 Okay, chapter 40, the book of Job. I'll begin by just reading verses one and two, and giving to you a little reminder of a few things that we've seen up to this point, and then move into the chapter. So we're looking today at Job chapter 40, a chapter that once again is speaking of how the Lord answered Job. So in verse one, chapter 40, verses one and two, moreover the Lord answered Job and said, shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it. Now we're obviously approaching the end of our study of Job, and as we've seen, Job has stated that he wished that he could make his case before God. More than once in this book he has said that he wished that he could speak to God about his situation. And as he's been doing that through various times here in Job, we saw how that God spoke to him, and we saw how the Scripture simply says that God spoke out of the whirlwind. And when he began to speak out of the whirlwind, we see how God initially begins to ask questions of Job. Again, Job had said that he wished he could present his case before God. In chapter 13, verse three, surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desired to reason with God. 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. So he believed, as we've seen, that he has been wronged by God, and he wanted to tell the Lord how he feels. In chapter nine, in verses 32 through 35, he said, God is not as I am, not someone I can challenge and say, let us confront one another in court. If only there were one to arbitrate between us and impose his authority on us both, so that God might take his rod from my back, and terror of him might not come on me suddenly. I should then speak out without fear of him, for I know I am not what I am thought to be. He said in chapter 13, verse three, again, I desire to speak to the Almighty. I want to argue my case before God. Well, Job got his wish. Be careful what you wish for. Job got his wish. He wanted to take his case before God, and so God responded. And so what we've been seeing is God speaking to him. And again, he began his conversation, if you will, by asking Job questions. You see, Job has been questioning God, so it's only fair that God should question him. Now, Job was well aware that he could not win an argument against God. He had said in chapter nine, verse three, if one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. So he was well aware of the fact that he couldn't really dispute with God. That's one of the reasons he had said, I wish I had a mediator. I wish I had someone who could lay his hand on me and on God and be a go-between for us. That's why he had said that, because he knew and that he couldn't really win an argument with the Lord. But because his pain was so great and because his confusion is so deep, he wants to speak to God. Again, God began his response by asking a question. In chapter 38, we saw in verses two and three, God 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. Who is this, he said, who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? When he said, who is this who darkens, that word darkens is another way of saying your questioning doesn't produce light. What it does, Job, is it's increasing confusion. You see, instead of being a help to your insistent, misunderstood friends, what's happening is you're not helping them. You're not helping yourself because you're only increasing the ignorance, their ignorance as well as your own. So instead of Job asking something that produces light, he's actually producing darkness. So we've seen this in chapter 38 and 39, God has been asking questions. He asks a series of questions. And as we've gone through this, the questions that he's been asking pertains to the realm of nature. And what they were intended to do is to contrast the power and knowledge of God with Job's own weakness and ignorance. And so we've been seeing the Lord asking questions. He continues here in chapter 40. And it says again, verse two, shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct him, he who rebukes God, let him answer it. Job, shall the creature correct the creator? Are you going to teach me how to govern the universe and how to rule over creation? Well, obviously, that's such a heavy question. How do you illustrate that in a way that helps people like me understand what the Lord would be saying? But I can tell you this when my children who are now all adults, children of their own. But when they were in high school, I think in high school, they reached the peak of their unbelievable wisdom, experience, and knowledge. And I can still remember, this happened with more than one child, so I'll leave them unnamed. But I can still remember this is going to sound mean, but some of you fathers will understand what I was trying to say to my kids. They did something wrong. And I said, I started to speak. I remember this one instance, I'm thinking of even as I'm sharing, I begin to speak and then they want to argue because they always do, right? Because they know better. You need to know the circumstances. You need to know what's going on. Listen, you're old, I'm young. Let me instruct you on the ways of youth. More than once, I had to say, I think you're misunderstanding something. Let me get that little look. I think you think we're having a conversation. And we're not. What we're having is you quiet while I speak and you're not answering because I'm telling. Now, have you ever been there? Maybe like that, maybe you smiled or a nicer, but have you ever been there? Obviously, I just confess that I have. We're not conversing. You're listening. That's what God is doing with Joe. Who are you? By the way, what gives you the authority to contend and correct? That's why God is saying, where were you when I? Where were you when I? And the answer obviously is, I wasn't even around. Of course you weren't. That's the point I'm making. So are you going to teach me how to govern the universe? Are you going to teach me how to rule over creation? Are you so wise, so ancient, so experienced that I should ask you for advice and take your orders, Joe? That's basically what he's saying. Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it. Are you so wise that I should ask you for direction? Are you so ancient and experienced that I should rely on you? Well, in the book of Isaiah in chapter 40, verses 13 and 14, who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him? Who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? Have you been God's counselors, basically what's being said here? Or Isaiah 45, verse 9, what sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator? Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it saying, stop, you're doing it wrong? Does the pot exclaim how clumsy can you be? And so God is putting him in his place. He's doing so by questions. He's asking them things that are in nature that with some observation, he could possibly have had at least a partial answer. And Job is unable to answer the questions God is giving to him. And so that's why God is saying here in verse 2, he who rebukes God, let him answer it. The word rebuke, I looked that up. I wanted to know what that means. The word usually is just translated to you, corrects. But it means to argue, to try to prove something in order to demonstrate that someone is wrong. So that's what God is saying Job is doing. Are you trying to prove to me through argument that you're right and I'm wrong? Job, do you really think that you can contend with me? Do you think that I'm to take orders and advice from you? In 1 Corinthians 10 verse 22, Paul simply said, do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? And all of us in this room as Christians, believers, those perhaps who are watching are believers. I think sometimes we do argue with God, don't we? Have you? I have. I have. And I'm always wrong. And he always is kind enough to show me that. And so it is never wise to argue with him. What is wise, and we'll see this, is to just, let's see, how do you say it in the Greek? Shut up. And so that's the point he's making. You're the one who's rebuking. So he says he who rebukes God, let him answer it. Let him answer it. Let him answer my questions. And so as he says this, this is so, this is striking verse, verse three, Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken and I will not answer. Yes, twice. But I'll proceed no further immediately. He says, I'm vile. That word vile means I am insignificant. It means I'm of little account. How can someone as weak as I argue with you? Incidentally, by way of application, that simple revelation that Job is having here is actually the root of greatness in the kingdom of God. That understanding that he's God and I'm not, it takes me a long way in the kingdom of God. You see, humility is a platform that all of a believer's life is to be built on. You see, what happens is in encountering God, Job begins to see himself for what he is the root of or the origin of true humility. You might want to note this in your mind, if not on your notebook, the root of humility is simply seeing yourself in light of who he is. When you see him for who he is, you have an opportunity to see yourself to see yourself for who you are. You remember in the book of Isaiah in chapter 6, and I'm paraphrasing to get to a verse I'm going to quote, Isaiah says, in the year that King Isaiah died, I saw the Lord. He was high and he was lifted up and his train filled the temple. And as he saw this revelation of the Lord, it was quaking, there was smoke, there was there was so much going on that it caused him to to see himself for who he is because in chapter 6, verse 5 of Isaiah, he said, Woe is me, I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips, my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. All it takes for us to have humility is to have a clear vision of God and an awareness of who we are. If you want to mark that down, please do for yourself. What makes somebody great in the sight of God's humility? What will get you dealt with immediately pride? Why? Because God hates pride. He hates arrogance. Why? What is it that caused Satan to fall from heaven? What was it again? Oh, pride. God hates pride. God hates arrogance. And it will stifle any personal growth you might have because of it. Keep that in mind. In Isaiah 64, verse 6, it says, We are all as an unclean thing. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all do fate as a leaf. Our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. During that day, a leper, a leper had these oozing sores and they would take a cloth and they would wrap their arm with it if it's on their arm, wrap it. And it would ooze. And as it went through their day, the dust and all would collect on it. So it became very filthy. So leprosy is a type of sin. Leprosy has a way of drawing the attention of people and they would see this person is very ill and he became, or she became a picture of a sinner. Leprosy is a picture of sin in the old as well as the New Testament. And the leper would live by themselves. They were not to live within the community. And so it's a great picture of how sin isolates you. There's no community, no relationship because you are a leper. And so the lepers would have