Job Ch. 13 | Bible Study by Rick Burgess

Find more at http://www.burgessministries.com and http://www.TheManChurch.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into the Wednesday Bible Study. We are so grateful
that you are here with us again. We continue our
study of the Book of Job today. If you want
to go ahead and turn there, we'll be in Job
chapter thirteen. My name is Rick Burgess and I have
been teaching this Wednesday Bible Study for about a decade now.
My day job is the Rick Burgess Show. If you

(00:22):
want to go find out more about that, you can
go to Rick burgesshow dot com. But this particular Bible
study is part of a discipleship strategy developed four men
called Themanchurch dot Com. We have all sorts of resources,
We have speakers, we do conferences, but our strategy is
set up to challenge men that equip men with forty

(00:44):
week curriculum. We have five of those. Number six is
coming out the fall of twenty twenty five, so look
forward to that as well. And we also have other resources.
In one of those just launched, it's called Men Don't
Run in the Rain. Uh. This is uh. This is
a little different. It's a book that that I felt

(01:04):
a call to write after my dad passed away. It
is a book about him, uh and uh being his
son and the things that he taught me. And it's
got a lot of comedy in it. It's uh, it's
got a lot of teaching in it. Uh. There's some
parts in there that that that you know, might put
on the heartstrings a little bit. Uh, but it all

(01:25):
is pointing to the biblical application of this. Uh, this
man that was a true original you you I've never
met anyone like my father. Uh. And and if you
you can pick it up now, it's available at the
Manchurch dot com. It's right there on our homepage. If
you want to signed copy for Father's Day, that option

(01:45):
is there. If that if you don't want that, that's
fine that the other option is there too, So go
to the Manchurch dot com pick it up. It's also
available on audiobooks, it's available on ebooks, so everywhere in
every possible way to get it, it is now available.
So if you get an opportunity pick that up. And
I want to let you know a way you can
actually get a free copy. Those of you that are

(02:08):
in the room that maybe the Birmingham, Alabama area works
for you. My home church is Valleydale and we're having
our next men's gathering. We do the discipleship strategy from
the Manchurch dot com and it's going to be a
breakfast coming up on the Saturday before Father's Day, June
the fourteenth. Jared Hudson will be our speaker. You'll hear

(02:31):
about our small groups too, and you'll be plugging into
the curriculum. But he is a former Special Ops and
now has Covenant Rescue. He literally rescues people out of
the sex trafficking trade. It's a brutal, dark world in
which he works, but incredible stories and he's going to
talk to us about most of the people he's rescuing

(02:54):
the victims of a lot of these sex traffickers. They
look for easy targets and one of the things they
look for are homes that don't have a dad. So anyway,
he'll be talking to us about that. If you're one
of the first one hundred men to it doesn't cost anything.
First one hundred men to go to Validale dot org
and say I'm coming doesn't cost anything. We'll provide breakfast.

(03:17):
You'll hear from Jared. You're going to get a copy
of Men Don't Run in the Rain. The first one
hundred men to do that. Validale has went and purchased
one hundred copies and they're going to give those out
for free for the first one hundred men that register.
So if you want a free copy and you're in
this room, guys, Validel, guys are in Birmingham and I
want to come to our breakfast and here Jared, that's

(03:40):
a way to get a free copy of the book
as well, So take advantage of that. Validale dot org
or go to Themanchurch dot com. You'll see June fourteenth
under events. You'll see the link right there. All right,
so let's pray and then let's jump into Job chapter thirteen. Lord,
thank you for today, Thank you for the lessons that
wait on us, and Lord, thank you for the lessons
already teaching us. Help us, Lord to see all that

(04:03):
you are revealing through the power of the Holy Spirit,
through Job and his friends and the study of your
Holy Word. It's in your name, we pray, Amen. All right,
So we know that we're continuing. Job has already you know,
we heard from from so far, we've heard from Bill Dad,

(04:23):
you know this is We've heard from three of the friends.
And now Job is responding again. He responded last week
in the study in twelve. But this is still him responding.
As we get into Job thirteen, well, here's some different things.
Some themes are continuing. But what you're going to get

(04:44):
pretty clear this week is that Job, early the first
few verses of the first half of the chapter, Job
is going to express in very clear terms his resentment
for the unkindness of his friends. That he's now going
as far as to say, this is hurtful to me

(05:04):
and I'm offended by it, and you're going to hear
him talk about that pretty quick. So in verses one
and two, here's the first thing that he says to them.
He says, behold, my eye has seen all this. That
means everything he's been told by his friends. My ear
has heard and understood it. What you know, I also

(05:27):
know I'm not inferior to you. And what Job is
saying to his friends is I've set here in the
misery that I'm in, and all y'all have brought to
the table are things I already know. And you've just
repeated these same things that I already know. I've heard
these things, I've applied these things. I know these things.

