# Just Say You're Sorry Sermon transcript from Cross Church Surprise. Series: Job Date: October 11, 2026 Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/surprise/episodes/just-say-youre-sorry ## Summary Are we quick to judge others' sins, or do we extend grace like true friends? What does it mean to genuinely apologize and seek forgiveness? Join us as we explore the difference between being a jerk and being a friend in faith. Let's dive in together! ## Transcript 0:00 · Clean yourself up. Get your stuff together. Just say you're sorry. Apologize for stuff, 0:06 · even if you don't know if you really did it or not. Just say you're sorry to God, 0:10 · and He'll figure it out. But that's not what the gospel says. 0:16 · When Zophar says, clean yourself up, then God will come. The gospel says, God came first. 0:25 · If you have a Bible, go ahead and grab it, open it up, and we're going to be in Job 11 today. 0:31 · Job 11. If you don't have a Bible, you can grab the one in the chair right in front of you. 0:36 · It works for me on page 447 in that Bible in the chair in front of you. 0:42 · But as you're flipping there, let me take you back a few years to 0:47 · Teenage Andrew. And when I say a few years, it was actually like 20 years ago. 0:50 · I know you're a little shocked by that, but 20 years, four less kids ago, yeah, all that stuff. 0:56 · But when I was a teenager, I grew up in church and was a good church boy, 1:01 · but my rebellion came in the form of music. I loved my bands, and some of them were 1:08 · Christian bands that screamed for Jesus. Some were not so much, and I just loved music. 1:13 · I went to show after show. We'd go to dive bars where I'd have to wear the bracelet, 1:17 · saying I could not drink alcohol because I was 15 years old, and I would go to these 1:21 · concerts and these venues, and I loved it. It was where my heart beats. If you ever say it's 1:25 · too loud in here, I went at 30 decibels higher, so I don't put that up. But this last summer, 1:30 · all right, they don't listen to me, the sound guys, they're like, ignore Andrew. 1:33 · But this last summer, I relived my teenage glory years, all right, and I went to Warp 1:38 · Tour in Long Beach. And let me walk you through what was happening in this. So this 1:42 · was 65,000 people gathering together in Long Beach. Lots of debauchery was happening. We're 1:47 · not gonna lie, all right? People saying things they shouldn't have said from stage, way too 1:52 · many people, men dressed like girls, girls dressed like scandalous women. I have other 1:59 · words for that. I had my cross-church hat on in case we ever make a cross-church 2:04 · Long Beach. I was already starting to promote early on there. But despite all this fun and 2:10 · chaos and craziness, here's the one picture I want you to see. You see what's happening in 2:14 · the middle here. Day two, as we're walking in and there's a fence that separates the 2:19 · 65,000 people from their cars in the road. But across the street, there was a 2:24 · microphone reading scripture. And I don't know if you can see these, it says, 2:29 · repent or perish. Sinners will go to hell fire. He who sins is of the devil. 2:38 · Now those are true statements. And as you see those, maybe you've gone to a Diamondbacks 2:44 · game or you've gone to a Suns game, a Cardinals game, or you've gone to a 2:48 · public event and you've seen someone on a megaphone screaming scripture with signs, 2:53 · repent or go to hell. Now when you see that, let's be honest, what we do, 2:59 · we duck our head and walk faster. You'd be like, hey, you know, I know they're 3:03 · Christian, but we're like a different family group. Like that's the crazy 3:07 · uncle we don't talk about or invite to Thanksgiving. And you see those people 3:12 · and you're like, okay, yes, that's true. Maybe the message they're saying, 3:16 · the scripture they're reading is true, but it doesn't feel very loving. 3:23 · And it doesn't feel very Christ-like. And oftentimes we know when we see 3:28 · things like that, their message is true, but they don't know the people 3:32 · that are walking into those doors. They don't know the kids or in this case 3:37 · in Long Beach, the millennial emos. They don't know the baggage they're 3:41 · carrying as they go into that concert. They don't know the divorce they're 3:45 · walking through, the kids that are strained, the job that weighs on them. 3:51 · And sometimes we can fall into the trap of being the Christians, 3:57 · whether to other brothers and sisters who are walking through the trials or 4:01 · the loss people around us of just the sounding horn of repent or go to hell 4:07 · when we don't truly know what people are going through in the lives around us. 4:13 · Well, today, as we continue on in the book of Job and Job, 4:16 · chapter 11, and to catch you up a little bit, we're going to continue on 4:20 · into the life of this man, Job. And Job here had this crazy story. 4:24 · He was this man 4,000 years ago who lived everything that looked like 4:28 · the American dream. He was on top of it all. He had the money. 4:32 · He had the family. He had the wealth. It was great. 4:35 · Everything was going good until it fell apart. 4:40 · And it fell apart because God and Satan and Heaven, a conversation that 4:44 · Job never saw, were having a wager saying that if you take all this 4:49 · away, he won't be faithful anymore. If you lose everything, Job's not 4:53 · going to go to church anymore. Job's not going to read his Bible 4:56 · anymore. Job's not going to pray anymore. And God said, bet for all you 5:00 · gents ears. But then as the story continues, we see Job's life falls 5:06 · apart. And as he falls apart, the last couple of weeks, we've seen 5:09 · friend after friend, use that in quotes, talk to Job. 5:16 · Eliphaz kind of eased into and says, hey, Job, the reason you're 5:20 · going through this is because you're getting what you deserve. 