The Way of Wisdom - Bless the Lord | Week 6

In a world where suffering and joy intertwine, our travels can unveil the stark contrasts that challenge our faith. My journey to the brink of war in Sudan and the hidden pain within Thailand's vibrant cities serves as a prelude to today's heartfelt conversation. We delve into the beauty of steadfast faith and the profound lessons that emerge from embracing the trials that life throws our way. We dissect biblical wisdom, exploring how the fear of the Lord paves the way to knowledge and how trusting in God shapes our understanding of the world.

The narrative of Job stands as a testament to worshiping in adversity, a story that resonates through the ages. His unyielding devotion amidst unspeakable loss is a beacon for all of us grappling with the "whys" of our own struggles. Our discussion unravels the complexity of human suffering and divine justice, examining Job's response to his wife's despair and the candid conversations with his friends. Through these ancient texts, we seek to find relevance in our modern lives, compassion in our hearts, and the quiet strength to maintain integrity in the face of testing.

As we wrap up our episode, we extend an invitation to you, our listeners, for introspection and spiritual renewal. Reflect on the deep peace that comes from trusting in God's sovereignty, even when the answers to our questions remain elusive. We learn from Job that true restoration of faith and character transcends earthly riches, and the choice to bless the Lord, regardless of our circumstances, is a profound act of worship. Join us in this sanctuary of thought and let's walk together towards a deeper, more resilient faith.

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Transcript

Pastor Jason Brown: 0:00

Why am I suffering? You know, part of our wisdom is to understand how things work and how our lives align with our decisions that we're making. At the same time, many of us are going through difficult circumstances and we ask that question why am I suffering? A year ago, this last month, I happened to be in Sudan and Sudan was it was three weeks before they had a civil war and we didn't know the war was coming. In fact, it had devastating effects on the country. Still today they're fighting, but at that time I was there and I got a chance to be there and be a part of the church and the ministry was going on. It was amazing and I saw these kids that they don't even have running water. Many of them didn't have proper clothes or shoes on their feet and though they had a smile on their face and they had pot bellies that were sticking out from not having enough nutrition and their hair was discolored from not having the right kind of food and they had dirt on their faces, but they still were smiling and had the joy of the Lord inside of their heart despite their circumstances, it's like they didn't know that they were suffering.

Pastor Jason Brown: 1:13

And on my way to Sudan. I was mad because my coffee order got messed up in Qatar and it kind of ruined most of my morning because I was suffering. You know, it was in Thailand last year and in Laos, and it's an amazing thing because these amazing cities are built up and beautiful people, culture and food and all the things you think of and I was thinking about Bangkok and man, it's this huge vertical city, all these people, millions of people pushed together and at the same time, right inside all of that amazing beauty and culture and color and life, there's this whole demographic of people that are absolutely being persecuted and they're absolutely suffering because they're in the sex trade, where they're being used as an object for other people's pleasure, and they're being hurt and they're being abused daily, all the time, suffering in the middle of a culture that's known for their smiles. And I picked up my order the other day and, man, they keep on forgetting the fries. You know what I mean they always forget the fries.

Pastor Jason Brown: 2:36

It's hard, this tension we live in, because it's real. We do go through things that make us upset or make us mad, and they really are something that you're like ah, man, that should have worked for me or this should have been a benefit for me. And all the while, there is real suffering that's going on, and it doesn't mean that whatever you're going through isn't real suffering. There are people in the room right now that they're pushing to get to service so they can experience the presence of God, all the while sitting in their seat, feeling pain in their physical body. There are people in the room right now that they're pushing to get here to have that moment with God, to have this moment together with brothers and sisters in Christ and to worship the Lord, because they feel so torn apart emotionally because they've lost someone in their life, because they've had this grief that keeps on going and they feel torn apart and they push to get here and they really are suffering.

Pastor Jason Brown: 3:36

It's a hard question because we have to wrestle with it. There's a tension that's there between our actions and the things that we're going through. And, all the while, we are called to be those that don't give up on our faith, that we keep on going with God and dare I say that, despite whatever we're going through, that we choose to bless the Lord. See, here's the thing whenever you're going through a circumstance, you are not alone, you are not by yourself. He's with you in the middle of the valley, in the shadow of death. You are not alone. He's with you in your circumstances. He's with you in your suffering. And, dare I say this, he knows your suffering because he took your suffering to the cross. He knows the pain of what it means to be rejected. He knows what it means to be abandoned. He knows all of those pains because he took your pain on himself and he paid for it once and for all. For all people. It's hard because we wrestle through it, we walk through it. We might be living through it right now, but it's still our choice to say I don't care what's going on, I will choose to bless the Lord. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I wanna run this race and when I'm done, I wanna hear the word said well done, good and faithful servant. You didn't give up. You kept on going, going. You didn't let these circumstances that are temporal take you out. Instead, you kept on going and, no matter what you were going through, you said bless the Lord. Friends, that's our challenge today. Is that, as we answer that, ask that question why am I suffering? Our response is that I will bless the Lord. We continue to look at the way of wisdom, and I'm so thankful for this series. It's been a blessing to me. I hope you've gleaned something from it as well, and we're so glad that you're with us today at Cornerstone.

