1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,049 Rod: Well, one of the things that Christmas typically offers is the joy and 2 00:00:04,049 --> 00:00:06,359 the, the, the caroling and the excitement. 3 00:00:06,570 --> 00:00:08,760 In fact, just think about most of the songs that we just sang. 4 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:10,530 All of them have an upbeat. 5 00:00:11,144 --> 00:00:15,195 Tilted them where it feels like, man, Christmas is just this blast of a day. 6 00:00:15,644 --> 00:00:16,695 Uh, Merry Christmas. 7 00:00:16,695 --> 00:00:19,364 Happy holidays, Holly Jolly Christmas. 8 00:00:19,364 --> 00:00:20,745 We yet we sang all these things. 9 00:00:20,894 --> 00:00:26,534 But what about when Christmas isn't merry or when Christmas isn't Holly and jolly? 10 00:00:26,534 --> 00:00:30,165 What about when there are seasons of your life that happen to fall into the 11 00:00:30,165 --> 00:00:33,374 Christmas season where things aren't going as well as they should go? 12 00:00:34,035 --> 00:00:35,325 Now, here's a reality of things. 13 00:00:35,804 --> 00:00:38,475 You might be young or old or someplace in between, but here's 14 00:00:38,475 --> 00:00:39,614 what the Bible promises us. 15 00:00:40,184 --> 00:00:45,015 Every season of your life, you're either in a time of trial and suffering, 16 00:00:45,015 --> 00:00:46,515 or you're going to go into one. 17 00:00:47,114 --> 00:00:50,415 You're between one of those two polls and you're either resonating with this 18 00:00:50,415 --> 00:00:53,265 right now and you're saying, yeah, this particular Christmas is hard. 19 00:00:53,654 --> 00:00:55,035 I lost a family member. 20 00:00:55,035 --> 00:00:56,774 I'm struggling with my spouse. 21 00:00:56,774 --> 00:00:58,844 You know, my kids are having a difficult time. 22 00:00:59,205 --> 00:01:03,105 Or God is preparing you to go back into a season of trial and 23 00:01:03,105 --> 00:01:05,489 suffering because this is the regular rhythm of the Christian life. 24 00:01:06,615 --> 00:01:09,345 Christmas then poses us something of a challenge, because what it does 25 00:01:09,345 --> 00:01:13,275 for us is it removes the immediate context of our family lives and 26 00:01:13,275 --> 00:01:15,975 says, Hey, joyful, happy, excitement. 27 00:01:16,155 --> 00:01:17,925 Go to church and sing these awesome songs. 28 00:01:17,925 --> 00:01:18,615 And, and we should. 29 00:01:18,645 --> 00:01:19,305 We should, right? 30 00:01:19,785 --> 00:01:21,615 But how do we deal with these times? 31 00:01:21,675 --> 00:01:25,725 How do we, how do we actually enjoy our Christmas when there might be a lot 32 00:01:25,725 --> 00:01:29,025 of things pressing for our attention, things that are heavy and difficult 33 00:01:29,265 --> 00:01:31,695 and really challenging to our faith? 34 00:01:32,325 --> 00:01:33,670 Well, I wanna show you this evening. 35 00:01:34,545 --> 00:01:39,285 Through our small passage in Job that your faith in God doesn't 36 00:01:39,285 --> 00:01:42,134 hinder a true and real trust in God. 37 00:01:42,134 --> 00:01:45,914 Even during a joyful season, it informs it and in fact it transforms it. 38 00:01:46,425 --> 00:01:48,975 So I want you to turn in your Bible to Job chapter one. 39 00:01:48,975 --> 00:01:51,914 We're gonna look at just three verses, turn on your Bible or turn 40 00:01:51,914 --> 00:01:53,745 in your Bible, whichever one you got. 41 00:01:54,045 --> 00:01:58,305 Job chapter one, 20 through 22 is what we're gonna look at. 42 00:01:58,815 --> 00:02:01,785 And as you're doing that, I just wanna point out to you that Christmas actually. 43 00:02:02,610 --> 00:02:03,750 Meets us in this place. 44 00:02:03,750 --> 00:02:06,840 In fact, one of my favorite Christmas songs is a song, 45 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:08,579 oh, come, oh, come Emmanuel. 46 00:02:08,579 --> 00:02:09,539 You guys know this song? 47 00:02:09,870 --> 00:02:13,829 Skillet recently got a little bit of hot, uh, a little bit of pressure 48 00:02:13,829 --> 00:02:16,950 and heat because they revamped the song and they had this really great 49 00:02:16,950 --> 00:02:18,180 breakdown in the middle of it. 50 00:02:18,630 --> 00:02:20,940 People were unhappy about that because they think Christmas song 51 00:02:20,940 --> 00:02:25,920 should, should have violins and cellos and not guitars with distortion 52 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:27,030 and sound effects like that. 53 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,460 But let me just point to your attention what this song says. 54 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:30,660 Uh oh. 55 00:02:30,660 --> 00:02:30,900 Come. 56 00:02:30,900 --> 00:02:31,710 Oh, come Emmanuel. 57 00:02:32,445 --> 00:02:33,855 Ransom captive Israel. 58 00:02:33,855 --> 00:02:35,595 And by the way, you should know as if you're a musician. 59 00:02:35,775 --> 00:02:38,835 This song's in a minor key, uh, a minor key. 60 00:02:38,835 --> 00:02:41,295 Unlike a major key, has a yearning to it. 61 00:02:41,655 --> 00:02:43,395 It's begging for resolution. 62 00:02:43,395 --> 00:02:45,525 It feels like it's aching towards something. 63 00:02:45,525 --> 00:02:46,755 And that's what this song is doing. 64 00:02:46,755 --> 00:02:52,454 Oh, come, oh, come Emanuel and Ransom Captive Israel Redeem Israel Redeem Your 65 00:02:52,454 --> 00:02:56,445 People That Mourns in Lonely Exile Here. 66 00:02:56,535 --> 00:02:57,960 You, you remember Israel's history? 67 00:02:58,590 --> 00:03:02,430 Israel was exiled both in northern and the Southern kingdom, and for hundreds of 68 00:03:02,430 --> 00:03:07,950 years they suffered under the brutal hand and leadership of, of a foreign dictator 69 00:03:09,990 --> 00:03:13,800 where m mourning and lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. 70 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:15,960 And then the song crescendos. 71 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:17,100 Rejoice, rejoice. 72 00:03:17,100 --> 00:03:19,829 Emmanuel shall come to the O Israel. 73 00:03:19,829 --> 00:03:21,930 Now notice here, that's a yearning for the future. 74 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:22,950 He's going to come. 75 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:24,210 He's going to come now. 76 00:03:24,210 --> 00:03:25,560 Christmas is about his coming. 77 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:26,160 Is it not? 78 00:03:26,565 --> 00:03:27,975 Christmas is about us celebrating. 79 00:03:27,975 --> 00:03:30,735 Jesus has come, he's been born in the manger. 80 00:03:30,795 --> 00:03:31,845 He lives his life. 81 00:03:31,875 --> 00:03:35,954 He dies, uh, on the cross, and then he resurrects himself 82 00:03:36,045 --> 00:03:37,095 and he ascends to the Father. 83 00:03:37,215 --> 00:03:40,305 But this song also sings not just for the first coming of Emmanuel, 84 00:03:40,305 --> 00:03:41,385 but for his second coming. 85 00:03:42,075 --> 00:03:43,605 Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel. 86 00:03:43,695 --> 00:03:46,065 He shall come to the Oh, Israel. 87 00:03:46,245 --> 00:03:50,325 And so the song continues to yearn and beg God, send Jesus back. 88 00:03:50,325 --> 00:03:51,045 Things are broken. 89 00:03:51,045 --> 00:03:51,675 We need you. 90 00:03:52,275 --> 00:03:55,195 And I would argue with you, not argue, I'd argue to you. 91 00:03:55,875 --> 00:03:57,495 This actually is what Christmas is about. 