Seeing Through the Dim Glass

Phoenix. How are you? >> Good. It's good to see everyone this morning. If I haven't met you, I am Pastor DJ, the pastor here at Cross Church Phoenix. Welcome in. You can come find me afterwards. I'd love to chat with you, get to know you more. And with that, let's open our Bibles to Job chapter 29. Job chapter 29. And as you are turning there, I wanted to just bring to everyone's attention um I forgot to put it out last week. I had it in my backpack and didn't pin it to the wall, but uh I can't thank this church enough for its support and love and and grace and mercy uh that it extends to me. And uh thank you for all that you did uh last month for me and my family. We are truly grateful. And I I wrote just a short thank you note to the entire church family and it is posted tacked to the wall outside my office. And also um just wanted to give you a heads up that there is a gift coming. It's not here yet. Coming from our family to yours. And you're like is that from the church? No, not from the like church. From our family to yours. We uh have something coming for you for every every church family, every person, every member. So, but those are coming and uh it will be a Christmas gift and invitation. Um you may have gotten an email uh this week regarding our brothers and sisters at Cross Church Cornville. They were uh experienced the flooding. The church is okay. The community is is not really to be frank. Um, and they are doing a lot of cleanup efforts and are asking for some help. If you're wondering what email are you talking about, let me know. I can send it to you specifically, but they were kind of uh they provided a list of needs and and by tier as well, by priority, I should say. And uh some things we need to hold off on. Other things are more important. And if you have any questions or want to participate in that, let me know. If you're going to bring anything here, um, bring it soon. We're going to, uh, deliver some stuff up there. But um there's way different ways to help in that email and I can uh send that to you if you didn't get it. Also, before we get into the scriptures, our kids ministry needs help. Uh we got a few folks who actually came up to me after 9:00 a.m. service saying, "Sign me up. How do I do this?" Um but especially in our prek and nursery side, we've got all kinds of kids um that can come in. Yeah. It's great. I love it. Yes. Yes. And amen. Um, and we especially need help on that on that nursery prek side. And if you are interested in that, come come find me. Come let me know. And uh there's a little bit of a process to go through to protect our children, of course. But um there's a QR code out in the hallway. I know that's vague. I'll show it to you. And then there's an application to fill out and we will get you plugged in. Uh but we definitely need some help there. And uh I encourage you to consider that. Well, this morning we're going to cover three chapters uh in Job. chapters 29-31. And it was CH Spurgeon, the old Baptist preacher from a few hundred years ago, who once said, "The man who has never enjoyed communion with God knows nothing of what it must be to lose it. But he who has will mourn as long as he lives, if he be deprived of the sacred enjoyment." End quote. Although Job waxed eloquently about wisdom in chapter 28, he's still hurting and he's confused. Job enjoyed communion with God, the blessings of God. But now, as Spurgeon uh describes Job's situation, Job is mourning that his communion with God seems or feels broken. We know the truth. It is not, but it feels and seems that way. to Job and he knows what it's like to feel uh this distance from God or to feel because he's enjoyed God so much before. Chapters 29 through31 are what I'm calling um a but now sandwich. Um it is a but now sandwich by coupled by some ifonies. Um you'll see and we'll read through this uh but if you look at chapter 30 verse one you see uh but now right but now they mock me verse 9 now I am mocked by their songs and then if you look at verse 16 now my life is poured out before me and chapter 30 is sandwiched uh between the ifonies of chapters 29 and 31. If you look at 29 verse two just real quick, he says, "If only I could go back right to the past." And then if you were to flip towards the end, chapter 31:35, Job will say, "Oh, if only someone I had someone, excuse me, to hear my case." So, it's the it's the but now sandwich surrounded by these ifonies, these wishes that Job has. If only I had this, but now I have this. And we'll see that together this morning. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for this morning. I thank you for your word. I pray God that we would see the truths in it. And although we may suffer or have suffered or are now or in pain, sorrow, hurt, distress, help us to remember that we are seeing through a glass dimly or darkly. We don't see the whole picture. We don't know the whole story. You do. We don't. You are God and we are not. Help us, Lord, to see the truth of your word in the midst of these uh trials and and suffering. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Well, let's stand as we read God's word together. Uh, as I've done before, I'm going to read a sample from each chapter. And if you're unable to stand, that is fine. You can stand with us in spirit as we simply honor God's word with our lives. Job chapter 29 beginning at verse one it says Job continued his discourse saying if only I could be as in months gone by in the days when God watched over me when his lamp shone above my head and I walked through darkness by his light I would be as I was in the days of my youth when God's friendship rested on my tent when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me when my feet were bathed in curds. We'll talk about that. And the rock poured out streams of oil for me. Now jump to chapter 30 as we kind of get this 30,000 foot look. Chapter 30 verse 1. But now they mock me. Men younger than I am whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs. Like that statement. That is that is good. Jump down to verse 9. Job says,"Now I am mocked by their songs. I have become an object of scorn to them." And look at verse 16. Now my life is poured out before me and days of suffering have seized me. And let's look at the end of chapter 31, beginning verse 35. Give you a chance to turn there. Love hearing the pages turn. Job says this as he kind of closes us out. If only I had someone to hear my case. Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my opponent, Bold move, Job, compose his indictment. I would surely carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown. I would give him an account of all my steps. I would approach him like a prince. Amen. Thanks. You can be seated. If you have an outline this morning, um you'll see at the top of it, seeing through the dim glass. And if you don't have one, there's some on the tables in the back there. Seeing through the dim glass. And this uh this morning's heading comes from a statement that Paul makes in the New Testament. As I was reading and studying myself, I thought we have a great opportunity to show how a New Testament principle is being lived out here in Job. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, Paul says, "For now we see through a glass darkly." Some translations might say we see in a mirror dimly. But then he for now in my life in our life we see through glass darkly. But then when he's with the Lord face to face now I know. Now I know in part. But then I shall know even as I am known. Mirrors in those days in the first century were made of polished metal and they did not provide the clear reflections that we have today. What Paul is saying in that verse in Corinthians, and we're not preaching Corinthians, I know, but what you need to know is what Paul is saying in that verse is that our knowledge of God and his ways in the here and now is imperfect. It is partial. It is unclear. And that's a good illustration of what's going on here with Job. As you know, if you've been with us, and if you haven't, um, to bring you up to speed, Job has lost just about everything in his life. He still has his wife, but he's lost all of his children. He had 10 kids. Uh, his property is gone. His children have all died in a tragic accident. Even his reputation, as we'll see, has been taken from him. God allowed Satan to afflict Job, remove his blessings, and make his life basically absolutely miserable. And as Job closes out, this is his last speech. Job will say a few words at the end, but they will be very brief uh because he's going to repent in dust and ashes when God speaks. So God will put him in his place as well as everyone else. Um, but Job will speak a little bit more, but this is really his last stand, so to speak. And as he closes these the these few last few chapters out, he's not seeing things clearly. He will say things that are not true about God. And as we go through these chapters, you'll likely be able to relate a little bit to how Job feels. But what I want us to see is the truths that remain no matter what blessings are removed from our own lives. So the first number one you'll see in the in your handout when blessings are removed from your life it does not mean God has abandoned you. If you look at the opening statements Job makes in chapter 29, he's reminiscing of the good old days, back when, it's like the the guy who graduated high school 20 years ago and he played football and every year that passes, he was a better football player. Every time he retells a story, he was a better star than before. Uh he's looking back, reminiscing of the good old days. Verse two, if only I could be as in months gone by, in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone above my head and I walk through darkness by his light. Verse four, if only I could go back to my youth. When God's friendship rested on my tent, he no longer even feels like him and God are friends anymore. He continues, right? rested on my tent when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me. This is a broken man who misses his family, his own kids. And verse six uh reads a little bit awkward, but he's talking about the abundant blessings he had. Kurds can also be uh translated as cream, and cream and oil speak of abundance, plenty. He's talking about plentiful blessings. What