 With that said, let's look at our portion of scripture today. We're going to be looking at Job chapter 14 verses 1 through 5 and as we are about to open up and and our time in the word we do we do Thank you guys who are watching online You know it I get reports every week of those of you who are watching online And it's great to have you with us and there's a great amount of people who are watching right now So we love you and thank you for joining us In our in our service one day. I hope to have you back with us live as we're able to Once again go back to our regular Wednesday nights So with that said chapter 14 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 5 Man who is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble He comes forth like a flower and fades away He flees like a shadow and does not continue And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me to judgment with yourself? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one Since his days are determined the number of his months is with you You have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass So job has been complaining as we know as we've been going through this book He's been complaining to his friends for their lack of understanding and And he has taken the advice that they've been giving him as an attack. And so he has responded with a rebuke Now obviously there are times when a person has to respond to someone's criticism And when criticism is done properly a response can actually become a learning experience We need to be wise enough to receive instruction and correction Like it says in proverbs 26 verse 5 answer a fool according to his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes There are times that we need to take what is being said to us and show That the person who's speaking at show them where they're they're wrong And and there are times where rebuke has to take place And and so obviously when a rebuke and a correction is is is being done in a proper way We can we can actually grow from that Well job has been a little bit upset with his friends. He's been making some strong statements to them Remember in chapter 12 verses 2 and 3 how he had he had said to them No doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you He has said in chapter 13 verses 1 and 2 behold my eye has seen all this my ear has heard and understood it But you know, I also know I'm not inferior to you. He's already Made a few statements strong comments to them because of the way they're treating him the things that they're saying to him And as we've seen he's frustrated with their lack of compassion And the direction of their comments But when he concluded in chapter 13, it seems to me that his conclusion was was actually rather touching because in verse 24 of chapter 13 he had asked the question. Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy? And that's a strong comment. That's a strong statement That's something that's very open because he feels abandoned by God He feels like an object of God's anger and he thinks that God is directing his anger towards him unfairly He doesn't understand why he's going through such pain He had asked in chapter 7 verse 20. Have I sinned? What have I done to you? Oh watcher of men Why have you set me as your target so that I am a burden to myself? What have I done wrong? Is what he has said and he's still continuing this line of thought as we enter into chapter 14 Well in chapter 14, he continues his address But it assumes a different note if you will he begins to evidence a kind of calm As if he's already vented most of his frustration and he begins to speak in this way in verse one he says man Who is born of woman? Is a few days and full of trouble he comes forth like a flower Fades away he flees like a shadow And does not continue When he says that he's simply making the observation that man's lifespan because of it being shortened by sin Is really relatively short and much of it can be very troubled This is something that he's been saying. This is really a theme that is repeated in the book of Job Remember in chapter 7 verse 6 and 7 he had said my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and are spent without hope Oh, remember that my life is a breath my eye will never again see good He had said in Job 9 25 My days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good So he's speaking concerning how short a man's lifestyle lifespan is The brevity of human life is a common thought in scripture You see many making note of the fact that we don't live that long Psalm 39 verse 5 You have made my days a mere hands breath the span of my years is as nothing before you each man's life is but a breath Or Psalm 90 verse 10 the length of our days is 70 years or 80 if we have the strength Yet there's banished but trouble and sorrow for they quickly pass and we fly away Now when he says the length of our days is 70 years that makes my heart stop for just a moment In james chapter 4 verse 14 james said why You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes You see that theme over and over and over again in scripture that our life is but a breath It's but a moment You need to use the life that god has given to you for the best I remember seeing a t-shirt imprinted with the words he who dies with the most toys still dies There have been t-shirts out there