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What Job Teaches Us about Ourselves Msg 21 22 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Well, we're back in Job. Well, let's face it. Now
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: your Bible automatically opens to Job. I'm going to ask
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  Speaker 1: you to do something a little different. I don't think
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  Speaker 1: that I've ever asked you to do this. I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to have you find a blank page front or back
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  Speaker 1: of your Bible and I want you to write two things.
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  Speaker 1: Form two columns and Today we'll fill in one, and
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  Speaker 1: next Sunday we'll fill in the other. At the top
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  Speaker 1: of this page, or this column, write what Job teaches
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  Speaker 1: us about ourselves.
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  Speaker 2: Then just number one through seven.
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  Speaker 1: And then we'll save the next one for next time,
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  Speaker 1: what Job teaches us about our God. And won't that
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  Speaker 1: be helpful to see what he says to us about ourselves?
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  Speaker 1: and then from the principles of Job, what we can
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  Speaker 1: learn from him about our God. They go together, sort
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  Speaker 1: of a one-two punch. Trust me, you'll need these, if
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  Speaker 1: not now, soon, if not soon, later. I want to
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  Speaker 1: read sort of randomly a section of chapters one and two.
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  Speaker 1: All of it will bring back the memory of when
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  Speaker 1: we walk through this story. There was a man in
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  Speaker 1: the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that
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  Speaker 1: man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil.
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  Speaker 1: The next few verses describe what he owned and his children.
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  Speaker 1: There were 10 of them. Verse 6. Now there was
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  Speaker 1: a day when the sons of God came to present
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  Speaker 1: themselves before the Lord. And interesting, the Hebrew text says,
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  Speaker 1: And the Satan also came among them. The Lord said
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  Speaker 1: to the Satan, From where did you come? Then the
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  Speaker 1: Satan answered the Lord and said, From roaming about on
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  Speaker 1: the earth and walking around on it. The Lord said
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  Speaker 1: to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? For there's
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  Speaker 1: no one like him on the earth, a blameless and
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  Speaker 1: upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. Satan
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  Speaker 1: answered the Lord, does Job fear God for nothing? Have
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  Speaker 1: you not made a hedge about him.
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  Speaker 2: And his house?
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  Speaker 1: And all that he has on every side, you have
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  Speaker 1: blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have
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  Speaker 1: increased in the land. But put forth your hand now
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  Speaker 1: and touch all that he has. He will surely curse
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  Speaker 1: you to your face. The Lord said to the Satan, behold,
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  Speaker 1: all that he has is in your power. Only do
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  Speaker 1: not put forth your hand on him. So Satan departed
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  Speaker 1: from the presence of the Lord. You remember what happened?
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  Speaker 1: Four different messengers. It happened on the day when his
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  Speaker 1: sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their
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  Speaker 1: oldest brother's house that a messenger came. Verse 16, while
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  Speaker 1: he was still speaking, another also came. 17, while he
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  Speaker 1: was still speaking, another also came. 18, while he was
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  Speaker 1: still speaking, another also came. and said, Your sons and
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  Speaker 1: your daughters were eating and drinking in their oldest brother's house,
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  Speaker 1: and a great wind came from across the wilderness and
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  Speaker 1: struck the four corners of the house, and it fell
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  Speaker 1: on the young people, and they died. Job arose and
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  Speaker 1: tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to
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  Speaker 1: the ground.
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  Speaker 2: And worshipped.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 1, again, there was a day when the sons
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  Speaker 1: of God came to present themselves before the Lord and
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  Speaker 1: the Satan also came among them to present himself before
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  Speaker 1: the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: Same question, same answer.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord, verse 3, said to Satan, have you considered
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  Speaker 1: my servant Job? There's no one like him on the earth,
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  Speaker 1: a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away
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  Speaker 1: from evil and.
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  Speaker 2: He still holds fast his integrity.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 4, Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yes,
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  Speaker 1: all that a man has he will give for his life. However,
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  Speaker 1: put forth your hand now and touch his bone and
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  Speaker 1: his flesh. He will curse you to your face. So
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  Speaker 1: the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he's in your power.
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  Speaker 1: Only spare his life. Satan went out from the presence
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord and smoked Job with sore boils. From
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  Speaker 1: the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
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  Speaker 1: Took a butcher to scrape himself while he was sitting
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  Speaker 1: among the ashes. His wife said, do you still hold
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  Speaker 1: fast your integrity? Curse God.
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  Speaker 2: And die.
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  Speaker 1: He said to her, you speak as one of the
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  Speaker 1: foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God
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  Speaker 1: and not accept adversity? In all this. Job did not
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  Speaker 1: sin with his lips. You want to pray with me
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  Speaker 1: for a few moments? It's been a busy week, Lord.