he's saying is, I wish I could go back to the old days when God was my friend because apparently right now he's not. If you keep reading, Job talks in verses 7- 11 about the respect everyone else used to give him. Young and old stopped to listen to him. Job was the kind of guy in the community where if he spoke, you shut up and listen. He is a leader. He's wise. He's benevolent. He's kind. Verses 12- 25, and I know I'm moving uh quickly. I encourage you to read these on your the whole chapter on your own and in Bible groups. But in verses 12- 25, Job is refuting accusations that Elephaz, if you remember, one of his friends that Elephaz made against him specifically in chapter 22. So this chapter 29 relates to chapter 22. If you remember, Elephaz accused Job of all kinds of wickedness and evil against the fatherless, against widows, against the poor and the needy. And Job is saying, "Uh-uh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I rescued the poor and the fatherless. I helped widows. I helped the the blind, the lame. I opposed the unjust. When people were acting unjustly, I opposed them." Right? I stood up for strangers. as if a stranger came into the community and somebody was mistreating them. I stood up for them. But as Job reminisces and realizes the blessings he no longer has, it leads him unfortunately to false beliefs, the false belief that God has abandoned him. How often do we fall into the same trap? Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you? When things are good, right? When things are going great, we feel close to God. We're like, "Hallelujah. Yes and amen." Right? But as soon as something bad happens, as soon as a blessing we've had is taken, and that could be, you know, children are a blessing from God, right? And if a family member is lost or what we've had has been taken, a reputation even is destroyed, not for anything you've done, not deservedly, but by false accusations, whatever it might be, we may begin to feel like God has abandoned us or our fellowship with God is broken because we're hurting and these things are are been have been removed from our lives. Job had 10 children taken from him. I can't imagine having one taken away from me. How broken I would be, let alone 10. These are things that he is remembering. He used to have he used to have a full family, a joy. He used to have the respect of others. Now it's gone. Is God has God abandoned me? We may feel like God has abandoned us in our hurt and pain, but it's just plain old not true. It's fake news. The truth is that no matter what loss you experience in your life, God has never and will never abandon you. >> Amen. As we move into chapter 30, we learn that Job not only feels abandoned by God, but that but he also feels ignored by God. Chapter 30 transitions to this but now. He's thought about the past. Now he's like, but now the middle of our if only sandwich. But now verse one, I am mocked. Now I'm mocked. Verse nine. Now my life's poured out before me. Verse 16, Job has transitioned from looking back on his life to now reflecting on what's going on currently. The same people who honored and respected Job are now mocking him. And as you go through that chapter, he describes the lowest of the low in society mock Job with their songs and scorn him. They even keep their distance from him. And look at verse 10 of chapter 30. They even what? Spit in his face without hesitation. Verse 11, Job says, "God is the one allowing this and oppressing him." Which is partially true. Yes, God is allowing it. But he thinks that God is the one directly oppressing and opposing Job and that God is against Job. And that is not true. If you look down at verse 19, Job says, "God even throws him in the mud and it culminates in verse 20 where Job says, I cry out to you for help and but you do not answer me." He's talking about God. Job feels like God is completely ignoring him. God is turned against him. that God is harassing him, you know, like God has shunned him. Like un, you know, unshun, be quiet, Job, I'm mad at you. Re-shun. And then God is like ignoring him, right? I cry out to you and you don't listen. Notice what Job says in verse 21. Look at it in your Bible because I want to point this out to you. Job is getting a little bit confused and bold at the same time. Verse 21 says what? You God harass me with your strong right hand. Okay. Now look at verse 24. What does Job say? Yet no one would what? Stretch out his hand against a ruined person when he cries out to him for help because of his distress. So now Job's understanding of his relationship with God is becoming very distorted. Okay? He's saying no one God no one would do this to a hurting person. So why are you? That's what he's saying. I cry out and you don't listen. You stretch out your hand against a hurting person and yet no one else would. Like no one else. God, why? It seems like you're kicking me while I'm down, Lord, is what uh DJ's modern translation. Job will even compare what God's doing to him with what he's done for others. Verse 25, if you look at it, Job's like, "Haven't I wept for those who've fallen on hard times? I sympathize and empathize with those who are