some of you perhaps saw them in the past where it says He who dies with the most toys Wins but no he who dies with the most toys still dies life is short and for many without hope Man's life is often very short and this is what jobe is speaking about him and troubled Do you see hope comes from god And hope is the only tie which keeps the heart from breaking And the old testament book of lamentations in chapter 3 verse 24 The writer says the lord is my portion says my soul therefore i hope in him The psalmist in psalm 119 verse 114 said you are my hiding place my shield i hope In your word hope in in scripture very often is simply what is called confident expectation Paul to the book in the book of romans to the roman said we are saved by hope It's not that kind of mentality that you say like i hope this or i hope if no it's a confidence It's an expectation that god is good with his word and and we are our hope is in him because he doesn't lie We hope in his promises the promises that he's made to us We hope in him because his word is always right We we hope in him because in him is light and no darkness whatsoever We hope in him because he's the truth and because he is the truth we can trust him And and then when we think of the mighty power of god We know that god is able to do all things Many of us will speak concerning the fact that god can do all things And that is something that we need to remember That there really is nothing within the framework of his character and his will That would be called impossible for him to do Now there are some things and i want to say something to Cause some of you to get mad no actually to cause some of you to think with me for a moment For a moment, you know the scripture there is scripture in the book of luke for example Nothing shall be impossible with god and we understand we understand what that's saying we understand what it means But i'd like to give you just for a moment Another kind of shade to think about in your as you're walking and developing your your your walk in the lord Because if i were to say Is there anything impossible with god? Well, i'm thinking of of the various portions of scripture that speak about with god all things being possible I think the natural response would be no there's nothing impossible with god And so let me throw something at you that's going to make you think i'm a heretic for a moment Most of you have already thought that at least once in your life anyway But i want you to think with me for a moment and the question would be is there anything impossible with god Is there anything impossible with god? I have to be honest with you as i was presenting this Preparing this bible study. I thought i think i'll just share this with and see how they how they respond to it Is there anything impossible with god? And the answer is yes There is So think for a moment with me. What do you mean by that mr. Heretic? In hebrus chapter 6 verse 18 Hebrews take your notes if you want hebrus chapter 6 verse 18 It is impossible for god to lie So that's an impossibility. It's an impossibility for god to lie Job 34 verse 10 Far be it for god to do wickedness It is impossible for god to do wickedness god does not lie God does not do wickedness in first john chapter 1 verse 5 It is impossible for god to have darkness Because god is light and there is no darkness in him at all Psalm 121 verse 4 God doesn't sleep It's impossible for him to sleep. Behold he who keeps israel shall neither slumber nor sleep Isaiah 40 28 god it's impossible for him to become tired The everlasting god the lord the creator of the ends of the earth faints not neither is weary And it's impossible For him to be pleased if we don't exercise faith without faith It's impossible for him to be pleased because he who comes to god must believe that he is and that he's a Rewarder of those who diligently seek him God's power Never is going to be Contrary to his character And so you can hope in god Because god is good You can hope in god Because god keeps his word You can hope in god Because god has loved you with an everlasting love You can hope in god for a variety of reasons Because he is Trustworthy because there is no darkness in him at all and god's mighty power really does work within us But he also doesn't lie. He doesn't do wickedness. He doesn't have darkness in a variety of other things So you can see god and know that god is good and that god keeps his word and that god is with you And so as he's speaking here and he's sharing with us notice how he says ban again Verse one man who is born of woman is a few days full of trouble Your life is is short and it seems that you go through one thing after another He he comes forth like a flower and fades away He flees like a shadow and does not continue just to show the brevity of human life But again, you know, I I don't know. I just was curious about some things this last Week as I was preparing this study Notice how it says in verse two he comes forth like a flower and fades away Some flowers I'm sure I must have somebody watching right now or here with us who knows something about About flowers and all did you know that some flowers only bloom for a single day? Some of you do I didn't know that Day lilies Bloom one day Mexican shell flowers one day hibiscus One day a certain kind of cactus that I won't try and pronounce its name One