leper's cloths. And so when Isaiah is saying our righteousness is like a filthy rag, he's speaking about the unclean oozing of an unrighteous person, the leper who is a picture of sin. And so for those who may think themselves to be a cut above other sinners, no, God says, no, your righteousness is like a filthy rag. You're still infected and filthy with sin. And that's that ought to cause us to have humility. Remember how Jesus would teach so often various things. He taught on humility and gave us an illustration of that topic as he shared about a Pharisee and a publican. In Luke 18, 9 through 14, it says, to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable, two men went up to the temple to pray, went a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but he beat his breast and he said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you, Jesus says, I tell you that this man rather than the other went home justified before God, for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted. See, we could have all of that outward righteousness, that appearance, that were good, when in fact our hearts are far away, when in fact we aren't as good as we think we are and even the best of all on the planet Earth is still filthy ranks. Remember what God said concerning Job. God had said there's not a man like him on the whole planet. He's the most righteous man around. And yet at the same time, how does this righteous man respond to the questions of God? He says, I am vile because I can look pretty good next to some bad sinner. I can. A lot of us have friends that we collect just to make sure we always look good. We can look good in comparison to a vile sinner. But that's not the standard. You may look good. I may look good next to somebody who's in prison or whatever. I may look good in comparison, but that's not the standard of judgment. Always remember this, because if I'm standing there next to this sinner saying, but God, I'm better than them, all Jesus has to do is walk up, we'll stand next to me and God all he has to do is say, are you better than him? No, but I am better than him. No, we're not talking about him. What's he got to do with you? The standard is not that man. The standard is this one. And so humility inside of God goes a long way. And so Job again answered the Lord, verse three, behold, I'm vile. What shall I answer you? He says, I lay my hand over my mouth, just another way of saying, I'm going to close my mouth before you. Earlier, Job had told his friends to do this as they were looking at him in Job 21, verse five. He said, look at me and be astonished. Put your hand over your mouth. Well, now he's been humbled into silence. In Proverbs 29, 11, a fool gives full vent to his spirit. A wise man quietly holds it back. He's now humbled and he's in silence. Verse five, once I have spoken, but I will not answer yes twice. But I will proceed no further. I've learned my lesson. I've spoken too much. I'm just going to quiet and be silent before you. Well, in verse six and seven, the Lord answered Job again out of the whirlwind and he said, prepare yourself like a man. I'll question you and you shall answer me. Now remember, that's how God first began to respond to Job. And he once again responds in the same way. Just because Job isn't convicted doesn't mean that his chastening is over or rather is convicted. It doesn't mean his chastening is over. Job is admitting it. Look at, I've blown it. Sometimes we think that if we simply say, God, okay, I'm sorry, I give up. But you know what? Sometimes you reap what you sow. Sometimes the repercussions of what you were doing follows you. And how many times have I spoken to people or felt this myself? Well, I said, I'm sorry. You know, if you're a married person and you said something unkind or did something wrong and you just turned to your spouse, your wife, your husband and you say to them, look at, I already told you, I'm sorry. Does your spouse look at you and say, you know what, you're right. No, no, no, yeah, you're okay. That's fine. But we still have to work this through, don't we? There are still repercussions, repercussions, right? There are. There are always repercussions. And so Job is admitting it. He says, I'm vile. Well, that's fine. But God says, that's good. I'm glad you know that. But I'm going to continue because you still have things you need to think about and you need to learn. Someone said it this way, comfort doesn't always come immediately even when we admit we are wrong. Job was humbled, but he wasn't humbled enough. And God is going to reveal more and make him dig even deeper. Notice how Job had said, I'll remain silent. I'm vile. But he has not really confessed a deep repentance for his accusations. He hasn't done that. So in verse seven, prepare yourself like a man. I'll question you. God gives him an opportunity to respond. In verse eight, he says, would you indeed annul or nullify my judgment? Would you condemn me that you may be justified? So the Lord begins to speak to him. Are you stating that I've been unfair in my treatment to you? Job, are you willing to condemn me so that you may appear to be in the right? He says in verse nine, have you an arm like God or can you thunder with a voice like his? Hmm. Do you have an arm like God? Are you mighty? Are you powerful in your strength? Like it says in Psalm 89.13, your arm is endued with power. Your hand is strong. Your right hand exalted. Are you powerful? God is saying, he says, is your voice powerful? Is your voice powerful even as mine is? Is what are you saying here? Do you thunder? He said your voice, Job, is like a small