Calvary
Chapel Bible College
May
18, 2022
Homework
No Memory verse
Pericope Project #2 is due
Mars Hill Discussion
Any highlights from this week’s listening?
What did you feel about all the negative fall out
from the Mars Hill collapse?
The staff members who were left hanging.
Relationships blown up
There was a line in the episode, “Don’t sound like Job’s friends. Learn to sit and listen in silence”.
Would you consider Mars Hill a “cult”?
If yes, how so? (only because of the emotional manipulation, Mark
telling people he was their “dad”)
Introduction
Job is going through the worst time anyone could imagine.
He’s lost all his possessions.
His children have died.
His health has failed.
What makes all this even more confusing is that Job is a good guy.
God has decided to allow Job to go through this difficulty because He is
proud of Job, not mad at him.
God wants to show the world what a godly man will do when he is going
through a difficult time.
Keep a couple of things in mind as we study Job:
Sometimes Job is wrong in his conclusions.
Sometimes Job’s friends are also wrong.
They can even say things that are true, but they are just not true about
Job.
Be careful about building doctrine upon some of the things said in the book
of Job.
Neither Job’s words nor those of his friends are meant to build doctrinal
truths on.
They simply show us how people respond to difficulty.
After a series of debates between Job and his friends over trying to figure
out why Job has gone through such difficulty, God showed up.
(Job 38:2 NKJV) “Who is
this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
God is saying that Job simply doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
God went on to challenge Job with a brief look into God’s vast creation and
just who it is that takes care of it all … God.
Job 42 Restoration
:1 Then Job answered the Lord
and said:
:2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no
purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
:2 You can do everything
Lesson
God’s Sovereignty
(keyword)
Often God works in our lives and we are unaware of
the extent of His actions.
Illustration
There was a mother cat, with a baby kitten in her mouth,
trying unsuccessfully to get across a busy New York City intersection. She
would meander timidly out into the traffic and then dart back to the curb when
nearly hit by a passing car. A traffic policeman in the center of the
intersection, seeing her plight, thrust up his hands to stop traffic in both
directions. The anxious cat scampered across to the other side and disappeared
down an alley.
The cat had no idea that the authority of the New York
City Police Department had been called upon to enable her to get safely across
the street.
Though we want to blame God for all the bad things in our lives, I wonder
how often He has been working to keep us safe.
God can do anything.
God will do whatever He wants to.
The problem is that knowing this doesn’t help answer the question “why”.
We will talk more about the “why” of trials later.
Part of us still would like to know why we are going through what we’re
going through.
If we’re not careful, we can misunderstand what God is trying to do
It helps to know that He also loves us.
If we were unsure that He loves us, we might wonder why God seems to be
trying to destroy us.
But the truth is, God does indeed love us.
(John 15:13 NKJV) Greater love
has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for
his friends.
(Romans 5:8 NKJV) But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
(1 John 3:16 NKJV) By this we
know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.
(Romans 8:35–39
NKJV) —35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 As it is
written: “For Your
sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all
these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
So what do we do when we realize that God can do
anything, and that He also loves us?
Our best response is to trust Him.
When Jesus was warning His disciples at the Last Supper
about the troubles up ahead, He said,
(John
14:1 NKJV) “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also
in Me.
:3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without
knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not
understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
:4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you,
and you shall answer Me.’
:3 I have uttered what I did not understand
Job realizes just how far short his knowledge of God falls.
:5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But
now my eye sees You.
:5 now my eye sees You
I am not sure that Job physically “sees” God, but we use the term “see” as
a metaphor for “understand” or “know”.
If I’m discussing something difficult with you and I ask if you get it, you
might respond, “Oh, now I see”.
Job is no longer a person who has just heard about God.
Now he knows God.
Lesson
Knowing God
God doesn’t just want you to know about Him. He wants you to know Him.
People in high positions of power can sometimes feel like we “know” them
because we read news reports, but in reality we don’t.
Suppose I was Joe Biden’s best friend and I told
you that I wanted to introduce you to the president. I wouldn’t just give you newspaper articles
to read about Mr. Biden, I’d take you to him and introduce you to him face to
face.
Some may still think that just learning about Jesus is what Christianity is
all about. It’s not.
Christianity is not just about doing “religious” stuff. It is not about a list of “do’s
and don’ts”. Christianity is about
knowing God. It’s about knowing God
through His Son Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that our sins have kept us from knowing God, and that Jesus’
death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins so that we can now come to
know God. Jesus said,
(Revelation 3:20
NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Dining with a person paints a picture of relationship. God
wants you to know Him.
Lesson
Knowing God through trials
God never answered the “why” questions that Job was asking.
Job didn’t need answers, he needed more of God. He found more of God through the tough times
he experienced.
We get to know God better through the humility that comes in our trials.
