 So here we are we're in Job chapter 38 and So I was going to do chapters 38 and 39, but no We'll just do chapter 38 and who knows I may even end a little early I I say that only to show you I can lie when I feel like it Let's see what happens Job chapter 38 beginning at first one and reading to verse 3 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and You shall answer me. I my knees already would start quaking just at that Anyway, here we are here. We are in chapter 38 We've come to the place where the arguments that have been lodged against Job have come to a close They have come to a standstill if you will each one who has argued their case the four men including Elio and Job himself Have been holding on to what they believe is true And so this fight has been going on for some time and in the final chapters that we're about to begin to look at God steps in and God is going to end the fight. It's kind of like I Was thinking how would? It's like when as a parent you've got two kids who are bickering and Finally mom or dad steps in and says that's enough You know and begins to address the situation. That's what we're seeing here the Lord God is stepping in and concluding this argument that has been taking place for quite some time It begins interestingly enough and we'll see this it begins by saying that the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind now that's an interesting way to begin because Alley you had been arguing that God is the God over nature and Had been arguing that God uses nature for his purposes He had spoken of the clouds. He had spoken of the rain the thunder lightning snow ice the Sun the moon and So he had spoken concerning how God uses nature and in chapter 37 at verse 9 he said From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind and So when he says from the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind the whirlwind is another word for a tempest It's a violent windstorm So out of the dark thick cloud God sent a whirlwind and in doing so he's announcing his presence So in the in the midst of the arguing the intense emotional Things that are taking place in this windstorm God now breaks in Chapters 38 and chapter 39 actually form what is called a single revelation from God and God is is letting him know letting Job know that he's unable to pass judgment on the one who is beyond human judgment You see earlier in the book Job had acknowledged that God's ways were beyond Comprehension we saw it in chapter 9 for example in verses 2 and 3. I know it is So of a truth But how should a man be just with God if you will contend with him? He cannot answer him one time out of a thousand In chapter 9 verse 10 he went on to say he does great things past finding out Yes wonders without number. He's already admitted that He cannot really stand and argue with God He's already made that clear and that agrees with something that Paul in the book of Romans later would write in chapter 11 verse 33 when he said oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out so? God's ways are beyond our ways and Now God is going to end the contention by beginning to challenge Job and he begins to question him He's also going to rebuke his friends and so as you begin here in chapter 1 at verse chapter 38 of verse 1 Again it says the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind so God is revealing himself to Job and Answers his questions as well as his concerns. It's interesting how it says out of the whirlwind That that's a an interesting picture not only can it be viewed literally of course But it's like the whirlwind of confusion that Job has been suffering all this time It seems that there are times when God breaks into our confusion in order to bring us answers Somebody said the only man who was ever at rest is the one who attains it through conflict And I think if you think about that for a moment, you'll see the wisdom of that the greater the conflict when it ceases the greater the rest and Job has been going through tremendous conflict Arguing his righteousness before his friends Saying that if I only had an opportunity to speak to God, I would I would let him know how I am being treated Unfairly and so now God is out of the whirlwind Speak into him the whirlwind could be a picture of his confusion You see Job has silenced his friends, but he hasn't convinced them that he's innocent Leu had presented his case, but Job never has a chance to respond You see in the midst of this confusion and distress God is about to break in Verse 2 says and this is what he opens his statement to Job. This is what he says Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? How come you're so stupid? No, he doesn't Who is this? Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? It's interesting how God begins to answer Job's questions by first asking his own and He starts by saying who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge your constant questioning is Not bringing light Job it's increasing darkness Instead of being of help to your confused friends your musings only increase their ignorance In 1st Corinthians chapter 8 verse 2 Paul said it like this those who think they know something Do not yet know as they ought to and so How come you're beginning how come you're contending with me Job? You're speaking not out of knowledge, but you're speaking in an unwise way and so Because you've been asking to speak to me verse 3 prepare yourself Prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me You've been questioning me for all of this time So get ready. I'm about to question you you've wanted to argue with me You've wanted to contend with me as a matter of fact you've said this several times and we've seen it in Job 13 verse 3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty. I desired a reason with God Chapter 23 verses 4 through 7 I would order my cause before him fill my mouth with arguments I would know the words which he would answer me and understand what he would say to me Will he plead against me with his great power? No, but he would put strength in me They're the righteous might dispute with him. So should I be delivered forever from my judge in chapter 31 verse 35 Oh that one would hear me behold my desire is that the Almighty would answer me and that my Prosecutor my accuser had written a book Job you've been asking to talk to me Here I am That would be kind of intimidating You want to argue your case? Get ready Get ready for the debate but first I'm going to question you and I will question you as he says in verse 3 and you well, you're going to answer me I'm going to begin by asking you basic questions I'll begin by asking questions about natural things and if you can answer these simple questions Well, you can ask more questions So he begins the series of questions and that's what we'll be looking at. I'll read them and just touch on them Much of it is self-explanatory Verse 4 I'll read verses 4 through 7 Here's here's where he begins. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding Who determined its measurements? Surely you know are who stretched the line upon it? to what were its foundations fastened or Who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? This is a picture of God's creation of the world and and he begins by Comparing the creation of the world with the construction of a building He speaks in verse 6 of the measuring line that carpenters use he speaks of its foundation speaks of its cornerstone The question is what is the earth built on and what is it supported by Job? Can you tell me? Who laid the cornerstone the cornerstone which aligns the building and keeps it together? Who did that Job? Are you able to tell me did you do it? Were you there? Were you the witness? Can you advise me? Let me know and then verse 7. This is an interesting verse We'll spend a moment on it because he says when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God Shouted for joy. So we speak in concern the creation and the response of the angelic host You see when he says in verse 7 the morning stars sang together. That's a picture of heavenly praise When the angels sang as God when God created the earth You see when it speaks of the morning stars and the sons of God This is speaking very often in scripture of Angels we saw it in in chapter 1 verse 6. We also saw it chapter 2 verse 1 when it spoke concerning the sons of God Gathering they were the angels that was being that were being referred to and so we speak in about the morning stars singing together and The sons of God shouting for joy So they're pictured as God's heavenly choir. There's their they're pictured as Worshiping and praising God as he's created all things now. We see that picture here in the book of Job We see it in other places, but not that long ago in the book of Revelation We had an opportunity just to see a picture like that in chapter 5 of Revelation verses 11 and 12 Where he said I looked and heard the voice of many angels Numbering thousands upon thousand ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders and a loud voice They sang worthy as the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise And so he's speaking concerning the praise that God is worthy of Now when he's speaking concerning this and he's speaking of the foundations the cornerstone and everything Well, it was normal to sing songs of joy when a cornerstone would be laid for a great building So that's a picture that we have in the new in the Old Testament in the book of Ezra Written later events later, but in the book of Ezra chapter 3 verse 10 It says when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord The priests in their vestments and with trumpets and the Levites the sons of Asaph with symbols Took their places to praise the Lord as prescribed by David king of Israel And so there would be a time of worship and praise and thanks to God for for the building of the temple or some Structure that was dedicated to him and so it speaks concerning the worship that takes place And and how the morning stars at one time sang together all the sons of God shouting for joy Now here's something for you. You already know most of you But I'll say it again here because I couldn't help but think of it as I was reading about when the morning stars sang together You know who the heavenly choir director was was satan Satan was the heavenly choir director Javeron and McGee said when satan fell he landed in the choir loft and I don't know why he'd say that but those in music ministry would Satan was the heavenly choir director I didn't develop a study to speak concerning the fall of satan, but but how do we know Well in Ezekiel chapter 28 verses 13 and 14 When god was addressing the enemy, he said you were in Eden the garden