Shawn Snobelen – Be Not Ashamed – Class 6 – The Power of God

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So this is the Watch and Lake
Bible School 2024, our speaker

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for the week, Brother Sean
snabling our theme for the week,

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Be not Ashamed.
And this is his 6th and final

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class in his series under the
title The Power of God for the

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Sean.
Well, thank you.

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Thank you brother and welcome to
the 6th class.

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Apparently I mentioned Marnie
too much in my classes so I

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won’t do that again.
This week is, has been a week of

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learning for me and I do
appreciate all the all the

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comments and all the feedback
and all the great verses that I

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forgot to put in.
And I try to sort of throw that

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in at the end of every night.
And, and, and it seems like this

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series has struck a bit of a
chord with some of you as well.

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And I’ve, I’ve spoken with many
of you about these same trials

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and issues and tribulations that
are happening within your life

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as well.
And so if we go back to the

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theme of the very first class,
that Paul makes this very

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powerful and an emphatic
statement, for I am not ashamed

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of the gospel, for it is the
power of God for salvation to

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everyone who believes.
I always wondered what what did,

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what did Paul intend for us to
understand from that particular

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proclamation that this gospel,
this gospel is the power of God

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for salvation?
What?

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What is the power of God?
And how does it operate in our

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life?
Because I think we see it in and

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around us.
We see this infinite.

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Power of God, His omnipotence,
His transcendent authority, His

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sovereign rule over the
universe.

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But we also see his intimate
power, his personal

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relationships, and his
involvement with his creation

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and with us.
But sometimes we might see this

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dichotomy between the infinite
power of God and the infinite

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nature in which he works in our
lives.

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And sometimes we can see the one
and not see the other.

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And so I want to try to to end
this series this week by trying

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to better understand what Paul
would have us to know.

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We know that the power of God
brings salvation and it brings

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salvation to everyone who
believes.

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And the apostle Paul proclaims
that the gospel embodies this

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very personal power of God, This
this power that is manifested in

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his word that brings salvation
to everyone who believes in it.

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The the gospel is not just a
message.

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As we said at the start of the
week, it’s not just words on a

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page.
It is a transformative power.

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And just a few verses on from
that, in Romans 1 and 20, the

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apostle Paul states for since
the creation of the world, his

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invisible qualities, his eternal
power, his divine nature have

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been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been

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made so that the people without
excuse.

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And so there’s the infinite
power of God that is to be

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manifest, that we all might see,
so that we are without excuse.

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And so I want to explore these
two aspects of God’s power, how

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His magnificent nature might be
oppressed upon us, How is

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infinite and eternal nature
might then be personalized for

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us?
And one of the things that I,

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that I learned very early on,
and I can’t remember where this

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came from.
I, I, I attribute, you know, a

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lot of things to my father.
And it might have been from him,

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but I heard at one point that in
Genesis chapter one, in the

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beginning God.
And when you?

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Think about God from that
perspective.

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Then.
Then God has always existed.

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And so when we think about the
eternal power of God, that in

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the beginning there was God, he
he had always existed.

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He has no beginning, He has no
end.

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God was independent and
self-sustaining as a universal

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force before even the the pages
of Genesis begin.

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It says in Psalm 90 and verse 2.
He says before the mountains

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were brought forth or ever you
had formed the earth in the

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world from everlasting to
everlasting, you are God.

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It says in Revelation, the last
book of the Bible, it says I am

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Alpha and I Omega.
The beginning and the ending set

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the Lord, which is and which was
and which is to come, the

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Almighty.
And not only did God always

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exist, but He exists always to
sustain all things.

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He is the source of all things.
Everything begins with Him.

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He’s the, the first ’cause he’s
the only agent.

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He’s the law of every nature and
the, and the existence of him in

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time and space and energy and,
and matter has always been and,

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and I think we need to just stop
and reflect on, on how powerful

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that is.
This is not a God that just came

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into being for us.
This is a being that has always

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existed in John 1 and 3.
It says through.

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Him all things were made, and
without Him nothing was made.

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That has been made.
And Isaiah 46 and 9 declares I

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am God and there is no other.
I am God and there is none like

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me.
I make known the ends from the

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beginning, from ancient times,
what is till now to come.

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And so we understand his
supremacy and His sovereignty

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over everything.
God is the central figure in the

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unfolding story of the universe
and everything that follows from

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in the beginning.
God is a result of his power.

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Even science agrees.
The great singularity, they call

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it.
The singular power in the

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universe is God Almighty.
There’s no other force, there’s

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no other being that shares this
primacy.

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The Lord God stands alone.
He always was and He will always

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be.
For this is what the Lord says,

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the prophet Isaiah tells us.
This is what the Lord says, He

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who created the heavens, He is
God, He who.

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Fashioned it and made the earth.
He founded it and he did not

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create it to be empty, but he
formed it to be inhabited.

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And so we understand then from
the nature of God’s power that

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he created it for a purpose.
All of this that we have, he

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created it for a purpose and and
we can think he created it for

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us and and he did in in that
sense, and he created the

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universe by simply speaking
words.

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And with him there is no end.
The existence and the nature of

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God is eternal.
Says in Psalm one, O 2.

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Oh my God, I say, take me not
away in the midst of thy days,

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whose years endureth throughout
all generations are forever and

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ever.
Psalm One, O 2 and 25, says that

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was laid the foundation of the
earth in the heavens of the work

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of thy hands.
The eternal nature of God

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assures us as believers that our
relationship with him will also

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be eternal.
Lord Jesus Christ says in John

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17, he says this is eternal
life, that you know God because

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God is everlasting and the life
that he gives is also

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everlasting.
And so as believers, we’re

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promised eternal life and a
fellowship with the eternal God,

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which which is is mind blowing
and it gives us purpose beyond

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the grave.
And so when we started this this

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series about believing in the
existence of God, surely,

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brethren and sisters, we must
believe in his future existence

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because that’s where we’re
going.

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The psalmist continues in in
Psalm 102, Speaking of the

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temporal nature of of the things
that we see.

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They shall perish, but thou
shalt injury.

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A.
All of them shall wax old like a

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garment, as a vester there shall
change them.

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And they will be changed.
But thou art the same, O God,

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and thy years have no end.
God is immutable.

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People change, brethren and
sisters, Circumstances

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fluctuate.
The world itself is transient

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and all the things that it does.
But God never changes.

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God is eternal, and His promises
are everlasting.

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Your Kingdom is an everlasting
Kingdom, and your dominion

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endures throughout all
generations.

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We don’t very often quote from
Lamentations, but not very

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often.
You hear a Bible class series on

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Lamentations, but.
It is just full of unbelievable

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wisdom, and I love this.
The steadfast love of the Lord

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never ceases.
His mercies never come to an

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end.
They are new every morning.

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Great is thy faithfulness.
And so this brethren and

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sisters, this is the God that we
can believe in the God that

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always was and the God that will
always be and we can rest

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assured in our future because of
it.

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And and so when I look at the
power of God, I, I look at

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these, these two extreme ends of
these two aspects of, of the

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nature of God’s power that God
is manifest in the infinite that

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we read in Genesis chapter one
that in the beginning God

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created everything.
But then God tells us about his

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intimate, his very intimate and
caring power that David talks

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about when he says.
You created my innermost being.

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You knit me together in my
mother’s womb.

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And so God can create the vast
universe, but he also has

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created us that his power is is
infinite, but that his power is

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also intimate.
And, and, and it’s, it’s

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important for us to also
understand because we can have a

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problem if we focus on one or
the other.

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And, and, and the churches all
around us, they trivialize the

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power of God because they focus
on the intimate power of God.

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And it becomes their faith
becomes about them.