5:23 · And then his friend, Bill Dad, kind of built on that and he kind of 5:27 · struck a little bit harder and closer to the chest. He's like, 5:30 · tradition says, my people behind me say you've messed up somehow. 5:35 · There is something wrong. But today we come to friend number three, 5:39 · Zophar. And if we thought the other two were a jerk, Zophar just 5:43 · takes the cake. And Zophar is almost just like the guys on the 5:48 · megaphone preaching this message of you have done something wrong 5:52 · and honestly preaching this message of Job, just say you're sorry. 5:58 · Just repent for the sins you've committed. Just say that you 6:02 · screwed up. Say that you're messed up and your life will get 6:06 · better. But the problem here today and what we're going to see 6:11 · as we go through this text is Zophar is one way to communicate 6:16 · to our world. But we're going to see Job's response as a whole 6:19 · kind. And I want to take a little different approach with this 6:23 · passage. We're going to look at two different ways that 6:26 · Christians can come off to the world around us and to each 6:30 · other. The first is sometimes, believe it or not, Christians 6:34 · can come off like a jerk. Don't you know that? 6:38 · If you got a megaphone and telling everyone to go to hell, 6:40 · you're going to come off like a jerk. And Christians who 6:43 · come off like a jerk, sometimes we're like, that's not my 6:45 · intention, but we kind of fall into it when we're not 6:48 · careful. And let's see the way Zophar fell into this. And 6:51 · Christians who come off like a jerk, the first thing we see 6:54 · about them is they are sure about your sin. They are sure 6:58 · about your sin. Job chapter 11, starting in verse one, 7:01 · it says this, then Zophar, the Naamathite, replied, 7:06 · should this abundance of words go unanswered and such 7:10 · a talker be acquitted? He's talking about Job. Should 7:12 · your babbling put others to silence so that you can keep 7:16 · on ridiculing with no one to humiliate you? You have said, 7:22 · my teaching is sound and I am pure in your sight. But 7:27 · if only God would speak and open his lips against you. 7:32 · Remember that verse. In verse six, he says, he would 7:35 · show you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has 7:39 · two sides. Know then that God has chosen to overlook 7:44 · some of your iniquity. As Zophar begins his first opening 7:50 · line to move into this, is he calls Job a talker. In 7:55 · verse two, he says, you're such a talker, Job. In 7:57 · verse three, he says, you're babbling, Job. He says, 7:59 · you're all just about mouth. You're all words and no 8:04 · action. Then in verse four, he then puts words in Job's 8:09 · mouth. And this is huge. He says, you have said, my 8:14 · You see, what's important here and a little note on this is 8:18 · Job never said he was pure. Job said he wasn't wicked. 8:22 · I mean, Job says, I didn't sin to cause this, but Job 8:25 · never said, I have never sinned. There is a big 8:28 · difference. But Zophar isn't listening to what Job has 8:32 · said throughout the book that we've studied so far. 8:34 · Instead, he's listening to what he already decided that 8:38 · Job meant. And then he says the line that should make 8:41 · every one of us a little bit nervous in verse five. 8:45 · He said, if only God would speak and open his lips 8:49 · against you. Zophar is so sure about Job's sin, he's 8:56 · calling for God to back him up. He's like, hey, God, if 8:59 · you want to enter into this argument, we're going to 9:01 · tell Job together that he's wrong, right? My cardinals 9:06 · are a hot mess right now. We literally just traded our 9:10 · number four overall pick from two years ago, but we 9:13 · don't know who we traded him to, and we don't know 9:15 · what we're getting in return. Never heard of. The 9:18 · only way that happens is in the dysfunction of the 9:22 · cardinals, all right? And you're hearing a cardinal's 9:25 · example and not an OU example, because if you 9:27 · were here three years ago when Pastor Jackie was 9:29 · here, this whole sermon would be about beating 9:31 · Texas yesterday, all right? Who cares about Oklahoma? 9:37 · Why are you guys excited right now? Maybe you 9:40 · just don't like Texas. I don't know. Anyway, but 9:43 · I love watching sports, especially when you watch it 9:46 · with other people, because something happens, and even 9:49 · if you're in the stands or you're in a sports grill 9:52 · and bar, and something happens, you're like, that 9:54 · was out. You're like, call the replay. I know it. 9:57 · I'm sure. I got this. And then you watch the replay 9:59 · and you're like, maybe I wasn't as right as I 10:01 · thought I was right. I see things through a 10:04 · goggle of bias and depression for my Arizona 10:07 · sports teams, all right? Everything goes towards 10:10 · my team. But Zophar, he's like, hey, let the 10:14 · booze decide. He's like, the booze is God. He's 10:17 · like, rewind the tape. He's like, it's going to 10:19 · overturn the call. Job, you are going to be 10:22 · found out. The funny thing about this is in 10:26 · Job chapter 38, when God does speak, he 10:28 · actually rules in Job's favor and not Zophar. 10:31 · So be careful what you wish for. But verse 10:35 · six, verse six is one of the cruelest math 10:38 · things we've seen in this book so far is he 10:41 · says, know then that God has chosen to overlook 10:46 · some of your iniquity. He's like, Job, you've 10:50 · lost everything. You've lost your wealth. You've 10:54 · lost your kids and you've lost your health. 