(05:49):
So what he's saying is and I started thinking about
this when I was studying this chapter, and I started thinking, well,
what is the what's the application there? It seems pretty simple.
But I started thinking to myself, maybe the guys in
the room y'all are like me. Maybe some of you
men and women out there. I don't really benefit from
people that I know everything they know. But I mean,

(06:14):
I don't mind them. But I'm talking as far as
me benefiting. If you're gonna come into my life and
say I'd like to teach you something, and then I
soon discover that you don't know anything I don't know,
then I don't know what I'm supposed to learn. You
didn't you didn't bring anything. You don't have any more
wisdom than I've already been taught. I've had teachers teach

(06:36):
me what you're already teaching me. So he's really saying that,
So here, you guys came, I'm in this misery, and
you really have not brought a whole lot to the table.
The things that you say I already know. So look
what he says in three. So I think I'll just
go to the source. I don't think y'all gonna be
the source anymore, but I would speak to the Almighty.

(07:00):
I desire to argue my case with God. Well, you
can see we're gonna head to a real, big, big
I mean this, it's still further away, but this is
the time when Job now says, I'll tell you what.
I'm ready for God to come in here, and I
want to face him. I want to argue my case
directly to the source, meaning what he knows where it's

(07:24):
coming from. One of the things I found interesting in
the in the last few weeks. Do you realize And
I'll hit it again at the end, I'm yet to
hear Job even remotely mentioned Satan. There's there's not a
point in here that I've seen so far that Job

(07:44):
thinks this is being done by Satan. He knows it's
being done by God. He doesn't understand why, but he
never you know, I see people all the time. To me,
it's the opposite of the way we are now, the
way we seemed to be now. Is everything Satan's fault.
Everything I'm going through. If it's bad, it's Satan. If

(08:05):
it's good, its God. And it's certainly it's my fault.
It's not my sin nature. I didn't have anything to
I've become a target of Satan himself. Which is quite
a lofty suggestion, or maybe even demonic forces, because a
third of the angels that's a lot. So yeah, and
I'm sure a lot of you like me, I faced

(08:26):
demonic forces before. But but we we never It's almost
like we just we just can't quite even though we
know more than joebn you at the time. Now we
don't seem to go to God as quick and say
why are you doing this? And I was watching a

(08:47):
great sermon by Robbie Galaity out of the Nashville area,
and Rich Wingo, one of my dearest friends, sent it
to me, and he said, this guy got it. And
of course my wife's book on suffering has all this
in it too, But it was so great to hear
this coming from the pulpit when Robbie Gallaty said, I've

(09:08):
looked through scripture and I haven't seen anybody in scripture
that God used in a mighty way that he didn't hurt.
He broke them down. They had difficult they had difficult
He always brought difficulty on. There's not anybody he used
that was not hurt deeply at some point by God

(09:28):
to to make them ready so that they could be
powerful for him, so so so he's ready, he says,
I'm I don't I don't have any you know, like
like Mick Jagger who rarely makes a Bible study. What
what what you hear right now from job? As he said,
I've looked to you guys, and I got no satisfaction.

(09:49):
I got no satisfaction uh in talking to you there.
I don't see any benefit in this at all. You know,
it's it's God's hand that's on me. You know what,
it's it's not you. Y'all are not the ones that
have the right to judge me. And so y'all y'all
told me is I need to get right with God.
I tell you what, then I'll just talk to him
about it. I can understand that. Of course, you got

(10:11):
to be careful because sometimes God will say okay, and
you'll start kind of trying to take that back. But
there's times when it's a beautiful thing because you just say, God,
I love you, and I just show me what you're
teaching me. I want to learn what you're teaching me.
I don't want to miss this. And that's certainly okay.
Now to come before God and wave your finger at him. Now,

(10:31):
that's different. So fur as for you, you whitewash with lies.
Worthless physicians? Are you all your faults that accuse me?
You tell lies about me? You misrepresented God by the way.
You think you have diagnosed me correctly, but you have not.

(10:55):
You have prescribed for me the wrong thing. You're worthless physicians.
I'm sick and you ever had that before? Have you
ever dealt with with a physician? And you're like, you
not do me any good. I'll tell you something funny
humorous about my dad. Greg and I talked about this
yesterday and I'll have to give a bit of an
edited version of it. But he Greg was at the

(11:19):
doctor with Dad, and you know, when Dad had Alzheimer's,
he he never knew where why we were where we were,
And so the doctor pulled Mom out of the room
to talk to her privately. So Greg's sitting there in
the in the room with him, and he looked at
me and said, now what do we do it? And
he said, Dad, we're at the doctor. What kind of
what do we do with doctor? He said, this is

(11:39):
the doctor that's trying to help you with your memory.
And he's trying to help you with your memory he
goes this is the guy that's supposed to be helping
me with my memory, and Greg said, yes, sir, he said,
we ain't worth a crap because this thing seems to
keep skidding. So anyway, so that's kind of that's kind

(12:00):
of what the uh what what job is saying? You guys?
You guys are are not doing any good? Uh? If
you if you're physicians, I'd like to have another one.
So so then he goes on and he says, oh
that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom.
I tell how you can help me right now? Is

(12:21):
shut up? You know it? Right now? At this point,
I just would rather not hear anything else from y'all.
It'd be wonderful to just hear the sound of nothing
from you. That would be wisdom. So six, hear now
my argument and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

(12:42):
Give me a patient hearing. Hear me now my reasoning,
because up to this point, apparently y'all are not listening
to me. I keep responding to your accusations, I keep
answering it, and y'all just start saying the same things again.