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And God is their personal
savior.

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I’ve even heard somebody say
that my God is my personal genie

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that I can pull out at any time
that I want.

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And if we focus too much on the
intimate nature of God’s purpose

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with us, that our whole
existence can become about us.

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And if there’s one thing we’ve
learned in in reading and

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understanding the word of God is
it’s, it’s not about us.

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And I think of Peter when he was
standing in opposition to his

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Lord and, and, and Christ had,
had told the disciples he had to

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go to Jerusalem and he had to
die.

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And Peter says, no, it it shall
not be.

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And he stood in in Christ’s way
and and Jesus said to him, get

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behind me, you’re an adversary.
And he said, because you’re not

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minding the things of God, but
the things of men.

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And Peter wanted Christ to be
the King, then you.

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Don’t want to wait till the
future.

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But the inverse can also be true
because we can focus too much on

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the infinite power of God and
God becomes for us very distant

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and very uncaring.
Like maybe we’re just being

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pulled along in the current of
his power and that our part to

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play in this moving creation is
just a dust speck.

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The Pharisees did this at the
time of Christ, making the

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nature of God’s relationship
burdensome and and.

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Rule.
Driven and fear based.

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And so this interpretation for
some we we saw this with the

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Roman Catholic Church for for
hundreds of years creating this

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distant terrifying God of wrath
so they might control the people

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and so neither of those.
Should be how we see God in our

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life and the the one man that I
can think of in the Bible as an

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example of where both of these
came to play was the man Job

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return up to the book of Job.
Job clearly had a relationship

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with God.
We were told by God that Job was

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perfect and upright.
We’re told that God saw Job as

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righteous and and was was God a
good man?

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Yes, he was a good man.
He was, he was a really good

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man.
I’ve said before that he was the

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best Pharisee in the best way.
Was this man Job?

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He was upright, he was rich, but
he uses uprightness and his

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wealth to do good things.
And we read, we don’t have time

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to look at that, but we read all
about that.

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But, but I don’t, I don’t think
that the book of Job is so that

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we might be introduced to a
righteous man who did good

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things.
I believe the Book of Job is

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introducing us to a man who had
a broken relationship with his

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God that only saw God in the
infinite and terrifying nature

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of his existence.
And yes, Job loved God while

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things were going well and
things for Job went very well,

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but when things changed, so did
Job’s understanding of God.

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There’s all kinds of beautiful
statements in the book of Job

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about how God’s how, how Job saw
God in his life.

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Job 26 and verse 7, we’re going
to get to some verses in just a

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minute, but it says he stretches
out the north over the void.

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He hangs the earth on nothing.
He binds the waters in his, in

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his sick cloud.
Job talks about also the

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hydrological system of how the,
the water and the moisture work.

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00:15:30,520 –> 00:15:33,800
He, he says all these beautiful,
majestic things about his God.

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00:15:35,320 –> 00:15:38,480
He talks in great detail about
the awesome power of his God.

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00:15:39,040 –> 00:15:42,360
He even says in Job 26 and 14.
But these are only hints of his

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00:15:42,360 –> 00:15:44,200
power, only whispers of what we
have heard.

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00:15:44,400 –> 00:15:46,600
Who can truly know how great God
is?

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00:15:46,600 –> 00:15:52,720
That’s what Job says.
But God’s power was a mystery to

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00:15:52,720 –> 00:15:54,400
Job.
He didn’t understand how it

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00:15:54,400 –> 00:15:56,720
worked.
It was, it was like a black box.

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00:15:56,720 –> 00:16:00,840
And this black box became to Job
the fearful unknown.

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00:16:05,160 –> 00:16:08,960
But that was all set aside when
Job’s life was good, when his

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00:16:08,960 –> 00:16:13,320
life was amazing.
Until one day it was not when

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00:16:13,320 –> 00:16:15,960
his trial and his suffering
started, and he no longer saw

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00:16:15,960 –> 00:16:19,680
the light of God’s majesty, but
the blackness of his wrath and

233
00:16:19,680 –> 00:16:22,240
the fearful mystery of his
unknown purpose.

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00:16:22,760 –> 00:16:25,560
And brothers and sisters, this
can be true for us.

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00:16:27,680 –> 00:16:30,160
Then when our life is going
great, we look at God as

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00:16:30,160 –> 00:16:33,720
benevolent and and merciful and
caring and, and bringing

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00:16:33,720 –> 00:16:38,280
blessings to us.
And then one day our life

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00:16:38,280 –> 00:16:47,880
changes and what happens, just
like Job said, He said, why me?

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00:16:50,760 –> 00:16:52,440
Look at all the good things that
I’ve done.

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00:16:53,960 –> 00:16:55,920
God, do you not?
Do you not see them?

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00:16:57,360 –> 00:17:00,960
And we start to blame
circumstance and we blame our

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00:17:00,960 –> 00:17:04,560
upbringing and we we blame work,
we blame our ecclesia, we blame

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00:17:04,560 –> 00:17:07,480
the people around us, but we
never blame ourselves.

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00:17:07,680 –> 00:17:10,400
And eventually, as Job did, he
blamed God.

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00:17:10,560 –> 00:17:16,680
Turn to Chapter 9 of Job.
Because of of many things, Job

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00:17:16,680 –> 00:17:22,920
saw God as a poor ruler of his
creation and and I got a lot of

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00:17:22,920 –> 00:17:25,240
pushback for that when I first
did my series on Job.

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00:17:25,240 –> 00:17:27,400
They’re like, well, that no,
that’s not Job.

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00:17:27,400 –> 00:17:30,720
Well, you, you read the things
that Job says about his God.

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00:17:31,320 –> 00:17:33,920
First of all, he thought that
God’s power was violent and

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00:17:33,920 –> 00:17:36,280
destructive.
Look at look at Chapter 9 of Job

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00:17:36,280 –> 00:17:37,520
and we just look at a few
verses.

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00:17:37,520 –> 00:17:40,560
Truly, I know verse 2, truly I
know that it is so, but how can

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00:17:40,560 –> 00:17:44,040
man be in the right before God
if one wish to contend with him?

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00:17:44,040 –> 00:17:48,360
Job says one could not answer
him once in 1000 times verse 5,

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00:17:48,360 –> 00:17:51,040
he moves mountains and they know
it not he overturns them in his

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00:17:51,040 –> 00:17:53,120
anger.
He takes the earth out of its

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00:17:53,120 –> 00:17:58,120
place, its pillars tremble.
Verse 7 This God who commands

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00:17:58,120 –> 00:18:01,080
the sun and it does not rise,
whose seals up the stars.

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00:18:01,080 –> 00:18:04,920
Behold, he passes me by and I
can’t even see him.

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00:18:04,920 –> 00:18:06,840
He moves on, I can’t even
perceive.

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00:18:06,840 –> 00:18:09,760
Look, he snatches away.
Who can turn him back?

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00:18:09,760 –> 00:18:13,280
Who will say, What are you
doing?

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00:18:15,640 –> 00:18:23,120
This was a God that Job saw as
uncommunicative, uncaring,

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00:18:23,600 –> 00:18:27,680
unfeeling, and violent and
destructive with how he used

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00:18:28,720 –> 00:18:32,720
creation.
On his creative turn to chapter

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00:18:32,720 –> 00:18:39,760
12, Job also viewed that God’s
power was not only unjust and

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00:18:39,760 –> 00:18:42,920
destructive, but it was
arbitrary that that God did

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00:18:42,920 –> 00:18:44,200
things that you couldn’t
understand.

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00:18:44,200 –> 00:18:47,880
Job 12 and 14 what he tears
down, and things that cannot be

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00:18:47,880 –> 00:18:50,000
rebuilt, those he in prisons
cannot be released.

