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a book by book and I'm rich abused

joining with you as you share at home or

with you in a group or in a church or

whatever in some different part of the

world or baby here in Brighton itself

where we're sharing in the study number

seven in the book of Job and as we come

to it chapters 25 to 28

I'm joined of course by poor black 'm

and also by glen Scrivener who is our

special guest from the hour of revival

ministries chapter 25 to 28 this is

study number seven and we'll I suppose

we could entitle this study from chapter

28 verse 12 but where can wisdom be

found those are the words of Jove

himself why don't I read now a few

verses from chapter 25 as we come to the

words of Bildad the second of the three

comforters of job then bildad the

shuhite replied to job dominion and all

belong to god he establishes order in

the heights of heaven can his forces be

numbered upon whom does his light rise

how then can a man be righteous before

God how can one born of woman be pure if

even the moon is not bright and the

stars are not pure in his eyes how much

less man who is but a maggot a son of

man who is only a worm

that's bildad the shuhite so after job's

memorable and preceding passionate words

like if only I knew where to find him or

when he has tested me I shall come forth

as gold now we got billed out coming

back he seemed exactly to concede I

think that material prosperity tells us

nothing about spiritual prosperity so

what's his new tack do you think friends

in chapter 25 here well I think the

comfort is they they have a pretty

vulgar argument that is basically what

goes around comes around

and joke does a very good job of

knocking that on the head especially

from chapter 21 he's basically saying

we'll look at the world don't don't you

see when you look at the world the

wicked are always prospering and and and

the righteous are suffering quite often

and so that vulgar argument is kind of

swept aside by job but we're left with a

deeper issue and the deeper issue with

the comforters is that they think Christ

lessly they never think of things with

the media of Christ Leslie yeah without

the mediator at the center of their

thinking that's where they go that's

where they go wrong so you know LFS is

always thinking about prosperity but

without Christ and without his future

and build ed is always thinking about

righteousness but it's not the

righteousness that Christ gives us it's

that we need to work for ourselves and

Zophar he wants that spirituality but

again it's not Christ spirituality it's

the thing that he works up through his

own called a different emphasis they've

got a different emphasis and right at

the heart of it is that they miss Jesus

name is the mediator so even though Joe

has corrected them on the what goes

around comes around fallacy bill that is

still thinking about God without Christ

and even though he he seems to be very

god centered in this chapter doesn't he

verse 2 Dominion and or belong to God we

think what every god centered man and

yet without Christ what are you left

with verse 4 how then can a man be

righteous before God which is

fascinating because Bildad has always

been about you know let's get

righteousness ourselves but you know I

either he gets it himself and he feels

very proud or he doesn't get it himself

and he feels like a worm in this passage

but because he's not thinking about

Christ the mediator that's where is

going wrong that's their deepest problem

that's and you know as I look on at

chapter 26 Joe is not impressed I think

I mean as I said Bildad species refers

to it as well verse 3 what advice have

you offered to one without wisdom so why

is he so an interest well you know I

think he suspects this this speech of

Bildad which sounds so impressive with

this amazing glorious God who's high

above and he's too high and mighty to

help Paul worm little helpless humans

who will have sake maggots you bow

before me and tell me how brilliant I am

says this God and Joba me

Leo's hang on whose spirit spoke from

your mouth 26 verse 4 and if we looked

over to verse 13 I think he knows which

spirit it was it's the gliding serpent

this is satanic say this is the kind of

God Satan has in mind if he was running

the universe he'd be like this him at

the top of the pyramid and everybody's

submitting to him and just that like

that and there's so many religious

preachers who just think what we need to

do is just jack up a big big view of God

crank up this God higher and higher

higher higher and then everything's

wonderful no it isn't because that's no

help to helpless sinners God centered

reality not enough Christ centered

reality he is the friend of helpless

sinners and that's what Jobe needs

I suppose you know these companies they

seem to see suffering as observers

really rather than as someone involved I

mean we mentioned this before cuts in

one of our studies I remember when the

or I can remember years ago when that

Lockerbie aero plane from destined for

America was shot down by terrorists and

of course the whole world knew about it

they're still talking about it but for

us at All Souls Church where I was

leader there two of our members were on

board that plane that day Sarah I can't

Paul Freeman and so those two young

people that immediately brought it put

another complexion completely on it we

were involved now as they were and of

course their dear families so that makes

a massive massive difference well from

there it seems Jobe displays the

gracious and redeeming heart of the

majestic Living God in 26:5 to a14 have

I got that right I think I yes you have

yeah and I think whereas Bildad seemed

to say in chapter 25 God is bigger than

us and therefore we're just a maggots

what Jobe says is yet the Lord is is

majestic powerful but he's bigger than

our enemies and that's a very different

truth isn't it that the Lord comes in

and he's bigger than our enemies so

from verse five and six he's bigger than

death from verse seven he's bigger than

the empty void of chaos and the abyss

verse eight he is he gives us life

through through the reigns and verse 10

he gives the boundary to darkness and

says darkness cannot come further than

that boundary in verse 12 he's he's

bigger than Rahab which is an ancient

name for Egypt that sort of ancient

enemy of the Lord's people and

wonderfully verse 13 he's bigger than

the gliding serpent Satan so the the

truth that Jobe wants to give is yet yea

the Lord is majestic powerful wholly

transcendent but he's bigger than our

