How to Handle Criticism with Class │ Msg 12/22

0:01 Job 22 and 23. We are still in Job. We may be in Job till Jesus comes back. Who knows? We are in chapter 22. You'll be happy to know we are halfway through. We will be through by the year 2004. I promise. This is the third cycle of the fight, the verbal fight between these alleged friends and Job. This man's name is Eliphaz the Temanite, who comes out swinging. He responded, can a vigorous man be of use to God or a wise man be useful to himself? Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous or profit, if you make your ways perfect? Look at the sarcasm of verse 4. Is it because of your reverence that he reproves you, that he enters into judgment against you? Is it because you're so holy?

0:58 And then his accusation, is not your wickedness great and your iniquities without end? So he accuses him of great wickedness and iniquity. And then he gives him a message. Verse 21, yield now and be at peace with him. Thereby good will come to you. Please receive instruction from his mouth and establish his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent and place your gold in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, then the Almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you. Job responds in chapter 23, verse 3, Oh, that I knew chapter 23, verse three.

1:54 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat. I would present my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. Verse eight. Behold, I go forward. He's not there. Backward. I cannot perceive him when he acts on the left. I cannot behold him. he turns on the right. I cannot see him, but look at the faith. He knows the way I take. When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to his path. I have kept his way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the command of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. pause and pray with me we have sung of your great names and the names of your son our father and even some names of the spirit who works within us and fills us with power and encouragement and today we speak to you through Christ not because of our deserving to do so but because of him who has opened the way to you through his blood.

3:22 Thank you sincerely, our Father, for the cross where we first saw the light and the burden of our hearts rolled away. And we still walk with you by faith. We still seek you by faith. We still long to please you and to honor your name and to represent you correctly and fairly and appealingly to those who have never known that you are approachable or forgiving or full of compassion and love.

4:06 Thank you, Father, for sustaining us through these days of warfare. Thank you for this man in uniform and loved ones in this place today whose family and friends are serving you in places beyond these shores and even within these United States. Thank you for your watch care in bringing Eric back safely and his squadron. Thank you for those men and women in dangerous and lonely places at this very hour, at another time in the clock, in another culture, foreign to ours. Thank you for watching over us in our great need. We are helpless to cover every base, but you neither slumber nor sleep. You are forever watching over your own.

5:01 Guide us clearly and safely into and through your will. And now this morning, Father, I pray that you will speak to us from this ancient book in ways that will make sense to us in the 21st century. Thank you for preserving the word of God. Thank you for giving us a book from which we can sing the songs of the faithful. Thank you now for the privilege of giving. We do so with gratitude for our occupation, for health in being able to work and for the ability to serve you in places outside these walls. Be glorified in the gifts we give, in the sermon that is preached, and in our response to all of this.

6:01 Through Christ, I pray. And everyone said, amen. it. Ernest Hemingway reduced his definition of courage to three words, grace under pressure. Appropriate words, aren't they? They apply to anyone who can handle criticism and the blast of other people in a calm and mature manner, demonstrating grace under pressure. in my study these last two weeks i came across a story that emerges out of the life of the late great martin luther one of his harshest critics came and presented him a litany of his mistakes and failures and sins luther's mistakes failures and sins he gave them to him with a frown so that Luther would read them. The reformer read them, shook his head, sighed deeply, and then said to the man, think a little harder, you have forgotten some. It's grace under pressure.

7:18 Our 16th president was a masterful model of handling criticism and verbal assaults. One of his biographers named Donald Phillips writes, Abraham Lincoln was slandered, liable, and hated perhaps more intensely than any man ever to run for the nation's highest office. He was publicly called just about every name imaginable by the press, including a grotesque baboon, a third-rate country lawyer, a coarse, vulgar jokester, a dictator, an ape, a buffoon, and others. The Illinois State Register, which was the paper of his own state, labeled Lincoln, quote, the craftiest and most dishonest politician that ever disgraced an office in America.

8:24 I'm holding back from saying something right there. Mr. Lincoln handled that with great, great maturity. In fact, he had four ways of responding to such criticism. First, and most often, he simply ignored it if it was what he called petty. And most of it was. Second, he answered back only when it was important and would make a difference.

