Podcasts about job god

In chapter 18 of the Book of Job, Bildad speaks, reminding Job God punishes the wicked. These three friends are supposedly counseling Job, but much of it is hurtful. Are you helpful or hurtful when counseling your friends?

What if God loves you enough to permit suffering to redefine parts of your life? What if the worst this world can do is open the door to God's presence so that you know Him better? These are just a few of the lessons from the book of Job.

Job is zeker niet één van de makkelijkste boeken om te lezen, maar wel één van de meest intrigerende. Misschien is het jammer dat wij de Bijbel in onze eigen taal moeten lezen en dat niet in het oorspronkelijke Hebreeuws kunnen. De grondtekst is namelijk prachtig poëtisch. De boodschap is ook erg sterk, want de vraagstukken die naar voren komen in het boek Job zijn vragen die vandaag de dag nog veel worden gesteld. De hamvraag is: waarom is er lijden in de wereld? En daaraan gekoppeld: als er lijden is, kan God dan wel goed en liefdevol zijn? Uniek inkijkje in de hemel Het verhaal van Job speelt zich af ergens in de periode van Genesis in een land ver van Israël. Job is dan ook geen Israëliet. Job is een goede man, een soort Noach. Hij is rechtschapen, onberispelijk, heeft ontzag voor God en mijdt het kwaad. Hij leefde zoals God dat van de mens verlangt. God zegent hem rijkelijk met een vrouw, zeven zonen, drie dochters, vee en allerlei andere bezittingen. Na deze introductie van Job, krijgen we plotseling een uniek inkijkje in de hemel. We zien hoe God zijn engelen om zich heen verzamelt. Er is één wezen bij dat wij meestal ‘de duivel noemen'. Zijn naam wordt hier niet genoemd, maar de auteur van het boek noemt hem ‘satan'. Dat betekent ‘aanklager'. God vraagt aan satan of hij tijdens zijn ronde op aarde ook Job heeft gezien. Deze boze engel grijpt zijn kans om Job in de problemen te brengen. “Natuurlijk eert hij U”, zegt hij tegen God. “U geeft hem immers zoveel. Als U dat van hem afpakt, zal hij U vervloeken.” God lijkt zich te laten uitlokken. Hij geeft satan de vrije hand om alles van Job af te pakken, inclusief zijn kinderen, zo lang hij maar niet aan Job zelf komt. Dat leidt onmiddellijk tot een groot dilemma: waarom doet God dit? Is het lijden van de mens een spelletje voor de Heer? Als lezer wil je snel verder om te kijken hoe deze vragen worden beantwoord. Een week zwijgen Maar Job zondigt niet. Tenminste, niet meteen. ‘De Heer heeft gegeven, de Heer heeft genomen. Geprezen zij de naam van de Heer', is Jobs beroemdste uitspraak. Zijn vrouw moedigt Job aan God te vervloeken. Hij weigert. Liever aanvaart hij het kwade. Dan komen vier vrienden op bezoek. Als ze het leed zien, zwijgen ze een week lang. Dat is de introductie van het boek. Of ze letterlijk zwegen of wel spraken maar niet over wat Job was overkomen, weet ik niet. Maar na die zeven dagen kan Job zich niet langer inhouden. Hij vervloekt de dag dat hij is geboren. Vanaf dat moment ontspint zich een lange discussie tussen Job en zijn vrienden. Drie vragen staan centraal: 1) Heeft God een rechtvaardig karakter? 2) Heerst God op basis van rechtvaardigheid? 3) Als God rechtvaardig is en heerst op basis van rechtvaardigheid, waarom moet Job dan lijden? In de oudheid gingen mensen ervan uit dat als je goed deed, de goden je zouden belonen en als je kwaad deed, dat je daarvoor gestraft zou worden. Job wordt dan ook boos als zijn ‘vrienden' zeggen dat hij wel moet hebben gezondigd. Hij houdt vol dat hij onschuldig is en zijn leed niet is omdat God hem straft. Dat klopt ook, want de Bijbel introduceert Job als een rechtvaardig persoon die kwaad mijdt en God eert. Hopen op het goede Op een gegeven moment wordt Job de discussie met zijn vrienden zo zat dat hij zich in al zijn emoties rechtstreeks tot God richt. Hij zegt dat hij deze God niet meer herkent. ‘Ik hoopte op het goede, maar het kwade kwam.' Hij houdt vol dat hij volstrekt onschuldig is en daagt God uit rechtstreeks tot hem te spreken. Nu pas begint de jongste vriend te spreken. Deze Elihu maakt een punt dat nog niet eerder is genoemd door Job en de andere mannen. Hij zegt dat het lijden misschien niet is vanwege zonden die al begaan zijn, maar om mensen te waarschuwen die in de toekomst wellicht zullen zondigen. Of misschien gebruikt God het lijden wel om mensen sterker te maken. Elihu geeft toe dat hij niet weet waarom deze rampspoed Job getroffen heeft. Hij is er wel van overtuigd dat Job God niet mag beschuldigen. ‘Heb jij de zon wel eens laten opkomen?' Dit is het einde van het debat. Job reageert niet meer en het lijkt erop dat de mens het mysterie van het lijden niet kan ontrafelen. Dan, in hoofdstuk 38, verschijnt God opeens zelf. Vanuit een heftige storm spreekt hij met Job. Je verwacht en hoopt dat God nu eindelijk zal uitleggen waarom Hij de satan toestond vrijwel alles van Job af te pakken. God doet dat niet. Eerst roept hij Job ter verantwoording, zoals Job dat zelf eerder bij God deed. God laat Job de grootsheid van het heelal zien en bevraagt hem over de schepping van het universum en de orde die God heeft aangebracht. ‘Kun jij dat ook, Job?', zegt God feitelijk. ‘Heb jij de zon wel eens laten opkomen?' God vuurt een eindeloze reeks van dit soort vragen op Job af, zodat Job beseft hoe klein hij is en hoe groot God is. Wie is Job dus om God in het beklaagdenbankje te zetten en te bepalen hoe Hij de kosmos moet leiden? Misschien moet Job maar de zondaren straffen op het moment dat ze in overtreding gaan? God zegt hier met zoveel woorden dat het niet zo makkelijk is om altijd maar recht te spreken, elke goede daad te belonen en elke slechte daad te bestraffen. De werkelijkheid is veel complexer. Job wilde dat God verantwoording af zou leggen. Dat doet God niet. Hij legt niet uit dat Hij een gesprek had gevoerd met satan en dus ook niet waarom Job zo moest lijden. In plaats daarvan vraagt God aan Job om Hem te vertrouwen. Job toont berouw en vraagt vergeving. God zegt dan dat Job juist gesproken heeft. Dat is gek, want eerder nog zagen we duidelijk dat Job God onterecht beschuldigde. Ondanks dat Hij Job fors terechtwees, is God blijkbaar niet boos op Job. Hij lijkt juist blij dat Job in gebed met Hem heeft geworsteld. God beloont trouw De vrienden krijgen nog wel de wind van voren. Ze moeten offers brengen en Job moet voor hen bidden. Job is blijkbaar in de positie om dat te doen. Hij is gebroken, heeft zijn fouten toegegeven en vergeving gekregen. Nu kan hij bidden voor de vrienden. En nadat hij dat heeft gedaan, herstelt God zijn dienaar. Hij krijgt opnieuw zeven zonen en drie dochters en vergaart opnieuw een enorme rijkdom, het dubbele van wat hij had. Dit is een belofte. Wie toegeeft de wijsheid niet in pacht te hebben, wie niet op eigen kracht vertrouwt, wie zijn zonden toegeeft maar gelooft in God zal door Hem rijkelijk worden beloond. Misschien niet in dit leven, maar zeker na de dood.

