Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Responding Wisely When Falsely Accused │ Msg 1122

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Responding Wisely When Falsely Accused │ Msg 1122 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: I'll just let you look over the 20th and 21st
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Speaker 1: chapters of Job and see if you can make anything
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Speaker 1: out of it. And I'll do my best in a
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Speaker 1: little bit. It does have to do with that final
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Speaker 1: encounter that Job had with a man named Zophar as
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Speaker 1: he gets the lecture once again from someone who's convinced
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Speaker 1: that Job is wicked and getting what he deserves, and
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Speaker 1: Job answers him in chapter 21 in no uncertain terms,
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Speaker 1: having been falsely accused. But for these moments, I'd like
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Speaker 1: us to simply bow for a time of prayer. Let's
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Speaker 1: go to the Lord. This is a place where you
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Speaker 1: are accepted and where you have an opportunity to be quiet.
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Speaker 1: and to learn and listen and participate and grow and
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Speaker 1: get your mind clear from all the clutter of the
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Speaker 1: past week and even, of all things, participate in God's
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Speaker 1: eternal program by believing with your whole heart and even,
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Speaker 1: as we shall in a moment, giving from your treasure. Lord,
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Speaker 1: if it's not a place like that, then we don't
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Speaker 1: want to be here. We've had enough of clicks and
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Speaker 1: gimmicks and legalism and selfishness and showboating. We just like
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Speaker 1: to come around you, Lord, and to hear from you.
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Speaker 1: How grateful we are for a family. All of us
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Speaker 1: from different backgrounds. With different names. Different stories. Different areas
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Speaker 1: of guilt. And even some shame. And how greatly we
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Speaker 1: rejoice in your grace. For it's in this place that
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Speaker 1: shame and grace can meet. And grace wins. This is
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Speaker 1: a place, Lord, where we don't have to put on
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Speaker 1: airs or try to be someone we're not or fit
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Speaker 1: into a system that requires 15 things before we're accepted.
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Speaker 1: We come just as we are and we talk to
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Speaker 1: you and we lean hard on you. Some of us
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Speaker 1: in this body are hurting and And they're up against
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Speaker 1: it physically. Some are even in hospitals and places removed
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Speaker 1: from this comfortable spot. And we remember them today. Some
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Speaker 1: are brokenhearted, too depressed to show up, downcast and discouraged.
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Speaker 1: Some have had some awful things said about them, and
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Speaker 1: they're reeling from those lies. We all come with our
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Speaker 1: scars and we all come with a memory of things
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Speaker 1: that have been done wrong against us and even some
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Speaker 1: things that we've done wrong and said wrong against others.
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Speaker 1: And here again is this place where we're able to
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Speaker 1: confess our sins, where we're able to find reason to
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Speaker 1: go on. Since ancient days, your people have suffered. You've
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Speaker 1: always worked through a remnant. And you've always blessed those
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Speaker 1: who bless you. But it doesn't always happen in this lifetime.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes the rewards are saved till later. So this is
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Speaker 1: no fantasy world we're entering. This is a real world
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Speaker 1: where life gets tough and people are harsh. And we
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Speaker 1: come to this place with our hands open and our
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Speaker 1: hearts clean, we ask you to say some things to
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Speaker 1: us today that need to be heard. And now, Lord,
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Speaker 1: we want to also remember those in dangerous and difficult
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Speaker 1: places who serve our country and believe in its cause.
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Speaker 1: Those who would take away our joy and liberty and
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Speaker 1: freedom are, it seems, just around the corner. And we
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Speaker 1: need those men and women in those tough spots. So
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Speaker 1: bless them for their sacrifice today. It's a joy, Lord,
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Speaker 1: to be able to work, to earn a living. And
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Speaker 1: even to be able today to write out a check
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Speaker 1: and to give it to your work. We pray that
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Speaker 1: all of these gifts will come from the right motive.
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Speaker 1: Not to earn something from you, but to express something
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Speaker 1: to you. the worship of our hearts. And so, Lord,
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Speaker 1: as life makes up its mind in some ways today,
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Speaker 1: in these moments that follow, I pray that you will
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Speaker 1: minister even now as we sit in quietness and reflect
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Speaker 1: and give to your work. We do it gratefully and
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Speaker 1: we do it generously and joyfully. In the name of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: we pray. And everyone said, amen. There's no more treacherous
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Speaker 1: enemy in the church than the tongue. The tongue. What
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Speaker 1: we say often cuts far deeper than any sword, any knife.
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Speaker 1: Scripture sometimes presents the tongue as a sword that thrusts
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Speaker 1: its way into others' lives and brings hurt. We're not
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Speaker 1: surprised to read that in the list of the Ten Commandments,
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Speaker 1: one of them includes, you shall not bear false witness
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Speaker 1: against your neighbor. When God led Solomon to write the Proverbs,
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Speaker 1: he included the seven things, that he hates among them
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Speaker 1: a false witness that speaks lies. I can't speak for you.
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Speaker 1: I can speak for a few whom I know, but
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Speaker 1: for most of you, I have no idea what you
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Speaker 1: are living with as it relates to someone else's tongue.
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Speaker 1: But if you have been spoken against unfairly, unjustly, If
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Speaker 1: you have been falsely accused, you understand real pain. Often
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Speaker 1: you find yourself at a loss to know how to
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Speaker 1: defend yourself. You try, but frequently false witnesses aren't there
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Speaker 1: to listen. They're just busy talking and spreading the venom,
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Speaker 1: which has a way of poisoning people. not only a
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Speaker 1: few people, but can even poison a church. There was
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Speaker 1: this young pastor who went to a church that had
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Speaker 1: been split apart in so many ways, but especially by
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Speaker 1: a loose tongue that had been allowed. And the church
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Speaker 1: had pretty well reduced to just a bare survival. And
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Speaker 1: this young man arrived and decided to open his Bible
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Speaker 1: and just preach truth. And he did that. Slowly but surely,
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Speaker 1: the church began to grow and Before long, it was
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Speaker 1: in a growth spurt, and finally it was bulging at
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Speaker 1: the seams, and they went to multiple services, and it
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Speaker 1: was obvious that they needed to build. Well, the new
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Speaker 1: worship center was going to cost a million dollars. And
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Speaker 1: they didn't have a lot of money, though they certainly
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Speaker 1: needed the building. It so happened that in this church
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Speaker 1: were two brothers, and they were real rascals. They were
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Speaker 1: just sort of sorry individuals. The problem is they were rich.
