0:01 Welcome to another program of Words of Life. In our study of the scriptures, we have now come to the book of Job. And in our last session, we saw chapter 1. We saw that God has put three hedges 0:22 around all his children. The innermost hedge around a person, the second hedge around our family, and the third hedge around all our 0:40 property. Property is not the most important, nor is it totally unimportant. We shouldn't go to either extreme. We find two extremes in Christianity concerning property. Some people make that everything. 1:07 Some people make it nothing. But if you keep it in third place, it's perfectly okay. So, after Job lost his children and his property, and he didn't complain. 1:27 Satan was defeated in that first round. So, he comes back to God one day. And the Lord says to Satan in chapter 2, verse 3, "Have you considered my servant Job, even though you did all this? He's still holding fast to his 1:43 integrity." But Satan has got nothing good to say about any man. He says, "Yes, I know why Job's like that." That's because 2:01 every man loves his own life more than even his children and his property. So, if you touch him and his skin, his bone, and his flesh, he will definitely curse you. So, the Lord said, "Okay, 2:26 I open up hedge number one also. But not fully. You can't kill him. You can't kill him. You can touch his body. See, these are amazing truths that Satan can go only as far as God permits 2:44 him. And if God is in control of what Satan is permitted to do to us, then we can rest in the fact that 3:02 everything he permits we'll be able to overcome. Linked to what we see in Job is this glorious truth in 1 Corinthians 10:13. That is, God will not allow you to be 3:24 tested beyond your ability. If he sees that some temptation is too much for you, he won't let it come now. I'm sure there are temptations that Satan has which are too much for me right now. But I'm equally certain they won't come. 3:52 It will not come. What do you mean? Because God will not allow it to come because I'm not ready One day when I'm ready for it, it will come. And like that there must have been temptations. There are temptations I face today which God did not allow to 4:09 come into my life many years ago. God does not give a 10th standard question paper examination paper to a first standard student. He won't even give it to a ninth standard student. He will wait till that ninth standard 4:29 student comes to 10th standard and then give him that question. If you believe this, you will be tremendously comforted. You will know You will know that you will never be tempted or tested beyond your ability. Satan went and attacked Job's body. 4:53 From head to foot he was covered with sores. I don't know what disease it was. But that coming in the first book of the Bible shows very clearly that sickness comes from Satan. Very important truth. Equally important 5:16 truth. That sickness comes to God's children from Satan is permitted by God first. These are both truths that we need to understand. Some people understand only one of them. 5:35 Some people say God sends sickness. Not to his children. Are they his children? Do you give sickness to your children? Do you want to give them? If know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more should your 5:52 heavenly father give good things? Sickness is not a good thing. God never gives it. And then there are people who go to the other extreme and say sickness is from the devil. God never permits it. 6:14 That's also wrong. He permitted it even to Paul. Even Timothy had stomach infirmities all through his life. But it's true that all sickness comes from Satan. That's so clear here in Job chapter 2. 6:35 Now let me see why God why Satan didn't kill his Job's wife. His wife was in circle number two. And the way he did turn it out and Satan could have killed his wife. But he didn't do it because he wanted to 6:57 use her to make Job suffering more. And then Satan when Job was sick like this Satan instigates his wife to nag Job. And that makes his suffering more. 7:18 But Job replies saying, "Well, can we can't we accept good and evil from God?" And it says in verse 10, Job did not sin with his lips. But at that point he did not sin. But as the pressure increased, things 7:39 became different. And then we read that Job's three friends heard of his adversity and came. And it says they came, made an appointment, and came to sympathize with him. And then he They looked at him. They 7:58 didn't even recognize him because he was full of sores. And they wept and they tore their robes, etc. For 7 days they said nothing. Now, when you look at the way they spoke 8:18 to him later on in the following chapters, it's fairly clear that they were quite jealous of Job. You know, many half-hearted Christians are jealous of a godly Christian. And they're even more jealous if that 8:40 godly Christian is rich. If