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00:18:50,000 –> 00:18:52,120
If he holds back the waters,
there is drought.

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00:18:52,120 –> 00:18:54,080
If he lets them loose, they
devastate the land.

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00:18:54,080 –> 00:18:57,240
In other words, no matter what
God does arbitrarily he brings

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00:18:57,240 –> 00:18:58,600
destruction.
Verse 17.

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00:18:58,600 –> 00:19:01,880
He leads rulers away stripped,
and makes fools of judges.

277
00:19:01,880 –> 00:19:04,200
He he leads priests away
stripped, and overthrows

278
00:19:04,200 –> 00:19:08,400
officials long established.
He silences the lips of trusted

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00:19:08,400 –> 00:19:10,560
divisors, and he takes away the
discernment of elders.

280
00:19:10,800 –> 00:19:12,720
He makes nations great, then he
destroys them.

281
00:19:12,720 –> 00:19:14,720
He enlarges nations, then he
disperses them.

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00:19:16,480 –> 00:19:21,120
I believe that Job saw God’s
power as not only destructive,

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00:19:21,280 –> 00:19:28,520
but completely arbitrary.
And look, I understand Job is,

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00:19:28,840 –> 00:19:30,960
is suffering.
He, he’s, he’s under trial.

285
00:19:30,960 –> 00:19:35,040
He’s lost his entire family.
He’s lost all of his net worth.

286
00:19:35,400 –> 00:19:39,240
He’s lost everything that he has
accumulated in the wealth of his

287
00:19:39,240 –> 00:19:43,840
world is gone.
His wife is has really left him

288
00:19:44,400 –> 00:19:45,960
and he’s lost his personal
health.

289
00:19:45,960 –> 00:19:51,080
He is sitting in in dust and
ashes, scraping the boils on his

290
00:19:51,080 –> 00:19:55,480
skin with a piece of pottery.
That is what this man has been

291
00:19:55,480 –> 00:19:59,000
reduced to.
So we can understand in a human

292
00:19:59,000 –> 00:20:01,840
sense, brethren and sisters, the
the the the agony that he went

293
00:20:01,840 –> 00:20:04,440
through and why this is even
possible.

294
00:20:06,160 –> 00:20:09,640
In chapter 19, Job states many
times that God punishes, then

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00:20:09,640 –> 00:20:14,040
doesn’t explain he elevates.
The wicked, he suppresses the

296
00:20:14,040 –> 00:20:17,160
just because he’s because he
uses himself as an example.

297
00:20:17,160 –> 00:20:19,360
Look the wicked, they’re
prospering, but look at me.

298
00:20:19,360 –> 00:20:21,520
I’m righteous and I am being
suppressed.

299
00:20:21,520 –> 00:20:23,840
He says.
He cries out in Job 19 and

300
00:20:23,840 –> 00:20:26,280
seven.
I cry out violence, but I’m not

301
00:20:26,280 –> 00:20:27,760
answered.
I call for help.

302
00:20:27,760 –> 00:20:30,880
There is no justice.
God has walled up my way so that

303
00:20:30,880 –> 00:20:33,560
I cannot pass, and He has set
darkness upon my past.

304
00:20:33,560 –> 00:20:38,280
This is a broken man who has a
broken relationship with his

305
00:20:38,280 –> 00:20:47,280
God.
This can surely be the human

306
00:20:47,280 –> 00:20:58,620
reality of suffering, brothers
and sisters, that we might be

307
00:20:58,620 –> 00:21:06,340
brought to the point where we
think that there is no answer to

308
00:21:06,340 –> 00:21:11,660
the sufferings that we endure
and that God doesn’t care, and

309
00:21:11,660 –> 00:21:17,220
that from the depths of our
despair we only see an uncaring

310
00:21:17,220 –> 00:21:23,840
and arbitrary nature in our God.
And I think we can.

311
00:21:23,840 –> 00:21:30,120
Feel this in the suffering of
this man, and as Job did we, we

312
00:21:30,120 –> 00:21:33,120
often look back on our lives and
we see all the good things that

313
00:21:33,120 –> 00:21:39,600
we have done, and using human
math on a calculator of our own

314
00:21:39,600 –> 00:21:43,000
manufacture, we punch out these
numbers and we say God is wrong

315
00:21:46,480 –> 00:21:52,840
and we are right.
Holding on, as we do sometimes,

316
00:21:52,840 –> 00:21:55,560
brothers and sisters, to the
seeming fact that our lifelong

317
00:21:55,560 –> 00:21:59,160
investment in our spiritual
well-being is somehow then due

318
00:21:59,160 –> 00:22:02,800
to be rewarded by some form of
immunity from suffering and

319
00:22:02,800 –> 00:22:07,560
trial in this life.
And it does not.

320
00:22:10,640 –> 00:22:14,720
God makes no such promise.
He made no such promise to Job,

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00:22:14,720 –> 00:22:16,560
and He makes no such promise to
us.

322
00:22:16,760 –> 00:22:20,640
Such is the issue with only
seeing the infinite and powerful

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00:22:20,640 –> 00:22:24,120
God in our universe.
And such was Job’s problem that

324
00:22:24,120 –> 00:22:28,040
when calamity struck, as it does
for them and sisters, at some

325
00:22:28,040 –> 00:22:29,880
point in our life it will
strike.

326
00:22:30,720 –> 00:22:33,760
If we don’t have our
relationship with God right,

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00:22:34,960 –> 00:22:37,000
then we will see Him just as Job
did.

328
00:22:40,600 –> 00:22:43,080
And if we hold this view, then
in the depths of our suffering

329
00:22:43,080 –> 00:22:47,640
we will see God also as a black
box, unfeeling and arbitrary and

330
00:22:47,640 –> 00:22:50,320
meeting out punishment, which is
what his friend said.

331
00:22:54,200 –> 00:22:57,680
Now, Job, God blesses the
righteous and he curses the

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00:22:57,680 –> 00:22:59,880
wicked.
And you’re really cursed, so you

333
00:22:59,880 –> 00:23:07,400
must have been wicked.
We need to have an understanding

334
00:23:07,400 –> 00:23:10,760
that is unlike what Job had that
that that that actually our pain

335
00:23:10,920 –> 00:23:14,440
and our suffering is God’s tool
to bring us to repentance.

336
00:23:15,040 –> 00:23:17,320
That is actually God showing us
that he loves us.

337
00:23:17,520 –> 00:23:19,840
And this is counterintuitive to
human nature.

338
00:23:24,480 –> 00:23:27,160
But this is not our God.
And we must understand the

339
00:23:27,160 –> 00:23:30,960
nature of God and God’s power in
order to understand God’s

340
00:23:31,000 –> 00:23:34,040
nature.
And so Job needed a mediator.

341
00:23:34,400 –> 00:23:37,440
And Job cries out for three
solid chapters.

342
00:23:37,560 –> 00:23:39,680
He tells us all the wonderful
things that he did.

343
00:23:39,680 –> 00:23:41,320
My steps were washed with
butter.

344
00:23:41,440 –> 00:23:44,880
I made a covenant with my eyes
because does God not see this?

345
00:23:45,000 –> 00:23:47,640
What did I do wrong?
I was just and fair.

346
00:23:47,640 –> 00:23:49,600
I helped others.
I didn’t trust in riches.

347
00:23:49,600 –> 00:23:52,120
I wasn’t an idolater.
I’m hospitable.

348
00:23:52,120 –> 00:24:00,800
I stand up for truth.
The problem that Job had was he

349
00:24:00,800 –> 00:24:04,280
stood on the pedestal of his own
self righteousness and he

350
00:24:04,280 –> 00:24:06,800
couldn’t climb down because of
the power of his own pride.