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  Speaker 1: We've been engaged in family life. We've been in touch
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  Speaker 1: with friends and coworkers at our employment. We've driven many miles.
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  Speaker 1: We've passed the night, some fretfully, some calmly and at peace.
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  Speaker 1: We've taught a group of students here at the church
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  Speaker 1: through the latter half of the week. We've encountered surprises.
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  Speaker 1: We've dealt with the predictable, the inevitable. And the week
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  Speaker 1: has run its course. Grateful we are. Free of some
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  Speaker 1: disaster that could have leveled us. And your peace has
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  Speaker 1: been our habitation, and the source.
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  Speaker 2: Of our comfort.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for your grace. We haven't deserved your peace,
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  Speaker 1: but you've given it. We don't deserve your favor, but
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  Speaker 1: you pour it out. The presence of these children before
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  Speaker 1: us this morning reminds us of a new generation, fresh, innocent, alive.
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  Speaker 1: giving us hope to go on, a reason to stay
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  Speaker 1: at it. But a few, a few have been struck
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  Speaker 1: deeply with surprises and sudden, unexpected trials. You've been there
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  Speaker 1: through all of that too. Perhaps to them more than
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  Speaker 1: any other, this section will speak, but ultimately to all
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  Speaker 1: of us. So give us ears to hear, eyes to see,
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  Speaker 1: minds to track with you what you have preserved through
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  Speaker 1: the centuries for us. Teach us through the promise of
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  Speaker 1: your word that whatever was written in earlier times was
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  Speaker 1: written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort
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  Speaker 1: in the scriptures might have hope. Hope.
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  Speaker 2: What a great thing is hope.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for those who wear the uniform, and today
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  Speaker 1: and tomorrow especially, we thank you for each woman and man,
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  Speaker 1: each brave soldier, sailor, marine, aviator, those who serve in
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  Speaker 1: whatever capacity, on the seas, on the land, in the air,
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  Speaker 1: places at home and dangerous places abroad. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: our commander-in-chief. Keep him thinking clearly and courageously. Give him
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  Speaker 1: the ability to turn off counsel that ought to be
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  Speaker 1: shunned and be sensitive to wise and correct advice.
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  Speaker 2: Keep him humbled.
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  Speaker 1: Open, available, decisive, morally pure, a leader worth our attention
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  Speaker 1: and respect. Thank you for these fine 18 men who
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  Speaker 1: advanced their education in this queen of the sciences. Teach
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  Speaker 1: them good theology in this refreshing time away from their responsibilities.
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  Speaker 1: at their churches. Soften their hearts where they may have
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  Speaker 1: become calloused. Sweeten their spirit where they may have become cynical.
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  Speaker 2: Give them.
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  Speaker 1: Fresh words to say to those Who are hungry for you.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for the privilege our father. Of all things
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  Speaker 1: of our giving to you. You teach us how to
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  Speaker 1: do that by giving to us. We do that now
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  Speaker 1: as you have forever done it. Generously and.
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  Speaker 2: And graciously.
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  Speaker 1: Joyfully.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for our.
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  Speaker 1: Fairest Lord Jesus. Our beautiful savior. the Lord of the nations,
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  Speaker 1: son of God, son of man. We worship him, our father,
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  Speaker 1: as we worship you in the name of the Lord Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: And everybody said, amen. Kids don't mean to be funny.
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  Speaker 1: It's just when they say things, they come across as funny.
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  Speaker 1: Even when they're answering questions that are fairly serious, It's
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  Speaker 1: remarkable how their answers, while true often, are just hilarious.
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  Speaker 1: Someone sent me this week some questions that children were asked,
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  Speaker 1: and ages 7 through 10, children answered. For example, how
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  Speaker 1: do you decide who to marry, was asked. Kirsten, who
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  Speaker 1: is age 10, she answers, no person really decides before
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  Speaker 1: they grow up. who they're going to marry. God decides
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  Speaker 1: it all way before. And you get to find out
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  Speaker 1: later who you're stuck with. Derek, age eight, answered, how
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  Speaker 1: can a stranger tell if two people are married? Derek answers,
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  Speaker 1: you might have to guess based on whether they seem
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  Speaker 1: to be yelling at the same kids. which ties in
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  Speaker 1: with the question asked Laurie, age eight, what do you
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  Speaker 1: think your mom and dad have in common? Laurie says,
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  Speaker 1: both don't want any more kids. When is it okay
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  Speaker 1: to kiss someone, Pam, age seven, when they're rich? Kurt,
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  Speaker 1: also age seven, answered that when the law says you
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  Speaker 1: have to be 18, so I wouldn't want to mess
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  Speaker 1: with that. Okay, Kurt. Is it better to be single
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  Speaker 1: or married? Anita, age nine, it's better for girls to
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  Speaker 1: be single, but not for boys. Boys need someone to
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  Speaker 1: clean up after them. And all the wives said, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I knew you'd do that. One of my favorites, how
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  Speaker 1: would you make a marriage work? Ricky, age 10, says,
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  Speaker 1: tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she
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  Speaker 1: looks like a truck. Another little child in our congregation
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  Speaker 1: is age six, and her daddy wrote me this past
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  Speaker 1: week to tell me something she said when she has
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  Speaker 1: been sitting with them through all of the messages on Job.
