 We'll be looking at chapter 15 tonight. It feels like forever since I've been here. It's been like, I think it's been like a month. And so I haven't missed it, no, it's just weird, it's just weird. So we'll be looking at chapter 15. We'll begin at verse one, I'll read to verse three and we'll get into our study. From chapter 15, beginning at verse one, reading to verse three, Then Eliphaz the Temmonite answered and said, Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge and fill himself with the east wind? Should he reason with unprofitable talk or by speeches with which he can do no good? And so, just as a way of reminder, Job has been responding to the things that his friends have been telling him. He's had three friends so far who've approached him and they've been giving him their counsel, their advice and all, and have been saying things to him that have frankly not been encouraging. That's because all three of them have made it clear that they think he is suffering because he's committed sin. And in that insistence that we find in their argument, Job has been provoked and he's begun to defend himself and he's doing so vigorously because he doesn't like the charges. He's gotten tired of the way that they're speaking to him. They're speaking to him in a condescending manner and that's really bothered him. In Job 13 verse two he said, What do you know? What you know I also know. I'm not inferior to you. In chapter 13 verse four he even went further, he said, You forgers of lies, you are all worthless physicians. And so obviously he's not happy with the things that they're saying to him. And so we went into chapter 14 and in chapter 14 he continued to defend his innocence. You see, Job feels abandoned by God. He feels that God is treating him unfairly. All the things that he's going through, all the pain, all the suffering, everything and he feels that God is just not being fair and now he longs to die. He thinks that if he were dead he would no longer suffer. In chapter 14 verse 13, Oh that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me until your wrath is passed, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me. In other words, I wish you would put me in the grave but would remember where I am and then reclaim me. And so as he's been going through this in chapter 14, he had ended chapter 14 with the words that reveal the sorrow of his heart. He had said, Even a mountain can be worn down over time, but I'm not a mountain. But I have been worn down. I have lost hope. He said my smile has been replaced with an expression of sorrow. I know nothing of joy. All I see is my pain and I expect to die hopeless. I expect to die suffering in pain. Now as he's saying this, his friend Alaphaz can't restrain himself and once again he begins to rebuke Job. That's what verse 1 says, Alaphaz the Temmonite answered and said, verse 2, Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge and fill himself with the east wind. In other words, I'm just upset at you. You haven't been receiving my advice. You're even going so far as challenging God himself and Alaphaz believes that Job has arrogance. He has self conceit. He thinks too highly of himself. You see, in the back of his mind he'd be saying a truly wise person guards himself against entertaining an attitude of pride. In Romans 12 verse 3, Paul says it, he says, I say through the grace given to me, to everyone who's among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. So don't be puffing yourself up, Paul said, and that's kind of what Alaphaz is saying. In Galatians chapter 6 verse 3, Paul said, for if anyone thinks himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. And so Alaphaz is making that point. He's saying in verse 2, you've spoken unprofitably. He's saying your words are like the scorching hot east wind. In other words, Job, you're full of hot air. You should know better. Your speech is empty. You're not demonstrating wisdom. He says in verse 3, should he reason with unprofitable talk or by speeches with which he can tune no good? In other words, you're not wise because your words are not capable of helping anyone. Your words are unprofitable is what he's saying. And the way that you speak isn't going to help anybody. It's not going to enlighten anyone. In Ephesians chapter 4, you might want to mark this, verse 29, Paul said, let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. So Alaphaz is saying the things that you're saying are of no profit. The things that you're saying are of no help to anybody. The things that you're saying are actually things you shouldn't be saying. He says in verse 4, you cast off fear and restrain prayer before God. The way you're speaking to God demonstrates a lack of proper reverence. You're not exhibiting the proper fear of God by the way that you're speaking. Instead of being an example of holiness and righteousness, the way you're speaking actually stumbles man. The way you speak is without wisdom. It even keeps devout men from praying. Your iniquity, verse 5, teaches your mouth and you choose the tongue of the crafty. When he says your iniquity teaches your mouth, that's another way of saying your unspiritual flesh is prompting your words. And the things that you're saying are actually coming from carnality. You're speaking improperly when you