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Speaker 1: One of them died. The surviving brother came to the
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Speaker 1: pastor in his study one day and he said, here,
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Speaker 1: I have something for you. It's a million dollar check
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Speaker 1: to pay for the new building. But when you preach
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Speaker 1: my brother's funeral, all I ask you to do is
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Speaker 1: to tell people that he was a saint. That's all
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Speaker 1: I'm asking you to do. Pastor thought for a moment
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Speaker 1: and said, okay. Took the check, deposited it. Don't forget
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Speaker 1: that's part of the story. Funeral came in about four
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Speaker 1: or five days and pastor stood up and coffin was
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Speaker 1: here and pastor begins to address the subject of the
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Speaker 1: man who has died and he says, this man was
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Speaker 1: a reprobate. He was unfaithful to his family. He was
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Speaker 1: dishonest in his business. He was not a man that
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Speaker 1: you could trust. He was part of the reason that
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Speaker 1: this church could not get off the ground for a
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Speaker 1: number of years. But compared to his brother, he was
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Speaker 1: a saint. There are several ways to tell the truth,
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Speaker 1: and he chose that way. I was surprised to find
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Speaker 1: how often False accusations appear through the scriptures. When you
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Speaker 1: study the Bible, as many of us do, you often
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Speaker 1: don't track certain subjects through it. It's always enlightening when
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Speaker 1: you do. I found, for example, that a man as
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Speaker 1: pure as Joseph, who had learned a new language and
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Speaker 1: earned his way in Potiphar's house to a place of
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Speaker 1: real responsibility as the man Over all of Potiphar's belongings, Joseph,
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Speaker 1: at the height of his career, was falsely accused of
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Speaker 1: rape by Potiphar's wife and wound up in jail. How unfair. Moses,
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Speaker 1: who was faithful even at the age of 80 to
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Speaker 1: obey God's call and to take the call from the
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Speaker 1: burning bush back to Egypt and deliver the people from bondage.
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Speaker 1: And in the middle of the wilderness, the people he
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Speaker 1: had delivered turned on him and falsely accused him of
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Speaker 1: bringing them into the wilderness to die. How unfair. David,
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Speaker 1: after killing the giant and truly showing himself a man
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Speaker 1: of courage and integrity, is falsely accused of trying to
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Speaker 1: dethrone Saul by Saul himself. And David is on the
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Speaker 1: run for a dozen or more years, falsely accused of
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Speaker 1: something that was not at all true. Nehemiah, who builds
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Speaker 1: the wall around broken Jerusalem and God uses him to
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Speaker 1: incite the people to work. And after the wall is
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Speaker 1: almost finished, the word is spread around by his enemies
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Speaker 1: that really Nehemiah has an ulterior motive. He's building the
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Speaker 1: wall so that he can get behind the wall and
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Speaker 1: become the new king of the Jews. Something that was
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Speaker 1: not true at all. How unfair for that to be
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Speaker 1: said of Nehemiah. Peter and John were accused of preaching
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Speaker 1: of a false Christ and it was a false accusation
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Speaker 1: and they were beaten for it. Paul accused of being
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Speaker 1: a phony convert. The apostles wouldn't even let him in
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Speaker 1: their circle because they were convinced that he was not
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Speaker 1: genuinely born again. And then accused of causing a dissension
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Speaker 1: among all the Jews around the whole world. How exaggerated
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Speaker 1: can you get? Accused by Festus, the governor, of being
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Speaker 1: insane because of his much learning how false that accusation was.
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Speaker 1: Few men ever who believed in the Lord Jesus more
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Speaker 1: brilliant than Paul. And then who could ever overlook Jesus,
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Speaker 1: a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and many
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Speaker 1: false accusations. I don't know if you've stopped to think
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Speaker 1: about it, but from his earliest years, he was accused
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Speaker 1: of being of illegitimate birth. They had words for it then, too.
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Speaker 1: And accused of being an evildoer, accused of being a
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Speaker 1: drunkard because he spent time with sinners, accused of being
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Speaker 1: demon-possessed and satanic in origin as he healed people, accused
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Speaker 1: of breaking the Sabbath, in fact, He went to the cross,
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Speaker 1: falsely accused of being guilty of tyranny, of leading the
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Speaker 1: people against the Roman ruler, Caesar. Not guilty of any
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Speaker 1: of it. We're not surprised when he preaches his great
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Speaker 1: sermon on the mount that he includes words like this.
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Speaker 1: Blessed are you when people insult you and falsely say
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Speaker 1: all kinds of evil against you. for your reward in
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Speaker 1: heaven is great. I don't know where you are, as
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Speaker 1: I said earlier, but if you are being falsely accused,
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Speaker 1: there's your promise. Your reward will be great. Your reward
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Speaker 1: someday will be great. But let me add, your misery
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Speaker 1: for now will be enormous. You will find that frequently
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Speaker 1: people you are unable to sufficiently defend yourself. A mind
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Speaker 1: made up is a hard thing to persuade. And people
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Speaker 1: who are false accusers are awfully persuasive. Before I go
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Speaker 1: any further, let me just add here, be awfully careful
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Speaker 1: about what you say of other people. Be awfully careful.
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Speaker 1: Especially if it's negativity. I was reading one of my
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Speaker 1: favorite authors this week, and he said that he has
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Speaker 1: a friend who prays every day, Lord, help me not
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Speaker 1: add to anyone else's burdens. Isn't that a good prayer?
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Speaker 1: Help me not make life harder for anyone else. Well,
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Speaker 1: we shouldn't be surprised in the middle of our study
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Speaker 1: on Job, and isn't this getting to be fun? There
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Speaker 1: we are. In the middle of Job, and we've come
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Speaker 1: to false accusations. I mean, what else is there? The
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Speaker 1: guy's lost everything. Home, ranch, cattle, the ability to earn
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Speaker 1: a living, all ten children. He's sitting in the garbage
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Speaker 1: dump of the land of Uz, and he is with
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Speaker 1: shaved head and... Losing his appetite, raging with a fever,
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Speaker 1: covered with sores. And along come these three clowns that
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Speaker 1: left for the purpose of comforting him. But a week
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Speaker 1: after staring at him and not believing their eyes, they
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Speaker 1: decided nobody who suffers like this can be anything but wicked.
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Speaker 1: So every one of them has the same thesis. Sin
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Speaker 1: leads to suffering. Suffering proves sinfulness. You are suffering a lot.