day Ohio's Ohio spider wart who wants that anyway one day The picture is beauty that is temporary And so he say he comes for like a flower, but he's really short blossomed He blooms for a short time His beauty is only temporary. He flees verse two like a shadow a shadow Shadows seem to flee away. You see the shadow of a cloud. You you can see the shadow of a passing car But when the sun goes down shadows normally from the sun shadows disappear And so it's once again speaking of brevity He says in verse three. Do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me to judgment with yourself? And so you're the supreme lord. You are holy. You are all powerful Why are you looking upon someone like me? I'm like that flower. I'm like that shadow But you on the other hand you are the everlasting god Why are you wasting your time putting me through so much pain is what he's saying Then he goes on in verse four who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean no one No man can spiritually cleanse another man. He's unclean by nature Man doesn't become a sinner when he sins Man sins because it's his nature to and man bible teaches is sinful from conception Like it says in psalm 51 verse five. Surely I was sinful at birth sinful from the time my mother conceived me When paul was writing to the Ephesians in chapter two verses one through three He said and you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins In which you once walked according to the course of this world According to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature Children of wrath just as the others and so when he says who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean no one He's speaking of human nature He's speaking the way that we are born So the knowledge of our own sins is actually used by god To draw us to himself It is often what causes us to seek him. We seek him for forgiveness. We seek him for peace We seek him to be released from prison that we're living in And often our awareness of our sin is used by the lord to draw us to himself It's like what the psalmist said in psalm 51 2 Wash away all my iniquity cleanse me from my sin Or psalm 51 verse 10 where he said creating me a pure heart. Oh god renew a steadfast spirit within me The knowledge of your sin Is something that the lord uses to draw you to forgiveness So very often I've seen people try and tell sinners that they're really not that bad when in fact sinners are bad. We all Need a savior we all do Just this evening I had the opportunity of sharing with somebody and he was talking to me about about about religion and all and And I had a conversation with him for just a little while tonight and and spoke a little bit about his religious background and and and And I tried to gently share with him a little bit about the fact that well, I told him this I said, you know I said in order to go to heaven you have to be perfect And the awareness of our own Imperfection is what drives us to the one who is perfect That's jesus christ and so I was sharing with them just a little bit because the door the window of opportunity opened for just a moment And I was able to share just a few things and and I told him I said listen If you ever want to talk because he said, you know, I have so many questions I said I'd be more than willing. I said if you've got questions. I love to answer them So I I'll give you the time, you know, let's you know, let's talk about these things because that's what drives people He's aware right now that he really isn't right with god And that's a good thing this knowledge is a good thing because god often uses it to draw us to himself And so the question in verse 4 again, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one no human being can It takes the blood of christ to cleanse us from all of our sins He says in verse 5 since his days are determined the number of his months is with you You've appointed his limits so that he cannot pass Man's life you saying is limited in its duration by god himself And that's why the psalmist would say in psalm 39 verse 4 show me oh lord my life's end And the number of my days Let me know how fleeting is my life Make me aware of these things When you're young you think you're gonna live forever When you're young you're daring when you're young your body heals I mean you can go outside and you you can cut yourself accidentally with a bottle and just watch it As your as your skin heals in front of you When you're young it's that way when you get old you say oh man my back hurts I guess forever. I mean It doesn't change So when you're young you think that you're gonna continue on don't you when you're young But as you grow older you also grow aware you grow aware of the fact that is if your life was like a like one of those sand Kind of time pieces where this the sand Just comes through grain at a time until it's empty You you become aware of the fact that you're on a timetable And and so that's why the psalmist's wise to say show me oh lord my life's end in the number of my days Awaken me to the awareness that I may feel that I'm growing old here, but compared to eternity I'm a vaker vapor. It's just A moment it comes and it goes quickly I've often tried to imagine what eternity is like in every once in a while I just it hurts my head to think that way because Eternity eternity is to me. I thought