Scrump and Drew talk about the music of; Mario, Nelly, Tim McGraw, Mac DeMarco, God's Hate, Sum 41, Amigo the Devil, Jimmy Eat World, Knocked Loose, and more! Let Me Love You-Mario Over and Over-Nelly ft Tim McGraw Moonlight on the River-Mac DeMarco Finish the Job-God's Hate The Hell Song-Sum 41 Hell and You-Amigo the Devil Futures-Jimmy Eat World Permanent-Knocked Loose Special thanks to Bert Kreischer for the outro.   Patreon Merchandise   Social Media: Twitter Instagram 

God is Sovereign over all. He is the creator of all and gets to have his say over it. How does God's Sovereignty affect you? Listen as we continue in the book of Job

"He uncovers deep things out of the darkness..." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wordofgod/support

JOB | God Answering From the Whirlwind with Pastor Josef Massanari September 8, 2024 Visit us online https://www.cornerstonelv.com https://www.facebook.com/lvcornerstone  https://www.instagram.com/cornerstone_lv/

"Truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God?" --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wordofgod/support

In the third and final message from our Job series, Ps Joel Hawting encourages us to remember that while we're not in control of our lives, God is and this is good news for us - especially as we face challenges and suffer in this life. Joel also invites Laura Hawting to share a powerful personal testimony about how God has been good to their family as they endured a personal tragedy.

Nick explores Job's situation at the conclusion of the book: confronted with very real suffering and very hard questions, can we simply trust Him?

Justin discusses Elihu's closing statements and God's appearance in Job's story, specifically God's presentation of the vastness of the universe and Himself as its own justification.

In this teaching, Pastor Dobbs examines the conversation and the events that took place in Job's life. We look at Job's response and can we be like the servant Job when we go through trials and tribulations as Spirit Led Saints! Hit the notification bell so that you do not miss our most recent video. From your mobile device, to sow a financial seed into the ministry you may visit us at occvr.org and click the menu tab to locate the donate button. The donate button will provide two options for online giving. You may utilize “Text To Give” in which you will text “give” to the phone number 770-692-2225 to setup your monthly gift or one time financial gift. The additional method for online giving is simply click on the paypal “donate” button. Thanks to our generous partners in ministry, we are able to continue spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our local and foreign outreach ministries. For further information on Overcomers Christian Center including address, service times, and other information please visit occvr.org. Also you may visit us at the following: Facebook: @occvr Podcast: The Overcomers

In this teaching, Pastor Dobbs examines the conversation and the events that took place in Job's life. We look at Job's response and can we be like the servant Job when we go through trials and tribulations as Spirit Led Saints! Join us online: OCCVR.org

God told Satan that Job was His minister. It would seem that this helped him to survive and thrive after his horrendous trial. In this teaching, Pastor Dobbs examines what it takes to be considered God's minister. Hit the notification bell so that you do not miss our most recent video. From your mobile device, to sow a financial seed into the ministry you may visit us at occvr.org and click the menu tab to locate the donate button. The donate button will provide two options for online giving. You may utilize “Text To Give” in which you will text “give” to the phone number 770-692-2225 to setup your monthly gift or one time financial gift. The additional method for online giving is simply click on the paypal “donate” button. Thanks to our generous partners in ministry, we are able to continue spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our local and foreign outreach ministries. For further information on Overcomers Christian Center including address, service times, and other information please visit occvr.org. Also you may visit us at the following: Facebook: @occvr Podcast: The Overcomers

God told Satan that Job was His minister. It would seem that this helped him to survive and thrive after his horrendous trial. In this teaching, Pastor Dobbs examines what it takes to be considered God's minister. Join us online: OCCVR.org

Sunday we will try to start returning to our regular pattern and to do that we will look back on what just happened. This will be a slightly more personal than usual but still very textual sermon. Read Job 10, Psalm 23, and Psalm 46, and see you Sunday.

Pastor Kjay preached

Believing my job is a sacred duty to God gives me a good attitude.  

On todays show James, Pastor Chris, Texas Jim and Glenn talk about Gen 39 v 3  Joesph   Gospel = Good news   Old and New Testament are consistent  Turbulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world   Are we diligently seeking the Lord  Psalms 34:15  Christianity is not a religion of Karma  Job what happened to him  First must be sanctified if you have money  Book of Malachi about tithes.  Prosperity tested = Job  God was with Yosef or Joseph  Action oriented Christianity " to Love God is to follow his commands"  If we put anything above Christianity are we giving to the church  Ephesians 6   Praying together daily at home.  Communism will not be defeated on twitter.  Pray for Texas. 

Job - God's power shown in creatures. Job's confession. God restores Job's fortunes. Matthew - Pharisees test Jesus. Peter's confession of Christ. Jesus foretells his death. Discipleship is costly.