deny that you deserve this. In verse 6, your own mouth condemns you and not I. Yes, your own lips testify against you. The way you're speaking reveals how carnal you are. The way you're speaking is obvious. It's evidence that you're not really thinking these things through. Your own words are going to be used to condemn you. The things that you're saying will be used against you. That reminds me of something that we find in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 12, verse 37. In Matthew 12, 37, Jesus said, for by your words, you will be justified. But he went on to say, and by your words, you will be condemned. And so what he's saying to him is that your words are going to actually come back and bite you. Your words will be used against you. The things that you're saying, how you're declaring your innocence, how you believe that this is not fair, and all the things that you're saying in your complaint. And even speaking against God, ultimately, that will be used against you. And when he does that, Elphaz begins to launch into what would be called a prolonged rebuke of Job. Look what he says in verse 7. He says, are you the first man who was born? Or were you made before the hills? In other words, do you have uncorrupted intelligence? Are you the first man? Do you have long life, a long life that is given to you great wisdom? He says in verse 8, have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? Do you have a direct pipeline to God? Are you the only one who has wisdom today? In verse 9, what do you know that we don't know? What do you understand that is not in us? Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, much older than your father. And so he's saying, have you seen, have you not noticed, rather, that many of us are aged and many of us are equal to you? Some of us have lived longer than you have. And because of that, we've accumulated more experience and more wisdom. In verse 11, are the consolations of God too small for you? And the word spoken gently with you? Have our words of consolation that have been inspired by God not been enough for you? Verse 12, why does your heart carry you away? And what do your eyes wink at? That's an interesting phrase. Why does your heart carry you away? And what do your eyes wink at? Why does the pride of your heart take you away? And why are you rolling your eyes at us? That's an interesting thing. Those of us who are parents know exactly what that means. When you've spoken to your kid and your kid's, you know, smaller, and they just kind of roll their eyes like, oh, man, what are you talking about? Well, that's what they're saying. Why are you rolling your eyes at us? My mom used to say, why are you making that face at me? It's the only face I had. I don't have another face to make it. But why is it? Why are you doing that? Why are you rolling your eyes? Because when they're speaking, it gives you a picture of Job sitting there just kind of looking up saying, I can't believe these fools keep on talking. And they're picking it up. It's quite obvious that he's not listening to them. And they're getting upset. They say in verse 13 that you turn your spirit against God and let such words go out of your mouth. Why are you so angry with us? Why are you speaking in the way that you are to us? Job, you need to listen because we're speaking to you from God. And so we wonder why you're treating us with such disrespect. Why are you making those faces at us? Now, he keeps going, what is man? Verse 14, that he could be pure and he who is born of woman, that he could be righteous. If God puts no trust in his saints and the heavens are not pure in his sight, how much less man who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water? So here we go. Alaphaz is returning to an argument. Job, you've got to understand something. It's very basic. It's theology 101. You're a sinner. And you're receiving exactly what you deserve. In Job 4, we saw in verses 17 through 19 a question, can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his maker if he puts no trust in his servants? If he charges his angels with error, how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before a moth? And what are you speaking about there? And we'll look at that for a moment, is man's sin nature. Because that's a great description of man's sinful nature. The Bible makes it very clear that our human nature is corrupt. And we by nature desire and practice the sin. The Psalmist in Psalm 14 verses 2 and 3 says, the Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There's none who does good, no, not one. In Psalm 53 verse 3, every one of them has turned aside. They have together become corrupt. There's none who does good, no, not one. If there's anything I as a pastor in these last days am observing, it's a fact that there are many who go to church, who go to church services, Bible studies if you will, who enter into the doors of that church thinking more highly of themselves than they ought. And quite a number of people who will go to a church and the minute they hear something that goes against what they basically already believe, something that contradicts what they feel is right. And they don't even give that person an opportunity to finish the sentence before they stand up and walk out. And one of the blessings of this