(13:02):
Anybody ever ever ever been there? Anybody how many folks
who got married in here. I know they could still
be watching, but we're alone for a moment. Have you
ever like tried to head off getting in trouble with
your spouse by owning the situation and explaining that what

(13:25):
they think happened didn't quite happen. And you've got the answer,
and you still got the speech anyway. It's like they
had this great speech prepared and no matter what your
response was, you still were gonna get it. And I
was like, okay, you gave me the speech anyway. I
just answered that before I thought I was avoiding that.
And so what job is saying is, I don't know
why y'all keep getting on me the very thing you're

(13:46):
getting on me about. I have already tried to refute
and say that didn't happen. I don't have secret sin,
I haven't done something that I need to tell y'all about.
And then y'all just say it again. So what he's
saying now, I wish that you would just be silent,
and I wish you could we try one more time
for you to listen to what I have to say.

(14:06):
And then he says, and because you won't listen, look
at seven, will you speak falsely for God and speak
deceitfully for him? Right? Uh? Now, this was not a
God situation. But have you ever been around, let's face it,
some of the people. And we started a new podcast

(14:30):
it's out now called Strange Encounters, and it's about spiritual warfare.
And so if you if you've ever been around some
of the signs and wonders people, they can be a
little weird, okay, but you know they're they're always looking
for some and I think they're in a dangerous place
when you're obsessed over signs and wonders because the adversary

(14:52):
and the demons can do them too. Uh. And then
you've got to be able to discern the actual sign
and the wonder on the source. And so we were
in a contract negotiation. This has been years and years ago,
and this guy had he was he could be a
little that we were dealing with in the negotiation. He

(15:13):
could be a little odd in the spiritual rem and
he always claimed to have some kind of word, you know,
from God, and some kind of word that he had
been given. And and so we were in the negotiation.
I mean, this was the guy representing the company and
he said, he had the contract in front of us,

(15:33):
and he said, I've really really prayed over this, and
I got a word from God that this is this
is the number. And uh, he slid it over to
me and I said, I'd go back to God because
that that that didn't come from God, because that that
that number won't work. So whoever whoever told you that
that was not God? Okay? So so so he is

(15:56):
he is saying to them, He is saying to them,
the things you're saying are not true. And you keep
claiming that you're representing God. Well, if you're representing God,
then you are claiming that God doesn't know something that
he of course knows. He knows. I'm innocent. Now, I
haven't figured out why he's doing this to me yet,

(16:17):
but he knows. It's not why you say it. But
yet you keep claiming that you know what God sees
and you don't. Right, only God sees the heart. Now,
we can, we have every right and should to talk
about fruit that we see or actions that we see.
But Job has not really ever shown them an action
that would legitimize their claim. They're just assuming something's wrong.

(16:42):
And he says, be careful because you're saying you know something,
you're speaking for God. And if you're going to speak
for God, get an amen. You better be right right boy,
you talk about people that I think are going to
be held accountable when you look at scripture. Are people
who claim to be representing God and they're spouting off faults?

(17:05):
Are bad theology these people because deceiving the sheep. It
doesn't farewell in scripture. If you're going to start claiming
you're speaking for God, your standard just went way up
that you're held to way up. And so now in
eight he says, will you show partiality toward him? Will

(17:25):
you plead the case for God? So? Will you contend
for God? You think God needs a lawyer? He needs
somebody say I'm representing God today? He says, do you
think he needs you to be his advocate? Do you think,
I mean, how pious can you be that you've placed

(17:47):
yourself in the position of God's mouth piece? You ever
thought about that? That is quite that's quite a standard
when we start claiming that, Now, what's a better way
to say it? And they don't do this is according
to the scriptures that we've read that are inspired by God.

(18:08):
We want to try to work this out with you.
Let's go to scripture and let's talk about it as
opposed to well, I just think this must be It
must be the case, and that's what he's say. And
be real careful, you're treading on dangerous grounding, and Job
is right about that. He says in verse nine, Will
it be well with you when he searches you out?

(18:32):
Or can you deceive him as one deceives a man?
So let me let me ask you this, three friends. Okay,
what if God searched you out right? Now? What would
he find? Can you give God a good account for
what you have said and done? So? Do you think
God is looking at your motivation for the things you've

(18:53):
said to me? He can look at your heart and
hear the things you're saying and what you've said and done.
And you expect me to deal with you as if
you're a god? I mean, do you think you can
deceive him as one deceives a man? So? Is it?

(19:16):
Is it your wrath? Or is it God's wrath? Because
you can't fool him? Do you think you pulled the
one over on him? And look, I not on not
this specific example, but you've heard me say before I think.
One of the dumbest things that I do is to
know that God is all knowing, all seeing, and still

(19:41):
do things sometimes like he didn't know what I'm doing.
I know he knows what I'm doing. That makes when
I rebel against him all that much more heinous. I'm
not ignorant that he knows what I'm doing for some reason.
You can convince yourself for this moment, he doesn't know.
I don't know why I do that, but but he
I know that he sees. And here's everything that I
do and say, but still make mistakes sometimes. And so

(20:04):
what he's saying is be careful. I want to remind
y'all of who God is, since y'all keep wanting to
remind me who is. Do y'all think y'all are deceiving him?
So ten? He will surely rebuke you if in secret
you show partiality. What does he mean by that? He