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  Speaker 1: She leaned over and said to her daddy, Daddy, when
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  Speaker 1: Pastor Chuck started the book of Job, was I four
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  Speaker 1: or five? You were still six, sweetheart, wherever you are. Now,
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  Speaker 1: at the risk of having some tomatoes thrown in my direction,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you we have only two more
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  Speaker 1: messages on Job. Don't clap. I got that. You know
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  Speaker 1: something's wrong when you read your scriptures and you say,
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  Speaker 1: now for the last chapter of Job, people start to
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  Speaker 1: applaud when you get there. I want us to sort
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  Speaker 1: of look at the whole book since we have been
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  Speaker 1: hammering our way through these trees and on occasion each
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  Speaker 1: limb and and finding our way through this forest of information,
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  Speaker 1: I want us to come today to some sort of
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  Speaker 1: practical terms with what this book teaches us in a very,
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  Speaker 1: very practical way about the way we live our lives,
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  Speaker 1: what we learn about ourselves from Job, and then find
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  Speaker 1: out what it is we learn from Job about our God.
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  Speaker 1: Trust me on this one. you're going to need one
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  Speaker 1: or more of the principles sooner than you may realize.
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  Speaker 1: And while we have fun with it and have enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: ourselves on a number of occasions, today we're rolling up
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  Speaker 1: our sleeves and looking at life through Job's viewpoint and
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  Speaker 1: learning from his example. So we'll take today's talk mainly
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  Speaker 1: from the early part of Job, and then next time
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  Speaker 1: we will look at the latter part. chapter of the
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  Speaker 1: book and see what it says about God, but today
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  Speaker 1: about ourselves. There was a man in the land of
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  Speaker 1: Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless, upright,
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  Speaker 1: fearing God, turning away from evil. We read he had
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  Speaker 1: ten children, seven sons and three daughters, His possessions were great,
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  Speaker 1: thousands of sheep and camels, half a thousand of oxen
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  Speaker 1: and donkeys. In fact, the wrap-up statement in verse 3
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  Speaker 1: is that he was the greatest in the East. There
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  Speaker 1: was no one better known, perhaps wealthier than Job. Job
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  Speaker 1: didn't know it, but there was a dialogue that took
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  Speaker 1: place in the invisible world As the Lord and the
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  Speaker 1: Satan had this encounter, for some reason Satan allowed into
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's presence and the dialogue turns on the person
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  Speaker 1: of Job. The Lord calls Satan's attention to Job and says,
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  Speaker 1: have you noticed him? Satan in standard operating procedure of
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  Speaker 1: sarcasm said, of course, it wouldn't serve you well. The
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  Speaker 1: way you've treated him, he's got penthouse treatment. But you
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  Speaker 1: touch what he owns, he'll curse you to your face.
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  Speaker 1: Philip Yancey calls it the divine wager. So the Lord
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  Speaker 1: in today's terms bet him that that would not happen. No,
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  Speaker 1: he wouldn't do that. And I'll allow you the freedom
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  Speaker 1: to move into his world, but don't touch him. Don't
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  Speaker 1: touch his person. And you recall he did that. And
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  Speaker 1: in a brief matter of really, really moments, Satan instigates
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  Speaker 1: a removal of all of the possessions, all of his
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  Speaker 1: ability to earn a living. Much of his property is
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  Speaker 1: destroyed and he's leveled in bankruptcy. Which brings us to
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  Speaker 1: the first of seven lessons we learn from Job about ourselves.
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  Speaker 2: We never know.
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  Speaker 1: Ahead of time the plans God has for us. Job
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  Speaker 1: had no way of knowing this. That morning dawned like
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  Speaker 1: every other morning. The night had passed like most every
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  Speaker 1: other night. There was no early morning skywriting. There was
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  Speaker 1: no angelic visit. There was no tap at the window
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  Speaker 1: warning him that something would change or that all hell
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  Speaker 1: would break loose or the bottom would drop out of
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  Speaker 1: his life. He got up that morning like every other morning,
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  Speaker 1: and he began the day only to be interrupted by
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  Speaker 1: this messenger and that messenger and the next one and
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  Speaker 1: the next one. And before you could sneeze, it seems,
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  Speaker 1: The buildings are gone and there are carcasses on the
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  Speaker 1: land and the servants have been taken or killed or kidnapped.