8:54 Third, he formed the habit of sitting down and writing lengthy letters of refutation, venting his anger and emotions and then tearing them up never mailed them or fourth he always looked on the brighter side of life and kept a good sense of humor grace under pressure one of my favorite characters down through the years has been sir winston churchill He not only handled criticism with class, he invited it. In fact, he personally engaged himself in self-criticism every night of the Second World War. Says his biographer Stephen Hayward, Every night, said Churchill, I try myself by court-martial to see if I have done anything effective during the day. I don't mean just pawing the ground.

9:54 Anyone can go through the motions, but something really effective. One of his closest confidants later said, he always took criticisms very, very meekly. One could say exactly what one liked in the way of criticism. He wanted the full critical value from his subordinates. He added, I cannot recall a single minister serving officer or civil servant who was removed from his office because he stood up to Churchill and told him that he thought his policy and proposals were wrong. The courageous prime minister of Great Britain made it a consistent habit never to overrule the service chiefs of staff, even when he strenuously disagreed with their decisions. Grace under pressure. One of the most eloquent examples of this would be King David when Absalom took over the throne.

10:58 His father, David, was forced to abdicate the throne because Absalom stole the hearts of the people through his deceptive means. Absalom came to the throne and David didn't want to kill or fight with his own son, so he simply left it in his hands. and went away along with his mighty men. While David was escaping, he was walking in an area recorded for us in 2 Samuel 16 where there appeared on the scene some fool named Shimei. And you haven't met a snotty man until you have met Shimei. 2 Samuel 16, beginning at verse 5, down through verse 14, You can turn some other time. We read, he cursed continually as he came.

11:54 He threw stones at David and at the servants of King David, saying as he threw them, get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, you worthless fellow. If you could read it in the Hebrew, it wouldn't read worthless fellow, but I'm going to leave that for another time. now how did David respond to this nut who is throwing stones at him and screaming at him with these put downs well before I tell you David's response let me tell you Abishai's response he asked David may I go over there and cut off his head I love that line I love it had I been David Shimei wouldn't have known his head was off until he sneezed. I mean, it would be one quick slice and it would be over. But David, grace under pressure. He said, let him alone.

12:58 Let him curse. Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day. grace under pressure. One of my seminary colleagues has written several books, and I came across his wise words recently. God gives us over to such bruisings because they are part of the process to make us what he intends us to be.

13:29 The hurting makes us sweeter, more mellow. We learn to let go of what we want. it makes us calm and strong. Then he adds, I think he must have smiled when he wrote it. Our Lord was nailed to the cross, so you can count on being nailed to the wall.

13:50 Grace under pressure. Being attacked lately, accused, unfairly criticized, verbally, brutally assaulted, perhaps by somebody who doesn't even know what he's talking about. It's tough to take that without swinging back with a verbal weapon in return.

14:19 I think part of the reason the Lord is keeping us in the book of Job is to learn how to respond under such situations. There is no finer example of grace under pressure than this man whose book bears his name. uh job has been well he suffered the loss of bankruptcy the death of his 10 children that's grieved him the uh attacks of his friends who were once close to him and the disease that ravaged him on top of all that with the fever and the swelling and the sleepless nights and the dreadful days. And you rarely see Job losing it. If anything, at his worst, he simply says to the Lord, I am at a loss to know what's happening or why. What is being said isn't true and what you're doing, I cannot explain.

15:33 But all I can do is trust you. And he does it page after page after page after page. From chapter 3 to chapter 41, it happens over and over and over again.

15:53 They run in cycles. Trouble is like that, isn't it? The first cycle is over. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar swung at him and often hit him. The second cycle is over. Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar once again took him on. He answered each one, usually with great wisdom. Now we're back to the third cycle. and we're not surprised to read that old name again Eliphaz the Temanite responded all of this reminds me of a song we used to sing as junior high kids back when I was a kid the earth was cooling I remember sitting sitting on the church bus singing with my other friends same song third verse could get better gonna get worse remember that we sang it till the bus driver wanted to drive us all into the river, I can assure you.

