Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Full Repentance for All the Right Reasons │ Msg 1822 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Just a few verses from Job. I've been saying that
- 0:10Speaker 1: for nine years now. I think this forty second chapter,
- 0:17Speaker 1: Job responds to the Lord's message in a wonderful manner.
- 0:27Speaker 1: After all he's been through. Listen to these words of submission,
- 0:31Speaker 1: Job forty two. Beginning at verse one, Then Job answered
- 0:36Speaker 1: the Lord and said, I know that you can do
- 0:40Speaker 1: all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
- 0:46Speaker 1: Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I
- 0:51Speaker 1: have declared that which I did not know, that which
- 0:56Speaker 1: I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me which
- 0:59Speaker 1: I did not know. Here Now and I will speak.
- 1:05Speaker 1: I will ask you, and you instruct me. I've heard
- 1:10Speaker 1: of you by the hearing of the ear, but now
- 1:15Speaker 1: my eye seize you. Therefore I retract, and I repent.
- 1:28Speaker 1: In dust and ashes, our father, we find words like
- 1:35Speaker 1: that so appealing to us in this age in which
- 1:43Speaker 1: we live, where so seldom our adult ears ever hear
- 1:48Speaker 1: words like I am sorry, and even how rarely our
- 1:54Speaker 1: own mouths say I was wrong and I repent. What
- 2:02Speaker 1: a great model this man has been through these long
- 2:07Speaker 1: weeks of suffering and growing and struggling, longing for relief,
- 2:17Speaker 1: and now what full repentance emerges for all the right
- 2:24Speaker 1: reasons they emerge. Thank you, our Father, for giving us
- 2:31Speaker 1: a book in our own language that conveys to us
- 2:35Speaker 1: your mind and directions of your will for us. And
- 2:43Speaker 1: on top of that, from it we learn how to
- 2:45Speaker 1: do your will your way, which doesn't come naturally and
- 2:51Speaker 1: often doesn't come easily. It's all against our own wills.
- 3:00Speaker 1: And we confess to you the fight, the struggle, and
- 3:06Speaker 1: at times even the rebellion, and we gather our things
- 3:15Speaker 1: up and go in the opposite direction deliberately, and you
- 3:19Speaker 1: faithfully pursue us, as one man put you set the
- 3:25Speaker 1: hounds of heaven after us. Thank you for not giving
- 3:31Speaker 1: up on us, for more often than not, loving us
- 3:35Speaker 1: in spite of ourselves. Thank you for understanding us in
- 3:40Speaker 1: the process, helping us amazingly to understand ourselves. But it
- 3:48Speaker 1: really is all about you, Lord, It's all about you Today.
- 3:57Speaker 1: I want to thank you for the faithfulness of a
- 3:59Speaker 1: prophet with honor, doctor Billy Graham, his ministry in the Metroplex.
- 4:08Speaker 1: Thank You for his unswerving confidence in the Bible. Thank
- 4:15Speaker 1: You for the faithfulness of the gospel presentation from the
- 4:20Speaker 1: forties all the way into the twenty first century. Thank
- 4:25Speaker 1: you that we've not had reason to question him morally,
- 4:29Speaker 1: doubt his integrity, or fear that somehow ethically something had
- 4:37Speaker 1: gone awry. Thank You that he is not only godly,
- 4:40Speaker 1: but he's accountable. Thank you most of all for his humility.
- 4:45Speaker 1: Great will be his reward for those who stood in
- 4:50Speaker 1: the rain and came to your son, Jesus, Thank you
- 4:54Speaker 1: for each one, for those even to this day this night,
- 5:01Speaker 1: will realize their need for the Savior and will experience repentance, forgiveness,
- 5:09Speaker 1: new hope, new life, new birth. Now Lord of all things,
- 5:16Speaker 1: we of all people, had the privilege of giving to you,
- 5:22Speaker 1: of all objects of our faith, there's none like you.
- 5:28Speaker 1: No one else has the words of eternal life. It
- 5:32Speaker 1: is our joy to reach into our treasure, all of
- 5:38Speaker 1: which is yours, to draw from it that which we
- 5:42Speaker 1: believe will be used wisely and carefully for your work.
- 5:48Speaker 1: May it serve nearby and afar. May it minister to
- 5:54Speaker 1: those we would never personally be able to touch, as
- 6:00Speaker 1: it is used in these various ways. Finally, Father, thank
- 6:05Speaker 1: you for your truth that goes abroad every day, and
- 6:10Speaker 1: today especially we think of the land of Russia. Thank
- 6:14Speaker 1: you for Peter's faithfulness as he ministers your truth day
- 6:21Speaker 1: off to day in a place most will never go
- 6:26Speaker 1: from these United States. Use him and ignite his message,
- 6:31Speaker 1: and bless his efforts. And Tatianas and their children, may
- 6:37Speaker 1: they serve you faithfully all the days of their lives
- 6:42Speaker 1: for your greater glory, with thankfulness for your namesake. I
- 6:49Speaker 1: ask it, and everyone said amen. It is difficult to
- 6:55Speaker 1: cultivate a humble heart in a contentious culture. Put another way,
- 7:01Speaker 1: a repentant spirit is rarely found in the litigious society.
- 7:09Speaker 1: How rarely do we hear the words I'm wrong, I'm sorry, And,
- 7:18Speaker 1: as opposed to that, how often we hear the words
- 7:21Speaker 1: I will sue you, I will take you to court.
- 7:28Speaker 1: Just this past week, a good friend of mine sent
- 7:30Speaker 1: me a classic example of just how litigious our society is.
- 7:36Speaker 1: True story. Matter of fact, it's an award winning story.
- 7:43Speaker 1: It won first place in a recent Criminal Lawyer's Award contest.