whisper compared to the sound of thunder. You don't have what you think you have. But he goes on in verse 10, and he says, adorn yourself with majesty and splendor. If you are this great, then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor. Array yourself with glory and beauty. In other words, adorn yourself with majesty and splendor. Come and sit on my throne. Reveal your perfections to the world, Job. Can you come and can you take my throne and have the world bow before you? Can you do that? Can you command the worship of men and angels as I do? We just went through the book of Revelation. Some of you traveled with me through that book. Remember Revelation chapter four, verses nine through 11, where it says, whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and they say, you are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. You created all things and by your will they were created and have their being. Job, can you do that? Can people walk up to you and see your glory and your power, your majesty and authority and do they just automatically worship you? No, well maybe you're not God. He continues in verse 11, disperse the rage of your wrath. Look on everyone who is proud. Humble him. Look on everyone who is proud. Bring him low. Tread down the wicked in their place. Are you so righteous that when you show wrath, the proud are humbled? By your knowledge and your power, can you humble men and lead them into righteousness? In verse 12, look on everyone who is proud. Bring him low. Can you with just a look reduce and humble even the most proud? With just a look. With just a look. There are people that you've met, perhaps you know maybe it was your mom or your dad or somebody that you highly regarded, who all it took for them to get you feeling bad was just a look. Just a look. Okay, I remembered something just now as I said that. My pastor Chuck Smith is just a man. I didn't worship him. I didn't burn a candle in front of his picture. He is just a man. But he was my pastor and I loved him deeply and sincerely. And I was young. I was in my 30s and I was talking to him one day. And as I was talking to him, as I said to him, yeah man, I'll never forget that look. He looked at me in a way that told me, you don't say that to pastor Chuck. You see, he was somebody that with just a look in my life, all he had to do was just look at me. I'd say, okay, I messed up. So if that's with my pastor or my mom, all mom I had to do is she had two things that she would do. She would look at me and she'd get her chocolate. That's the way it worked in my life. But he's saying with just a look, can you reduce and humble even the most proud? Can you freeze them in their place so they cannot do evil? He says in verse 13, hide them in the dust together, bind their faces in hidden darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you. And so can you hide them in the dust together, bind their faces in hidden darkness? Can you hide them in the dust speaks of, can you take their life? Can you take their life? Jesus said, if you're going to fear someone, fear the one who not only can kill, but also cast you into hell. Fear him. And so he's saying that, can you take their lives? Do you in other words have power over life and death? Job, no. When he speaks of binding their faces, that speaks of executing them because when a person was executed, their face would be covered. If you looked into and take notes, it's Esther chapter seven verse eight. You'd see an example of this because in Esther chapter seven verse eight, it says, as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, will he even molest the queen while she's with me in the house? As soon as the word leapt the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. So it's a picture of execution. He's asking, do you have the power over life and death? And then he says in verse 14, then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you. God is the only one who saves. That's the point he's making. Man cannot save himself. When God was speaking of Israel in Psalm 44 verse three, it says, they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them. But it was your right hand, your arm, the light of your countenance because you favored them. So that's what the Lord is saying. If you can do these things, if you're equal to me, then I'm sure you can save yourself. But guess what? You can't. You see, if you could do this, it would be proof that you can save yourself. That would make you my equal. And as my equal, then you could actually contend with me, but you can't. And as he goes on, now we get introduced and it's interesting. I'll give you a few things about this. Verse 15, we get introduced to behemoth. Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you. He eats grass like an ox. See now, his strength is in his hips and his power is in his stomach muscles, just like mine. No. He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. His bones are like beams of bronze. His ribs like bars of iron. He's the first of the ways of God. Only he who made him can bring near his sword. Surely the mountains yield food for him and all the beasts of the field play there. He lies under the lotus trees in a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade. The willows by the brook surround him. Indeed, the river may rage, yet he's not disturbed. He's confident. Though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, though he takes it in his eyes or one pierces his nose with the snare. So now we get to look at a mysterious animal called behemoth. So let me give you some things that might interest you. If