16:56 That's where we are with Eliphaz the Temanite. Same song, same stuff, same stuff, nothing new. Let me cut to the chase. He makes three accusations against Job in chapter 22. Verses 1-11, you're a sinner. verses 12 to 30 to 20 you have hidden your sin so you're a hypocrite verse 21 to the end of the chapter verse chapter 22 verse 30 you're in need of repentance you're a sinner you're a hypocrite you need to repent you're a sinner you're a hypocrite you need to repent that's what he says in chapter 22 I mean the gall it took for him to stand there and say that to a man who is literally fevered with these boils that are all over him and wracked with grief over the loss of his family and his home and his business.

18:02 But he says it straight. Verse 5 of chapter 22, Eliphaz accuses, Is not your wickedness great and your iniquities without end? Why would he say that? Look at the condition you're in. Nobody loses everything, including family and business and home and health, without being guilty of sin. You must be a terrible sinner in light of all that you've lost. Correct observation, he's lost everything. Wrong conclusion. It wasn't because he was sinful. But Job doesn't answer. Remember, this is grace under pressure. Is not your wickedness great, your iniquities without end? You have taken pledges of your brothers without cause and stripped men naked. He's got a vivid imagination. Job never did that, but he's accusing him of it. So it's a false accusation. To the weary you have given no water to drink, and from the hungry you have withheld bread.

18:58 Job never did that, but he's accusing him of it. Job sits in silence and takes it. Verse 9, you have sent widows away empty. and the strength of the orphans has been crushed. Wrong again. Never did that. Falsely accused. Job says nothing. Therefore, as a result of your wrongdoing, Job, snares surround you and sudden dread terrifies you. Darkness so that you cannot see and abundance of water covers you. He's speaking poetically. You have gotten the full reaction of the living God who can't stand sinfulness like you have been modeling. Because you are sinful, you are going through such things.

19:45 Job's character was so pure before all of the trouble started that the devil picked him out as the one he wanted to pick on. And the Lord allowed it knowing that Job's character would be able to withstand it. The antithesis is true, the opposite of what he's being accused of. the critic didn't know his facts and by the way how could he have known them he hasn't even been on the scene he only showed up after the sickness occurred let me add a word about habitual critics they never get their facts straight habitual critics have a great imagination they only need a little bit to go on and then they can build a whole case because they have the gift of criticism. Let's say that's their calling. Their calling is to make you miserable. And they put together a mass of facts, but they can't prove them just as Eliphaz could not prove these, but he's there nevertheless accusing even, let me say this too, even though they weren't true, they were hard to hear. Even though what is being said against you cannot be proven. It's hard for you to sit there and take it and to know that other people are listening in and he is no doubt or she is no doubt telling them as well. To make matters worse, he steps into that next realm. You are a hypocrite. You have hidden your sins. He invites Job to look back. Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are.

21:22 First, he says, look up. Look up, Job. You say, what does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? Clouds are a hiding place for him so that he cannot see. He walks on the vault of heaven. Would you keep to the ancient path which wicked men have trod? Look back now, Job. Look back and see what other men have done. You're doing just what they have done. They were snatched away before their time, whose foundations were washed away by a river. They said to God, depart from us and what can the Almighty do to them? That's what you're doing, Job. So Welliphaz is telling him off. Tough criticism. It's hard enough to be told you're a sinner, but to be told on top of that that you're a hypocrite adds a low blow.

22:11 It's hard to show grace under pressure at a time like that. Warren Wiersbe writes, a hypocrite is not a person who fails to reach his desired spiritual goals. All of us fail in one way or another. A hypocrite is a person who doesn't even try to reach any goals, but he makes people think he has.