There is a built in humiliation that comes with
trials. It’s not the coolest thing in
the world to have the world watch as your life falls apart.
Some people allow their hearts to grow harder through tough times, but in
Job’s life, his pride fell apart and he humbled himself.
God draws near to hearts that are humble.
(1
Peter 5:5b NKJV) …Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed
with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
We also get to know God better through the process of suffering itself.
(Philippians 3:7–10
NKJV) —7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for
Christ. 8 Yet indeed I
also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as
rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
Paul didn’t want anything to keep him from knowing Jesus
more closely. He found that part of
knowing the Lord better involved the “fellowship of his sufferings”.
Jesus is close to those who are going through trials. We find we know Him better when we endure
suffering.
Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). They weren’t alone. One “like the Son of God” was with them in
the fire.
Jesus suffered and when we learn how to endure suffering,
we’re beginning to understand the heart of Jesus.
Illustration
Gordon MacDonald in his book “The
Life God Blesses,” tells about a Chinese pastor
who spoke at a conference in England.
This pastor had spent eighteen years in prison for his faith. He recalled for the audience his prison
experience: “My
friends wonder what kind of work I did in the labor camp to keep me physically
healthy. I answered them that life in
the labor camp was very, very hard. The
authorities in the camp put me to emptying the human
waste cesspool. Most of the prisoners
were afraid to approach the cesspool, but the authorities were aware of my
background—I was well-educated, from a well-to-do family—and especially because
they were atheists and they knew I was Christian leader. So they enjoyed
putting me to work in the human waste cesspool.
But they did not know in those years how I enjoyed working there. It was more than two meters in depth and two
meters in length, filled with human waste collected from the entire camp. Once it was full, the human waste was kept
until it was ripe and then dug out and sent to the field as fertilizer. Because the pit was so deep, I could not
reach the bottom to empty it, so I had to walk into the disease-ridden mass and
scoop out the successive layers of human waste, all the time breathing the
strong stench. The guards and all the
prisoners kept a long way off because of the stench. So why did I enjoy working in the cesspool? I enjoyed the solitude. In the labor camp all the prisoners normally
were under strict surveillance and no one could be
alone. But when I worked in the
cesspool, I could be alone and could pray to our Lord as loudly as I
needed. I could recite the Scriptures
including all the Psalms I still remembered and no one
was close enough to protest. That’s the
reason I enjoyed working in the cesspool. Also, I could sing loudly the hymns I still remembered. In those
days one of my most favorite was ‘In the Garden.’ Before I was arrested this
was my favorite hymn, but at that time I did not realize the real meaning of
this hymn. When I worked in the
cesspool, I knew and discovered a wonderful fellowship with our Lord. Again and again I
sang this hymn and felt our Lord’s presence with me. ‘I come to the garden alone/While the dew is
still on the roses;
And the voice I hear falling on my ear, The Son of God
discloses. And he walks with me, and he
talks with me, And he tells me I am his own, And the
joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever
known.’ “Again
and again as I sang this hymn in the cesspool, I experienced the Lord’s presence. He never left me or forsook me. And so I survived
and the cesspool became my private garden.”
Most of us haven’t been through difficulties like that, but we do find
ourselves in our own little cesspools.
This brother learned to love his cesspool. It’s where he found himself getting closer to
the Lord. We know Him better through
trials.
:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in
dust and ashes.”
:6 repent in dust and ashes
What had Job done that required repentance?
Keep in mind that God considered Job a righteous man. Job isn’t admitting to the kinds of sins that
his friends had been accusing him of. But Job is realizing that he has had
problems in other areas of his life.
I think Job is repenting from his bad attitude.
:7 And so it was, after the Lord
had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord
said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused
against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is
right, as My servant Job has.
:8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls
and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt
offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I
deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me
what is right, as My servant Job has.”
:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite
went and did as the Lord
commanded them; for the Lord had
accepted Job.
:7 against you and your two friends
God is upset at Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.
There is no mention of Elihu.
Perhaps Elihu was a good guy.
Perhaps he didn’t merit attention.
:7 you have not spoken of Me what is right
As we’ve mentioned each week, the things that Job’s friends have not all
been correct.
Some of the things they’ve said contain truth, but they are not the truth
about Job.
For example, Eliphaz said,
(Job 5:17 NKJV) “Behold,
happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening
of the Almighty.
The writer of Hebrews even quotes this when he talks about
how God disciplines us. (Heb. 12:5)
(Hebrews
12:5 NKJV) —5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to
sons: “My son, do
not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be
discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
But Job was not being “disciplined” by God.
He had done nothing wrong.
We’ve known from the very beginning of the book:
(Job
1:1 NKJV) There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and
that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned
evil.
So, we need to be careful when we take some of these “truths” from the book
of Job, and keep in mind what God says about these men.