10:57 · But guess what? God's still being gracious 10:59 · to you because you deserve even worse than 11:01 · that. 11:02 · Oh, 11:06 · Job, you buried your kids. You lost 11:08 · everything, but you're getting off easy. 11:13 · Church, this is what it sounds like when 11:17 · you are sure about somebody else's sin. 11:20 · You stop listening to their story because 11:23 · you have already written the ending for 11:25 · their life, but Zophar is not done. He's 11:28 · just getting warmed up. Actually, he's not 11:30 · only sure about his sin, but it's a 11:32 · short trip to as he continues down this 11:35 · line, he is smug about God. And this is 11:38 · the same line that we take with 11:40 · Christians who come off like a jerk. 11:42 · He's smug about God. Keep going in 11:44 · verse seven of chapter 11. It says, 11:46 · can you fathom the depths of God or 11:51 · discover the limits of the Almighty? 11:54 · They are higher than the heavens. What 11:56 · can you do? They are deeper than 11:59 · what can you know? Their measure is 12:02 · longer than the earth and wider than 12:05 · the sea. 12:07 · Job is an interesting book because 12:09 · there's some beautiful words written. 12:12 · If you take these three verses and 12:14 · you put them on a coffee mug or put 12:16 · them on a sign and put it in your 12:18 · house, it is beautiful on their own. 12:21 · He's saying higher than the heavens, 12:23 · deeper than the grave, wider than 12:25 · the sea. Zophar's theology of God's 12:28 · greatness, of what we just saying in 12:30 · the greatness of God, it's exactly 12:32 · right. But here's the problem. In one 12:37 · breath, he says God is unsearchable. 12:40 · No one can figure him out. And in 12:42 · the next breath, he has figured out 12:44 · exactly why God is doing what he's 12:47 · doing to Job. In one breath, we're 12:50 · like, God is so big I can't even 12:51 · fathom him. In the next breath, 12:52 · we're like, you know why your life 12:53 · is messed up? Because God is 12:55 · punishing you because you're an 12:56 · idiot. Those don't go together. 13:00 · And then verse 12, he really drops 13:03 · the gloves. All right, you ready for 13:05 · verse 12? Just have your ears open 13:06 · at verse 12. This is in the Bible, 13:08 · okay? But a stupid person will gain 13:14 · understanding as soon as a wild 13:17 · donkey is born a human. 13:23 · I didn't edit that. That is the 13:26 · translation from the ancient Hebrew 13:28 · into English. He just called Job a 13:33 · donkey. Now today, this is like, 13:37 · this is a bad theology 101, all 13:39 · right? Because this is where all 13:41 · of a sudden Zophar is just going 13:42 · off. He's like, Job, you're a 13:43 · stupid donkey, right? But here's 13:45 · what it's like today. I think it's 13:47 · like the social media influencers who 13:50 · like go on chat GPT and ask about 13:52 · Hebrew and Greek words in the Bible, 13:54 · and then all of a sudden they make 13:54 · a TikTok video and they know more 13:56 · than the theologians who spent 40, 13:59 · 50, 60 years of their life 14:00 · studying God. But all of a sudden 14:02 · this TikTok guy who has a free 14:04 · subscription to chat GPT knows 14:05 · more about God than the 14:07 · theologian. And here Zophar's 14:09 · like, Job, I know you've been 14:10 · walking faithfully with God, 14:12 · but I talked to him and you're 14:14 · a stupid donkey, right? He's 14:15 · like, I got it figured out. I 14:17 · know what's wrong with you. And 14:20 · we see this line that smug 14:23 · knows a lot about God, but very 14:27 · little about people. And sure 14:30 · and smug always ends up in 14:32 · the same place. This is building 14:33 · this picture that we see 14:35 · of Zophar is he is sure 14:37 · about Job's sin. He is smug 14:39 · about what he thinks he knows 14:41 · about God, even though he 14:42 · doesn't have the full picture, 14:43 · but then it leads him to being 14:45 · stingy with grace. Check out 14:48 · verse 13 right after he calls 14:50 · him a stupid person and 14:52 · donkey. He says this in verse 14:54 · 13, as for you, if you 14:58 · redirect your heart and you 15:00 · spread out your hands to him 15:01 · in prayer, if there is 15:03 · iniquity or sin in your hand, 15:05 · remove it and don't allow 15:07 · injustice to dwell in your 15:09 · tents. Then you will hold 15:11 · your head high, free from 15:14 · salt from faults, and you 15:17 · will be firmly established 15:19 · and unafraid. There it is 15:23 · the title of the message. Job, 15:26 · if you just say you're sorry, 15:29 · if you just repents, if you 15:33 · do that, then this will 15:35 · happen. And let's be fair 15:38 · to Zophar a little bit. 15:39 · Repentance is good counsel. 15:41 · It is never a bad thing 15:42 · for us to repent of the 15:44 · sin that is in our life. 15:45 · When you've sinned, we 15:47 · turn back to God. That is 15:49 · true. But it just doesn't 15:51 · apply to Job. In Job, chapter 15:54 · one, the conversation that 15:56 · Job doesn't even know about 15:58 · and his friends don't know 15:59 · about, heaven, God himself 16:01 · said this whole thing isn't 16:03 · about the sin in Job's life. 16:05 · This is about Satan trying 16:06 · to prove God wrong. 16:09 · But catch the fine print here 16:11 · is Zophar's grace has 16:13 · conditions. When he says 16:15 · repent, what he also 16:16 · continues to say is Job 16:18 · clean yourself up, remove 16:21 · the sin from your life, 16:23 · get your act together, 16:25 · then God will show up. 16:27 · It's like those car 16:28 · commercials where they're 16:29 · like, dude, zero interest 16:30 · down, zero payment, 16:32 · and you get a Mercedes. 16:34 · That sounds great. 16:35 · And they're like zero 16:36 · down, zero here, 16:37 · and you get this car. 16:38 · And then at the very end, 16:39 · there's this fine print. 