he's poor, okay, they don't mind it so much. But they can't bear to see a person who's spiritual and rich. And on top of that, all his 10 children 9:01 were God-fearing. Just adds to people jealous people's jealousy even today. And that man is spiritually minded, he's rich, highly respected, 9:19 and his children are all God-fearing. And when you hear some calamity hit such a man, religious people are exposed. When you find calamity hit somebody, or a calamity 9:38 you find yourself a little happy about it. That shows what an evil, wicked person you are. Cuz you don't really sympathize with that person. Of course you will visit him like Job's friends here. Say the right words, you are sorry and 9:59 all that. But deep down in your heart like these people, you are secretly glad that at last this fellow got hit. God uses the sufferings of godly people to expose the Phariseeism 10:18 and the empty religiosity of other Christians. Many times when you see a God-fearing man suffering in some way, your reaction to that shows your 10:37 spiritual condition. And maybe God is allowing him to suffer to expose you. Show the corruption of your own heart. That's what we see here in Job. 10:56 The corruption of these three friends' hearts would not have been seen if Job had not suffered. Whether they acknowledge it or not is another thing. And whether you acknowledge it or not, 11:13 that's also another thing. But and all religiosity is exposed. And so we see here in chapter two, they pretended that they were very sorry for him. And then we find Job beginning to sink. 11:40 You find that he opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth, chapter 3, verse 1. And when you read what goes on in the remaining chapters from three onwards, you find Job's experience is up and down 11:58 and up and down and up and down. Sometimes he says some wonderful things. Though God slays me, I'll trust him. I know when this trial is over, I'll come forth as gold. I know that my redeemer lives. 12:18 And one day I'll stand before him. But at other times he's cursing the day he was born. Cursing God, why have you set me up as a target, etc. Why didn't I die at birth? 12:37 And that's the experience of a lot of Christians, also. Sometimes they are up and sometimes they are down. And that's because they haven't entered into the new covenant. Job was not even in the old covenant. He didn't even have the law. 12:59 You can't compare yourself with Job. Now, if your experience in the time of suffering is up and down like Job, you can find comfort in the fact that when you repent at the end, God will 13:15 forgive you all the bad words you said. That we can see in Job's case. Uh God understood the pressure Job was under. He understands the pressure you are 13:32 under, too. So, he forgives you. So, as far as forgiveness is concerned, there is no problem. All the hard words you say against God, you say, "I'm sorry." He forgives you immediately. But then, the author and finisher of 13:53 your faith is Job. And then, of course, you're following an Old Testament example. Hebrews 11:40 says God has given us something better in the New Covenant. Jesus is the author and finisher of our 14:16 faith. And when he suffered, he did not complain like Job. And if Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith, then you will discover in the fact that even in your suffering, you don't complain. I think there are about 1% of Christians 14:39 like that in the world. 99% of people, the author and finisher of their faith is Job. They complain and grumble. Think these Old Testament people had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them that we 14:57 have. To complain against God is a sin. Job sinned when he did it. The New Covenant promises if you're under grace, sin will not rule over you. You don't have to feel condemned when 15:21 you find yourself under pressure and you say some hard words, you're a good Old Testament follower of Moses. You'll go to heaven. But, don't ever think you're a disciple of 15:39 Jesus. A disciple of Jesus never complains or murmurs. You can be among that 1% if you are whole hearted. Surrender everything to God. 15:58 God himself means more to you than health and wealth and everything else. Now, I want to say something about these four preachers who preached to Job. There are four different types of preachers. 16:15 The first was a man called Eliphaz. And see what he says in chapter 4 and verse 12. A word was brought to me stealthily and my ear received a whisper. And in the night I had visions and a 16:38 spirit A spirit passed by my face, verse 15. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. Then I heard a voice. Verse 17, can mankind be just before 16:56 God? He's pretending that he got a vision from God. This is one type of preacher we have in the world today also. They're always talking about visions. Visions, voices they have heard. 