not, I'll give them to you anyway. There's an ongoing argument concerning what this animal is. It's behemoth. Some believe it is an extinct dinosaur. Others say this sounds like a hippopotamus. According to one commentator that I was using, the word behemoth is actually a plural. The word that it's a plural of nobody's interested in, but I'll say it anyway, is behemoth. So behemoth is a plural. So because of that, there are some commentators who say he could be speaking of more than one animal that's being described as a matter of fact. There are those who say he's speaking of at least two different ones. One would be the hippopotamus and the other would be an elephant. And you'll see this in a moment. Now, I'm not teaching either thing. I'm just sharing with you what some good commentators would say. They say that verses 15 through 20 could refer to an elephant. And as you look at it, verses 21 through 24 would refer, they say, to a hippopotamus. Here's the reason why they are saying that there may be two animals, because a hippo does not live in the mountains. Elephants can climb to a certain elevation and they can eat on a mountain side. Hippopotamuses normally don't. And so as I was writing my own notes, I said this with that said, who really knows? That's deep. So I looked at it like it's a hippo. That's how I take it, letting you know. So what do we know? Well, what we do know about this is that God is revealing to Job, you can't control these animals. You have no control over the animals. This is a giant animal he's describing here. A giant animal, incidentally, that eats grass. Verse 16 describes its enormous strength. Verse 17 speaks of its tail. It's short, but it's strong. It doesn't bend easily. It's described like a cedar tree, short and strong. Doesn't bend easily. In verse 18, it speaks of his bones, his ribs. They're described as exceptionally strong like bars of iron. What's interesting also on top of this is in verse 19, it says, he is the first of the ways of God, only he who made him can bring near his sword. So when he says that, it's speaking obviously of his enormous strength and his enormous size. And when it says he's the first in the ways of God, he's speaking about him being like number one. He's huge is the point. Verse 19 says, only he who made him can bring near his sword, though he's strong, he's saying, God is saying, I can easily subdue. I can easily destroy him. I can do this on my own. I could use other animals if I want to, but I can destroy him. Job, can you? When he says in verse 20, surely the mountains yield food for him all the bees of the field play there. He's huge. He needs great amounts of food, but he doesn't need a man to take care of it. Why? Because God is saying I provide food for him and there's always enough for him to survive. So when he says about these animals plain and all, part of the point is as huge as this animal is, other animals aren't necessarily alarmed by it. And anybody who ever watches The Nature Show will see that. If an elephant is going down a path, you know, there are a lot of animals around it. They're not alarmed by it. That's the point that he's making. They can live in relative peace because it's not a threat to them. Why? It's a vegetarian. It isn't going to eat one of them. Therefore, they're not afraid, whether it would be the hippo or an elephant. They're not afraid of these animals. Now, when he gets into verses 21 following, he lies under the lotus trees. This fits a description of a hippopotamus. He lies under the lotus trees in a covert of reeds and marsh. The lotus trees cover him with their shade. The willows by the brooks surround him. It's a picture of where he lives, if you will, or hides. It's a description of what hippopotamus will do. This lotus tree is a tree that grows on the banks of the upper Nile. So it's simply describing here that the hippo ordinarily will hide in these coverts. And then it speaks in verse 23 and it says, indeed, the river may rage, yet he's not disturbed. The river can be running with great ferocity, but they're so huge and all it doesn't disturb him. He's confident, though the Jordan gushed into his mouth, though he takes it in his eyes or one pierces his nose with a snare. No matter how strong the current is, he's not disturbed. He's not disturbed when the water rushes into his mouth. That doesn't bother him. But what's interesting about this in verse 24, yet you get an interesting thought here because that's a picture of capturing that animal. And it's like a question, can a trap be set that will capture him? Can his nose be pierced in order that he might be captured in lead? Well, he can be captured if a clever hunter captures him, but he can't be taken by violence. So Job, these are basic things. These are things that you know nothing about. So do you really think that you can argue with me? I guess we should close with that thought. We'll pick up obviously next time, but we should close with that thought. David, you can't answer these questions even now. Do you really think you can argue with me? Just put your own name in that question, whatever your name may be. Do you really think you can argue with me? One of the things that I am learning, it's only taken 50 years. One of the things that the Lord is constantly reminded me of is very simple. Let me share with you. He's God and I'm not. He reminds me of that quite often. I am God and you're not. When the creature comes to understand that that's all he is or she is created by God, when the creature understands that they are just clay in the hands of a master potter, and when we begin to understand