351
00:24:09,280 –> 00:24:11,960
But job did look.
For somebody to mediate for him.

352
00:24:11,960 –> 00:24:15,080
But initially when we think
about Job’s words, it was in the

353
00:24:15,080 –> 00:24:18,400
form of a trial.
He wanted to bring God to trial,

354
00:24:19,000 –> 00:24:26,560
to try God on his injustice and
his unmerciful behavior says in

355
00:24:26,560 –> 00:24:30,080
Job 9 and 32, God is not a mere
mortal like me, that I might

356
00:24:30,080 –> 00:24:32,840
answer him, that we might
confront each other in court and

357
00:24:32,840 –> 00:24:34,400
uses.
There’s all this terminology in

358
00:24:34,400 –> 00:24:37,400
the book of Job about a
courtroom and how that he he

359
00:24:37,400 –> 00:24:40,480
needs to be vindicated.
If only, he says, there was

360
00:24:40,480 –> 00:24:45,200
someone to mediate between us,
someone to intercede, someone to

361
00:24:45,200 –> 00:24:48,240
bring us together, someone to
remove God’s rod from me, he

362
00:24:48,240 –> 00:24:51,280
says, so that his terror would
not frighten me anymore.

363
00:24:52,320 –> 00:24:55,120
Then Job says I would speak
without fear of him, but as it

364
00:24:55,120 –> 00:25:04,200
now stands with me, I cannot.
The words for mediatorship and

365
00:25:04,200 –> 00:25:08,760
intercessor come up almost 30
times in the book of Job.

366
00:25:14,150 –> 00:25:15,790
And then Elihu comes on the
scene.

367
00:25:17,390 –> 00:25:22,870
And Elihu was Job’s mediator.
And Elihu, among a number of

368
00:25:22,870 –> 00:25:24,950
things that he said, which was
just beautiful, he.

369
00:25:25,280 –> 00:25:30,280
He lines up all of Job’s
accusations and he answers every

370
00:25:30,280 –> 00:25:34,800
single one of them.
And he says in Job 33 and verse

371
00:25:34,800 –> 00:25:38,400
23 says if there be for him an
Angel, a mediator, or an

372
00:25:38,400 –> 00:25:42,320
intercessor one in 1000 to
declare to man what is right for

373
00:25:42,320 –> 00:25:44,440
him.
And he is merciful to him and

374
00:25:44,440 –> 00:25:46,760
says deliver him from going down
to the pit.

375
00:25:46,760 –> 00:25:50,080
I have found a ransom which
means a covering and a price of

376
00:25:50,080 –> 00:25:53,440
redemption.
Let his flesh become the flesh

377
00:25:53,440 –> 00:25:55,080
of youth.
Let him return to the days of

378
00:25:55,080 –> 00:25:59,520
his youthful vigor.
Then man prays to God, Elihu

379
00:25:59,520 –> 00:26:05,000
says.
And God accepts him, and he sees

380
00:26:05,000 –> 00:26:08,120
his face with a shout of joy,
and he restores to man his

381
00:26:08,120 –> 00:26:10,840
righteousness.
And so we don’t have time to

382
00:26:10,840 –> 00:26:14,840
cover all the amazing things
that that Elihu said to bring

383
00:26:15,120 –> 00:26:19,000
Job off of his pedestal of
self-righteous pride.

384
00:26:21,120 –> 00:26:25,720
Elihu was preparing Job to meet
his God, And we know the whole

385
00:26:25,720 –> 00:26:27,880
time that Elihu was speaking,
what’s happening?

386
00:26:28,400 –> 00:26:31,240
A storm is brewing all around
them.

387
00:26:31,240 –> 00:26:33,400
And one of the young people
asked me, do you think all the

388
00:26:33,400 –> 00:26:35,760
friends were still there?
I thought, Oh yes, they were all

389
00:26:35,760 –> 00:26:37,320
there, Job and his three
friends.

390
00:26:37,440 –> 00:26:39,760
And Elihu was the youngest,
which is why he spoke last.

391
00:26:39,760 –> 00:26:45,240
And even when God starts to
speak, they’re all listening

392
00:26:45,240 –> 00:26:49,960
because Elihu and God both say
things that needed to be

393
00:26:49,960 –> 00:26:52,160
understood by those three
friends.

394
00:26:52,160 –> 00:26:54,840
It says in Job 33 and 31, Eli
who’s speaking, says pay

395
00:26:54,840 –> 00:26:57,520
attention to Job, listen to me,
be silent, and I will speak.

396
00:26:57,760 –> 00:27:01,240
If you have any words answered
to me, speak for I desire to

397
00:27:01,240 –> 00:27:03,720
justify you.
And that word in the Hebrew

398
00:27:03,720 –> 00:27:08,080
means to make you right before
your God.

399
00:27:12,640 –> 00:27:18,080
If Eli, who by the grace of God
had not been inserted.

400
00:27:19,560 –> 00:27:25,440
Into this conversation with Job,
I believe Job would have been

401
00:27:25,440 –> 00:27:31,800
consumed in the storm.
Eli, who started the process of

402
00:27:31,800 –> 00:27:38,240
reconciling Job to his God in
answering his questions and

403
00:27:38,240 –> 00:27:41,160
helping him to understand the
things that God was then going

404
00:27:41,160 –> 00:27:43,520
to tell him.
And then Job is brought before

405
00:27:43,520 –> 00:27:47,920
his God.
And God answers Job out of the

406
00:27:47,920 –> 00:27:50,360
whirlwind.
Turn to Job chapter 38 and out

407
00:27:50,360 –> 00:27:52,800
of the whirlwind and out of the
storm that had been building all

408
00:27:52,800 –> 00:27:55,240
all of this time.
And we can think about it maybe,

409
00:27:55,240 –> 00:27:58,520
as God’s wrath is just brewing
out there.

410
00:27:58,720 –> 00:28:00,680
Chapter 38 and verse 2.
Who is this?

411
00:28:00,680 –> 00:28:02,760
The Darkens Council with words
without knowledge.

412
00:28:02,760 –> 00:28:06,440
Dress for action, job action
like a man, and I will question

413
00:28:06,440 –> 00:28:08,200
you, and you will make it known
to me.

414
00:28:09,400 –> 00:28:12,000
And then what God does is
absolutely beautiful.

415
00:28:13,600 –> 00:28:19,360
He begins to show out of the.
Infinite power that he possesses

416
00:28:20,400 –> 00:28:27,840
the intimate nature of his care.
And God begins to ask by saying

417
00:28:27,840 –> 00:28:30,120
to Job in in in 38 and verse
four.

418
00:28:30,360 –> 00:28:32,720
Job, where were you when I laid
the foundation of the earth?

419
00:28:33,280 –> 00:28:36,000
Tell me if you understand who
marked off its dimensions.

420
00:28:36,160 –> 00:28:39,160
Surely you know Job who
stretched the measuring line

421
00:28:39,160 –> 00:28:42,680
across it.
This man Job, who who did

422
00:28:42,680 –> 00:28:46,480
understand the terrifying
majestic power of his God,

423
00:28:46,800 –> 00:28:50,400
didn’t have any idea how it
worked.

424
00:28:54,320 –> 00:28:57,040
Verse 8 God continues by
describing how he controls the

425
00:28:57,040 –> 00:29:00,640
boundaries of the Seas.
So the storms that Job saw as

426
00:29:00,640 –> 00:29:04,160
only destructive, Whatever God
did when he closed the

427
00:29:04,160 –> 00:29:06,080
storehouses and when he opened
them up, it didn’t matter.

