 As I was getting ready to come up and and to share The Lord brought something to memory that I thought Maybe I can share it with the church as it pertains to a new cycle that we're we've entered into today to today Years ago we were on a Tripped Israel by the way we are hoping to be able to go this year and we will have Interests sign-ups and all of that to see if some might want to go but anyway We were in Israel and we were on our way home Maybe after this story you're not going to want to go I just thought of that because when we when we came to the Eastern border of the United States, we're gonna land in New York and then we're gonna Transfer to another plane and flight ally Well as we began to arrive There was a huge storm. It was one of the most Terrible storms that New York New York had had in a long time. It was really bad And we're in a 747 those of you who who've flown on planes that large it's an enormous enormous plane and the plane was beginning to move and it was beginning to To kind of like just suddenly just drop and then come back up and and people began to get very scared because it Well, it looked bad The there were Jews on the plane. It was all so there were a lot of Jewish passengers And this is how serious it got we had Jewish people coming up to a saying Please come into the back and pray with us Normally they don't want to pray with Christians, but they said you know today will make an exception You know, so they were bringing people and then Christians were in the back praying and it got kind of Kind of messy and it was so bad that people began screaming and then the Masks began to fall, you know that you put on your face if cabin pressure is lost and I was reading the newspaper and as I was reading the newspaper I turned and I could see my daughter Corinne and And she and her little girlfriend. She was with began to sing praise songs to the Lord So I knew she was scared because she never did that and so It was bad it was bad and well, finally obviously we landed safely and My daughter Corinne later was speaking to me and she said this to me. I just was thinking of it She said dad, why weren't you afraid and? I looked at her Because obviously I wasn't she says why weren't you afraid? I said because I knew that God wasn't through With our church yet. I knew that and then she looks at me with the wisdom of a 15 year old and She says did it ever occur to you that he doesn't need you to finish his work? And I said, you know, I'm glad I didn't think about that when we were going up and down, right? Did it ever occur to you that God doesn't need you and so today we inaugurated a new president and People are bummed out and some are happy some are rejoicing others are are not all I know is God is in control. God is in control and that I know that I know And so my other daughter Anna who was nine years old at the time Told me recently She said dad, do you remember when the plane was doing what it did and all and I said, yeah, maybe of course they do She said did you know I wasn't afraid now. This just came up. My daughter's 37 now. This just came up. She said Did you know that I I wasn't afraid either and I said no honey She says, do you know why I wasn't afraid and I said no Why weren't you afraid because I'm telling you it was it was a mess. She says because I kept my eye on you She said because I knew if you panicked then I have reason to panic But you never panicked you had peace and the peace you had I was able to borrow from By watching you in the way you handled that I was kept at peace So my desire as a pastor here is to make people at peace. I'm not afraid I'm not worried. Our God is in control He's gonna do what he wants to do and we trust him and that's just how it is And I just thought you know, I was thinking that before and I thought well, I might as well share with them Some of you are touched by that others have already turned me off because you're watching online Anyway, Job chapter 17 verses 1 and 2 and we'll get into our study Job chapter 17 verses 1 and 2 My spirit is broken My days are extinguished the grave is ready for me are not mockers with me and Does not my eye dwell on their provocation So let me remind you of what we've been looking at up to this point Job has been defending himself Against his friends his own friends who had traveled a great distance to come and to bring comfort to him Well, the moment they began to speak they began to accuse him And as they've been accusing of him of one thing after another he is now in the place where he is beginning to defend himself Against their accusations You see as we've seen coming up to this chapter his friends are convinced that he's been reaping the results of some hidden sin one friend aliphaz had Just told him that he had cast off the fear of God. We had seen that in Job chapter 15 verse 4 And he told Job that his speech was unprofitable. He said you're speaking out of carnality You're speaking out of pride So in response to this when Job began to speak in chapter 16 He called these men who had traveled to speak to him miserable Comforters you see instead of comforting him his friends were attacking him and so they were miserable Comforters because instead of comfort they were bringing to him more pain more misery He told them that they weren't telling him anything that he didn't already know but they were acting as if they were wise He said but in fact You're shallow men In he got frustrated. He was frustrated with them He was tired of all the hot air that they were spouting and it wanted them to stop speaking such useless words He told him you need to put yourself in my place for a moment. You need to think of what has happened in my life Because Joe had lost his children Job had lost his possessions Job had lost the admiration of his wife Job had respect had lost the respect of the people Job had lost his health and he was suffering Terribly scraping at his skin with broken shards of pottery so that the the the parson