17:15 Don't believe all of them. Eliphaz was like that. Any fuss was like that. At the end of the book of Job, God I'm angry with you. These things are written for our instruction. This is a certain type of preacher who is always thinking 17:33 everything supernatural is from God. You have to go out and get a lot of money to get a car. All the visions are not from God. Yes, the Bible says that when the Holy Spirit is poured out, your young men shall see visions. 17:50 But a lot of visions that people talk about is just their own fertile imagination. See, right now I can shut my eyes and see certain things in my mind. And someone whose mind is more 18:07 imagination is more fertile than mine. I suppose he can shut his eyes and see angels in heaven and all types of things which I can't see. I'm not saying he's telling a lie. But it's not from God. 18:27 It's his own imagination. And some visions are from the devil just to fool people. And a few are from God. 90% of them are not from God. things that people talk about in so many meetings today. Bible says don't believe every spirit. 18:50 Test the spirits. Who is speaking? Does he have the humility of Christ? Is he saying this vision in order to get your money? Is he Is this vision leading him to a godly life? These are the tests by which I find out 19:11 whether a man is a godly man or not. The man is a godly man who is known for only speaking the truth. And he's humble. He never ask people for money. He's not trying to impress you with his 19:28 visions. A few other qualities like that. I would say, "Okay, that could be from God." I can't say definitely. I have to test it and see the results. 19:46 Then there's a second type of preacher. His name is Bildad. And you read about him, what he says in chapter 8. He's the type of preacher who deals with past generations. We should follow what our fathers have taught us. 20:06 Chapter 8, verse 8. Let us inquire of past generations. A lot of people in the main line denominations are like this. They say, "Well, our forefathers were always in this established church for centuries." Verse 9, "We are only of yesterday. We 20:28 know nothing." But think of our fathers, what they searched out, verse 8. And will they not be able to teach you and tell you certain things? That's another type of preacher. 20:47 Brother, stay in this dead established church. Our fathers can't be wrong. And the third type of preacher is Zophar. And he is a very critical, hard type of 21:09 person. That's the third type of preacher. He just goes around criticizing everything. And calls people names. He calls people, you know, he called Job a godly man in verse chapter 11 verse 12 21:27 an idiot. There are real prophets you read in the Old Testament who spoke very firmly. These are people who try to imitate those real prophets. Don't think that everyone who speaks 21:48 strongly is a false prophet. Jesus John the Baptist called the Pharisees vipers. Jesus called the Pharisees vipers. And told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." 22:09 So there are real prophets speak very strongly. They speak with compassion and they've got love for the people. False prophets. They are ones who try to imitate the real prophet. And they pass a judgment without knowing anything. 22:31 So far was like that. Then there's a fourth type of person. His name is Elihu. And he says in chapter 32 verse 6, "I'm young." Verse 7, I thought age should speak and 22:49 increase years should teach wisdom. He says a lot of good things. A lot of really good things. Some very good things. He's the best of the four. That's why God did not condemn him. He's like the preacher who preaches a lot of good things, but he has no 23:09 experience of suffering in his own life. That's another type of preacher. And Job had to face all these types of preachers. Now, the main thing is that none of 23:27 these preachers could help Job. Then finally, you find God coming and speaking to Job. And God speaks in a completely different way. These people criticized Job for all types of things. The sum and substance of the first three 23:48 preachers was that you have you must have sinned. Maybe your children have sinned, that's why God has killed them. There's something wrong in your life. God doesn't give sickness like this to 24:06 man is righteous. These are people who don't have a clue about what goes on in the heavens between God and Satan. It's like a lot of preachers today who go and tell a sick man you don't have faith. Or there's sin in your life. 24:27 The man is already suffering. And they make his suffering more. Jesus never did that. He healed the sick. If the people didn't have faith, he just left them alone and went. He didn't torture them more. Anyone who came to him and said, "Lord, I trust 24:46 you," he always healed. Now, today's healers don't do that. They still think they are right. They always say, "Well, we are the ones that are right. If you you are not healed, it's because you don't have faith." If you if you're not healed it's because 25:00 you exactly like these preachers here. So, let us have warnings of the type of preachers we should not be. If you want to preach, then preach like God preached. We'll look at that later. 