of god Every precious stone was your covering the Sidious topaz and diamond barrel onyx and jasper sapphire turquoise emerald with gold The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created You were anointed as a guardian cherub For so I ordained you You were on the holy mount of god you walked among the fiery stones When he says the workmanship of your timbrels the word timbrel is a tambourine When he speaks concerning your pipes It's that pipe those pipes that are there are their hollow reeds a row of hollow reeds a pipe is a musical instrument The tambourine is a musical instrument And so he's speaking concerning the lord the lord god is speaking concerning the enemy who was actually one who sang beautifully There was a beauty in him now I didn't like I said prepare a study on this, but i'll share a couple of thoughts and move on What happens with the enemy is he was so close to the glory that he desired to have it himself When he saw god worshiped and he was leading that worship The worship of god was so attractive to him He fell When you look at the book of isiah again, it's found in chapter 14 verses 12 through 14 you can read concerning his fall And you can see that he had what is called the five eye wills And uh one of his eye wills is I will be like the most high I'll be seated on the sides of the north I will be worshiped I will be worshiped that was satan's desire He touched the glory he desired to have the glory that belongs only to god And that is always a temptation for those who are in ministry To take the credit for the work that god performs One of the most dangerous places you can be is upfront before people Because they can walk up to you and they can say to you oh the way you speak touches my heart To the point where you begin to take credit for the work the spirit of god is doing And then you can touch the glory and god says my glory is my own I will give my glory to no one else neither my praise to graven images I will not allow that you shall have no false god before me and that includes human beings who try to be like god And so we have to be very careful with this Because one of the things that is a temptation Is for us to do something that god blesses and then take the credit for it And one of the dangers we can have is the the desire to Without even knowing it replace the lord in a sense that people begin to say to us. Oh You're so wonderful god is a wonderful god. He's able to keep us where we're supposed to be and I thank him for that I I remember one person it was in this room here went before we had built our Our main sanctuary that we now use for our sunday services and I remember I was given a study like am right now and somebody walked up afterwards and was speaking to me And I was remembering how they said to me, you know when you said this And then they told me they said it just Ministered to my heart so much and I was thinking I didn't say that I didn't say anything like that. I just I just kind of smiled as all right, you know, I'm not going to argue with you Yes, I'm great. No, I I But the lord he has a way He has a way of telling you're nothing and I have a way even when you're misunderstood Of speaking something to somebody else that they're blessed by god has a way of doing that He keeps you humble and reminds me of one of those stories again. Here we go as a story um I was in albuquerque. It was Many years ago 38 years or so ago. I went with my friend Raul and and a team that went for a uh For an outreach Yeah, it may have been even longer than 40 years ago. But anyway there we were And uh, no it was 40. Anyway, so I was there sitting down In my brother and sister-in-law and all the were there and I was sitting next to him And I had come with the team and As I was seated there these two young ladies came and sat next to me, you know Visited for a moment. Hi. How are you? And this is that? But Raul did something he got up and he said I want to introduce the guys who came with me And I remember thinking I remember thinking. Oh, are they going to be impressed? They're sitting next to me. He's going to have me stand up. I remember thinking I'm going to stand up and my head was Getting all swollen. It was just And so he says I brought my brother and law gary and gary stands up and people And I brought this and I brought that and I'm just waiting. He forgot to mention me and when he And the lord the lord says, oh, I'll never forget it. You're so important. Aren't you you're so important God has a way You know, I'm telling you the things I tell you when I warn you just believe this I've learned the lesson the hard way I've learned these lessons. You know, I keep learning them Do not touch the glory It belongs to the lord the enemy wanted to touch the glory He was the heavenly choir director the sons of god together in unity praised god at the creation Of the earth and god is speaking concerning that To joe and he's making it clear the morning stars the angel sang together All the sons of god shouted for joy as god was creating the heavens and earth and by the way, where were you? in verse eight or Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the womb When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band when I fixed my limit for it And set bars and doors when I said This far you may come but no farther Here your proud waves must stop. Where were you? Where were you when