Infection would ooze out and there he is on an ash heap in total Sorrow and here they come and there they're speaking to him and they're not having any kind of pity on him at all So he said to them what have you lost that qualifies you to instruct me? You see it's easy to offer advice when you're healthy. It's easy to offer advice when you're free of pain. It's It's easy to offer advice When you have no concerns And so he's saying if our situation was reversed I could easily speak as you do to you You see it's easy to hurt those who are down and It's easy to criticize those who are in pain and feeling affliction But he says that's something I wouldn't do to you. He had said in chapter 16 verse 5 He said I would strengthen you with my mouth and the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief I wouldn't come and arrogantly blame you and tell you you're only reaping what you've sown you've sinned against God I would I would bring you a word of encouragement. I would strengthen you I would comfort you because I know that you're in sorrow And so as this is all taking place. Joe began to number his complaints as we saw recently He began to speak of how God has treated him He began to speak concerning the pain he's suffering And he closed the chapter he closed chapter 16 Wishing that he had someone who could mediate for him Someone who could stand in the gap and present his case before God And he didn't And all he could do is to wait to wait for his death that was about to come And he says it he says i'm on my way to the place of no return I'm on my way to the land of death. I just wish that you would speak well of me I wish that you would understand that i'm innocent You see his reason for arguing with them Was he wanted them to know without any doubt. I'm not being punished by God I haven't done what you're accusing me of doing And so as he's speaking verse one here in chapter 17 continue and he said my spirit's broken My days are extinguished The grave is ready for me I'm ready to die I've been mocked continually No one is offering me any help The result is i've been worn down And to be honest with you I'm ready to die What's interesting and i'll take a moment to look at this When he says my spirit is broken I was using commentators and and many of the commentators I use Put out their comment comments on scripture in the 1700s or 1800s It's been said if they're not dead, they're not read And so I look at the older commentators because they haven't tried to update the comments to some modern theology And so I use the older ones and so one of them actually more than one Was pointing out the phrase my spirit is broken Literally what he's saying and I believe the king james says this literally what he is saying is my breath is corrupt my breath is corrupt and It means just what it says my breath smells terribly. He didn't have any mouthwash apparently so he says My breath is corrupt. What is he saying? He said the disease that I have which commentators believe that he had a form of elephantiasis the disease that I have Has caused my breath to be offensive to any who are around me And the smell that he's speaking of is really a picture of the stench of death and so he's saying that It's obvious that I'm going through pain and even my breath is offensive And and some have said in light of that and the way that he was speaking That that this may be a picture of the distress that he's suffering So he could be saying I I'm suffering so greatly. I can hardly breathe My lamp the lamp of my life Is about to go out When he says that my days are extinguished It's another way of saying my lamp is about to go out and the grave is ready for me verse two are not mockers with me And does not my eye dwell on their provocation My friends are mockers instead of bringing comfort My friends are bringing more pain You're accusing me he's saying of being a hypocrite And you're saying that I'm using my religion To actually hide my evil You're saying I'm a religious hypocrite because again remember he's been arguing that he hasn't sinned He's been arguing that he doesn't know why he's going through I haven't done anything to to reap the consequences and all But they have already said no You you've only had the appearance of righteousness when in reality god sees your heart job and and that's why you're being punished So he says to them, uh, I I'm not a hypocrite I I haven't hidden my evil by a religious kind of of appearance And that's the kind of thing that that is offensive this religious hypocrisy Is something that's offensive not only in the old testament, but of of course, obviously It's offensive in the new remember in matthew 23 and verses 5 through 7 how that Jesus was condemning the religious leaders of Pharisees And he said everything they do is done for men to see They make their phylacteries wide the tassels of the garments long They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues They love to be greatest or rather greeted in the marketplaces And to have men call them rabbi So he was speaking of the religious hypocrisy of his day Well, these people are accusing joe above of having religious hypocrisy And so he's saying this is this is unfair He also speaks about when he says they're not markers with me He also says does not my eye dwell on their provocation That's interesting It's another way of saying their accusations are not only with me during the day But I can't get them out of my mind at night At night I dwell on these things. I think of the things that you're saying And and I think of this constantly. I dwell in it constantly. I can't get these things out of my mind So he's saying this is this is how you've affected me I can't even have a moments of peace moment of peace because during the day I hear it during the night It seems to be repeating in my mind In verse three, he says put down a pledge for me with yourself Now notice when he says now put down a pledge for me with yourself The yourself that he's speaking