:8 go to My servant Job
God wants Eliphaz and his friends to go to Job and ask for forgiveness.
Lesson
Apologize
Sometimes we make horrendous errors in our judgments and criticisms about
other people.
We need to learn to humble ourselves and apologize.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 5:23–24
NKJV) —23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember
that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the
altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because you’ve apologized to God,
that you’re done.
If you’ve offended someone else, you need to go to them and ask for their
forgiveness.
:10 And the Lord restored
Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed
the Lord gave Job twice as much
as he had before.
:10 when he prayed for his friends
Lesson
Praying for offenders
When we’ve been the one who has been misjudged, we can continue to carry a
grudge for years, and those grudges continue to cause problems.
Our grudges can even affect others who are watching us.
The answer to the bridge problem was for one person to
“bow” in humility so the other could crawl on their back.
It seems that when Job takes the step to pray for his “friends”, things
around in his life.
Pray for the people that bug you.
Don’t pray for God to wipe them out. Pray for them the way that you would
want them to pray for you. Jesus said,
(Matthew 5:44 NKJV)
But
I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those
who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
This may not be the magic bullet that ends your trial, but I have a feeling
that even when the difficulty you’re going through ends, your trial isn’t going
to be truly over until you learn to pray for the offenders.
Lesson
How to end my trial
Be careful about looking for a formula of how to end your trial.
Be careful of thinking, “Well if I just do this one thing, then everything
will magically be changed!”
You have to be careful to keep from comparing your
life to the lives of others.
You don’t always know what they’re going through or what it’s like to be in
their shoes.
Job’s trial was over when God said it was over.
Job not only had to endure the loss of his family, his wealth, and his
health, he had to endure those 35 chapters of endless arguments with his
friends.
If you set your hopes on finding the magic formula to end trials, you are
going to be disappointed.
(Proverbs 13:12
NKJV) Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when
the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
Lesson
When restoration happens
God promised Israel:
(Joel 2:25 NKJV) “So I will
restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…
God promised to pay them back for all the years of trials.
When God restores, He will give us back much more than we’ve lost.
(Mark 10:29–30
NKJV) —29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no
one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or
children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold
now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and
lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
Sometimes the restoration happens
in this life.
Sometimes it will happen in heaven.
Yet either way, God will restore
(2 Corinthians
4:16–18 NKJV) —16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is
perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are
seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
Sometimes the “payback” is through internal things, when
the “inward man” is renewed.
Sometimes the “payback” is going to be in the eternal
weight of glory that we’ll experience when we get to heaven.
Whether it’s now or later, God ALWAYS gives us more than we’ve given up.
:11 Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his
acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they
consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one
gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.
:11 all his brothers, all his sisters …
I wonder why it took so long for all these folks to show up?
To be honest, sometimes when we go through the greatest of trials, some
people are afraid to show up.
I wonder if some people think you’re “bad luck”.
Others just don’t know what to say.
For others, circumstances in life just keep them from being there.
Perhaps the gifts these folks bring form the basis for the restoration of
Job’s wealth.
:12 Now the Lord blessed the
latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand
sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen,
and one thousand female donkeys.
:12 the Lord blessed the
latter days of Job
In vs. 10 it said the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
One of the measures of a man’s wealth in ancient times was the size of his
herds.
When you compare what Job had at the beginning of the book (Job 1:3)
7,000 sheep were replaced by 14,000 sheep.
3,000 camels were replaced by 6,000 camels.
500 yoke of oxen were replaced by 1,000 yoke of oxen
500 female donkeys were replaced by 1,000 female donkeys.
:13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
:13 seven sons and three daughters
Before his trial he had seven sons and three daughters.
(Job 1:2 NKJV) And seven
sons and three daughters were born to him.
Why didn’t God give Job twenty more children?
Because He still has the other ten, but they are just in heaven.
He now has twice as many children.
:14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second
Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch.
:14 Jemima – Y@miymah – “day by day”, or,
“handsome as the day”, or, “dove”
When her sisters had children and she became an aunt, she became known as a
great cook and was particularly famous for her pancakes J
:14 Keziah – Q@tsiy‘ah –
she was named for a cinnamon-like spice, “cassia”
:14 Keren-Happuch – Qeren Hap-puwk – “horn of antimony”, or,
“flask of color”.
Antimony is a substance that was used by the ancients like makeup similar
to mascara.
I think she went on to become a Maybelline model.
:15 In all the land were found no women so
beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance
among their brothers.
:15 the daughters of Job
The Masons have an organization for their daughters called “Job’s
Daughters” aimed at building character in young gals.
I am NOT endorsing the Masons.
:15 an inheritance among their brothers
This was an unusual thing in ancient days.
Inheritance was usually only passed on to sons, not daughters.