428
00:29:06,080 –> 00:29:08,080
There was either drought or
there was calamity.

429
00:29:10,160 –> 00:29:14,200
God says, who shut up the sea
behind, behind its doors when it

430
00:29:14,200 –> 00:29:17,080
burst forth from the womb.
When, when I fix the limits for

431
00:29:17,080 –> 00:29:20,480
it and I set the doors and the
and the bars in place, God is

432
00:29:20,480 –> 00:29:23,600
saying, Job, I’ve always been in
control of creation.

433
00:29:23,600 –> 00:29:26,400
It’s not destructive.
This is how I created it.

434
00:29:26,800 –> 00:29:28,480
I’m the one that’s holding it
back.

435
00:29:28,480 –> 00:29:30,600
I’m holding it from becoming
chaotic.

436
00:29:32,280 –> 00:29:34,960
Then God speaks about the
provision of, of the creatures.

437
00:29:34,960 –> 00:29:39,520
He says to Job, Do you hunt the
prey for the lioness to satisfy

438
00:29:39,520 –> 00:29:41,760
the hunger of the lions when
they Crouch in their dens or

439
00:29:41,760 –> 00:29:44,600
they lie in wait in the thicket?
And Job 38 and 39.

440
00:29:44,600 –> 00:29:47,560
He also describes how he
provides for the Raven.

441
00:29:47,680 –> 00:29:50,680
Who provides food for the Raven
when the young cry out to God

442
00:29:50,680 –> 00:29:52,000
and wander about for lack of
food?

443
00:29:52,000 –> 00:29:54,600
Is that you, Job?
Do you do that?

444
00:29:56,440 –> 00:30:02,520
I do that Job God goes on to
talk to Job about the things in

445
00:30:02,520 –> 00:30:06,120
the inanimate and the animate
creation.

446
00:30:07,400 –> 00:30:13,080
The smallest attention to detail
our God has in his purview and

447
00:30:13,080 –> 00:30:15,080
throughout his speeches God
describes this intimate

448
00:30:15,080 –> 00:30:17,520
knowledge and The smallest
details on earth, whether it’s

449
00:30:17,520 –> 00:30:19,800
the feeding of the young
animals, the timing of the birth

450
00:30:19,800 –> 00:30:22,200
and the wild creatures, the
movement of the stars, the

451
00:30:22,200 –> 00:30:25,000
falling of the.
Rain in a desolate place in Job

452
00:30:25,160 –> 00:30:32,040
38 and 26, God shows that
nothing escapes his notice.

453
00:30:33,880 –> 00:30:40,560
And nothing escapes his care and
ultimately God’s.

454
00:30:41,880 –> 00:30:44,040
God’s speech.
Reveals that not only does he

455
00:30:44,040 –> 00:30:51,200
care for his creation, but God
cares for Job by engaging

456
00:30:51,200 –> 00:30:54,080
directly with Job when when when
Job didn’t even know it was

457
00:30:54,080 –> 00:30:56,400
happening.
God shows that he’s been present

458
00:30:56,400 –> 00:30:58,520
and active in Job’s life all
along.

459
00:30:58,520 –> 00:31:01,840
Though Job couldn’t understand
why he suffered, God was there.

460
00:31:04,000 –> 00:31:06,800
God’s response shows that his
wisdom and his power and his

461
00:31:06,800 –> 00:31:10,000
love, we’re always there.
You don’t need to turn this up

462
00:31:10,000 –> 00:31:12,840
and listen to one of the things
that Job says in his long

463
00:31:13,320 –> 00:31:16,640
rambling monologue about all the
things that were amazing about

464
00:31:16,640 –> 00:31:19,920
his life in in chapters 29 and
30 and 31.

465
00:31:19,920 –> 00:31:22,480
This is what he says in in Job
29 and 19.

466
00:31:24,240 –> 00:31:28,480
He says I was like a tree whose
roots always have water and

467
00:31:28,480 –> 00:31:33,840
whose branches are wet with dew
and have the many answers,

468
00:31:33,880 –> 00:31:36,720
direct answers that God made
against the claims of Job.

469
00:31:36,720 –> 00:31:39,200
This is what God says in chapter
38 and verse 28.

470
00:31:39,680 –> 00:31:46,000
He says Job.
Does either the rain or the dew

471
00:31:46,000 –> 00:31:50,600
have a father?
What God was saying to Job, He

472
00:31:50,600 –> 00:31:53,960
was saying, Job, I was the one
that watered your roots.

473
00:31:54,120 –> 00:31:59,360
I was the dew on your branches.
I was the one sustaining you all

474
00:31:59,360 –> 00:32:02,280
that time and all the times of
blessing and all the good things

475
00:32:02,280 –> 00:32:03,240
that were happening in your
life.

476
00:32:03,560 –> 00:32:07,280
That was me.
That was me strengthening you.

477
00:32:12,760 –> 00:32:16,400
We can often see God like that,
benevolent in the good times,

478
00:32:16,400 –> 00:32:18,840
yet walled off and distant in
the times of our trial.

479
00:32:21,120 –> 00:32:24,480
A lot of this is born of trial
brethren and sisters when we’re

480
00:32:24,480 –> 00:32:27,720
in distress, as Job was, and and
that clouds our judgement.

481
00:32:27,720 –> 00:32:30,880
It makes it very difficult to
see and understand what God is

482
00:32:30,880 –> 00:32:34,360
actually doing.
That God was always there, that

483
00:32:34,360 –> 00:32:42,560
God is always there carrying us
through the trial and Elihu.

484
00:32:42,560 –> 00:32:44,320
And then God points this out to
him.

485
00:32:45,040 –> 00:32:47,800
This is a fundamental process,
brethren and sisters, that we

486
00:32:47,800 –> 00:32:50,160
all must go through because in
the end, through all the trial

487
00:32:50,160 –> 00:32:53,480
and suffering, Job finally sees
the beautiful balance of the

488
00:32:53,480 –> 00:32:56,600
infinite and the intimate
character of his God.

489
00:32:57,760 –> 00:33:00,240
And it couldn’t be brought out
any more beautifully than Job

490
00:33:00,480 –> 00:33:03,160
chapter 42 in turn.
Let’s turn to that passage.

491
00:33:06,040 –> 00:33:10,240
It says in Job chapter 42 and
five after God had finally

492
00:33:10,240 –> 00:33:18,440
finished speaking, Job says to
God, he says I had heard of you

493
00:33:20,040 –> 00:33:27,400
by the hearing of the ear, but
now mine eyes see you.

494
00:33:31,640 –> 00:33:36,400
And it took the devastating
trial that God himself brought

495
00:33:36,400 –> 00:33:43,160
on this just and righteous man
to fix the relationship that was

496
00:33:43,160 –> 00:33:47,640
broken.
Job needed to develop and

497
00:33:47,640 –> 00:33:52,120
understand that God’s power,
God’s infinite power, is there

498
00:33:52,120 –> 00:33:54,960
to address all the amazing
things in the universe.

499
00:33:56,240 –> 00:33:59,560
But most importantly, that we
might understand how God can

500
00:33:59,560 –> 00:34:05,920
then intimately care for us so
that even through our trial, God

501
00:34:05,920 –> 00:34:08,440
might be manifest.
Even through the good times in

502
00:34:08,440 –> 00:34:13,000
our life, God is manifest in
everything that we do.

503
00:34:18,239 –> 00:34:22,480
What is important, brothers and
sisters, is not that we suffer.