- 7:50Speaker 1: A Charlotte, North Carolina lawyer purchased a box of very
- 7:55Speaker 1: rare and expensive cigars. He then ensued them against fire,
- 8:01Speaker 1: among other things. Within a month, having smoked his entire
- 8:06Speaker 1: stockpile of these twenty four great cigars, and without yet
- 8:12Speaker 1: having made even his first premium payment on the policy,
- 8:17Speaker 1: the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company. In his claim,
- 8:22Speaker 1: this lawyer stated the cigars were lost in a series
- 8:25Speaker 1: of small fires. The insurance company refused to pay, citing
- 8:33Speaker 1: the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars
- 8:37Speaker 1: in the normal fashion that was obvious. The lawyer sued
- 8:43Speaker 1: and won. In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with
- 8:47Speaker 1: the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated, nevertheless,
- 8:55Speaker 1: that the lawyer held a policy from the company in
- 8:58Speaker 1: which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable, and
- 9:03Speaker 1: also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire without
- 9:08Speaker 1: defining what is considered to be unacceptable fire, and was
- 9:14Speaker 1: obligated to pay the claim rather than endure a lengthy
- 9:19Speaker 1: and costly appeal process. The insurance company accepted the ruling
- 9:24Speaker 1: and paid fifteen thousand dollars to the lawyer for his
- 9:29Speaker 1: loss of the rare cigars that had been lost in
- 9:33Speaker 1: the fires. And now for the best part. After the
- 9:39Speaker 1: lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested
- 9:44Speaker 1: on twenty four counts of arson with his own insurance
- 9:58Speaker 1: claim and testimony for the previous case being used against him.
- 10:03Speaker 1: The lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property
- 10:10Speaker 1: was sentenced to twenty four months in jail and a
- 10:13Speaker 1: twenty four thousand dollars fine. Something inside every one of
- 10:26Speaker 1: us goes yes. Let me say again how difficult it
- 10:36Speaker 1: is to cultivate a humble heart in a society like ours.
- 10:43Speaker 1: We who are parents, and you, who are now parents
- 10:46Speaker 1: of the young of our generation, work over time. Dealing
- 10:54Speaker 1: with the stubborn wills of your children is your and
- 11:01Speaker 1: my responsibility. It isn't the school's responsibility. It isn't the
- 11:08Speaker 1: policeman's responsibility. It isn't the court's responsibility. It is yours
- 11:14Speaker 1: and it is mine. And it's a tough sled, first
- 11:21Speaker 1: to get their attention and then in the process to
- 11:26Speaker 1: gain their respect. Deep within our souls, we know that
- 11:35Speaker 1: our children operate their lives under our authority. But that
- 11:43Speaker 1: same awareness is not in their hearts. It's a learned awareness.
- 11:52Speaker 1: And there are a few things more beautiful to behold
- 11:56Speaker 1: than a child or a young adult who has learned
- 11:59Speaker 1: that lesson, Still evidencing capability and giftedness and confidence in life,
- 12:09Speaker 1: while at the same time modeling a submissive spirit. They
- 12:19Speaker 1: will not learn that submission until they discover the words
- 12:26Speaker 1: I am wrong, I am sorry, I repent the truth
- 12:37Speaker 1: were known. It has been years in some homes. Hearing
- 12:40Speaker 1: me right now since you have heard your mate say
- 12:44Speaker 1: something like that, it's long overdue. Now, with all of
- 12:54Speaker 1: this as a background, a sort of food for thought,
- 12:58Speaker 1: turned with me to Job forty two and verse six.
- 13:05Speaker 1: Admittedly it's unusual for me to go at the beginning
- 13:08Speaker 1: of a message to the end of my text, but
- 13:12Speaker 1: because it forms the climax of Job's inner life, I
- 13:18Speaker 1: want you to see it in all of its beauty,
- 13:22Speaker 1: and then go back with me to discover how it
- 13:26Speaker 1: was finally placed there. This book ends with a wonderful
- 13:32Speaker 1: conclusion on Job's part to say nothing about his home
- 13:37Speaker 1: and family and the rewards that came following all the suffering.
- 13:41Speaker 1: This is Job personally, This is Job as a man.
- 13:47Speaker 1: This is the inner life of the one called the
- 13:52Speaker 1: servant of God. Forty two to six. I retract and
- 14:01Speaker 1: I repent in dust and ashes. I think it is
- 14:06Speaker 1: noteworthy that God does not yet remove the boils, but
- 14:12Speaker 1: God has not yet brought back the children. That the
- 14:16Speaker 1: man is still bankrupt in pain, undergoing suffering right up
- 14:24Speaker 1: to this point. And that's all by design. God will
- 14:30Speaker 1: stop it nothing to bring us to the place of
- 14:33Speaker 1: full repentance. He doesn't bring relief and then expect repentance.
- 14:41Speaker 1: It is in the midst of the pain he waits
- 14:45Speaker 1: for words like this, I retract, I repent. One man
- 14:56Speaker 1: very insightfully writes of this Job has come to true
- 15:00Speaker 1: assessment of himself before the Holy God. Job both renounces
- 15:07Speaker 1: all false pride and concedes that God has been true
- 15:11Speaker 1: to justice and allowing him to be brought so low
- 15:14Speaker 1: that he has had to sit outside the city on
- 15:17Speaker 1: an ash dump, on an ash heap. The term recant
- 15:23Speaker 1: translated here retract is the Hebrew word nick ham in acham,
- 15:32Speaker 1: and it means listen. It means to turn from a
- 15:36Speaker 1: planned course of action and take up a new course.
- 15:45Speaker 1: It implies the strongest resolve to change directions. That's it.
- 15:54Speaker 1: That's repentance at its best. I've been thinking one way,
- 16:00Speaker 1: which has caused me to say what I've been saying.
- 16:04Speaker 1: I now realize I need to be going in that
- 16:09Speaker 1: other direction. And as we sometime refer to it, change
- 16:14Speaker 1: my tune. Having come to an end of himself, Job
- 16:22Speaker 1: sits humbly before his lord, surrendered and Contrite surrendered and Contrite,
- 16:34Speaker 1: two words were not familiar with, especially in our culture.