plague that we're going through is, is there such a thing as a blessing during this plague? Yeah, and here it is, you ready? The people who show up here, nobody's walking out anymore. That's nice because those who show up want to be here. I still remember giving an invitation. I was ministering the word and I was looking out there and this man, this young man, the young woman came forward and the mother, or an older woman, it turns out it was the mother and they came walking up and they stood in front and they were the only two who came forward. And I thought, how interesting, because these two young guys did, well, this young guy didn't look too happy to be up there. And so later on I was told that the mother had said, you get up there right now and she basically dragged him up. Now that's not the way you get saved. And he didn't appreciate the things that was here. And I remember another guy's name was Tom and I remember I was giving a Bible study a long time ago now in a different location and the platform was lower then. And as I was teaching, I gave an invitation, one guy came forward, one guy, his name was Tom. And he was standing right in the front there. And like I said, the platform was low. And so he was a big guy, he was a lumberjack. That's what he was. And he was standing there and he had the lumberjack thing, everything he had an owl on his shoulder. It was amazing, but he was standing there and I prayed with him. And then later on I got to know him. And he said, you know, he said, I came, he was invited by somebody. He said, I came to church and I was sitting there listening to you. And I started getting angry. I got angry at you. He said, you got me angry because you were speaking about my music. And then you spoke about the movies that I saw. Then you were talking about my dating relationships. He said, I got so mad I wanted to come up and hit you. And I'm looking at him smiling. I'm glad you didn't, you know, or sick your owl on me. I was, I said, that's, he said, because everything I was doing, you were pointing out. He said, and then it hit me that these things really were not pleasing to God. He said, and that's what caused me to listen and to realize that the life I thought was so good was really an affront to God. The life that I thought was okay was really a life of sin. And that's what he said drew him to Christ when he realized that he's not as good as he thinks he is. I remember my mom on one occasion was sharing with a woman. My mom was quite an evangelist. She'd like to share about Jesus with anybody who would listen. I remember, for example, they're going to a doctor and the doctor took her stethoscope out and placed it on my mom's heart. It was the first time my mom had ever gone to this doctor and as a woman was listening to my mom's heart, my mom said, do you hear him? Now, this is a medical doctor, so she naturally is thinking, oh no, I've got a psycho on my hands, you know? And my mom's just going, do you hear him? And the woman looks at my mom and says, hear who? She says, Jesus, he lives in my heart. Do you want to know how he got there? And that was my mom. My mom would share her faith with people, but mom, I had a lot to learn because she would get frustrated with people and I remember how she would tell me how she had spoken to people. And she says, you know, Dave, she says, I was speaking to somebody about Jesus and I said, you want to receive him? And they said, yes, I would. And she said, so I said, pray with me. Jesus, forgive me, I'm a sinner. And she said, and the woman I was speaking to looks at me and says, no, wait a minute, I'm not a sinner. Now, my mom was kind of fleshly at that time. So she said, well, then go to hell. That isn't what you're supposed to say, mom. And I had to teach her otherwise. But see, it isn't a front to people. It isn't a front when people hear that the life they think is good is, in fact, it is not. And the Bible teaches that all have sin and fall short of the glory of God. All of us have, every one of us. And the Bible teaches us that there's not one good, not one person who is good, not one who does good, no, not one. And that's the point that we're seeing made here in this scripture. He says in verse 14, what is man that he could be pure? He who was born of woman that he could be righteous. In other words, there's nothing within them that is righteous, that is pure. Why? Because we have a sin nature. And so he emphasizes that by illustrating it in this way. If God puts no trust in his saints and the heavens are not pure in his sight, how much less man, and notice how he describes the unregenerate person, the person who doesn't know God, he says they're abominable, they're filthy, and they drink iniquity like water. And so the point he's making is very simple. You are not as good as you think you are. And the fact is, that's why we all need Jesus Christ. He's the only one who's perfect and he's the only one who can save us. So he says in verse 17, I will tell you, hear me. What I have seen, I will declare. My experience dictates a very simple truth. And this is what he's about to make very clear. Wicked people suffer. But he goes on to infer it by saying, you are suffering because you've done wrong before God. Job, the reason that you've lost your family, the reason that you lost your