16:40 · They're like, not available 16:41 · in all states. You will 16:42 · sign your life away. 16:43 · If you don't pay us, 16:44 · we will take your whole 16:45 · house. And like it says 16:46 · the fine print super, 16:47 · super fast. There's actually 16:49 · an Arizona, we have a 16:51 · politician who is at the 16:52 · Arizona house, Nick 16:53 · Cupper, who's running 16:54 · for reelection. 16:55 · But he put a bill in 16:57 · last year to make it 16:58 · to those have to say 16:59 · it in the same pace 17:01 · and tone in commercials 17:02 · is they have to say 17:03 · the fine print the same 17:04 · as they say the happy 17:05 · stuff. So, you know, 17:06 · like when you say 17:07 · a prescription, this will 17:08 · change your life. 17:09 · It'll make great. 17:10 · There's a 50% chance 17:11 · you will die in six days. 17:13 · Like, why you got to 17:16 · say that part quiet? 17:17 · All right, don't talk 17:18 · about the hemorrhoids. 17:20 · They don't say that loud. 17:21 · They say it low, right? 17:28 · In so far, that's what 17:30 · we're talking about, right? 17:32 · So far, how many times 17:34 · have I said hemorrhoids 17:34 · in the sermon? 17:35 · I didn't even put that 17:36 · in my notes. 17:39 · It's more than one, 17:41 · which is a problem. 17:42 · All right. 17:46 · But this is so far as grace. 17:49 · You get this good stuff. 17:51 · But here's the asterisk, 17:52 · the fine print on it. 17:54 · You got to get 17:54 · your stuff together. 17:56 · But listen to how so far 17:57 · ends this entire beautiful 17:59 · super encouraging sermon 18:01 · that he's giving Job 18:02 · in verse 20, 18:03 · chapter 11 verse 20. 18:04 · He says this. 18:05 · He continues on. 18:06 · He says, but the sight 18:08 · of the wicked will fail. 18:10 · Their way of escape 18:12 · will be cut off. 18:13 · In their only hope 18:15 · is their last breath. 18:19 · That is quite the altar call. 18:22 · He's holding the sign. 18:25 · Repent or perish. 18:27 · If you're wicked, 18:28 · you're going to hell. 18:30 · True, but not loving. 18:33 · And you see, this is 18:34 · his closing line 18:36 · to a grieving man. 18:38 · He's like Job, 18:39 · if you don't do 18:40 · what I said, 18:41 · you know where you're going to go. 18:43 · The only hope you have 18:45 · is in your last breath. 18:48 · So far, like Christians 18:50 · who be kin can come off 18:52 · like a jerk is sure 18:54 · about someone else's sin. 18:56 · He is smug about God. 18:58 · He is stingy with grace. 19:00 · And the saddest part of all this 19:02 · is so far things 19:03 · he's defending God, 19:05 · which we'll talk about 19:06 · in a second. 19:08 · But now Job gets 19:09 · to answer him. 19:10 · And in three chapters of Pushback, 19:13 · Job shows us 19:14 · what friends should have been like. 19:16 · And I just love this 19:17 · because Job needed a friend, 19:19 · but Job didn't get a friend 19:20 · from so far. 19:21 · Instead, Job gets to show them 19:23 · what a friend should have looked like. 19:25 · And we saw Christians 19:26 · who come off like a jerk. 19:27 · What about Christians 19:28 · who come off like a friend? 19:30 · And see, here's the first thing 19:31 · we see from the life of Job 19:32 · in his speech 19:33 · is they see what they lost. 19:35 · See what they lost. 19:36 · Flip over to chapter 12, 19:38 · starting in verse five, 19:39 · in verse four, I'm sorry. 19:40 · Job, as he's answering him, 19:42 · he says this, 19:43 · I am a laughing stock 19:44 · to my friends 19:46 · by calling on God who answers me. 19:49 · He's like, my life 19:50 · has become a wreck. 19:51 · He's like, me calling on God 19:52 · to ask for something? 19:53 · He's like, you guys are laughing at it. 19:55 · He says, the righteous 19:56 · and blameless man 19:57 · is a laughing stock. 20:00 · He says, but the one who is at ease 20:01 · holds calamity and contempt 20:03 · and think it's prepared for those 20:06 · whose feet are slipping. 20:09 · Job is saying here, 20:12 · it's easy to preach to me 20:13 · from where you're sitting. 20:15 · He's like, you guys are at ease. 20:17 · You guys are comfortable. 20:19 · Your kids are alive. 20:20 · Your barns are full. 20:22 · He's like, your skin 20:23 · is not breaking out 20:24 · and boils that ooze 20:26 · past day and night. 20:28 · He says, from where you are standing, 20:31 · he says, my life, 20:33 · my ash heap 20:34 · looks like something I earned. 20:37 · But remember how these first three 20:39 · showed up in the first place. 20:41 · In chapter two, 20:42 · at the end of chapter two 20:43 · in verse 12, 20:45 · Job's friends first noticed him. 20:46 · It says, when they looked 20:47 · from a distance, 20:49 · they could barely recognize him. 20:51 · And when they saw their friend 20:52 · had been hurting, 20:53 · it says they wept aloud. 20:57 · They saw him. 20:59 · That was the best moment 21:00 · they ever had. 21:01 · But somewhere between chapter two 21:03 · and chapter 11, 21:04 · when his friends just talk, 21:05 · they stopped looking at Job 21:07 · and they started looking 21:08 · at their theology 21:09 · and they started judging his life 21:11 · in a way that was not 21:13 · biblically correct. 21:16 · You see, a friend sees 21:17 · what you lost 21:18 · before they say a word 21:19 · about why your situation 21:21 · is happening. 21:23 · What they should have saw 21:24 · over and over again 21:25 · is this man lost 10 children. 21:27 · This man lost a business. 21:28 · He lost his health, 21:29 · his reputation, 21:30 · and now he has lost 21:32 · even his friends. 21:35 · But friends who see this stuff, 21:37 · they name the losses. 