- 16:39Speaker 1: Turned from here briefly to Psalm fifty one. We'll be
- 16:44Speaker 1: back to Job in a few moments, But first I
- 16:46Speaker 1: want you to see the words of David, following the
- 16:51Speaker 1: misery in the backwash of his adultery with Bathsheba, he
- 16:57Speaker 1: wrote a song the wrongness of his actions, and they
- 17:03Speaker 1: were plural, not just adultery, but murder of Bathsheba's husband Uriah, deception,
- 17:13Speaker 1: living alive before the people, lack of leadership as the king,
- 17:19Speaker 1: while caught up in the affair, he sees it all,
- 17:23Speaker 1: He sees it clearly, and he repents. Psalm fifty one
- 17:27Speaker 1: is the record of his repentance. I command the reading
- 17:31Speaker 1: of it to you. He begins, be gracious to me, O, God,
- 17:35Speaker 1: according to your loving kindness. Notice he calls upon the
- 17:39Speaker 1: grace of God, according to the greatness of your compassion,
- 17:44Speaker 1: blot out my transgressions. Verse two, Watch me thoroughly from
- 17:51Speaker 1: my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. I know
- 17:55Speaker 1: my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. There's
- 18:01Speaker 1: no hiding of the fact. There's no blaming of another.
- 18:05Speaker 1: There is nothing but naked, open confession in a heart
- 18:10Speaker 1: of repentance Verse ten, create in me a clean heart,
- 18:17Speaker 1: O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. He
- 18:21Speaker 1: doesn't expect something of the people around him. He doesn't
- 18:24Speaker 1: expect another individual even do you understand He's getting it
- 18:29Speaker 1: right with God. That's where we start in repentance. Then
- 18:34Speaker 1: he comes in verse seventeen to the verse I want
- 18:37Speaker 1: to mention develop the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
- 18:44Speaker 1: a broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, you will
- 18:48Speaker 1: not despise. Look closely at the verse. These are sacrifices.
- 19:00Speaker 1: These are sacrifices that God finds pleasure in a broken
- 19:05Speaker 1: spirit and a contrite heart. I meditated on those thoughts
- 19:14Speaker 1: quite a while and came up with a brief list
- 19:17Speaker 1: of five characteristics of a contrite heart. I've observed this
- 19:24Speaker 1: in others on a few occasions. I'm sorry it hasn't
- 19:28Speaker 1: been on many, but on a few occasions, and I've
- 19:32Speaker 1: experienced it myself on a few occasions. A contrite heart
- 19:36Speaker 1: Number one, nurses no grudges. Nurses no grudges. Contrite heart
- 19:46Speaker 1: never says if it hadn't been for what sheet, or
- 19:50Speaker 1: if this hadn't happened then, or because I was raised
- 19:56Speaker 1: like I was raised, then none of that a contract
- 20:00Speaker 1: right heart nurses no grudges. Second, makes no demands. I
- 20:09Speaker 1: don't come with a contrite heart demanding that you now
- 20:12Speaker 1: do this in return. So that leads me to the third.
- 20:16Speaker 1: Contrite heart has no expectations. I don't expect good treatment.
- 20:23Speaker 1: I don't expect to be treated nicely. I don't expect
- 20:26Speaker 1: people necessarily to forgive me. That'll have to take time.
- 20:30Speaker 1: I don't come with expectations. My contricte, broken spirit and
- 20:34Speaker 1: my contract broken heart come with simply no expectations. Fourth,
- 20:42Speaker 1: I offer no conditions, no ifs, no wishes. I simply
- 20:51Speaker 1: come broken and contrite nursing no grudges, makes no old blames,
- 21:00Speaker 1: has no expectations, offers no conditions, anticipates no favors. That's fifth,
- 21:10Speaker 1: I don't anticipate as a result that you will do
- 21:12Speaker 1: this or hopefully you will do that. I'm simply acknowledging
- 21:15Speaker 1: the wrongness of my actions, attitude, words, Now what was
- 21:24Speaker 1: it that brought such a response to Job. When you
- 21:31Speaker 1: turn back, you will see those previous verses leading up
- 21:35Speaker 1: to chapter forty two. Beginning in chapter forty in verse six,
- 21:41Speaker 1: God begins by getting his attention to use a human term,
- 21:46Speaker 1: by shaking his shoulders nice and firmly, and then God
- 21:50Speaker 1: gives him two unforgettable examples that show Job just how
- 21:56Speaker 1: far down he is in in his own estimation before God.
- 22:06Speaker 1: But to begin with, God shakes his shoulders before I
- 22:11Speaker 1: read verse six and following, let me let me mention
- 22:14Speaker 1: what we've all gone through as parents, and nothing I
- 22:19Speaker 1: say will be politically correct. And that's why it's true
- 22:22Speaker 1: what I'm going to tell you. There are times parents,
- 22:26Speaker 1: all alone, without embarrassing the children before anyone else, all alone,
- 22:31Speaker 1: get their children by the shoulders and give them a
- 22:34Speaker 1: good firm shake. Right, we'll just stop with the shake. Okay,
- 22:38Speaker 1: whatever else you do, that's between you and God, and
- 22:43Speaker 1: leave it with that. But you have had enough of
- 22:47Speaker 1: their rhino will You are not going to put up
- 22:50Speaker 1: with another day of it, to say nothing of even
- 22:53Speaker 1: another minute of it. And you pull them aside, and
- 22:56Speaker 1: you have a good talking to. We say, and we
- 23:00Speaker 1: say I want you to understand you are the child
- 23:03Speaker 1: and I am the parent. You will do under this
- 23:06Speaker 1: roof exactly what I tell you to do, whether you
- 23:10Speaker 1: like it or not. Is that clear? Some of your
- 23:13Speaker 1: lips are moving. You've done this before, and we are
- 23:17Speaker 1: in the process of helping every teacher your child will
- 23:21Speaker 1: have in the future. Every time they're around a policeman,
- 23:24Speaker 1: that policeman knows though he doesn't know about it, will
- 23:27Speaker 1: thank you. Every time he's playing on a team with
- 23:30Speaker 1: a coach, that coach will be grateful that you did
- 23:33Speaker 1: your job as a parent. You got their attention, and
- 23:37Speaker 1: you didn't stop with just one shake. It may have
- 23:40Speaker 1: to happen again in another three or four days. You
- 23:43Speaker 1: are fed up. You have had it, and that child
- 23:48Speaker 1: is discovering that she or he does not rule that roost.
