it a moment ago. Job is in a backhanded way praising God's greatness, but he's leading up to his complaint. In other words, he is talking about how incredibly powerful, irresistible, invincible, how amazingly creative that God is, and then at the same time, in a backhanded way, he's leading up to say, and why can't he take care of me a little better? You know how people say it today? Well, if God is all wise, and all powerful, and all knowing, omniscient, omnipresent, and if he is omnipotent, and if he's always good, why is there so much evil in the world? It's the same thing. Did you ever hear that? Did you ever share Christ with somebody, and they say, well, if God's so good, and God's so powerful, and God's everywhere, and he knows everything, why does he let so much bad and evil go on in the world? So, we get asked those questions. I've asked those questions myself. Now watch. This is what Job is saying in a backhanded way. Verse number 11, he says, God is invisible. It's a praise, but a complaint. He's saying, look at verse 11 again, pretty interesting. Where he'd have passed by me, I wouldn't see him. Where he'd have moved past me, I would not perceive him. In other words, I couldn't interrupt him. If he was right beside me, I wouldn't know it. If he ran right in front of me, I wouldn't know it. I mean, I wouldn't be able to grab him and say, hey, let's sit down here and have a talk. That's what he's saying. Praise but a complaint. I can't complain. I can't sit him down across the table and talk this out. God is irresistible. Verse number 12. If he were in a sort of courtroom, my speech would be fruitless because he can snatch me away. If he was sitting on the seat and I was asking him questions, the bailiff would have no ability to restrain him. God is irresistible. He cannot be resisted. He cannot be restrained. He cannot be delayed. He can't you can't you cannot This is just incredible. Do we know how big and strong god is do we understand this? This is what he is saying now, it sounds like a phrase but in a way he's leading up to this section where he is Trying to figure out god what in the world is going on by all of this section. I think I can say it this way God is not mean But he is dangerous We'd better not trifle with God. with his works or with his judgment. That's just a Phil Winfield point that I'm making as we go through here. God's not mean. God is good. Psalm 119 verse 67-68. God is good. God does good. The New Testament's all about it. God is good. God is love. All of those things. We never doubt what the Bible reveals about God because that's God revealing himself. Count on it. But we don't always understand the methods of him showing His goodness Now we come to the second section here and it's rather long and I'm not going to read it all at once We'll read it as we go the first thing was is is that that I shared with you with Job respects God and now We're gonna read Job's reservations Regarding God. What's his reservations? You've been praising him talking about his greatness in his power and He expects him clearly. The six previous statements that we just read led Job to give seven reasons why he thinks his situation is unresolvable. So, what we're gonna read here is Job and his response. He's in so much pain. He's lost everything. At the moment that he's in, he just cannot, by any shape, form, or fashion, see anything good in the future. Have you ever been in a place where you just couldn't see how it was gonna work out? Have you ever been in a situation where a thing I mean everything was negative negative negative negative There wasn't a good thing about any situation and you just assume this is it. I'm not moving beyond this point Some people get to that place and it's really how it cost them a lot Some people don't move beyond that point But I want you to know Joe, uh, jobe can't see it, but he is going to move beyond the point but at this moment he's going to give god seven reasons And he tells them to us in the book He thinks the situation is unresolvable. There's no future for him And that's why he had just as soon as God would take his life. God might as well just kill me because there's there's no There is no way out So let's look at it if we would so there can be first of all there can be no dispute. So look at verse number 13 God will not turn his back in anger and that God will not turn back his anger. Beneath him crouch the helpers of Rahab, that was a sea monster in the Nile. How then can I answer him and choose my words before him? He says, there can be no dispute. In this court, what could I say? Even if I were right, it would do no good. I'll just have to beg for mercy, which is really the position of all humanity, because if we try to defend ourself and present our own righteousness before God, do we have any of our own righteousness? No. That's what Romans chapter 3, 10 and following convinces everybody. No man is justified before God by his own good works. No man. And so actually that's right and the only thing we can do is ask for mercy. The next thing, look at verse number 16. Let me read it down. If I called and he answered me, I could not believe that he was listening to my voice. For he bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause he will not allow me to catch my breath But saturates me with bitterness He