25:19 God bless you. Welcome to Words of Life. We are studying through the Bible. And now we are in the book of Job. And in the last two sessions we 25:38 considered certain features about the whole book. We talked here about the individuals mentioned in this book. Now, let's look at the contents of this book itself. We don't want to go into it in detail. 26:01 Because our aim in all these studies is to find the essential message of each book. So, Job in Job's discussion with his friends, the the three preachers, there are three rounds of discussions. The first round is from chapter 3 to 14. 26:29 Job speaks and all three reply. And in the second round, it's from 15 to 21. Where they speak back and forth. And in the third round, 26:46 it's from chapter 22 to 26. And then we have Job's long self-justification from chapter 27 to 31. And then Elihu gives a long lecture, 32 27:06 to 37. And then after that we find God himself speaking to Job. Job 38 to 41. And then it concludes with chapter 42 where Job replies. That's the whole outline of the book. 27:31 And as I said in our last study, Job's experience was up and down. I want to show you certain things there. To show you some of his statements. See chapter 3 verse 11. 27:50 Why did I not die at birth? He has complaints like that against God. And he says in chapter 7 verse 4, "When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the night continues and I'm 28:09 continually tossing until dawn." Verse 11, "So I will not restrain my mouth. I'll speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." Verse 20, "Have I sinned? What have I 28:27 done to thee, oh God? What what should I do, man? Why have you set me as your target?" And chapter 9 verse 17, "He bruises me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without any reason." "I'm guiltless, verse 20. 28:53 He He mocks, verse 23, the despair of the innocent. Verse 28, I know you will not acquit me. And between me and God, verse 33, there is no empire who can lay his hand upon us both. Thank God we have one today in Jesus 29:15 Christ. That's what's made all the difference that we don't complain like Job. And then you see further in chapter 13. He says something quite different. Amazing words. 29:34 Verse 15. Though he slay me, I will hope in him. What a confession of hope. And then he sinks down again. You write bitter, verse 26, you write bitter things against me and you make me 29:51 inherit the iniquities of my youth. He wonders whether this is due to some sins in his youth that he's suffering. What he doesn't realize is that his biggest problem is his 30:09 pride. God, Job was a very righteous man. But he was very proud of his righteousness, like many righteous people today. God's aim was to make Job a righteous 30:27 man who was a humble man. And that is what he finally succeeded in doing. The end of God was to make him a humble man who was also righteous. That's not easy. 30:49 There are many people are righteous, but humility is not one of the characteristics of their life. So, Job makes this wonderful statement in chapter 13. And then again, he begins to complain. He says 31:07 uh in chapter 16, "God's anger has torn me and hunted me down." Verse 11, "God hands me over to ruffians and tosses me into the hands of the wicked." I was at ease verse 12, but he has shattered me. He's grasped me by the 31:25 neck and shaken me to pieces. Verse 14, "Even though there's no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure." See, he complains like this. Again in chapter 19, 31:44 and he says uh to the people, he says these 10 times verse three, "You have insulted me." But what has God done? Verse 13, "He's removed my brothers from me. My friends are estranged from me. Relatives have failed me. 32:08 Intimate friends have forgotten me. Even my maids consider me a stranger in my house. My breath verse 17 is offensive even to my wife. Verse 18, "Young children despise me. Verse 20, "My bone clings to my skin. 32:29 Verse 21, "Pity me, pity me, oh my friends, for the hand of God has struck me. Persecute me as God does verse 22. And then he suddenly rises again. Verse 25. 