- 23:53Speaker 1: You do. And there's something wonderfully healthy about that realization.
- 24:02Speaker 1: I believe the Lord takes Job by the shoulders and
- 24:05Speaker 1: gives him a good shake in verses six to fourteen.
- 24:10Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, in these verses, I think
- 24:13Speaker 1: he's saying to him, Job listened to me. I am God,
- 24:18Speaker 1: you are man, I am authority, your servant, I am
- 24:24Speaker 1: in charge. You are the clay I'm molding and shaping.
- 24:29Speaker 1: You will be shaped. It's important that you understand, Job.
- 24:34Speaker 1: You are not on my level. You are not God.
- 24:40Speaker 1: See how he begins, Lord answered Job out of a
- 24:42Speaker 1: storm Verse six, Chapter forty. Now gird up your loins
- 24:45Speaker 1: like a man. I think it's his way of saying,
- 24:47Speaker 1: take this like a man. Listen to me. I will
- 24:51Speaker 1: ask you, and you instruct me. You let me know
- 24:55Speaker 1: how you would answer. Will you really annul my judgment?
- 25:00Speaker 1: Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Or
- 25:04Speaker 1: do you have an arm like God? And can you
- 25:06Speaker 1: thunder with a voice like his? It's a picture of power.
- 25:10Speaker 1: Can you do what I do? If you can? Then
- 25:14Speaker 1: Verse ten, adorn yourself with eminence and dignity, and clothe
- 25:17Speaker 1: yourself with honor and majesty. Pour out the overflowings of
- 25:20Speaker 1: your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and
- 25:23Speaker 1: make him low. You're able to do that. I can
- 25:25Speaker 1: do that. Bring those proud people down, Job, Look on
- 25:29Speaker 1: everyone who is proud and humble him. Tread down the
- 25:31Speaker 1: wicked where they stand, hide them in the dust altogether,
- 25:37Speaker 1: and bind them in the hidden place. Then I will
- 25:39Speaker 1: confess to you that your own right hand can save you. Obviously,
- 25:45Speaker 1: Job can't do that. Let's go back to the sheikhs
- 25:49Speaker 1: for a moment. Okay, let me make something real clear
- 25:53Speaker 1: to you son, As the father, I'm the one who
- 25:56Speaker 1: earns the living in this home. If you're in charge,
- 26:01Speaker 1: you are in the living. You go where I go,
- 26:04Speaker 1: You work where I work. You make what I make,
- 26:06Speaker 1: You make the decisions I make. You take care of
- 26:09Speaker 1: the mortgage. You handle the details of this family. You
- 26:12Speaker 1: get everything in line, You make the plans. You are
- 26:14Speaker 1: in charge. You able to do that. Obviously the son
- 26:17Speaker 1: has to say no, I can't do that. That understand, Son,
- 26:20Speaker 1: You're not the dad. You're the son. That means you
- 26:24Speaker 1: answer to me. I love you, I will forever love you,
- 26:28Speaker 1: but you will not rule this home. I am the authority.
- 26:37Speaker 1: Sometimes they need illustrations that help convey this, and so
- 26:45Speaker 1: God gives him a couple of illustrations. I think Job
- 26:50Speaker 1: may have been a lover of the animal world and
- 26:53Speaker 1: something of a student of that world, and the Lord
- 26:55Speaker 1: knew that and chose a couple of animals. Got your
- 26:59Speaker 1: pen ready on you to circle two unusual words. Verse fifteen.
- 27:04Speaker 1: Behold now behemoth, circle that I know it's unclear, but
- 27:14Speaker 1: just circle it. Behold Behemoth, verse one of chapter forty one.
- 27:21Speaker 1: Circle Leviathan. Can you draw out Leviathan right about now?
- 27:30Speaker 1: You're glad you're the listener and not the preacher, aren't you,
- 27:33Speaker 1: because it would be a tough thing. And believe me,
- 27:37Speaker 1: it's not that easy to ferret out exactly where God
- 27:40Speaker 1: is going with his speech, and it is my task
- 27:43Speaker 1: to try to do that. I believe he is showing
- 27:47Speaker 1: job two animals that are at the top of the
- 27:49Speaker 1: food chain, two animals that are virtually unintimidated. They can
- 27:55Speaker 1: take care of themselves in the wild. Most every other
- 27:58Speaker 1: animal bows to them, and if they don't, they pay
- 28:01Speaker 1: a terrible price, usually their life. The Behemoth represents the
- 28:06Speaker 1: hippopotamus hippo PoTA m us. I had to look it up.
- 28:15Speaker 1: To the behemoth in those ancient days would be today
- 28:21Speaker 1: the hippopotamus, which I understand is far more dangerous and
- 28:26Speaker 1: deadly than most of us usually think of when we
- 28:29Speaker 1: think of the hippopotamus. The Leviathon is the crocodile. We'll
- 28:35Speaker 1: look at the Leviathon in a moment. We'll look first
- 28:40Speaker 1: now at the behemoth God's point. Before we get there,
- 28:45Speaker 1: God's point. Both of these beasts, though they are intimidating
- 28:49Speaker 1: to you, were made by Me and are continually subservient
- 28:54Speaker 1: to me. They have the natures I gave them. They
- 28:57Speaker 1: do precisely as I built them, or we add them
- 29:00Speaker 1: to do. And if you're unable to handle these, obviously
- 29:06Speaker 1: you're not on my level. And if you, in fact,
- 29:09Speaker 1: you're afraid of them, as job certainly must have been,
- 29:12Speaker 1: then you certainly or not what would qualify as deity.