said I can't deal with god even while giving a defense or asking a question I wouldn't think he was listening the bruises and wounds keep coming so fast that I cannot even ask I cannot even catch a breath Did bad news ever come towards you so fast you couldn't even get over the first news before the next bad news came? We read that in Job chapter 1 and 2, remember? While this one was still speaking, another came and told him more bad. It said that four times in that passage. Well, that's what he's referring to right here. He's saying, man, he said, your wounds, your blows, the things you're doing to me, they're coming so fast. I can't even talk to you about them. I can't even catch a breath. That's what he's saying. I can't deal with God. He said that I can't dispute God. I can't deal with God. Let her see. He could give God no directions. He could not give God directions and tell God what to do. Look at verse number 19. It says if it is a matter of power behold He is the strong one and if it's a matter of justice who can summon him He can't give God directions. You can't call him on the carpet. You can't tell him what he has to do You just can't do it. This is what Job is saying and then he's saying something else This is a this is one. We need to ponder for a moment. He's saying he could not depend on God and Now look at verse number 20. Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me. Though I am guiltless, he will declare me guilty. I am guiltless. I do not take notice of myself. I despise my life. It is all one. Therefore I say he destroys the guiltless and the wicked. If the scourge kills suddenly, he mocks the despair of the innocent. He's not being real nice right now. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not he, then who is it? Do you see what he is saying in this passage here? Let's walk through it slowly. I am righteous, I'm guiltless, I don't take notice of myself, but I despise my life, it's so hurtful. It is all one, he destroys the guiltless with the wicked. He says, man, I can't see any difference between, I've tried to live the best I can all of my life, and I can't see that it's done me a bit of good. I can't see that, you know, I served God, I sacrificed for my children, I counseled other people, I gave to the poor, I did all this stuff, and it just didn't do me any good. That's what he's saying. If the scourge kills suddenly, he mocks the despair of the innocent. He seems to mock when people die and get hurt. 24, the earth is given to the hands of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. In other words, the judges, there's no justice. They can't even see what's going on and give righteous judgments. That sounds like, you know, 2022 right now. But anyway, if it is not he, then who is doing it? He said, if God's not doing all this stuff, then who is it? Now keep in mind, this is Job in pain, looking at his frenemies. He's responding to what they said, but he is talking about God and he's talking to God I want to tell everyone as you read this passage of Scripture. This is not good theology This is why let me just pull over and say something right here This is why Bible passages and verses taken out of context to teach or preach or prove a point is a foolish thing to do. Because you can pull verses out of the book of Job and prove, not prove, but insinuate terrible, terrible doctrine. How many times have you heard me hammer this point when I preach on Sunday or any other time? Context, context, everything has got to be understood in the context in which it is stated, where it is written. What is the context in the book of Job about what's going on? Is Job just happy-go-lucky having a wonderful time and things are really great, or is he suffering beyond measure? He's suffering, and he's saying all kinds of things. He's giving all kinds of theological opinions that are not right. And even when they say something, like even when Bildad and Zophar and these others, even when they say something that's right, they have applied it incorrectly and said it at the wrong time. Context is everything. I warn everybody, when you're trying to figure out how to use the Bible, the Bible is not written and put in little bottles like medicine bottles at the pharmacy. You do not read the Bible looking for the little ointments and the little fixes for this little situation in your life every time you have a problem. The Bible's not written like that. The Bible is not an apothecary full of bottles and today I'm sad, I want this one and tomorrow I'm happy and I want that one and the next day I need help with my money. The Bible is not written that way. The Bible is written in context, it's narrative, it's law, it's prophecy. And so, yes, we can memorize verses, John 3, 16, for God's sake. Yeah, but that is a verse that's in agreement by itself, in agreement with everything around it. But when you take the book of Job and start pulling verses out, boy, you're gonna make God look like an ogre. Gotta be careful. So important that context rules the interpretation. Jerry, that's what you're talking about, I guess, when we're going to seminary. That's not what I'm trying to do, but that is so important. It's so important for us to understand. So watch this one. This is so dangerous. Keep in mind that this Job is in pain. He's looking at his