I was was uh when I uh set limits on the sea Where were you when I set limits on nature? And it's interesting how the sea here is pictured as a newborn baby and it's wrapped in dark swaddling cloth The swaddling cloth one commentator said could be a picture of the ocean mist In genesis chapter one verse two it says darkness was upon the face of the deep So this is before the light of the sun arose and the dry land appeared He says where were you when all of this was first taking place In verse nine he says uh when I made the clouds its garment the darkness its swaddling band His might is shown in his power to control and to confine the sea In psalm 104 verses 24 and 25 listen to this. This is so powerful. How many are your works, oh lord In wisdom you made them all The earth is full of your creatures There is the sea vast and spacious teaming with creatures beyond number living things both large and small His power to create and control to even confine the sea and all that is in it He's speaking concerning that In verse 12 he continues and says have you commanded the morning since your days began caused the dawn to know its place That it might take hold of the ends of the earth And the wicked be shaken out of it It takes on form like clay under a seal and stands out like a garment From the wicked their light is withheld And the upraised arm Is broken So have you commanded the morning have you are you the one who commands the sun you bring forth the sun Which illuminates and warms and and even makes life possible. Is it you? In verse 13 he speaks of the sun shining every morning even to the remotest part of the planet He speaks of the wicked being shaken out of it. This is light revealing The evil person's sinfulness It is picturing the evil doing their deeds at night But hiding from the morning light, which is true even to the state quite obviously People like to hide their evil deeds in the darkness because they don't want their deeds to be seen You don't see people normally though it does happen now more often than before But they don't normally break into homes and everything when they're occupied during the day Very often what they do is they wait until it's dark enough for them to be able to get in and get out And uh, that's because evil deeds are normally done at least symbolically in the dark Remember in john chapter 3 verses 19 and 20 how jesus said it like this. He said this is the verdict Light has come into the world But people love darkness instead of light. Why because their deeds were evil Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed And so that's a hint of what joe was saying here. That's what jesus was speaking about there People do evil deeds at night. They hide from the morning light Now verse 14 is interesting how it says it takes on form like clay under a seal And stands out like the garment. That's an interesting poetic description It takes on form like clay under a seal the earth at night is unseen because it's dark But in the morning while the light reveals its beauty When it speaks of taking form like clay clay is unappealing Until the seal and there were there would be different seals that you could place on clay and it would beautify the clay Until the seal is applied and its impression the impression of the seal is clearly seen on that clay And so he's just speaking how you can beautify something And verse 15 he went on to say From the wicked their light is withheld and the upraised arm is broken The wicked don't enjoy the sunlight Because their deeds are discovered and they're punished is what he's saying So he continues Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breath of the earth? Tell me If you know all of this And so very slowly the lord is breaking him down and he's speaking again in the natural Can you reach the bottom of the sea? Can you explore its secrets? Can you explain it? When he speaks in verse 17 and says has the have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death when he speaks of the gates of death? That's a that's a picture of what is called sheol the abode of the dead And so the question is do you understand life and death completely? Job, what happens to men after they die? What do they do? Do you know? What do you know? Can you say when someone will die? Or why they haven't? Can you answer these basic things? Have you comprehended these things? Do you understand these things? Of course you don't why should you he says in verse 18? Have you comprehended the breath of the earth? Tell me if you know all this What are the exact dimensions? Boundaries and measurements of the planet that you live on? Can you tell me? I thought you knew everything This is what I call sanctified sarcasm The Lord is simply just letting him know you are the creature I'm the creator you don't know these things Verse 19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light and darkness? Where is its place that you may take it to its territory? That you may know the paths to its home? Do you know it? Because you were born then? Or because the number of your days is great? What is the origin of light? No, not the sun, but light itself If you don't know Why do you think you can search out the deep things that only I can know? He says in verse 21 Do you know it because you were born then? Or because you were born then? Or because the number of your days is great? Again, it's