It’s not until the days of Moses that this changed in Israel with the
daughters of Zelophehad (Num. 36).
:16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and
saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.
:17 So Job died, old and full of days.
:16 Job lived one hundred and forty years
We’ve talked about Job most likely being alive in the days of Abraham.
Abraham lived to be 175 years old.
If Job also lived to the age of 175, then that would mean that this great
trial came when he was about 35 years of age.
:17 old and full of days
You see similar phrases being used to describe the death of others:
It’s used of Abraham, who lived to be 175 years
old (Gen. 25:8). It’s used of his son
Isaac (Gen. 35:29) who died at the age of 180.
It’s also used of King David (1Chr. 29:28) who
lived to be about 70 years old.
This phrase doesn’t as much mean length of life as much as it does quality
of life and fulfilled purposes in life.
Lesson
Living a full life
(keyword)
Some people think the secret to living a “full” life is about learning how
to do difficult things. You’ll thank me later for this video…
Moses wrote,
(Psalm 90:10–12
NKJV) —10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by
reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast
is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 11 Who knows
the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. 12 So teach us
to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Moses is telling us that we only have so long to live on earth. Some have suggested that this “seventy” or
“eighty” year thing might indicate that there are things we can do to keep from
shortening our life span.
If a person has “strength”, they might keep from shortening their
lifespan. Some have suggested that we
can see this in modern medicine where we are learning about things to better
our health, like exercising, watching our weight, cholesterol, and so on.
But the question comes, “why bother?”
When it comes to the issue of the length of life, I’ve seen people fall
into several categories.
1. Unbelievers
There are people who don’t know the Lord – and they’re
absolutely terrified of dying. They
should be.
Some respond by watching their health, others quit trying
and throw caution to the wind.
2.
Scared Christians
There are Christians who ought to know better, and they
are terrified of dying and they too are careful about their health, but only
because they’re afraid of dying.
3.
Hurting Christians
There are Christians who have come to understand the truth
that death for the believer is sweet.
(Psalm
116:15 NKJV) Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death
of His saints.
We know that when we die and are no longer present in our
current bodies, we will be present with the Lord in heaven (2Cor. 5:8)
(2
Corinthians 5:8 NKJV) We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord.
But sometimes when the pressures and hurts of this life
overwhelm us, we can find ourselves looking a little too much for death.
We can find ourselves saying, “I can hardly wait until I
die”. I’m not sure this is where the
Lord wants us to be.
4. Busy Believers
There’s another attitude.
There is a reason why the Lord has left us on this side of heaven after
having come to know Him.
He has a work for us to do. Some of that work involves bringing people
into the kingdom of God. The work isn’t
finished yet.
Illustration
Have you ever been involved in something where you had a
hard time tearing yourself away from the task even though you were starting to
run late for your next appointment?
Some kids (and their dads) have such a great time playing
video games that it’s hard to get them to break away and come to the dinner
table.
Some people I know are late to
many things, but not because they are lazy, but because they try to squeeze
five more things into the next minute before they leave for an appointment.
I wonder if we ought to think about having that same kind
of attitude towards life. I wonder if
rather than wishing we were in heaven, we might have the attitude of, “Lord would you mind if I was a little late coming home so I
could do a few more things down here?”
We’re only going to get one shot of doing things on earth
for the Lord, we might as well go for as much as we can.
Paul had this kind of attitude:
(Philippians
1:23–25 NLT) —23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ,
which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I
continue to live. 25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can
continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.
I think we ought to consider making a push at getting that
extra ten years on life by taking care of our health,
not because we’re afraid to die or because we don’t want to suffer pain in our
old age, and not because we want to spend a few extra years lying on the beach
in Tahiti.
I want to say with Paul that I’ve “finished my race”. I want to hear Jesus say to me, “Well done,
good and faithful servant”.
If I have to be a little late in
going to heaven to do it, it will be well worth it.
Break
I want to wind up our class with some perspective on “trials”.
1. Why trials?
2. Surviving Trials
Why trials?
Why do people go through trials? I’m
sure there are more reasons, but here are six to consider.
1. Correction
Even though Job was not going through his difficulty because of some “sin”,
there may be times when that’s exactly what’s happening to us.
Sometimes we’re doing things we shouldn’t or looking where we don’t need to
be looking, and it causes trouble.
Maybe the fellow in the car shouldn’t have been checking out the jogger’s awesome
“head band”.
There are times when indeed God is trying to correct the bad behavior of
one of His kids.
(Hebrews 12:5–8
NLT) —5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as
his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up
when he corrects you.
We’ve mentioned this before, but the writer of Hebrews is quoting Job’s
friend Eliphaz here (Job 5:17). There is
truth in what Eliphaz said, but just truth that applied to Job.
(Job 5:17 NKJV) “Behold,
happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the
chastening of the Almighty.