wealth, the reason that your wife has been alienated from you, the reason why you've lost your physical well-being, you need to understand, and this is what he's saying, this is his argument. You need to understand it's because you're a sinner and you're reaping what you deserve. And so that's what he means when he says, I'll tell you, hear me. What I've seen, I will declare. He goes in verse 18 and says, what wise men have told not hiding anything received from their fathers, to whom alone this land was given, and no alien passed among them? The wicked man rides with pain all his days and the number of years is hidden from the oppressor. And so he's trying to make it very clear. I believe that what you are is a sinner and you're receiving what you deserve. So what I'm giving you now is undiluted wisdom. The wisdom I'm giving to you wasn't invented by me, it did not begin with me. It's wisdom that has been handed down over the ages by the wise. And these are the men that God gave special wisdom to. These are men who didn't have wisdom that has intermingled with pagans. These men don't have a wisdom that comes from serving a false God. It's not corrupt. No foreigner lived among them. No foreigner diluted the wisdom that they had from God. That's what it means in verse 19, to whom alone the land was given and no alien passed among them. They didn't get wisdom from pagan nations, is what he's saying. They didn't take the wisdom of some foreigner, some person who worshiped a foreign God, an idolater. These are people he's saying who have passed on undiluted wisdom that came from God himself. And so this is pure wisdom and something you need to receive. And so he goes on in verse 20 to say, the wicked man rides with pain all his days. And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor. Dreadful sounds are in his ears. In prosperity, the destroyer comes upon him. He does not believe that he will return from darkness for a sword, it's waiting for him. He wanders about for bread saying, where is it? He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand. Trouble and anguish make him afraid. They overpower him like a king ready for battle. For he stretches out his hand against God and acts defiantly against the Almighty, running stubbornly against him with his strong embossed shield. So he's saying, this is the result of my experience. Well, the fact is that may be so in many ways for this man, but it's not necessarily always this way. Wicked men and wicked women don't always receive at least obviously receive the things that perhaps they would deserve. And sometimes they actually live long lives. In Psalm 73 verse three, it says it like this. I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Psalm 73 is a great Psalm because the Psalmist speaks concerning the fact that he saw all of these things. They have long lives. They have a lot of children. They seem to have prosperity. Everything goes well with them. They're always healthy. Everything's great with them. They have banquets. They have feasts. They have all kinds of things. And then the righteous man seems to always get the raw end of the deal. And he says, and I was thinking this way and I see these things until I considered their end. Until I went into the temple, worship God and considered their end. Because what seems to be great for them right now is not gonna be great for them forever. He says in verse 20, the wicked man rides with pain all his days. The number of years is hidden. In other words, a wicked man's life is filled with pain. He doesn't know how long he'll live. So he lives in continual fear of dying. He's tormented, having no sense of eternal safety. There are those who understand that there are those who begin to become aware of the fact that their life is but a breath. They begin to understand that, but not all wicked people do. Some think they're gonna continue on until they just close their eyes, become food for worms and that's it. But there are others who actually begin to become aware of the fact that life is short and it's not always gonna end sweet. He says in verse 21, dreadful sounds are in his ears. In prosperity, the destroyer comes upon him. He never knows when his wealth will be taken from him by force. And so that causes him to be startled by any sound because he lives in fear. This is a person who relies on his wealth. A person who has actually made his whole life about his wealth. And so he's constantly guarding it. He's constantly on alert in case somebody should break in and steal those things that he possesses. And because he has his whole life just wrapped up in the material things that he possesses, he doesn't understand that life doesn't consist in the things that you possess because life isn't made up of the things that I have. Life is made up in a relationship with God. Life is made up in my relationship with the Lord and the relationships that he gives me with other people. But if I think that the only thing that's gonna keep me going is the newest whatever, the newest iteration of whatever watch or whatever car or whatever house or whatever, I'll never have a full or complete life. I have to be aware of the fact that life is deeper than that and relationships last longer than things. And a relationship with God, obviously is the thing that I should pursue. He