well eternity is like Counting every grain of sand on every beach and every desert One by one And then once you counted every grain starting over again You know sometimes we don't realize that That this life that we have 70 perhaps 80 years or longer for me by means of strength Maybe you'll live to be 90 or 100 But the fact is we ultimately all will die unless the rapture happens We need to be prepared We need to be aware And he says since his days are determined the number of his months is with you you've appointed his limits So that he cannot pass god you're in control of everything our lives are limited So it's important for us to use that knowledge with wisdom Again in psalm 90 verse 2 teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom When the lord jesus was speaking in a story in luke chapter 12 verse 20 He had made the statement You fool This very night your life will be demanded from you Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? Because this individual said well, what am I going to do? Well, I'm going to build bigger barns I'll store all my goods and the lord says no It is appointed unto men to die once and after this the judgment I am going to require your soul from you today And then who's going to inherit all the things that you worked all your life to get I've shared this with you before but haven't done so recently So perhaps if you've heard me say this you may remember but most of you Have not heard me say how that I have I had a cousin named alinore and she was married to a man named manual many years ago now And manual worked in particular company until his time of retirement And so he retired will sound friday and then friday night He had his retirement party So his friends and and all came to his co-workers came to celebrate with manual how that manual my cousin Was now a retired man. He was going to be able to go fishing and do all the vacations and the things that he wanted my cousin And yet he had his party. He went to bed that night and died in his sleep He died in his sleep. I've never forgotten that He planned his retirement. He had it all set up He had his friends over they had a party. He's retired now. The good life begins He put his head on his pillow and never raised it He died in his sleep So I learned at an earlier age that that tomorrow is promised to no one You have to prepare every day as if it's your last day You live as if it's your last day you do for the lord that what you should be doing at all times And so we ask the lord Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom because we know that our life will be demanded of us In verse 6 he continues look away from him that he may rest Till like a hired man. He finishes his day Stop watching him continually Look away from him. Stop watching him continually. Give him some breathing room. He needs a space to rest Give him a reason to rejoice when his life ends for the right reason So look away from him that he may rest till like a hard man. He finishes his day Verse 7 for there is hope of a tree If it is cut down that it will sprout again And that its tender shoots Will not cease though its root may grow old in the earth and its stump may die in the ground Yet at the scent of water It will bud and bring forth branches like a plant An olive tree Very interesting trees an olive tree can be cut down, but it actually can be revived and grow when you go to israel You'll find this interesting. They're on the Mount of Olives It's called the Mount of Olives because it was actually a place where there are many olive trees the Mount of Olives And you can go to that particular mount and then they'll give you some history related to that area and they'll tell you how the romans When they were conducting a siege against Jerusalem they cut down all the trees So this place was a grove. This it's a hillside. It's not just a small area. It's actually it's a it's a it's got a Good amount of land up there where there were a lot of olive trees And and you'll go into a particular place where they have a church that has been built And there is a an olive tree there that is several hundred years old several hundred years and you're walking and you look at this olive tree And you know, there are people who say it's 900 years old There are others, you know, for whatever reason they may tell you it could always date all the way back to the time of Christ And some people like to say that but it's a very old olive tree It's right there and that's where you learn that That even though the olive tree can be cut if its roots go down At the scent of water it can actually be restored and it produces buds and shoots and it actually continues to grow And so Job is speaking concerning that he says even if if that tree appears to be dead when when it receives water It can once again sprout and it can be revived It can grow and so so he's speaking of the hope for a tree But but he should have taken that hope for himself Because he goes on to say in verse 10, but man dies and is laid away Indeed he breathes his last and where is he? As water disappears from the sea And a river becomes parched and dries up So man lies down And does not rise till the heavens are no more They will not awake nor be roused from their sleep There's hope for a tree he's saying But in comparison There's not really hope for man Man dies and all hope dies