504
00:34:23,960 –> 00:34:28,560
What is important, brothers and
sisters, is how we respond to

505
00:34:28,560 –> 00:34:32,880
our suffering.
Listen to what Elihu says in Job

506
00:34:32,880 –> 00:34:35,800
36 and 11.
This is just one of the many

507
00:34:35,840 –> 00:34:42,000
amazing things that this
intercessor was able to do for

508
00:34:42,000 –> 00:34:45,560
Job.
He says to Job in in chapter 36

509
00:34:45,560 –> 00:34:47,440
and 11.
He says if they listen to him,

510
00:34:47,440 –> 00:34:49,960
him being God, if they listen to
him and they complete their days

511
00:34:49,960 –> 00:34:54,840
in prosperity and their years in
pleasantness, right?

512
00:34:54,840 –> 00:34:58,960
So if if we listen to God and we
we serve him, then we can

513
00:34:58,960 –> 00:35:02,600
complete our days in prosperity
and our years in pleasantness.

514
00:35:03,960 –> 00:35:07,240
Then he says in verse 15,
Remember Job?

515
00:35:09,480 –> 00:35:13,000
And and you see the the lead up
to this really with Elihu was

516
00:35:13,280 –> 00:35:17,240
that one of the things he had to
address with Job, as Job had

517
00:35:17,240 –> 00:35:20,920
said, God doesn’t communicate.
I, I cried justice and he

518
00:35:20,920 –> 00:35:24,000
doesn’t hear.
And Elihu said, no, God does

519
00:35:24,000 –> 00:35:26,200
communicate.
He he communicates in many ways.

520
00:35:26,640 –> 00:35:29,480
He communicates by dream.
He communicates by vision.

521
00:35:29,600 –> 00:35:33,000
He communicates by the way, by
trial and suffering.

522
00:35:34,240 –> 00:35:37,400
Oh, and by the way, Job, God
doesn’t communicate with the

523
00:35:37,400 –> 00:35:39,440
prideful.
He says that to Job.

524
00:35:40,240 –> 00:35:42,560
But listen to what he says in
Job 36 and 15.

525
00:35:42,560 –> 00:35:46,880
In answering that claim of Job’s
inability to hear God speaking

526
00:35:46,880 –> 00:35:51,160
to him through his trolley, says
Job, God delivers the afflicted

527
00:35:51,240 –> 00:35:55,520
by their affliction, and he
opens their ears because of

528
00:35:55,520 –> 00:35:58,680
their adversity.
And we have to remember this,

529
00:35:59,680 –> 00:36:03,800
brethren and sisters, the two
aspects of God’s great power,

530
00:36:04,920 –> 00:36:08,800
His infinite power.
And the intimate nature of his

531
00:36:08,800 –> 00:36:11,920
care for us and, and, and we
need to understand the infinite

532
00:36:11,920 –> 00:36:14,240
power of God.
It becomes for us the foundation

533
00:36:14,240 –> 00:36:16,640
of worship.
And Job worshipped God.

534
00:36:17,200 –> 00:36:20,720
He was in awe of God.
He he respected His Majesty and

535
00:36:20,720 –> 00:36:23,840
his glory.
Jeremiah speaks of this.

536
00:36:23,840 –> 00:36:26,320
No one is like you, Lord, you
are great and your name is

537
00:36:26,320 –> 00:36:28,760
mighty in power.
Who should not fear you, king of

538
00:36:28,760 –> 00:36:31,600
nations?
And so we need to understand the

539
00:36:31,600 –> 00:36:35,080
infinite power of God is there,
that we might bow in reverence

540
00:36:35,360 –> 00:36:39,120
to God’s almighty power, that we
might recognize the place of His

541
00:36:39,120 –> 00:36:42,240
sovereignty and His Majesty to
bring us to worship Him.

542
00:36:43,760 –> 00:36:48,440
Psalm 95 says the sea is His,
for he made it, and his hands

543
00:36:48,440 –> 00:36:50,920
form the dry land.
Oh, come, and let us worship and

544
00:36:50,920 –> 00:36:53,440
bow down.
Let us kneel before the God of

545
00:36:53,440 –> 00:36:57,200
our making.
And so we need to understand

546
00:36:57,200 –> 00:36:59,920
these things, brothers and
sisters, by seeing the hand of

547
00:36:59,920 –> 00:37:03,920
God in the grandeur and the
majesty and the vastness of

548
00:37:03,920 –> 00:37:06,880
creation and its control over
the whole universe, that we can

549
00:37:06,880 –> 00:37:12,880
truly appreciate His greatness.
That if we can believe in all of

550
00:37:12,880 –> 00:37:19,080
these things, that God can do
all of this in nature, that God

551
00:37:19,080 –> 00:37:25,600
can take care of this.
That’s what I think He needs us

552
00:37:25,600 –> 00:37:34,400
to understand, and it brings us
to faith.

553
00:37:36,120 –> 00:37:39,480
Once we understand the awesome
power of our God and the things

554
00:37:39,480 –> 00:37:43,360
that He has done, the things
that He is doing, and the things

555
00:37:43,360 –> 00:37:46,400
that He will do in this world
and with each and every one of

556
00:37:46,400 –> 00:37:49,120
us, we can have faith.
Our understanding of God’s power

557
00:37:49,120 –> 00:37:51,440
builds faith.
Isaiah 46 and 10 says, declaring

558
00:37:51,440 –> 00:37:53,760
the end from the beginning.
My ancient times, the things

559
00:37:53,880 –> 00:37:56,600
that have yet come, saying My
counsel shall stand and I will

560
00:37:56,600 –> 00:38:00,840
accomplish all of my purpose.
If we know that God is capable

561
00:38:00,840 –> 00:38:04,280
of all things, then He will
bring that promise to pass.

562
00:38:05,040 –> 00:38:09,040
It’s faith building that we can
always rely on our God.

563
00:38:09,960 –> 00:38:14,120
If we believe that He exists and
we have faith that what God says

564
00:38:14,120 –> 00:38:17,400
will come to pass in the future,
then we will rely on that

565
00:38:17,400 –> 00:38:24,120
outcome and it will direct our
paths every single day. 2 to

566
00:38:24,120 –> 00:38:30,640
Ephesians chapter 1 it’s very
wonderful message in the New

567
00:38:30,640 –> 00:38:32,560
Testament about this this very
fact.

568
00:38:36,720 –> 00:38:41,240
Ephesians chapter 1 starting at
verse 9, he says, making known

569
00:38:41,240 –> 00:38:44,800
to us the mystery of his will
according to his purpose, which

570
00:38:44,800 –> 00:38:48,160
he set forth in Christ as a plan
for the fullness of time to

571
00:38:48,160 –> 00:38:51,320
unite all things in him, being
in heaven, and things on the

572
00:38:51,320 –> 00:38:54,160
earth in him we have it obtained
an inheritance, having been.

573
00:38:54,480 –> 00:38:57,480
Predestined according to the
purpose of Him who works all

574
00:38:57,480 –> 00:39:01,840
things according to the counsel
of His will, so that we who were

575
00:39:01,840 –> 00:39:06,720
first to hope in Christ might be
to the praise of His glory in

576
00:39:06,720 –> 00:39:09,040
Him.
You also, the apostle Paul goes

577
00:39:09,040 –> 00:39:11,720
on to say, when you heard of the
word of truth, the gospel of

578
00:39:11,720 –> 00:39:15,760
your salvation and believed in
Him were sealed with the promise

579
00:39:15,760 –> 00:39:18,600
of the Holy Spirit, who is the
guarantee of our inheritance,

580
00:39:18,800 –> 00:39:21,840
until we acquire possession of
it to the praise of His glory.

