Come on, brother Pete. What a blessing. Let's be sure. Is that on? Yep. There we go. All right. If you would turn in your Bibles with me to Job chapter 23. Job chapter 23. And we'll look at a few verses here in the book of Job chapter 23. And if we would just look first of all in verses one and two, here's an answer that's coming from Job and to Eliaphaz, but we'll look at verses one and two. We're gonna go further, but I just look at this just to begin with, and then we'll go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, and Job answered and said, even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groan. Lord, I pray that you would use this passage today and that you would encourage our hearts and challenge us. And Lord, I pray that we would see something of you more than just what we think in and of ourselves. heard and seen and talked and in conversation with preachers and church members that are having hard times in so many different areas. I do pray for our churches at the same time. And as from the outside looking in, sometimes it may look discouraging, but we have a God that is bigger. And I do pray that we would see that today. In Jesus' name, amen. When thinking about Job, it's impossible for any of us to understand how he must have felt during this period or this season of his life. His life had become a battleground between God and Satan. The Lord not only allowed this situation into his life, But in fact, God instigated it. He said, have you considered my servant? Not just allowing it, but he picked the fight. And Job's life was the battlefield. Can you imagine, if you think about this life of Job, can you imagine the trust that God had in Job for God to pick his life for this ground zero event. The trust that God had in Job. Job had once again been falsely accused. If you look back in chapter 22, we won't look at any of that. But Eliaphaz, again, there he levels some pretty serious accusations against him. And so he's just come through that, and Job opens up in chapter 23 with the admission of a bitter complaint. May I just add to this that I am thrilled of the honesty of Job. I'm not saying I'm thrilled with his bitterness, but I absolutely love his transparency. And he just says it. I mean, we come to church and people ask, we ask each other how we're doing, and we quickly proclaim how everything is good. Just to say as a pastor, sometimes it's really hard to answer that. Hey, how's your church going? We have some awesome days and we have some horrible days. There's some days we're shouting the house down, the next day we don't know if there's a house to shout down. How do you answer something like that? And the days that people are walking in the spirit, man, it's awesome. And the days that people come to church and they're mad at the pastor or mad at each other is awful. How do you say that to each other? But Job is just completely transparent. He says, my complaint is bitter. Look again in this first portion of scripture. I'd like you to see his distress. See, first of all, his distress, and this distress is evidenced in what was heard. Our verse tells us that his complaint was bitter. Now, I'm not sure that there would be anyone here that would be as honest about their state as we see in the life of Job. If you still have your Bibles open there, would you go back to chapter 3 and we'll read the first few verses here of chapter 3. And notice what he says after this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. How do you like that? Verse 2, and Job spake and said, verse 3, let the day perish wherein I was born. And the night in which it was said, there is a man child conceived. Could I say his complaint was a bit bitter? How about if we look over chapter six and notice here in verse two, he says, oh, that my grief were throughly weighed and my calamity laid in the balances together. How about chapter 10? Chapter 10 in verse one, notice what it says. My soul is weary of my life. I will leave my complaint upon myself. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. How about same chapter, verses 18 and 19. Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Question mark. Oh, that I had given up the ghost and no eye had seen me. I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. Boy, that's encouraging. That's what he's saying. My complaint is bitter. I think of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 1, verse 8, he says, For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia. And we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. That's one of my heroes. Paul might have been the closest person that could relate to Job as far as coming to the point where life did not look so attractive to him anymore. And I know that's not a popular thing to say in Baptist circles because we are always saying things like I'm too blessed to be depressed. And then if somebody is going through a really hard time, and a real hard, they want to lie about the fact, and they don't want to tell anybody, that they're having a real hard time, and the devil is messing with their mind, and they don't want to admit that, but the best thing they could probably do is tell somebody, my mind is playing tricks on me, and I'm listening to the lies of the devil, and would you, would you with me carry and bear this load with me? Job says my complaint is bitter. It's evidenced in what was heard. I wonder how many a Christian would have been this honest. I am not attempting to be negative in any way. But I do want to acknowledge that the hardships in our lives are real. My hardship may look like a kindergarten problem for you. And your hardship may look like a