(20:25):
knows your heart? Y'all better check your motivation for the
way you're speaking to me. Is your motivation because you
want to help me? Is your motivation loving me enough
to tell me the truth? Nothing wrong with that. I've
got people that do that and their heart's in the
right place. I can tell you that I've even had
emails that were holding me accountable. Even if I thought

(20:47):
they had something wrong, I could acknowledge and I would
come and say, well, here's where I think that I
disagree with you. But the thing, if it's done this way,
I will always start out and say, I really appreciate
the email and the spirit in which it was intended,
because a lot of times these people aren't they're not
being unreasonable, they're honest, they are trying to help me.
And sometimes there are one hundred percent right, and I

(21:08):
thank them for it. Sometimes they're partially right, and I'll
correct the part that's not, but I will acknowledge that
their heart's in the right place. But then there's people
that I know their heart's not writing up to the
right place. And that's what he said. Their motivation is
they just don't like me. Their motivation is they just
want to tear me down. Their motivation is they just
love to catch something where they couldnt have to acknowledge anything,

(21:30):
and they could go out to the world to scream
Rick Burgess as a fake. And of course it's be
important to get the information right if you're going to
do that, And that's kind of what Job is saying.
God knows the motivation and his thought is the motivation
that you have for this isn't because you love me
right now? I think, deep down in secret places, because

(21:54):
of the blameless and the upright reputation that Job had,
you're loving this. You love that someone who has such
a great reputation appears to have done something and you
can't wait to find out what it is. And that's
the wrong motivation. Have you gotten to the point in
your walk with Christ? Are you far enough along as

(22:15):
has your maturation and your sanctification gone to the point
to where God can go as far as to say,
we've taken care of the one hundred level stuff in
your life, the two hundred level stuff. Now let's get
into the three hundred and four hundred level stuff, like
what's your motivation? What do you mean, Lord, I lead

(22:35):
a son to sue class? Yeah? But why but to
teach your word? Really? Do you love these people? Do
you love the word? Are you starting to kind of
like your position a little bit? Do you like being
the being important? Do you like to be did it
bother you that the pastor hasn't recognized the great work
that you've done in the church. You know, when you

(22:57):
start getting into that kind of stuff, Well, that gets
down to the marrow, doesn't it. You know? So this
is what he's saying is you're doing this. You're presenting
yourself as my friends who just want to help me.
But God knows what your partiality is and secret, he
knows your motivation, and you know what, He's going to

(23:19):
rebuke you for it. And he does, by the way,
But that's later than the story. So let's go to eleven.
Will not his majesty terrify you and the dread of
him fall upon you? You say, how job's turning it?
You claim to know so much about God, but you
don't seem to be trembling at his majesty? How can

(23:41):
you know as much about God as you think as
you say you do and be so careless right now? Right?
We should be very careful about making false accusations about people,
you know, we should be. I mean, that made the ten.
That's in the Big ten. You don't bear false witness
about people, okay, And and sometimes we don't even stop.

(24:07):
We don't even hit the brakes even when we're trying
to call somebody out by by walking it very humbly
and saying, I don't know all the information, but I've
heard something that concerns me. I'd love to hear your
side of the story. What a concept before I drop

(24:29):
my gavel? Okay, And so he said, y'all haven't really
done that, and you're doing it so reckless and so careless.
It makes me wonder that can you know this much
about God and not fear him more of doing this
the wrong way? He says, Are you're pretty reckless right now?
Considering you claim to represent God? Are you not afraid?

(24:55):
Great point? Your maxims are proverbs of ashes. Your defense
are defenses of clay. You're nothing compared to God. Your
words and instruction that they're they're just ashes, your whole

(25:17):
Even the bodies that you're regurgitating this out of their
bodies of clay. And you don't seem to be concerned
at all about angering God, and compared to him, you're
nothing but clay and ashes. You think more how you
and I've seen this a lot, and of course I've
been guilty of this in my life. You seem to

(25:39):
be so enamored with self, and you seem to think
so little of God strong point fourteen. I'm sorry thirteen.
Let me have silence and I will speak, and let
come on me. What may I'm done with you? Just

(26:01):
leave me alone. I'll deal with God myself. I'll speak
for me. You don't speak for me, and you know
what he's saying here. Let whatever's gonna happen happen. But
I tell you what, I'm not gonna dependent to be
dependent on y'all. This one. I'm gonna go it alone.
Have you ever felt that way? Just leave me alone.