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Speaker 1: It means you are one wicked man. You are one
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Speaker 1: bad dude. If you weren't, you wouldn't be suffering like this.
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Speaker 1: By the way, there are some people who still have
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Speaker 1: that same idea. Maybe not that severe or brash, but
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Speaker 1: they think that. They think everybody ought to be well.
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Speaker 1: That it's God's will that everybody be well. That every
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Speaker 1: sickness be healed. That's why they line up in healing lines.
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Speaker 1: That's part of the reason that they follow people who
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Speaker 1: claim to be healers. Because your sickness need not be.
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Speaker 1: And I'm here to say that there are times sickness
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Speaker 1: is so clearly sent from God and permitted by him,
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Speaker 1: it almost takes my breath away. We are not all
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Speaker 1: promised healings. Please do not live a disillusioned life thinking
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Speaker 1: if you pray hard enough or if you give enough
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Speaker 1: money or if you are sincere enough, then your loved
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Speaker 1: one is going to get well. Your loved one will
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Speaker 1: get well by the sovereign grace of God or your
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Speaker 1: loved one may die by the sovereign plan of God.
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Speaker 1: Suffering does not mean sinfulness. Well, I wish Zophar were
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Speaker 1: here to hear this message he's the man we're having
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Speaker 1: to endure for the 20th chapter here in the in
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Speaker 1: the book of joe he is not a happy camper
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Speaker 1: okay this is in the dialogue section of the book
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Speaker 1: act two scene three eliphaz has spoken bildad has spoken
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Speaker 1: then zophar spoke that's act one scene one of act
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Speaker 1: two bill uh Eliphaz speaks and Bildad speaks and now
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Speaker 1: we're to Zophar again. It's kind of like a tag
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Speaker 1: team match, three against one. And one is very sick.
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Speaker 1: And the longer he's with these three men, the sicker
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Speaker 1: he gets. Zophar says, verse 2, he is disquieted. Verse 2,
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Speaker 1: last word, he is agitated. Verse 3, he is insulting. Now,
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Speaker 1: I don't find anything that's disquieting, agitating, or insulting by
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Speaker 1: what Job has said, except he disagrees with him. By
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Speaker 1: the way, I've got a lot of by the ways
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Speaker 1: this morning, don't I? I'm going to put it another way.
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Speaker 1: On the other hand, people who have a message to
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Speaker 1: deliver but they don't want to learn are often disquieted, agitated,
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Speaker 1: and insulted when you stand against them. They don't want
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Speaker 1: to hear, they want to tell. They don't want to learn,
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Speaker 1: they want to instruct and usually lecture. Zophar has three
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Speaker 1: things he wants to say to Job and he says
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Speaker 1: them in an exaggerated manner. Number one, the wicked do
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Speaker 1: not live long. Verses 4 to 11, the wicked don't
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Speaker 1: live long. Second, the pleasures of the wicked are temporal.
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Speaker 1: The pleasures of wickedness are temporal 12 to 19 and
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Speaker 1: then the last 20 to 29, God's judgment always falls
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Speaker 1: hard on the wicked. There's only one problem with those
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Speaker 1: three points. They're all wrong. When you take them as
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Speaker 1: Zophar says them. You see, understand the way Zophar is
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Speaker 1: delivering his talk. He's coloring by the numbers. His numbers.
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Speaker 1: And everything is a very clear distinction. Everything is very
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Speaker 1: simplistically stated so that Zophar would add always to his comments.
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Speaker 1: The wicked don't live long. And he says this in
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Speaker 1: 4 through 11. The pleasures of wickedness are temporary. 12
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Speaker 1: to 19. God's judgment always falls hard on the wicked.
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Speaker 1: 20 to 29. That's not necessarily true, as Job is
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Speaker 1: going to point out. But just a few minutes. Let's
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Speaker 1: kind of work our way through this vomit. Look at
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Speaker 1: verse 4. Do you know this from of old, from
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Speaker 1: the establishment of man on earth, that the triumphing of
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Speaker 1: the wicked is short. The joy of the godless is momentary.
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Speaker 1: I want you to think, by the way, men and women,
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Speaker 1: I don't want you to just say, because it's in there,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to believe it. Job doesn't do that. This
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Speaker 1: is Zophar's opinion. And he's been waiting his turn to
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Speaker 1: set Job straight. He sees Job as wicked, and he
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Speaker 1: is here to tell him that he's not going to
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Speaker 1: live very long. In fact, he says, verse 7, he
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Speaker 1: perishes forever like his refuse. Those who have seen him
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Speaker 1: will realize quickly he's gone. Where is he? They will ask.
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Speaker 1: He flies away like a dream. They can't find him.
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Speaker 1: Like a vision in the night, he is chased away.
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Speaker 1: It's gone. That's the way it is sometime at night.
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Speaker 1: I said to Cynthia this morning, I dreamed all night
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Speaker 1: and I cannot tell you what I dreamed. She said,
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Speaker 1: isn't that good? And I said, it is. It is.
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Speaker 1: The problem is you often remember your dreams and they
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Speaker 1: are they're really wild. I mean, they make Picasso look
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Speaker 1: like first grade. I mean, you've got ears on a
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Speaker 1: nose and you've got people flying and you've got some
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Speaker 1: teacher you had in the third grade who's coming back
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Speaker 1: like a bat. And she's biting you. And, you know,
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Speaker 1: you have weird dreams like that. So I dreamed all
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Speaker 1: night and they're all gone. And she's right. I'm glad.
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Speaker 1: I don't even remember. They're wild. He's saying your life
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Speaker 1: is like that. It's twisted up. It's strange. It's weird.
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Speaker 1: And poof, you're gone. People can't find you because you're wicked.
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Speaker 1: You're going to die soon. Verse 11 closes. It lies
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Speaker 1: down with him in the dust. That youthful vigor is gone.
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Speaker 1: He's not talking about natural causes. He's talking about God's judgment.
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Speaker 1: Because you've lived like you've lived, because you've kept the
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Speaker 1: secrets from us, and because we all thought you were righteous,
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Speaker 1: but you're so sick, it's obvious that you're suffering. It's
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Speaker 1: obvious that you're sinful, and you're going to die. Well,
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Speaker 1: that's a nice hospital visit, isn't it? You're standing there
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Speaker 1: by a guy that's just miserable, and you're there to
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Speaker 1: say you're going to die sooner than you think. Look
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Speaker 1: at verses 12 to 19. The pleasures of wickedness are
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Speaker 1: very temporal. Evil is sweet in his mouth. He hides
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Speaker 1: it under his tongue. Though he desires it and will
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Speaker 1: not let it go, holds it in his mouth. And
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Speaker 1: then he uses the analogy of food and of eating.