6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he
punishes each one he accepts as his child.” 7 As you endure this divine
discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its
father? 8 If God
doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children,
it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.
If you robbed a bank and are sitting in prison, you shouldn’t be asking
yourself, “Why do I have such a hard life being sent to prison?”
It’s obvious you have done something to deserve it.
But if there is no obvious offense that is linked to your difficulty, be
careful of assuming that you’ve done something.
2. God is proud
This was the case with Job.
God allowed Satan to cause trouble to Job to show Satan and the universe
how a godly man will continue to trust God.
(Job 1:8 NLT) Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is
blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
And though Job complained a lot, he did continue to trust God. Job said,
(Job 13:15a NKJV) Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Illustration
As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle
bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder
loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal
payload. The train was then driven to
the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, “Are
you trying to see if we can break this bridge?”
“No,” the builder replied, “I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t
break.”
Could it be that God is bragging on you?
Could it be that He thinks you’re up to the test?
3. Protection
Or, to keep us from trouble.
We saw this from the book of Job (36:19), and the principle is very similar
to “correction” and “refining”.
Sometimes God uses difficulty in our lives to steer us away from things
that would bring us into sin.
We see an example is Paul and his thorn in the flesh
(2 Corinthians 12:7
NKJV) And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
Paul could see later that his “thorn” was keeping him from the sin of
pride, which he might have fallen into because of the great revelations he had
been having about God.
A few years ago I was coming home from getting my
haircut.
As I was driving out the 91 freeway, I heard a noise and looked in my
rearview mirror and saw four or five cars swerving and crashing into each other
on the freeway about 200 yards behind me.
Sometimes I complain about how long it I get delayed at certain
stoplights. But on that day, if the
stoplights had been nicer to me, I would have been in that huge accident.
Sometimes the difficulties or “delays” are for our protection, to keep us
from trouble.
4. Refining Faith
Peter wrote,
(1 Peter 1:6–7
NKJV) —6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need
be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being
much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be
found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
The word “tested” speaks of refining.
God refines our faith like a goldsmith refines gold. It’s my understanding that a goldsmith will
heat the gold ore until it’s in a molten state.
As he keeps the heat on, the impurities all come to the surface. The goldsmith will keep skimming off the
impurities until the gold is pure. He
knows it’s pure when He can see His own reflection in the gold.
Illustration
Charles Spurgeon said: I bear willing witness that I owe more to the fire,
and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord's workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever
learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most.
We’ve defined “faith” as “trusting in someone you can’t see”.
God will “darken the room” in a trial to give us a chance to grow in our
faith, to trust Him when we don’t see what’s going on.
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians
10:13 NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that
you may be able to bear it.
The words translated “temptation” or “tempted” can also be translated
“trial” or “test”.
Paul says that in our trials, God is faithful.
He can be trusted. He will provide a
way to get through the trial.
So we need to learn to trust Him.
Illustration
A young man had worked for years to establish himself as a peach grower and
had invested his all in a small peach orchard which bloomed bounteously. Then
came the frost. He didn’t go to church the next Sunday, nor the next, nor the
next. His pastor gave him a call to find out why he wasn’t in church. The
discouraged young fellow exclaimed: “No, and what is more, I’m not coming any
more. Do you think I can worship a God who loves me so little that he will let
a frost kill all my peaches?”
The old pastor looked at him a moment in silence, and then replied kindly:
“Young man, God loves you better than He does your peaches. He knows that while
peaches do better without frosts, it is impossible to grow the best men without
frosts. His object is to grow the best men, not peaches.”
5. To Show Jesus
In the story of Gideon, God used a strange military strategy to defeat the
Midianites with Gideon’s little band of 300 men.
Each man had a clay pot with a torch inside, along with a ram’s horn
trumpets. Gideon’s men surrounded the
Midianites at night, and at the signal they were to break the clay pots and
blow the trumpets.
When they broke the clay pots, the light could shine.
You couldn’t see the light until the clay pots were broken.
Paul described a parallel picture of broken clay pots:
(2 Corinthians
4:7–11 NKJV) —7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence
of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not
crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—10 always
carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that
the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Sometimes people can’t see Jesus in our lives very clearly until our clay
pots are broken.
Illustration
Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote,
When the green leaves decorate the trees and the season is fair, one cannot
readily find the birds’ nests, but when the winter strips the trees, anyone
with half an eye may see them. In the same way the Christian may scarcely be
discerned amid the press of business and prosperity; his hidden life is
concealed amid the thick and throng of the things of earth. But let affliction
come, a general sickness, or severe losses in the family, and you shall see the
Christian man plainly enough in the gracious patience by which he rises
superior to trial. The sick bed reveals the man; the burning house, the sinking
ship, the panic on the exchange—all these make manifest the hidden ones. In many a true believer, true piety is like a drum which nobody
hears of unless it be beaten.