says in verse 22, he doesn't believe that he's gonna return from darkness. The sword is waiting for him. In other words, he's saying they never feel safe. They're always afraid. They're always waiting to be attacked by an enemy. Verse 23, he wanders about for bread saying, well, where is it? He's always in search of food. Why? Because he is primarily a person who satisfies his flesh. He lives waiting for judgment and he will receive what he has sown. In Romans 14, verses 11 and 12, Paul said it like this. He says, it is written, as I live, sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. I can't tell you how many people I've met over the years because there's no fear of God in them. How many people I've met over the years who have a very, very shallow view of eternity. I remember one guy in particular that when our church was actually less than a year old and he was married to one of Marie's friends. And I was speaking to him. He was not a believer by any means. He came with his wife to church and I had gotten to know him on one of those nodding bases, hey, how you doing kind of bases? But I never really got to know him. I didn't really speak to him. He would walk up after church and say hi and then walk away and his wife would be speaking to my wife and so he didn't have anything to say to me. But finally one day after coming to church for several weeks, he was talking to me. And I'll never forget this conversation. He says, I'm gonna go to hell. He says it like that, I'm gonna go to hell. And I'm looking at him and you gotta understand, I was like 32 years old, 31 years old at the time. I'm a young guy and I'm looking at this guy and he was a bit older than me. And he says, I'm going to hell. And he had a smile on his face. He says, well, I wouldn't die. All my friends are gonna be there and we're gonna party for eternity. And I looked at him and I slapped him. No, I looked at him and that was the very first time that I can really remember ever speaking to somebody who had that open an attitude about who cares, who believes, doesn't really matter. It's the first time I ever remember speaking to him and sharing and I shared obviously I would share with them how he needs the Lord and ultimately he died within a couple, two, three years later. He had died. I'm pretty certain that he didn't retain that attitude after death. You know, the bottom line is and it's something that we need to remember is that we have a short time here on the face of the earth, a short time to get right with God and to serve him. And we need to remember that the things that we may possess are not gonna be the things that give us life. And we can live like this one says, like he's saying here in prosperity, but the destroyer comes. He doesn't believe that he'll return from darkness. His sword is awaiting him. It says in verse 23, he wanders about for bread saying, where is it? He knows that a day of darkness is ready at hand. Trouble and anguish make him afraid. They overpower him like a king ready for battle. He never has peace. He never has comfort. He's overpowered by fear. Isaiah 48 verse 22 says it like this, there is no peace, saith the Lord for the wicked. There is no peace. They never have that sense of comfort. They never have that sense of being right with God. And because they don't, they live a life that is filled with fear and hopelessness. In verse 25, he stretches out his hand against God and acts defiantly against the Almighty. When it says he stretches out his hand to stretch out your hand speaks of fighting. He's fighting God. And the term stretch out the hand very often speaks of using a spear or using a sword. It's a picture of acting defiantly. It's a picture of building a fortification in order that you might battle against an enemy. And so what he's saying here is that the evil boldly sins against God in defiance of him and has no fear of him. In verse 26, when he says running stubbornly against him with his strong embossed shield, he's saying he even goes so far as attacking God. He stubbornly resists him, even assaults God. He opposes God. And so he's speaking of the evil man. He is constantly in opposition against God. Verse 27, though he has covered his face with his fatness and made his waist heavy with fat. I'll let that settle in a minute. He dwells in desolate cities and houses which no one inhabits, which are destined to become ruins. He will not be rich nor will his wealth continue nor will his possessions overspread the earth. He will not depart from darkness. The flame will dry out his branches. And by the breath of his mouth he will go away. It's interesting how he begins here and he speaks about fat. That is interesting, by the way. He covers his face with fatness, made his waist heavy with fat. Now isn't that interesting? Oh, yeah. What is that? Well, fat is a word that is used very often in the Old Testament to speak of prosperity. I'll give you a few scriptures. In Proverbs 11-25 it says, the generous or the liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself. Proverbs 13 verse 4, the soul of the slugger desires and has nothing. But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. Proverbs 15 verse 30, the light of the eyes rejoices the heart and a good report makes the bones fat. Proverbs 28-25, he