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Speaker 1: Food in his stomach is changed to the venom of
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Speaker 1: cobras within him. He swallows riches but will vomit them up.
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Speaker 1: God will expel them from his belly. He sucks the
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Speaker 1: poison of cobras. The viper's tongue slays him. He cannot
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Speaker 1: swallow this food, verse 18. And look at the accusation
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Speaker 1: in verse 19. He is really meaning Job. He has
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Speaker 1: oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has seized a house
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Speaker 1: which he has not built. He decides to throw that
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Speaker 1: in for extra measure. He's looking down his nose at
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Speaker 1: Job because of his wealth. That must be one of
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Speaker 1: the secrets you've kept. You've oppressed the poor and you've
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Speaker 1: pushed people out of their houses. And you've taken advantage
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Speaker 1: of them. Your pleasures are over. Your wickedness has caught
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Speaker 1: up with you. I mean, how severe a tongue is this?
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Speaker 1: And God's judgment falls hard. 20 through 29. 26 says,
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Speaker 1: complete darkness is held in reserve and unfanned fire will
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Speaker 1: devour him. It will consume the survivor in his tent.
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Speaker 1: Heavens will reveal his iniquity. The earth will rise up
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Speaker 1: against him. Verse 29, this is the wicked man's portion.
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Speaker 1: You could put Job's name there. That's who Zophar has
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Speaker 1: in mind. This is your portion from God, even the
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Speaker 1: heritage decreed to you by God. Well, these are the
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Speaker 1: final words of Zophar. One of my commentators that I
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Speaker 1: checked said, this is the last time we hear from
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Speaker 1: Zophar and we will not miss him. Well, that's a
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Speaker 1: pretty good way to put it. Some people, the best
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Speaker 1: thing they do is leave when they've made your life
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Speaker 1: so miserable. They're gone and you go, good riddance. That's
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Speaker 1: the way we feel about Zophar. All of this is
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Speaker 1: not ancient history. This kind of stuff goes on. I
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Speaker 1: don't have any one of you in mind. If I did,
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Speaker 1: I'd talk to you personally rather than say it publicly.
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Speaker 1: But some of you have awfully sharp tongues. You say
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Speaker 1: things and you couch them in words that sound as
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Speaker 1: nice as Zophar. I mean, this is poetry. This is
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Speaker 1: tough Hebrew. This Hebrew poetry of chapter 20. It sounds
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Speaker 1: even religious at times. We should pray for so-and-so. Then
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Speaker 1: you dump this garbage that's not really founded. You don't
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Speaker 1: know it to be true. But evil report is always
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Speaker 1: more interesting than a good report. That's why the news
26:44
Speaker 1: is full of it. That's why the skies are always
26:47
Speaker 1: partly cloudy, not, for the most part, clear. They never
26:52
Speaker 1: say that. It's always cloudy. Well, there's a cloud coming.
26:55
Speaker 1: It should be here about a month and a half
26:57
Speaker 1: from now. It's coming from the west. Bad hurricane out there. Oh, really?
27:04
Speaker 1: And we're on the edge of our seat. We're on
27:06
Speaker 1: tiptoes listening to bad news about somebody. You need to
27:10
Speaker 1: learn to say, by the way, how do you know that?
27:13
Speaker 1: Who told you? What's your source? Prove that to me.
27:19
Speaker 1: Challenge the people who come at you with their forked
27:23
Speaker 1: and sharp tongues that Start spreading stuff that doesn't sound right.
27:28
Speaker 1: You've got a good brain. You've got sense. Job doesn't
27:34
Speaker 1: just take this on the chin. He says, wait a minute.
27:38
Speaker 1: Hold on here, eye pockets. I'm not going with you
27:41
Speaker 1: on this. This is not where we're going. I was
27:45
Speaker 1: reading this past week of a minister whose congregation refused
27:50
Speaker 1: to accept his message. True story. He wanted to lead
27:53
Speaker 1: the flock into the truth of the scripture. He wanted
27:56
Speaker 1: to preach the word. He wanted to stand for what
27:58
Speaker 1: was right. They didn't want to be led that way.
28:01
Speaker 1: So happened that his choir, with so many of their
28:08
Speaker 1: habitual ungodly practices, brought things to a head. And position
28:15
Speaker 1: became so unbearable for him, he invited the choir to resign.
28:22
Speaker 1: The choir not only resigned, I'm reading this, but persuaded
28:26
Speaker 1: the congregation to desist from taking part in the singing
28:31
Speaker 1: on the following Sunday. Okay, everybody, we're not going to sing.
28:37
Speaker 1: So the result was that whatever singing was done had
28:40
Speaker 1: to be done alone by this minister. While the other
28:45
Speaker 1: people stood around and enjoyed his embarrassment. The state of
28:50
Speaker 1: things continued for some time and the minister was greatly
28:54
Speaker 1: depressed and perplexed at the turn the events had taken.
29:00
Speaker 1: He was at wit's end when God spoke in an
29:03
Speaker 1: unusual way to him. One day he was sitting alone
29:06
Speaker 1: on a bench in a park and he saw a
29:10
Speaker 1: newspaper blow by and he picked up a torn piece
29:15
Speaker 1: from the paper and it bore a message saying, which
29:17
Speaker 1: was exactly what he needed to read. It read, no
29:20
Speaker 1: man is ever fully accepted until he has, first of all,
29:25
Speaker 1: been utterly rejected. He took that to heart. He needed
29:30
Speaker 1: nothing more. He had been utterly rejected for Christ's sake.
29:36
Speaker 1: And his recognition of the fact was the beginning of
29:39
Speaker 1: a most fruitful ministry. Though utterly rejected by man, he
29:44
Speaker 1: had been fully accepted by God. Let me tell you.
29:50
Speaker 1: Job is listening to what my mother used to call
29:52
Speaker 1: a lot of palaver. Just a lot of lip banging
29:57
Speaker 1: from Zophar. He's talking, but it's nonsense. It isn't true,
30:06
Speaker 1: even though he says it poetically and beautifully and even convincingly.
30:11
Speaker 1: Job doesn't take it on the chin. Now, some of
30:16
Speaker 1: those that I checked said no matter what, when false
30:21
Speaker 1: accusations are made, you just sit quietly and say nothing.