581
00:39:23,600 –> 00:39:26,840
And so, brethren and sisters,
knowing this, we can stand firm

582
00:39:26,840 –> 00:39:33,000
in our belief that God has
already made it a reality for

583
00:39:33,000 –> 00:39:37,640
us.
And that includes the salvation

584
00:39:37,640 –> 00:39:41,000
that we’ve been promised, the
guarantee of our inheritance.

585
00:39:43,840 –> 00:39:45,880
And this is how our knowledge
and our understanding and our

586
00:39:45,880 –> 00:39:48,720
acceptance of God’s great and
infinite power gives us

587
00:39:48,720 –> 00:39:53,840
confidence and faith that God
can and He will do all that He

588
00:39:53,840 –> 00:39:59,200
has said, that if you can do all
those things, surely He can do

589
00:39:59,200 –> 00:40:04,480
that in US.
And so the infinite becomes the

590
00:40:04,480 –> 00:40:06,760
intimate in our lives.
And I love these verses because

591
00:40:06,760 –> 00:40:09,840
it marries these two attributes
of God’s power perfectly

592
00:40:09,840 –> 00:40:12,200
together.
For this is what the high and

593
00:40:12,200 –> 00:40:14,800
exalted One says.
He who lives forever, whose name

594
00:40:14,800 –> 00:40:19,920
is holy, I live in a high and a
holy place, the infinite power

595
00:40:19,920 –> 00:40:21,080
of God.
But.

596
00:40:23,040 –> 00:40:27,800
But also with the one who is
contrite and lowly in spirit to

597
00:40:27,800 –> 00:40:31,080
revive the spirit of the lowly
and revive the heart of the

598
00:40:31,080 –> 00:40:41,280
contrite, the intimate nature of
God’s power turn up to Acts

599
00:40:41,400 –> 00:40:49,280
chapter 17, Acts chapter 17,
starting at verse 24.

600
00:40:50,880 –> 00:40:54,120
Because again we we have here
again the the infinite power

601
00:40:54,640 –> 00:40:58,440
balanced with the intimate use
of of God’s love in our lives.

602
00:40:59,400 –> 00:41:01,880
And this was Paul speaking to
the philosophers in the in the

603
00:41:01,880 –> 00:41:05,800
academics.
At up at Mars Hill and he says

604
00:41:05,800 –> 00:41:09,040
first God is powerful.
Verse 24 The God who made the

605
00:41:09,040 –> 00:41:12,760
world and everything in it is
the Lord of heaven and earth and

606
00:41:12,760 –> 00:41:15,080
does not live in temples built
by human hands.

607
00:41:15,080 –> 00:41:18,320
And he is not served by human
hands as if he needed anything.

608
00:41:20,080 –> 00:41:24,880
Rather he gives everyone life
and breath and everything else

609
00:41:25,280 –> 00:41:27,640
from one man.
He made the nations that they

610
00:41:27,640 –> 00:41:29,520
should inhabit the whole earth
and he marked out their

611
00:41:29,520 –> 00:41:31,800
appointed times in history in
the boundaries of their their

612
00:41:31,800 –> 00:41:34,000
lands.
And then God becomes personal,

613
00:41:34,480 –> 00:41:38,640
and God did this.
So that would seek him and

614
00:41:38,640 –> 00:41:45,160
perhaps reach out for him and
find him, and he is not far from

615
00:41:45,160 –> 00:41:52,080
any one of us.
And then Paul puts the capstone,

616
00:41:52,080 –> 00:41:56,880
I think, on that statement.
He says, for in him we live and

617
00:41:56,880 –> 00:42:04,560
move and have our being.
God’s purpose is to inhabit this

618
00:42:04,560 –> 00:42:09,040
earth with his glory.
God’s purpose is also that we

619
00:42:09,040 –> 00:42:20,110
would be part of that glory in
God’s power as we opened in

620
00:42:20,110 –> 00:42:25,280
God’s infinite power bound up in
that is his power to save.

621
00:42:25,280 –> 00:42:34,140
Turn to first Peter chapter 1.
You know, we can have all kinds

622
00:42:34,140 –> 00:42:40,500
of wonderful relationships in
this world and and and we do we

623
00:42:40,500 –> 00:42:42,140
can have wonderful relationships
in our life.

624
00:42:42,180 –> 00:42:46,340
Best friends, husbands, wives,
the close relationships of

625
00:42:46,340 –> 00:42:49,100
family that the relationships we
have within our ecclesial

626
00:42:49,100 –> 00:42:52,400
community.
And the love.

627
00:42:52,400 –> 00:42:55,360
That is shared and the
friendship that we share in

628
00:42:55,360 –> 00:42:58,400
those relationships and those
relationships, as wonderful as

629
00:42:58,400 –> 00:43:03,080
they are, they are not perfect
and they will fail in mortality,

630
00:43:08,910 –> 00:43:10,790
but they develop our
understanding and our and our

631
00:43:10,790 –> 00:43:16,550
dependence.
Those human relationships help

632
00:43:16,550 –> 00:43:22,600
us develop an understanding of
that reciprocity that we need to

633
00:43:22,600 –> 00:43:24,880
have the give and the take in
the relationship.

634
00:43:24,920 –> 00:43:27,600
And and those relationships, I
believe, are allegorical to the

635
00:43:27,600 –> 00:43:30,280
one relationship that stands
above them all, the relationship

636
00:43:30,280 –> 00:43:36,160
that we have with our God and
our Father and with His Son, the

637
00:43:36,160 –> 00:43:40,760
Lord Jesus Christ.
Who did not?

638
00:43:40,760 –> 00:43:44,880
Spare his own son, as Paul says
in Romans 8, but gave him up for

639
00:43:44,880 –> 00:43:48,120
us all.
How will he not also, along with

640
00:43:48,120 –> 00:43:50,640
him, graciously give us all
things?

641
00:43:52,000 –> 00:43:54,560
And so the intimate nature of
God’s love was manifest in the

642
00:43:54,560 –> 00:43:57,920
giving of His only Son, that we
might be saved.

643
00:43:58,200 –> 00:44:02,720
And if we think of the pain and
the agony that God endured as

644
00:44:02,720 –> 00:44:07,640
His perfect Son was sacrificed
to cleanse our filthy garments,

645
00:44:10,320 –> 00:44:15,680
that we might be made clean
because no other relationship,

646
00:44:17,560 –> 00:44:22,960
brethren and sisters, can save
us from ourselves, only the

647
00:44:22,960 –> 00:44:24,800
Divine.
Relationship that we have with

648
00:44:24,800 –> 00:44:34,520
God through His Son.
First Peter chapter 1 starting

649
00:44:34,520 –> 00:44:36,200
verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of

650
00:44:36,200 –> 00:44:40,200
our Lord Jesus Christ.
By His mercy He gave us a new

651
00:44:40,200 –> 00:44:44,280
birth into a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ

652
00:44:44,280 –> 00:44:49,160
from the dead, that is, unto an
inheritance imperishable.

653
00:44:49,600 –> 00:44:53,840
Undefiled, unfading, it is
reserved in heaven for you, who

654
00:44:53,840 –> 00:44:57,640
by God’s power are protected
through faith for a salvation

655
00:44:57,640 –> 00:44:59,600
ready to be revealed in the last
time.

656
00:45:03,480 –> 00:45:06,240
And so we understand the
intimate nature of God’s power.

657
00:45:06,240 –> 00:45:09,840
But the the intimate nature of
God’s power offers us salvation

658
00:45:09,840 –> 00:45:13,880
by a loving God with an
outstretched arm, who gave his

659
00:45:13,880 –> 00:45:17,720
Son for us, that he would be
crucified and resurrected, that

660
00:45:17,720 –> 00:45:23,080
through him we might be saved.
And we looked at the verse

661
00:45:23,080 –> 00:45:26,000
yesterday, how God rescues us
and.