- 29:17Speaker 1: And another reminder of the importance of submission to one
- 29:21Speaker 1: who was creator. Now behold the hippopotamus. And it's an
- 29:25Speaker 1: interesting sermon, hippopotamus and crocodiles. I dare you to tell
- 29:30Speaker 1: anybody tomorrow at work that that's what the preacher preached
- 29:33Speaker 1: on yesterday. May be a great opportunity for you to
- 29:36Speaker 1: share with them something else you'd like to say, But anyway, first,
- 29:40Speaker 1: the hippopotamus Verses fifteen to twenty four forty. I made
- 29:46Speaker 1: that animal as well, as you notice the opening, You're
- 29:50Speaker 1: both creatures very different. It walks on all fours, You
- 29:55Speaker 1: walk erect. It eats grass like an ox. You eat,
- 30:00Speaker 1: You do not eat that diet. He mentions his strength
- 30:04Speaker 1: to begin with his strengths and his loins. Sixteen through
- 30:09Speaker 1: eighteen is a reference to the strength of the hippopotamus.
- 30:12Speaker 1: The power is in his muscles. Tail is like a cedar,
- 30:16Speaker 1: picture of strength, sinews of thighs, or knit together his bones,
- 30:21Speaker 1: or tubes of bronze. This is poetry, colorful language to
- 30:26Speaker 1: illustrate this. His limbs are like bars of iron. He
- 30:31Speaker 1: is first of the ways of God. Not intriguing statement.
- 30:36Speaker 1: Probably means he's chief or the mightiest among the animals.
- 30:43Speaker 1: Other animals when they see him move away from him.
- 30:45Speaker 1: God has given him an uppermost level of authority in
- 30:50Speaker 1: among his fellow creatures. Surely the mountains bring him food,
- 30:55Speaker 1: and all the beasts of the field play there verse
- 30:57Speaker 1: twenty three. If a river, he's not alarmed. He is confident.
- 31:02Speaker 1: Though the Jordan refused rushes to his mouth. And look
- 31:06Speaker 1: at this interesting statement about capturing the hippopotamus. Can anyone
- 31:10Speaker 1: capture him when he is on watch? It's the picture
- 31:13Speaker 1: of a hunter. In those days with Barbes, it's the
- 31:17Speaker 1: idea of a spear. Can anyone pierce his nose? It
- 31:20Speaker 1: was believed in ancient days that to capture one of these,
- 31:24Speaker 1: you'd have to pierce the nose or plug it up
- 31:27Speaker 1: so that he have to open his mouth to breathe.
- 31:29Speaker 1: And when he opens his mouth he drive the javelin
- 31:32Speaker 1: or the spear into the throat. You're able to kill him,
- 31:37Speaker 1: But how rare that was? The task is piercing the
- 31:40Speaker 1: nose to begin with. Getting there, Job is listening the
- 31:47Speaker 1: whole point. Even one species of animal life is enough
- 31:50Speaker 1: to make you back down. Job. You're no match against
- 31:53Speaker 1: something this strong, this overpowering. If I yahweh am powerful
- 31:59Speaker 1: enough to create and subdue a creature this strong and intimidating,
- 32:06Speaker 1: I'm deserving of your trust, your submission, your worship. But
- 32:16Speaker 1: before Job can digest all of that, the Lord moves
- 32:20Speaker 1: on to the Leviathon. Can you draw out Leviathon with
- 32:24Speaker 1: a fish hook or press down his tongue with a cord? Now,
- 32:32Speaker 1: we who love to fish and hunt, we remember times
- 32:35Speaker 1: when we chose the size hook depending on the sized
- 32:39Speaker 1: fish we wanted to catch. Larger hook larger fish, smaller
- 32:43Speaker 1: hook usually mint, a little smaller mouth or smaller fish.
- 32:47Speaker 1: When I did a lot of fishing my younger years,
- 32:51Speaker 1: I fished my dad and my granddad both, and sometime
- 32:55Speaker 1: down the bays of South Texas we would we'd hang
- 32:58Speaker 1: a gar over saltwater. Gar. You've seen pictures of them,
- 33:03Speaker 1: some of you have even caught them or tried to.
- 33:06Speaker 1: And they tear up your tackle. I don't care how
- 33:09Speaker 1: big your hook is. Usually they'll bend the hook and
- 33:12Speaker 1: get away, or they'll tear everything up in the process. Plus,
- 33:15Speaker 1: they're no good to eat, and when you get them there,
- 33:17Speaker 1: you just throw them back in. So my dad would say,
- 33:20Speaker 1: as I thought I'd caught the biggest trout on the planet,
- 33:24Speaker 1: and the water was swirling and had had all the
- 33:28Speaker 1: signs of a huge fish that hadn't yet surfaced, he'd say, Son,
- 33:32Speaker 1: you got a guard. Just cut the line. Just cut
- 33:35Speaker 1: the line, or he's gonna tear your rod up, or
- 33:38Speaker 1: he's gonna tear your pole up. Certainly gonna tear up
- 33:40Speaker 1: the tack. We're not gonnaet him in this boat. You
- 33:42Speaker 1: tear us up, So cut the line. How much more crocodile,
- 33:47Speaker 1: that's the point. As he begins, can you draw out
- 33:50Speaker 1: a leviathon or crock with a with a fish hook?