21:38 · They help grieve the losses 21:41 · before they ever try 21:42 · to explain it. 21:45 · Yesterday I went to a funeral 21:47 · and one of the things 21:48 · that, you know, 21:49 · being a pastor 21:50 · that I never really understood 21:51 · or could quantify 21:53 · as I was called to ministry 21:54 · at 15 years old, 21:56 · is God never told me, 21:57 · like, you're going to go 21:58 · to a lot of funerals 21:58 · in your life. 22:00 · Like, you just don't think 22:01 · about that. 22:01 · You know it's there, 22:03 · but until you're in it, 22:05 · and I've been in ministry 22:06 · for a little over 10 years 22:08 · and in that time 22:09 · I've been a funeral 22:10 · after funeral after funeral 22:11 · and here's what I found out. 22:13 · The ones I've done, 22:14 · the ones I've sat with friends, 22:15 · the one I've sat with family 22:17 · is you don't get special words 22:18 · to say to fix the situation. 22:22 · The best thing you can do 22:23 · at a funeral 22:24 · is you can pray 22:25 · and you can be available 22:27 · and you can grieve 22:28 · with those who are hurting. 22:31 · And Joe was looking for friends 22:33 · who were seeing 22:34 · everything he had lost, 22:37 · seeing the heartache 22:38 · that he had gone through 22:41 · instead of trying to fix 22:42 · his life in their way. 22:44 · But then a friend 22:44 · does a second thing. 22:45 · As we continue on this, 22:47 · they not only see what he lost, 22:48 · but then they look at this 22:49 · and this is where 22:50 · the gospel starts to come 22:51 · in a powerful way 22:52 · is they send them to God. 22:54 · Send them to God. 22:54 · Keep going in chapter 13 22:56 · looking at verse 3 of this. 22:59 · Job continues to talk 23:00 · and he says, 23:00 · Yet I prefer to speak to the Almighty 23:05 · and argue my case before God. 23:07 · That's Job's nice way of saying, 23:08 · you guys are all morons 23:09 · and I'm arguing my case to you, 23:11 · but you're not even listening to me. 23:12 · I'm going to take it straight to God. 23:15 · In verse 4, he says, 23:16 · you use lies like plaster. 23:18 · You are like worthless healers. 23:21 · In verse 5, he says, 23:22 · if only you would shut up 23:24 · and let that be your wisdom. 23:29 · That's a coffee cup verse 23:31 · if I've ever heard one, right? 23:36 · These are crazy. 23:37 · This is all the book of Job, right? 23:39 · All right. 23:39 · The next time someone gives you advice 23:42 · that you were not looking for 23:44 · just to be like, 23:45 · Hey, can you do me a favor? 23:46 · Go look up Job chapter 13 verse 5 23:48 · and just read it out loud, all right? 23:51 · That's my answer for you from God. 23:56 · But look at verses 7 and 8, all right? 23:58 · Because this is where Job really nails it 24:00 · and starts to get to some powerful stuff in here. 24:03 · In chapter 13, verse 7, he says, 24:04 · would you testify unjustly on God's behalf 24:08 · or would you speak deceitfully for him? 24:11 · Verse 8, would you show partiality to him 24:14 · or argue the case in his defense? 24:19 · Remember last week, if you were here, 24:20 · Job needed someone to speak for him before God. 24:25 · This week, Job's friends have appointed themselves 24:29 · as Job's defense attorneys. 24:33 · And Job's like, I didn't ask you to do that. 24:36 · And church, here's what's important for us 24:38 · is God does not need you 24:40 · to defend him from somebody's pain. 24:44 · God is big enough to take the questions 24:47 · of our world when things are hard. 24:50 · People ask like, why God is this happening? 24:52 · Why God did you allow this? 24:53 · Why did you allow someone to die? 24:55 · Why did you allow this? 24:56 · Why is this happening? 24:57 · Why is that happening? 24:58 · And sometimes we feel like we need to go 24:59 · and be like, let me speak on behalf of God 25:01 · and argue that our God is really loving 25:02 · and not cruel in this situation 25:04 · and I'm gonna show you how God is so great. 25:06 · God doesn't need you to come in and bail him out. 25:09 · He is the God of the universe. 25:12 · Your job isn't to protect God's reputation 25:15 · because usually when we try to protect God's reputation, 25:17 · we hurt God's reputation by the dumb things we do. 25:22 · But your job is to walk them to him, 25:26 · the God of the universe. 25:29 · Verse 12 says that the answers they give 25:32 · are proverbs of ash. 25:36 · Job is like modern day, the whole live, laugh, love, 25:39 · sign of theology, it looks nice on the wall, 25:41 · but it crumbles when you actually need it. 25:44 · And here's what happens when you stop 25:46 · getting answers from people 25:48 · and start taking your case straight to God 25:51 · instead of trying to fix their life. 25:54 · Verse 15 might be the greatest sentence of faith 25:57 · in this whole book that as he's going through 25:59 · all these trials, all this hardship, 26:01 · check out verse 15, he says this, 26:03 · even if he kills me, he's talking about God. 26:07 · I will hope in him. 26:10 · I will still defend my ways before him. 26:15 · That's not the voice of a man 26:17 · who is walking away from God, 26:19 · that's a man who is holding on with both hands. 26:23 · A friend doesn't send you to their opinion, 26:26 · a friend sends you to God. 26:29 · And here's the deal, I have lots more 26:32 · we gotta get into, but I'm moving quick, all right? 26:34 · But just this past week, there is a girl who came 26:37 · and she's like, hey, I've been inviting 26:38 · my friend at church, she works on Sundays, 26:41 · so I went to CCB on Saturday with her, 26:43 · and I was like, that's great, another great church 26:45 · in our valley, we need more churches, 26:47 · and surprise, because we're growing too quick 26:48 · and we got too many lost people 26:50 · and not enough saved people and not enough churches. 26:53 · And she actually took him, she's like, 26:54 · but I feel awkward, because it was about giving, 26:57 · which every time you invite a friend to church, 26:59 · it happens to be on the sermon 27:01 · that talks about giving. 