(26:25):
I'll deal with God myself. Why should I this is fourteen?
Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and
put my life in my hand? Why would I do that?
I want to know why I'm in such misery, and
I'm gonna get to the bottom of it. That's why
I'm miserable. And all I got is you do in

(26:46):
all these monologues. I mean, another day of this is
just more misery for me, and I'm gonna find out.
I want to know why I'm in all this misery.
Fifteen very very well well known part of job, even
if you haven't studied the whole stuff. I was talking
to people even over the weekend, uh and over the

(27:06):
and in the last few days that have talked about
being involved in the study, and and they said, you know,
I've I've knew bits and pieces of Job. I've never
studied Job this way before. And there's talking about how
much and I'm the same way. It's it's opening up
our eyes. But this one you've probably heard of. It's

(27:27):
it's pretty well known. When Job says, though he slay me,
I will hope in him. Yet I will argue my
ways to his face. I will speak my own case.
I have walked upright before God and he knows this,

(27:51):
and I trust him. He's not going to be unjust
with me. So even if it is that he slays me,
he's still the only hope I got. And I will
argue my case before him, and whatever he decides, my

(28:11):
hope is still in him. Job is headed this way.
He doesn't know everything yet, but he's starting to show
you why he was called blameless and upright, why God
chose him for this test. Is he's already starting to
build that foundation that whatever God does is right. Are

(28:39):
you there? Whatever God does is right? Now? They're actually
when I studied a lot of commentaries on this, and
I thought I pretty much had this verse down, and
I still think what I just said is the more
accurate interpretation. There are some that say, if you look
at the Hebrew here, that he is, Yes, he's acknowledging that,

(29:05):
but he's also we got kind of a foregone conclusion
that he thinks God is gonna slay it, that he's
not going to be delivered from it. Maybe it stoodn't
change the fact that he's saying whatever he does is right,
but there's a little bit of he's kind of lost
hope that God is going to deliver him from this,

(29:26):
that this is his plight, that God is about to
let him suffer and die. But that doesn't take away
from the greater point, whoever's right on that he has
already decided that he is going to be stick with
God and have his hope in God, no matter what.
Cs Lewis said. Something beautiful, you know, he said many
things beautiful, he says, and I want y'all think about this.

(29:49):
I laughed, and I remember CS Lewis saying this, but
I'd forgotten it. He says, to argue with God is
to argue with the very power that makes it possible
to argue at all, not what you think about that.
So you're about to go argue with the source of argue.

(30:09):
You wouldn't even be able to argue if it wasn't
for the one you're about to argue with. He created argue.
You're in a bye there. I mean that you know
that you don't have much of a chance there. But
I think that I just know because He gave us
a sense of humor, so there must be something to
a sense of humor. I know we can take it

(30:31):
that like we can anything. He created it and corrupted
and people do. But but don't you think sometimes when
God is watching all this and we get we think
we're about to go stand before him, that he has
to kind of chuckle. I mean just kind of like, here,
look at this, I mean, and He's going to work
it out. But verse sixteen, this will be this is

(30:54):
good here foreshadow, this will be my salvation, that the
godless will not come before him. I know that I'm
right with God, so I can come before him, and
I do have access to him because he's my salvation. Foreshadow,

(31:19):
meaning even if he decides that my earthly body dies,
he will save me and and you know what he said,
the godless can't do that. So when things we we talked,
the godless can't come before God. Right, we've talked about
this is the thing that you know, I think often

(31:39):
is misunderstood, even sometimes in the church, where we become
so careless and cavalier with sin and and we kind
of get this kind of attitude and I have you
ever have you ever? Have you ever gone? I don't
want to be Have you ever gone? And some got

(32:00):
up to speak, and by the time they're done, the
message seems to be, I'm going to go to heaven.
But nothing's ever really changed. It seems like they still
have the same struggles they've always had. Nothing's improved. They
still keep doing the same old things they've always done.
Now I look, I'm still making mistakes, but I ain't
making the same mistakes I've always made. I go and

(32:21):
invent new ones. But I'm talking about the things that
I was struggling with when I was delivered. I don't
struggle with those anymore. And now I still struggle, but
I don't struggle with that. And sometimes I go and
hear people give a testimony that the things they've struggled
with they continue to struggle with and continue to commit
these same sins, and nothing's ever really changed. And it

(32:42):
worries me because I think somebody might walk in and say, Okay,
if I say a prayer a certain way, then I'm
going to go to heaven. But nothing in my life
really changes. I'm here to tell you that there's people.
I was just texting with a friend of mine a
minute ago, and he gave an amen. Back. I said,
there are people that are red today that discovered that
Jesus and his power of transformation is real, simply because

(33:06):
they knew me before Jesus and they've known me after Jesus,
and they say that can't be anything but supernatural. Now
I'm not glorified. I'm being sanctified. I've been justified, but
my sanctification actually is moving on down the road. You
ever have people use the excuse for some kind of deliberate,

(33:28):
perpetual sin stood in their life, and they say, you know,
I'm just a work in progress. I wonder sometimes if
we know what the word progress means. No, it doesn't
look there's any progress at all. This is the same
old stuff you've always done, you know. So Jesus isn't
stronger than that, so we have to be careful with that.

(33:49):
And so what he is saying is he understands job
does when Jesus said in the Gospels, and I just
I can't imagine what it was like to be there
the day that Jesus making the point for himself. He
was setting it up because he hadn't gone to the
cross yet when he calls out says, oh, no, no, no,
you have to be perfect as my Father is perfect.