- 33:54Speaker 1: Now this is even more fierce. Look at all the canes,
- 33:59Speaker 1: and we'll use that follow Can you put a rope
- 34:02Speaker 1: in its nose? Verse three? He has a little fun
- 34:06Speaker 1: with the subject. Will he make many supplications to you?
- 34:12Speaker 1: Will he speak to you soft words? Literally? It's an
- 34:18Speaker 1: absurd thought. Will he literally speak soft and tender things?
- 34:23Speaker 1: Do you ever have a crocodile? Give you soft little words?
- 34:27Speaker 1: And loving comments? Hi? How are you looking great today?
- 34:37Speaker 1: Makes us laugh. There's a little humor here. Verse four?
- 34:41Speaker 1: Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take
- 34:44Speaker 1: him for a servant? Will you make a pet out
- 34:46Speaker 1: of it? Will you play with him as with a bird?
- 34:50Speaker 1: We all have the parakeets or cocka teetles in mind.
- 34:54Speaker 1: Will you have a little pet twelve foot crocodile that
- 34:58Speaker 1: you've got running around the house with you? Bind him
- 35:01Speaker 1: for your maiden. It's a picture of putting a lish
- 35:03Speaker 1: around him for the daughters to have and and to
- 35:06Speaker 1: take him to school with him. The pet croc that
- 35:10Speaker 1: they that they've got makes it makes us lag. It's
- 35:12Speaker 1: supposed to. It's ludicrous. It's absurd. And he goes on
- 35:18Speaker 1: and on and on talking about his skin that you
- 35:20Speaker 1: can hardly harpoon, and the armor of their back and
- 35:24Speaker 1: the strength that's in their limbs verse twelve. And who
- 35:28Speaker 1: can strip off the armor verse thirteen and come within
- 35:31Speaker 1: his double mail? Who can? He goes on and on
- 35:34Speaker 1: and on and on till he comes to the end
- 35:36Speaker 1: verse thirty three. Nothing on earth is like him, and
- 35:42Speaker 1: I control him job this creature. Now, you know, when
- 35:49Speaker 1: I use the croc, I realize I'm working against television,
- 35:55Speaker 1: because there is on this earth this man who swims
- 35:59Speaker 1: with these socks and thinks they're the greatest thing on earth.
- 36:04Speaker 1: Late at night, he's out in this little ginghey and
- 36:06Speaker 1: he slips into the swamp with his lantern and he says,
- 36:09Speaker 1: I've lived all my life for this moment. And he
- 36:13Speaker 1: gets down in the water and he's swimming in a
- 36:15Speaker 1: swamp and he says, look at their feet, they're beautiful.
- 36:19Speaker 1: I look at the feet. I think that carry you apart.
- 36:22Speaker 1: Get out of the water. Now we all watch it.
- 36:25Speaker 1: We sitting there eating chips and sandwich, and you go, ha,
- 36:29Speaker 1: this is really great. Go for it, baby, Go get them.
- 36:33Speaker 1: You know what. He married a wife that likes him,
- 36:35Speaker 1: so he's a He's got this woman that just likes
- 36:39Speaker 1: to hang around him, and she grabs him and hugs him,
- 36:41Speaker 1: and he's never read Job forty one. It's a crocodile,
- 36:47Speaker 1: and it's not made to be a pet. It lives
- 36:50Speaker 1: in the depths, and it is ferocious. It is bloodthirsty,
- 36:54Speaker 1: it is brutal, it is a killer, but it is
- 36:57Speaker 1: submissive to God. The crocodile cannot operate outside the realm.
- 37:05Speaker 1: The parameters, the borders that God has established for the
- 37:08Speaker 1: crocodile never dawns on him to do that. He does
- 37:14Speaker 1: exactly what he was built to do. He swims because
- 37:18Speaker 1: God made him to swim, and he feeds on this
- 37:22Speaker 1: because God made him to do. He did it all,
- 37:24Speaker 1: He made it all. He owns it all. That's verse eleven.
- 37:28Speaker 1: Who has given to me that I should repay him?
- 37:31Speaker 1: Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. There's the
- 37:37Speaker 1: shakeh job your mind, your mind, you are clay in
- 37:43Speaker 1: my hands. I'm doing a great work. And trust me
- 37:49Speaker 1: in the mystery of it all. Remember I said that,
- 37:54Speaker 1: in the mystery of it all. Jove listens and as
- 38:00Speaker 1: he gets to the end of his second speech verse
- 38:04Speaker 1: thirty four, he looks on everything that is high. He's
- 38:06Speaker 1: king over all the sons of pride. Job may have
- 38:10Speaker 1: done this. I don't know that he did, but may
- 38:11Speaker 1: have put his hand up and said I've got enough.
- 38:15Speaker 1: I got it. I got it. Remember Job earlier had
- 38:23Speaker 1: said if he would come and talk with me, I
- 38:25Speaker 1: would plead my case before him. He owes me a
- 38:27Speaker 1: hearing is the implication. He owes me an audience. I mean,
- 38:32Speaker 1: after the way I've lived and look at my condition,
- 38:34Speaker 1: at least he can present himself if it'll stop. Job.