27:03 · And she said after, she's like, 27:04 · I don't wanna go back to church, 27:06 · that was so uncomfortable, she's like, 27:07 · I don't want anything to do with God, 27:09 · that's not for me, and she's like, 27:10 · did I mess up by inviting her to church? 27:14 · I was like, no, keep praying, keep inviting, 27:18 · in there, just be like, hey, I promise, 27:20 · no church talks about giving every week, 27:23 · and I'm like, keep doing the work 27:25 · and don't apologize that maybe a message 27:27 · hit someone away that convicted them 27:29 · in something that they're like, 27:30 · I don't want anything to do with this, 27:32 · but sometimes it's a slow burn 27:33 · and seeds being planted that will come 27:36 · to harvest later, and here's the thing is, 27:39 · we're not meant to defend God, 27:42 · we don't have to do that, 27:44 · instead we just send them, we bring them, 27:47 · we walk them to God, but then a friend 27:49 · does the hardest thing of all, 27:51 · and it's the last thing we see 27:52 · from Job's speech is they stay 27:54 · until hope shows, stay until hope shows. 27:59 · Check out, go on to chapter 14, 28:02 · starting in verse one, Job continues, 28:05 · it says, anyone born of a woman, 28:07 · it's short of days and full of trouble. 28:10 · Man, isn't that so true? 28:12 · Hey, if you were born from a woman, 28:15 · which is all of us in the room 28:16 · and watching online, right? 28:17 · Your days are gonna be short 28:18 · and it's gonna be full of trouble 28:19 · when we live in a broken sinful world. 28:22 · Verse two, he blossoms like a flower, 28:26 · but then withers, he flees like a shadow 28:30 · and does not last. 28:33 · Job chapter 14 is Job's funeral song 28:36 · for the human race. 28:38 · He's like, anyone who lives on this earth, 28:41 · we are but dust, we are here today 28:43 · and gone tomorrow and is super 28:46 · and we could go a little bit deeper 28:48 · into this to the depressing nature of that, 28:50 · but we don't fully have time, 28:51 · but let's skip down a verse 28:53 · because then all of a sudden 28:53 · he changes the metaphor 28:55 · and then he looks at a tree. 28:57 · Check out verse seven of chapter 14. 28:59 · He says, but there is hope for a tree. 29:01 · Well, that's nice Job, no hope for mankind, 29:04 · but there is hope for a tree, all right? 29:06 · If it is cut down, it'll sprout again 29:10 · and its shoots will not die. 29:12 · If its roots grow old in the ground 29:14 · and its stumps start to die in the soil, 29:17 · the scent of water makes it thrive 29:20 · and produce twigs like a spalding. 29:23 · Some of you have seen this in the desert 29:25 · where a plant will come up 29:27 · and then all of a sudden 29:28 · you cut it down and you want it to die. 29:31 · You take an oleander, 29:32 · you put gasoline on an oleander 29:34 · and it will come back, all right? 29:37 · But somehow the ficuses in my backyard 29:40 · who have been there for two years, 29:41 · they did not come back. 29:43 · So Tanner and Mason, 29:45 · our pastor appreciation month, 29:46 · are putting new things in my yard. 29:48 · They already agreed to it 29:49 · because they're in my Bible group 29:50 · and I told them they're doing it. 29:54 · But there is hope for trees and bushes. 29:57 · It can be cut down and it can grow back up, 29:59 · but in mankind when it's cut down, 30:02 · it's cut down. 30:04 · But listen to as he describes these plants. 30:07 · He says the stump doesn't even need a flood. 30:10 · It's just the scent of water. 30:14 · Church, sometimes you can't be 30:16 · the rain in somebody's life. 30:19 · You can't fix all their problems. 30:21 · You can't just nourish 30:22 · everything they're looking for. 30:24 · You can't bring them back what they lost, 30:27 · but maybe you can be the scent of water 30:31 · and where to find that water. 30:33 · That scent of water could be a text. 30:35 · It could be a meal. 30:37 · It could be a chair next to theirs. 30:39 · Just enough of a gesture 30:41 · to remind a dying stump 30:43 · that life is still possible. 30:47 · Job says a stump has more hope than I do. 30:50 · Cut down a tree and it sprouts. 30:52 · Cut down a man. 30:53 · In verse 12, 30:54 · he lies down to never rise again, 30:56 · but then in the middle of the darkness, 30:58 · Job asks the biggest question 31:01 · in this entire book. 31:03 · Job, chapter 14, verse 14, 31:05 · he says this. 31:07 · When a person dies, 31:10 · will he come back to life? 31:14 · He asked this over 4,000 years ago 31:16 · and we're still asking 31:18 · this same question today. 31:20 · If so, I would wait 31:23 · all the days of my struggle 31:26 · until my relief comes. 31:32 · If a person dies, 31:35 · will he come back? 31:40 · For the first time in this book, 31:44 · Job starts to wonder about life after death 31:47 · and he gives a question. 31:49 · He does not give an answer. 31:51 · Chapter 14 ends in the dark. 31:53 · Hope hasn't shown up yet 31:55 · and that's exactly where a friend stays. 31:58 · A friend doesn't need you 31:59 · to be done hurting by chapter 14. 32:01 · A friend doesn't need your hope 32:03 · on their schedule. 32:04 · A friend waits with you 32:06 · all the days of your struggle 32:08 · until your relief comes. 32:12 · That's why the church exists. 32:15 · That's why things like Bible groups exist, 32:17 · is it's not people 32:18 · who are gonna fix your issues. 32:20 · If you go to Bible group 32:21 · and want people to fix your life, 32:22 · they will make your life worse probably 32:24 · because they will give you their opinions 32:25 · more than they give you the gospel at times. 