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Finding Hope in Despair: Job's Cry and the Living Redeemer 0:09 Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as we turn to today's passage, which is Job chapter 17 through 20. And if Job could hold on to this hope that we're gonna look at0:21 today, given all that he was enduring and he was going through, it's something we can hold on to as well. What was the source of that hope? Well, that's what we're gonna look at. Verse 25 of0:33 chapter 19, for I know that my redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth. Okay. Before we jump into today's study, I just wanna ask you, how are you doing on this journey? Are you being encouraged0:45 by God's word, by being in it each and every day? I just wanna encourage you to share what God is doing in your life through his word with others because that will encourage them on their0:56 journey as well. So you can you can post those things on on the social media platform just, you know, that, you're being strengthened and encouraged, whatever the lord is showing you through his word. You can also email1:08 me at tony at tony perkins dot com. But I'm so glad that you are with us on this journey, and I've heard from many of you. And I read all of the emails. I don't always have time to respond, but I do read them, and I1:19 appreciate that. But I'm grateful for what God is doing through his word. Remember, he has said, my word will not return unto me void. That's why this reading plan is focused on the word. These1:31 videos that I do each day are just supplemental, just to encourage you on the journey and explain a few things and point out some highlights. The the the real heart of this is the word of God. So as1:42 I've said before, if you're limited on time, read the word. Skip the videos. Read the word. Alright. An observation here as we begin, you know, after reading this back and1:54 forth between Job and his friends, it appears that they're just kinda talking past each other. Job's friends are more intent on making their point than hearing Job2:06 and what he's going through, which would enable them to empathize with him. And I think it's important as we take away from this. As we've talked about before, they were speaking truth. It was just misapplied. But2:18 we we we need to self examine how we approach situations like this as well. And and what what's happening here is they pass the talking stick back and forth. They just kind of are are increasing the2:30 volume with each time that they began to make their points, and they are they're resolute in their diagnosis that God is judging all this is happening because God2:42 is judging Job because of sin. And Job, he's entrenched in his position as well that he's not sinned against God, but that he has become a target of God for some reason,2:54 and that God has become his opponent. And with God as his opponent, what hope is there in life? And so he says the only relief, as we read here, is death. Look3:06 at chapter 17 beginning in verse 11. My days are past. My purposes are broken off. I mean, no purpose in in in in my days are past. It's like, my life is3:18 meaningless, and that's unfortunately where many live today because they they're outside of a relationship with their creator, and so life has no purpose. Even the thoughts of my heart, they3:30 change the night and today. The light is near, they say, in the face of darkness. If I wait for the grave as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness, if I say to corruption, you are my3:42 father, and to the worm, you are my mother and my sister, where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it? Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall3:53 we have rest together in the dust? I mean, without the hope of the the Lord being our shield and our strength, there's no hope in life. And I I see why there's so many hopeless people4:05 were living in the world today. You know? Now I I think it's safe to say that Job is at a point of clinical depression. And, but I I think this is why so many people are4:16 depressed today because they're outside of hope that is found only in God. Now Job was misanalyzing his situation. He thought God was against him. That was not the case, and4:28 I think that's important again as as Job pulls back the curtain. The book of Job pulls back the the curtain that we can see into the spiritual realm. Things are not always as they see. But without God, people4:40 lose hope. They have no hope because they either they cannot or they will not see God. And, you know, I think as as we look at this4:52 situation, as the curtain is pulled back for us, Satan was using this as a tactic, alright, to discourage Job, making him think that God was against him.5:04 And this is something Satan will use against us. So, again, this is a it it's, it it's edifying for us. It's enlightening. I mean, God is not against you.5:16 Alright? God is for you. If you seek him, he has promised that you will find him. And, again, I I quoted this before, but let me refer to it again. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you are a believer, if you've5:28 accepted Jesus Christ, this is what it says. What shall we say then? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8. Who he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us, how5:40 shall not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. God is not against you. If you are a child5:52 of God, he is not against you. In chapter 19, as Job replies to Bildad for the second time, we get a better understanding of the tactics that Satan uses to discourage us and make us feel6:03 isolated from God. Verse 7 chapter 19, If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice. He has fenced up my way so that I cannot pass, and6:15 he has set darkness in my paths. He has stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head. I think this reference here to the crown is for for to his children. His Proverbs 176:28 6 says children's children are the crown of old men. Verse 10, he breaks me down on every side, and I am gone. My hope has he has uprooted like a6:39 tree. He he has also kindled his wrath against me, and he counts me as 1 of his enemies. His troops come together and build up their road against me. They6:52 encamp all around me. He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me. Those who dwell in my7:03 house and my maidservants count me as a stranger. I am an alien in their sight. Look at verse 19. All my close friends abhor me, and those7:15 whom I love have turned against me. You see, the material things that, he was blessed with were washed away. Hope was uprooted7:27 like a tree in a hurricane, and he was surrounded by hostile forces that targeted him with their words and their actions. And and and at the same time, those who were close7:39 to him abandoned him, leaving him feeling isolated and alone. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever been to that point? That's exactly where Satan wants us to be isolated7:51 and alone, but you're not. In the darkest of places, physically, emotionally, socially, and in every other way, here is what Job8:03 is anchored to. And and don't miss this. This is what gave him confidence, in in even in his darkest deepest despair. Verse 25, For I8:15 know that my redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh, I shall see God.8:28 This is faith. He said, I don't understand what is happening in this life, and and I don't understand why it appears that God is against me, but this I know, Job says, my redeemer8:40 lives. What faith? And I know that there is life after this, and I know that I shall see God. You know, if if Job had that kind of faith in the Old8:51 Testament before the mystery of the gospel, as Paul called it, was revealed in Christ Jesus, our savior, our redeemer, how much stronger should our faith9:03 be? Our redeemer lives. And no matter what Satan does or is allowed to do in this world, nothing can change the that fact if you've accepted Jesus Christ as your lord9:15 and savior. You will see him, and you will be with him for all of eternity. That hope that hope can and should sustain us in the sometimes painful9:26 and destructive storms of this life. But remember, those trials are temporary and they're passing. Eternity is forever. In chapter,9:39 20, Zophar is up to bat again for the second time, and he he's convinced he's gonna scare Job straight by telling him the fate of the wicked. Verse 2, Therefore,Discernment in Trials: Zophar's Warning and Spiritual Wisdom 9:51 my anxious thoughts make me answer because of the turmoil within me. I have heard the rebuke that reproaches me, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer. Now Zophar is compelled to10:02 respond to what he has heard. And you know what? I do believe there are times when we do feel a compulsion, an urge to speak, and and the Holy Spirit will10:14 prompt us to speak. Jeremiah spoke of this in Jeremiah chapter 20 verse 9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, of God, nor speak anymore in his name, but his word10:26 was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. So how do we know if it is the Holy Spirit urging us to speak in those10:38 moments? Well, first of all, we gotta be in an attitude of prayer, but that means we need to be aligned with God's revealed word. What we say, is it in alignment with God's word? Does it glorify god?10:51 Does it edify those who we are speaking to? You know? Or is it just we wanna make our point? We need to make sure that our words edify, build up. And sometimes11:03 speaking truth might be confrontational, might cause conflict, but ultimately, it is the truth will set people free. So sometimes we have to do that. But is that the purpose? And are we11:15 personally abiding in Christ? I I mean, that helps us determine that voice. Is that the holy spirit? Is our is our spiritual posture such that we can hear from God? In in the first11:26 way, we know that is is there sin in our life? If we confessed anything that would hinder us from hearing from the Lord I mean, it basically goes down to what Jesus said. Do you have a plank in your eye? Because if11:38 you do, it's gonna be very difficult to get the splinter out of the eye of your friend. Verse 4. Do you not know this of old since man was placed on earth that the triumphing of the wicked is short11:50 and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment? Yeah. Alright. That that is kind of the pattern, but we don't see everything. And, of course, he continues, and he closes with this. The whole chapter is12:02 kinda dedicated as to scaring Job with the, what becomes of the wicked. Verse 27, the heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The increase12:14 of his house will depart, and his goods will flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion from God for a wicked man, the heritage appointed to him by God. You know,12:27 what Job makes clear the book of Job makes clear to us is that everything is not clear. We need the discernment and the understanding that comes only from the Holy Spirit, And we have that.12:39 Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you, Lord, for for this book of Job. Sometimes difficult to understand, but it speaks to difficult things that we can't quite understand in this life.12:51 Sometimes we wonder why do good things bad things happen to good people. Well, it's not coming from you, Lord. We live in an evil world, a fallen world in in which Satan is walking around13:03 like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Father, I pray that you would give us discernment and wisdom and understanding to see with spiritual eyes what is happening around us.13:15 And may we have on the full armor of God equipped for the day of battle, not seeking that fight, but, Lord, not running from it when it comes, but standing our ground.13:27 Thank you for the Holy Spirit that is leading us on this journey. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for being with me this morning. And until next time, keep standing on the word.13:40 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:52 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Finding Hope in Despair: Job's Cry and the Living Redeemer9:39 Discernment in Trials: Zophar's Warning and Spiritual Wisdom
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