32:46 As for me, I know my redeemer lives. And at the last, he will take his stand on the earth. And even if my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh shall I see God. I shall see myself, not another. And I think this is the point at which a 33:06 turning point, a small turning point takes place. He He hasn't fully recovered till he comes to chapter 42. But he does say that he tells his friends there will be a judgment, verse 29, for those who 33:26 accuse God's servants. Be afraid of the sword for yourselves, he says. And then in chapter 21 onwards, he becomes a little milder. And that's the 33:47 end of the second round. The third round starts. In 23, verse 10, Job says He knows the way I take. He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Those are And then in verse 12, 34:06 I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. He was a man who valued God's word more than his food. He didn't have a Bible. But he listened to God. 34:24 In the Living Bible, 23:10 is translated like this. He knows how God knows every detail of what is happening to me. And then in chapter 24 verse one The question here is basically why don't 34:44 people say that see the day of judgement? Chapter 26 Verse 14 he says we know so little about God's ways. These are just the fringes of his ways. Who knows his full ways? But he says in chapter 27 verse six I 35:06 will not give up my righteousness. I'll hold on to it. And like that up and down But if you look at chapters 29 to 31 The fruit of self-justification This is the end of Job's discussions. 35:31 But you see there the type of man Job was. And you see what an upright man he was even before the law was given. You wonder whether even believers like 35:49 this nowadays. Look at his life. See the good there was in his life. Chapter 29 verse 12 I delivered the poor who cried for help. And I delivered the orphan who had no 36:08 helper. The one who was ready to perish. And I made the widow's heart sing for joy verse 13. If I saw a blind man verse 15 I was eyes to him. I was feet to the lame. He would help a blind man towards his to 36:28 his house and he would maybe carry a lame man to his He would help a blind man towards his to his house and he would maybe carry a lame man to his house. was not a poor man, he was a rich man and he did such things. I was a father to the needy. 36:46 People who had a complaint I investigated and helped them. When I spoke my words verse 21, people listened to what I had to say. Verse 25, I sat as a king among them. And then in chapter 31 37:07 I'm verse one. I made a covenant with my eyes that I should not gaze at a woman. This is new covenant stuff. And here he was living before Abraham and he had this type of light. He was lusting with his eyes. He says I did not lurk verse nine in my 37:33 neighbor's house to entice his wife. Verse 13, if I have servants and they had a complaint I I took care of it. If I ate verse 17, I shared my food with 37:51 the orphans. People without clothing verse 19, I gave them clothing. And even when my enemy was defeated verse 29, I did not rejoice at the evil that be fell him. I did not allow my mouth to sin verse 30 38:12 by asking for his life as a curse. This is new covenant life. he lived. I want to be able to walk around. No wonder he was surprised that he was suffering so much. With all these things, what did he lack? 38:34 Humility. The humility that recognizes I am what I am by the grace of God. That is the place to which God finally brought him. Now let's see the advice that Elihu gives. 38:54 You know, God doesn't criticize Elihu. Elihu's problem was that he had no experience. The many good qualities in Elihu. A lot of good things he says, we can see. One good quality of Elihu was 39:13 he didn't speak before the older people spoke. He says in chapter 32, verse 6, "I'm young and then therefore I thought age should speak, verse 7." But he says in verse 8, "It's not years 39:32 that gives us wisdom. It is the Holy Spirit, the breath of the Almighty." And then he explains certain things about God which are very very true. And he says something which should be 39:49 very true of all preachers. For example, he says in verse 18, "I'm full of words, the spirit within constrains me." But verse 21, "Let me not be partial and let me not flatter." Let me not flatter anybody. I will not 40:11 be partial to anybody. And then he says something another thing which is Then he says something another thing which is good for all of us preachers and leaders to bear in Chapter 33 verse 7. Fear of me should terrify you. 40:32 My pressure should not weigh heavily on you. Many preachers and leaders pressure weighs heavily on their followers. And people are afraid of them. More afraid of the leaders than they're 40:50 afraid of God. And then he says some wonderful things about suffering. He says why verse chapter 33 verse 19. Man is chastened by God with pain on his bed. And his flesh wastes away verse 21. 