30:29
Speaker 1: And God will defend you. Well, sometime I'm sure that's appropriate.
30:39
Speaker 1: Not always. I kind of believe in the American Revolution motto.
30:43
Speaker 1: Trust in God, but keep your powder dry. I think
30:51
Speaker 1: if your reputation is being ruined, if your company is
30:53
Speaker 1: going down a tube, if your church is being assaulted
30:57
Speaker 1: and it's because of false stuff being said, some things
31:01
Speaker 1: need to be said in answer to the falsehood. Truth
31:06
Speaker 1: has a way of vindicating wrong. And I think Job
31:11
Speaker 1: turns to it when he answers Zophar. I don't think
31:16
Speaker 1: it's always appropriate that you just sit silently and get
31:20
Speaker 1: beat up by the tongue of liars. Job doesn't. I mean,
31:27
Speaker 1: you don't read, then Job answered, whatever. That's not there.
31:32
Speaker 1: You don't see that. Okay. Shoot. No, Job answers him.
31:46
Speaker 1: Listen to what Job says. You got to admire the
31:48
Speaker 1: guy's covered with boils. I mean, he's sick, he's fevered,
31:53
Speaker 1: he's swollen, he's hurting, he's grieved. He says to Zophar,
31:58
Speaker 1: look at these. Verse 2. Listen carefully to my speech.
32:02
Speaker 1: So you listen for a change. I added that for
32:06
Speaker 1: a change, okay? That's just a little addition there. You listen.
32:12
Speaker 1: In fact, I like the way he put it. Let
32:13
Speaker 1: this be your way of consolation. Since words aren't, maybe
32:18
Speaker 1: silence will be. You listen. So... Listen up. Secondly, bear
32:24
Speaker 1: with me. That suggests patience. By the way, there it
32:30
Speaker 1: is again, by the way. People who spread lies against
32:34
Speaker 1: you aren't good listeners and they aren't patient. And Job
32:38
Speaker 1: knows that. And he says, I want you to do
32:41
Speaker 1: something different. I want you to listen and I want
32:44
Speaker 1: you to be patient as you reason your way through
32:46
Speaker 1: what I want to tell you. That I may speak.
32:49
Speaker 1: Then after I have spoken. You may mock. Isn't that good?
32:53
Speaker 1: One of my sources said. He called this a sarcastic imperative.
32:57
Speaker 1: In the Hebrew. That's a good way to put it.
33:00
Speaker 1: Go ahead and mock. But at least give me my day.
33:04
Speaker 1: Give me my moment in court. You listen and you patiently.
33:09
Speaker 1: Work this through. And reason your way through this. And
33:12
Speaker 1: then you can mock on. As for me. Is my
33:18
Speaker 1: complaint to man or why should I not be impatient?
33:20
Speaker 1: And why should I not be impatient? Look at me
33:23
Speaker 1: and be astonished. There's the third command. Look at me. Listen.
33:30
Speaker 1: Patiently bear with me and look. Look in my eyes.
33:33
Speaker 1: Look at my face. In fact, look at how he
33:35
Speaker 1: says it. Put your hand over your mouth. I think
33:41
Speaker 1: by now they're sort of lecturing into space. They're not
33:47
Speaker 1: wanting to look at him. Job says, you look at me.
33:52
Speaker 1: You say what you have to say to my face.
33:56
Speaker 1: Which false accusers don't do. They go around us. They
34:03
Speaker 1: go behind our back. They go to people who are
34:06
Speaker 1: weak and gullible and willing to listen to lies. And
34:10
Speaker 1: then they infect them with their verbal germs. And Job says,
34:16
Speaker 1: You've talked, now listen. You reason with me, you look
34:21
Speaker 1: at me. You look at me. Now what's Job going
34:28
Speaker 1: to say to him? He's going to answer all three points.
34:34
Speaker 1: Listen carefully. First, he's going to say, often the wicked
34:42
Speaker 1: do live long lives. Just because a person doesn't know
34:46
Speaker 1: God doesn't mean they die in their 20s. Or doesn't
34:50
Speaker 1: mean they go through some horrible suffering because they're wicked.
34:54
Speaker 1: And he gives examples of that. We'll get there. Second,
34:57
Speaker 1: he says, their pleasures are not always temporary. Listen, some
35:03
Speaker 1: who are lost get great jobs, earn a gob of dough,
35:09
Speaker 1: have multiple homes and many women. Or many men have
35:14
Speaker 1: luxurious cars and sleep around and live wild and don't
35:21
Speaker 1: die till they're 90. I mean, their pleasures are not
35:28
Speaker 1: always temporary. So where do you get off saying that, Zophar?
35:34
Speaker 1: That's not true. And death comes to everybody and it
35:38
Speaker 1: doesn't always fall hard on the wicked. Some die in
35:43
Speaker 1: a pretty good state of mind. Now, what follows is awful.
35:49
Speaker 1: But in life, the point is, in life, the things
35:53
Speaker 1: you're saying so far don't square with fact. So let
36:01
Speaker 1: me spit this out in a hurry here. Look at
36:05
Speaker 1: verse 7. Why do the wicked still live? And continue on.
36:11
Speaker 1: Also become very powerful. See he's building his case. So
36:15
Speaker 1: far you say that. The wicked don't live long. Well.
36:19
Speaker 1: How do you explain those that continue. And become in
36:21
Speaker 1: fact powerful. And talk about their lifestyle. Look at that.
36:26
Speaker 1: He describes it. Their descendants are established. With them in
36:31
Speaker 1: their sight. Their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are
36:35
Speaker 1: safe from fear. Their. Neither is the rod of God
36:39
Speaker 1: on them. Look outside. Even the ox mates without fail
36:43
Speaker 1: and cows calve and they don't abort. They send forth
36:48
Speaker 1: their little ones like the flock. Their children skip about.
36:51
Speaker 1: They sing to the timbrel and the harp. They rejoice
36:54
Speaker 1: at the sound of the flute. They spend their days
36:58
Speaker 1: in prosperity. It doesn't look grim to me. In fact,
37:05
Speaker 1: you may wonder if they really don't know God. Don't
37:08
Speaker 1: doubt it. Verse 14, they say to God, depart from us.
37:12
Speaker 1: We do not even desire the knowledge of your ways.
37:18
Speaker 1: And I want you to know so far. Look at
37:22
Speaker 1: the end of verse 16. The counsel of the wicked
37:24
Speaker 1: is far from me. I'm not in that category. I'm sick.