- 38:38Speaker 1: You don't give God a script, you don't dictate the
- 38:41Speaker 1: parameters of God's existence and plan. I've got it. Look
- 38:49Speaker 1: at the response. It's fabulous, he answered, and said, I
- 38:55Speaker 1: know that you can do all things. Whether it's creating
- 39:01Speaker 1: and growing the hippo or the other creatures of the
- 39:06Speaker 1: of the forest and the jungles, or or whether it's
- 39:10Speaker 1: a crocodile, or whether it's a man or a woman,
- 39:14Speaker 1: no purpose of yours can be thwarted. It's like Daniel
- 39:21Speaker 1: four thirty five. Listen, listen to this king Nebuka Nezzer,
- 39:28Speaker 1: who has suffered for years living in the field as
- 39:32Speaker 1: a wild insane man because of pride. Having finished his
- 39:39Speaker 1: years in the field, he comes to his senses and
- 39:43Speaker 1: Nebuka Nezer, says Daniel four thirty five. All the inhabitants
- 39:47Speaker 1: of the earth are is nothing, And he does according
- 39:51Speaker 1: to his will in the army of heaven and among
- 39:53Speaker 1: the inhabitants of the earth, and no one can stay
- 39:56Speaker 1: his hand or say unto him. You doing that submission,
- 40:06Speaker 1: Oh God, I may be king on this earth, but
- 40:13Speaker 1: you and I know, I don't even breathe without your
- 40:19Speaker 1: grace giving me breath. I can't move without your spirit
- 40:25Speaker 1: giving my muscles and my ability, my bones, my body,
- 40:29Speaker 1: the ability to locomote. All heaven and earth is yours.
- 40:35Speaker 1: You own it all, and nothing of yours can be thwarted.
- 40:41Speaker 1: Job asked, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?
- 40:44Speaker 1: I have declared that which I do not understand. Things
- 40:48Speaker 1: are too wonderful for me which I do not know.
- 40:52Speaker 1: I've come to the end of my understanding, and I
- 40:55Speaker 1: leave it with that. It's yours, Oh God, It's yours
- 41:00Speaker 1: to unravel the mystery, to handle the profound, strange events
- 41:04Speaker 1: of my life. By the way, God never in this passage,
- 41:09Speaker 1: or even later in the passage, tells him about the
- 41:12Speaker 1: deal between him and Satan. He leaves Job in the
- 41:16Speaker 1: mystery of it, and Job simply acknowledges his inability to
- 41:22Speaker 1: understand why. But there's never a fist in his words.
- 41:28Speaker 1: How dare you do this to me? There's a broken
- 41:33Speaker 1: and contriste spirit, he says, I've heard you by the
- 41:40Speaker 1: hearing of the ear, and now my eye seese you,
- 41:42Speaker 1: and oh, I take back so much of what I said,
- 41:49Speaker 1: and I repent. I repent. Years ago, Cynthia and I
- 41:58Speaker 1: were friends with a wonderful family who was made up
- 42:04Speaker 1: of a dad and a mom and three sons. A
- 42:08Speaker 1: son was greatly gifted intellectually and musically, took up the
- 42:12Speaker 1: violin and was a splendid young violinist. The father had
- 42:18Speaker 1: earlier in his high school years with the boy, had
- 42:20Speaker 1: some trouble with the boy's spirit of submission. But you
- 42:24Speaker 1: know how you'll do with your gifted children. You'll give
- 42:27Speaker 1: them room or give them slack. And the boy decided
- 42:31Speaker 1: when he came to college age that he would go
- 42:33Speaker 1: to school on the West Coast chose a renowned university.
- 42:38Speaker 1: The father paid the full tuition, and the boy began
- 42:44Speaker 1: got with a tough crowd, continued his musicianship, found a
- 42:48Speaker 1: place in the school's orchestra, as I recall, if not first,
- 42:52Speaker 1: chairs soon to be. And while he was there he
- 42:57Speaker 1: picked up a surly independent spirit. And he came back
- 43:05Speaker 1: home at the summertime, at the end of his first year.
- 43:08Speaker 1: And it wasn't long before mom and Dad and by
- 43:10Speaker 1: now brothers realized they've got a real hellion on their hands.
- 43:17Speaker 1: He's bright, he's gifted. He's also stubborn. He's arrogant, conceited.
- 43:24Speaker 1: The family harmony was being disrupted, and the father, late
- 43:30Speaker 1: one afternoon, had had enough. He called the boy in,
- 43:34Speaker 1: called his name and said sit down. He said, everything
- 43:39Speaker 1: that you have is mine. I bought every stitch of
- 43:45Speaker 1: clothing in your closet. Your car that's in our garage
- 43:50Speaker 1: is mine. The money in your pocket came from my account.
- 44:00Speaker 1: I want you to leave everything in this house, and
- 44:03Speaker 1: I want you to get out. You leave the money,
- 44:09Speaker 1: You leave the car. Oh, by the way, the violin.
- 44:11Speaker 1: You leave the violin. I bought that instrument. You leave
- 44:16Speaker 1: everything that you possess. I'll let you keep the clothes
- 44:20Speaker 1: on your back and the shoes on your feet. You
- 44:25Speaker 1: get out when you are ready to change your mind
- 44:31Speaker 1: and come back into this place as a family member.
- 44:35Speaker 1: You need to know we accept you and would love
- 44:38Speaker 1: to have you back, but you're not the boy that
- 44:42Speaker 1: I raised, and I'm putting up with it no longer.
- 44:49Speaker 1: Father told me that the boy turned on his heels,
- 44:53Speaker 1: put the money right there on the table, left everything,
- 44:57Speaker 1: and walked out the door, took a left and got
- 45:01Speaker 1: about three blocks, and he had a massive education between
- 45:06Speaker 1: the front door of his house and about the third
- 45:11Speaker 1: block at the curb. And he said he stood there
- 45:15Speaker 1: with his hands in his pockets, thinking through as night
- 45:21Speaker 1: was falling the elements he would be facing the street
- 45:25Speaker 1: life about which he knew nothing, and everything back home
- 45:33Speaker 1: which he needed and longed for. He turned around, came
- 45:39Speaker 1: to the door, knocked on his own front door. Dad
- 45:47Speaker 1: opened the door with Moms standing near, and then came
- 45:53Speaker 1: the words, I'm wrong, I'm sorry, arms of embracing. Probably
- 46:03Speaker 1: the brothers were thinking, who's going to get his room?
- 46:05Speaker 1: You know how brothers are. But as I recall that
- 46:10Speaker 1: evening there was a dinner together as there was a
- 46:13Speaker 1: sense of the return of another young man. I'm not
- 46:20Speaker 1: through with the subject, but I need to stop here.