Episode 230 – Seriousness of Sin – Part 9 – Sin, Out of Bounds Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Romans, Chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, New International Version ******** VK: Hi! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. We’re glad to be with you today on Anchored by Truth. This is the 9th episode in a series we are calling “The Seriousness of Sin.” As the name implies we are taking a detailed look at sin and we have covered a lot of important ground. We have talked about the consequences of sin both in this world and in eternity to come. We’ve discussed the reality and nature of hell. And a few episodes ago we began talking about how seriously God treats sin. For instance, have you ever realized that man lost paradise and introduced death into creation just by committing one sin in the Garden of Eden? Moreover, God destroyed almost all life on earth in a flood that encompassed the whole world because of sin. All that sounds pretty serious to me. So, in today’s episode we’re going to begin our wrap up. To do that, we have RD Fierro in the studio. RD is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, you said that today you want to talk about sin as being “out-of-bounds.” What do you mean by that? RD: Well, I was having an email exchange with Doug Apple who is the manager of the WAVE 94 radio station in Tallahassee. Doug is a very thoughtful and mature Christian and I’m always impressed with the quality of his insight and observations. Doug said this to me in an email. “Once you throw out the notion of God the Creator, who created creation with a certain way of working, you are in trouble. He told us what works and what doesn't. He set up boundaries for us, and things outside the boundaries are called sin... and things outside the boundaries don't work right. If we are paying attention and connect the dots, we can see that things outside the boundaries are problematic.” VK: Hmmmm. That is an interesting insight. Doug is making a very important point. God set the boundaries for all of creation when he made everything. I’m reminded of Job, chapter 38, verses 8 through 11 when God said to Job, “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, …, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?” That’s from the New International Version. Doug is noting that, just as God set boundaries for the physical forces of nature, God also set boundaries for human behavior. RD: Yes. Doug’s point is not only insightful but powerful. Our nation, and much of the world today, is obsessed with sports. I don’t think I can think of a single sport that does not have boundaries of some sort that must be respected by the competitors. Go “out of bounds,” – beyond the prescribed limits – and there is some kind of negative consequence including an outright loss of the game or contest. Football, baseball, and soccer fields have sidelines and you have to stay within the sidelines for the play to be legal. Golf courses have penalties if you hit a ball out of bounds. Even sports that don’t have sidelines or spatial boundaries will have time limits for getting the shot off or making a move. I’d go so far as to say there is no sport that doesn’t have boundaries of one kind or another. VK: And players who violate those boundaries get penalized in some way. They lose the ball, have points taken away, lose a turn, etc. Something negative happens when they violate the boundaries. The creator of the sport is the one who set the original boundaries. Now, the boundaries may change from time to time, but even when they do the players are obligated to stay within the boundaries or they will lose. RD: Right. And I think that that’s one of the great points that we see from Doug’s observation. As we have been saying since the beginning of this series sin is dangerous. It is so dangerous that we need to not flirt with it or pretend that somehow we are exempt from the perils of sin. When we tamper with sin, we lose. And, as with our sports metaphor, if one player flouts the boundaries it may cost the whole team the game. In life we are hardly ever playing just for ourselves. We are almost always part of a team – a family, a company, a church, a community, or a nation. If we routinely and impenitently sin, we’re not the only one who is going to lose. Many others are going to lose – sometimes a great many others. So, as we begin our wrap up I think Doug’s observation helps us summarize many of the points we have wanted to make in this series. VK: Where do you want to start? RD: Well, let’s return briefly to the story we discussed on our last episode of Anchored by Truth – to one of the most serious examples in the Bible of how seriously God treats sin. VK: In our last episode of Anchored by Truth we discussed the story we find in the book of Genesis about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And we focused on the central human figure of the story, the patriarch Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Lot lived in Sodom until the day before the destruction of the cities. He only survived because God sent two angels to Lot to warn Lot to get his family out of the city. Most of Lot’s family members ignored the warning and died in the destruction. Even Lot’s wife looked back as she was leaving the city with Lot and two of her daughters and she turned into a pillar of salt. Lot and his two youngest daughters could have returned to Abraham’s camp because his camp was not that far away. Genesis, chapter 19, verses 27 and 28 tells us, “Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.” That’s from the New International Version also. RD: Right. Lot could have taken his two young daughters and asked for refuge from his uncle, Abraham. Throughout that part of Genesis we see that Abraham had great fondness for Lot and would gladly have taken him in. If Lot had gone to Abraham he could have settled in Abraham’s camp and when the time came it’s quite likely his daughters would have found future husbands from either relatives or friends. But Lot didn’t. He tried to settle in another one of the cities near the Jordan River but that didn’t work. It’s likely the residents of the nearby cities thought of Lot and his daughters as being cursed since they came from cities who had so obviously been destroyed by God. So, Lot and his daughters wound up living in a cave where his daughters became desperate they would never have families of their own. Their desperation led them to get their father drunk and commit incest with him. VK: We hear from Genesis, chapter 19, verses 36 through 38 that, “So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.” RD: And the Moabites and Ammonites would both become competitors and enemies of Israel in the coming decades and centuries. One of the points that we made in our last episode was that sin induces people to make bad decisions. VK: And, more often than not, one bad decision leads to others. Lot’s original decision to seek the easy life down by the Jordan River led him to the point of losing everything he owned and just about everyone that he loved. But, even worse, his poor decision making lead to his daughters making sinful decisions of their own. If Lot had at least fled to Abraham perhaps his daughters would not have crafted their own desperately sinful plan. RD: Right. Part of the reason that sin is so dangerous is that a sinful decision often seems to lead us to some form of pleasure. The first time a young person takes a drink they get the “buzz.” They enjoy feeling less inhibited; more relaxed, and seem able to enjoy things. But if they drink enough they lose the good feelings and go straight to being drunk and out of control. And then they experience pain and anguish when they’re not drinking. Living in sin, as Lot lived in Sodom, makes you available for destruction. In sports, the players who make their plays closet to the lines give us the most thrills. But if the game is on the line one inch outside the line may mean the difference in the game, the season, or a career. A good golfer doesn’t try to see how close to the out of bounds marker he or she can hit a drive. They try to keep their shots in the middle of the fairway. VK: Engaging in sin often brings an initial sense of pleasure. The pain comes later and it always comes. The thrill of gambling a little can turn into financial ruin. The first drug use makes people high. But continued use will destroy their bodies, relationships, careers, and even result in death. Drinking leads to drunk driving and potentially prison. The early pleasure is replaced by the lasting pain. And, as Doug observed, God built us and the system that way. The pain sin brings tells us that we are going over the boundary of where God wants us to be. If we live life in the middle of the fairway, we will not only score well we will be safe. RD: Yes. Once man committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden, God began to do at least two things simultaneously. He initiated a plan for the redemption of those of Adam and Eve’s descendants that would trust in God and not in themselves for salvation. And God set into place consequences for sin that would restrain man’s new longing for sin. VK: We talked about that in the 6th episode in this series. After the first sin God cursed the ground so now Adam and Eve had to struggle to get enough food for themselves and their family. Part of the reason God made Adam have to spend more time supplying their food was because that reduced the amount of time and energy he would have on mischief. And now that death was a possibility for them they needed a routine that would help them stay in good physical condition. Working to grow food would certainly be better for them physically than if they were able to get all they needed without doing anything. We tend to think of hard physical labor as being a curse but the need to work for their food probably established some beneficial habit in Adam and Eve and their family RD: Exactly. Engaging in sin means that we are leaving the boundaries established for us just as he established the limits for the sea. In the book of Job God said that and “set [the sea’s] doors and bars in place.” God said to the sea, “This far you may come and no farther.” God says that to us in many different ways. He said that to us verbally in the Ten Commandments. He says that to us emotionally in our guilt and experiences of remorse and regret. He even says that to us physically when we drink to excess and get a hangover or we take illegal drugs and we see our bodies wasting away. God has prescribed boundaries for human behavior and he has ways of telling us that we are going out of bounds. VK: C.S. Lewis famously said, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. We are most keenly aware of God's character in our suffering. It is when our self-sufficiency is peeled away that we see how weak we really are.” RD: Just as all sports have boundaries, so does life. We can go so far as to say that without boundaries there can be no game. At best there might be some sort of play, but there would certainly be no possibility for meaningful sports contests. And another point that we can see in Doug’s observation is that when we sin we are, in effect, attempting to cheat. We are not only cheating God but we are also cheating ourselves. VK: I like that. When we sin we are engaging in a form of cheating. There’s an old story that a minister once asked a young boy what he thought God was like. The boy replied “I think he’s the kind of fellow who tries to go about and see if anyone is having fun, and if they are, he stops them.” A lot of people think God is like that. Far too many people in our day and age think of sin as being fun and pleasurable while being obedient to God is dull and boring. RD: And, again, that is a good illustration of how dangerous sin is. I would never say that sin and Satan aren’t good at marketing. They are. But, as with all things that oppose God, the marketing is deceptive and deceitful. Sin and Satan promise pleasure but, in the end, always deliver only pain and misery. The married person who engages in a little flirting and then proceeds to adultery will initially find the adultery exciting and thrilling. But adultery will destroy marriages, terrify children, and decimate lives and careers. Contrary to what we see on TV and in movies adultery is never a good solution to people’s unhappiness. At first, it’s exciting. Sin always wants us to think short term. But God always wants us to build for eternity. VK: Sin is a way of trying to cheat to get a better life. Someone wants more money to buy better things but rather than work for it and wait for it, they steal from their employer. They might steal a little at first but as time goes by they steal more and more because they will find their hunger for the so-called “better things” is never fully satisfied. They try to cheat their way to prosperity. Someone wants to feel better after they’ve had a bad day at work. So, they stop at the bar and have “a few drinks” to relax. But one night turns into many and that turns into a habit that steals their money and time from taking care of their home and their family. They’re trying to find an easy way to find peace and joy so they cheat using alcohol. We could go on and on with examples but I don’t think we need to. Sinning is trying to cheat at life just as a player may try to cheat to get a better score or unfair advantage. RD: And, again, our consciences will clearly tell us that the sin, just like cheating, is wrong. But there is a problem. After the fall our consciences have been seared and they no longer operate the way they should. So, while our consciences are helpful to alerting us to sin they are not infallible. VK: But the Bible is infallible, isn’t it? That’s how we start every episode of Anchored by Truth – with the declaration that the Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. That means that when we inform our conscience with the truth present in the Bible we can place more trust in our conscience to be a reliable guide to alerting us that we are sinning. Our conscience will still not be perfect but, by regular and consistent exposure to God’s truth we can train our consciences. And such training will help us be more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit to help us notice and combat the sin that ensnares us so easily. RD: Well, before we close today there is one more point that I think we can glean from Doug’s insight. We have been talking about the importance of boundaries in sports and how it’s impossible to win without staying within those boundaries. But sports is not the only place we find boundaries. When people buy houses or other real property they often have a survey of the property done so they know what the boundaries of the property are. VK: People want to know the boundaries of their property because that tells them where they may safely and legally build. And they want to find out whether anyone has violated those boundaries so they can seek compensation or remediation. RD: And before a fixed-wing or helicopter pilot ever sits behind a control stick or wheel in a cockpit they spend hours in class studying things that don’t seem very glamorous. The study oil pressure, hydraulic pressure, bank and turn rates, the revolutions per minute of engines, etc. The reason they do that is a pilot needs to know the safe operating limits and levels of their aircraft. VK: Because a pilot who does not understand the performance “envelope” of their aircraft is a danger to their passengers, crew, the aircraft and themselves. RD: Exactly. So, we can see that there is another very valuable purpose that is served by people understanding that sinful behavior is “out of bounds.” Sinful behavior is unsafe. Remember Doug’s observation. “[God] created creation with a certain way of working, ... He told us what works and what doesn't. He set up boundaries for us, and things outside the boundaries are called sin.” A pilot studies the acceptable performance parameters of their aircraft so they will know how to operate that aircraft safely. A property owner needs to know the boundaries of their property so they don’t run the risk of loss by building something that might have to be moved or torn down. And the property owner studies the boundaries to be sure their own property rights haven’t been violated. VK: I see where you are going with this thought. Boundaries not only make legitimate sports possible they also keep us safe in other areas of life. As we age we learn that our bodies have their own boundaries. We need to keep our weight below certain levels. We need to get adequate rest. We need to be careful lifting heavy objects or working outside when it is too hot or too cold. When we start to exceed the natural boundaries of our bodies we jeopardize our health and longevity. When you think about it, boundaries are present just about everywhere we turn. Our bank accounts only have so much money in them and the range of our cars is limited by how much gas the tank holds and how many miles they get per gallon. RD: We live in a physical creation and boundaries, limits, are an integral part of that creation. As Doug observed when God designed creation He designed the boundaries for all the parts of creation, including the boundaries of our planet’s features … VK: As God reminded Job in the quote we heard earlier... RD: And as the Apostle Paul reminded the church at Rome which we heard in our opening scripture. The law that was given to Israel contained a detailed description of what was permissible and what was not permissible for their behavior. When God gave the ancient Israelites the law God was simply drawing specific boundaries for them just as he had long ago drawn the boundaries for the physical structure of the heavens and the earth. VK: What you are saying is that despite our science fiction and fantasy movies we human beings do not and cannot control the reality in which we live. Boundaries are a simple fact of the created order. They are in the physical creation. And they are for the creature that God created in His own image. And we disregard those boundaries at our own peril. RD: And that’s the point. The Apostle Paul told the Roman church that regardless of whether they were Jews or Gentiles – whether they had grown up knowing the specific content of the Hebrew law – the law, the limits still governed their behavior. Those who chose to sin were outside God’s designated boundaries and being beyond those boundaries meant that they became unrighteous. And God designed the whole system to warn us about the consequences of such unrighteousness. The ultimate consequence of remaining unrighteous is, of course, to spend an eternity in hell. But God has given us a lot of warnings in our present world to avoid that fate. VK: As C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: [pain] is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Sin is fundamentally wrong because it is rebellion against God. But it is also wrong because it a form of cheating in this life and it puts us and our families in danger. Doug has made such an important point. God didn’t design His creation to curtail our fun. That’s the lie the devil propagates. God put boundaries in creation to show us how to live safe, joyful, and fulfilling lives. We can either believe that God loves us and respect those boundaries. Or, we can fall for the devil’s lies and try to cheat our way to a life that will promise pleasure but only deliver pain. We have the free will to choose to do it God’s way or the devil’s way. There is no middle ground when it comes to sin. And, as we saw in our episode on Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s road to loss and devastation began with one sinful choice. It has been said that “most people learn from experience but wise people learn from the experience of others.” This sounds like a great time to pray. In our last episode we listened to a prayer for our school age children who are face challenges with taking tests. We certainly hope they don’t cheat – ever. Today, let’s listen to a prayer for the school boards who oversee the education of children. Their duty is extremely important. Let’s pray they don’t cheat by trying to impart sinful ideas into schools and curricula. ---- PRAYER FOR SCHOOL BOARDS (RANNI) VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Opening Bible Quote from the New International Version) Romans, Chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, New International Version