92 00:03:58,005 --> 00:03:59,145 It is because we suffer. 93 00:03:59,145 --> 00:04:02,595 It is because we struggle under the curse of sin and under the difficulty 94 00:04:02,595 --> 00:04:07,275 of this life that we're in, that God sends Jesus to us for Christmas. 95 00:04:08,235 --> 00:04:13,815 He sends it to us to resolve our issues, to meet us where we are, to incarnate 96 00:04:13,815 --> 00:04:17,654 himself into our fallen flesh, our fallen humanity, in order to identify 97 00:04:17,654 --> 00:04:21,285 with us, in order to redeem us, in order to give us hope that transcends 98 00:04:21,435 --> 00:04:23,265 the darkest of Christmas seasons. 99 00:04:24,015 --> 00:04:24,465 Oh, come. 100 00:04:24,465 --> 00:04:25,335 Oh, come Emmanuel. 101 00:04:26,775 --> 00:04:27,765 This is a season of joy. 102 00:04:27,765 --> 00:04:28,005 I'm not. 103 00:04:28,005 --> 00:04:28,755 I'm not tone deaf. 104 00:04:28,755 --> 00:04:30,915 This is Christmas and I realize we just had this awesome time. 105 00:04:30,915 --> 00:04:34,034 We're having great food, but Christmas is also a time of yearning. 106 00:04:34,455 --> 00:04:36,975 Christmas reminds us that things are not the way they're supposed to be. 107 00:04:36,975 --> 00:04:38,595 In fact, can you relate to this? 108 00:04:38,835 --> 00:04:42,255 You have anticipation and excitement about Christmas, and then Christmas comes, and 109 00:04:42,255 --> 00:04:43,905 Christmas goes and you feel like, wow. 110 00:04:44,475 --> 00:04:46,545 I feel like that should have been more, should have been bigger, 111 00:04:46,545 --> 00:04:47,625 should have been more satisfying. 112 00:04:47,625 --> 00:04:48,345 It should have been better. 113 00:04:48,525 --> 00:04:51,315 I had this itch that I really wanted to scratch, and even 114 00:04:51,315 --> 00:04:52,245 though Christmas was awesome. 115 00:04:52,905 --> 00:04:55,485 I just didn't feel like I got everything out of it that I really wanted. 116 00:04:56,534 --> 00:04:58,485 There's a yearning that Christmas brings to us. 117 00:04:59,175 --> 00:05:03,615 There is a kind of, uh, a kind of itching in our soul that is not gonna be 118 00:05:03,615 --> 00:05:07,485 scratched by the Christmas season, and that's because Jesus coming to us for 119 00:05:07,485 --> 00:05:11,745 the first time is meant to point us to our hope of his returning the next time. 120 00:05:13,380 --> 00:05:16,440 Songs like, oh, come o come Emanuel, this Christmas yearning 121 00:05:16,770 --> 00:05:18,630 help us grieve without unbelief. 122 00:05:18,870 --> 00:05:22,770 They help us hope without denial, and they give us joy without resolution. 123 00:05:23,580 --> 00:05:27,630 The minor key, your life is probably in a minor key, at least at some 124 00:05:27,630 --> 00:05:31,440 points in the season where things are not resolving, things don't feel like 125 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,830 they're fitting in the place, and that's part of what Christmas does for us. 126 00:05:34,980 --> 00:05:38,220 It highlights things are not well, things are broken and they need 127 00:05:38,220 --> 00:05:41,670 to be fixed, and the only one who can do that for us is Jesus. 128 00:05:42,450 --> 00:05:45,720 As we look at Job, I wanna show you what it looks like to trust God 129 00:05:45,930 --> 00:05:47,700 even in the midst of the darkness. 130 00:05:48,090 --> 00:05:50,130 Christmas season, of course, is often very dark, and that's 131 00:05:50,130 --> 00:05:51,150 why we put lights in our home. 132 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,260 The darkness in our world highlights the fact that we need a light that 133 00:05:55,260 --> 00:05:58,440 is transcendent greater than just the temporary lights that we have indoors. 134 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,170 We need a light that is permanent and that changes everything. 135 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:03,240 Job didn't know about these things. 136 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:04,860 He had a concept, he had an idea. 137 00:06:04,860 --> 00:06:08,640 He's probably, you know, uh, several years before Abraham. 138 00:06:08,730 --> 00:06:13,080 So before we even have the Abraham Covenant in Genesis chapter 15, you have 139 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:14,730 Job who knows a little bit about Yahweh. 140 00:06:15,180 --> 00:06:16,140 We don't know how. 141 00:06:16,380 --> 00:06:19,110 He has some understanding of who God is and in his life, 142 00:06:19,260 --> 00:06:20,370 you might know Job's story. 143 00:06:20,550 --> 00:06:21,300 He's blessed. 144 00:06:21,330 --> 00:06:22,470 He's called blameless. 145 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:27,150 He is honored by God as a man who is righteous in his life. 146 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:29,100 He takes care of his kids. 147 00:06:29,250 --> 00:06:30,270 He's got several kids. 148 00:06:30,270 --> 00:06:31,290 He's got several livestock. 149 00:06:31,290 --> 00:06:32,970 This man has got it all going on. 150 00:06:33,900 --> 00:06:39,270 Until one day, until one day God picks a fight with the devil. 151 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:44,159 And he says to him, have you taken notice of my servant job? 152 00:06:45,060 --> 00:06:47,909 Now, I don't know about you, but I, I count my godliness as something 153 00:06:47,909 --> 00:06:49,260 that protects me against evil. 154 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,130 And yet it was Job's godliness that thrusted him into that very 155 00:06:53,130 --> 00:06:54,840 season that he was about to suffer. 156 00:06:55,170 --> 00:06:58,650 So God says to the devil, have you taken notice of my servant job? 157 00:06:59,370 --> 00:07:01,980 God, challenges the devil says, have you noticed job? 158 00:07:01,980 --> 00:07:04,860 And he says, well, of course, of course Job's gonna follow you 159 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:06,270 because you've given him everything. 160 00:07:06,270 --> 00:07:08,970 God, he's got the Porsche, he's got the, you know, he is got the big 161 00:07:08,970 --> 00:07:10,770 house, he's got everything he wants. 162 00:07:11,310 --> 00:07:14,370 Of course he's gonna follow you, but I'll tell you what he challenges 163 00:07:14,370 --> 00:07:17,190 God, I'll tell you what, let me take away the things that he loves. 164 00:07:18,479 --> 00:07:22,650 Then let's see if he'll honor you, if he'll give you the praise that you're due. 165 00:07:23,849 --> 00:07:28,530 Now notice in this, God has to give approval to the devil to do what he 166 00:07:28,530 --> 00:07:30,180 wants to do, and that's what he does. 167 00:07:30,270 --> 00:07:33,359 Surprisingly, God allows a devil to afflict job. 168 00:07:34,020 --> 00:07:38,909 We pick up in chapter one, verse 20, and I wanna show you what happens immediately 169 00:07:38,909 --> 00:07:42,840 after the devil takes away everything that he knows and loves his family. 170 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:43,950 His kids gone. 171 00:07:44,235 --> 00:07:45,675 His livestock gone. 172 00:07:45,885 --> 00:07:50,385 Everything has just been stolen away from job because he's a godly man. 173 00:07:51,525 --> 00:07:55,305 Verse 20, then job arose. 174 00:07:55,875 --> 00:08:00,165 He tore his robe, he shaved his head, and he fell on the ground. 175 00:08:00,225 --> 00:08:02,115 And notice this, he worshiped. 