with him Now what this reveals to us is really an undeveloped understanding of what we call an afterlife You see that understanding of what occurs after death in scripture is actually progressively revealed Over time so he doesn't have a real understanding of that subject and what the lord plans to do So he's speaking concerning where he's at right now and he's thinking well if man dies He dies without hope he doesn't rise look again verse verse 12 man lies down It does not rise till the heavens are no more they'll not awake nor be roused from their sleep He's saying there's more hope for a tree than there is for a man So i'm saying trees have more hope But i wish you would put me in the grave Oh, I wish that you would hide me. I wish you would put me in a hiding place until your wrath is satisfied That's what he's saying in verse 13. I wish you would put me there But remember just remember where I am and reclaim me Oh that you would hide me in a grave that you would conceal me until your wrath is passed that you would Appoint me a set time and remember me if a man dies Shall he live again All the days of my hard service. I will wait till my change comes If a man dies shall he live again Let's look at that for just a moment. That's one of those questions that are called an ancient question It's a question that has been posed by man almost from the beginning If a man dies shall he live again And the answer to that question is yes The unrighteous as they die they go to a waiting place now the waiting place that they go to in the new testament Is referred to as Hades It is where the unrighteous dead are But the righteous dead those who die in christ in this in this in our time in our day the righteous who die are actually absent from the body and present with the lord In the book of revelation in chapter 20 verses 13 through 15 It says the sea gave up the dead that were in it And death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them And each person was judged according to what he had done Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire The lake of fire is the second death If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life He was thrown into the lake of fire In second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8 Paul said it like this It said we are confident I see and would prefer To be away from the body And at home with the lord When you die The scriptures speak to us as having the appearance of sleep When jesus was going to to raise Lazarus from the dead He had said he sleeps And the reason he said he sleeps is because when you're reposed in death, it looks like you're asleep But he said and i'm going to awaken him and so We here on on the earth we may close our eyes But we're instantly transported into the presence of the lord because jesus had said If you believe in me, you will never die. He said do you believe this? So the body has the appearance of sleep, but we are instantly in the presence of god absent from the body We are present with the lord So the question has been asked of me. What happens when when a believer dies? Well, they're buried But their their spirit soul life is with the lord instantaneously You remember how jesus in john 14 verse 3 said i go and prepare a place for you And if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself That where i am there you may be also So i have hope in the lord That even though one day it'll be said perhaps Should the rapture not occur before this event It may be said and there are others who have said this before me long before me my own pastor said this And and others before him said the same thing dwight al moody is very well known for saying this kind of thing But they moody said something i'm paraphrasing moody said you're going to hear that dwight al moody has died He says don't believe it because at that moment i will be more alive than i ever was on the face of the earth and that's true Pastor chuck said that he said you know he said i'm just going to be changing residences. That's all I'll be moving from one place to another See for the believer and perhaps i need to share this for a moment Perhaps there are those online that this may be something to think about for the believer We have been delivered from the fear of death We're supposed to be We're supposed to be delivered from the fear of death. I see a lot of christians who aren't Relieved of that fear Death is not my friend death is an enemy Jesus christ conquered death And because jesus christ conquered death in christ i am alive And so the day will come when somebody says pastor david did you hear he he died and you can say no He's with the lord absent from the body present with the lord now That doesn't mean that some people won't mourn you're going let's hope that somebody cares that you're dead But we don't cry as those with no hope We don't we don't mourn as those with no hope It's not goodbye It's not saying goodbye It really isn't That doesn't mean that your heart doesn't hurt that doesn't mean that you don't have tears that doesn't mean I believe that christians because we love deeper. We hurt deeper. I believe that I really do The deeper you love the deeper you miss The stronger you love the greater the pain. That's a fact. I mean think about it Somebody you hardly knew Dies and you say I'm sorry. I am Somebody you didn't know dies and you