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  Speaker 1: And Job knows nothing ahead of time. You can't anticipate
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  Speaker 1: it correctly. You're unable to predict it accurately. It's impossible
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  Speaker 1: to explain it fully. No one can explain it. Like
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  Speaker 1: a bolt out of the blue, his world explodes. And
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  Speaker 1: God didn't warn him ahead of time. Could happen to you.
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  Speaker 1: It could hit me on the way home. The next
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  Speaker 1: airplane trip for you or me could be our last.
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  Speaker 1: The fact is we don't.
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  Speaker 2: Know ahead of time what his plan is. He has
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  Speaker 2: a plan.
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  Speaker 1: He just isn't obligated to warn us about it or
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  Speaker 1: to remind us that it could happen. Hold your place
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  Speaker 1: here and with another finger find Jeremiah chapter 29. It's
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  Speaker 1: really worth a look.
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  Speaker 2: Turn please.
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11. The subject is the Jews
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  Speaker 1: going into captivity, yet future. The subject is the life
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  Speaker 1: beyond the captivity, yet future. And the Lord speaking to
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  Speaker 1: his prophet, who then speaks to the people, tells them,
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  Speaker 1: I know the plans that I have for you, declares
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. Observe it does not read, I will tell
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  Speaker 1: you all about them ahead of time so you can
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  Speaker 1: be ready. He simply says, I know the plans. My
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  Speaker 1: sovereign will is such that it is all put together.
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah 55 tells us that his ways are high above
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  Speaker 1: our ways and beyond our thoughts. They are different. They
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  Speaker 1: are in another world, a different perspective. But the Lord
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  Speaker 1: knows his plans that he has for us. and there's
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  Speaker 1: good news at the end. They are plans for welfare
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  Speaker 1: and not for calamity to give us a future and
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  Speaker 1: a hope. The ultimate plan our Lord has for us
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  Speaker 1: is not a calamitous, fatalistic, heartbreaking, life-ending plan designed to
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  Speaker 1: disturb or corrupt our faith. It is a plan that
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  Speaker 1: is profound And it's different than you and I would
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  Speaker 1: have ever expected or planned. In response to this first lesson,
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  Speaker 1: I have some pretty simple advice. Be ready for anything.
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  Speaker 2: And I mean anything.
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  Speaker 1: I heard from a friend in our church just a
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  Speaker 1: few moments ago, a friend of his who works at EDS,
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  Speaker 1: making a great deal of money enjoying a prosperity that
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  Speaker 1: was unusual for him and for his family. Got notice
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  Speaker 1: from the guard that he was being called up. He
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  Speaker 1: has to leave his work to go and serve in
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  Speaker 1: the guard.
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  Speaker 2: And in serving, he will need to sell his home.
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  Speaker 1: They will need to become familiar again with a salary
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  Speaker 1: income and a lifestyle that is altogether different from what
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  Speaker 1: they've been used to all of these years. all of
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  Speaker 1: these years, especially while growing into the position he had
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  Speaker 1: but no longer has. And it came like a bolt
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  Speaker 1: out of the blue. You don't know that you'll have
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  Speaker 1: your children by the end of this month. You don't
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  Speaker 1: know that their future is any more secure than you
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  Speaker 1: know your future is secure. What you enjoy today, you
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  Speaker 1: may not be enjoying this time next year. This isn't
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  Speaker 1: designed to make you afraid, it's designed to help get
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  Speaker 1: you ready. I remind you, these are principles to live
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  Speaker 1: with and to remember. Job's response, verse 20, is absolutely remarkable.
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  Speaker 1: Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head.
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  Speaker 2: And fell to the ground.
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  Speaker 1: And worship. He said naked I came from my mother's womb.
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  Speaker 1: And naked I will return. The Lord gave. The Lord
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  Speaker 1: has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: through all this. We read Job did not sin. Nor
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  Speaker 1: did he blame God. Lesson number two. A vertical perspective.
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  Speaker 1: Will keep us from horizontal panic. A vertical perspective will
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  Speaker 1: keep us from horizontal panic. Don't misunderstand. Job doesn't escape
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  Speaker 1: into denial. He faces the music, somber and sad that
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  Speaker 1: it is.
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  Speaker 2: He's overwhelmed.
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  Speaker 1: That's why he tore his robe. He's broken and saddened
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  Speaker 1: and bankrupt. That's why he shaves his head and sits
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  Speaker 1: in ashes. He refuses to escape emotionally through denial. He
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  Speaker 1: falls to the ground and worships. What a remarkable response.
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  Speaker 1: His vertical perspective is firm, clear, in place. Nothing horizontal
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  Speaker 1: will cause this man to panic. I had, I enjoyed,
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  Speaker 1: I was blessed, I've lost.
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  Speaker 2: They're no longer with me.