37:30
Speaker 1: Nobody knows why I'm sick, but I'm sick. And And
37:35
Speaker 1: it's a mystery, but I'm not wicked. And furthermore, the
37:40
Speaker 1: wicked don't necessarily die young. Just because they don't have
37:47
Speaker 1: God in their lives doesn't mean that they go to
37:50
Speaker 1: an early grave. And now that we're on the second,
37:54
Speaker 1: where's proof that they suffer calamity? That they always suffer calamity?
38:01
Speaker 1: Verse 17, how often is the lamp of the wicked
38:03
Speaker 1: put out? How often does their calamity fall on them?
38:08
Speaker 1: See how he's reasoning? Does God apportion destruction in his anger?
38:13
Speaker 1: Are they a straw before the wind or chaff which
38:15
Speaker 1: the storm carries away? This is poetry, remember? You say
38:19
Speaker 1: God stores away a man's iniquity for his sons. Let
38:21
Speaker 1: God repay him so that he may know it. Verse 22.
38:27
Speaker 1: Can anyone teach God knowledge in that he judged those
38:30
Speaker 1: on high? One dies in his full strength, being wholly
38:34
Speaker 1: at ease. And satisfied. And he's not eaten up with disease.
38:39
Speaker 1: His sides are filled out with fat. Isn't that an
38:42
Speaker 1: interesting way to put it? The marrow of his bones
38:46
Speaker 1: is moist. And then on the other hand. There are
38:49
Speaker 1: people who die who are bitter of soul. And never
38:52
Speaker 1: taste anything good. Together they lie down in the dust.
39:01
Speaker 1: Job is saying to Zophar. Your argument doesn't hold water.
39:07
Speaker 1: There are examples on the other side. Let me show
39:13
Speaker 1: you a verse you may have never seen before. Look
39:16
Speaker 1: at Ecclesiastes 8, 11. I learned this verse years ago
39:24
Speaker 1: and it often comes to mind when I get to
39:27
Speaker 1: subjects like this. Ecclesiastes. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. It's a hard
39:34
Speaker 1: book to find. Just before Song of Solomon. Just after Proverbs.
39:43
Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 8, 11. Look at this verse. It's in the
39:52
Speaker 1: Old Testament. Okay, some of you are not quite there.
39:57
Speaker 1: Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly.
40:05
Speaker 1: Look at that. Because the sentence against an evil deed
40:09
Speaker 1: is not executed quickly. Therefore, the hearts of the sons
40:13
Speaker 1: of man among them are given fully to do evil. Well,
40:18
Speaker 1: what does that mean? It means... because every time a
40:23
Speaker 1: person does wrong, he's not judged or a victim of calamity.
40:28
Speaker 1: He decides I can do that again. I can do
40:31
Speaker 1: more of that. And the heart of the sons of men,
40:34
Speaker 1: meaning those without the Lord are fully given to do evil.
40:38
Speaker 1: And you just do more of it. You steal 10
40:41
Speaker 1: bucks and get away. You're tempted then to steal 20
40:44
Speaker 1: and you steal 20. You're tempted then to go into
40:46
Speaker 1: full on fraud and you get away with fraud. You're, uh, you, you,
40:51
Speaker 1: You don't see much wrong with being a member of
40:53
Speaker 1: the mafia. And by the way, the mafia don't always
40:57
Speaker 1: die poor. They may die in jail, but there's a
41:02
Speaker 1: crowd around them and people applauding them. And although a sinner,
41:06
Speaker 1: verse 12, does evil a hundred times and may lengthen
41:10
Speaker 1: his life, still I know that it will be well
41:14
Speaker 1: for those who fear God, who fear him openly. I mean,
41:17
Speaker 1: here's a guy that does it a hundred times, lengthens
41:19
Speaker 1: his life. We need to get out of our mind
41:23
Speaker 1: the stereotype picture of the lost person. So too many
41:30
Speaker 1: Christians have the idea that because the person is lost,
41:33
Speaker 1: he's dumb. So you have to, you know, spell out
41:38
Speaker 1: real simple the gospel so that they can get it.
41:48
Speaker 1: Some of the lost are brilliant. Some of the lost
41:51
Speaker 1: are more brilliant than many of us will ever dream
41:53
Speaker 1: of being. Some of the lost live better than many
41:58
Speaker 1: of us could imagine, and they die better than any
42:01
Speaker 1: of us could imagine. Because they're lost doesn't mean they're
42:04
Speaker 1: therefore in this life finished or in a calamitous journey.
42:11
Speaker 1: That comes after life. That comes in the ultimate. I
42:16
Speaker 1: read this past week of a pastor and a deacon
42:19
Speaker 1: at the church who made plans to do some visiting
42:22
Speaker 1: of the lost in their congregation. One particularly notorious unbeliever
42:28
Speaker 1: had visited their church the previous Sunday, well known in
42:30
Speaker 1: the community. And they decided to drop by and talk
42:34
Speaker 1: about the gospel. So the two of them drove up
42:37
Speaker 1: together in the car and they sat and wound their
42:40
Speaker 1: way in the driveway. They came to this lovely, lovely home.
42:45
Speaker 1: The lawn was thick and manicured. Kids are playing hopscotch.
42:49
Speaker 1: Out in the driveway and back in the back was
42:51
Speaker 1: a beautiful pool with a fountain. There were three cars,
42:54
Speaker 1: all of them new and luxurious and tucked away in
42:57
Speaker 1: the fourth garage was a new Ferrari. And they looked
43:00
Speaker 1: over in the study and they saw the man of
43:03
Speaker 1: the house and he was sitting there laughing with his
43:06
Speaker 1: friends and having the greatest time and munching on a meal.
43:10
Speaker 1: And the deacon leaned over and said to the pastor,
43:14
Speaker 1: now tell me again, what kind of good news do
43:16
Speaker 1: we have for this guy? Our good news is about
43:23
Speaker 1: life beyond. It does not mean you believe in Christ
43:27
Speaker 1: and suddenly you're affluent. Or ipso facto, suddenly you've lost everything.
43:36
Speaker 1: We have it mixed up. We got our theology sort
43:40
Speaker 1: of screwed up around our lifestyle or our preference or
43:48
Speaker 1: our prejudices. As if the wealthy can never be godly
43:52
Speaker 1: or the poor can never be wicked. That's Zophar's problem.