22:32 His profession and his practice never meet. The old Puritan preacher Stephen Charnock once said, It is a sad thing to be Christians at a supper heathens in our shops and devils in our closets. no question about it hypocrisy is an awful thing jesus was death on it in jesus day he took on nothing harder than he took on hypocrisy one of the major reasons the sermon on the mount was preached was because of the hypocrisy of the pharisees our god despises hypocrisy but the fact is job is not guilty of it he's hiding nothing by now Job's confessed everything I mean have you ever hurt so badly that you went back and went over every step of your life and the pain continued and then you went back and you manufactured things well maybe I did this maybe I did that and you rehearse in your mind before the Lord if I was doing this or if I was guilty of that you go there in hopes that somehow there might be a relief. Job's done all of that. In fact, he's recorded a number of times when he's brought his life before the Lord. This is a wonderful man being treated like a piece of trash. Well, Eliphaz decides he needs to preach an evangelistic sermon to Job and maybe he will get saved. And so in verses 21 to 30, he delivers an excellent evangelistic sermon. Only problem, Job's already saved as Harry Ironside used to say there are two things you can't save seats and saints and uh Job's a saint he's already in the family he doesn't need the message but I've done that preached the wrong message to a great audience and uh I've suffered for it as well look at verse 21 yield now and be at peace with him thereby good will come to you good will

24:40 come to you. Please receive instruction from God's mouth and establish his words in your heart. He has done that. If you return to the almighty, he doesn't need to. You will be restored if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent. He's already done that. And place your gold in the dust. Verse 25, then the almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you. Then you will delight in the almighty and lift up your face to God. He's going on and on and on with this message and Job just patiently sits there. You do that sometime when I preach. I understand. I have to do that sometime when I hear other people preach and they're maybe preaching a message that doesn't necessarily apply. Job has a message being delivered. It's a great message, but he doesn't need it. He doesn't need it. He's probably walking as close to the Lord as he has ever walked in his life. Problem is he can hardly move because of his pain And eliphaz has interpreted that incorrectly But he demonstrates grace under pressure interesting in these 30 verses not once does job interrupt Let me ask you a hard question Would you have sat there and let all that be said?

25:54 Without interrupting I mean, wouldn't you at least a time or two say wait? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute before you go any further. Prove that. Where are my witnesses or where are your witnesses that say I'm guilty of that? Prove it. And he doesn't do that. grace under pressure there's a lot to learn before we move to chapter 23 there's a lot to learn from job's self-control i don't know how old he was by now i think he's getting up in years but one of the things he's learned over the years that those people learned that i quoted earlier is that you just sometimes take it on the chin. You just sometime let it go by you. If you know it's not true, even though that person would swear that it's true, you let it go on by. Just let it go on. Let them go right on believing it. Job, by the way, in chapter 23 and 24, never once answers Eliphaz. He talks to and about the Lord, but he doesn't once address Eliphaz. I think that's pretty significant.

27:13 After all, Eliphaz is not going to justify him. The Lord will. So after you take the blast, whether it's at work or in some other place, and you finally get home and you get a quiet place, go to the Lord and talk to him and say, Lord, you know the truth. If any part of that is true, reveal that to me, but I don't believe it is. And in light of that, these are the things I request. Now we get to chapter 23 and chapter 24. You get three very calm responses and very vulnerable responses from Job. Verses 1 to 12, Job answers, I am unable to locate the presence of God, but I trust him.

28:00 I am unable to locate the presence of God but I trust you Lord. That's grace under pressure. follow along with me. Then Job replied, verse 3, Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat. It's the courtroom he has in mind. I wish I knew the bench that he sat on. I wish I knew where I could locate him, somewhere on this earth that I could get to him. I would bring my case before him, verse 4 says. I would fill my mouth with arguments. i would learn the words which he would answer i wouldn't argue with him i would learn from him i would perceive what he would say to me would he contend with me by the greatness of his power no surely he would pay attention to me you know one of the great things about our god when you come to him as you are you never hear him say shame on you people say that God hears your confession and he is quick to respond I forgive you I love you I understand you I commend you for facing the truth would he contend with me by the greatness of his power?

29:36 no, he would pay attention to me in fact there the upright would reason with him and I would be delivered forever from my judge one of the things we can learn from our God is that when people come with their confession there is one appropriate response three words I forgive you that's the response they don't need reminders of other bad things that they have done they don't need to be put on the spot or are ashamed because they failed, they need forgiveness. He says, would he contend with me? He would not contend with me, even though he's much more powerful. He would pay attention to me. I could reason with him and I would be delivered forever from my judge, but I can't find him. I go forward, verse 8, he's not there. I turn around and I go back and I cannot perceive him.