Where would we be without the book of Job  God is working on something on something bigger  Today is the day of salvation  You will never out give God 

July 16, 2023, The Rev. Dr. Brian Lays, Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Job 28

Jazz Shaw writes for HotAir.com.  He joins Michele to talk about Joe Biden's re-election campaign, why the President should take a cognitive test, and the war on merit being waged under this administration.  PS: This is the final episode of “Sideline Sanity.”  Michele will explain.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Job: God gives a description of the leviathan to convince Job of his weakness before it and of God's power being mightier than all. Job humbly repents, his friends are corrected for their wrong view of God and is commanded to make sacrifices for them for pardon. Job is restored to twice his previous state. Matthew: Jesus warns of the disciples of the destructive teachings of the pharisees. Peter identifies Jesus as The Messiah, Jesus agrees and acknowledges that He is The Messiah and must go to Jerusalem, suffer, die and be raised up on the 3rd day. Peter is blessed by Jesus and then rebuked. .

Job - God Speaks Now to Job - God's Mighty Power - God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings - Job: What Can I Say? - God Questions Job - God's Power Shown in Creatures Matthew - The Syrophoenician Woman - Healing Crowds - Four Thousand Fed

In this short inspirational Christian sermon, you will be challenged to just focus on your assignment and let GOD do the work on convincing and stirring up the right people and opportunities for you. You can buy my new bestselling book, UNVEIL YOUR PURPOSE (a #1 Newly Released Bestseller on Amazon) here: India: https://www.amazon.in/UNVEIL-YOUR-PURPOSE-John-Giftah/dp/B08K2CJKP2/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=john+giftah&qid=1611990618&sr=8-1 Global Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Unveil-Your-Purpose-Complete-Created-ebook/dp/B08L7XX9PJ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=john+giftah%27&qid=1611990705&sr=8-2 You can stay in touch with me through these platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/johngiftah Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johngiftah Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjohngiftah/ Website: https://www.johngiftah.com/ If you're blessed by this sermon, don't forget to share it with someone, and please do rate/ review the podcast so that it will help us reach more people with the message of hope. For supporting the ministry financially: PayPal: paypal.me/johngiftah Link to The Inspiration Hub Podcast: Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-inspiration-hub/id1596599540 Link to Weekly Tamil Christian Messages Podcast (John Giftah) : Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/tamil-christian-messages-john-giftah/id1596445581 WEEKLY RADIO SHOW DETAILS: Fuel For the Soul with John Giftah RADIO SHOW aires EVERY SUNDAY at 7 AM EST (5 AM MST / 5:30 PM IST on Military Broadcast Radio. You can watch the livestream on the JOHN GIFTAH Youtube channel or You can listen/watch on https://mbradio.us/ or by downloading the Military Broadcast Radio - MBR App on your phone. Check out the "Fuel for the Soul with John Giftah" podcast (Among the Top Christian Podcasts in India Ranking #1 / #2 on multiple podcast platforms and among the Top Podcasts in the world (2021)) : Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fuel-for-the-soul-with-john-giftah-inspirational/id1588234296 #JohnGiftah #JohnGiftahPodcast #Christian #Christianity #BibleStudy #Faith #Hope #InspirationalSermon #ChristianMotivation #ChristianInspiration #Motivation #Motivational #Inspirational #Bible #BibleStudy --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/john-giftah/message