41:19 Verse 23, if there's one man in a thousand who can explain to man what is the reason for all this? One and only one in a thousand. And what he's implying is that you three preachers who spoke now have not been 41:37 able to explain it. And he says something here about the Lord saying, "Deliver him from going down to the pit verse 24, I found a ransom." This is we could say a prophetic reference to 41:57 Christ. And if you apply it to sin man is living in sin and God has found a ransom. And when he pray to verse 26 he accepts us. He is faced with joy. 42:19 His righteousness is restored to us. Because he can say yes verse 28 he's redeemed my soul from going to hell. God allows a man to be chastened he says in verse 29 to save his soul from hell. God allows people to go through these 42:45 type of sufferings for this reason. He allows it with a very good purpose. And when we go to chapter 34 you find here in 43:04 um verse nine. For he has said Job has said it profits a man nothing when he's pleased with God. That's a false accusation. Job never said anything like that. 43:20 So Elihu is not exactly right. He says many good things. Here's another good thing that Job Elihu says. In the midst of all your suffering where are the people who say chapter 35 43:40 verse 10 where is God my maker who gives me songs in the night? in the night. Another wonderful thing about God he says in chapter 36 verse five. God is mighty but he doesn't despise 44:01 anybody. You preachers despise Job. No, God never despises anyone. The closer we are to God, we don't despise anybody. This is how Elihu speaks. 44:21 But he also is not able to help Job. And he also says things like, "If they hear God, chapter 36, verse 11, they will end their days in prosperity and their years in pleasure." But that's not true. 44:42 This is the prosperity gospel. Then God speaks. And the wonderful thing about God is he doesn't say a single word about Job's sin. And that's the difference with God. He doesn't say, "You're a sinner and your children 45:02 have sinned." or any such thing. When you read what God says in chapter 38, 39, and 40, and 41, he asks Job, "Can you see understand the wonders of creation? You can't understand it. 45:22 And if you can't understand that, how can you understand spiritual realities when you can't understand physical creation?" And Job realizes. That's true. Even these wonders of physical creation 45:41 I don't understand. How can I understand spiritual reality? The second thing God tells him, "See, I control the lightning. I control the wild animals. 45:57 I control all of creation. And implied in that is And implied in that is Don't you think I could have controlled those Caldeans who came and killed your took away your animals? I could control creation, don't you 46:21 think I could have controlled that storm and that fire that destroyed your children's house? Then in chapter 41 he says Can you stand before a crocodile? And you're trying to stand before 46:43 And you're trying to stand before me the creator and say all these things? At last problem is solved. He says in chapter 40 verse 4 Lord, I am nothing. God wants to bring us all to nothing. 47:04 The one and only one That was his purpose with Job. Because he brings us to nothing, he can bless us abundantly. He says, "I'll lay my hand on my mouth. I'll never say anything more." Finally he says 47:29 chapter 42. Lord, till now I only heard about you from other people verse 5. But now my eyes sees you. And I repent I take back all the words I spoke. I take it back. I take it back. 47:50 I repent. All the words that we read just now, the bad words are all wiped out. All gone. And So in heaven you read Job's record. All the bad words he spoke in this book are not there. Only the good words. 48:12 I I mean if he dies, even if I die, I'll trust him. He knows the way I take. He knows every detail about me. He knows my comings and goings. I will stand before him. All good words. 48:29 That's why God could say about Job. Job has said, verse seven, about me what is right. It doesn't look like that when we read all this. But with that one repentance in verse 48:47 six, all the bad words are wiped out. Next verse he says, Job has not said anything wrong. But he says, you people have done something wrong. You better ask Job to pray for you, 49:07 verse eight. Pray for them. When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord blessed him double. They were not his friends, they were his critics. When you start praying for your enemies and your critics, God will bless you 49:26 double, too. Many Christians don't pray for them. But we encourage you to pray for your those who persecute you. Bless those who curse you. Do what Job did. See, 49:46 God was not out to find fault with Job. God's all aim was to humble him. Once he Once he humbled him, he gave him back everything and double Even children he got double. 10 in heaven and 10 on earth. So you see God's ultimate end is to 50:14 bless us. James says Do you know the story of Job? How God blessed him. That's what God wants Be patient in your suffering. Ezequiel speaks about Noah, Daniel and 50:32 Job. So we know that this is not a a parable, but it's a true story. Job is quoted in other places in the Bible. So let's learn what we should from this 50:48 book. Amen. Amen.