who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who puts his trust in the Lord shall be made fat. So you can see I really trust the Lord. It's a way of speaking of prosperity. It's a way of speaking of being blessed. And that's how they would use the word during that time. And so he's speaking concerning the fact that this person has covered his face with fatness, has made his waist heavy with fatness. Another way of saying that he has become prosperous. But he says in verse 28, he dwells in desolate cities and houses which no one inhabits. He believes that the great houses that he's built will bring him pleasure forever. But the actual fact is these things will not last. They ultimately become ruins. I've had the opportunity over the years to travel to various places, ancient China. I've had the opportunity to be on the Great Wall of China. I've had opportunity to go to Thailand and to see the temples and things that they have to go to Spain and England. I've been to a lot of countries. I've seen a lot of ruins. And that's what's interesting to me. When you see this huge building with these huge stones, but the ruins, when they were built they took years. Sometimes they took many, many years to build. And you would see them. And surely in the ancient world you would see these buildings, these walls that had 100 tons stones at their foundation. And you would think these things will last forever, but you end up going there and they've been in ruins for hundreds of years. Because the things that man builds, those things don't last. And this person thinks if I build this great house and I have this wonderful, beautiful garden, everything, that'll give me pleasure forever. But the point he's making is, no, these things don't last. They ultimately become ruins. You see, the point he's making is rejecting God while the result will always be desolation and isolation. And these things that are built are destined to end up abandoned. And only what is built on the solid foundation, only that is going to last. It says in verse 29, he will not be rich, nor will his wealth continue, nor will his possessions overspread. The earth his luxury and his wealth will not multiply and it won't endure. In Psalm 37 verses 1 and 2, do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity, for they shall soon be cut down like grass and wither as the green herb. It can be so easy to be jealous and envious because people have things that you wish you had. Now you work hard and you work many hours a week and you barely make it. You barely survive. You pay your bills, but you don't have much beyond that. And you look on down the street and there's a guy down the street and every three years he has a brand new car and the wife comes out and she's always dressed nicely and you can become envious. You can become upset with these people and you can see their kid, their kid's an honor roll student and your kid's in juvenile hall and you wonder about this. This just doesn't seem to be right and you can become envious of people who are wealthy. Be careful with that because nothing you have on the face of the earth lasts outside of what you do for Jesus Christ. Nothing does. Nothing does. And the most important wise thing that I can do is invest myself in God's kingdom and not envy those who may have financial things that I never could afford. The Bible says in Isaiah 40 verses 7 and 8 the grass withers, the flower fades but the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever. So hold fast to that which lasts. In verse 30, he will not depart from darkness. The flame will dry out his branches and by the breath of his mouth, he will go away. His misery will have no end. His wealth will disappear because God will bring his judgment upon him. In verse 31, let him not trust in futile things deceiving himself or futility will be his reward. All the things that he relies on are, excuse me, unstable and disappointment is all he will ever get. Everything that he trusts is fragile and the things he puts his confidence in are going to disappear. One of my favorite portions of scripture in the New Testament is 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 17 through 19 where Paul says tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need always ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life. Don't put your trust in the deceitfulness of riches. I'm wondering what's going to happen now that we have an incoming president. I'm wondering what's going to happen to the economy. I'm wondering what's going to happen in so many ways. And I can tell you if my trust is only in man I wouldn't be feeling good at this moment. But the good thing about it is that I've cast my cares on the Lord and I trust him and my God shall always supply. My God always provides. He always has. And he's never gone out and he's never begged for money from anybody. He's never asked somebody to please support him. And so I trust him. How about you? I trust him. I trust the Lord. And I believe that he's going to take care of us. And because I do, and because all these years the Lord has been teaching me that one thing that I will provide. A long time ago when I entered into the ministry one of the things my pastor Chuck Smith taught us was something I've held fast to for a long time. And it's a simple thing. All of you know this