662
00:45:26,000 –> 00:45:30,240
Carries us to the Kingdom.
This is a God who wants to dwell

663
00:45:30,240 –> 00:45:33,920
with us, who is willing to
extend his grace to us, to make

664
00:45:33,920 –> 00:45:37,720
us righteous, not by our own
merit, as Paul says in Ephesians

665
00:45:37,720 –> 00:45:41,160
2, but by grace.
You have been saved through

666
00:45:41,160 –> 00:45:44,720
faith and it is not of
ourselves, brethren and sisters.

667
00:45:44,720 –> 00:45:49,680
It is the gift of God.
Our salvation, brothers and

668
00:45:49,680 –> 00:45:53,800
sisters, is bound up in this
understanding, understanding the

669
00:45:54,320 –> 00:45:57,400
infinite and the infinite power
of God in our lives, how it

670
00:45:57,400 –> 00:46:01,320
touches us every single day.
Whether we see the glory of God

671
00:46:01,320 –> 00:46:05,280
in the heavens or whether we
feel it in the trial of our

672
00:46:05,280 –> 00:46:11,760
lives, God is there.
And so as we close, I I just

673
00:46:11,760 –> 00:46:15,120
want to look at at a few of my
favorite verses.

674
00:46:20,560 –> 00:46:23,760
As we think about being
unashamed of the gospel, being

675
00:46:23,760 –> 00:46:27,520
being anchored in this
understanding of the nature of

676
00:46:27,520 –> 00:46:33,520
God’s power, I want to end where
we started for the weak.

677
00:46:34,800 –> 00:46:37,320
The Apostle Paul given us this
this powerful statement.

678
00:46:37,320 –> 00:46:40,080
For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the

679
00:46:40,080 –> 00:46:43,840
power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believes.

680
00:46:46,120 –> 00:46:50,120
And so Paul’s declaration is, is
is both bold and and yet

681
00:46:50,120 –> 00:46:52,560
unwavering.
He declares his refusal to be

682
00:46:52,560 –> 00:46:57,520
ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
And he does so because he knows

683
00:46:57,520 –> 00:47:02,520
what’s at stake and because he
knows that it is the power of

684
00:47:02,520 –> 00:47:06,800
God that has done all these
things that we might be saved

685
00:47:06,800 –> 00:47:13,720
and when we understand the true
nature of God.

686
00:47:16,400 –> 00:47:21,160
Then we understand what he can
do for us, and we have no reason

687
00:47:21,160 –> 00:47:27,840
to be ashamed.
But we might stand unashamed in

688
00:47:27,840 –> 00:47:36,280
a world that rejects the gospel,
that places human wisdom ahead

689
00:47:36,320 –> 00:47:40,000
of gods.
But Paul knew this when he wrote

690
00:47:40,040 –> 00:47:44,280
in First Corinthians 2 and five
that your faith should not stand

691
00:47:44,280 –> 00:47:46,960
in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God.

692
00:47:48,560 –> 00:47:50,720
Our faith is not grounded,
brethren and sisters, in the

693
00:47:50,720 –> 00:47:54,440
cleverness of human reasoning,
the pervasiveness of of human

694
00:47:54,440 –> 00:47:57,920
arguments, the changing tides of
popular opinion.

695
00:47:58,720 –> 00:48:00,800
It’s not swayed by the
philosophy of the world.

696
00:48:00,960 –> 00:48:06,480
Our faith is rooted in the power
of God, a God that does not

697
00:48:06,480 –> 00:48:11,000
waver, that does not fade, and
that can never be shaken.

698
00:48:18,320 –> 00:48:23,000
And you know, the amazing thing
is when I when I read Hebrews

699
00:48:23,000 –> 00:48:28,320
Chapter 11 and I read through
all those faithful men and women

700
00:48:28,320 –> 00:48:32,280
who who believed in the
existence of God and who

701
00:48:32,280 –> 00:48:34,440
believed in God’s future for
them.

702
00:48:38,880 –> 00:48:43,600
And we read right at the end
that they lie in the grave, not

703
00:48:43,600 –> 00:48:53,400
having received their promise
because God is waiting for us to

704
00:48:53,400 –> 00:49:00,440
be perfected.
And I think about what Abraham

705
00:49:00,440 –> 00:49:04,760
and and and Joseph and David and
all those others that God is

706
00:49:04,760 –> 00:49:10,520
holding patiently in the grave.
Surely those faithful that

707
00:49:10,520 –> 00:49:15,560
deserve the promise of the
future, he’s holding them there,

708
00:49:15,640 –> 00:49:22,280
brethren and sisters, so that in
this intervening time that God

709
00:49:22,280 –> 00:49:28,920
has given us, we might get it
right in our relationship with

710
00:49:28,920 –> 00:49:36,840
Him, so that when that day comes
together with them, we might be

711
00:49:36,840 –> 00:49:40,560
made perfect.
And that humbles me more than

712
00:49:40,560 –> 00:49:48,840
you can imagine.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans

713
00:49:48,840 –> 00:49:53,520
chapter 10 he says if you
therefore confess with your

714
00:49:53,520 –> 00:49:56,880
mouth that Jesus is Lord, and
you believe in your heart that

715
00:49:56,880 –> 00:50:01,960
God raised him from the dead,
then you will be saved.

716
00:50:02,160 –> 00:50:04,960
For with the heart 1 believes
and is justified, and with the

717
00:50:04,960 –> 00:50:09,120
mouth 1 confesses and is saved.
For the scripture says everyone

718
00:50:09,120 –> 00:50:12,360
that believes in him, brethren
and sisters, will never be put

719
00:50:12,360 –> 00:50:16,760
to shame.
And so let us brethren and

720
00:50:16,760 –> 00:50:20,320
sisters, live out these
remaining days, living unashamed

721
00:50:20,320 –> 00:50:24,320
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, living unashamed of the

722
00:50:24,320 –> 00:50:29,560
existence of our God, being
unashamed of his future, being

723
00:50:29,560 –> 00:50:32,000
unashamed of the truth that he
has given us.

724
00:50:32,000 –> 00:50:36,720
That’s in our hearts that we
might be separated from this

725
00:50:36,720 –> 00:50:40,920
world, set apart, that we might
set a boundary around us and

726
00:50:42,840 –> 00:50:48,360
allow God into our lives.
That we might be unashamed of

727
00:50:48,360 –> 00:50:56,800
the power of God to save us.
And when that great day arrives

728
00:50:58,000 –> 00:51:02,680
and the Lord Jesus Christ
returns to collect his own, he

729
00:51:02,680 –> 00:51:11,400
might see our faith and he might
say I am unashamed of us and

730
00:51:11,400 –> 00:51:13,840
that he will accept us into
God’s eternal Kingdom.

731
00:51:17,840 –> 00:51:22,840
And so I would just like to
thank you for having Marnie and

732
00:51:22,840 –> 00:51:27,440
I come here this week.
I, I love the schools, only the

733
00:51:27,440 –> 00:51:32,720
second time I’ve ever been here.
But God willing, we will come as

734
00:51:32,720 –> 00:51:37,760
often as we can.
And I do pray that we might all

735
00:51:37,760 –> 00:51:41,720
continue to.
Flock together.

736
00:51:42,720 –> 00:51:46,560
To fellow sheep together, that
our individual lights might

737
00:51:46,560 –> 00:51:49,000
become a great light in our
community.

738
00:51:50,120 –> 00:51:54,840
To show the light of God’s truth
and shine it at the darkness of

739
00:51:54,840 –> 00:51:56,640
this world.
Thank you.