of is he's asking god to do that Who is he who will shake hands with me? God give me an assurance that you're on my side God help me to know that you're actually listening to me. Have you ever done that? Have you ever prayed like that? Lord, I I read your word And I do the things that you tell me to do to the best of my ability But sometimes I simply need to have a sense of your presence Lord, can you reassure me that you're with me right now? And so god give me an assurance Show me that you support me God remind me of your promises and and lord, please be there for me When he says who is he who will shake hands with me? We need to remember what obviously shaking hands Means it it's one of the ways during his day that a contract or an agreement would be ratified He's saying my friends are accusing me of sin None of them will stand up for me. None of them will guarantee me. So lord, I'm asking you to be the one who supports me So put down a pledge for me with yourself in verse 4 For you have hidden their heart from understanding Therefore you will not exalt them. I want to talk to you about this for just a moment What he's saying here You have hidden their heart from understanding That's an interesting phrase God And he's speaking to the lord god You have kept them from seeing what is obvious You're the one who's withholding them from seeing this you have kept them from understanding what is taking place So what is this he's saying this what is occurring is spiritual And god you have without their eyes from seeing what is really taking place here God you have kept them From seeing why is that well when you look at this in the old as well as the new one of the things you discover is that spiritual truth Is revealed by god Spiritual truth is revealed I have the scripture. I've quoted many times over the years. It's one of my favorite ones that pertains to this The natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness to him Neither can he know them For they are spiritually discerned the natural the word natural man in the new testament first Corinthians 214 the word natural The natural man the word natural is the unspiritual man It speaks of the one who's devoid of the power of the holy spirit or the presence of god in their life He's the natural man or the natural woman the woman who is not saved The natural man receives not The word receive means to welcome So the unspiritual person will not welcome It's a picture of someone standing at a door knocking at a friend's house But the friend won't open the door to him. They're not receiving. They're not welcoming the natural man The unspiritual man receives not or does not receive the things of the spirit of god and they need to ask you why Because spiritual things are are revealed by god So the natural man receive it not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolish Foolishness to them the word foolish is where we get the word moronic or embecilic. They make no sense So the natural man thinks that the things of the spirit of god are stupid It makes no sense They are foolishness to him Neither can he know them It's not possible for him to know them for they are spiritually discerned God reveals it So how do you know spiritual truth by going to a bible study? Alone no by god revealing this to you god's holy spirit Because you're a believer in christ God's holy spirit takes and he knits within you. It's like deep calling unto deep And so you hear a study or you're reading the word And the holy spirit knits that within you and there's something within you that recognizes it And says that's the answer. That's what i've been looking for. Yes, jesus now i get it But god's truth and this is so basic, but it's really important god's truth must be revealed Because if god chooses to hide himself Who can find him? You know, sometimes we say well, I found the lord No, if if god were hiding himself I mean come on i play hide and seek with my kids And and i could i could find them, but god isn't playing hide and seek If god decided to hide somewhere you would never find him. He has to reveal himself to you And so spiritual truth is revealed And when joe was speaking concerning these things the fact is god has withheld your eyes from seeing this as a very spiritual thing He's saying you do not see this because god has not revealed this to you You don't see this because for whatever reason god has he has he has hidden this truth from you God has withheld you from seeing truth is something that's revealed And god can keep people from seeing In john 12 verse 40 He has blinded their eyes And hardened their hearts So they can neither see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts Nor turn and i would heal them There is a spiritual blindness and joe is saying that god has kept them from seeing what is taking place God has withheld your understanding And that's why you're saying these things now when you understand that It helps you when people begin to hurt and criticize you It helps you when people begin to say things that they really don't understand or really don't know And so joe was simply saying god has kept you from seeing this You know i learned a long time ago that you might be able to argue well and may be able to present a scripture well And you may be able to defend a position well and you may get in and debate with somebody and And know enough information to win an argument i learned that when i was uh 23 years old I learned that it doesn't seem like 10 years ago, but it was I learned that when i was 23 years old i learned that Because i was a person who once i got saved i got i started getting hungry for god's word And then i started defending truth because i didn't realize that this is what the lord was preparing me for I simply felt that if it's true you need to know it's true And you need to live as if it's true and you need to believe that it's true in your life How to be changed because it's true and i learned that at the age of 23 And then people