43:58
Speaker 1: Look at you, Job. Look at the condition you're in. Obviously,
44:02
Speaker 1: you've got sin in your life. You just haven't told us.
44:07
Speaker 1: Because the wicked live suffering. And Job says, wait a minute.
44:11
Speaker 1: It's not true. There are times that the wicked live
44:16
Speaker 1: very prosperously. he describes it when he talks about death.
44:27
Speaker 1: Verse 30, for the wicked is reserved for the day
44:30
Speaker 1: of calamity. They will be led forth in the day
44:33
Speaker 1: of fury. That's the ultimate. Who will confront him with
44:36
Speaker 1: his actions? Who will repay him for what he has done? Now,
44:39
Speaker 1: what's the funeral service of the wicked? While he's carried
44:43
Speaker 1: to the grave, men will keep watch over his tomb.
44:46
Speaker 1: The clods of the valley will gently cover him. Moreover,
44:51
Speaker 1: all men will follow after him while countless ones go
44:54
Speaker 1: before him. Listen to the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases that.
45:01
Speaker 1: Have you ever asked world travelers how they see this?
45:04
Speaker 1: Have you not listened to their stories of evil men
45:07
Speaker 1: and women who got off scot-free, who never had to
45:09
Speaker 1: pay for their wickedness? Did anyone ever confront them with
45:13
Speaker 1: their crimes? Did they ever have to face the music?
45:15
Speaker 1: Not likely. Maybe. They're given fancy funerals with all the trimmings,
45:20
Speaker 1: gently lowered into expensive graves with everyone telling lies about
45:24
Speaker 1: how wonderful they were. You've seen it. So far, you've
45:30
Speaker 1: missed it with me. I'm not in that category. You've
45:36
Speaker 1: got it simplified to the point of being simplistic. Wicked
45:43
Speaker 1: or righteous, some die well-heeled, some die bitterly. Bitterly and
45:48
Speaker 1: in anguish. And look at his final summation of Zophar's counsel,
45:52
Speaker 1: verse 34. How then will you vainly comfort me? Your
45:56
Speaker 1: answers remain full of falsehood. See, that's saying it straight.
46:05
Speaker 1: And I'm suggesting that kind of truth needs to be
46:08
Speaker 1: said to people who are poor in falsehood in our heads.
46:14
Speaker 1: The word falsehood, by the way, in the Hebrew means
46:16
Speaker 1: treachery or fraud. Your answers remain full of treachery there.
46:23
Speaker 1: They can't be counted on. It's not as you have
46:27
Speaker 1: falsely accused me of being. You need truth and you're
46:34
Speaker 1: not hearing it and you're not saying it. Now, you've
46:38
Speaker 1: so patiently set through that. Well, most of you, you
46:41
Speaker 1: have set patiently through this and you have listened to
46:45
Speaker 1: Zophar and you've listened to Job's answer. Now I want
46:47
Speaker 1: to talk with you. I want to offer you four
46:51
Speaker 1: lingering principles you can live by when you're falsely accused. Okay,
46:57
Speaker 1: now you're talking. Some of you saying, where is that
47:01
Speaker 1: pen and paper? I want to, and that's good because
47:04
Speaker 1: you will need this when, not if, but when people
47:10
Speaker 1: accuse you falsely of things. Here's some guidelines that I
47:14
Speaker 1: learned from Job. There are four. And following each principle
47:19
Speaker 1: is a little two-word suggestion. Here's the first principle. Listen
47:26
Speaker 1: to what is being said, considering the character of the critic.
47:34
Speaker 1: Listen to what is being said, considering the character of
47:40
Speaker 1: the critic. And the two-word counsel on this right after parenthesis,
47:47
Speaker 1: stay calm. You'll be tempted to jump in and rashly
47:59
Speaker 1: say things that you'll later regret. Stay calm. Listen. Listen
48:05
Speaker 1: to what is being said considering the character of the critic.
48:11
Speaker 1: Stay calm. Second, Respond with true facts, knowing the nature
48:21
Speaker 1: of your accuser. Respond with true facts, knowing the nature
48:28
Speaker 1: of your accuser. Frankly, it may be a former husband,
48:33
Speaker 1: former wife. It may be a former boss. It may
48:37
Speaker 1: be a former employee, maybe a neighbor. Maybe a pastor.
48:43
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter who it is. The point is, if
48:46
Speaker 1: you are being accused, you need to have true facts.
48:51
Speaker 1: So my two-word counsel here is speak truth. Don't just react,
48:58
Speaker 1: or you'll come off just like the accuser. Speak truth.
49:02
Speaker 1: David prayed in Psalm 26, Vindicate me, O Lord, according
49:05
Speaker 1: to my integrity. Abraham Lincoln was... told that he needed
49:11
Speaker 1: to fire the postmaster general back in July. The letter
49:19
Speaker 1: he wrote was dated. July 18, 1864. And so he
49:22
Speaker 1: writes Secretary Stanton this letter saying he's not going to
49:26
Speaker 1: do it because it's based on hearsay. And then he
49:29
Speaker 1: makes this statement. Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.
49:34
Speaker 1: Isn't that good? Truth is generally the best vindication against
49:38
Speaker 1: Against slander. Stay with truth. Don't exaggerate it. Don't pad it.
49:44
Speaker 1: Don't hesitate. Respond with true facts. Accurate information. Number three.
49:53
Speaker 1: Use examples that represent reality and balance. Use examples that
49:59
Speaker 1: represent reality and balance. That's what Job did. Trusting your
50:06
Speaker 1: defense to the Lord. Use examples that represent reality and balance,
50:14
Speaker 1: trusting your defense to the Lord. Parenthesis, lean hard. I
50:23
Speaker 1: understand I have been accused of things. It has kept
50:26
Speaker 1: me awake. It has made my stomach churn. It has
50:28
Speaker 1: taken away my appetite. I have found myself at times
50:32
Speaker 1: thinking I'm not going to pay any attention to it,
50:34
Speaker 1: and that's all I can talk about. I'm not going
50:37
Speaker 1: to pay any attention to what's being written, and I
50:39
Speaker 1: memorize it. I'm not going to worry about it, and
50:42
Speaker 1: I pass it on to somebody else. I am not
50:46
Speaker 1: leaning hard. I need examples that represent reality and balance,
50:55
Speaker 1: and then I need to lean on God to see
50:57
Speaker 1: me through it. If truth is truth, and it is,
51:00
Speaker 1: then he will honor it, and ultimately truth will win out. Four,
51:09
Speaker 1: refuse to let the accusations discourage and derail you. Refuse
51:16
Speaker 1: to let the accusations discourage and derail you. Remembering they
51:22
Speaker 1: are nonsense and lies. They are nonsense and lies. Parenthesis,
51:33
Speaker 1: get tough. Remember that old line from the Revolutionary War?