176 00:08:03,465 --> 00:08:04,275 Here's what he said. 177 00:08:04,335 --> 00:08:07,515 In the midst of his worship, he confesses to the Lord and perhaps to 178 00:08:07,725 --> 00:08:10,155 his wife, who's still alive, naked. 179 00:08:10,155 --> 00:08:13,335 I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I return. 180 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,040 Lord gave and the Lord is taken away. 181 00:08:17,820 --> 00:08:19,920 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 182 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:27,990 Verse 22 says, in all this job did not sin or charge God with wrong. 183 00:08:30,090 --> 00:08:32,010 In verse 20, we see a few things about Job. 184 00:08:33,450 --> 00:08:36,750 He had just had, uh, evil that we typically understand 185 00:08:36,750 --> 00:08:38,070 as natural and human evil. 186 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:39,510 There was. 187 00:08:39,808 --> 00:08:42,838 Fire from heaven, which could have been lightning, which destroyed his kids. 188 00:08:43,020 --> 00:08:45,480 There was winds that CR caused the house to collapse. 189 00:08:45,510 --> 00:08:48,060 And then there's these marauders that come and kill his family. 190 00:08:48,060 --> 00:08:49,109 They, they kidnap them. 191 00:08:49,290 --> 00:08:54,270 So there's this blend of human and natural evil that takes place in job's life. 192 00:08:54,839 --> 00:08:57,359 And then on top of that, in the next chapter, Satan is 193 00:08:57,359 --> 00:08:59,490 preparing to steal job's health. 194 00:08:59,550 --> 00:09:03,180 So if it wasn't enough that his family's now dead, his kids, that is, and his 195 00:09:03,180 --> 00:09:05,190 wealth has been obliterated now his. 196 00:09:05,595 --> 00:09:06,255 His health. 197 00:09:06,525 --> 00:09:08,715 The thing that allows him to keep living is also gonna be 198 00:09:08,715 --> 00:09:09,765 threatened in the next chapter. 199 00:09:10,335 --> 00:09:14,205 But his response to both of these devastating losses are remarkable 200 00:09:14,205 --> 00:09:17,865 because Joe models something for us that we so we so infrequently see, 201 00:09:18,105 --> 00:09:19,785 and this is deep, profound trust. 202 00:09:20,655 --> 00:09:25,695 He stands in vivid juxtaposition to this sentimentalized trust. 203 00:09:25,695 --> 00:09:28,695 We might see in some of the bestselling Christian books that 204 00:09:28,695 --> 00:09:30,165 you can get today at the bookstore. 205 00:09:31,155 --> 00:09:32,685 Trusting God is sometimes. 206 00:09:33,750 --> 00:09:36,930 Characterized by this syrupy, uh, I don't know, this, uh, 207 00:09:37,230 --> 00:09:39,240 serene and painless surrender. 208 00:09:39,450 --> 00:09:41,940 Uh, you might think about this when you think of the, the terminology. 209 00:09:41,940 --> 00:09:46,170 Let go and Let God, or, or that famous poem, footsteps where the, 210 00:09:46,319 --> 00:09:50,040 the poem says, oh, you know, uh, there was only one set of footsteps. 211 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:51,030 Why did you leave me, God? 212 00:09:51,030 --> 00:09:53,819 And he said, oh, it wasn't that I left you, it was then that I was carrying you. 213 00:09:54,450 --> 00:09:57,060 And I understand what those are meant to do, but I want you 214 00:09:57,060 --> 00:09:58,800 to see Job's, raw trust here. 215 00:09:59,325 --> 00:10:00,645 He has just been devastated. 216 00:10:00,645 --> 00:10:02,385 I want you to just imagine for just a second, okay? 217 00:10:02,385 --> 00:10:04,095 Just let's just do a thought exercise. 218 00:10:04,665 --> 00:10:08,745 I want you to imagine that God allows job's situation to happen to you. 219 00:10:09,285 --> 00:10:15,255 He steals your family away, and on top of that, the stock market 220 00:10:15,255 --> 00:10:17,535 crashes everything in your 401k gone. 221 00:10:18,615 --> 00:10:21,705 Your savings account is not very, very thick, so you 222 00:10:21,705 --> 00:10:22,905 don't have a lot to go off of. 223 00:10:23,055 --> 00:10:24,135 Your family's gone. 224 00:10:24,195 --> 00:10:27,555 Your, your, your wealth is gone, and then in just a few short hours, I 225 00:10:27,555 --> 00:10:29,175 suspect your health is gonna be gone. 226 00:10:29,175 --> 00:10:30,765 You're gonna have boils all over your body. 227 00:10:30,765 --> 00:10:32,475 You're gonna be incessantly in pain. 228 00:10:34,005 --> 00:10:35,085 How would you feel about that? 229 00:10:37,005 --> 00:10:38,600 You'll also notice here, we don't have a timeframe. 230 00:10:40,230 --> 00:10:42,390 We don't know what season of job job's, life this is. 231 00:10:42,390 --> 00:10:44,670 Maybe it was, you know, a time of celebration. 232 00:10:44,670 --> 00:10:46,350 Maybe there was a holiday they were celebrating. 233 00:10:46,350 --> 00:10:47,610 We don't understand what that is. 234 00:10:47,850 --> 00:10:51,030 And I, I wanna point out to you this, this, because pain doesn't knock 235 00:10:51,030 --> 00:10:53,670 on the door and say, Hey, is now a good time for us to do business? 236 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:55,230 Is it okay? 237 00:10:55,230 --> 00:10:57,780 Is it fit on your calendar for, for you to get cancer right now? 238 00:10:57,780 --> 00:10:58,680 Is that, is that a right? 239 00:10:59,910 --> 00:11:01,020 No one's asking us, right? 240 00:11:01,890 --> 00:11:03,300 No one's asking us these questions. 241 00:11:04,530 --> 00:11:05,070 For job. 242 00:11:05,370 --> 00:11:10,050 He stands here as a shining example of what a heartfelt trust looks like 243 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,390 in God, even in the darkest season. 244 00:11:13,110 --> 00:11:15,780 The first point I want to give to you is I wanna show you something in Job's life. 245 00:11:15,810 --> 00:11:16,650 I'm just gonna put it this way. 246 00:11:16,650 --> 00:11:18,510 Point number one is to allow trust. 247 00:11:19,350 --> 00:11:23,185 Full expression, allow trust, full express. 248 00:11:24,629 --> 00:11:26,879 Job's trusting God was not one dimensional. 249 00:11:27,300 --> 00:11:30,000 And my fear is that for many Christians today, our trust is one 250 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,619 dimensional and perhaps even slightly, if not largely transactional. 251 00:11:35,369 --> 00:11:38,160 That is when, when things are going well, it's really easy to trust God. 252 00:11:38,190 --> 00:11:41,280 When your bank account is rich, when your friends are many, when your 253 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,099 health issues are few, it is then that you can say, thank you Lord. 254 00:11:44,099 --> 00:11:45,629 I'm so grateful and that's true. 255 00:11:45,629 --> 00:11:46,470 You should be thankful. 256 00:11:47,190 --> 00:11:49,710 But job's trust is not one dimensional and it's not 257 00:11:49,710 --> 00:11:51,004 contingent upon things going well. 258 00:11:52,170 --> 00:11:53,129 He surrenders to God. 259 00:11:53,129 --> 00:11:55,740 He arose, he tore his robe, he shaved his head, fell on 260 00:11:55,740 --> 00:11:56,879 the ground and worshiped God. 261 00:11:57,690 --> 00:12:00,629 Notice the, the, the way that his, his trust works. 262 00:12:01,829 --> 00:12:05,069 It, it wasn't, it wasn't just him saying, well, I guess this is the way things go. 263 00:12:05,220 --> 00:12:07,770 Job does gr he does grieve, he does mourn. 264 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,750 And one book that I read recently, uh, the simple phrase was, 265 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:14,190 this true hope is realistic. 