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions - and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions - and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing.----Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions - and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing.----Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions - and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing.--Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions – and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions – and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions – and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions – and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions – and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions – and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

A new MP3 sermon from First Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Job: God's Response To Job's Questions (Week 4) Subtitle: Book Of Job Speaker: Dr. Toby B. Holt Broadcaster: First Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/26/2022 Bible: Job 38; Job 38:1 Length: 31 min.

A new MP3 sermon from First Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Job: God's Response To Job's Questions (Week 4) Subtitle: Book Of Job Speaker: Dr. Toby B. Holt Broadcaster: First Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/26/2022 Bible: Job 38; Job 38:1 Length: 31 min.

A new MP3 sermon from First Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Job: God's Response To Job's Questions (Week 4) Subtitle: Book Of Job Speaker: Dr. Toby B. Holt Broadcaster: First Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/26/2022 Bible: Job 38; Job 38:1 Length: 31 min.

A new MP3 sermon from First Presbyterian Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Job: God's Response To Job's Questions (Week 4) Subtitle: Book Of Job Speaker: Dr. Toby B. Holt Broadcaster: First Presbyterian Church Event: Sunday Service Date: 8/26/2022 Bible: Job 38; Job 38:1 Length: 31 min.

In this episode, Forrest sits down with Timothy Beal  to talk about his new book, When Time is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene. His work is unlike most books in the realm of environmental issues or earthcare, because it challenges readers to truly engage the possibility that irreversible  climate damage to the planet is already upon us, and only going to get worse—and that those changes might even lead to the end of the human species. His book provokes readers to have the courage to acknowledge that possibility, and to ask: How ought we to live our lives now, in light of that possible future?Want the chance to get a copy of this book? Sign up for our mailing list at www.circlewood.online, and be sure to note that you are responding to the book offer. Guest:Timothy Beal - professor of religious studies, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, USA Book: When Time is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene  Mentions:Holocene, Anthropocene - geologic eras palliative care Genesis one; two dominionism - history in the US latin root of religion Walter Brueggeman Definition of doxological  Job - God talks to Job reparations Book: Braiding Sweetgrass Mary Oliver quote: What will you do with your one, wild & precious life? Keywords: Anthropocene, doomer, climate adaptation, climate despair, extinction, Dominionism, climate justice

Job was HURTING and CONFUSED. He asked God a lot of questions - and that was OK. But what's NOT OK is questioning God's wisdom, as if God is doing the wrong thing. Well, in Job 28, God responded to Job. Click to learn more.

Thank you for joining the Manna Podcast as we study the book and person of Job, the Righteous Sufferer. Please share with your friends and family. https://www.mannapodcast.com/lessons Brad's Board Notes Summary -- Lessons from Job • God is sovereign over everything all the time • Suffering is inevitable in a sinful world, but God uses troubles and trials to purify us from pride, and deepen our dependency on Him • The God of the Bible is the perfect Father who always does what is best; He may allow suffering, but He always gives grace • We can endure earthly suffering when we see it through the lens of eternal glory • God is enough for whatever we need Additional Verses: Jeremiah 29:11 1 Corinthians 2:9 Romans 8:18, 28-29 Genesis 45:5; 50:20 Job 13:23-24; 23:3-6: 41:5-6 Matthew 5:29; 6:30; 7:9-11; 10:29-31 John 16:21, 33 Isaiah 45:18 James 5:11b 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 17-18

God Never Lets Go Pastor Cal Hiebert (the book of Job)God may send friends to give advice.This advice is not always helpful.God's advice (His Word) is always right.Following God's advice brings blessings.

God has a purpose for you, and your desires are part of it. Does that apply to your job? Yes, it does, and this episode gives the first of three Bible-based conditions that must be met to ensure you are in a job that brings glory to God!

The return of hardcore radio. Sick shit only. 12 songs, 12 bands.    SONGS THIS EPISODE:  1. Welcome to Philadelphia – Please Die 2. Finish the Job – God's Hate 3. Enemy – Slant 4. Identity – Big Cheese 5. Dichotomy – Mutually Assured Destruction 6. REQUEST: Hardhead – End It 7. Killing Me – Ozone 8. Fuel to My Hate – Arm's Reach 9. Bitter Wind – Tuning 10. REQUEST: Gift of Suffering – Ends of Sanity  11. L.O.H. – SPINE  12. NOTHING MORE – KRUELTY  