began to knock on my door to give me false doctrine And uh in in my case the most often uh Occurrences that of that was when joe hovis witnesses would come and speak to me about the things that they most surely believed And i can still remember Because and i've shared this before i can remember That somebody had begun to share with me certain things and i was a young believer I'd just gotten out of the military and so They spoke to me and i remember saying to this woman And her friend You know i i just don't think what you're saying is correct I think you're wrong again. I'm just a new believer. I what do i know, but i knew it was wrong And they said oh no god's word says this and this is what the word says This is what the word and they kept on saying that to me and it provoked me Because i knew there were misquoting. I just didn't know how to show that So i said you know what let's talk again. Would you come over? Next week and and they said oh yes And i i don't know if this matters to you, but it's part of the story They asked me what's your last name? And uh They were they were two white ladies. What is your last name? I gave them my last name. Well, what kind of name is that? I said i'm i'm mexican. Oh, okay so The next week they came and this white lady brought a mexican Because i kind of figured she she must have thought oh a brown person You must be speaking truth. I don't know it was kind of odd But anyway during the week I went to a bookstore and It was a time when there weren't a lot of christian bookstores by the way I had to travel from wittier where i was living I had to travel into orange county And there was a bookstore and i that's when i bought walter martin's kingdom of the cults And i came home it has about a hundred pages on jovis witnesses and their theology And i read those pages and memorized Quite a number of things and was prepared So when they came and sat down in my house, I began to ask them questions I said last time you were here. You told me that jesus is michael the archangel And they said yes, he's michael the archangel Because his name means who is like god And I said where does the bible say that? Well, we've learned through system. I know where does the bible say that? Well, it doesn't okay, then what you say you believe really isn't in scripture You believe that jesus is ruling the united states out of brooklyn new york Can you show me somewhere in scripture? So I learned these things And I actually Enjoyed talking to him and watching them squirm and I said Last time you were here you kept on saying well, that's what the bible says. That's what the bible says That's what you kept saying But show me where the bible says he came back Show and I started doing that because I had memorized an argument from from a scholar And and then I learned you know what? You can win arguments So I started hunting jehovah's witnesses. I I would I would This is the truth and I don't mean to sound mean. I was young. I was zealous and And I would pull over on purpose when I saw him knock it on doors So that they could come to me in my Volkswagen and I could tell him some things and the holy spirit Let me get to the spiritual part of this The holy spirit said to me You're arrogant And you're not representing me right You're argumentative and it doesn't bring honor to me And he taught me this and maybe somebody needs to hear it. Maybe not in this room. Maybe somebody online He said you can win an argument. I'll never forget that you can win an argument, but you can still lose a soul You're not loving them You're not loving them You're loving arguing That was the truth. That was the truth I had that attitude and there are christians. I tell you who know truth but present it like it's a bazooka They blow people up people end up smoking like wily coyote. Some of you might remember him He won the argument he lost the soul and so The lord said And his word teaches this it wasn't like just a conversation his word teaches this but I had that sense also Give him the word Always give him the word because it is the truth that sets people free Not the way you can argue But the scripture itself That when embraced will change someone's life, but god has to reveal that The natural man receives not the things of the spirit of god. They are foolishness to him Neither can he know them Because they're spiritually Dissert and so job is saying god has without withheld your eyes You don't see what is taking place Because you have been blinded God has kept you from seeing Now in verse five it says he who speaks flattery to his friends Even the eyes of his children will fail Now He's actually speaking And in prayer really he's speaking to god as he's saying this it it seems that he's saying that his friends are are promising him in blessings if he repents but He makes a statement and I find it interesting When it says he who speaks flattery to his friends even the eyes of his children will fail It seems to be making a statement that Those who who make these promises flattering promises, you know They're saying if you if you change you're gonna be blessed by god Well, he's actually saying those kinds of untruths are harmful even to your kids Why because he's saying that when you're teaching your children the things that you're arguing with me about And he's speaking to the lord in prayer about this it's all tied up in that He's saying the children are taught to believe the wrong things And the children are being taught to look for the wrong things And so the arguments and lord help them to see this. This is the kind of thing that's happening Is actually taking them away from knowing truth and not helping them to know it He says in verse 6 he who has made me a byword, but he has made me a byword of the people Listen to that and I have become one in whose facemen spit now You need to know and remember that job had at one time been the the most the most respected man People everywhere Neal of him and they would give him great