say oh, that's too bad But somebody you really love dies And your heart breaks It's the degrees of relationship that you have and your understanding of fellowship And all of those things are part of your grief process And the deeper you love The deeper you will hurt, but we do not sorrow as those who have no hope We don't sorrow that way We sorrow with a different kind of sorrow a missing, but we also have this bittersweet Awareness that it's just it's not goodbye. It's I'll see you later. I will see you again And one of these days, you know You'll be rejoined to that person And there'll be joy And and all your sorrow will be swallowed up in a moment, but believers There are so many right now that I that i'm hearing from that are afraid Of what? Of what? You know, I'll be honest with you. Everybody knows this. I'm not telling the secret I'm in that age group that's supposed to be afraid 65 and up. I'm a dead man I refuse to live in fear I'm just not going to do that I'm just not going to do that You know the there I've been preparing my life To be with Jesus since I was 20 And what now I'm going to say let me stay longer No, I don't want to live a second longer than he wants me here And there are obvious things that relate to that all of you understand. I have a wife. I have children have grandchildren It's not like I want to go. I'm not running around saying do you have COVID? May I kiss you? I'm not doing that Yeah, I think there needs to be a wisdom But I refuse to drive my car wearing a mask I'm just not going to do that I'm not going to be held in bondage I see so many people walking down the street by themselves with their masks on and sometimes their masks not even put on properly You almost want to walk up and lift it for them and say come on get with it It's wrong with you You know what? I mean, don't you don't you trip a bit and that's an old word. That's called an anachronism Isn't it interesting to see People driving by with their windows all rolled up and their masks Three or four masks on their head, you know or walking around with these sparkless bottles that they've cut and put over there That's their Halloween mask and when I when I see that Just amazes me do not tempt the lord your god But don't live in fear either Don't live in fear. It's just a it's a waste of your time It really is it's a waste of your time Every day. Oh, don't get too close. Oh, don't stand next to me. Oh, no, you know, it trips me. Here we go I'm using an anachronism. I'm an old hippie and I keep using the same thing It trips me out So you pull up and you go to a drive-thru And and they hand you your food in the drive-thru at mcdonald's or whatever and they've got their mask Or maybe they put it out in some way But didn't somebody make that food? Didn't somebody with their hands touch it? But you think you're making me feel comfortable the only way I'd feel comfortable if I made my own food You know what I'm saying and there's so many things like this that are absurd They're absurd. It makes no sense to a thinking person But for some reason America has Just lock stepped We've just gotten in line with this and why are people doing this? for fear of death For the fear of death That's why and and the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus Christ set us free By by breaking the the the strength of the enemy who kept people all their lifetime And in fear of death Hebrews 2 14 in fear of death That's the tool the enemy uses Fear has torment first John 4 tells us It has torment It causes you agony He who fears has not been made perfect or mature in love For fear has torment john said it's a fear of the future. What's going to happen? If I really believe that god has my life in his hands And my name is written in the lamb's book of life I'm not going to test him I'm not going to stand on the pinnacle of a temple and jump off to see if the angels carry me They aren't going to do it. That's not going to happen. I'm not going to go run in front of a grayhound bus to see Because uh, I'll be the insignia on the front of that bus Ain't going to happen So you don't test the lord But you don't live in fear either You don't live in fear either our lives are not long They're not so long that I can give up several days to be afraid in it. I just can't So I believe that all of us and maybe some disagree and that's all right if you do Some people have a good reason to take care of their health because they're vulnerable to and susceptible to and they have um, you know Extenduating circumstances and and and health conditions that that they ought to be very wise. I'm not I'm not knocking that at all I agree and understand that what I'm saying is That under normal circumstances we believers Using our common sense our god-given common sense and an awareness of everything around us Don't have to be in bondage to fear because we're living wisely And because we're exercising wisdom and not tempting the lord I don't live in fear But I don't tempt the lord either I'm not running into hospitals and and touching all the covet patients. I'm not doing that either What I'm doing is trying to live wisely under the circumstances we find ourselves in And I simply don't want to be in bondage to fear the way I see so many others Who really are who really are the bottom line is absent from the body Present with the lord. Jesus went to