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a sermon on Job 3 and talks about the first time Job opens his mouth to lament following the trials he has experienced. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - So, turn in your Bibles to Job, chapter three. Jesus said, as he was preparing his disciples for his own death, "In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world." The apostle Paul said, "Through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God." Peter wrote, “It is hard for the righteous to be saved.” These are verses that come heavy on us and as we think about it, we realize, especially the older we get in the faith and the more mature, how true they are. It is not easy for us to walk through this cursed world. Even as Christians with the promises of eternal life, it is not easy to be saved. Finally saved. So, in God's goodness, he's called us together today to hear his word. You just heard Job 3, 1 through 15 read and think wow, these are gloomy words, these are difficult words, and they are, but I am relying on the wisdom of God, the Holy Spirit, to put these words in the perfect scripture that has been passed down generation after generation. He wants us to hear these words. He wants us to read them and to understand what Job said as he went through this terrible crushing trial. I. Job Speaks at Last We've already begun the prologue of this great book. We looked last week at Job one and two we've learned who Job was. A godly man unlike anyone who lived at that time on earth. He was blameless and upright. A man who feared God and shunned evil. He was a man who was lavishly blessed materially in this world. He had abundant possessions. He had a large happy family. He was a man who understood the deepest truths of a healthy spiritual life. He understood that appearances can be deceiving. That even his children, as they were feasting and having a good time with one another, might somehow be cursing God in their hearts. And so he himself was no whitewashed tomb who looked good on the outside but inside was corrupt. We've learned even more significantly that almighty God, the ruler of the universe, was very pleased with Job. That he actually boasted about Job. Singled him out among any that lived at that time saying, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on earth. A man who is blameless and upright," and this commendation from God is infinitely more valuable than anything else Job could possibly have taken delight in, for it is not the one who commends himself or the one whom people commend, but it is the one whom God commends, who is truly righteous. We've been led by the scripture into the heavenly courts, into the heavenly realms. Ordinarily we'd not have access, but through the word of God, that's where God the king reigns and we've also seen the presence of the accuser, of Satan, who says all of Job's piety is based on his prosperity. That God had put a hedge of protection around Job. And he said, “If you take away that hedge and let me get at him, he will curse you to your face.” Said that to God. God permitted Satan to do that. One terrifying day, Job lost every earthly blessing that he had. An avalanche of suffering poured down upon him wave upon wave, culminating in the news of the instant death of all 10 of his children. And if that weren't enough, then Satan came at God and at Job a second time, this time concerning Job's physical health. He claimed that a man would give all of his possessions for his health and that if God struck Job's body, he would curse God to his face. Once again, God permitted Satan to go out and afflict Job, and Satan struck this tragic man with a terrible disease resulting in physical agony from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Beyond this, Job's own wife tempted him openly to despair, effectively speaking Satan's words to her own husband. It's terrible how we can, through certain circumstances, do Satan's work in the lives of others. Satan can take us captive to do his will. We can say things that we shouldn't say; “Are you still holding onto your integrity? Curse God and die.” With her own heart breaking, certainly. Job responded with amazing patience. He worshiped God and he said all the right things. “Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart,” “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised,” “Shall we accept good from God and not difficulties?” Said all the right things, but trial always goes on longer than we want it to. Keeps on going. Grinds away. For Job, at that point the trial was just beginning. Job's friends came to comfort him and when they saw him, they could scarcely recognize him; he was so changed. They were stunned into seven days and seven nights of silence, just sitting there with him, lamenting with him wordlessly. Wordlessly. Job just sat there with them. Wordlessly. But the words are about to come aren't they? They're about to flow. They're about to flow like a river, and they start with this chapter, this bitter lament from Job. Job's not a lifeless stone. He's not a brute beast. He has a mind, he has a heart, and these events have shredded him from within. Jesus said, "Out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks," and it's time for Job to speak what's in his heart, and so we get Job three. II. Job Curses the Day of His Birth (Job 3:1-10) He begins in chapter 3, verse 1 through 10, by cursing the day of his birth. Look at it with me. “After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: ‘May the day of my birth perish in the night it was said, 'a boy is born.' That day - may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light. That night - may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who cursed days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.’” Why did Job do this? Why did he curse the day of his birth? Well, he doesn't want to curse God. To charge God with wrongdoing, but his heart is broken. He's reeling. He's swimming in an ocean of agony, pain, and he must speak. He has to say something to express the inner volcano of pain. The pain within him. He doesn't curse himself and he doesn't curse God, as his wife urged him to do. Instead, he curses the day of his birth. He just wants that day removed from the calendar of the year. Sort of an anti birthday. Birthday celebrations are a way of people saying to a person: “I'm glad you were born. It's a good thing you came into the world. It's a good thing you came into my life.” That's what we do at birthdays. Job wants the opposite message, engraved with an iron stylus on an iron tablet of the years' calendar and the history books: “May it be as though that day never existed, for I am immeasurably sorry that I was ever born and I certainly don't want to celebrate that fact.” What are the details of the curse? Well he says, "May that day perish like it never existed. May the day turn into darkness. May God turn away from that day, like it seems he's turned away from me. May he refuse to care for that day like has withdrawn his care for me. That day, may it swim in deep darkness." A day happens when the sun rises and the light expands to fill the world and the day becomes the full brightness of noon day. It illuminates a world of sunlight and warmth. That's what a day is. “Now, I am saying, I wish that day had never occurred at all. I wish that blackness would just overwhelm that day, with no sunrise at all. And that celebration that happened when I was born; may it be stricken from the record books of history. There was a shout of joy. A boy is born. A son is born into the world. Maybe a messenger running to my father, bringing him the good news. You have a son. And may we assemble all those that are good at cursing days, all the great cursers of days on the earth. Talented people, to stand as a chorus, all of them, to curse that day with all the powers of their skills as cursers of days. And may the morning stars not sing in anticipation of the dawn. May that dawn actually never come. Let the days stay shrouded in darkness of the night that preceded it, like that day never happened at all. Why? Because I was born into the pathway of life that led to this. That's why. Because of the pain that I'm feeling.” III. Job Questions Life Itself (Job 3:11-23) So Job is questioning life itself in verse 11 and following. He says, "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves palaces now in ruins, with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout. The small and the great are there; the slave is freed from his master." Verse 20. "Why is light given to those in misery and life given to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?" So, what's going to follow this initial outbreak of cursing of the day of his birth is a series of questions. One after the other they flow. With that word: why? Again and again, why? They pour from the deepest recesses of Job's agonized mind: “I don't understand, oh Lord, what you're doing. I have some serious questions. There must be a reason why. Why all of this has happened, why did I not perish at birth, why did I not die as I came out of my mother's womb? Why at that moment did I get what I needed to survive? When I was so vulnerable, it would've been just so easy to let me perish at that moment. Why instead were their knees to receive me and a mother to nurse me? What was the point of all that? Of my ever being born, and then from that point on being sustained day by day? If only I had died then, if they had just cast me out at that moment, then I would now be at peace.” So Job looks at the grave as a place of peace and rest and quiet. Of rest from all of this agony, far better than the melting in the crucible of this cruel fate. He's in a hot fire and he's getting melted and he hates that pain and he just wants darkness and peace: “Now, if I had died then like so many infants do die, in infancy, then I would now be in that place of dark nothingness. I would be in that place of absolute stillness. I would not be feeling anything. I'd be like those kings and the counselors, the great men of old, who lived prosperous and successful lives, but now they lie unmoving and unmoved in a dark grave somewhere. Those successful kings went through the whole process of building up great kingdoms that now lie in ruins, in the ruins of the dust. They learned from experience that everything is vanity and dust in the wind, but if I had died the day I was born I would be with them in the exact same place of darkness and nothingness, and that would've been far better for me. Far better than the journey from that first day that I was born until this moment that brought me here. My mother scooped me up. She hugged me. She wrapped me in a blanket. She nursed me, met all of my needs, did it day after day, but what for? So I could eventually be tormented like this? Now, if I had been a stillborn, like so many babies are, I would've been wrapped up and planted in the earth, and that's what's going to happen to me anyway, so why was I ever born? Now, in the grave where I long to be nothing ever happens; even the wicked cease from turmoil; the successful achieve nothing. In the grave where I long to be, slaves are free at last from the lash of their wicked slave drivers. Everything is still. It's motionless. It's quiet, and especially there's no pain, no world of bad news coming upon me, wave upon