266 00:12:14,940 --> 00:12:17,700 It doesn't look at life through a rose colored lens. 267 00:12:17,850 --> 00:12:19,440 It allows life to be what life is. 268 00:12:19,500 --> 00:12:21,090 Again, this is what Christmas is about. 269 00:12:21,090 --> 00:12:24,000 Jesus was sent into our pain, into our hardship, into our struggle, 270 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,720 and so you have three, three characteristics of Job's response. 271 00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:28,650 Let me just point them out to you. 272 00:12:28,650 --> 00:12:30,450 Number one, job grieves. 273 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:31,260 Look here. 274 00:12:31,260 --> 00:12:32,190 Then job arose. 275 00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:34,155 Tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the. 276 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,670 That is not job having a good day tearing your clothes, shaving your head. 277 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:40,829 These are all signs of mourning of grief. 278 00:12:40,829 --> 00:12:45,240 Lamenting this shows us that true trust is not divorce from grief. 279 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:46,200 It is okay to grieve. 280 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:47,280 In fact, you should grieve. 281 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,700 And Paul says, as much to the Thessalonians, he just says, don't grieve 282 00:12:50,700 --> 00:12:53,454 as those without hope, true trust, grieve. 283 00:12:54,915 --> 00:12:59,685 Notice also a, as he falls down on the floor, he is subjecting himself before 284 00:12:59,685 --> 00:13:02,115 God, recognizing God is the sovereign. 285 00:13:02,355 --> 00:13:03,525 So Job falls down. 286 00:13:03,645 --> 00:13:07,484 Another elements of true trust and perhaps one of the biggest ones is humility. 287 00:13:08,145 --> 00:13:12,015 Job recognizes that he is humbled before the Lord, and 288 00:13:12,015 --> 00:13:12,974 it's not like he has a choice. 289 00:13:12,974 --> 00:13:15,224 God has told God has taken everything from him. 290 00:13:16,214 --> 00:13:19,905 Trust doesn't often walk with bravado or swagger. 291 00:13:19,950 --> 00:13:25,109 Like trust is not walking in slow motion as the building behind is exploding. 292 00:13:25,859 --> 00:13:27,240 Christians are not action stars. 293 00:13:27,629 --> 00:13:30,569 Christians are humble, and just like Job here, we need to be able to 294 00:13:30,569 --> 00:13:32,280 say, Lord, you're the one who leads. 295 00:13:33,629 --> 00:13:38,280 Or even as the father said to Jesus, I believe, help my unbelief job prostrates 296 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:43,020 himself before the Lord in surrender and trust, almost reminding me of what 297 00:13:43,020 --> 00:13:47,220 Peter says to Jesus in John chapter six, when Jesus just gets done talking about 298 00:13:47,490 --> 00:13:49,650 eating my flesh and drinking my blood. 299 00:13:50,340 --> 00:13:53,670 His a a lot of his disciples decided, you know, we can't handle this. 300 00:13:53,670 --> 00:13:54,569 You're saying weird things. 301 00:13:54,569 --> 00:13:55,500 Jesus, we don't like this. 302 00:13:55,500 --> 00:13:56,670 We need, we need to go somewhere else. 303 00:13:56,730 --> 00:13:59,100 And then he turns and looks at his disciples and he says to them, 304 00:13:59,550 --> 00:14:00,960 are you guys gonna go away too? 305 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:06,240 And I love what Peter says, because Peter, Peter expresses my heart in these words. 306 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,120 He says, where else are we gonna go? 307 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:14,235 Like you alone have the words of life, and that's what trust looks like. 308 00:14:15,135 --> 00:14:17,565 If I had another place to go, Jesus, I might do that. 309 00:14:17,625 --> 00:14:18,525 But where else do I go? 310 00:14:18,675 --> 00:14:19,635 I don't, there's nowhere else to go. 311 00:14:19,635 --> 00:14:23,055 You're it's, you're all, I got true trust. 312 00:14:24,105 --> 00:14:28,484 Trusting Jesus in every season of life is acknowledging your grief, 313 00:14:28,815 --> 00:14:32,535 humbling yourself before him, and recognizing he knows better than 314 00:14:32,535 --> 00:14:35,234 you do, man, for some of you. 315 00:14:35,775 --> 00:14:37,635 You're gonna have a devastating loss this year. 316 00:14:37,635 --> 00:14:39,555 If the statistics bear out, you're gonna lose somebody. 317 00:14:39,885 --> 00:14:43,065 Many of you at some point are gonna find some kind of diagnosis 318 00:14:43,065 --> 00:14:45,165 that's gonna put you in a situation that you don't wanna be in. 319 00:14:45,825 --> 00:14:49,245 Some of you are gonna lose your fortune because of something that happened. 320 00:14:49,545 --> 00:14:52,755 Some of you are gonna have a devastating loss, a devastating issue. 321 00:14:52,755 --> 00:14:53,895 Something's gonna happen in your life. 322 00:14:53,895 --> 00:14:55,245 We know that this takes place, right? 323 00:14:56,775 --> 00:14:57,795 We need to be ready for that. 324 00:14:58,155 --> 00:14:59,625 We need to be ready to grieve as those with hope. 325 00:14:59,625 --> 00:15:02,595 We need to be willing and able, like Job to humble himself. 326 00:15:02,595 --> 00:15:04,545 He shaved his head, fell on the ground before the Lord. 327 00:15:05,310 --> 00:15:09,000 And thirdly, one of job's responses here is that he worships the Lord. 328 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,940 He worships the Lord, he turns to the Lord and he says, uh, he, he shaves his head, 329 00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:16,260 falls down to the ground and worships him. 330 00:15:16,349 --> 00:15:17,550 He opens his mouth to the Lord. 331 00:15:17,550 --> 00:15:18,960 He gives him what he's due. 332 00:15:19,020 --> 00:15:22,200 Even though and later Job's gonna say this, though, you slay me. 333 00:15:22,890 --> 00:15:25,140 Yet, will I trust you, man? 334 00:15:25,140 --> 00:15:26,369 I need you to ask yourself a question. 335 00:15:26,369 --> 00:15:27,869 Am I ready for the Lord to slay me? 336 00:15:27,900 --> 00:15:29,160 If that's what his will is? 337 00:15:30,270 --> 00:15:34,530 If, if the Lord should Terry and he doesn't come back before 2026. 338 00:15:35,295 --> 00:15:38,835 He decides I'm going to send you through a very difficult season. 339 00:15:38,835 --> 00:15:40,935 I'm gonna take away everything that you find comfortable. 340 00:15:42,285 --> 00:15:46,965 If I take the beauty of your eyes away from you, if I afflict you with some kind 341 00:15:46,965 --> 00:15:48,735 of physical maldy, can you trust me there? 342 00:15:48,885 --> 00:15:52,095 Job says, though, you slay me, yet will I trust you? 343 00:15:54,015 --> 00:15:58,125 This is what a genuine and sincere, fully orb trust looks like in God. 344 00:15:58,365 --> 00:15:59,085 It's not one dimensional. 345 00:15:59,699 --> 00:16:02,849 Trust persists even through the challenging times. 346 00:16:03,030 --> 00:16:06,689 So I need you to give yourself or give trust full expression. 347 00:16:06,929 --> 00:16:09,659 Give yourself the ability to trust God even when things aren't going well. 348 00:16:09,839 --> 00:16:10,619 It's not trite. 349 00:16:10,619 --> 00:16:12,719 It's not simplistic, but this is what it looks like. 350 00:16:13,649 --> 00:16:14,489 So that's verse 20. 