sarcasm Were you there when I created all of these things? I don't know how I can... I don't even know if this is a proper illustration But I think we've all been in the position at times To have somebody giving us advice And tell us what we should do When they've never even been part of the process Of the thing that they're now correcting Many years ago now I shouldn't say this probably There are going to be people who think I'm arrogant I am, so anyway But it came to mind As I'm thinking that I had somebody many years ago approach me And said to me This is what I think you need to do with your church You need to do this, this, this, this, isn't that I'm not opposed to people saying I have advice or I think... I listen, I do But sometimes when things like that are said Sometimes they're said in a rude way And it's kind of difficult for me to just smile And so this time I didn't smile So they said I think you need to do this And how come you're doing it that way? This is a person who had just come to the church For the first time And so I remember looking at him And I said, you know, let me ask you a question If I may Go ahead, I said Remember you at the first Bible study we had With this church You weren't there, right? You weren't there when we were in the homes You weren't there when we purchased our first properties You weren't there when we moved here, right? No, I just came here I said, it's interesting to me How you can know what I should be doing When you've never even been part of the process In the past How would you know what I'm supposed to do? And I think people like me Sometimes have asked those questions Because sometimes people have suggestions and ideas And all God is doing with Job right now Is saying, where were you? You've been questioning me For so many chapters For so long I want to contend with God I want to explain to God I wish I had an advocate so I could plead my case Before God I could convince God But I'm just asking you simple things now I'm just asking you natural things Things related to lightning and wind And seas and the land Where were you? When everything began Where were you? That's what he's saying in verse 21 Do you know it because you were born then? Because the number of your days is great So you're ancient And obviously we're there from the beginning And know all of these things So no, he's actually Bringing humility to this man Who really needs it He says in verse 22 Or how I can use them To meet my purposes Because notice what he says in verse 23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble For the day of battle and war That's interesting How he put that You see, hail could be used as an offensive weapon How do we know that? Exodus 9 verses 22 through 24 The Lord said to Moses Stretch out your hand toward the sky So that hail will fall all over Egypt On men and animals And on everything growing in the fields of Egypt When Moses stretched out His staff toward the sky The Lord sent thunder and hail And lightning flashed down to the ground So the Lord rained hail On the land of Egypt Hail fell and lightning flashed Back and forth It was the worst storm in all The land of Egypt Since it had become a nation God is saying that he can use this In verse 23 I have reserved Which I have reserved for the time of trouble For the day of battle and war Again, we've been in The book of Revelation I'll remind you of what we read In Revelation 1621 Where it says, great hail stones Weighing almost a hundred pounds each Reigned down on them From above And men cursed God For the plague of hail Because it was so horrendous From the sky, huge hail stones Each weighing about a hundred pounds Fell on people Think about that for a minute Next time we're upset because Our car was hit with a couple of hail stones A hundred pounds So God uses them He says, I've reserved this for a time of trouble Day of battle and war In verse 24 he said By what way is light diffused Or the east wind scattered over the earth Have you determined Why the sun shines brighter In one place than it's shining In another Do you determine how the wind Moves in one direction Or another Again, he's speaking of the natural And it reminds me of a conversation That Jesus had With Nicodemus And as I mentioned to you recently How Nicodemus had come to speak to Jesus And Jesus began a spiritual conversation With this great teacher in Israel Jesus said, are you not the teacher of Israel? Which was a very high compliment to him He was saying you are known And are reputable for being a great teacher And so he wanted to speak to him And Jesus was saying things related to being Born again of the spirit And of water And he talked of natural birth And spiritual birth And as he's doing that He said in John chapter 3 verse 8 That the wind blows where it wishes You hear the sound of it Where it goes So as everyone who was born of the spirit So he's speaking concerning the things of the spirit The wind moves in one direction The wind moves in another In a sense that's a very spiritual picture That he's giving He goes on Using my computer just now It just went completely blank But it's back So In verse 25 Who has divided A channel for the overflowing water Or a path for the thunderbolt To cause it to rain on a land Where there is no one A wilderness in which There is no man To satisfy the desolate waste And cause to spring forth The growth of tender