phrase Chuck is the one who coined it. We used to call him Chuck-isms. It's something that pastor Chuck coined. But he said it like this. He said where God guides he provides. When God's in the middle of it he takes care of it. He never is concerned about those things. I've taught pastors over the years many times and I've said the biggest thing you need to be concerned about is not the finances. The biggest thing you have to be concerned about is being in the center of the will of the Lord. Because when you're in the center of the will of the Lord God takes care of you. It's when you go out and try and discover things on your own and ignore his will that you find yourself having problems. So the best thing you can do is discover his will and stay there. Remain there. And watch how he provides for you. And also learn that your God is able. Your God can supply. Mary and I as young pastor and young pastor's wife had to learn that. I was 30 years old when this church began. And I had to learn that lesson. And I still remember. Marie was at the table. She's always been the one who takes care of the bills and all. And that's what she does. Why not? She makes all of them. But anyway, I remember walking in. I remember walking in one time. And again, you got to understand, you know, I was like 31 years old, 32 years old. I was a young man. And my wife was 30 years old. We were young. We had a house. We had babies. We have payments. We have everything everybody else has. But we didn't have income. And I remember coming in and she was crying at the table. And she was there looking at the bills and she was making sure that she was writing out checks. But she looked at me and she says, I said, why are you crying, baby? And she says, because we don't have the money to pay these bills. And I said, we don't. She says, no. Because I wasn't receiving any income. Very little. And at that time, we had a house payment and everything else. And so your house payment doesn't go away simply because you don't have money, right? And so I remember sitting across from her and I looked at her and I said, well, let me say this to you, honey. I'm looking for work. I'm doing the best that I can to provide for this family. I know I'm doing what God called me to do. I'm looking for work. I'm not just sitting here. I'm out. I'm walking, knocking on doors. I said, so all I know is God will supply. I know that. And as God is my witness, the mail came and I went and I got the mail and brought it out expecting more bills, to be honest with you. And I remember opening up one letter that came to us and it just had David and Marie in our address. And I looked at it and I opened it up. And when I opened up this letter, there was no letter in it at all. It was a cashier's check. And I pulled it out and it was for $200. And you may not think that's a lot of money, but it sure is when you don't have a dime. And I pulled it out and I still remember putting it in front of my girl and I said, my God shall supply according to His riches in Jesus Christ. He will supply. He will supply. And then that week, maybe a day or two later, I had a friend of mine who had given to me an engine because my truck engine had blown up and so it just sitting in the front yard. And so a friend of mine had a Ford 429 and it was a very powerful engine. And he said, I'll give you this engine. We'll put it in your truck. And so we were working on the engine trying to get it prepared and it was on an engine kind of jack and it fell over and hit the ground and it had an aluminum block and it split. He said, we can't fix this. It's aluminum. I can't do anything. So I still remember just closing the garage door on this engine and I get a knock on the door a couple of days after receiving that check. And there's a man and his son at the door that my friend had told about the engine. And this guy came in and he says, I want to buy that engine from you and he gave us $50. And so I sold this engine to him for $50 and I now have that week $250. And God did that and I remember putting the $50 in front of my girl and saying, our God shall supply. You know what the Lord does, doesn't he? God does take care of you. God does care for you. And you learn these things. And you know, how much is enough somebody's asked and the answer is a little bit more. Well, you know, didn't Jesus teach us to pray this day for our daily bread? Doesn't he want us to learn to rely on him daily to have a faith that grows daily to have a walk with him that is daily? And so when we begin to put our trust in our finances, it's not that we shouldn't be grateful. I'm grateful to God for finances. Of course we are. Thank you, Jesus, for your finances. But the finances will never take the place of Jesus himself. The finances can't do that. Thank you, Lord, that you provide meal for us. Thank you, Lord, that you take care of us. Thank you, Lord, for all the good that you've done to us. Because we know that if we don't have a trust in him and we only have a trust in the material that the material does not last. And it makes it clear that way. It says, the flame will dry out his branches and by the breath of his mouth, he'll go away. Verse 31, let him not trust in futile things deceiving himself for futility will be his reward. In verse 32, it will be accomplished before his time