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  Speaker 1: I'm heartbroken. But the same God who gave is the
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  Speaker 1: God who took away. Blessed be his name. I serve
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  Speaker 1: and honor and praise and walk with him. When I
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  Speaker 1: was back in this passage several years, several weeks ago, I.
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  Speaker 2: Read for you Francis Anderson's words.
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  Speaker 1: Time has a way of erasing comments that are made
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  Speaker 1: in days past, and I return to a part of
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  Speaker 1: what he wrote in his fine work on Job. Job
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  Speaker 1: finds nothing wrong with what has happened to him. At
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  Speaker 1: this point, Job's trial enters a new phase, the most
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  Speaker 1: trying of all. He never curses God, but all his
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  Speaker 1: human relationships are broken. His attitude is the same as before.
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  Speaker 1: It is equally right for God to give gifts and
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  Speaker 1: to retrieve them. It is equally right for God to
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  Speaker 1: send good or adversity. Then he adds, It is easier
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  Speaker 1: to lower your view of God than to raise your
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: faith to such a height. When things are rocking along
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: comfortably and enjoyably and with good health and with a
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: full family, my, my. How high is our view of God?
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: How thrilled we are with those verses of scripture. How
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: we hang on the words of the sermon and we
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: sing the songs of Zion. But when the bottom drops out,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: our song is taken from us. And we begin to wonder,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: was our view of God here really the right view
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: since we're now here? It's easy to lower one's view
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: of God when hardship assaults us. That vertical perspective will
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: save the day. Well, it got worse. It just got worse.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: Job does not sin or blame God, which frustrates Satan.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: And does not surprise our God who already knew Job
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: would be a man of integrity. So there was another day,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: round two, and Satan comes out swinging. The Lord asks,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: have you noticed my servant Job? It must have been
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: a great moment in that encounter when the Lord could
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: point to Job and there has been no break in
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: his faith or trust. And Satan has to face the music.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: But Satan then says, ah, you touch his life, it'll
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: be another story. Skin for skin, chapter 2, verse 4,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: all that a man has, he will give for his life.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Put forth your hand now and touch his bone and
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: his flesh. He'll curse you to your face. He repeats
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: the charge, the warning. So the Lord said, he's in
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: your power, only spare his life. Satan went out and
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: smote him with boils from the sole of his foot
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: to the crown of his head.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: You been sick lately? I mean really sick. Fever wouldn't
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: go away.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Hospitalized. They couldn't find the cause. Some exotic germ that
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: has leveled you. it affects your job you don't have
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: disability and you can no longer work that's where he
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: finds himself it's horrible he took a potsherd to scrape
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: himself the itching was maddening as he sat among the
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: ashes verse 9 his wife said to him, look closely.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: Do you still hold fast your integrity, Job?
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Come on, sweetheart.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: It's enough.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Just curse God. Die.
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: You know what?
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: She loved him.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: Never doubted.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: The sickness hasn't made her love the less Her compassion
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: kicks in. And she just thinks if we could just
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: pull the plug, you curse him and he'll take you.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: You and I both know this will end the suffering.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Until you're there, don't judge his wife, okay?
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: Until you're there. She's lost everything too. She too has
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: visited the grave sites of ten precious lives. But he
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: said to her, verse 10, you speak as one of
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: the foolish women speak.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: Shall we indeed.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: Accept good from God and not accept adversity? In all this,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Job did not sin with his lips. Lesson number three.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Great discernment is needed to detect wrong advice from well-meaning people.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Great discernment is needed to detect wrong advice from well-meaning people.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: That's his wife. This is his wife, men and women.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: This is his wife. She's loved him through ten births.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: She's loved him through the rearing of the children. She's
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: loved him from the beginning of the business to the
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: final building it to the point where they could at
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: last have some relief. And she's loved him when he
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: was nobody and loved him when he became a household
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: word in the homes of the East. And he has
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: to have the courage to hear what is really being
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: said and to detect this is wrong counsel, even though
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: it comes from the lips of my well-meaning wife. By
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: the way, lest you overlook it, when you look at
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: her counsel, verse 9, she questions what God had admired,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: and she encouraged what Satan had predicted. God had said
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: to Satan in verse 3, end of the verse, he
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: still holds fast his integrity.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: And she's saying, Joe.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Joe, do you still hold fast your integrity? Satan had said,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: verse 5, he will curse you to your face. And
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: she says to the man she loves, listen honey, just
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: curse God. And in the presence of the nether world,
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: the enemy is thinking, yes! Yes! Do it!
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: And you know that his demons are.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: At work all about Job weakening him but he stands
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: firm against it.
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: He's discerning.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: He's courageous. And so must you be when in the
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: midst of a trial someone who desires your good gives
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: you bad advice.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: Don't yield to.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: You go back to the scriptures, you find your direction
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: and you stand firm. Why? Because well-meaning people do not
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: always have a divine viewpoint. The Bible always does. Job
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: knew better.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: As much as he loved her, he couldn't follow her advice.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: Not this time.