30:42 When he acts on the left, I cannot behold him and when he turns to the right, I cannot see him. you ever been there just keep it to yourself for a minute okay if we all answered it would be one rousing yes sometime in vain you search for some visible evidence of the living God wouldn't it be great to wake up in the middle of the night and peek out the window and see a little sky writing dear Chuck I hear you I'm in charge love God but that's not the way it works I would love for that to happen I'd love to get into my vehicle after a hard day at work and turn the radio on and have God say before you listen to this station I want to talk to you for a few minutes what's that dial where is he on that dial I would turn and We would love to have something tangible, something present.

31:55 but we don't it's a matter of faith it's like the tragedy that struck this family of one child the mother died early in the child's life and the father and the daughter were left with the memory of this wonderful mother and the grief and the sorrow and the night after the funeral of that day he put his daughter to bed and his heart just went out to her and he decided that he would take a cot in there and put the cot by the daughter's bed. Middle of the night, he heard her crying. and he called her name, and she said, Daddy, it's so hard. She said, I just miss her so much.

32:56 And he reached over and took her hand. She said, oh, that's so much better, and she put her hand over on his shoulder and on his chest. And he said, you know, sweetheart, we have the Lord. she said I know it but I just need someone with skin on I just need someone to touch If you live alone, you sometime feel that.

33:26 If you have been left alone because of a broken relationship and you now find yourself where you once had companionship, but now it's just you, you must awaken sometime in the night and think, I wish I could find him there. I wish I could just reach out and touch him or hear his words. How reassuring that would be. This is a great man.

34:03 This isn't some immature fly-by-night brand-new Christian. this is a mature saint of God oh that I could know where he is but I cannot see him behold him or perceive him some of the greatest verses in all the Bible are verses 10 11 and 12 of Job 23 I committed them to memory back when I was a in my young 20s, and I have called them to mind perhaps more than any other passage of scripture. I commend to you the memorizing of Job 23, 10 through 12. I'm serious. I've got them marked out in my Bible.

34:56 I got a ruler and I marked around 23, 10 through 12. He knows the way that I take. Look at the verse. When he, that's God, has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined. Neither have I turned back from the command of his lips. I love this word. I have esteemed, I have treasured, I have prized the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. i'm unable to locate the presence of god but i trust him eliphaz bildad zophar and later elihu you can say whatever you wish against me god knows the way that i take he knows the truth he my justifier he and i are on speaking terms i trust him I believe in him he knows the way I take after the trial is over I will come forth as gold you can count on that saints when the trial has passed you will be deeper and richer for it I want you to allow those words to burn their way into your brain so deeply that they become like a divine filter for everything that happens in your life from now on. Everything.

36:34 God knows the way that we take. One of the heretical ideas of these current days is the openness of God. Open theism is what it is called, as though God is still learning as he watches us respond to situations. In other words, omniscience is not really omniscience. It's kind of a learning knowledge. But the God of the Bible, I am convinced, and verses like this say that, the God of the Bible knows the way we take. Your need, verse 11, and mine, is to have our feet hold fast to his path, to keep his way and not turn aside, not depart from the command of his lips.

37:27 You say, well, I thought we couldn't see him. What do you mean his lips? His word. It's as if God is speaking. When you open his book, his word teaches you, instructs you, counsels you, comforts you, reproves you, directs your steps. I have not departed from the command of his lips and look at the last line I have treasured the word means to esteem, to value the words of his mouth more than steak and potatoes more than solid dessert more than the most delicious and delectable meal the finest chef in the country can provide I have treasured the words of his mouth more than what I have for lunch or what I'm served or what I serve myself for supper. I treasure his words more than anything that even keeps me alive. That's the value I place on what he has said.