6. I don’t know
This is the hardest answer.
God does have purposes for our lives – but He doesn’t always tell us what
it’s all about.
As Job went through his difficulty, he didn’t know why.
Illustration
Washing Hamsters
A young boy, about eight years old, was at the corner “Mom & Pop”
grocery picking out a pretty good size box of laundry detergent. The grocer
walked over, and, trying to be friendly, asked the boy if he had a lot of
laundry to do. “Oh, no laundry,” the boy
said, “I’m going to wash my hamsters.” “But you shouldn’t use this to wash
hamsters. It’s very powerful and if you wash your hamsters in this, they’ll get
sick. In fact, it might even kill them.”
But the boy was not to be stopped and carried the detergent to the
counter and paid for it, even as the grocer still tried to talk him out of
washing the hamsters. About a week later
the boy was back in the store to buy some candy. The grocer asked the boy how
his hamsters were doing. “Oh, they died,” the boy said. The grocer, trying not to be an
“I-told-you-so”, said he was sorry the hamsters died but added, “I tried to
tell you not to use that detergent on your hamsters.” “Well, the boy replied, “I don’t think it was
the detergent that killed them.” “Oh? What
was it then?” “Well, after I washed
them, I had to dry them and I guess the dryer can get a little hot, not to
mention the hurdles they had to do. But I must say they did come out without
that static cling!!”
Frankly, sometimes we can identify with those hamsters. We’ve been through one heck of a wash cycle
and feel like we’re about to die on those hurdles in
the dryer.
We have to trust in God’s love, power,
wisdom. We have to
learn that He’s not some silly boy washing his hamsters.
We can trust that He loves us.
(1 John 3:16a NKJV)
By
this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
Job didn’t get answers. He got more
of God. At the end of his difficult time, he said,
(Job 42:5 NKJV) “I have
heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
Illustration
In 1948, A.W. Tozer wrote,
A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines
is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age
methods to our relations with God. We
read our chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up
for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening
to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from
afar. The tragic results of this spirit
are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow
religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel
meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities,
quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic
personality for the power of the Spirit; these and such as these are the
symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.
... A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
[1948]
God isn’t beating you up. He may be
taking you deeper.
Surviving trials
Illustration
A family from Long Island decided to move west. They bought a ranch via the
internet in Wyoming and packed up 3 moving vans and headed for the sunset.
Several months later, friends from New York came for a visit. When they knocked
on the front door of the ranch house, the father answered. After a hearty
exchange of welcomes, the visitors asked him what the ranch had been named.
“Well,” said the would-be cattleman, “I wanted to name the ranch the Bar-J.
However, my wife absolutely insisted on the Susie-Q.
My son liked the Flying-W, while my daughter voted for the Lazy-J.” “So what did you finally decide to name the ranch?” the
visitor asked. “We decided to name it the Bar-J Susie-Q Flying-W Lazy-J Ranch,”
came the reply. The visitor looked around. “So where are all the cattle?” he
asked. “Oh, them,” the rancher said, shaking his head, “None of them survived
the branding.”
How can we survive difficult times?
1. Change
If there is some kind of correction involved, then learn your lesson, turn
around, and follow Him.
(Hebrews 12:11
NKJV) Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those
who have been trained by it.
There is a peace that comes from being “trained”, from turning around.
Illustration
According to a radio report, a Junior High School in Oregon was faced with
a unique problem. A number of girls were beginning to
use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they
put on their lipstick they would press their lips to
the mirrors leaving dozens of little lip prints. Finally
the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls
to the bathroom and met them there with the custodian. She explained that all
these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to
clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was to clean the
mirrors, she asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He proceeded to
take out a long-handled brush, dip it into the nearest toilet and scrub the
mirror. Since then there have been no lip prints on
the mirror.
There’s a “peace” that comes from being “trained” by our trial, by changing
your behavior.
2. Look to Jesus
(Hebrews 12:1–2
NKJV) —1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
He knows what it is to go through difficulty
He knew He was going to face scourging and crucifixion, and yet He went
ahead and faced his trouble because of us.
One evening Jesus sent His disciples on a boat across the Sea of Galilee
when a sudden storm appeared.
While the disciples fought against the storm, Jesus showed up, walking on
the water. Jesus even asked Peter to
come and walk with Him on the water.
Peter walked a few steps on the water …
(Matthew 14:30
NKJV) But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid;
and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
It’s when you take your eyes off of Jesus in the
storm that you begin to sink.
You may think that no one has suffered like you.
But there is one person who has suffered more than all others, even more
than Job.
Jesus suffered on the cross, taking the weight of all the world’s sins as
He died in our place.