32:27 · But it's there where we can have a community 32:29 · and we can be with each other 32:31 · through the struggles of life 32:33 · bringing each other back 32:34 · to the God of the universe 32:35 · who can truly fix our issues. 32:40 · It's a group of people 32:40 · who stay together until hope shows up 32:43 · but put in as we look at 32:45 · all this passage we've covered 32:47 · and four chapters, man, again, 32:50 · Job is no joke here, all right? 32:52 · You wonder why I've been preaching 32:53 · 45 minutes every Sunday. 32:54 · I've been trying, all right? 32:55 · But you put Zophar's sermon 32:58 · next to Job's question. 33:01 · Zophar ends in chapter 11 verse 20 33:03 · and says that their only hope 33:05 · is their last breath. 33:08 · Super encouraging. 33:12 · But Job's question 33:14 · is when a person dies, 33:16 · will he come back to life? 33:20 · One man hands down a sentence 33:23 · while the other man is reaching 33:25 · for a resurrection. 33:29 · But here's what's so cool is 33:30 · Job doesn't fully answer his question 33:33 · in the book of Job 33:34 · but we do get an answer to his question 33:36 · in the New Testament. 33:38 · In Paul writing in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 33:41 · starting in verse 20, I love, last week, 33:43 · we answer Job's question in the book of Job 33:45 · that came out through the New Testament 33:48 · and through Paul's words 33:49 · and it happens again as it is 33:51 · when Job asks, can someone come back to life? 33:55 · 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 20 says this, 33:59 · but as it is, Christ has been raised 34:03 · from the dead. 34:05 · That's the hope and the glory we have 34:07 · but listen to this, 34:08 · as the firstfruits of those 34:11 · who have fallen asleep. 34:12 · For since death came through a man, 34:14 · the resurrection of the dead 34:15 · also comes through a man, 34:16 · the God-man in Jesus Christ. 34:18 · Verse 22, for just as in Adam, 34:20 · all die, so also in Christ, 34:24 · all will be made alive. 34:26 · But each in his own order, 34:28 · Christ the firstfruits afterward 34:30 · at his coming, 34:31 · those who belong to Christ. 34:35 · What Paul tells us 34:37 · is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ 34:40 · was the firstfruits, 34:42 · meaning the first sprout of the harvest. 34:45 · When the farmer sees the fruit, 34:47 · the firstfruit breakthrough 34:49 · come from the ground, 34:51 · he knows the rest are coming too. 34:54 · And Job said that a tree 34:56 · has more hope than a man, 34:57 · so God sent a man 34:58 · who would come out of a stump. 35:00 · Isaiah said it, 35:02 · a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse. 35:05 · Jesus was cut down on the cross. 35:08 · He was killed in his flesh. 35:10 · He was laid in the ground, 35:12 · but on the third day, 35:14 · the stump sprouted. 35:17 · And when a person dies, 35:19 · the question of will he come back to life? 35:22 · The answer is yes, 35:23 · but here's why the answer is yes. 35:26 · And church, this is what is important, 35:28 · because Jesus did come back to life. 35:32 · Yes, in Christ, 35:33 · it tells us that all will be made alive. 35:35 · And listen to what Job longed for 35:38 · right after the big question. 35:40 · In chapter 14 of Job, 35:41 · in verse 17, I love this, 35:43 · he cries for this. 35:45 · He doesn't even know 35:45 · the answer to his question 35:46 · is, is there life after death? 35:49 · But he says, my rebellion 35:50 · would be sealed up in a bag, 35:52 · and you would cover my iniquity. 35:56 · Job's like, I know all of us are sinners. 35:58 · I know I didn't cause this situation, 36:00 · but I've caused other ones. 36:02 · And Job never claimed to be sinless. 36:04 · He was longing for the sins 36:06 · of his life to be covered. 36:09 · And at the cross, 36:11 · that's exactly what the death of Jesus did. 36:14 · Jesus tied off the bag. 36:16 · He carried it away. 36:17 · And here's the difference 36:18 · between Zophar's gospel 36:20 · and the real one, 36:21 · is Zophar said, 36:23 · hey, you want to know God? 36:25 · Clean yourself up. 36:26 · Get your stuff together. 36:28 · Just say you're sorry. 36:30 · Apologize for stuff, 36:31 · even if you don't know 36:32 · if you really did it or not. 36:33 · Just say you're sorry to God 36:35 · and he'll figure it out. 36:38 · But that's not what the gospel says. 36:40 · When Zophar says, clean yourself up, 36:42 · then God will come. 36:44 · The gospel says, God came first. 36:48 · In Romans chapter five, eight, 36:49 · it says that while we were still sinners, 36:52 · Christ died for us. 36:54 · Not once we got our act together. 36:56 · We'd still be waiting for that. 36:58 · Jesus would be chilling up in heaven, 36:59 · be like, you guys any closer 37:01 · to getting it together 37:02 · so I can come down? 37:04 · But while we were still sinners, 37:06 · he came down. 37:09 · Repentance isn't the price you pay, 37:12 · church, to get God's attention. 37:14 · It's turning around 37:16 · to find that he's been running 37:18 · towards you the whole time. 37:21 · And the beauty of this 37:24 · is that as he's hanging on a cross, 37:28 · Jesus was surrounded by people 37:30 · who were sure about his sin, 37:33 · the sin he did not have. 37:35 · They were smug about God 37:37 · and their theology, 37:39 · claiming him to be a heretic 37:40 · when he was the fulfillment 37:42 · of what God had said. 37:44 · And they were stingy with the grace of God. 37:49 · And what did Jesus do? 37:50 · He prayed, 37:51 · Father, forgive them 37:53 · because they do not know 37:55 · what they are doing. 37:58 · Here's the deal is Jesus was not a jerk. 38:00 · We can all agree on that. 38:03 · But Jesus was our friend 38:06 · and he is our savior. 38:10 · So church, how do we practice 38:13 · this today? 