(34:10):
What did he say? I think he said we have
to be perfect and didn't catch you math for well,
how were we gonna be terror perfect? And Jesus said, no,
that's the standard. What he was doing is saying, so
you'll understand the gospel. The only way you're ever gonna
be made fully righteous and perfect before my Father is
through me. So I'm gonna go give you the road

(34:31):
to perfection in him. But sometimes I think we think
we could just strut in front of God without Jesus. No,
if we do that, we're gonna he'll kill us. And
the godless certainly can't do it. They can't strut in
front of Holy, Holy Holy without Jesus. And so that's
what job is saying. He says, I know he's the
key to salvation. I know that I have my salvation

(34:55):
in him. Now this is under a different covenant, but
he's saying, I know that I can stand before God
and I can talk to him, but the godless can't.
Now let me be clear, because I got in a
little bit of this in the first episode of Strange Encounters.
That doesn't mean that God doesn't hear the cry of
the godless. He hears them cry out to Him in repentance,

(35:19):
of course, and then suddenly they can be redeemed, just
like anybody else. We all were godless before we were redeemed.
So that's not what I'm saying. But if you decide
you're going to strut into the presence of God without repentance,
without crying out and leaving faith in yourself and putting
your faith in Jesus, you cannot walk into his presence.
Our God's holiness will kill you because the standard is

(35:43):
perfection and you don't have Jesus. So you didn't achieve it.
You didn't meet standard. But Joe believes that he can't.
So let's go to seventeen. Keep listening to my words
and let my declaration be in your ears. How about this.

(36:04):
I know that I'm right with God. I know that
I can come before him. And then seventeen Listen to me,
don't forget take in what I'm saying. By the way,
when I say what I want to say to God,
y'all be listening. You're gonna want to know this too.
I want y'all to get it too. Verse eighteen. Behold,

(36:24):
I have prepared my case. I know that I shall
be in the right. I'm confident. I'm confident that I
will be vindicated. Now hang on to this if you
want to just put a little note out by the side.
Down the road, somebody's gonna show up, called Allai who

(36:45):
and a liai? Who is going to come in? Or
lie Hugh? And he's going to circle back to this
statement from Joe. So remember that I'm confident that i
will be vindicated. I'm gonna make my case and I
know that I'm in the right. Nineteen Who is there

(37:05):
who will contend with me? For then I would be
silent and die? He said, So I'm looking at you three.
Can any of y'all really bring a case against me?
You haven't done anything but talk about things you think
may be wrong. You haven't cited one thing. By the way,

(37:26):
I've been living this right here for five months. Okay,
is you're claiming I've done something wrong, but you haven't
brought a case against me. You won't point to what
I've done. You just know I've done something. You could
just ask. And when I kept telling you that I
don't know of anything that hasn't been good enough for you,

(37:50):
but he says, I want you to understand that I'm
going to be vindicated, and you know, and and if
I didn't believe this, and I didn't think that I
was in the right, you might even remember my own
wife said, just curse God and die. That's what I
would have done. I would have just shut my mouth

(38:11):
and died. I wouldn't be I wouldn't be fighting like
this if I didn't believe that I was in the right,
What what use would it be? Right? Because sometimes you
kind of have this this attitude. I remember when before
being redeemed, that sometimes I would I would be in
trouble with various authorities, and sometimes it would just all

(38:36):
get around you, and finally you just say, I gotta
come on out. Y'all got me Okay, I'm busted. Now
let me see if I can see if I can
get some grace. Okay, I can no longer deny that
that that I didn't do what y'all said I did.
You know I did it. I know I did it.
Y'all got the evidence. I'm done. Let's let's get on
with it, okay, and see if we can't get to

(38:57):
the other side of it. He said, if I knew
what was going on here, I just shut up and die.
So and he says, so, I want you guys to
understand that y'all have no right to bring an accusation
to me. And oh, by the way, you haven't said
anything other than you assume. So then we get to
twenty and twenty eight to end this week, and now

(39:19):
he's done with them. He's going to turn around and
address God. Now, okay, So he goes in, goes to
twenty and he's now talking to God. Only grant me
two things, God, not the friends. Then I will not
hide myself from your face. I want two things. Grant

(39:40):
me these two things. I won't hide from you. I'll
face you, but I need two things. Twenty one, withdraw
your hand far from me and let not dread of
you terrify me. Hey lord, please ease up, take your
hand off of me, Remove this affliction, remove your terror

(40:06):
you are you are terrorizing me. I am miserable, and
I am afraid. And I would ask for you to
give me a break. Let's talk this out. But I
gotta have a break right now. Have you ever been
to that point where you just go, hey, I can't,
I can't do any more of this. I got I

(40:29):
gotta have a break. You ever you ever been trying
to fight with the pain. I remember my wife, she
had the It seems like the whole world it has.
At some point, I think I'm about to have it.
The rotator cuff surgery. Apparently that's part of life now
at some point, and and and and she did not

(40:49):
want to deal with any kind of pain medicine. And
I kept saying, baby, I I don't know about that.
I mean it's a I mean, well, I just I
just want I don't want to. I really rather not
do that. I think I'll just use you know, sometimes
you just take a lot of is it? What is it?
I'll be profen or whatever. They have these real high
dosages of it. If you've been in a lot of pain.