He knows what you’re going through and if He has allowed for you to go
through a difficult time, He knows exactly what He’s doing.
3. Pray
(James 5:13 NKJV) Is anyone
among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing
psalms.
When Paul had his thorn in the flesh, he handled it by praying.
(2 Corinthians
12:7–10 NKJV) —7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
The “messenger of Satan” reminds me of Job since Satan was behind Job’s
great difficulties.
8 Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said
to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
You may see the end of your trial in response to prayer.
Paul’s trial continued, but he found his answer in God’s grace.
He found that the weaker he became, the stronger Jesus could be inside of
him. And that’s what Paul wanted, more
of Jesus.
4. Trust
Sometimes we feel like those hamsters going through the washer and
dryer. Can we trust our “keeper”?
Of course we can. He’s not a silly little
boy.
If God is stretching your faith, then respond with faith. Respond by trusting Him.
(1 Peter 4:19 NKJV)
Therefore
let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him
in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
commit– paratithemi – to place beside; to deposit; to
entrust, commit to one’s charge
God wants us to learn to trust Him with our lives, knowing that He knows
what He’s doing.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were three young Jewish men who would not bow to
Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, even though Nebuchadnezzar threatened to thrown them into the fire for refusing to obey.
(Daniel 3:17–18
NKJV) —17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He
will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you,
O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image
which you have set up.”
They had faith that God would take care of them, either by taking them home
in death, or by protecting them in the fire.
Nebuchadnezzar followed through with his threat and threw them into the
fiery furnace. Yet they found that they
weren’t alone in the fire.
(Daniel 3:24–25
NKJV) —24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and
spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the
midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he
answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are
not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
I think that when you and I go through tough times, Jesus is right there
with us.
Jesus doesn’t just start you out with the last trust fall. He takes it a step at a time. But there are going to be times He will
stretch your faith.
Illustration
“Footprints”
One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with
the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he
noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him, and the other
to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the
footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the
very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it. “LORD, You said that once I decided to follow You, You’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that
during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of
footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed You most You would leave me.”
The LORD replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and I would
never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only
one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
You can trust Him. Let Him carry
you.
5. Rejoice
Instead of complaining
Job didn’t understand what was going on, and he complained a lot about it.
Complaining can get us into lots of trouble.
Illustration
Ole Nellie
Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to
take the trucking company responsible for the accident to court. In court the
trucking company’s fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe. Didn’t you say, at
the scene of the accident, “I’m fine,” said the lawyer. Farmer Joe responded,
“Well I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Nellie
into the.......” “I didn’t ask for any details,” the lawyer interrupted, “just
answer the question.” “Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m
fine!’” Farmer Joe said, “Well I had just got Nellie into the trailer and I was driving down the road...” The lawyer
interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at
the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene
that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue
my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the
question.” By this time the Judge was frustrated at the lawyer and said to the
lawyer, “I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Nellie.”
Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, “Well as I was saying, I had just loaded
Nellie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway
when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck
right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and
Nellie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to move. However, I could hear ole Nellie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible
shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came
on the scene. He could hear Nellie moaning and groaning so he went over to her.
After he looked at her then he took out his gun and shot her between
the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and
looked at me. He said, “Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her. How
are you feeling?”
Instead of moaning and groaning like Nellie, there’s another way to respond
to our trials.
Peter told us to rejoice because our trials are
refining our faith. (1Pet. 1:6-7)
(1 Peter 1:6–7 NKJV) —6 In this you greatly rejoice, though
now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the
genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that
perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory
at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
James tells us,
(James 1:2–4 NKJV) —2 My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let
patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing.
Our trials produces
“patience” in us and that’s what makes us mature as believers.
Illustration
This Is Good!
There is a story about a king in Africa and his close friend that he grew
up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever
occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, “This is good!” One
day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would
load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done
something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for
after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown
off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” To
which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send his
friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he
should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to
their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set
fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being
superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he
returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt
remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to
speak with his friend. “You were right” he said, “it was good that my thumb was
blown off.” And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened.
“And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so
long. It was bad for me to do this.” “No,” his friend replied, “this is good!”
“What do you mean, ‘this is good’! How could it be good that I sent my friend
to jail for a year?” “If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you.”
We may not always see what the good is with our trial, but if we are
trusting God, we can still rejoice because it is indeed good.
Helping Others
One of the best ways that you can help others in their trials is to find
help in your own trials.
(2 Corinthians
1:3–4 NKJV) —3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to
comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves
are comforted by God.
Paul is teaching the Corinthians that when they go through trials and
receive comfort, they are able to turn around and help
others who are going through the same things.
Trials should teach us to have compassion on
others.