frenemies. He's responding to what they said, but he's talking about God. What he says is not good theology. It's weak humanity dealing with divinity. It's Job in pain trying to describe and understand his perception of what God is doing. Job knew he couldn't prove innocence before God. He says, I am without guilt, but God doesn't care. He says, I hate my life. This is the depths of despair that we're looking at in this man's case. He says this, he says, the wicked prosper, and if they are drugged to court, God covers the faces of the judges, and they seem to get away with everything. Job was comparing himself to the wicked, and they are running around free, fat and sassy, while he suffers, though he is guiltless. That's how he's looking at it. I have served God in vain, he said. And look at these wicked people going around, and they're just getting away with everything, and they're fat. Does that remind you of a Bible passage? I think it does. Turn to Psalm number 73. Turn to Psalm 73. Job's not the only person that thought this. Maybe this other person wasn't suffering as much, this psalmist. Psalm 73, a Psalm of Asaph. Listen, let me read it. I got 14 minutes, I'm doing good. Let me go. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling. My steps had almost slipped. Why, why, why? Because I was envious of the arrogant. I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Look at his assumptions, or look at his observations about them. For there are no pains in their death. and their body is fat. They are not in trouble, as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore, pride is their necklace. The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness. The imaginations in their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people return to this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them. And they say, How does God know? And is their knowledge with the Most High? Behold, these are the wicked, and always at ease. They have increased in wealth. Look at verse 13. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence for I have been stricken all day long and chastised every morning. Whoa. This is not Job. This is somebody else named Asaph. He must be going through a whale of trouble as well because he's looking around and he's saying, man, here I am being afflicted and suffering and it's just going on and on and on and it's relentless and I can't seem to get out of it and look at these heathens. Now how many of you gotta be, you gotta be honest. You look around and you see what's happening in the world and you see the wicked prosperous. Do you know what I'm talking about? Doesn't it leave a question mark in your head? That is the book of Job. That's what Job is going through right now. He says, I can't count on God. I have to say this, this is where many arrive in suffering. Many of the conversations like this that I've had recently with those who are hurting and suffering, and I just read to you from Psalm 73 how it's not the only time it ever happened in the case of Job. Something else he says is he couldn't delay God. Verses 25 and 26, he couldn't make him, he couldn't slow him down. Look at verse number 25, now my days are swifter than a runner. They fly away, they see no good, they slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops on its prey. He says life is slipping by so quickly and I'm not gonna get my day in court. I'm gonna be on the wrong side of the green grass whenever I get a chance to talk to God, that's what he's saying. Life is just over for me and I'm not going to be able to talk to God while I'm still alive. And then something else he says here in verse 27, 28, he says, I cannot deceive God. Let me read it. 27 to 28, though I say I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful, I am afraid of all of my pains. I know thou would not, thou wouldst not acquit me. He say, if I try to put on a happy face, if I try to, you know, just, Think positive. If I try to just see the bright side, if I try to just get beyond this, he said, God knows I would be trying to, I'm faking him out. You know, it does no good to sing songs to those of a broken heart, I'm telling you, and it does no good to tell somebody when they're in the depths of despair, just cheer up, look on the bright, it doesn't work. And Job is saying that, that's what he's saying. We like to say things like that, look on the bright side. Job couldn't see, he couldn't see a bright side and he couldn't fake it. Cheer up, we tell each other. Job says, I just can't go on like nothing has happened. I can't put on a pasty smile and say, praise the Lord, hallelujah, is it life grand? There's no spin master that can make this work. Job knows it and God would know it. Folks, we can export a happy face, but it does not change a wounded spirit. You know, I think we're all guilty of this, even when we're going through it. Somebody come into the church door and shake hands with somebody, they say, how you doing? And we say, great! And what's the truth? Yeah I know we can't stop and tell everybody what's going on in our life at every moment of our life But boy, we need one or two friends We need two or three friends not like build that build that and so far and and Ella faz We need real friends who can just shut up and listen and say I hear you Wow So We have to