(41:11):
I don't want to get on these opioids. Okay, I
understand the danger of opods, seeing it, seeing it destroy
many lives. Baby, I don't think you're gonna become an
opioid addict, you know, just getting through surgery on rotator cup.
And of course she what after the surgery, she feeling
pretty good. I mean, it's none you know, everything's fine.
And so we go to the first physical therapy time

(41:33):
to move it. And I was standing there and I
mean they took her arm, they didn't move it just
a few inches, and I saw tears start coming down
her face. And I said, babe, you want to go to
call in the meds, and and she goes and she
starts shaking, and I said, well, now we're chasing, you know,
but I mean, but it's which is not good. But
but we eventually got there. But what it was at

(41:54):
that point she said, Okay, right now, I realize this
is got to stop. You know, if we can get
this settled down, now we can go. I want to recover.
And so that that's what Job is saying. I want
to talk to you. I want to face you. Could
you just give me a break. Can you stop the affliction?
Can you stop terrorizing me? Okay? And so, and he asks,
I want these two things, and then he says, in

(42:17):
twenty two, then call and I want answer or let
me speak, and you reply to me. Now, Job careful here.
You call on me and I'll answer. Okay, but I
got to have a break. Do these things for me.
I got enough with the terror, enough with the afflictions.

(42:40):
Then call and I'll answer or let me speak, and
then you reply to me. Now, he's gonna get this wish.
It's coming. And when it comes, I hate to give
away the story. He's gonna try to get God. I
got it. He's going to God. God has a very
impressive speech and resume planned and it's so powerful that

(43:03):
Job tries to stop it. And God said, no, no, no, no,
you asked for this. You're gonna hear the whole thing. Okay. Yeah, so, hey,
I got it. No, no, no, we're not done. So
he's setting that up. So then he says, in twenty three,
how many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me

(43:27):
know my transgression and my sin. I want to know.
I want to know. Okay, And you're gonna you're gonna
You're gonna listen. This is bigger here. This is a
huge verse in Joe. It's huge because remember I keep saying,
I love when we start seeing that his theology is changing,

(43:47):
the theology of the day is changing. If you look
at these Hebrew words, it's not as simple as it
sounds in English. Here's what he's saying. He's not really
asked sking to know why he's suffering. Okay, that's not it.
This is gonna get deeper deeper here. He wants to

(44:10):
know the new theology. What he's saying is, hey, reveal
to me something. Am I just suffering for your sake?
Can you answer that question for me? Because this is
what I'm starting to think right If you can't find
a reason for it, as far as the easy reason,

(44:32):
I'm bad, God's mad, You're going that's not it. I
haven't sinned against you as far as unrepented sin, I'm blameless.
I'm upright now. Remember God said that, the gods who
said that about him? So am I just doing this
for your sake? Are you doing this for your glory?

(44:58):
He understands glory, worry, but is it for you? Are
you just letting me suffer for some reason about you. See,
the theology is starting to change. Now now comes the
why in twenty four, why do you hide your face
and count me as an enemy? Now here comes a why?

(45:20):
Now this is a why. I don't it feels like
you're hiding from me. I can't get you to respond
to me. I can't get an answer from you, and
it seems like you've made me your enemy. Why why? Well,

(45:43):
we always want to know the why, don't we have?
Have you ever just got to the point where you've
said something which isn't always true, but it's something that
you go If I could, if I just knew why,
then I'd be okay. Sometimes when we find out why,
it makes it even more difficult. Oh that's why I
wish I hadn't asked. But he is saying that, I

(46:06):
feel like I'm just shouting out at you and you're
not answering me. It even feels like we're there's a
distance between us, which we know there was because God
has allowed Satan to go after him under the boundaries
that he set, and he even changed the boundaries a
few times to make it worse. Let's just deal with it, okay,
and right now it's like Job is looking for God

(46:31):
and all he sees are bad friends and he doesn't
realize it. But there's also the darkness of those who
oppose God, and he can feel that he can. Are
you hearing me? No, we know God does, but he
feels like he doesn't, and he wants to get some clarification.
And of course the bigger one. Am I your enemy?

(46:54):
And if I'm your enemy? I really want to know why?
So twenty five will you frighten a driven leaf and
pursue dry shafe? You know what you're saying? What am
I worth it? I'm getting all this attention. I'm a
worthless human being compared to you. Nothing. I'm worth nothing.

(47:20):
I'm useless. I'm worthless. Why in the world are you
interested in me? Why would Almighty take time to do
this to Job? For what reason? Why do you even care?
What are you trying to get me to do? You
don't need me. Why would you need me to glorify you?

(47:41):
Why would you need me to suffer for you? For
what reason? I'm nothing? Twenty six? For you write bitter
things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of
my youth. This is back to this I hear did

(48:02):
you ordain this is really the word in Hebrew? Did
you ordain me to suffer? Did you create me for this?
Did you make me for this moment? And now what
he's saying is, and I've been here before. Have you

(48:23):
ever had your own sin nature or some wicked evil
demon representing lucifer sin? You know you repented up sin,
you know you dealt with but it was bad. And
how many times have you heard the little voice you

(48:46):
remember when you did that? There's no ways over that,
that that that's going to keep you down for the
rest of your life. Don't don't, don't let that happen.
I never understood how dis respetful that was to Jesus
to somehow keep hanging on to something that he bled
and died and was crucified to rid me of. And

(49:10):
how dare me to keep going back with my poor, poor,
pitiful I remember one time, you remember that those years
of my life, you know, I did some terrible things,
some horrible things, And so I'm gonna use that as
an excuse for the rest of my life to never
be useful for God. And you know what the demons
think that sounds good does that's what we were hoping

(49:31):
to accomplish. And then Jesus is sitting there going it
is finished, you know, and you find this a lot
And I think that hopefully this will help somebody, because
it certainly helped me. People who who come to redemption.
And there's so many different sins, but I'm just going
to use this one because it's one that is prevalent.