wave.” So why are suffering people born at all? In verses 20 through 23, Job gets down to the business at hand: “Why is light given to those in misery and life given to the bitter of soul? To those who long for death that does not come? Who search for it more than for hidden treasure? Who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” “Why does God knit people together in their mother's womb who just end up living in this level of pain and agony, yearning for the grave? That makes no sense to me,” cries out Job in his agony. “I don't understand it.” IV. Beginning to Question God (Job 3:23-26) Now in verses 23 through 26, Job begins to question God. Now, it's going to ramp up over the chapters that follow. Here it's just beginning. “Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” verse 23, “For sighing comes to me instead of food. My groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me. What I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest, but only turmoil.” Job speaks of a man of sorrow whom God has, he says, hedged in. It's the second time in the book of Job we have the concept of Job inside of a hedge. The first time, Satan says it, “Have you not put a hedge around Job?” and Satan is frustrated by the hedge, because he'd like to pummel this man. He hates him, but he can't get at him. God won't let it happen. Job 1:10, “Have you not put a hedge around him in his household and everything he has?” But here Job says, “God has hedged me in, in my misery. I'm in a prison of misery and sorrow and God has bound me in behind and before. He's held me in this place and I can't get out.” So whereas Satan is saying God has hedged Job in for his own protection, Job is saying God has hedged me in for my own misery and sorrow and I can't get out. There's no escape for me. And he begins to question God. Though he doesn't do it overtly, it's starting to bubble to the surface. He'd like to ask God, even at that point, why God gives life to those who end up suffering. Why God hedges their way in so they suffer and there's nothing they can do. Job's agonies are very great. “Sighing,” he says, “comes to me instead of my food. I have no desire to eat. All I do all day long is sigh. My heart is broken. From deep within, from my intestines, from my heaving stomach, many groans come. My muscles are groaning in pain. Groan upon groan. They pour forth from me like water out of a fountain and they're not going to stop,” and he says, "What I've feared has come upon me. I was always afraid this would happen.” What about you? Is there anything you fear in this world? What would you put in here? “I always feared this would happen.” What? What do you have in mind? Well, I guess it might be similar to the things Job went through: loss of material possessions, loss of loved ones through death, physical agony coming on your body. That probably would be it. The loss of everything in this world that you find delightful. “I always feared that this would come on me.” So this is a glimpse into Job's heart life even before any of this happened. Like yeah, things are going well, but waiting for the other shoe to drop. That's exactly, isn't it, why Job offered sacrifices for his sons and daughters thinking they might have cursed God in their hearts? To forestall this kind of thing? That some great tragedy might sweep in and snatch them from him, he feared this. I have no peace, no quietness, no rest, just a raging turmoil in my mind. So Job is experiencing, even at this point, extreme anxiety and deep depression all at once, “Why, oh Lord?” "What about you? Is there anything you fear in this world? What would you put in here? “I always feared this would happen.” What? What do you have in mind?" V. Beginning to Give Answers All right, that's the chapter. Now, what are the answers? What are the answers? Well, Job's friends are about to speak. They have some answers. As we'll discover, God willing, next week, they're going to say a lot of right things and they're going to say them in some very wrong ways. So we're going to see what's right and what's wrong about the friends and so we'll push them off to the future, but they do want to give an answer. The desire to give an answer wells up inside them. And since we believe, based on the scripture, in a rational God who's sovereign over everything that on the earth, we do believe that there must be a very good answer or an array of very good answers, but we've come to the limits of our knowledge. Come to the edge of our knowledge. We saw last time the things that Job knew nothing about. Number one, he didn't know about God's high esteem for him. My sense is that was at the root of his misery, “What does all this mean about God and me? Does God actually hate me? Is he actually against me?” the vertical aspect is the biggest question. Job doesn't know, what God thinks about him, what he expressed about him in the heavenly realms. He doesn't know about it. Secondly, he doesn't know about Satan's activity in destroying him, which God willingly permitted. He wasn't aware of that. And he doesn't understand thirdly, the infinite dimensions of wisdom whereby his suffering actually will make sense. There are reasons why. Now in his classic, Knowing God, theologian JI Packer writes powerfully of the kind of wisdom that God gives us here on earth. So what can we expect by way of answers? What answers does scripture give? What answer will God give? This chapter in the book Knowing God was entitled: “God's Wisdom and Ours,” and he uses an analogy from the York train station, which is one of the busiest terminals in England, outside of London. He says, “If you were to stand at train level and watch all the trains coming and going, you might be bewildered as to the actions and the schedule and timing of many of those trains. You wouldn't really know what's going on. However, if you had a friend in a high place there who led you up into the control room and you could look at the digital control panel and see on the master panel you could see all of the lights representing the lines and the trains coming in and out, and then he began to give you an education from the train master’s perspective of why this particular train is held on a siding for five minutes, why this one's allowed to go right through without stopping, and on and on, each one of those things has an explanation.” Then JI Packer says this, “The mistake that is commonly made is to suppose that this is an illustration of what God does when he bestows wisdom. People feel that if they were really walking close to God, he would impart wisdom to them freely and they would, so to speak, find themselves elevated into the heavenly realms and get a look at that control panel. They would be at the signal box and they would discern the real reason of everything that's happening to them and to the people they love. They'd get an explanation. If they were walking close with God, that's what you can expect. Well, that's wrong.” Packer is right to set our expectations far below that. During our lifetimes, God does not invite us up into the heavenly realms to hear those heavenly conversations. To gain a perfect perspective on what others have called the mystery of providence, and it is mysterious. As the apostle Paul said, "Oh, the depth of the riches, of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out," Romans 11:33. "God's ways on earth cannot be plumbed to their depths, they cannot be searched to their limits, they cannot be tracked in their sequence. Instead of detailed inside information,” Packer says, "God gives theological principles, rules of the road, by which we can drive. We can navigate the twists and turns of the complex road that Providence takes us on.” At the end of that chapter, JI Packer, tied off his meditation with these words: "Let us see to it then that we do not frustrate the wise purpose of God by neglecting faith and faithfulness in order to pursue a kind of knowledge which, in this world, it is not given to us to have." So let's not neglect faith, let's keep trusting in God, even though we don't have the explanations. And let's not neglect faithfulness; let's do what God's called on us to do in the time we have to do it. Faith feeds our faithfulness. Let's not neglect that, and let's not seek that specialized insider information which Packer says, “in this world, it's not given to us to have.” Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “the secret things belong to the Lord, our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may follow the words of this law.” "So let's not neglect faith, let's keep trusting in God, even though we don't have the explanations." So there's two different categories: things revealed, things concealed. There's some things that he has revealed and explained to us and some things he hasn't, in this world, but what about the next world? What about the next world? I believe God will give us an explanation of everything. We have plenty of time and we'll have greatly improved minds and the danger will be past, dear friends, and there'll be no more death, mourning, crying or pain, and can you imagine almighty God shrugging and saying, "You know, I really don't know what I was doing at that moment in your life. Very sorry for your pain. There really was no reason for it, but welcome to heaven." It's impossible. Can you imagine he had a perfectly good reason, but he won't tell it to you? “Yes, I can imagine, why would he tell it?” Because that's the direction of salvation. He's letting you into his councils. We're no longer slaves not knowing the master's business, we're actually adopted children, in which he's explaining himself to us, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? No, I won't hide it. I'm going to explain what I'm doing.” Full explanations, however, will happen in heaven and they will be satisfying. They will be satisfying. You'll delight in them, and you'll have so many “Aha!” moments, and guess what? You won't just care about your own misery and pain and all that. You'll care about your brothers and sisters and the journeys they went through, and you'll see all of the wisdom of God and all of it. You're like, “wow, that's a big study!” We have plenty of time, and at the core of that study is the glory of God. How good and wise and powerful God is in all of this. As William Cooper said in the hymn I quoted last time, "God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain," just not now. Not now. And he has given us, in the New Testament, some more detailed explanations of the theology of suffering than Job had available to him at his point in redemptive history. We have some more explanations. So let's borrow a few of those lessons and apply them in the remaining time that we have here. Why were you born? Why are we born into a life of sorrow and suffering? First of all, just knowing that there is a very good reason why you were born. You're not here accidentally, that's actually impossible. There are no accidental human beings. None. I understand that there are strange circumstances by which two human beings can come together and a child can be conceived. I understand that those individuals may not have planned the child, but understand God's direct activity in knitting babies together in their mother's wombs. As Job himself will say in Job 10, 10-12, "Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? Clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness and in your providence, you watched over my spirit." Not only are there no accidental babies, it's not accidental that they stay alive and that they do receive what they need to stay alive from infancy and then every day of their lives, it is God's kind providence that they stay alive. It's not accidental. God had a reason. We know theologically the reason is spiritual. God made you to have a relationship with him. As Augustan put it, "You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in you." That's why God made Job, and that's why God made you and me. To have a relationship with him. An intimate, loving relationship as Jesus himself said in John 17:3. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." So why did he make you if all you're going to do is suffer? Well, if you were chosen from before the foundation of the world to be one of God's children, holy and blameless in his sight, he did not choose you ultimately to suffer. That's not his intention, but rather to dwell in a perfectly glorious world, beyond all death, mourning, crying and pain, and to spend eternity in that world. That's what he chose you for, but as I said at the very beginning of this sermon, the journey there will inevitably involve suffering and pain. It can be no other way. Part of that, I think, is just God giving us what Adam on our behalf asked for. An education in evil. An education in evil. That's what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was about. How are we thinking about evil? “Well, I hate it.” You don't hate it enough, but you will hate it with a perfect hatred when you get to heaven. You will, and so will I. We'll be conformed to Jesus who loved righteousness and what? Hates wickedness. We're not going to get a memory wipe and forget all wickedness. We'll benefit from this education and we will, like God, love righteousness and hate wickedness. In the meantime, there's a painful journey we have to go through and it is painful. So why was I even born? Job's deep cry is answered, “So I could know you in eternal life with pleasures forevermore at your right hand,” as Psalm 16:11 says. That's why I was ever born. That's why there were breasts to nurse me and knees to receive me and a mother to wrap me up. That's why. So that I could spend eternity at your right hand with pleasures forever more. That's why God made me. "So why was I even born? Job's deep cry is answered, “So I could know you in eternal life with pleasures forevermore at your right hand,” as Psalm 16:11 says. That's why I was ever born." Now, there is a tension between God's goodness and his heavenly purposes. I understand that. We learned about the goodness of God as Job has. Psalm 34 verse eight, “Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” And so you, like Job... Maybe not to his level. Maybe you don't have 5,000 camels, thank God you don't have 5,000 camels, but you've been blessed. You've enjoyed good at God's goodness. You've seen beauty in this world. You've tasted things that have been pleasurable to you. Taste and see that God is good. Every good and perfect gift you ever gotten has come from God. You've tasted and seen that God is good. But what happens when the inner sense of the goodness of God conflicts mightily with what is actually going on in our lives or right around us, or in the world even, as we extend our feelings out to people we don't even know but we care about and they're suffering? There comes an almost, it seems, insoluble tension between the two. “Taste and see that God is good, but this doesn't feel good to me.” And so there's that tension and that tension can stretch our faith, it seems, to the very breaking point. So what can we possibly say to such a suffering person? What advice would you give him? We'll try to walk through as much of that counsel as we can, if God gives us time in these sermons, not finished at all today. We'll try to walk through. And I would advise such a person, I would advise you: begin by focusing on Christ's sufferings for you. Start there. Start with Christ's sufferings for you on the cross. Draw near to Jesus. Draw near to him. Don't let Satan trick you into getting further away from Jesus during trials. That's a deception, maybe even the central deception. Draw closer to Jesus, to Christ and him crucified. I love the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and the counsel's there again and again. You can't hear that hymn and not understand what the author wants you to do, hymn writer: “Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all are sorrow share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer.” This is just reflecting what the author to Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 17 and 18 concerning Jesus, “For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.” Our merciful and faithful high priest has once for all, by his bloody death on the cross, made atonement for the sins of his people for all time. And through faith in Christ, sinners like you and me can be completely forgiven for all time of our sins. And Hebrews 2:18 says, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” He's able to help you. He knows what suffering's about. Hebrews 4, 15 and 16 says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Draw near to Christ. He sympathizes; that's why he wept in front of Lazarus's tomb, it's out of sympathy for Martha and Mary and for us. He knows this feeling, he knows what it's like to suffer far better than you or I ever will. Wasn't it Jesus who asked that why question on the cross as he's dying under the wrath of God and he cried out, “‘Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani,’ which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” There's a why question. And he received no answer then and neither will we in this world, but in heaven, all things will be made plain and we will learn the true purpose behind every pain we ever endured. Christ's sufferings were to atone for our sins. I'm going to say this again over the next several weeks, but we cannot excuse ourselves from sin when we're suffering. We can't say, “Well, I know it's not because I sinned that I'm suffering. I know that we learn from the book of Job, that there's a... It's possible to be blameless and upright, one who fears God, and I know therefore that the suffering in my life is not connected to my sin.” Do you really know that? Are you like Job? The fact is some of our suffering is connected to our sins. Sometimes we need to just say, Lord, is there something in my life that is displeasing you? Is there something, and if something immediately pops in your mind you know what that is. Then it's an opportunity to repent. It's an opportunity to ask God forgiveness. But Christ's sufferings were in our place for our sins; 1 Peter 2, 24 and 25 says of Jesus, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed for you are like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.” So when you are suffering in your trial, whenever it is, maybe it's going on now, maybe it's in the future, just look to the infinitely, greater suffering of Jesus in your place on the cross. Trust in him. Your sins don't necessarily directly lead to your sufferings, but our sins did directly lead to Jesus' sufferings. Ponder that. Your sins don't necessarily directly lead to your sufferings, but our sins directly lead led to his. Why else would he have suffered? It's because he was suffering as our substitute. Now occasionally, like I said, you know that there's sin in your life. You know that there are issues and it could be there's a connection between your sins and your sufferings. That's where Hebrews 12 comes in. God does discipline us for our sins from time to time; we'll talk more about this next time, but Hebrews 12, we'll just read it without comment, we'll talk more next time, it says, “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood and you've forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons. My son do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. So endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as sons for what son is not disciplined by his father?” like I said, we're going to more fully develop this, God willing, next time. So, draw near to the suffering. John Calvin, in his marvelous sermon on early text in Job said, "The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away, makes a powerful point about Job's embracing of his sorrows." He noticed that when he said that Job tore his robes, he shaved his head, he threw himself on the ground and worshiped. He said, "this is a role model for us. We should see the hand of God in all of our suffering. Because the Lord is sovereign, we can know it is the Lord who has done this and because he is wise, we can know that he knows what he's doing and that there's a very wise rational purpose behind it. Because the Lord is good, his purposes toward us and toward others are very good." So don't numb yourself at that time. Don't deny what's happening. Step into it. Go towards it. Some unbelievers numb themselves with alcohol and drugs and other escapes. John Calvin said, "Those who are patient bear well their affliction." There is actually no valor in a man who's suffering but is completely unaware of his suffering. There's no virtue in it. It's terrible physical suffering, but he's not aware of it like someone in a coma, something like that. But when you know what's happening, you have the opportunity to glorify God. You're aware. Job is very aware of what happened. So face the facts. Look at what's happening. Say, “this has happened. This is hurting me. This occurred. God is doing it. It's not an accident. There's an intention, a purpose, in this.” Face the facts. I'm reminded of Romans 4, 19-21 about Abraham, “Without weakening in his faith, Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead, yet he did not waiver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” So step into the suffering, into the circumstance, talk about it, take it back up to God in prayer, don't numb yourself or distant yourself from it or say, “I just won't think about it.” Don't do that. It's a chance to glorify God. Be thoughtful in your suffering. Ask why is this happening of the Lord, but not in an angry way. Don't say, “Why me oh God?” as though there could be no possible reason. Say, “Why me, oh Lord?” and wait for the answer. Let God give you insights into what he may be doing in your life. Then finally, and we're going to learn this, this is the lesson of the book of Job: God is enough. In the end, you will find God is enough. You're not going to get all the explanations. You may not get any explanations, but God is enough and live like that; put that on display in the people around you: That God is enough. Close in prayer. Lord, thank you for the things that we've learned. Thank you for the timeless message of Job 3. It's not a chapter that I've ever really stepped into and immersed myself and tried to understand before, but I realize, oh Lord, that you and your wisdom have given us all of these chapters so that we can understand what suffering really is like and that we can suffer well and trust in you and grow through it. Lord strengthen us and I pray that you'd help us to draw close to Christ crucified and resurrected, our savior. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.