38:25 Grace under pressure. That's why he could keep from answering Eliphaz or slugging him. That's how Job could restrain himself when he's being falsely accused. He knows that God knows the way he takes. God knows his heart and he trusts God. Now, the second statement Job makes, which is the balance of this chapter, 13 through 17, I'm unable to understand the plan of God.

38:52 Now, get that along with the first one and you'll have a nice balance. I'm unable to locate the presence of God, but I trust him. Now, the second is I am unable to understand the plan of God, but I trust him. Same ending, but it's another subject. his plan is unfolding and i'm not able to understand it in fact he says he's unique in verse 13 god is unique who can turn him what his soul desires that he does that's a very important statement what his soul desires that he does god does not say to you some night hey hey hey frank what do you say i try this on you how would that be Don't wait for that to happen. He doesn't give you a call and say, Shirley, hi, this is God.

39:47 I'm thinking about trying such and such tomorrow. See if you'll step up. So what do you think about that? It ain't going to happen. If you get calls like that, contact one of our counselors. He is unique. Who can turn him what his soul desires? That he does. He doesn't ask permission. He doesn't tell you ahead of time. He doesn't explain why it's so hard. He doesn't let you know how it's going to come out. He doesn't tell you why it goes on and on and on and on and on, and most of it is unfair. He doesn't tell you how long it's going to last. He doesn't tell you when it's going to end, you trust him. You trust him. You wait. You serve him. You keep your feet on his paths. You treasure his words. And whatever God desires, that is what he does. And you trust him. You can't understand it. And don't call me because I can't explain it either. I got my own stuff.

40:51 you call me I'll probably say while you're on the line I've got several things I want to ask you and to make matters even more complicated verse 14 he performs what is appointed for me there's a uniqueness there nobody else was Job and Job had what was appointed for Job and that became his life and lifestyle just as he is performing what is appointed for you and don't get your hopes up many such decrees are with him you've got a whole bunch of them waiting to implement once you get through this one isn't that fun therefore i would be dismayed at his presence when i consider i am terrified of him that's great great vulnerability just say it It's okay.

41:44 I think the Lord would love to hear us say that on occasion. You frighten me. I heard about one of the Puritans who was so exasperated. The Lord was taking so much time. He went into his study, closed the door, and he said, God, hurry up. You're so slow. You frighten, you terrify me. How long is this going to go on? You can do that. God will understand. You're not going to go zap and you're gone.

42:15 It's not like that. And Job is just as honest with him as he can possibly be. It was dark inside there. And it wasn't getting any lighter. And every day that passed, it just hurt more. St. John of the Cross, one of the fathers, wrote, God perceives the imperfections within us. Now listen closely. This is deep. God perceives the imperfections within us, and because of his love for us, urges us to grow up. His love is not content to leave us in our weaknesses. And for this reason, he takes us into a dark night. he weans us from all the pleasures by giving us dry times and inward darkness.

43:11 In doing so, he is able to take away all these vices and create virtues within us. Through the dark night, pride becomes humility. Greed becomes simplicity. Wrath becomes contentment. Luxury becomes peace.

43:38 Gluttony becomes moderation. Envy becomes joy. And sloth becomes strength. No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul by means of the dark night. that's why we trust him I can't see in the darkness and the longer it goes on the darker it seems it gets and so I trust him and I wait for him and I don't try to explain what he's up to I trust him you want this to go on longer I trust you I'm going to act wisely, I'm going to respond as best I can, but Lord God, to change this setting is your business, not mine.

44:36 And my walk with you is such that I lean on you when I can't see my way through for however long. Now, his final response is in chapter 24. He was unable to locate the presence of God, so he said, I trust him. He was unable to explain the plan of God, so he says, I trust him. By the way, Pascal once wrote, the eternal silence of those infinite spaces frightens me. I love that.

45:11 The eternal silence of those infinite spaces frightens me. For some time in the depth of his will, you are absolutely scared to death. You don't have any idea where this is going to lead. It's okay. You trust him. You wait for him. chapter 24 I'm unable to justify the permissions of God but I trust him I'm unable to justify the permissions of God what do I mean by that well what does Job mean he starts in the country verses 1 to 11 he goes to the city verses 12 to 17 and then he just levels curses against the wicked at the end.