351 00:16:14,550 --> 00:16:15,719 Let me show you verse 21. 352 00:16:16,020 --> 00:16:17,879 Job's not done responding to this situation. 353 00:16:17,879 --> 00:16:19,169 Let me look at verse 21. 354 00:16:19,185 --> 00:16:21,719 Again, this is so important and this might be the most important 355 00:16:21,719 --> 00:16:22,649 thing I say to you this year. 356 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:24,780 This is profoundly helpful. 357 00:16:24,810 --> 00:16:25,264 Look at what he says. 358 00:16:26,265 --> 00:16:31,155 He says in verse 21, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. 359 00:16:31,815 --> 00:16:34,665 The Lord gave and the Lord is taken away. 360 00:16:35,385 --> 00:16:37,245 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 361 00:16:38,055 --> 00:16:40,575 Now you'll notice here, job acknowledges his humble 362 00:16:40,575 --> 00:16:42,135 beginnings and his humble endings. 363 00:16:42,525 --> 00:16:44,475 Naked I came, right? 364 00:16:44,475 --> 00:16:45,045 This is the idea. 365 00:16:45,045 --> 00:16:48,315 You've all been, many of you rather, not all of you have seen a baby born. 366 00:16:48,315 --> 00:16:50,145 You come out stark naked. 367 00:16:50,910 --> 00:16:54,600 Then when you die, your clothes are removed so that they can process your 368 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,720 body and they put you in the ground, maybe wearing something nice, something 369 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,240 that you would've worn, but you're, you're leaving with that at all. 370 00:17:00,630 --> 00:17:03,870 The clothes stay in the box, the mementos that your family gives 371 00:17:03,870 --> 00:17:04,829 to you, they stay in the box. 372 00:17:04,829 --> 00:17:05,430 They don't go with you. 373 00:17:05,430 --> 00:17:06,119 They stay there. 374 00:17:06,420 --> 00:17:10,560 So job is acknowledging a reality for all of us, which is we come empty handed 375 00:17:10,589 --> 00:17:14,670 and we're gonna leave empty handed, save the spiritual rewards that you 376 00:17:14,670 --> 00:17:15,660 and I accumulate through this life. 377 00:17:17,714 --> 00:17:20,474 Here's what's important about this job acknowledges these things, and they're so 378 00:17:20,474 --> 00:17:24,765 important because no notice in the second half of verse 21, he says, the Lord gave, 379 00:17:24,765 --> 00:17:26,505 and the Lord take away, took, took away. 380 00:17:27,615 --> 00:17:28,935 He doesn't blame the weather. 381 00:17:29,295 --> 00:17:31,995 Remember, that's how the, that's how the devil crushed his family. 382 00:17:32,205 --> 00:17:33,315 The four winds, the lightning. 383 00:17:33,555 --> 00:17:35,025 He doesn't blame the marauders. 384 00:17:35,175 --> 00:17:38,115 He could have said, well, those evil people, they came and they did the thing. 385 00:17:38,865 --> 00:17:39,975 He doesn't blame the devil. 386 00:17:40,395 --> 00:17:42,975 He doesn't say, well, the devil did all these awful things to me. 387 00:17:43,005 --> 00:17:44,745 He says, the Lord. 388 00:17:47,115 --> 00:17:48,915 And the Lord has taken away. 389 00:17:50,385 --> 00:17:51,285 This is so important. 390 00:17:54,015 --> 00:17:57,495 This is so incredibly profound because what this tells us then is 391 00:17:57,495 --> 00:18:01,485 that it is the Lord who introduces blessing into her life, and he's 392 00:18:01,485 --> 00:18:04,815 also the same one, one and the same, who takes it away at his pleasure. 393 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,725 I need you to be prepared for that. 394 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:13,065 The Lord is under no obligation to give us anything more than what he's given us. 395 00:18:15,060 --> 00:18:18,420 Your full belly tonight are a cred, an incredible gift of God. 396 00:18:19,020 --> 00:18:23,160 Your healthy bodies are a gift of God and he's under no obligation 397 00:18:23,190 --> 00:18:27,000 to give us those things with any regularity, even though he often does. 398 00:18:28,230 --> 00:18:31,170 Point number two, I want you to agree with Job that you are owed. 399 00:18:31,175 --> 00:18:31,345 Nothing. 400 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:33,180 Whew. 401 00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:35,310 That gives a shiver down my spine. 402 00:18:36,030 --> 00:18:40,290 Agree with Job that you are owed nothing naked. 403 00:18:40,290 --> 00:18:42,090 I came from my mother's womb and naked. 404 00:18:42,945 --> 00:18:44,355 I shall return. 405 00:18:45,105 --> 00:18:46,905 The Lord gave and the Lord is taken away. 406 00:18:46,905 --> 00:18:48,765 Blessed be the name of the Lord is what he's gonna say. 407 00:18:49,635 --> 00:18:50,205 We don't, 408 00:18:52,395 --> 00:18:55,245 can't demand of God to give us things that we want. 409 00:18:56,415 --> 00:18:57,254 I was thinking about this. 410 00:18:57,254 --> 00:18:58,905 I was thinking, okay, in the New Testament. 411 00:18:59,580 --> 00:19:02,640 We're looking at the Old Testament Bible's in two parts Old Testaments, 412 00:19:02,700 --> 00:19:04,770 under largely Israel's book. 413 00:19:05,010 --> 00:19:07,290 It's how God communicated to them under the Old Covenant. 414 00:19:07,290 --> 00:19:10,650 The new covenant is obviously for Christians, those who are under the new, 415 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:14,220 uh, arrangement of things through Christ dying in the cross, rising from the dead. 416 00:19:14,340 --> 00:19:16,530 So I started asking myself, okay, what does a Christian expect? 417 00:19:17,250 --> 00:19:19,680 So does God promise to the Christian under the new covenant? 418 00:19:20,310 --> 00:19:21,600 'cause this point's a pretty big deal. 419 00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:25,500 Agree that you are owed nothing that's saying a lot here. 420 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:27,750 Here's two things that I think the Bible gives us. 421 00:19:28,275 --> 00:19:31,185 Regular reason to believe that he'll provide for us. 422 00:19:31,575 --> 00:19:32,655 But even then it's qualified. 423 00:19:33,345 --> 00:19:38,235 Jesus says he, he says, um, even the flowers of the field, 424 00:19:38,235 --> 00:19:38,985 they're, they're clothed. 425 00:19:38,985 --> 00:19:39,255 Right? 426 00:19:39,255 --> 00:19:42,675 And how will he not much more cloth you, owe you a little faith. 427 00:19:42,675 --> 00:19:46,185 So God does through Jesus promise that he'll give us clothing, right? 428 00:19:46,185 --> 00:19:46,755 It's promise. 429 00:19:46,755 --> 00:19:49,605 Um, Jesus also says, uh, to pray. 430 00:19:49,605 --> 00:19:52,545 Give us this day what Or daily bread. 431 00:19:52,725 --> 00:19:55,605 So at least clothing and food Jesus promises to give us. 432 00:19:56,250 --> 00:19:59,010 At least with some regularity later in the New Testament. 433 00:19:59,010 --> 00:20:04,260 Paul the Apostle in one Timothy chapter six, is gonna say, but if we have food and 434 00:20:04,260 --> 00:20:06,840 clothing with these, we will be content. 435 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,290 And yet Paul was also able to say in Romans chapter eight, he says. 436 00:20:11,790 --> 00:20:14,879 We've been persecuted and we're going around naked and you know 437 00:20:14,879 --> 00:20:16,830 we're in first Philippians four. 438 00:20:16,980 --> 00:20:18,149 I know how to abound. 439 00:20:18,149 --> 00:20:19,830 I know how to be having needs. 