51:38
Speaker 1: Trust in God, but keep your powder dry. I mean,
51:43
Speaker 1: you lock your door at night. You trust God, but
51:46
Speaker 1: you turn on your alarm. You get in your car,
51:49
Speaker 1: you lock your doors, don't you? You roll up your windows,
51:51
Speaker 1: don't you? If you don't, you're dumb. You're playing with fire.
51:56
Speaker 1: You say, I'm going to trust God, but I'm going
51:58
Speaker 1: to ride around this back alley in a convertible. Yeah.
52:01
Speaker 1: A lot of folks are like that. There's got to
52:08
Speaker 1: be balance here. Don't be afraid of harsh examples. Job
52:13
Speaker 1: uses some. Don't be afraid of very specific, strongly stated examples.
52:19
Speaker 1: I read this past week of a physician father who
52:23
Speaker 1: is in Paraguay. Several years ago, he stood against the
52:29
Speaker 1: military regime there that was corrupt, which was also interwoven
52:34
Speaker 1: with the law enforcement, and he spoke on human rights abuse.
52:40
Speaker 1: And he spoke openly and he exposed it. Listen to
52:45
Speaker 1: what happened. The local police took their revenge on him
52:49
Speaker 1: by arresting his teenage son, torturing him to death. Enraged,
52:58
Speaker 1: the townsfolk wanted to turn the boy's funeral into a
53:03
Speaker 1: huge protest march. The doctor father said, no, we'll do
53:09
Speaker 1: something else to protest. At the funeral, true story, the
53:15
Speaker 1: father displayed the son's body as he had found it
53:18
Speaker 1: in the jail. For all to see, naked, scarred from
53:24
Speaker 1: the electric shocks, cigarette burns, beatings and stabbings. All the
53:31
Speaker 1: villagers filed past the corpse, which lay not in a coffin,
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Speaker 1: But on a blood-soaked mattress from the prison, exactly where
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Speaker 1: he found the boy, it was the strongest protest imaginable.
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Speaker 1: It put injustice on grotesque display. That's exactly what God
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Speaker 1: did with Christ at the cross. That's exactly what he did.
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Speaker 1: He didn't put a white bed sheet around him and said, no, no,
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Speaker 1: it's too hard for you to look at that. He
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Speaker 1: didn't have him crucified in a basement somewhere so people
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Speaker 1: wouldn't see. He was on a hill, hanging there, dying,
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Speaker 1: finally limp, gray, dead. And it was impacting, and that
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Speaker 1: cross is still impacting all who will look and live
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Speaker 1: because he used a very harsh law. Realistic. Example. To
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Speaker 1: convey his message. Look at it. In your mind. Picture it.
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Speaker 1: Any other kind of information is empty and full of nonsense.
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Speaker 1: Let me say to you who are going through a
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Speaker 1: time of false accusation. May God strengthen you in it.
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Speaker 1: May God hold you close through it. May God give
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Speaker 1: you wisdom in responding to it. May he become real
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Speaker 1: and personal to you, even giving you songs in the
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Speaker 1: night and quiet rest as he defends you. And let
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Speaker 1: me say to you who are spreading rumors and lies
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Speaker 1: and slander on someone else, There is nothing more treacherous
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Speaker 1: you could be doing in the family of God than that. Nothing.
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Speaker 1: You hurt the body. You disease the church. You ruin
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Speaker 1: the testimony of Christ. There's nothing the lost world loves
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Speaker 1: to hear and see more than infighting in the family.
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Speaker 1: And before we cluck our tongues at Zophar and Bildad
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Speaker 1: and Eliphaz, we better do some soul searching. Search me,
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Speaker 1: O God, says David. Try me. Know my thoughts. See
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Speaker 1: if there be any, the Hebrew says, any way of
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Speaker 1: pain within me. Isn't that good? Any way of pain.
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Speaker 1: My bringing pain to someone. And then lead me in
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Speaker 1: the way everlasting. Let's bow together. So searching time in
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Speaker 1: this old book, Job may be old, but he's certainly relevant.
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Speaker 1: For you who have been crippled by false information and
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Speaker 1: hurt and sometimes even humiliated, may God give you strength
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Speaker 1: from this message. For you who don't know Christ, may
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Speaker 1: the message of the cross minister to you personally. Right
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Speaker 1: where you're sitting, you can turn your life over to
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Speaker 1: the Savior. By faith, putting your hand in Him. Taking
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Speaker 1: His life in place of your shame and sin and failure.
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Speaker 1: You can know what it is to be forgiven fully.
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Speaker 1: Fully redeemed. Thank you, Father, that this is a place
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Speaker 1: where shame and grace can meet. Thank you for the cross.
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Speaker 1: It's still that old message that sets the captive free.
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Speaker 1: Thank you for a man who would record from his
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Speaker 1: journal even things as personal as this. Such insulting comments.
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Speaker 1: Such humiliating words. Thank you for his storied endurance. His courage.
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Speaker 1: His strength. of character. Thank you that he didn't just
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Speaker 1: sit back and let the lies run on, but he
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Speaker 1: became your spokesman, which guides us even as late as
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Speaker 1: the 21st century in time. Now, Lord, may we be
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Speaker 1: dismissed with a reminder that you are for us and
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Speaker 1: therefore who can be against us. He who spared not
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Speaker 1: his own son but delivered him up for us all.
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Speaker 1: How shall he not with him freely give us all things?
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Speaker 1: We exult in this, your grace. In the name of Jesus,
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Speaker 1: our Lord and powerful master and savior, we pray. Everyone sit. Amen.
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Speaker 2: The preceding message, Responding Wisely When Falsely Accused, was copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in 2002 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2004
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Speaker 2: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
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Speaker 2: In the preceding message, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. is grateful
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Speaker 2: to the following sources for permission to quote from their materials.
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Speaker 2: Moody Publishers for excerpts from the book. Spiritual Leadership, copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in 1980 by J. Oswald Sanders. Amazon Driven Corporation, for
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Speaker 2: excerpts from the book Disappointment with God, copyrighted in 1988
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Speaker 2: by Philip Yancey.