be honest about our hurt And our emotions we can't stand up of course and just emote with everybody we meet But we need to be able to be honest with god And it would be really nice if we had a handful of friends with whom we could be honest Without the fear of further condemnation wouldn't have been great if those three guys would have come there and said joe we hear you Can't imagine I see what you're going through that's got to be the most hurtful thing. Is there anything can we get you some water? Don't you think that would be? Something that somebody could that's not what they did When they saw him sitting there and they saw him in the bitterness of spirit spirit. What did they do? They just piled on and And they just said, you're suffering because you're sinful. You're suffering and you're going through this because you're so terrible. You just need to confess. Do you remember that little song, There's Not a Friend Like the Lowly Jesus? How many of you have ever even heard that song? Raise your hand. There's Not a Friend Like the Lowly Jesus. We're gonna sing that in a minute. Did I give that to you? All right. We're gonna come to it in just a minute. Verse 29 to 31. He says, I'm accounted wicked. Why then should I toil in vain? Why should I try? If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet thou wouldst plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes would abhor me. Boy, that's getting bad if you put on some new clothes and they, if your clothes could speak and they, ugh, I can't believe I'm on you. That's how, that's how bad it was for Job. The idea here is if it is true that I have done some grievous sin then no amount of effort is gonna change God's mind He's gonna go on inflicting me and I can't clean up and get to God. Well, that's true Get anybody clean up and get to God. No Job's resolution about God verses 32 to 35. He says for he is not a man boy. This is huge and This is absolutely fantastic. This is like prophetic gospel right here in the book, right in the middle of his incredible pain. We know the word of God is inspired. Just listen to this. He is not a man as I am that I may answer him, that we may go to court together. There is no umpire or mediator between us who may lay his hand upon us both. Let him remove his rod from me, and let not the dread of him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear him. But I am not like that in myself." Here's what he says in these verses. He says, In these verses, he longs for an intercessor. He longs for someone to represent him before God. Look at these phrases. He says, he is not a man. I can't talk to him, and we can't walk into court together. And then he says, there's no mediator. There's no person who can bring us together. And then he says, there is no end to the blows. And then he says, there is no way that I can stand in his presence without trembling in fear. That's what he said. That's his summary. He said, there's no hope. He said, I got no mediator. I got nobody to help me. And here's where we see that Jesus shows up everywhere in the scripture. Do you remember those boys that were on the road to Emmaus after Jesus had risen from the dead, and they didn't know it, and they were going back from Jerusalem, headed to Bethany, and they're on the road, headed to Emmaus, and on the road to Emmaus, they're talking to one another, and Jesus showed up beside them, and they're just, you know, they're down in the dumps, and they're just so sad because Well, he that was supposedly the Messiah and gonna restore the greatness of Israel, he's dead. Our rulers and the Romans have gotten together and they've killed him and crucified him and they buried him and now we got reports somebody robbed the tomb. And Jesus is walking along with him. What does the Bible say in Luke at the end of the book of Luke? I think it's 22 or 23 and he's walking along and Jesus says, what are you talking about? He says, are you the only foreigner that doesn't know what's happening these days in Jerusalem? He says, what things? And he says, about Jesus the righteous. And they tell the story. And then he says to them, how foolish you are to not understand all that was written of me in the law and the prophets. And the Bible says, and he began to speak to them from the law and the prophets and the writings. He spoke to them about all the things that were spoken of himself. Do you know what we're reading right here in verses 32 to 35, right out of the mouth of a man who's going through incredible suffering? He is describing what Jesus is going to do in the future. He is, out of his heart of desperation, he is crying out for exactly the person that Jesus is and for the work that Jesus does. When he said this, it was true that God was not a man at the time that Job wrote that. That's true. It says there in verse number 32, for he is not a man, as I am, that I may answer him, or he may answer me. He is not a man. Well, at that time, he was not a man, but guess what? He became a man. Oh, the Bible says that the word was made flesh and he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth. So he was made flesh. That's Jesus. Oh, this is beautiful. This is the gospel. According to Job folks right here. Now we have, we do have a mediator. He said, I got, I have, there's nobody that can put their arm on both of