respect When he spoke he was the guy that that if there were a group of men And they would be elders men who are of of good reputation and when joe would walk in the room It's kind of it's difficult to to say this clearly, but when joe would walk in the room they would get quiet Here comes joe and the men who are speaking amongst themselves and speaking in deep ways and all And then you hear the the sound off to the side and people are greeting and they hear joe and they look And when joe would walk in everybody got quiet Everybody would be quiet because of the respect they had for this man When pastor chuck was still alive we would go um yearly to have uh planning meetings with some of the men Who were overseers in calvary chapel and we would have planning meetings and and the guys We'd all be around the table and there'd be quite a number of us and we were seated in this room There could be 20 or more men and we're talking to our friends and visiting catching up And and there's a lot of that that noise and the minute pastor chuck walked in the minute he walked in everybody got quiet Not because god walked in the room But because of our respect for our pastor And these are men who are pastors over the movement of calvary chapel some with multiple thousands in their churches And yet the minute chuck would walk in and I can still remember we would be seated there We'd be talking and here he comes and it gets quiet and chuck would walk across and come and sit down And then the very first thing he would be asked is pastor What are you concerned with that would be the very first question every meeting And he said have we this was his answer Have we therefore be begun in the spirit And will we be made perfect by the flesh? That was his number one answer Is the calvary chapel movement going to continue walking in the spirit? Or are we going to go to man-made ways to grow churches? That was his number one concern He would say it every time And we begun in the spirit will we be made perfect by the flesh So I understand the way that when a man like chuck would walk in the room I respected him. He was my pastor. I loved him and I asked him for wisdom And he would give me his wisdom. There's a relation and joe was like that So people who were great would be talking Joe would walk in the room and they would be quiet Because this man joe was here. He was highly respected people everywhere gave him respect Everywhere they would listen to his counsel He said in joe 29 7 and 8 when I went out to the gate by the city When I took my seat in the open square The young men saw me And hid And the aged arose and stood Though once greatly respected He's now an object of gossip and derision Even the lowest of men openly showed him great disrespect in job 30 verses 9 and 10. He says now I am their taunting song. Yes I'm their byword They abhor me they keep far from me and they do not hesitate to spit in my face He says in verse 7 my eye has also grown dim because of sorrow and all my members Are like shadows. I am constantly in pain I cry my heart out constantly. I'm worn out from weeping. I'm thin My color has left me. I look like a ghost I look like a shadow in verse 8 upright men are astonished at this and the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite They consider as they consider everything the righteous are stirred to resist And to reject hypocrisy Yet verse 9 the righteous will hold to his way And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger The righteous will retain his integrity will grow stronger through the whole trial That's because trials such as these Result in greater strength and as job is speaking about that. He's giving us insight into trials I'm going to give you some things some of you may want to mark some of these things down Because job is giving us insight into trials and and I want to share some things with you About trials First thing about trials is they come upon everybody who lives for jesus christ Everybody who's living for jesus christ if you're not going through a trial check out your life You may you may not be living right right now You know because the enemy has a way of just Promoting you but when I go through when i'm not living the way the lord would have me to live I will go through trials and that's that that happens to everybody. It's not unusual Psalm 66 verse 10 says for you oh god have proved us you have tried us as silver is tried In first peter 4 verses 12 and 3 the apostle said beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery trial Which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you rejoice in as much as you are partakers of christ sufferings That when his glory shall be revealed you may be glad also with exceeding joy Don't be kicking against it But allow god to work in you through the trial. It happens to everybody. It's not unusual It's not that god hates you. It's god is refining you A second thing is trials reveal the reality quality and the value of your faith because trials refine Charles spurgeon once said that trials teach us what we are They dig up the soil and let us see what we are made of So we desire to in god to entrust to us great things and so trials will reveal our faith in the small things In first peter 1 7 it says that the trial of your faith Being much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire Might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of jesus christ And so he refines us third trials reveal what's inside of us And they reveal our weaknesses as well as our need Because as we go through and endure trials we are refined and we are strengthened In james 1 2 through 4 my brother encountered all joy when you fall into diverse temptations Knowing this that the trying of your faith works patience But let patience have a perfect work that you may be perfect and entire lacking nothing The psalmist in psalm 27 14 said it like this and said wait for the lord Be strong Let your heart take courage Wait for the lord