46:06 18 down through 24. In the country, look at this. Some remove, verse 2, some remove the landmarks and they seize and devour flocks. God doesn't step in and stop it. They drive away the donkeys of the orphans. They take the widow's ox for a pledge. God doesn't stop. He permits that. They push the needy aside from the road. The poor from the land are made to hide themselves altogether. This is great poetry, and it's true fact. As wild donkeys in the wilderness, they go forth seeking food in their activity. As bread for their children in the desert, they harvest their fodder in the field and glean the vineyard of the wicked. They spend the night naked without clothing, have no covering against the cold. God doesn't stop it. They are wet with the mountain rains and hug the rock for want of a shelter, and God doesn't step in and stop it.

46:58 He permits it. Others snatch the orphan from the breast. God doesn't stop it. There are kidnappings and God doesn't stop it. And against the poor, they take a pledge and God doesn't stop it. He permits it. And on and on and on it goes down through verse 11. I can't, I can't justify God's passivity. Why does he permit that? But he does. When you get to chapter 24, verse 12, you're in the city and you think the country problems were tough. Look at the litany of the city problems. Verse 13, others have been with those who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways nor abide in its paths and God lets it happen. The murderer arises at dawn. God lets him go. He kills the poor and the needy and at night he is as a thief and God doesn't stop it. the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight saying no eye will see me he disguises his face and god doesn't zap him you could go all the way down through this list all the way to the end and there are wrongs and and there are failures and there are unjust injustices and there's robbery and sexual sins. And where is God? He is permitting it. Why? I don't know, says Job.

48:20 I think his point here is that just exactly like what's happened to me, God's permitted it. Just like what I'm going through, God has permitted it. Those who do wrong get away with it. those who take advantage of others get away with it and God doesn't step in and you and I could name a half dozen examples right now of recent cases where the Lord could have stopped it but he didn't this isn't all about the Jewish Holocaust this isn't all about the wrongs of the crusade era this isn't all about the priests in the Catholic Church who abused boys this is about all kinds of things that we could name and God could have stopped it, but he didn't. It's a mystery. That's the point. I can't justify the permissions of God. But I trust him.

49:16 That's a major step, especially if one of the boys is your son. Or if one of the children kidnapped is your child. It's a real test on trust. and so Job finishes this 18 through 24 by leveling curses against the wicked Job is saying in effect you think I'm wicked I'm telling you God if I had my way with God he would curse every one of them doing wrong I stand against everything that I've named here and verse 25 is pretty assuring isn't it now if it's not so who can prove me a liar and make my speech worthless can any stand up and say this is nonsense. No one could. Not even Eliphaz.

50:05 The amazing thing is God's tolerance. Not only is he absent, not only is he mysterious. I can't justify what he's doing. I mean, would you have done with Job what God did with him? If you had, we would call you cruel. But when God does it, he turns it into a 42-chapter book and uses it in all our lives.

50:35 Okay. What's this about? Three lessons, if I may be that simplistic. I think there are three enduring... lessons. Even though God is elusive and mysterious and strange and silent and invisible and appears to be passive, he is trustworthy. So the first point I want to make is resist the temptation to explain everything. Resist the temptation to explain everything. God knows add that resist the temptation to explain everything God knows but you and I don't it was a great day at Dallas Seminary when I heard one of the profs say as he was asked a question similar to this subject I don't know and I thought yes honest man brilliant theologian. I don't know. I don't know. I can't explain it. Seminary is not a school where you learn all of the answers about the mysterious workings of God. It may be the place where you finally learn to admit there are a lot of things about him I don't know. Someone has said an education is just going from an unawareness to an awareness of your ignorance.