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Which brings us to his response Verse 10, he said
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Must have been hard for him to say to someone
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: he loved like he loved her. But it needed to
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: be said. Shall we indeed accept good from God and
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: not accept adversity? What great theology.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: God isn't a divine bellhop.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Waiting for our phone call to fulfill our request for
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: the evening. God isn't here to make us happy, honey.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: God is here to be glorified.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: In our midst and in our lives, whether.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: For good or for adversity. Both come from him. Lesson
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: number four.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: When things turn from bad to worse.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: Sound theology helps us remain strong and stable. When things
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: turn from bad to worse, sound theology helps us remain
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: strong and stable. It's amazing, frankly, that Job, after suffering
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: such a barrage of cataclysmic events, would be thinking so clearly,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: so correctly, without wavering, no uncertainty. Didn't even entertain her
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: suggestion for a moment. You speak as a fool. Honey,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: don't say that. Don't even go there. These lips cannot
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: curse God. Death is in his hands. When he's ready
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: to take me, he'll take me. How could he do it?
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: He was so grounded in his knowledge of God. Sound theology.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: So valuable. Reminds me of a cartoon I saw several
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: years ago. drawn by Charles Schulz, titled back then Peanuts, remember?
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Linus is standing with his blanket at the picture window
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: in the living room, and standing beside him is Lucy,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: who is, of course, in charge. And they're looking at
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: it rain, and it is pouring down rain. You can
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: hardly see the trees out in the backyard from the window.
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: The rain is pouring down. Lucy says, my, look at
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: it rain. If this keeps up, it's going to flood
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: the This area, maybe the whole world. Linus says without hesitation,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: that will never happen. It says in Genesis 9, verses
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: 7 to 17, that God will never again flood the earth.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: And he's put a rainbow in the sky to prove
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: that his promise is true. Lucy says, you've taken a
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: big load off my mind. Linus looks at her and says,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: sound theology has a way of doing that.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Maybe this took a big load off Ms. Job's mind.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: How helpful it is when the one who is suffering
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: can teach the one who is well. Sound theology. Quick
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: warning here. Be careful that you don't substitute psychological gobbledygook
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: for good sound theology. Just be careful that you don't
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: explain all of this around or away by double talk.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: Don't go there.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: It'll backfire. My birthday, I got a card, one of
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: my favorite kind of cards. It's a far side card.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: There's a guy hanging by his collar on the limb
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: of a tree, sort of helpless, and his camera's hanging
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: around his neck, and two bears are talking about his fate.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: And one bear says to the other, his name's Bradshaw.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: He says he understands I came from a single parent
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: den with inadequate role models. He senses that my dysfunctional
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: behavior is shame-based and codependent. And he urges me to
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: let my inner cub heal. Little pause, and he concludes,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: I say we eat him. That's great. Let's just eat
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: him alive. Stay with sound theology. Guard against the gobbledygook.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: Stay away from pop psychology. It seems reasonable at the moment,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: and then the bottom drops out even further, and it
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: will not stabilize or strengthen you. Well, the friends show up.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: You may recall, verse 11, three friends heard of all
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: this adversity that had come upon him, and they came
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: each one from his own place. They made an appointment
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: And when they lifted up their eyes, at a distance,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: they did not recognize him. They raised their voices and wept.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: And each of them tore his robe and threw dust
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: over their heads toward the sky. And they sat down
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: on the ground with him for seven days and seven
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: nights with no one speaking a word to him, for
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: they saw his pain was very great. Fifth lesson. Caring
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: and sensitive friends know when to come, how to stay quiet,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: and what to say. Caring and sensitive friends know when
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: to come, how to stay quiet, and what to say.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: You might add in parenthesis, if anything at all. I
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: so wish that Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar had simply
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: stayed silent, been there to fetch some water, Bring a
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: little bit of soup or broth just to be near.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: You know, these men qualified on the first two, didn't they?
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: They came to Job. They left their homes and the
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: comfort of home, and they traveled however far, we're not told.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: And when they got there, for seven days, did the
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: right thing.