hurting, yet God doesn't seem to be doing that for me. Um, hasn't my soul grieved for the needy? Yet Job is like, "I'm in need and God isn't doesn't seem grieved over me." He says, "I help people when they're down. Yet no one, not even God will help me when I'm down is what he's saying." Job is both Job is miserable both outwardly and inwardly. Verse 30, he's like, "My skin is flaking off and my bones ache inside me. Even my instruments." I don't know what Job might have played. Maybe he played a little guitar. I don't know. But he says, "Even my instruments are now for mourning rather than joy." So as Job reflects on his situations, his blessings are gone. People mock him. His reputation is gone. He feels God has completely written him off. But the truth that we must know is this. When God when blessings are removed from your life, it does not mean that God is ignoring you. We know the rest of the story. God will step in, just not on Job's timing. But God is not ignoring Job. God knows exactly what's going on in Job's life, and he knows exactly what's going on in yours. Have you ever felt like God is ignoring you? You cry out to him and you feel like you get no response. this thing happened in your life and it drives you to prayer and you feel like you're getting nothing but crickets like God is closing his ears and saying la I can't hear you right that God has just completely shut you down. Have you ever been there? What we must remember is first of all God is not obligated to work in your timing or mine. He is not obligated to work in our timing no more than he was obligated to work in Job's timing. He will work in his own timing. But what are we called to do? Keep praying. Keep waiting. Keep running to him. When things feel or seem utterly helpless, hopeless, broken. Remember, God is not turning a blind eye to you. He will work when he's going to work. And we'll see that in Job in a couple weeks. We'll get through um Elihoo next week. This this other dude who chimes in. In a couple weeks, God is going to step in and everyone's going to have to shut their mouths and repent. It's going to be great. But we continue to love, serve, and obey God. He's not ignoring us. No matter what we're going through or how we feel, we are not guided by our feelings. We have feelings. We are emotional beings. God created emotion, but we are not led by them. We are led by the truth of God's word. As we move into chapter 31, this is basically uh you know what I could call Job's closing argument. Uh he kind of imagines this court case that's been brought against him. He's like, "Here I stand. Uh this is my closing argument against y'all. And he says, "I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?" He's saying he's remained sexually pure. He's not going around lusting. And he knows the consequences of that. Verse three, disaster would come. Job expects disaster and misfortune to come to evildoers, but Job's like, "That's not me. Throughout this whole chapter, you'll see a lot of ifs, right? If I have done this or that or the other. If I've done wicked things, then yes, I deserve this, but I haven't. Verse 9 and 10 are very graphic. He says basically, look, if I had an affair, let my wife go be with someone else. let her go grind grain, he says, for another meaning like supply and and cook meals and help another man run his run his home. Uh, and it's it's extremely graphic when you get to verse 10. He says, "Let another man sleep with her." That is a very that is a more modern the the the literal in Hebrew is let another man kneel down over her. Yes, it means what you think it means. Job is saying that would be a it would be a disgrace if I had cheated on my wife. I deserve punishment. Let her go be with someone else if I did. Absolutely. But I haven't. Verse 13 to 15 Job says he took good care of his servants and he didn't ignore their needs. Now these aren't servants like uh modern slavery where it is sinful and and abusive. This is servants. Think like uh Downtown Abbey uh servants. Um wellresected, taken care of by the family. They're even part of the family. Um Becky last time, Becky between service is like, "You're revealing what you Yeah, I've watched down a little bit with my wife." Okay. Uh ultimately, these are wellrespected people. Job, if you look at verse 15 of of chapter 31, he knows what all people are made in the image of God and have dignity. Job's like, I'm not any just because they're my servants doesn't mean I'm any better than them. God made both of us and I take care of them. I love them. They're part of my family. Yeah, they work in my fields or on my property or whatever, but I love them. He's kind of the another Boaz. He He's a great guy to work for. He loves you and takes care of you. He doesn't hurt you and abuse you. Job's like, "That's me." Job's at a loss. He's saying, "Look, I've cared for the poor and blind, the dying, the needy, the fatherless. If I haven't, verse 22, then you know what? Look what he says. Look at what he says in your own Bible." This is awesome. Let my arms fall right off. You know what he's basically saying? The DJV translation would be um uh right. God can rip my arms right off of