440 00:20:19,950 --> 00:20:22,919 So even Paul, even though he says if we have food and clothing, 441 00:20:22,919 --> 00:20:23,850 let's be content with these. 442 00:20:23,879 --> 00:20:27,480 He recognizes that God can sometimes say, I'm gonna give you a lot of food 443 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:30,720 and, and have a lot of resources in the bank account, and have wonderful 444 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:31,919 relationships with your family. 445 00:20:32,100 --> 00:20:34,080 And there's other times where Paul knew what it was to be 446 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,290 hungry and naked and shipwrecked. 447 00:20:37,980 --> 00:20:38,939 This was Paul the Apostle. 448 00:20:39,659 --> 00:20:40,980 This was one of God's favorite guys. 449 00:20:41,399 --> 00:20:42,000 Yet. 450 00:20:42,030 --> 00:20:44,970 To go back to a prior point I made, it is Paul's godliness that 451 00:20:44,970 --> 00:20:46,710 actually led him into that direction. 452 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:53,490 I need you to see that if I, if we're gonna agree with Job and God, that we 453 00:20:53,490 --> 00:20:57,240 are owed nothing, that means everything in our lives that we so frequently 454 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,720 take for granted are not permanent. 455 00:21:01,590 --> 00:21:06,240 The temporary blessings that God gives us are qualified temporary blessings. 456 00:21:07,050 --> 00:21:08,909 Your food and your clothing are what God. 457 00:21:09,735 --> 00:21:11,625 Ordinarily promises to provide to you. 458 00:21:12,375 --> 00:21:12,795 He does. 459 00:21:12,795 --> 00:21:15,105 And and you'll notice today, he's fulfilling that promise. 460 00:21:15,105 --> 00:21:16,335 He's given you your daily bread. 461 00:21:16,335 --> 00:21:18,345 He's given you close to where, and for many of us, he's 462 00:21:18,345 --> 00:21:20,205 given us a lot more than that. 463 00:21:20,835 --> 00:21:23,745 Now, if we endorse this idea, if we take in this idea, agree that we're 464 00:21:23,745 --> 00:21:26,565 owed nothing from God, what will that do to the way that we perceive 465 00:21:26,565 --> 00:21:29,925 the blessings that we do enjoy the people that God has put in our. 466 00:21:31,215 --> 00:21:34,035 The things that into the car that you're driving, the shoes that you're 467 00:21:34,035 --> 00:21:37,785 wearing, the job that you have, what would that do if you believed God owes 468 00:21:37,785 --> 00:21:39,675 you nothing and yet gave you so much? 469 00:21:39,675 --> 00:21:42,225 What would that do to your response this Christmas? 470 00:21:43,050 --> 00:21:45,465 Grateful man, you would be grateful. 471 00:21:45,465 --> 00:21:45,945 Feels like that. 472 00:21:45,945 --> 00:21:47,115 Puts it too mildly, doesn't it? 473 00:21:47,805 --> 00:21:50,865 I would be beaming with gratitude toward God and saying, thank you, 474 00:21:50,895 --> 00:21:52,125 God for these people in my life. 475 00:21:52,125 --> 00:21:52,875 Thank you for my wife. 476 00:21:52,875 --> 00:21:53,655 Thank you for my kids. 477 00:21:53,865 --> 00:21:54,705 Thank you for my car. 478 00:21:54,735 --> 00:21:55,845 Thank you for my socks. 479 00:21:56,505 --> 00:21:59,565 I'm not owed anything, Lord, and yet you give me everything to enjoy. 480 00:22:00,285 --> 00:22:01,365 Now, God's not a miser. 481 00:22:01,425 --> 00:22:02,745 He's not Scrooge. 482 00:22:03,165 --> 00:22:04,035 He's very generous. 483 00:22:04,035 --> 00:22:06,045 And I, I know you know that I hope, hope you do. 484 00:22:06,645 --> 00:22:09,675 But I'm trying to point out to you here is that everything that you enjoy, these 485 00:22:09,675 --> 00:22:15,225 temporal blessings are often means that God uses to deepen your trust in him. 486 00:22:15,675 --> 00:22:18,465 And that will often mean that he'll give them to you as often 487 00:22:18,465 --> 00:22:19,815 as they will benefit your soul. 488 00:22:20,685 --> 00:22:24,315 And he'll remove them as often as he thinks that will also benefit your soul. 489 00:22:24,435 --> 00:22:25,785 And of course, he knows better than we do. 490 00:22:26,625 --> 00:22:27,195 We trust him. 491 00:22:28,935 --> 00:22:31,004 Trusting God means to agree, I, I owe nothing. 492 00:22:31,365 --> 00:22:32,415 And he knows better than I do. 493 00:22:33,225 --> 00:22:34,665 God knows better than I do. 494 00:22:35,415 --> 00:22:36,885 And we can say that verbally. 495 00:22:37,004 --> 00:22:40,154 It's different to believe that, especially when he says, okay, now's 496 00:22:40,154 --> 00:22:41,414 the time I'm taking these things away. 497 00:22:42,614 --> 00:22:45,614 I want you this, this year meant to, to trust God and prepare 498 00:22:45,614 --> 00:22:46,664 for whatever God has for you. 499 00:22:47,414 --> 00:22:50,924 Whatever God decides to diagnose you with, or whatever affliction he 500 00:22:50,924 --> 00:22:53,924 decides to bring into your life, I need you to be prepared for that. 501 00:22:54,434 --> 00:22:55,874 Prepared to say, I owe nothing. 502 00:22:56,744 --> 00:23:02,414 I can smile in this because I know that the God that I serve is not a bad God. 503 00:23:02,504 --> 00:23:04,574 He's not a miser, he's not a scrooge. 504 00:23:04,634 --> 00:23:09,434 He's not this, uh, tyrannical, evil dictator. 505 00:23:10,154 --> 00:23:12,344 And that's really what changes the equation for us. 506 00:23:12,884 --> 00:23:15,494 If we were Christians who simply believed God was a maniac, just 507 00:23:15,494 --> 00:23:17,714 kind of sending lightning bolts here and there, it'd be terrifying. 508 00:23:17,954 --> 00:23:19,394 But that's not what's happening in job's life. 509 00:23:19,544 --> 00:23:22,484 In fact, what's happening, the reason Job can respond in these ways is 510 00:23:22,484 --> 00:23:24,689 because job, job knows something that we need to never forget. 511 00:23:25,889 --> 00:23:28,079 Verse 22 verse 22. 512 00:23:28,409 --> 00:23:29,159 Job says it. 513 00:23:29,279 --> 00:23:30,299 I just wanna point it out to you. 514 00:23:30,299 --> 00:23:33,089 This is so critical to understanding how this whole thing fits together. 515 00:23:33,299 --> 00:23:38,009 This hope that we have in the Lord is not air, uh, airy fairy. 516 00:23:38,009 --> 00:23:39,089 It's not pie in the sky. 517 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:44,819 It's built on something critical to your theology as you prepare for 2026 verse 518 00:23:44,819 --> 00:23:49,619 22 in all this, that is in all of job's losses, in all the things that he just 519 00:23:49,619 --> 00:23:51,929 suffered in all this job did not sin. 520 00:23:53,039 --> 00:23:55,589 Or charge God with wrong. 521 00:23:55,949 --> 00:23:59,909 And the critical part of that verse there is that he didn't charge God with wrong. 522 00:23:59,909 --> 00:24:00,929 Let's start off with the sin part. 523 00:24:00,929 --> 00:24:02,489 He didn't respond in sin. 524 00:24:02,579 --> 00:24:05,399 He could have, he didn't have the Bible that you and I do. 525 00:24:05,849 --> 00:24:08,909 We don't even know if Job had any written revelation from God. 526 00:24:09,989 --> 00:24:14,249 His book is so early before Abraham that we don't know what joke knew. 527 00:24:14,999 --> 00:24:18,209 In fact, we don't understand how Job has a theology that he does have, which, 528 00:24:18,239 --> 00:24:19,619 which makes him even more remarkable. 