Illustration
Charles Spurgeon told a story about Charles Pratt, when he was Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas. “Being on a visit to Lord Dacre, he walked out
with a gentleman—a very absent-minded man—to a hill, on the top of which the
stocks of the village stood. The Chief Justice sat down, and wanting to feel
what the punishment was, he asked his companion to open them and put him in.
This being done, his friend took a book from his pocket, sauntered on and
completely forgot the judge. In the meantime, the Chief Justice tried in vain
to release himself. Seeing a countryman, he tried to convince him to let him
out, but the man wouldn’t help. ‘No, no,
old gentleman,’ said the man, ‘You were not set there for nothing,’ and left
him until he was released by a servant dispatched from the house.
“Later he presided at a trial in which a magistrate was charged for false
imprisonment, putting someone in the stocks. The counsel for the magistrate
made light of the whole charge and especially of sitting in the stocks, which
he said everybody knew was no real punishment.
“The Chief Justice rose and, leaning over the bench, said in a
half-whisper, ‘Brother, have you ever
been in the stocks?’
“’Really, my lord, never!’
“’Well, I have,’ said the judge, ‘and I assure
you, it is no such trifle as you represent.’”
We look at life much different after we’ve been
through some tough situations ourselves.
Helping others is one of the best ways we can end up helping ourselves.
Illustration
Years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger of the Menninger Clinic was asked, “If
someone felt a nervous breakdown coming on, what would you suggest that he do?”
“If you feel a nervous breakdown coming on, I would urge
you to find somebody else with a problem—a serious one—and get involved with
that individual, helping him solve his problem.” In helping him to solve his
problem, then in reality your own problem is going to
disappear. You’re no longer thinking internally. You’re no longer letting
things gnaw at your stomach. You’re no longer getting disturbed about yourself because you’re not thinking about yourself.
You’re thinking about others.
That’s it! You’ve survived Job!
Homework
There’s just ONE Quick Quiz left to take.
I’d like you to share one last prayer request
No more memory verses
No more Mars Hill.
No more pericopes
Keywords
What was the first “keyword” …
a.
God’s Sovereignty
b.
God’s Patience
c.
God’s Love
What was the second “keyword” …
a.
Living a full life
b.
Living a longer life
c.
Living a shorter life
Was there something from today’s lesson that you can apply to your life
TODAY?
Mars Hill Notes
Episode #12 “The Rise And Fall Of
Mars Hill”
“The Aftermath” – 2nd half
Part 2
Jesse Bryant
We are all capable of falling for this kind of stuff.
Feeling bad for all the friends he pulled into it.
Mike Anderson
Lots of people dealing with the damage
Abused victim and abuser
Trauma and ptsd
Being a part of a hugely dysfunctional church
Colleen Ramser (counsellor)
People need to recover from stress, then they need to reconnect with God
Some people wrecked so bad they don’t come back.
Levi McAllister (former worship leader, dad committed suicide)
Calling it a cult
Targeting young men who needed a dad. Mark calling
himself their dad.
Don’t sound like Job’s friends
Comparing Luther and Mark
Luther was constantly persecuted (Mark wasn’t)
Luther - all life was repentance
Luther was loud and bombastic but he preached a
different Jesus.
Jen Zug
Wrote 2014 blog. Loved
Mars Hill. Felt betrayed that the church changed
direction. Break up letter.
Left when Tim Gatos resigned.
Quest Church meeting at old Ballard Building
Left for more progressive church
Tim Smith
Mars Hill Portland pastor
Transitioned the church to Trinity.
Now not pastoring.
Now asking lots of questions. Should he stop
pastoring?
Struggles that he had made ministry all about himself.
Can he trust himself?
Joel Brown
Former pastor
Ashamed
2017 former pastors gather.
Is God done with people?
Sutton Turner
Seen by many as the villain
Jen Smith had been reconciled with him.
He writes a blog about his counseling and journey.
He meets with people who said he hurt them.
He reaches out to Jen Smith
Reconciled with Jesse Bryant
Playing a passive role in a toxic system
Much pain continues because of absence of resolution from Mark.
Felt abandoned because he left.
What about Mark’s soul?
Nick Bogardus
Malcolm Muggeridge – C.S. Lewis told story about meeting Muggeridge in the
studio, after “cut”, Muggeridge lets out a big sigh. Media can be all about “masks”.
The longer you live with a “mask”, the greater the void grows between the
“mask” and the internal reality of who you are.
You become loved for something you are not.
Never heard back from Mark with requests for interview
Requests for interviews from other leaders were also declined – Matt
Chandler, Tim Keller, John Piper also declined.
Also leaders from Acts 29.
Marshill.se
Preservation of Mars Hill media – website (no longer “marshill.se”, now
“marshillwas.com”)
How does the church view what happened at Mars Hill?
Do we focus on the “good” that was left?
Do we acknowledge that there are wounded people?
Do we acknowledge there was a wolf in the flock?