me if I'm using them to oppress the poor. If these arms and these hands are being used to hurt people, God, rip them right off of my body. That's what he's saying. Hebrews very vivid. It's great. Rip them off. Why did Job do all these good things, right? Why did he live a holy and righteous life? He says because of verse 23. What? disaster from God terrifies him. Yes. And amen. What else does he say? Don't Don't miss this. What? Because of his majesty, I could not do these things. If you need any more motiv any motivation at all to live a righteous and holy life in honor of God, let it be because of God's majesty. Amen. >> God's majesty is motivation enough to live a life obedient to God. No, we won't be perfect. I'm not talking about perfection. There was one who lived perfectly. His name is Jesus Christ, not you. Right? But Job's motivation for his love and care for his family. Remember, he got up early in the morning to sacrifice for his kids just in case they sinned. He loved his family. He loved God. He loved the people. He was well wellresected in the community. When he spoke, you listened. All of these things. Why? Because God's majesty drove him to be that way. And that's why he's so confused. He's like, I love my majestic God. And yet, I'm hurting so much. Job says he loves God too much to hurt people like that and sin in those ways. He even concludes. He says, "Look, I haven't idolized money. I didn't make lowercase G gods out of the sun or the moon. Right? Verse 26 and 27. He hasn't done that. He's only worshiped God. If he did, right, he's like, if I did, if I did worship the sun and the moon, yeah, it would deserve punishment. That's called idolatry. But that's not Job. Job hasn't rejoiced in other sins. He hasn't even allowed his mouth to speak sin. In fact, Job's like, I've been hospitable to the poorest of people. Look, no one's gone hungry at Job's table. No one spent the night on the street. If they were by Job's house, he'd invite them in. He's not hiding anything. And he calls upon God to hear him. And he signs off literally. Verse 35, "Here's my signature. Let the Almighty answer me." Job's like, "I need to maintain my integrity. I do. I This is the truth. This is how I've lived. I'm not hiding any sin. Sign Job God. Check this out. And he says, "Get this right. Let my capital Opponent compose his indictment and Job will be immediately humbled in a couple of weeks." Um, very bold move. But he signs off saying, "What? I haven't done all these things. I haven't even abused the land that I'm on or its tenants, right? if I did, let my land grow weeds. Right? Uh but he hasn't. So the bottom line is this. Our last point, when blessings are removed from your life, it does not mean that God no longer cares about your conduct. This really stuck out to me of all the things. This was what really stood out in my own study. Nowhere does Job use his suffering as an excuse for sin. He doesn't say, "Well, I might as well go sleep around or go on that website or give up being godly since everything's going wrong anyway. What's the point of serving God? I'm miserable. I'm just going to go sin." No, not at all. He doesn't give up. He's emotionally exhausted, yes, but not about to go out and sin because of it. And may that be a lesson for all of us. Whether you're experiencing great blessings from God or pain and sorrow or suffering and tragedy, may it never become an excuse to give up, give in, and no longer care about how you conduct yourself as a Christian. >> Amen. >> We are not called to live the Christian life only in the good times. We are called to be holy and sanctified no matter what. You could read 2 Corinthians 11, what Paul endured. He never once said, "You know what? I just need some relief. I think I'm going to go get drunk one night. I think God will understand. Um, I've been through a lot lately. A lot of shipwrecks going on currently. Um, I need to I need to go get drunk." No, Paul does not do that. And neither ought we. And you can insert your sin here, right? Your preferred sin. Don't don't don't go to that stuff whether things are going good or bad. when you're suffering seeing through the glass dimly. That's to kind of drive this home. Remember, you're not seeing the whole picture. Job wasn't seeing the whole picture. Neither do we. God is there. God is working. We must, we need to remain faithful and trust in him. Sometimes people like, I don't know what God is doing. Exactly. That's the point. The point is you don't know. And I don't either sometimes what do we do in our brokenness? We trust the father. We run to him and we keep trusting no matter what. Because here we know in part. We only know part of the story. God has allowed things to happen in your life and my life. Sometimes it might be confusing why Lord. But then when we are fully known, we will fully know as well when we see him face to face. Oh glorious day. But until then, we trust him. And I don't know about you, but when I read about Job being mocked, Job being spat upon, and Job maintains his integrity, nowhere does Job claim to be sinless, but he is claiming to say, "Look, I haven't done anything to deserve what I'm going through