enemies which is a wonderful truth for

for suffering little us yes

elect verse 14 and these are but the

outer fringe of his works and how faint

the whispers we hear of him well now the

job is allowed to fully speak without

interruption we must ask ourselves I

think why does Jobe once again so

passionately assert that he is one of

the righteous chapter 27 verse 1 to 10

yeah I think just five and six yeah it's

particularly because of course he's now

Joe obviously the friends didn't carry

on speaking because 27 verse 1 we'd

expect so far to come in with some

spirituality sort of chat or suddenly

yes some sort of rubbish about

spirituality but he's obviously had

enough he's probably gone off to do a

prayer time or something so yeah right a

paperback about something so far so he

doesn't speak so Jobe waits and then

continues and says look the accusation

that's been against me all along is that

an only serving the Lord for what I can

get out of it I think we can say I'm not

getting anything out of it I don't feel

I am but but not because I've turned

away from that he said I love it in

verse 10 what he's saying and he what he

does find delight in the Almighty he's

really saying look I am in that's my

real delight in the Almighty so he

doesn't think he has no sins at all or

anything like that but he's saying look

the one thing that matters is that I

trust the Lord or my I do do that and

that's why this big accusation against

me that I'm just a hip

correct that won't stick Satan made it

at the beginning and the friends have

kind of made it all along and job's like

no that won't do and now there doesn't

seem to be an answer from his friends

you know how does Joe make sense of his

life so what difference does it make to

find delight in the Almighty when

actually life scenes been such a chaos

mm-hmm I think one thing he really

struggles with from chapter 27 from

verse 13 he really struggles with with

envying the wicked which is a massive

issue especially when we're suffering we

know instead of Psalm 73 verse 2 the

psalmist says my foot almost slipped I

almost lost my footing with the Lord and

you think what could make you almost

lose your footing and he says I envied

the arrogance when I saw the prosperity

of the wicked and so this this often

needs to happen in suffering when we

look around and we say oh everyone else

is just a blissful millionaire and

they're all on the beach enjoying the

life of Riley and Here I am suffering

but what job does from verse 13 and

following is is to remind himself of the

ultimate final end of the wicked even if

in this life there it there is

prosperity there is a fate verse 13 that

got a lot stew the wicked and you might

think to begin with that he's just

talking about in this life but actually

when he goes on to verses 19 to 21 we

see that though the wicked lie down

wealthy but they will do so no more when

he opens his eyes all is God he's

talking about that eternal perspective

and so job's really looking looking to

the future and and telling himself not

to envy the wicked because there's no

future for that but to look to that

future where we're the lord's own people

will be raised up will see the Lord face

to face it that's our future back in

chapter 11 verse 6

zefa wanted job to learn of God's wisdom

but what did you really know of wisdom

when you get to chapter 28 ice a lovely

chapter and it's good because he begins

by saying he imagines all human beings

with incredible ingenuity and

persistence and brilliance searching out

say treasure and they'll dig deep

tunnels and go into the most

inaccessible places put in the

at risk in order to get gold and silver

and precious things in this worldly

terms and he says but really is implying

human beings don't put up such a good

search for wisdom but that is worth so

much more like wisdoms the ultimately

sounds like something out of The Book of

Proverbs or something like wisdom and of

course later in chapter 38 when the Lord

comes and asks loads of questions like

we who was around when I was

establishing the image the answer to all

those questions is wisdom

wisdoms the answer and coz wisdom what

we discover here cuz deaths only had a

rumor of him and this sort of thing what

is this wisdom well it's not just

information the wisdom of the Lord is a

person that comes out very strongly in

proverbs chapter 8 and we're really

thinking about Jesus Christ Jesus Christ

is the wisdom of God Jesus full of the

spirit that spirit the wisdom of God

Jesus is full of the spirit he's the

worst of all these questions about what

who established the wind and the waters

and the earth and governs what is it

that holds everything together who holds

everything together

it is Jesus full of the Spirit and

that's what's such a wonderful answer

then that fear of the Lord of trusting

the Lord that's where you get to wisdom

and of course when we think about the

book of Job this wisdom and then the

Christ who can a Whizzer such wisdom

he's the battle-scarred Christ Jesus car

crashes the suffering Christ and you

know that may be well you may be scarred

yourself as we round off this little

study you may say to yourself I've gone

through terrible times I'm having

difficult times it isn't even worth

going on with the Lord Jesus Christ you

may be somebody who's persecuted in some

part of the world for your love and your

witness of the Lord Jesus Christ so you

may have discussed in some way author if

you're a follower of Christ and you have

this wisdom of Christ in you then these

are honorable scars let's round off with

a little poem that was written by

a lady called Amy Carmichael she was

from Dublin in Ireland

she served 55 years in India and in

those 55 years she suffered a lot much

of the time she was on her back with

terrible suffering but she touched

thousands for God and she was wrote

these words hast thou no scar no hidden

scar on foot or side or hand I hear

these sung as mighty in the land

I hear them hail thy bright ascendant

star hast thou no scar she goes on hast

thou no wound yet I was wounded by the

archers spent laid me beside a tree to

die and rent by ravening wolves

that compass me I swooned hast thou no

wound no wound no scar yet as the master

shall the servant be and pierc'd are the

feet that follow me but thine a ho can

he have traveled far who hath no wound

no scar that's Amy Carmichael but it

could be you too

god bless you today god bless each of us

as we follow him the wisdom and power of

God will come back for another study

before too long

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