38:16 · Well, here is the enduring truth 38:18 · that we see throughout this passage. 38:21 · When we see the speech of Zophar, 38:23 · when we see the reply of Job 38:25 · is we can be the Christians 38:27 · who come off like a jerk 38:28 · or we can be the Christians 38:29 · who come off like a friend. 38:31 · And here's the big difference 38:32 · between all of that 38:34 · is a jerk says 38:35 · that you are going to hell. 38:40 · And guess what? 38:42 · In your sin, 38:44 · that is where you are destined. 38:46 · That is where you belong. 38:49 · But a friend, 38:52 · someone who loves you, 38:54 · who stays with you, 38:56 · who brings you and walks you to God, 38:59 · who stays until the hope shows a friend 39:02 · says you can go to heaven. 39:06 · And you can go to heaven 39:07 · because Jesus paid the price 39:09 · on the cross for your sins. 39:11 · You don't have to clean up your act. 39:14 · Instead, what the Bible says 39:16 · is we confess with our mouth 39:17 · and we believe in our heart 39:18 · that Jesus is Lord, 39:19 · that he took our sins upon the cross, 39:21 · that he raised to defeat those sins 39:23 · and by that confession of faith, 39:25 · by that following of Jesus Christ, 39:27 · no longer are we destined for hell, 39:31 · but we are destined for heaven. 39:34 · And we can be like the people 39:36 · in our world 39:38 · who yell from the rooftops 39:40 · the truce of scripture 39:42 · that hell is a real place. 39:44 · Do not hear me wrong. 39:47 · But before we condemn people to hell, 39:49 · what if we just shared the gospel, 39:51 · we loved them, 39:52 · we were their friends 39:53 · before we were their judge in life. 39:59 · You know, here's the irony 40:00 · about my rebellious teenage face 40:04 · is as I went to dive bars 40:05 · watching shows 40:07 · and went to Warped Tour 40:08 · and almost passed out 40:09 · and died as a 14-year-old, 40:12 · I got to watch these bands 40:15 · who lived out their faith 40:16 · in the most pagan of places, 40:20 · who as people are punching each other 40:21 · in the face, they'll be like, 40:22 · hey, the only reason we do this 40:23 · is that Jesus Christ died for our sins. 40:25 · I'm like, yeah. 40:26 · And the dude next to me is like, 40:27 · after I'm like, 40:28 · I don't think you know 40:29 · what he just said, all right? 40:30 · But good for you. 40:31 · Hope Jesus saves you. 40:34 · But in there, 40:35 · I got to see the bold proclamation 40:37 · and I've said this before to my friends, 40:38 · there's no way I'd be in ministry 40:40 · if I didn't have a rebellious face 40:42 · going through music 40:42 · where I saw Jesus in those scenes 40:45 · and in that he called me to be a pastor 40:48 · in the craziest of ways 40:50 · and I got to see it on display 40:52 · in the darkness 40:53 · where we still got to love people through it. 40:57 · So church, which one are we gonna be? 41:00 · Are we gonna be the jerks 41:02 · or are we gonna be the friends? 41:05 · And maybe you're like, well, 41:07 · I wanna be the friend 41:08 · and I hope you do too. 41:10 · Like, what is a way 41:11 · that we can practically do that today? 41:14 · There's a card on your chair 41:16 · and in two weeks, 41:19 · we are just on the cove 41:21 · of maybe the darkest, 41:23 · most crazy holiday in the world, right? 41:26 · Halloween, oh, 41:27 · that's a dirty word to say in church 41:29 · because some people take it too far. 41:31 · Some people are crazy. 41:33 · Some people do things that are evil and demonic, 41:35 · but it's also a day 41:37 · where strangers show up to your house, 41:39 · knock on your door and ask for candy. 41:45 · Are we gonna be a jerk in this season? 41:47 · Are we gonna be a friend 41:48 · pointing people to Christ? 41:52 · And one of the ways we're actually doing this 41:53 · in a way, maybe you're like, 41:54 · I'm in a community 41:55 · that people don't come to my house. 41:57 · If 65-year-olds are knocking on your door, 41:59 · that's a little weird on Halloween, 42:01 · asking for candy, all right? 42:08 · But here's an opportunity, 42:09 · we have two weeks right here on our service, 42:12 · is we're doing a Costumes and Candy Sunday 42:13 · here at church 42:16 · where we're inviting our community, 42:18 · we're inviting the kids. 42:20 · Just, I was sitting in my office 42:21 · right next to one of the doors in the school 42:23 · where we have a sign for this 42:24 · on our school door 42:25 · where a lot of those people 42:26 · don't go to church anywhere 42:27 · and I heard a dad dropping off a kid 42:29 · and he said, costumes and candy, 42:31 · bud, we gotta go to that. 42:35 · If we can be relevant, 42:36 · we can hand out, 42:37 · and this is what I'm gonna, 42:38 · I'm gonna email out our Bible group leaders, 42:40 · we're gonna set up tables around our campus 42:42 · and you're gonna get communication this week 42:43 · and I want our Bible groups 42:45 · to man those tables, 42:47 · to hand out candy 42:49 · to the kids that come on our campus 42:51 · on Sunday mornings 42:52 · and love them 42:54 · like Christ loves us. 42:57 · Invite people to be a part of it. 42:59 · If you don't know kids and families in your life, 43:01 · invite an old person to come 43:03 · hand out candy to kids with you. 43:06 · But in this, 43:09 · let us in the season, 43:11 · let us in every season, 43:13 · not be the people holding up signs 43:15 · saying repent or go to hell, 43:18 · but the people who say, 43:19 · walk with me and let me show you 43:21 · the savior of this world 43:23 · who knows you, 43:25 · who loves you, 43:27 · who is your friend 43:30 · and can show you 43:32 · a whole new life now 43:34 · and for all of eternity. 43:38 · Church, who will we be? 43:41 · The Christians who come off like a jerk 43:43 · or the ones who come off like a friend?