right now." But nowhere does Job claim sinlessness. What we need to remember is that although Job has been very bold as of late, he is still a sinner. Only one suffered completely righteously and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He endured mocking. He endured spitting in his face. He endured far infinitely more suffering. Take Job's suffering. Take the whole book of Job. Multiply that times infinity. That's how much Jesus suffered because he was the only one who's perfectly righteous and holy. Job isn't. Job's lived a good life. Yes. And amen. He's God's man. Yes. Yes. Mhm. But he's still not God and he's still a sinner and he knows it. But Christ, Christ was mocked, jered, spat upon, suffered immensely, eternally more uh than Job or any of us. Take all of our suffering, multiply times infinity, nothing compared to Christ's sufferings. >> And as we transition into communion, I think we ought to reflect upon that. So, if you if you don't have um if you have need a communion packet, um you can grab one if you're going to to participate. I do need to give some admonitions and some instructions though. If you have trusted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you are invited to join as we celebrate the Lord's Supper. You don't have to be a member here. Uh you don't we would love for you to be and that's our uh we can talk more about that. But if you are a Christian, a believer, you are invited to join us in this. However, if you are here and you say, "I don't know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior." Um, first, today can be the last day. Um, come talk to me and I would love to introduce you to Christ. Um, but number two, I would also uh say uh invite you to watch but not to partake. The scriptures are clear that we must do this in a in a worthy manner. And as Paul um gives us instructions on this. Uh he says a few things. He says that we do this in remembrance of Jesus looking back to what he did for us on the cross. Then he also says that when we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Looking forward, right? And you kind of have to be alive to come. So it's interesting that you proclaim the death of someone who is coming. That means he's alive, Christ. And then he says, "So you look back to Christ. We look forward to his coming." And then Paul says, "So then let a person examine themselves looking inward." Looking back, looking forward, looking in. So I want to invite you to take a minute now, take some time right now to examine yourself. What I mean by that, if you're wondering, is, are there sins that need to be confessed to the Lord? Is there anything in your life that you need to turn over to him? Reflect on your love for Christ. Do you love and cherish Christ? Is he everything to you? If God took away every material, physical blessing from your life and all you had was Christ, would that be enough? So, I invite you to take a minute and reflect and examine your own heart now between you and the Lord. Take a minute. and I never want to interrupt. And if you are still communing with the Lord, continue to I'm going to read scripture. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 23 24 I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." If you peel back that top layer for the bread, we'll pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for this morning. We thank you for your body which is broken for us. The only one who ever lived perfectly, perfectly fulfilling God's law, God's righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your broken body in Jesus name. Amen. and let's partake. Then if you'll peel back that second layer, Paul continues to write 1 Corinthians 11:25-26. In the same way he al uh he Jesus took the cup after supper saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Oh, it got dark out here. You proclaim the Lord's death. This is a proclamation that Christ not only died for us, but is coming again because he lives and is resurrected. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross for us. We praise you and thank you because there was no other way. Nothing else could wash away the blood of Christ. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. We thank you. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Let's partake. I want to invite the worship team to come up as we sing our last song and I'm going to close us in another word of prayer. Father, I thank you once more for this morning. I pray that you would help us to see the truth in your word as we live this life. We will have our ups and downs. We will have our our gains and losses. God, help us to remain faithful and to see to understand that we do see through a glass dimly. We see a little bit. We know a little bit, but we don't see everything like you do. You know the end from the beginning. Not DJ, not anyone else here. You already see yourself. You know you're going to step in, set everything right, and restore Job. You know that he doesn't no more than we know what you're doing in our lives all the time, but we know that we can trust you, and we thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Let's stand as we sing our last song.