529 00:24:19,829 --> 00:24:24,599 But here's the thing, you and I have the riches of the word from Genesis to 530 00:24:24,599 --> 00:24:28,649 Revelation available to us where we can build our hope on what's true about God. 531 00:24:28,799 --> 00:24:32,339 So Job doesn't charge God with sin, and yet we wouldn't hold it against him. 532 00:24:32,339 --> 00:24:34,679 If he did, we wouldn't hold it against him. 533 00:24:34,679 --> 00:24:35,489 We'd say, well, that makes sense. 534 00:24:35,489 --> 00:24:36,389 He didn't have the Bible. 535 00:24:36,389 --> 00:24:38,009 He didn't have an angel telling him what to do. 536 00:24:38,159 --> 00:24:40,409 So Job doesn't charge God with wrong. 537 00:24:40,409 --> 00:24:41,909 It doesn't say he's a sinner. 538 00:24:42,059 --> 00:24:43,919 In fact, his wife, just one chapter later. 539 00:24:44,309 --> 00:24:46,860 Famously says something that I hope your wife never says, says 540 00:24:46,860 --> 00:24:48,419 to you, what does she say to him? 541 00:24:48,419 --> 00:24:49,139 You know this one right? 542 00:24:50,309 --> 00:24:51,419 Curse God and die. 543 00:24:52,830 --> 00:24:56,429 Now, if your beloved is at the place where she's telling you to 544 00:24:56,429 --> 00:24:58,080 curse God and die, that's a bad day. 545 00:24:58,620 --> 00:24:59,729 That's not a good day. 546 00:24:59,819 --> 00:25:01,439 That's gonna cause an argument later on. 547 00:25:01,439 --> 00:25:05,999 I'm sure you don't want that happening, but here's the thing. 548 00:25:05,999 --> 00:25:08,159 Job didn't worship God for the prosperity. 549 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:12,959 Job is not coming to God just because God would give him happy times. 550 00:25:13,754 --> 00:25:14,804 Second part is so important. 551 00:25:14,804 --> 00:25:17,624 Job didn't sin or charge God with wrong. 552 00:25:18,885 --> 00:25:25,185 He could have easily done so and yet in Job's faith, the the cause 553 00:25:25,185 --> 00:25:28,874 of his agony was not just the loss of his family and his wealth. 554 00:25:29,834 --> 00:25:33,675 It was precisely because God knows, because Job knows God is good and 555 00:25:33,675 --> 00:25:35,864 trustworthy that he faces this trial. 556 00:25:36,225 --> 00:25:38,100 It's because Job knows God is good. 557 00:25:39,239 --> 00:25:41,610 He's now at a loss and say, what do I do with this? 558 00:25:41,850 --> 00:25:44,669 If God is good, how can all these things take place? 559 00:25:46,139 --> 00:25:50,340 He had to surrender his position and his trust that God would 560 00:25:50,340 --> 00:25:51,719 be good even in this scenario. 561 00:25:51,899 --> 00:25:52,620 Point number three. 562 00:25:53,009 --> 00:25:55,259 I want you to surrender to the good purposes of God. 563 00:25:55,799 --> 00:25:59,069 If you're going to make it through this next year, and you're gonna have joy and 564 00:25:59,069 --> 00:26:02,129 you're gonna worship God the way that you should, you need to have the kind of joy 565 00:26:02,309 --> 00:26:04,079 that is bigger than your circumstance. 566 00:26:04,709 --> 00:26:06,809 That comes from a confidence that you know God is good 567 00:26:06,989 --> 00:26:08,579 despite everything that happens. 568 00:26:09,419 --> 00:26:10,919 Irrevocably good. 569 00:26:11,639 --> 00:26:14,999 That is everything God does is good even in your pain. 570 00:26:15,029 --> 00:26:16,169 I trust him to be good. 571 00:26:22,109 --> 00:26:27,119 One of the things that Job does here, and again we don't know how he knows 572 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,629 is theologically, but he confesses to himself, I'm guessing as much 573 00:26:30,629 --> 00:26:31,874 as he does to us and everyone else. 574 00:26:33,149 --> 00:26:34,379 That God can't be wrong. 575 00:26:35,729 --> 00:26:37,709 Whatever happens in your life, God can't be wrong. 576 00:26:38,310 --> 00:26:39,360 You understand that, right? 577 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:41,939 Even if the worst evil takes place, God can't be wrong. 578 00:26:45,570 --> 00:26:47,249 It's our job to trust him in these things. 579 00:26:48,959 --> 00:26:51,719 Well, what that means for us then practically, is that we're, we're, 580 00:26:51,719 --> 00:26:53,100 we're not gonna compound the problem. 581 00:26:53,310 --> 00:26:56,129 Um, I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but, but when 582 00:26:56,129 --> 00:26:59,790 God brings difficulty in your life, you compound the problem. 583 00:26:59,790 --> 00:27:00,749 When you say, well, God. 584 00:27:01,154 --> 00:27:04,245 You just, if you, if you would just, why don't you, if, if God, 585 00:27:04,514 --> 00:27:06,404 ah, you know, why don't you just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 586 00:27:06,404 --> 00:27:10,185 We, we, we get worked up, we complain, we bicker, we talk to other people 587 00:27:10,185 --> 00:27:14,834 about our complaints, and we really compound the problem by encouraging 588 00:27:14,834 --> 00:27:16,394 God to make the trial longer. 589 00:27:17,264 --> 00:27:20,054 If we're not gonna learn, God's gonna respond to us and say, well, if you're 590 00:27:20,054 --> 00:27:23,024 not getting it, let me increase the circumstances and turn up the heat 591 00:27:23,024 --> 00:27:24,195 so that you're humbled by this. 592 00:27:24,735 --> 00:27:27,705 Um, the response that God often wants is the job, job response. 593 00:27:28,514 --> 00:27:29,205 Now, lemme qualify that. 594 00:27:30,149 --> 00:27:33,060 Did job's trial end after job confessed that God was good? 595 00:27:33,989 --> 00:27:36,749 No, it got worse before it got better. 596 00:27:37,830 --> 00:27:41,009 So this is no guarantee that God's gonna change your circumstances. 597 00:27:41,009 --> 00:27:41,550 You understand? 598 00:27:41,550 --> 00:27:42,509 But he will change you. 599 00:27:43,199 --> 00:27:44,249 And that really is the point. 600 00:27:44,249 --> 00:27:47,189 Don't compound the problem by complaining or responding and sin. 601 00:27:47,189 --> 00:27:48,600 That's one thing that Job teaches us. 602 00:27:48,870 --> 00:27:51,239 The second thing that Job teaches us that I think is helpful for. 603 00:27:52,169 --> 00:27:54,120 That we can always affirm God's good plans. 604 00:27:54,449 --> 00:27:58,050 Romans 8 31 and 32 are, are such a, are such a famous passage 605 00:27:58,050 --> 00:28:00,629 together because they've given Christians hope for millennia. 606 00:28:02,489 --> 00:28:06,029 This is the, the truth that we confess, that all things do work together for good. 607 00:28:06,029 --> 00:28:10,529 That's Romans 8 28 and verse 32 says, he who did not spare his own son but gave 608 00:28:10,529 --> 00:28:14,610 him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things. 609 00:28:15,284 --> 00:28:18,854 God gave us his son to live and die in our place to be born of a 610 00:28:18,854 --> 00:28:21,014 virgin, only to die 30 years later. 611 00:28:21,254 --> 00:28:25,094 If God would give us his own son, what else should he give 612 00:28:25,094 --> 00:28:26,114 us to prove His love for us? 613 00:28:26,114 --> 00:28:28,484 What else can he do to demonstrate that he cares about us? 614 00:28:29,204 --> 00:28:30,284 This is where we have to stand. 615 00:28:30,284 --> 00:28:32,924 This is where we have to stake our eternity this Christmas. 616 00:28:32,924 --> 00:28:34,304 I don't know what's gonna happen to your life. 617 00:28:34,304 --> 00:28:37,544 I don't know what God is doing in you, but I do know at any season there's 618 00:28:37,544 --> 00:28:40,454 always people suffering and there's always people preparing to suffer. 