kindergarten problem to another person. But nonetheless, the hardships that we're facing are real to us. And Paul says, or Job says, that my complaint is bitter. Now, I'm not glad that he's bitter, but I'm glad he's transparent. How else does a person get some help if we're not going to talk honestly with each other? Have you ever had a time where God decided to turn your life into the battlefield between God and the devil? I know we hate that, and I can point to someone. I do not want to pretend I understand Job. I don't want to pretend that I'm in his league whatsoever, but I do know that there have been some hardships and trials and battlefields in my life, and I did not enjoy them at all. Times in which I didn't know which way to turn. Times in which I would sit there and stand there and weep. One time Doc Petty was up in Ontario at our church and I'm pouring my heart out. We were at a Tim Horton's coffee shop and Doc stands up and right in the middle of the restaurant and puts his hand on my head and starts to pray. If you've never had a battlefield, then you won't understand what he's talking about. But if you've ever had that type of a battlefield that God instigated, no, not just allowed, but he says, have you considered my servant? And he puts your name there. If you have never experienced this, this will probably never make sense. But if you have, you will understand the bitter tone in his voice. Maybe you might feel, and I don't mean this sarcastically, but maybe you might feel that you're too spiritual to have ever had these types of words fall from your mouth. We see in his distress, his complaint is bitter, and it was heard. In his distress, it is evidenced in his heaviness. in verse 2. He says the stroke of God's hand is heavier on him than the groaning could testify. Let me say it again here in verse 2. Even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Look back in chapter 19 with me just for a second. We'll just read one verse, verse 21 of chapter 19. He says, have pity upon me. Have pity upon me. Oh ye, my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me. Here he says it in a little bit of a different way where he just says the stroke or the hand or the stroke from God's hand is heavier than my groaning. The distress of Job was far worse than his groaning was even able to describe. If you heard him groaning, that was just a little taste of what he really was going through. He was holding back, and even in his holding back, the groaning came. But that was just a little touch of what he was really going through. Like the friends that Job had, we too seem to attack a man or a lady because of what we see them going through. or we hear them at what we assume to be the lowest point of their life, but we are completely ignorant of the fact that that person is living what they are living through because they just happen to be the most trusted of God. In one of my issues or trials, I was going through a preacher had called me and I thought, oh boy, here we go. And I thought all he wanted was more dirt that they could use against me. And as I listened to this preacher on the phone, I was talking to him and I could hear a little bit of a sob in his voice. And I wasn't sure where this was going. And I was a bit defensive in myself, not wanting to share too much. And all of a sudden, this preacher says over the phone, he says, I can't believe how much God trusts you. He says, I'm embarrassed that he can't trust me. Well that was a completely different way of looking at it. See there are times when God has us going through that refining fire of life that words and groaning are only the tip of the iceberg as to what is actually happening. So we see the distress evidenced by what was heard and the heaviness that he was under. Number two, the desperation in verse three. Oh, that I knew where I might find him. Can you sense the desperation in Job's speech here? Can you sense the longing of his heart? Can you imagine the thoughts that are in his heart? Can you imagine how many times he's pondered on the close fellowship that he's always had with his God? And can you imagine how many times in his fellowship with the Lord that he would have come out of his prayer closet and telling everyone around him, man, God is my very best friend. how that he was closer than a brother. He was more caring than his mother, more supportive than his father, and now he can't find him. Can you sense the desperation? The desperation for his person. He desired to know where is he. He says, oh, that I knew where I might find him. I wonder if anyone here has ever felt that desperation. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, oh God. Where is he? Why can't I find him? We've been the best of friends, the closest of comrades. And now I can't find him. the desperation for the person of God. Notice his desperation for his presence. He says that I might come even to his seat. While this term does indicate or picture a man coming before a king or a judge to seek a judgment, I believe it was more personal to Job than just the courtroom setting. Yes, he desired to be at his seat. But I think how David explained this idea after he had just numbered the people against God's word of not numbering in 2 Samuel 24, 14. And David said unto God, I am in a great strait. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great. And let me not fall into the hand of man. He wanted to come to his seat. Yes, he's his judge. Yes, he's his king. But still more personal than that. If I could just get to stand or sit or kneel in front of God, if I could just get into his presence, a desperation for his person, a desperation for his presence. If I could only look into the loving eyes one more time, if I could just show him my person and the mess that I am in. Have you ever had any of those types of thoughts where you just wish you could get into his presence? You just wish you could get into his person. I feel that way in our church services at times where the holy hush just blankets an auditorium. And how I long for a presence like that where you dare not say a word for fear of messing the whole thing up. Where people all of a sudden just start to break out in prayer. And then one prayer starts another prayer, starts another prayer. And you long for that presence to say, oh God, I don't even want to move. I want to hide behind the pulpit. Hopefully nobody sees me crawl under the carpet. God, you just do what you want done. A longing for his presence is what I'm saying. Desperation for his presence of desperation for his person. We see the distress. We see the desperation Could I say verses four and five we see his desire? Verse four he says Let's think about this again. Even today is my complaint bitter. Verse two, my stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come into his seat. Verse four, I would order my cause before him and fill my mouth with arguments. No doubt about it. No doubt he would do exactly that. Notice in his desire, there is a plead. He wanted to plead his case. He said, I would order my cause before him, fill my mouth with arguments. There's no doubt in my mind that Job had got this thing through. There's not a doubt in my mind that he had thought this through. And if he could just get himself an audience with the king of kings, he says, I would order my cause before him. I'd fill my mouth with arguments. Not a doubt in my mind. There's not a doubt that Job had formulated his case, his cause, and his claim. If Job was anything like me, he would have carefully articulated his arguments in his mind. That when he gets before him, he might order his cause before him. He would have been the best lawyer you could find in front of God. His mind is in that courtroom. He would like an opportunity to plead his case. and that all of these accusations that are coming from his friends. Aren't those friends a blessing, by the way? He wanted to be able to say, here's my case, God. These accusations are false. They're just not true. You see, they have a truth about God But they're sprinkled with biased accusations. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure those guys had to be Baptists. They're pretty good at that. What would have been running through your mind Here you are in the worst trial of your life, the hardest time you've ever gone through. And those who you feel should be your friends have turned on you and are convinced that everything you're going through is your fault. And you just desire so badly, Brother Brad, to be able to get in front of God and to order your cause and to fill your mouth with arguments to say, God, this is just not true. That's not my intent. That was not my motive. My heart is to love you and to serve you. We have a man that's lost everything he had sitting on a pile of ashes, scraping himself. His friends can't stop telling everything that he's going through is all his own fault. I mean, what in the world would you and I be thinking? Let me ask you this question, what would your case look like if you're Job? What is it that would roll off your tongue if you were given an opportunity to plead your case? So part of his desire was to plead his case. Secondly, it was to perceive his God's contention with him. He says in verse five, I would know the words which he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. The part of his desire is to know what the Lord's charges may be against him. Why is he going through this? You see, we We know why Job is in the spot that he's in. But Job didn't know why he was where he was at. He had no clue. He woke up one morning, everything he knew to be normal was gone and now disappeared. In his mind, he would like to know what is it that the Lord has on him? Why is this happening? How and why has he found himself in the disfavor of God, at least maybe in his mind? If only he could perceive the contention that God would have against him. Isn't that a pretty normal response by most, if not all of us? We question why, why, why. Soon as something happens, we just don't understand why. We see what we perceive to be a negative in our life, and somebody has turned on us, and somebody has turned their back, and somebody who was once a friend is now saying all sorts of things, a confidant that you have been able to share your innermost even fears and feelings with, and people that you've trusted are now using everything you've said, and they turn it against you, and they've labeled you, and they've written articles against you, and you're now the bad guy. And you say, why? What does God have against me? What are the charges that the Lord has leveled against me? What have I done that has made the Lord disfavor me? I mean, he has listened to the accusations that have been leveled against him, but they have not made any sense to him. He's listened to his friends and they've leveled accusations and he's answered the accusations. They just don't seem to hold water in his mind. If I could just get an audience with God. He knows them to be untrue, but at the same time, why is he going through what he is going through? He has a desire to plead his case, but he also has a desire to perceive the Lord's contention. So we have his distress, his desperation, the desire. And now lastly, notice the decision. We're coming to the courtroom