prepare a place for us. And that's where we're going and I look forward to that. So I'm not going to live in fear. I live in hope I ought to move on verse 16 For now you number my steps But do not watch over my sin My transgression is sealed up in a bag and you cover my iniquity And so verse 16 now you cover number my steps He has hope for the future, but he finds it hard to get past to what is happening right now Notice how he said you have numbered my steps Looking closely at how I have lived and you have found my faults So I would ask that you might overlook what I have done I would ask that you be merciful to me. I would ask that you would forgive me of my sins I would also say please do not punish me for them When he says in verse 17 my transgression is sealed up in a bag You cover my iniquity At that time people would put money in a bag and they would seal it that would lock They would lock it and they would store it So when he says my transgression is sealed up in a bag The sense here is you've counted up my sins You have an exact number an exact count of them You're aware of that you have stored my sins in a bag And you've sealed it So none are lost meaning you're aware of everything that I've done And that's what causes him sorrow But he goes on in verse 18 and he says but as a mountain Falls and crumbles away and as rock is moved from its place as as water Wears away stones as torrents wash away the soil of the earth So you destroy the hope of man You prevail forever against him And he passes on He changes countenance And send him away His sons come to honor He doesn't know it They are brought low He does not perceive it But his flesh will be in pain over it And his soul Will mourn over it And so this portion here starting at verse 18 to the conclusion at verse 22 Is is really a section that is closing with sorrow In verse 18 he speaks of a mountain falling crumbling away a rock moved from its place He's saying even a mountain can be worn down over time Mountains erode Rocks are exposed Once they're exposed they roll down the face of the mountain Water erodes the stones that are exposed and then a flood removes the stone So he's just speaking out how things deteriorate In verse 19 even so through constant pressure a man's hope is often squeezed out of him is what he's saying I'm completely undone I have no hope at all When he says you prevail forever against him He's saying you remove his smile and you replace it with an expression of sorrow from the pain he has You overpower him He dies His face his body are altered over time You send him away By death And you put him in a waiting place called shield And as he's there his countenance and all is is changing because of death his sons come to honor He doesn't know it. They're brought low. He doesn't perceive it But his flesh will be in pain over it and his soul will mourn over it His sons come to honor even if his children are honored or humbled. He doesn't know that And as he's dying His pain has kept him from noticing life around him And ultimately as he dies He dies without hope And he dies in sorrow his flesh will be in pain over it and his soul will mourn over it And he's speaking about the way men die. They can die in pain and they can die in sorrow They didn't live long enough to see the honors that were given to their children. They simply go to a grave and deteriorate the way a mountain does the way water can wash away a stone Now I hate to I don't want I'm gonna I'm gonna close here, but I'm not gonna close bummed out over this let's I'm trying to think of the right things to say let's take in a moment When I gave my heart to christ and when I began to learn Of the hope of heaven Coming from the background I came from I didn't believe that anybody knew if they could go to heaven or not I didn't believe that you could know there was no way possible. I was taught to really know I was taught that were certain things that I had to do in order to Try to assure myself of at least a whole possibility Of going to heaven. So that was my religious background Some of you have religious backgrounds that are similar to what mine was And that's what I was taught. I was taught things related to death And I was taught things related to heaven and access to heaven And I did have religious instruction as I grew up and I did remember it I didn't forget it But I never had what you would call an assurance a confidence and awareness that that my sins are really forgiven I did not have that I did not have a hope of heaven I I had a hope of of purgatory because I was raised in the catholic church I I had a hope perhaps of purgatory But my only hope would be that that somebody would love me enough to pray my soul out of it And that's kind of how I grew up and that was my my understanding that's How I how I was taught when I was taking catechism classes at the age of seven or eight At st. Pius the 10th church in Santa Fe springs I had one of these little booklets and in the booklet that I had in front of me during the catechism class The teacher was sharing his Sharing with us concerning things, you know pertaining to our religious faith and all of that And I found a section that spoke of prayers that you could pray Some of you may have seen this before It's it was in this particular book prayers that you could pray that would get you a certain amount of days out