- 46:27Speaker 1: It is all about God, men and women. It is
- 46:32Speaker 1: all about our God. Your business is about our God.
- 46:40Speaker 1: Your family is about our God. Everything you say you possess,
- 46:46Speaker 1: he owns. Every privilege you enjoy is granted, none of
- 46:53Speaker 1: it deserved. We don't get it. We don't get it
- 46:59Speaker 1: until we are faced with these impossible moments that level
- 47:06Speaker 1: us and we finally begin to emerge as a people
- 47:17Speaker 1: of God. We don't lose any of our giftedness, we
- 47:21Speaker 1: don't lose any of our sense of ability. In fact,
- 47:24Speaker 1: it's enhanced. And the beautiful thing to witness is this
- 47:30Speaker 1: still stronghearted person who is surrendered and humble, with a
- 47:39Speaker 1: broken and contrite spirit, entertaining no grudges, making no demands,
- 47:48Speaker 1: having no expectations, offering no conditions, anticipating no favors. We
- 47:58Speaker 1: repent before our God, and the marvelous thing he begins
- 48:06Speaker 1: to use us in the most amazing ways. Because the
- 48:11Speaker 1: world doesn't see that kind of combination very often. I
- 48:18Speaker 1: so want you to be one of those people. Job
- 48:24Speaker 1: finally gets it. The result is blessing after blessing, double blessings,
- 48:35Speaker 1: double blessings, and he dies an old man full of days.
- 48:42Speaker 1: The last verse of the book says, let's bow our heads,
- 48:49Speaker 1: let's close their eyes. I don't know who's shaking your shoulders.
- 48:55Speaker 1: Somebody probably is. Think of it, if you will, as
- 49:00Speaker 1: the Lord. I'm not talking about yielding to abuse and molestation.
- 49:06Speaker 1: That's not in my subject today. Please don't rush there.
- 49:10Speaker 1: I'm talking about giving up rights that we're not your
- 49:13Speaker 1: rights to begin with, They're God's rights. I'm not talking
- 49:17Speaker 1: about defending our country. This is not that subject. This
- 49:20Speaker 1: is about a very personal relationship with the God who
- 49:24Speaker 1: made us, who is trying in every possible way to
- 49:28Speaker 1: get our attention to give up the fight, to learn
- 49:33Speaker 1: to say yes, sir, no, sir, I agree with you, Sir.
- 49:41Speaker 1: I bow before you as the servant. You are my master,
- 49:46Speaker 1: Oh God. If it is your pleasure, use me. If
- 49:52Speaker 1: it is not, take me, if that would bring more
- 49:55Speaker 1: honor to you, I exist for you. If you've never
- 50:02Speaker 1: come to the Lord Jesus Christ, of course this sounds
- 50:06Speaker 1: absurd to you. It's the most impossible suggestion you could
- 50:10Speaker 1: ever sit through and endure, because you've not made the
- 50:13Speaker 1: first commitment of submission, that you can't save yourself. If
- 50:19Speaker 1: you were to die tonight, nothing in your person would
- 50:22Speaker 1: deserve heaven or would cause God to graciously provide you
- 50:29Speaker 1: with forgiveness and eternity with him. Your sins separate you
- 50:34Speaker 1: from Him, and you know it. So begin by coming
- 50:39Speaker 1: first to Christ. And because most of us have done that,
- 50:44Speaker 1: I say to all of us who remain, you may
- 50:48Speaker 1: very well be at that crossroads where it's time to say,
- 50:53Speaker 1: I surrender, I give up the fight, I repent, I
- 51:01Speaker 1: release my rights for God to do with me, however
- 51:06Speaker 1: he may be pleased to do. It's our great desire,
- 51:13Speaker 1: our Father, to live a life that is wholly committed
- 51:21Speaker 1: to you. We still are on this earth, We still
- 51:25Speaker 1: must connect with other earthlings. We still have a life
- 51:29Speaker 1: to live here for as long as you would grant us.
- 51:33Speaker 1: But we long to be your men and women, living
- 51:38Speaker 1: and moving among this world that has long since lost
- 51:42Speaker 1: its direction. I pray that you will use these words halting,
- 51:50Speaker 1: though they have been at times, these simple words, these
- 51:54Speaker 1: examples from your book, to stop us in our track
- 51:58Speaker 1: and make us realize how arrogant and conceded we have become,
- 52:05Speaker 1: and how wholly dependent we are upon you for forgiveness,
- 52:09Speaker 1: for the ability to go on with our lives. I
- 52:15Speaker 1: pray that you would set apart a handful of men
- 52:18Speaker 1: and women who now truly grasp this change their whole direction.
- 52:25Speaker 1: I pray so that a difference will be made where
- 52:28Speaker 1: they work, where they play, among their family members, and
- 52:38Speaker 1: most importantly, in the quietness of their own hearts. Give
- 52:42Speaker 1: them a blessed relief and release of their wills to yours.
- 52:52Speaker 1: And then may we know the joy of a renewed
- 52:55Speaker 1: life lived truly for your greater glory. Now, our Father,
- 53:05Speaker 1: I commit to you and to your power and grace
- 53:08Speaker 1: we who have been a part of this worship time.
- 53:13Speaker 1: I pray that you will begin the process of change
- 53:17Speaker 1: even this day, and may it never cease until we
- 53:23Speaker 1: see your son face to face, whom, having not seen,
- 53:27Speaker 1: we love, in whom, though now we see him not
- 53:31Speaker 1: yet believing, we rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full
- 53:35Speaker 1: of glory in his great name. I pray, and all
- 53:41Speaker 1: God's people said Amen. The preceding message, Full Repentance for
- 53:49Speaker 1: all the Right Reasons, was copyrighted in two thousand and two,
- 53:52Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty ten by
- 53:55Speaker 1: Charles Rswindall, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.