setting again. What is the decision going to be that is coming from the Lord? Notice in verse six, the first part of the verse, he says, will he plead against me with his great power? Question mark and then he answers it No He's still in this courtroom in his mind and he's still at the seat of the king or the judge in front of him He's looking for the decision that is going to come from the judge, but we see that he knows something about the character of God And in this decision we see it's conjectural to begin with. He lays out a hypothetical question almost like he's going to go through the process of elimination. He knows everything that's been going on. He knows, he hears the accusations that have been coming against him. He's listened to what the men have been saying and he's weighed them out in his mind. He's answered them. And here he's saying, boy, my complaint is bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. If I could just find God, if I could just plead my case in front of Him, if I could just come to Him and get an audience with the Lord, and I would articulate the arguments that I have inside of me, and He throws out this thought, He says, hey, would He in verse 6, will He plead against me with His great power? And the light bulb turns on, and He answers the question Himself, no! Because He knows something about the character of God. Something is starting to burn on the inside here of brother Job, and this is the part that excites me beyond all belief In the process of answering his question his own question. It's an emphatic No, no God would not do that You know it probably do many of us some good to strike out some things from our minds I've got God would not do to you And we cannot be condemned again, as we've already heard. There's now no condemnation. Man, I have an accuser of the brethren that whispers in the ear of God that Peter Gunther did this, that Peter Gunther did that, and all of those things are true, and Jesus stands there at the other side, hey, paid for, paid for, paid for! I can't be condemned! Will He plead against me with His great power? No! Because that would go against the very character of God. Man would to God that we would write down on a list of paper and say, here are some things that God would never do to me. He's not looking to trip you up. He's not looking to beat you down. God's not looking to confuse you. He didn't give you the spirit of fear. He's not going to kick you when you fall. He doesn't have a baseball bat waiting for the right time just to knock you over the head with it. No. Will he plead against me with his great power? Absolutely not. Boy, what a great conclusion to come to here in his heart, in his life. So in this decision, he has this hypothetical or conjectural question, and he answers it himself But notice secondly in this verse notice the confidence This is what he says, but he would put strength in It's gonna hit you in a second His friends are accusing him of everything under the Sun His complaint is bitter He can't seem to find God. He desires an audience with him so that he could plead his case. He wants to know and understand what it is that God may have against him. He throws out the hypothetical question, immediately answers his own question. Notice that Job is not looking to get out of the mess that he is in. He is not begging God to get back at those horrible friends. No. He knows that if he could get an audience with God, and that God would put his strength in him in the midst of the trial and the hardship that he's going through, Since he's going through the hard time, since he's in the trial, since his life has become a battleground between God and Satan, since he's there, he's not saying, oh God, if I could get an audience, would you get me out of here? No! He says, if I can get an audience, God will put his strength in me while I stay in this trial. Right where I'm at. I'm not looking for an exit. I'm looking for a strength in the midst of it. You see, this is why Job had such confidence in Job. Job 13, 15, he says, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. But I will maintain my own ways before the Lord. I don't know why I'm here. My complaint is bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. God, I need your strength in the fight. Don't quit. Don't run off. Your hands and say Oh God, I can't take it anymore Maybe you can't but maybe God is bringing you to a place of brokenness And in that brokenness you find out that his strength is made perfect in my weakness Would you put your strength in me in the midst of this hardship? You see the same confidence is seen here in verse 10 of the same chapter he says But he knows the way that I take. In other words, I have no idea the way I'm going. I have no clue the way that I take. He says, but he knows. I'm not looking for a different way. I'm not looking for a different lane. I'm not looking for a way out. I just need strength in the midst of the trial. He says cuz he knows the way that I take there's this confidence in him. He says and when he has tried When God's finished with me I Shall come forth as gold. I Have no clue Why I'm in what I'm in And maybe you're here today and you've asked all sorts of questions as to why, and why, and why. And you have begged God, could you please remove the thorn? And God says, no. And you ask a second time, would you please remove the thorn? And God says, no. And the third time, would you please remove the thorn? And God says, no. Why? Because I've got to learn, and we have got to learn the sufficiency of God's grace in the midst of His enabling power. Put your strength in me while I stay in my trial.