grass Has the rain of father Or who has begotten The drops of dew From whose womb Comes the ice And the frost of heaven Who gives it birth The waters harden like stone And the surface of the deep Is frozen These are all things that to me are just Interesting deep philosophy That's hard to understand So let's just keep going Let's look at that What he's doing now is questioning him concerning nature In verse 25 Who left a channel for water when it floods Who has determined The path of a bolt of lightning Though not marked out beforehand In verses 26 and 27 Who brings rain to water plants When there's no one To cultivate or care for them You know you go You're driving your car you go past In the wilderness in the desert We have plenty of desert here in California And you see these plants that are blossoming But there's no human being there cultivating Working so he's just asking That there's no one there taking care of it Who's providing the rain Job do you know Have you become aware of that In verses 28 through 30 he says Has the rain of father In other words has man produced rain Has man produced the morning dew Does man produce ice Can man produce snow And I'm not talking about the artificial snow Up in the mountain Does man freeze water on the top of a lake To keep the water liquid below the ice And he goes on and begins to speak Of things in the heavens Verse 31 can you Can you bind the cluster of Pleiades Or loose the belt of Orion Can you bring out Maserat in its season Or can you guide the great bear With its cubs Do you know the ordinances of the heavens Can you set their dominion Over the earth So he begins to speak to them Concerning the planets the constellations He talks of Pleiades Orion Pleiades One of my commentators Made it simple enough for me to understand He's speaking of stellar Space he's speaking of the constellations And he brings up what we call Pleiades It's the seven stars that appear Right around the time of spring He speaks of Orion Orion rises in November It's bringing winter Maserat are the stars That are seen in the south And he's saying can you make them arise Can you make them appear Arcturus is a northern constellation Containing Ursa major and Ursa minor And lesser stars The lesser stars obviously are pictured by Bear cubs In verse 33 do you know the ordinances Of the heavens Can you set their dominion Over the earth Do you know the physical laws under which nature Is governed Job Now obviously These are things under God's authority And God's understanding Only God knows these things To the end In Psalm 119 verses 90 and 91 The Psalmist said your faithfulness Continues through all generations You establish the earth And it endures Your laws endure to this day For all things serve You And it continues verse 34 Can you lift up your voice To the clouds that an abundance Of water may cover you Can you send out lightnings That they may go and say to you Here we are Do the clouds take their orders from you Do they listen to you Do they obey you Verse 35 is lightning under your orders Ready to do your will At your command Verse 36 Who has put wisdom in the mind Of understanding to the heart Who is the one who directs the clouds And directs The rain and the lightning They could seem To have the ability To take God's Directions innately It's just a picture And then it goes on verse 37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom Who can pour out The bottles of heaven When the dust hardens in clumps Or I had some friends I called clouds And they clung together all the time I'm sorry Who can accurately number How many clouds are in the sky On earth Who can prevent the rain From being poured out In verse 38 when he speaks to the dust hardening The earth is dried up And becomes like clay And when it does he says I'm the one who graciously brings the rain And then he goes on And says In verse 39 Can you hunt the prey for the lion Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions When they crouch in their dens Or lurk in their lairs to lion weight Who provides food for the raven When its young ones cry to God And wander about for lack of food Verse 39 Are you the one who takes care Of the lions and the cubs Did you place the instinct To hunt within the nature of the lion Did you place within them The understanding that they needed To hunt to survive And have you taken it upon yourself To take care of the needs Of even wild life Are you the one who supplies them With the ability to hunt And to survive Remember Psalm 421 says Lions roar for their prey And seek their food From God When he says in verse 40 When they crouch in their dens Or lurk in their lairs to lion weight That speaks of an older lion He's been Maybe he's just too old To hunt the way he used to He's learned to hide under cover He may be injured He may not have the strength That he once had But he learns to hide under cover And he learns to wait They may be old They may be sick But they still know how to hunt And that's the point he's making That God made them in such a way That they knew how to survive And then finally When it says in verse 41 And we'll look at this for just a moment And miracles do happen I'm almost through Who provides food for the raven When its young ones cry to God And wander about for lack of food I'll take a few moments to look at this Because this is real practical And you perhaps might not see that