Fourth a trial makes me look at my own heart So I take spiritual inventory because guess what god may be disciplining me through a trial and I need to be aware of that That's why in psalm 139 23 and 24 the psalmist said search me oh god and know my heart try me And know my thoughts my anxieties and see if there's any wicked way in me Lead me in the way everlasting It makes me look at my own heart and begin to say god is there something That you're dealing with a fifth thing is trials produce spiritual strength They do so by making me dependent on god and not myself and someone else In romans 5 3 through 5 not only so we glory in tribulations also Knowing that tribulation works patience and patience experience and experience hope And hope makes not ashamed Because the love of god is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost Which is given to us so we depend on the lord a sixth thing Trials are used by god to prepare us for what he will have us to do And in hebra's 10 35 and 36 he says do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded You need to persevere So that when you've done the will of god you will receive what he has promised A seventh thing Trials direct our attention to god because we seek him for answers Trust in the lord with all your heart lean on unto thine own understanding in all our ways acknowledge him And he will direct your path an eighth thing God uses trials to demonstrate his ability to bring us through In second peter 2 verse 9 the lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations trials And to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment Rather than complaining Look for what god is doing Rather than complaining How come In that way that we can We begin to say god. What are you doing? What is is there something within me that you want to cleanse? Is there some area of my life that you're not pleased with? And then god i need your help and I need your strength and lord i'm just And the lord begins to show you That There's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man God is able with the temptation also also to make a way of escape That you may be able to bear it There's nothing that you're going through that god hasn't made a way of escape For you he has when it says god has made a way of escape It's a picture of you in a battle and soldiers are against you And there's no place to turn And when it says but god has made a way of escape it's like he has cut out of a rock A cave in a passageway So when your back is against the rock god is opening up a way of escape And he'll take care of you and the problem sometimes we have is we think that the things we're going through are unique to only us When in fact they're common to all of us And so instead of running he says hold your ground Wait and you will see the deliverance of the lord So you're standing at the edge of a river Or you're standing at the edge of a sea And The enemy is behind you And your way is cut off And god like he did with moses sends a strong wind separates the water Drives the ground set you through and then takes care of the enemy that comes after you. That's how it works You hold fast. I don't know. Maybe somebody needs to hear this. Maybe somebody's in the midst of a trial right now Hold fast. Don't let go God will see you through You'll make it through you're gonna turn around and you're gonna see that god was with you every step of the way And the times that you were crying out saying what's going on the lord is saying i was always there I was always next to you but you were so caught up in you And what you were going through you didn't even notice that i was protecting you and when you finally said I can't take this anymore that made it possible for me to actually work what i wanted to do Listen after many years of walking with the lord i'm i'm only telling you what he's taught me It's true when i give up quickly God shows up quickly if i want to keep on complaining and fight and worry he'll let me He'll let me until eventually I have to just give up this god was walking by a lake And a woman was standing at the lip of the lake and out several feet out from the lip of the lake He could see flailing so he stood next to the woman And he said to the woman what's wrong and she says my son can't swim he fell in I can't swim. I can't save him. He's drowning. Can you help him and the man says yes And still stands there. He's standing there and she's panicking and he doesn't jump in And he's just standing there. She's what are you doing? What are you doing? He just stands with his arms folded Finally the kid goes under the water the last time and doesn't come up for a few seconds the man jumps in and grabs him drags him puts him out on ground And the boy revives And so the woman says to him why didn't you jump in and save him? Why did you let him get to that point and he said Because as long as he had strength If I'd have gone in He'd have drowned me along with himself I had to wait till he had no strength so I could save him And I've learned that lesson spiritually As long as I'm constantly flailing around saying I can take care of it. I can do it The lord kind of like just waits until I know that I can't anymore And that's when I whimper and say god help me and that's when he delivers me So it's really wise to give up quickly it'd be like if I was Going into the ring with Tyson I'd give up Just makes sense. I get beat up So just give up And the way the lord works in us. He does he does his thing in us and changes us moving on it says in verse 10 Please come back again all of you For I shall not find one my wise man Among you please come back. I won't find one wise man. What is that? That's called sarcasm He's saying come back and argue with me again None of you is wise enough to handle the argument, but I'm willing to listen to you ramble on In verse 11 my days are past my purposes are broken off even the thoughts of my heart In other words when he says my days are past. I'm dying