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: They simply sat with him.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: We who have been hospitalized on occasion know the joy
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: of of looking across the room and just seeing the
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: face of a friend. And really down deep inside, we're
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: grateful they're not reading us a verse of scripture or
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: giving us their advice or even telling us what we're
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: missing that day in the news outside. They're just there.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: But when it got to the third one, they didn't
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: know to stay quiet. They felt like, It's time to
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: set the record straight. And so they rebuke him. They
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: question his motive. They even probe for hidden secret sins
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: that brought this about. Now, we've looked earlier at what
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: it is like to be a sufferer. Now we're looking
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: at what it is like to minister to the suffering.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: You and I, more often than not, will be hopefully
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: the caring friend, the sensitive friend. Everyone who is hurting
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: needs a friend. Needs a friend outside the family. Not
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: too many, but some. Some friends. It's the message of
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: some friends to simply bring comfort and sympathy. It's the
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: message of other friends at the appropriate moment in time
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: to bring confrontation and reproof. David comes to mind. Early
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: on after being anointed as the future king, David is
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: now hunted and haunted by King Saul out of jealousy
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: and envy. Saul's son, Jonathan, hears these comments his father
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: makes and knows that they are misplaced and incorrect and
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: unfair And so Jonathan takes up the cause of David
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: and becomes for David a friend. He even seeks him
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: out and finds places for him to hide and reveals
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: to him words that offer hope and encouragement.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: That's the role of Jonathan.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Time passes, Saul dies, David becomes king, and after years
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: plunges into the horror of adultery mixed with murder and
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: then hypocrisy and And lack of leadership. And along comes
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: not Jonathan, who's dead by now, but a Nathan, who
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: is equally a committed friend, sensitive and caring. And Nathan
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: comes to reprove his friend and to remind him, you
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: are the man.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: And it turns.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: David's attention, catches his attention, turns his thoughts back in
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: repentance to God.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: Everyone needs a Jonathan. Everyone needs a Nathan.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Whatever role you play, it's important to remain caring and sensitive,
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: to know when to come, to know how long to
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: stay silent, and if to speak at all, to know
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: what to say. Well, Job finally lets it all out,
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't he? 3, 1, opened his mouth and cursed the
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: day he was born. Job even says, let the day
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: perish on which I was to be born and the
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: night which said, a boy is conceived. He curses the
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: day of his birth. Verse 11. Why did I not
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: die from birth, come forth from the womb, and expire?
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: Verse 25. What I fear comes upon me, and what
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: I dread befalls me. I am not at ease, nor
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: am I quiet. I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: You know what this is?
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: Listen to me.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: This chapter... provides us with words of a suffering, broken man.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: He is at wit's end.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: The suffering doesn't end. The kids are still dead. The
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: body's still covered with boils. There's not enough money to
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: provide for what's needed. His surroundings are atrocious. The wild
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: dogs feed on the garbage all around him. His wife
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: is there, disillusioned, heartbroken. That's enough!
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: And he curses the day he's born.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: He despises the thought that he lived. And he's not
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: resting and he is in dread. He must have sat
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: at that moment at the end of chapter 3 with
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: his head in his hands. Let me give you the
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: sixth lesson from a bit of a diagonal viewpoint here.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: It's easy to be Monday morning quarterbacks when we encounter
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: another's suffering. It's easy to be Monday morning quarterbacks when
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: we encounter another's suffering. I mean, it's hard to read
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: statements like this. I wish chapter 3 weren't in the book.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: I really do. I want to... I have to catch
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: myself from saying, Job, don't say that. You're going to
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: regret it. But he needs space to say it. And
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: so the Monday morning quarterback hears it and says, I
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: would never react like that. I would never say such
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: a thing of our God. This is how I would respond.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, how could she call herself a Christian and
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: act like that? What he's saying about himself or his God. Why?
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: Power the Lord. I'd discipline him for that. Monday morning
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: quarterback talk. We don't wait till Monday. We do it
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: Sunday afternoons. Don't throw that pass, you idiot. They've covered
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: the end. He's going to get intercepted. When are you
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: going to get a life? And most of us have
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: never been a quarterback. And we've never had three, three
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: hundred and 74-pound linemen with blood in their eyes, six
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: feet nine, coming toward us, grinning. And we say, don't
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: throw that thing, you dodo! Don't throw it! If I
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: were there, I wouldn't have thrown it.
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: I'd take a hit.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Leave it in the book. Leave it in
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: the book. Don't try to take it out. We all
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: have our Job chapter 3. We all have said things.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: We've all done things. We've all responded in the wrong way.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: We've all run off at the mouth. We've all thrown interceptions.
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: And we don't need someone to tell us what we
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: already know. We may even think at the time we're
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: doing it, I'm going to regret this. But we do it.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: You'll need this lesson. You'll need this principle, especially if
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: you're a spiritual leader. You teach the Bible study or
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: you're on a staff of a church or you're a pastor,
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: you're a counselor. The world's full of I told you
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: so's or shouldn't, you ought not. Just be quiet.
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: Let it be.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: Eliphaz lands on him with both feet. Fists are swinging.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: Round one, round two, round three, punching at Job. And
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: Eliphaz has never gone through what Job is going through. Well,
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: the last one is over in chapter 42. Doesn't that
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: have a nice ring to it? Chapter 42. Chapter 42,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: Job repents. How beautiful it is in verse 6. I
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: retract what I said and I repent. What a great man.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: He suffered through all of this for who knows how long.
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: No one seems to know. Some say weeks, some say months.