619 00:28:41,339 --> 00:28:44,939 Some are graciously exiting outta suffering for a season, and maybe 620 00:28:44,939 --> 00:28:48,089 God gives you a reprieve, a time to breathe and come up for air, 621 00:28:48,749 --> 00:28:49,769 but you're always going back in. 622 00:28:49,769 --> 00:28:50,459 You know that, right? 623 00:28:51,059 --> 00:28:53,909 It's like being the boxer or or being one of the fighters in the octagon. 624 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:54,870 The bell rings. 625 00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:57,899 You get a few, you get a minute to breathe before you have to get back into the 626 00:28:57,899 --> 00:28:59,399 ring and start slugging it out again. 627 00:29:00,629 --> 00:29:03,600 Christians are promised that we, we have everything we need to endure 628 00:29:04,079 --> 00:29:05,370 through the duration of our lives. 629 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:07,679 Remember how Paul describes the Christian faith? 630 00:29:07,979 --> 00:29:10,049 He says, fight the what? 631 00:29:10,889 --> 00:29:11,370 Good, fine. 632 00:29:12,899 --> 00:29:18,149 He doesn't use any analogies about re relaxation, you know, hanging up your 633 00:29:18,149 --> 00:29:20,760 hat, you know, sitting on your lazy boy. 634 00:29:21,389 --> 00:29:21,719 It's fine. 635 00:29:21,719 --> 00:29:23,429 God gives us rest and we praise God for those things. 636 00:29:23,429 --> 00:29:27,030 But I just want you to know, even though we will suffer and we're all 637 00:29:27,030 --> 00:29:29,879 gonna go through it at different times and in different ways, God is good. 638 00:29:30,389 --> 00:29:33,449 And you have to believe that and trust that Christmas is 639 00:29:33,449 --> 00:29:34,620 a reminder that God is good. 640 00:29:35,129 --> 00:29:38,100 He sends Jesus into our sin, into our darkness, to be 641 00:29:38,100 --> 00:29:39,389 our light, to give us hope. 642 00:29:39,389 --> 00:29:43,860 That transcends any time of season, any time of year, Christmas, 643 00:29:44,009 --> 00:29:47,969 new Year, Easter, all of that, it points to Jesus being good. 644 00:29:48,540 --> 00:29:52,320 I need you to feel in your heart of hearts that Jesus is good and he is trustworthy. 645 00:29:52,709 --> 00:29:55,620 This is what's gonna guard you and protect you against the seasons of suffering 646 00:29:55,620 --> 00:29:56,999 that you are inevitably gonna face. 647 00:29:57,419 --> 00:30:00,239 Christmas reminds us that God is good to send his son on our behalf. 648 00:30:01,665 --> 00:30:03,614 There's more than one yearning Christmas song. 649 00:30:03,705 --> 00:30:04,155 Oh, come. 650 00:30:04,155 --> 00:30:04,304 Come. 651 00:30:04,304 --> 00:30:05,084 Emanuel is one of them. 652 00:30:05,084 --> 00:30:05,774 There's actually several. 653 00:30:05,774 --> 00:30:08,235 I was looking them up because I started to become fascinated. 654 00:30:08,235 --> 00:30:11,624 How many Christmas songs are there that show yearning for Jesus to return? 655 00:30:12,705 --> 00:30:13,004 Oh, come. 656 00:30:13,004 --> 00:30:13,094 Come. 657 00:30:13,215 --> 00:30:15,584 Emanuel is probably the most famous one, but there's others out there. 658 00:30:16,034 --> 00:30:20,354 Uh, what they teach us though is that some of the yearning is a good yearning. 659 00:30:20,385 --> 00:30:21,405 It's good to yearn. 660 00:30:21,405 --> 00:30:22,874 It's good not to be satisfied. 661 00:30:23,385 --> 00:30:24,044 That's what I'm trying to say. 662 00:30:24,314 --> 00:30:27,314 It's good not to be satisfied with the Christmases here and now. 663 00:30:27,884 --> 00:30:30,674 It's good to love and appreciate all the good gifts that God has given us. 664 00:30:30,674 --> 00:30:31,544 Again, 'cause we're owed nothing. 665 00:30:31,754 --> 00:30:34,514 But it's good to feel a yearning in your soul to say, this isn't it. 666 00:30:34,904 --> 00:30:35,714 This isn't everything. 667 00:30:36,734 --> 00:30:39,164 Ecclesiastes tell us because God has written eternity on our hearts. 668 00:30:39,164 --> 00:30:40,544 That's part of what makes us up. 669 00:30:40,724 --> 00:30:42,644 That's part of what gives us the yearning that Christmas 670 00:30:42,644 --> 00:30:43,934 doesn't quite scratch the itch. 671 00:30:48,464 --> 00:30:49,634 Christmas teaches us to yearn. 672 00:30:50,084 --> 00:30:50,864 I'll just end with that. 673 00:30:50,924 --> 00:30:52,304 Teaches us to yearn and to trust him. 674 00:30:53,114 --> 00:30:55,269 Whatever's coming this, this year, man, I hope that you'll. 675 00:30:56,475 --> 00:30:59,235 Take advantage of the, the resources and the ministries that we have here. 676 00:30:59,504 --> 00:31:03,554 Men's Bible Study is a resource that we do monthly for your sake, where sermons like 677 00:31:03,554 --> 00:31:07,004 this are preached because we care that you are equipped and empowered to live 678 00:31:07,004 --> 00:31:08,205 the life that God has called you to live. 679 00:31:08,924 --> 00:31:11,324 So if you're with us for the first time or the first time in a 680 00:31:11,324 --> 00:31:12,554 long time, thanks for being here. 681 00:31:12,584 --> 00:31:15,044 Grateful for you regulars as well, that you're here all the time. 682 00:31:15,374 --> 00:31:16,449 We encourage you to be here with regular. 683 00:31:17,234 --> 00:31:18,194 We do this once a month. 684 00:31:18,194 --> 00:31:20,354 Usually it's up in the lofts, but we're not gonna be here any longer. 685 00:31:20,354 --> 00:31:23,114 We're gonna be at a new place, uh, lighthouse, right next 686 00:31:23,114 --> 00:31:24,164 to the school and prosper. 687 00:31:24,344 --> 00:31:27,554 We'd love to have you join us for that, uh, so that whatever happens this year, 688 00:31:27,764 --> 00:31:30,554 God can continue to encourage you and deepen your love and affection for him. 689 00:31:30,824 --> 00:31:33,794 And with that, let me pray for us as we finish up the night together. 690 00:31:34,454 --> 00:31:38,864 God, thank you so much for giving us a, a lesson in hope from our brother Job. 691 00:31:39,134 --> 00:31:40,424 At least we trusted our brother Job. 692 00:31:41,084 --> 00:31:44,069 I asked Lord that you would help us to take nothing for granted. 693 00:31:44,789 --> 00:31:46,739 But to recognize that we are yours. 694 00:31:46,949 --> 00:31:50,189 We belong to you, body and soul, and that every aspect of our lives, 695 00:31:50,370 --> 00:31:53,609 from the very first time we draw our breath until our dying breath 696 00:31:54,149 --> 00:31:56,279 is all under your sovereign control. 697 00:31:56,399 --> 00:32:00,539 Your leadership, this gives us great confidence and trust because you are 698 00:32:00,539 --> 00:32:04,889 good, so that even if you were to take everything away, we can sing that song. 699 00:32:05,069 --> 00:32:09,599 Yes, I will give you, I'll give you praise even in the lowest battle. 700 00:32:09,659 --> 00:32:10,259 I can trust you. 701 00:32:10,934 --> 00:32:14,624 Help us to possess that mentality, Lord, all year long Christmas 702 00:32:14,624 --> 00:32:15,884 New Year, every time of the year. 703 00:32:15,884 --> 00:32:18,914 Let us love you and trust you because you're good and because you're worth it. 704 00:32:19,394 --> 00:32:22,304 Thank you for demonstrating your reliability and your goodness by sending 705 00:32:22,304 --> 00:32:23,834 Jesus to live and die in her place. 706 00:32:24,074 --> 00:32:25,574 It is in His name that we pray. 707 00:32:25,845 --> 00:32:26,294 Amen.