us and bridge the gap. There's no link between there's no, but there's no mediator. There's nobody that can put their. hand on both of us and bring us together. You know, that's a wonderful thing when a person who loves two people sees them arguing and can go in among them and bring those two people together and say, now brother, please, just listen to me for a moment. Let me talk, let me encourage you. Please don't hold this against your brother. Please don't hold this, a mediator. We do have a mediator, an intercessor. The Bible says in Hebrews 7, 25, he ever lives to make intercession for us. We do have an advocate. He's sitting at the right hand of the Father, 1 John 2, 1 and 2. We have exactly what Job was talking about. And then there's something else here. It says here, let him remove his rod from me. Let not the dread of him terrify me. You know what? He took our sorrows and he received our blows. Isaiah chapter 53 verse 4 and 5 says he is a man of sorrows. He is acquainted with grief and by his wounds. We are healed And then we can stand in God's presence in this beautiful Verse 35, I would speak and not fear him. Verse 32, we could go to court together. The Bible says we can stand in God's presence because Romans chapter 5 verse 1 says, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. You know, Job didn't have the Bible. He didn't have the Old Testament. He didn't have the New Testament. Job did not have the internal ministry of the Holy Spirit in his life. Job had the memory of the original blessings and the memory of what he'd heard from Abraham and Isaac and what he had heard from those people and what he'd heard about God. That is all he had. That was the whole hope that he had. He didn't have anything else than that. And he served God faithfully. He hated evil and loved God and he sacrificed for his children. Wow. Boy, what kind of excuse do we have when we have the full Word of God and all these 3,000 years or more of history since that time, 4,000 perhaps, since that time of history of God's faithfulness? Where are we if we don't understand that God loves us even in our trouble? It's awesome. This is glorious Job didn't completely understand it what he said here was unwitting but it is a forecast of god's goodness in jesus and we do Have somebody to talk to when we're in pain and he does care You know that right? How many forget that don't raise your hand but how many of you how many of you forget that When you're hurting, when you're in pain, when it's not working, do you forget that there's no friend like Jesus? No one that's closer than a brother like him. No one who's promised to never leave us or forsake us like him. We forget that. You know why? Because we're human, and because the pain gets great, and it gets unbearable, and it goes, I mean, maybe it's emotional pain, or it's relational pain, or it's pain because we have sinned. Or it's pain, I mean, we got all this pain, and sometimes we just forget that there is no friend like the lowly Jesus. If you've got that, I want to teach you this song if you don't know this song. It's old, old, old, old. I bet you know it, Sally. You know this song. You don't know it. It goes like this. I'm going to have to clear my throat. I haven't sung in 20 years. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. None else could heal all our soul's diseases. No, not one. No, not one. Now this is the chorus. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. How many of you do remember having heard that at some time? All right, now come on, sing it with me. No friend like him is so high and holy. No, not one. No, not one. And yet no friend is so meek and lowly. No, not one. No, not one. Let's just go to the next verse. There's not an hour that he is not near us. No, not one. No, not one. No night so dark, but His love can cheer us. No, not one. No, not one. To the chorus. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. We'll put those two at the bottom together. Did e'er a saint find this friend forsake him? No, not one, no, not one. Or sinner find that he would not take him? No, not one, no, not one. Was there a gift like the Savior given? No, not one. No, not one. Will he refuse us the bliss of heaven? No, not one. No, not one. One more time, the chorus. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. One more time. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. Now that's a really old song, but that message is as fresh as if it was just written. I'm telling you something, Job didn't have this, but we do. I don't know when you'd rather live, but living at this moment, at this time, in this world, under the circumstances that we're seeing as we come to the end of the age is the most exciting time, I think, in the history of the world. Because as the day, what did Jesus say? Evil men will do what? Get worse and worse. He said as we approach the end, there's gonna be wars and rumors of wars. Nation is gonna fight against nation. There's gonna be pestilence. You know what pestilence is? disease, pandemics, there's gonna be pestilence. He said there's gonna be fighting, there's gonna be earthquakes in various places. Are you awake? Are we awake? I'm telling you folks, Jesus is coming. And as we're waiting on Jesus to come, He's with us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one.