And my plans for my life Have all been destroyed My hopes and my dreams have been extinguished. I have been left without Hope verse 12 they changed the night and today The light is near they say in the face of darkness You miserable counselors are trying to change the reality of what I'm experiencing You're telling me that night is day and that darkness is light What you're saying to me is cheer up Everything's getting better when in fact it isn't In verse 13 he goes on if I wait for the grave as my house if I make my bed in the darkness If I say to corruption you're my father and to the worm You're my mother and my sister Where then is my hope? As for my hope Who can see it? Will they go down to the gates of sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust? As far as I can see The only thing that I have waiting for me is a grave And the only thing that is waiting is the darkness of a tomb In chapter 8 verses 20 and 21 bill dad had told him behold God will not cast away the blameless no will he uphold the evildoers He will yet fill your mouth with laughing your lips with rejoicing when he said I don't see this What I see instead of laughing and joy is a grave I see darkness And the only hope I have is to die to embrace it It'll end my physical suffering when he says in verse 14 if I say to corruption you're my father Into the worm you're my mother I look at the grave And I see it as my closest relatives if you will they're waiting to embrace me and bring me To peace in other words the only hope I have is to die Now you've told me that if I repent I'd be restored and would once again be blessed because in chapter 11 verses 16 and 17 Zophra had said You'll forget your misery and remember it as waters that have passed away and your life would be brighter than noon day Well, he said I would disagree with you The only hope I have is dying and ending my misery. Where is my hope verse 15? As for my hope who can see it? What hope in life do I have? And what hope do you offer me? As for any hope offered to me It'll never come to pass It's never going to happen Verse 16. Well, they go down to the gates of sheol Shall we have rest together in the dust now when he says to she'll she'll is is is pictured as an underground Prison it has bars. It has bolts. It holds the doors closed And the word she'll is Is the same as the word in the new testament Hades? Hades and she'll are what would be called the holding cell of the dead It seems that job is saying that when I die my hopes will be buried and die with me my body my hopes Everything shall be together and death. That's the only place I'll ever rest But he speaks of this place as she'll now gates have keys That allow entrance as well as exit which is interesting because he's speaking of she'll he's speaking of a place like as the cell And it's interesting in matthew that jesus gave peter and the rest of the apostles what he called the keys of the kingdom In matthew 16 19 he told peter i'll give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven And so he said these are the keys your authority to to give a message And to declare someone to be forgiven because that opens up the cell if you will it enables them to go into heaven And the gates of she'll would have locks But jesus has the key to the lock In revelation 118 we saw how he said i'm the living one i was dead now look i'm alive forever and ever I hold the keys of death and Hades Every time you preach the gospel and share with somebody of the good things of god That person when they receive christ are actually you're using the keys and you're unlocking the door That's allowing them freedom. That's one of the reasons why when you see somebody get saved the joy just comes up in your heart Because this person has been set free I still remember that when the lord spoke to my heart and i got saved i still remember i'll always remember The joy of salvation. Do you remember when you got saved? I remember i've never forgotten all these years that that that sense that my burden of sin was gone I've been forgiven And and there was a joy that came that i didn't have before That came because i had been a prisoner But the gospel key had opened the door And the gates sprung open And i was set free There's nothing like it There's nothing like it she'll has pictures is pictured with with bars And joe was speaking concerning that But he's saying i'm a prisoner. I haven't been set free But the hope that he desires that knowledge that he's been set free is one day revealed Most clearly through the gospel Because the hope is jesus Because jesus is the one who holds the keys jesus gave the keys to his followers And we of all people have hope And we of all people can rest Because of jesus again My hope is in the lord It's never been in man since i got saved Man does let us down i let people down men let people down But god never lets you down God never lets you down He's the one person that you can one person that you can always trust Because he never leaves you he never forsakes you he never fails. He's always there. He walks with you You're never alone. And so i have hope And i may not always be happy But i certainly always have hope Because my hope is in the lord And he is where my confidence has been entrusted. He's what He he is the one we all as believers should surely hope in because he never fails He never fails and the way that my little girl ana Was looking at me when all the plane was was was shaking and and people were screaming and crying and And she said dad i just kept my eye on you Because i knew that if you were afraid i'd be afraid and dad you didn't get afraid so i didn't get afraid Well, i keep my eyes on the lord Because he's never afraid Try and find a bible scripture where it says in jesus saw the devil and and cried in fear It's not there But the bible says the devils Fear and tremble at jesus christ. So we're on his side better than that He is for us and so we don't worry. It's just that way god is in control