that the clay doesn't argue with the master potter, the clay is to be shaped by the master potter. When we begin to understand that our lives will be changed. Many years ago, I was speaking to a guy who came in to visit with me. He had an appointment. This is a long time ago. And as we were talking, he shared with me this. He said, I'm a potter. He says, I throw pots. I said, I smoked pots, but I never threw it. You don't throw it away. You sell it. No, I didn't say that. I just felt like saying that. He says, I'm a potter. I throw pots. I said, really? He said, yeah. He said, and then he said, something to me I've never forgotten. And I use that illustration as a close. He said, it's easy to throw pots. And he talked about a wheel, a potter's wheel, and two things he taught me I've never forgotten. One, he says, when you're, when you're forming a pot, he said, there's water next to you. Some of you may be craftspeople and you know this. I didn't know this. He said, you'll have some water next to you, a bowl. He said, you put your hand in the bowl to wet your hands. And then you will mold the clay. I was very interested in that, really. He says, the only time that a potter removes his hands from the pot is so that he might moisten it with water. You mean the times that I've kind of felt like the Lord has abandoned me was not abandoned me at all. It was him preparing to do more work in me. And you mean that that water he would dip his hand in is a symbol of the Holy Spirit that he intends to anoint my life differently and change me and form me? I've never forgotten that, I've thought. So the master potter knows how to form the pot. The second thing, he said, there's something called willful clay. I said, willful clay explain that to me. He says, it's clay that has a mind of its own. I said, really, clay has a mind of its own? How would I know that? He goes, yeah, it does. He says, yeah, clay has a mind of its own. He said, there is clay that you can form and it's easy to form. He said, you could make something beautiful out of it. You can do anything you want. This clay is easily formed, but there's willful clay. He said, you know what willful clay is used for? Now, he didn't know he was feeding me stuff. He didn't know. He goes, you know what willful clay is good for? I said, what? He said, it's good for ashtrays. When I was in China years ago now, I was in Beijing and went to a restaurant very early in the morning and went and sat down. But as we walked in, there was a big pot, a big pot right next to the counter. You walked up to the counter. You asked for a table. They took you. But in front of that counter was a clay pot. It was about three and a half feet tall and had a wide opening. And I'm looking at it and I'm thinking, you know, what is that? Here comes, it's cold. It's very cold. And people were walking into the restaurant to eat. And one by one, they walked up and put their thumb on their nose and blew their noses in that pot. That was the appetizer. As I saw that, Paul's word to Timothy in a great house, there are many vessels. There are some vessels for honor and there are vessels for dishonor. Now, I know what vessels of dishonor are. What do you want to be? You can be a vessel of honor. God can use you. Why can't he? Or you can choose to be a vessel of dishonor and the world will use you. Which do you want? So, see, when God is speaking to Job and he's saying to Job, listen, you can't answer even the most basic questions. And one of the things I want you to know is you're not God. You need to trust me. And you need to realize that what I'm doing is making you more like me, even though you didn't understand the process. And you're going to see Job's response after it's all done. Because chastening for the moment is never pleasurable, but it yields the peaceful fruit of joy. Because once God finishes his work in us, we're pleased at what he did. We may not like it when we're going through it, but the results always bring honor to God. Father, we bless you and we thank you. And I know that on many occasions you've asked me questions that I can't answer, still can't. But I do know this. I don't have the answer, but you are the answer. And so I just ask that even as Job is learning to just trust you and realize that all things are in your hands, that we too would learn the same kind of thing. Help us to learn these things. And even as our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed, there may be some right now in this room we need to get right with the Lord. And if you do and you need, you need to perhaps you're watching online and you need prayer. For those of you who are in this room, I can see those who are online. As I pray for these, I'm praying for you too. But does anybody here need prayer? You need to get right with the Lord. If so, raise your hand. Let me, let me pray for you right where you're at. Father, you see these sounds. I ask in Jesus' name that you would reach down and touch every person whose hand is raised and that you would have your way. Lord, I pray that you would forgive sins, that you would cleanse unrighteousness and that Lord, you would form us into the image of Christ. You are the master potter and make us into vessels of honor. So Lord, we lift our lives to you when we ask Father in Jesus' name that you would do the work, continue the work and complete that work and that you may get all glory for it. We yield to you right now and we receive from you and we bless you and thank you. In Jesus' name, thank you. You can put your hands down. Lord, I pray that you would just continue to move in all of us, in your name. Amen.