(49:51):
You didn't know Jesus, or you rejected Jesus. Are you
just one astray and you compromise your sexual purity and
then you finally meet this wonderful person that you want
to marry, and you think I've ruined it. I've I've
ruined my wedding day. But what you have to understand

(50:12):
that in God's eyes, if He's looking at your sexuality
and your purity through the lens of Jesus, oh, you
stand on your wedding day pure. You stand on your
wedding day as white as snow. Now, if you're not redeemed,
that's different. But if you've been redeemed, you don't let

(50:34):
that get in the way of God's holy matrimony. If
everybody involved has been redeemed, he will present you to
himself holy and without a spot of sin, and you
can go and enjoy the intimacy of your marriage without
all that baggage. Let it go. And don't you ever

(50:56):
hold these kind of things over somebody's head that have
been redeemed because it gives you some sort of power
over them. I saw one of the worst examples of
an abuse in a marriage one time. The husband came
into the marriage pure and the wife didn't, and she
was redeemed woman of God. And come to find out

(51:20):
when they got into counseling, that husband, whenever he wanted
the upper hand, would remind her that she was not
pure when they got married, but he was. I mean,
that's wicked, and it eventually destroyed the marriage. And so
this is what you have to understand that if something

(51:43):
has happened and God has forgiven you and you have
been redeemed, then you have to understand that you stand
before him and you're not his enemy anymore. Okay, that's over,
and here's job going. Are you holding stuff against me
that I thought I repented of? Am I in trouble

(52:03):
for stuff I did when I was young? He ever
felt that way? God, you knew I was stupid? You knew. I.
I mean, you gonna hold that against me the rest
of my life and the enterest No, not if you've repented,
not if you've been redeemed. And so if it's still
being held against you, it's not by God resting that. Okay.

(52:24):
So you see, Joe's just grabbing for anything. I did
some things when I was young I shouldn't have done that.
Is that what this is? And so he says, twenty seven,
you put my feet in the stocks and watch all
my paths. You set a limit for the soles of
my feet. You know what, he says. I can't escape

(52:48):
the path and direction you have laid out for me.
We're gonna do what you want to do, and there's
nothing I can do about it. So let's get on
with it. I'm a limit by your sovereignty, right. I
can sit here and jump up and down, and I

(53:09):
can complain, and I can even say I don't want
to go down this road, but we're going. So let's go.
You've got me, you guide me. There's nothing I can
do about it. I'm limited by your sovereignty. But there's
also peace in that. Twenty eight man waste away like

(53:29):
a rotten thing like a garment that is moth eaten.
You know what he's saying right here, and everybody in
the room's in the same position that I don't want
to be Debbie Downer, because if you're redeemed, it ain't
gonna be nothing but better. This is bad as it's
ever gonna be if you've been redeemed. But can I
break it to you. We're all dying, and he says,

(53:55):
you know what, I've just come to the conclusion we're
not living, We're dying, and we're going to ride away.
But again, you know what he says, never once look
at all this, I mean, guys, especially twenty to twenty eight,
this is all addressing God. We do not see anywhere

(54:21):
that job who has no idea the conversation between God
and Satan, of his own relationship with God and his
limited understanding of this new theology. He knows God's doing it.

(54:42):
He has not cried out after Satan one time. He
almost acts like he's not even aware of Satan. I mean,
I know he must be, but I mean he's not
mentioning him. And I see us doing the opposite. Like
I said earlier, we always think it's Satan. Job never did.

(55:04):
He just wants to know why God's doing it, and
he's asking for the answer. And as he continues to
seek that answer, in God's timing, he's going to get it.
Let's pray, Lord, thank you for today. Thank you for
this time together with the brothers always. It is the

(55:27):
highlight of my week. And Lord, thank you for those
that are all over the world that also are watching
and listening to this Bible study with us. You know, Lord,
just watching this, even this is ministered to me today
and the answer that's coming for Job before we're done

(55:47):
with all this many weeks from today, we're already living,
and we're thankful that you showed us who you are,
even even in die or suffering through the journey and
the difficulty that Job went through. I don't know about
you guys in the room and those of you out there,
men and women. I look forward to meeting Job. I

(56:10):
look forward to going over to him say to your Job. Yeah, Wow.
People talked about you a lot. You were used by
God in a mighty way. I can't imagine what it
must have been like for Job when the suffering was
finally over and he was there in the presence of God,
and he had all the answers. As Paul told us,

(56:31):
right now, Lord, we don't understand everything. You know. We're
seeing you kind of, you know, it's kind of a
little bit foggy, but there comes a day when we'll
see you clearly. But thank you for allowing us to
see you as in a way as much you give
yourself to us, as much as we can handle in
our limited state. Glory b do you God, and may

(56:54):
we find rest in the limits of your sovereignty. In
your name, we pray, Amen.