At first glance Who provides food for the raven When its young ones cry to God And wander about Lions provide for their cubs But ravens Abandoned their young I didn't know that Some of you may know Maybe I have somebody who's a bird lover Maybe you know that I didn't know that ravens abandoned their young Here it is in the scripture And it says When its youngs cry out to God And wander about for lack of food He's saying the ravens Abandoned their young The lions don't The lions hunt Even into their old age They still are hunting They're taking care of their own needs And they also provide for the needs of the pride But on the other hand As the natural beast And you can say that it's regal It's beautiful, they call it like a king The king of beasts and all of that Because there's a beauty to them But the raven, now that's something different And yet God lumps them in With these lions Who provides food for the raven When its young ones cry to God And wander about for lack of food And so In the book of Leviticus In the Old Testament It's found in Leviticus 11 13 through 15 It reads that the Lord said to Moses And his brother Aaron These are the birds you are to regard As unclean And not eat Because they are unclean And he begins to name them The eagle, the vulture The black vulture, the red kite Any kind of black kite Any kind of raven The raven is unclean And so The question is asked And there are various ways to approach this They may be unclean Because they're scavengers They eat dead bodies One of my commentators said Ravens are loud They are, they're loud And As carrion They're disgusting As they land on This dead animal and begin to Tear his flesh apart Some of us have seen that I'm sure not that long ago Marie and I were driving to get a cup of coffee Or coming out of our neighborhood It looked like a vulture It was huge, huge And we go wow I told Marie go and look at that Close the door Take a picture But we went by it It was huge And we think it was a vulture It was you It was not a hawk It was too big to be a hawk But as we saw it We saw it from a distance away And we rolled up on it I looked at that thing and I thought This is disgusting And it is Anyway I won't go into graphic detail But it was very gross And so They're unclean because they eat dead animals They're carrion But they are also just a picture of that Which eats the decay or lives off the dead They're unclean In the Levitical law So that is interesting to me Because Here God says that the young Cry out to God And wander around Looking for food What an interesting picture Even These unclean and rejected Birds Are cared for by God Okay, unclean And rejected What did Jesus say? Luke chapter 12 verse 24 Consider the ravens For they neither sow nor reap Which neither have storehouse Nor barn God feeds them How much more are you better Than the fowls Now that That's heavy God even Takes care Of the unclean things Before you came to faith in Christ Here's the practical application to that You were unclean You were unclean spiritually Right, we were unclean All have sin and fall short of the glory of God There's none good, no not one We've all sin We have a sin nature We sin because by nature We are sinners We don't become sinners when we sin We sin because By nature we're sinners I'll be speaking about this on Sunday in some detail But that's the truth We receive what is called the Adamic nature Adam is called The federal head of mankind We are begotten After its kind He gave to us This sin nature We're all born sinners And we sin That means we're unclean That means that we can't have A face to face fellowship A deep personal fellowship with God Why, because your sins have made A separation between you And your God So the sin has to be dealt with God who is a righteous God Cannot look upon evil With pleasure Yet He loves man So what did He do? How did He solve that problem? How did God solve the problem That He has in His love for man And yet His righteous justice The soul that's in it shall surely die It's appointed unto men to die once And after this a judgment And so I am a sinner locked in sin A slave to sin He whose sins is a slave to sin Jesus said To my nature I may want to not drink anymore But by nature I'm a sinner And I fall back to that which is natural for me I may not want to steal anymore Or I may hate stealing I'm tired of stealing And yet I have nothing within me That gives me the ability to resist I have an old nature that dominates me I'm a slave to it I find myself stealing I find myself lying I find myself blaspheming God Rejecting... I mean That's human testimony That's what we do And yet the Bible says God so loved the world God loves the world That means He loves humankind That means I'm part of humankind That means He loved me But He is a righteous God And He cannot He cannot allow sin to go unpunished How do you deal with that? We all know the story He made Him who knew no sin To be sin for us That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him Jesus took upon Himself As the Lamb of God Who take away the sin of the world He became sin for us He was the sin offering And God poured His wrath on His Son And I'm like that raven That unclean bird And yet God sees And God has made a way For me That's why Jesus said That's part of why Jesus said Consider the ravens, these unclean birds They don't sow They don't reap They have no storehouse