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: I don't have any idea. I don't know how to guess.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: It's taken us months to get through it, so I
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: can't imagine how long it took him to live it.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: And finally, finally, he endures, he endures. And the Lord
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: four times calls him the same thing. Verse 7, it
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: He said to Eliphaz, my wrath is kindled against you
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: and against your two friends because you have not spoken
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: There's no repentance I hear from you. There's no retraction
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: I hear from you. He says again three times in
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: chapter 42, verse 8, my servant Job, my servant Job,
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: my servant Job.
• 51:04
  Speaker 2: Has spoken what is right.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: Verse 9 concludes the Lord accepted Job. James 5.11 says
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: we remember the endurance of Job.
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: Here's the principle.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: The cultivation of obedient endurance is the crowning mark of maturity.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: The cultivation of obedient endurance is the crowning mark of maturity.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: I don't know of a wholesome, healthy Christian who doesn't
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: long to reach maturity. If you ask me in any
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: unguarded moment, I will tell you my great goal in
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: life is to be grown up in my walk. I
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: would love it if the stone simply reads, here lies
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: a man who finally became mature. You know what that
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: tells me? That tells all of us it's a slow,
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: arduous process. And Job reached it, reached the goal. David Roper,
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: in his work on James, which he titles Growing Slowly Wise,
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: writes this.
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: When trouble comes, we have two options.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: We can view it as an intrusion, an outrage, or
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: we can see it as an opportunity to respond to
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: it in specific obedience to God's will. This is that
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: rugged virtue James calls endurance. Endurance is not tooth clenched resignation,
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: nor is it passive acquiescence. It is a long obedience
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: in the same direction. Where are you today? Where are
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: you in your journey? Hard place, severe trial, maybe back
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: to back. I plead with you not to discard the
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: list of seven lessons. I would ask you sometime even
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  Speaker 1: this afternoon to go back and read them aloud, to
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  Speaker 1: insert them in your journal. Think through your current situation
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  Speaker 1: and apply whichever ones are appropriate. Go there. It could
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  Speaker 1: make all the difference in your growing up rather than
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  Speaker 1: simply growing older.
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  Speaker 2: In your faith.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like you to bow your heads with me, please.
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  Speaker 1: I'd like you to close your eyes. Wherever you are
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  Speaker 1: in your journey, God has allowed you to hear this today.
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  Speaker 1: Some of it has not been easy. None of it
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  Speaker 1: has come easily to me in preparing it, I can
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  Speaker 1: tell you. I really worked on this message. I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to say it just right so that there would not
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  Speaker 1: be anything that would cause a snag to keep you
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  Speaker 1: from coming here privately and personally. This is not counsel
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  Speaker 1: you'll find in tomorrow morning's newspaper. You'll not hear about
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  Speaker 1: it in a film you see or a magazine you read.
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  Speaker 1: This is fresh food from the word of God. This
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  Speaker 1: is what will hold us together when everything explodes. And
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  Speaker 1: let me say for you who've never met the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, he is not only available to you, he
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  Speaker 1: is ready to hear your prayer of acceptance. Lord, I'm
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  Speaker 1: a long distance from you. My life hasn't been what it.
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  Speaker 2: Should have been. And I come just like I am.
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  Speaker 2: And I come to your son, Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And I accept the fact that he died on my
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  Speaker 1: behalf and paid the full penalty for my sin. Acknowledging
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  Speaker 1: that I believe he has been raised from the dead.
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  Speaker 1: I trust him for now and through eternity. And he
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  Speaker 1: will not turn you away. Our ministry has been trained
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  Speaker 1: to talk with any of you who wrestle with whatever.
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  Speaker 2: Some struggle.
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  Speaker 1: The need for salvation. A walk with God. Dealing with
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  Speaker 1: some particular issue. You can meet them in our prayer room.
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  Speaker 1: I invite you to come today. Lord we love you.
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  Speaker 1: Lord we thank you. Lord, we worship you. Lord, we
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  Speaker 1: submit to you. And we confess to you the stubbornness
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  Speaker 1: of our own wills and all of the energy that
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  Speaker 1: we have burnt up running away from the very things
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  Speaker 1: that we needed to face. Deepen our relationship, Lord, so
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  Speaker 1: that You and we are closer, and you become the
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  Speaker 1: focus of our full attention and our absolute affection.
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  Speaker 2: Break us to the point.
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  Speaker 1: Of full surrender, and then use us as you have
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  Speaker 1: used Job through the centuries as a model of endurance.
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  Speaker 1: I pray these things through Christ. our Lord.
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  Speaker 2: And everyone said, Amen.
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  Speaker 1: The preceding message, What Job Teaches Us About Ourselves, was
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  Speaker 1: copyrighted in 2002 and the sound recording was copyrighted in
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  Speaker 1: 2004 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.