52:01 you discover all the things you don't know resist the temptation to explain everything don't try just practice say it with me I don't know first time some of you have said that in years let's do it again I don't know terrific you did it very well tomorrow morning at the mirror guys as you're shaving say it I don't know I don't know why I got a face like this I don't know why today is like this I don't know second focus on the future benefits not the present pain when he has tried me I will come forth as gold when I pass this test there's going to be rewards focus on the future benefits not the present pain God leads add that he knows what he's about that's what Job 23.10 says he knows the way I take here's the third it's the toughest one for many of you i know but it's got to be added embrace the sovereignty of god god controls embrace the sovereignty of god now some of you want to say in return look it's hard for me to embrace anyone i don't really understand you hug your wife don't you Thank you.

53:45 You hug your husband, don't you? You hug your daddy, your mama. You don't understand all about them. Sometimes you have just said, I don't understand, but come here. You just put your arms around them. Never believe that life is based on random chance. Don't ever believe that. It's all working together like a massive, beautiful piece of divine tapestry that from this side looks blurred and knotted and strange and twisted, but from that side has an incredible pattern to it. And to God, it's for his glory. It makes great sense. But we're on this side. My good friend David Roper, in his fine book, Seeing Through provides an illustration of this. Recently, Carolyn and I were on the first leg of a flight from Frankfurt, Germany to our home in Boise, Idaho. Our first stop was Boston.

54:52 It had been an exhausting week and I dropped off to sleep as soon as I found my seat, but I was soon awakened by the disturbance in the aisle. The steward and a passenger who had been seated on Carolyn's left were arguing about the man's seat assignment. Somehow he had been separated from his fiancee who was seated several rows behind us. The man grew increasingly angry and argumentative until another passenger seated by the man's fiancee offered to trade places. The swap was made and Carolyn's new seatmate settled into his place, drew out a legal pad, and began to work on some project. Unfortunately, there was a garrulous little French boy seated on his left, a charming child who wanted to talk. The man, who seemed to be the soul of patience, gave up his project after a few minutes and began to chat amiably with the boy.

55:54 Carolyn was soon drawn into the conversation. I heard the man say he was from Los Gatos, California. and I had lived where Carolyn and I had lived for 18 years. He was on the Frankfurt to Boston leg of the flight to San Francisco. I heard Carolyn remark on the fact that we had many friends in the Bay Area and then I went back to sleep. When I awakened an hour or so later, I found Carolyn sharing her faith with her newfound friend, scribbling on his pad of paper, drawing diagrams, and animating her story. He was listening intently and asking questions. I sat there quietly and I prayed for her and for the man. At one point he said, you believe as my wife does. Oh, Carolyn replied. And how did she become a follower of Christ?

56:46 Through Bible study fellowship, he responded. Oh, how did she find out about Bible study fellowship? Carolyn asked. A friend of hers, Nell King, invited her to attend. That's remarkable. Well, Carolyn exclaimed, Nell King is one of my best friends. And then the coin dropped. A few months before we moved to Boise, Nell had asked Carolyn to pray for a friend who had just become a Christian through Bible study fellowship and for her husband, who was not yet a believer. The man now seated on Carolyn's left. There, by that power which erring men call chance. there is a perfect plan unfolding. You can't explain it. You can't understand it.

57:41 And there will be times you won't like it. He's not going to ask you permission to keep it moving. Trust Him. grace under pressure bow your heads with me will you please you're surrounded by individuals in the family of God who could tell you a hundred stories similar to the one I just told you but they probably won't because you would never know to ask but the fact is you have your own stories just look over the way things have worked out you may be in the middle of a turmoil. Trust the Lord. It's not an eternal turmoil. It's just part of the unfolding of a profound plan.

58:37 It may very well be the plan is designed to humble you, to bring you so far down that the only way you can look is up, and you'll see a cross. and you'll reach out by faith, and you will take the hand of the one who died for you, and it's got skin on it. He was a man like we are, but he was without sin. He paid the full price for your salvation, and he awaits your accepting it. the plan will never be exciting to you until you accept the Lord Jesus into your life don't wait to do that today's the day Father we are very grateful for the way your work unfolds and much to our amazement and sometime admittedly our resistance and disappointment the plan brings hurt, it brings pain, it requires grace under pressure.

59:51 Give us the patience to endure. Give us the faith to believe. Give us the hope to trust. I pray in the name of Jesus and for his sake. Everyone said.