of purgatory If you prayed this prayer you'd get a hundred days removed If you prayed this prayer You would get 50 days removed I don't know if they still make those but they did back in the 50s And I had one there at the desk as I was sitting there in catechism catechism was over an hour And I sat there for the whole hour Praying these prayers not even listening to what was being said Praying these prayers counting up how many days I was knocking off my time Seriously because that's what I was being taught That's what they were teaching me if you pray this prayer You will knock off a hundred days if you pray this is 50 So I looked for the prayer that would knock off the most days And I knocked off a lot of days you can knock off a lot of days in an hour And that pretty much that's the truth that was pretty much How I saw god and I saw his economy and I saw his mercy and his grace and his love and And that's what I thought christian faith was it was working really hard and doing all these things That are very important to do and that perhaps god would have these scales and my good things would outweigh the bad things And that's how I basically grew up. I'm not blaming everything on on the religious teaching I had There's a lot of things I added to it. I'm sure but that's how I thought And so by the time I was 13 After my confirmation I got tired Of trying to be good Bottom line You see my my mother was very ill when I was a child my mom was ill from the time I was four And my mom was in and out of the hospital often when I was a child So I would go to bed with a mother who was in the hospital concerned that she was going to die My mom had epilepsy and and I would come home sometimes and my mom would be on the ground And I at the age of seven eight nine I would I would get alcohol and I would rub it on her forehead and I would I would nurse her back I did that I'd take care of my my sisters my two little sisters I'd come in and I'd scoot them into another room and I'd stay there with my mom because my mom had such severe Epilepsy that I never knew when I came home whether she'd be on the floor or on the couch And it happened for a long time weeks into months And I remember I was as at home as a young boy and and I was crying My mom was once again in in the hospital. I missed her And my dad walks in and he says why are you crying son? I said because mom was in the hospital. He said if you're a good boy, she won't go So I tried I really did I tried to be the best kid I could be so my mom would get well And I did that and did that till was 13 14 years old. I'm gonna be the best kid I can be I I got good grades in school. I I was a good boy people would call David a good That's a good boy. My mom didn't get well by the time I got to be 15. I said I'm tired of this I'm tired of this All my friends are going out learning to do things doing things messing around me. I'm I'm And it doesn't pay it doesn't pay off and I became one of those kids who turned from the good kid to the sneaky kid And I started doing the alcohol and I started doing the drugs and I started stealing And I did all those things because I thought I You believe in a god and god's supposed to heal He didn't heal your mother and he's not going to put you in heaven. You might as well just enjoy life Your friends are and I did And I did that and did that and did that until I was 20 years old And at the age of 20, I had already lived a crazy life that a lot of people hadn't lived not in that period of time the way I did And that's what made me ripe to the grace of god Open to hearing about his goodness And that's why when the jesus movement came and and and my friend bill and and others were telling me about how good god is And how loving god is that's why I wanted to believe that I wanted to believe in a good god There's something in me that that wanted to believe that there is a god who's kind There is a god who love there is a god who cares there is a place that you can go called heaven And you don't have to be perfect in your own right. It's a perfection of christ That's called the gospel And I'd never heard it I'd never heard The gospel And all of my religious instruction I'd never heard god so loved the world that he gave his son I had never heard that And it was revolutionary to me and what happened is this radical Kid who was who was into sin and wanted to be the greatest sinner Discovered the greatness of the grace of god So my life is lived with hope now The hope that is confident That knowledge that that god forgives sins that god cleanses from all unrighteousness That god loves and that god gave his son And that god will give me a command, but he also gives me the power to be able to obey it He doesn't command me to climb a mountain He actually carries me up. I learned it through the grace of god So one of these days should the lord Terry and I go and I die I'm not dying hopeless I will be In the grave just awaiting My friends and family to come And I'll be in the presence of the lord So I I am going I live in hope And I will die in hope Because the lord jesus christ is my hope Because lord jesus christ was raised the third day He will raise us with him We live because he lives not because we're good But because he is And so we'll stop there Because that's good news, right? And we'll pick up on some more bad news next time we're together