They don't have a barn God feeds them And then He says how much more are you better than the fowls? What has God done for you? God has made It possible For me to have a relationship with Him Through Jesus Christ Jesus Christ taken upon Himself My sin Jesus, the Lamb of God Jesus who took upon Himself My sin And He took what was not His And He gave me what was not mine He took My sin and gave me His righteousness He washed me With His blood He made me a new creation And old things are now passed away Behold, all things are become new By His grace I have been saved through faith And that wasn't of myself It's a gift of God and not by works Because I could boast if I could work my way to heaven Now God demonstrated His love Towards me That while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me And what does He tell me to do? You know, like the Philippian jailers Speaking of Paul and Silas What must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ And thou shalt be saved in the house And I can't work my way into it What must I do to work the works of God? Jesus said this is the work of God Believe on the one whom He has sent Trust Him Why? Because God's standard of entrance into heaven Is perfection And you are not perfect And you can't work your way into it It's a cost that No man could ever Be able to afford We can't do that That's why again the gates in New Jerusalem 1400 miles high 12 of them out of a pearl And you heard me share about that recently That a pearl is formed A natural pearl is formed by Something like sand Landing on that oyster And then that secretion It covers it and The wound That it had suffered through this Thing that was injuring it Actually becomes something of great cost And that's why It's there in New Jerusalem Out of pearl That's an eternal reminder Of the incredible cost Salvation Yes Can you pay for that? A pearl 1400 miles high 12 of them That's the picture of the Absurdity of human beings Thinking that we can somehow Do something that makes God Like us God loves us in spite of what we are So much so That he gave his son to die in the cross See this is called Christianity He loved us We love him, yes Because why? He first loved us That's why You mean I can't do something To make him love me? No, he already chose to What am I supposed to do then? Receive his love What am I supposed to do until you see what you were without him? And when you see what you were without him Not only do you receive it But you glory in it And you thank God in it And your life has changed because of it And you show it through the way you live And when people say what makes you so different Jesus the blood of Christ Cleanses me from all sin The power of his Holy Spirit dwells within me His word directs me He strengthens me from within He gives me the ability to do those things that are pleasing to him Why do you worship him? Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't I? Worship the one who loved me And gave his son for me Why wouldn't I? So if God takes care of the ravens The unclean birds How much more are you better Than the ravens Let's close with that Father we bless you And we thank you For love for us The love that transforms us A love That we could never earn That we don't deserve But that by faith We simply receive Lord I lift up this congregation Those who are watching right now Perhaps there are some who are watching The study that this is speaking to them Maybe they're unsafe Perhaps you are unsafe as I speak to you The Lord loves you And he gave his His son Jesus for you Would you receive him? Would you say God be merciful to me? I am a sinner Wherever you are I know there are countries watching right now Or other countries that will People in different countries Perhaps you've never even heard That there's a God in heaven who loves you You can receive his forgiveness Because you have sin and fall short of his glory You can receive it by saying God I know there's something wrong with me And now I know it's the sin That I've committed that has made a separation Between us Forgive me Lord Forgive me And make me clean And the Lord can And the Lord will And you can say that in faith And say God be merciful to me a sinner And he will And in this room there may be some right now To get right with the Lord Our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed And if you know you do I want to pray for you before we close Would you raise your hand and let me pray For you right where you're at Father you see these hands You know the reason why they're being raised to you right now In Jesus name I ask That you would reach down And touch each person whose hand is raised to you And Lord that you would have your way In them Father I pray That your Holy Spirit will just Settle in And that they will learn to Love your word and walk in your spirit From this day forward That you would make them brand new Right now wash them If they're rededicating themselves to you right now Father Go with them and work with them If they give themselves to you for the first time Lord just Be their God May they serve you And Lord I just ask that you would have your way In all of us Because we all desire We all desire To know you better and to love you So Lord we give to you ourselves And we bless you You can put your hands down And Jesus I ask that you would move in us And we thank you for your goodness In your name amen