and his branch will not be green. He's going to lose everything that held value for him and it'll go quickly and even, even violently, he will shake off his unripe grape like a vine and cast off his blossom like an olive tree. None of his plans will ever be developed completely. He will never produce the good fruit that he would wish he could. And he's never, never going to be satisfied. There'll never be a sense of completeness in him. He's never going to have the sense of a life that has been well lived. And that's something that, that I have. And that's something that I want us all to have. A sense of a life that has been well lived. A life that at the end of the days when you're laying on your bed and it's time to go to heaven. You don't look back and say, oh, I wish I would have done this. Oh, I have regrets that I never did this. I learned that a long time ago. I learned that a long time ago. I don't, and I've told this to Marie in our early days, but I do not want to be the one who dies with regret. Oh, I wish I'd have told my kids I loved them. I wish I'd have spent more time with my grandchildren. I wish that I would have taken you to other places and done other things. I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to lay my head on a pillow someday and just with regret, just looking at a woman I never really got to know and children I never really knew and grandchildren that I only knew by name. I don't want that kind of life. I don't want that kind of life. I want a life that is well lived. I want a life that at the end of the day when God takes me home, that there will be people who will actually say he meant something. He meant something to me. He meant something in my life. And that's what's valuable. I don't need people saying, oh, he had nice sweatshirts, or he had a nice car. I sure liked his house. That doesn't matter. None of that does. But if they say he was a loving man, he was a caring person. He loved Jesus Christ. He had a great wife, great family. And I will say things. Those are the things that's the legacy. Those are the things that matter at the end. And I've said it before I'll say it again. One of these days in the future when I go to be with Jesus and all that and maybe even in this church. There may be a church service to celebrate my life. My children will be given the opportunity to stand up here and say you knew my father this way but this is the man I knew them lying about me. I don't want them saying nice things, but in their hearts they know this was really not that man. I don't want that. I want to live a life that doesn't provoke people to have to lie about me. I want them to be able to say who's a good man. You see those are the things that matter at the end, right? Those are the things that actually mean something. Is that you love God and you love people and you serve them and your life was worth living. And that's what I believe the Lord would have for us. In verse 34, the company of hypocrites will be barren. Fire will consume the tents of bribery. They conceive trouble and bring forth futility. The womb prepares to seek. The company of hypocrites. This is interesting when he says in verse 34, for the company of hypocrites will be barren. That may be kind of a slam. When he says the company of hypocrites, that could refer to his children, his friends and his servants, because it says the company of hypocrites will be barren and fire will consume the tents of bribery. That may be one of those underhanded statements about the fact that he lost everything, including his own children. And notice how Alaphaz says that fire will consume the tents of bribery. When it says fire will consume the tents of bribery, he's going to lose his house. He's going to lose his family. And those who pervert justice will lose everything. Again, this may be an inference that Job lost his wealth in children because he was a sinner. When it says in verse 35, they conceive trouble and bring forth futility, suffering and disaster will be the result of living in an evil way. It'll be the result of doing wrong. And so he's saying judgment will come upon all hypocrites. And there's an inference here. Job, you need to repent because the things that I'm speaking about right now are already coming upon you. And so one last thought about this. Much of what he's saying is true. Much of what he's saying is really the wisdom of the ancients. And it's true. Except for one thing, Job is not guilty of what he's accusing him of. Job hasn't done the things that Alaphaz is saying. And so we're going to see Job responding next week. And he's not happy. He's not going to be happy in the way that he speaks back to these people. Because it's not just Alaphaz who's inferring this. The other two that he's already spoken to have been doing the same thing. And so next time we get together, Job is going to answer. And I'll just read verse two where he said, I've heard many such things, miserable comforters are you all. And so he's going to speak to them and share some wonderful insights with them. But anyway, Alaphaz up to this point is once again, he's continuing to say, the things that you are suffering are coming to you, Job, because you're a sinner and you need to repent. And then Job has a chance to respond. And we'll look at that next time we get together.