Pastor Jason Brown: 5:36

If we haven't met, my name is Jay, and Celeste and I are part of an amazing team here at this church that are about these things. We are people that want to be more like Jesus, and that is our ambition is to live for him and like him, and we see that happening not just in our gatherings here on the weekend, but throughout the week, throughout the city, and so that's what we do in a thing called life groups, and so I encourage you to get involved in life groups. We have actually several today that are happening before the day is out. Grief share is happening today. We have a games that are happening today and others, so be a part of what is going on. Connect together, grow in your relationship with God and serve with your gifts and abilities.

Pastor Jason Brown: 6:17

Yesterday, we had a great time together at one of this connect groups, and that's the men's breakfast that's happening once a month. I want to say a huge thanks to all the guys that made it happen. Can we have a hand for all those guys that made it happen? For the breakfast it was amazing Thankful to Tyler, our men's director, to Pastor Angus for cooking and all these things for Eddie and others that made it happen. And Eddie Perez brought a really great and challenging word, a powerful word about the love of God and the blood of Christ for us and it was just an encouragement for us to be together, and he also didn't ruin the floors of the multi-purpose, so I'm just very, very thankful for that. No, it was a great time together and we're very thankful for that, and so I want to encourage you to get a part of a life group Now.

Pastor Jason Brown: 6:58

We've been talking about the way of wisdom and we started out the year in prayer and fasting and I want to challenge you and challenge myself as well, that those time that we had in prayer and fasting, it started to build a good habit of spending even more time with God. But we can get out of that sink of doing those things because, oh, fasting is over. But let me encourage you that you would go after that time with God in your life, that you would build that habit of yet personal time with him, that you would draw near to God and that you would hear from his heart. For you, we know our theme this year has been a word for us is that the battle is the Lord, the battle belongs to the Lord, and in doing so, we understand that, as we align with him, that he is fighting this victory for us, and that we can have trust in that and believe in that, because we see it as a promise to us throughout scripture, and so that's something amazing that we can look at and have faith in. In the same way, we've been taking a look at this idea of wisdom in our theme, the way of wisdom.

Pastor Jason Brown: 7:56

We start in Proverbs one, verse seven, that says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools, despise, wisdom and instruction, and we know this because we've been talking about how God, our great God, creator, god, sits outside of time and space. He is all knowing and holy and omnipresent, and he is all these things. He's a great Lord, and we should have an awe of reverence and, dare I say, a fear of the Lord in the proper way. Now we don't have to be afraid like he's gonna smite us, and just that's not what it means, though he could do it if he felt like it. But that's not his character. That's not what the Bible says. It says that he loves his children and he has good things for them. So we are called to be those that fear the Lord. Hold him in respect.

Pastor Jason Brown: 8:47

It continues here in Proverbs three, five and six. It says trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him. He will make straight your paths. We're called to be those that trust in the Lord. It is to place our trust in him and not battle for the control over our lives, but to give it over to him and to follow him. And that's exactly what leads us into the next week. It says I've taught you the way of wisdom, I've led you in the paths of a brightness. We're called to follow the Lord. And as we follow the Lord, it means that we're going where he's leading us to go, not saying Lord, these are the decisions I made, please bless them. But instead we go to him before we make the decision and ask him to guide us. You know, like the way we do with our children, where we say hey, think about it, make a good decision and then, as adults, we just make an emotional decision. So we ask before we go and make the decision. But before we make the decision it's before we make the decision we're called to follow the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 9:56

It ends here, and we talked about Ecclesiastes. Trying to gain all that is in this life is like chasing after the wind or trying to grasp vapor or a smoke. The scripture says the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether evil or good. It means we'll be weighed out for everything that we do in this life. So we need to make the eternal things the most important thing. He says everything else is vanity and chasing after the wind. So we're called to be those that hold on to the Lord. The Lord is eternal, his way is eternal. We're called to hold on to the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 10:37

Last week, celeste and I were able to come and he shared together, talking about song of songs, or song of Solomon, and talking about there are passion for God and what it means to have passion in a relationship and a marriage and I know some of you guys. For Valentine's Day you were like what's up, girl, here's some raisins for you. What do you think about that? Yes, very good. Or you started using some of that old school poetry that we were using last week. I know you guys were using it. It's a good one. You know your hair, it's like goats coming down a mountain. It's a good line. It's a good line. You should use it. It's very good. Now we were talking together. It's really about having a passion within our marriages and a passion for the Lord. It says here in song of Solomon 8-6, set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death. Jealousy is fierce as the grave. It's flashes, or flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. We're called to have a passion for the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 11:37

Today we look again at the way of wisdom we're picking up in the story of Job. So if you turn your Bibles, your tablet, your phone there, we're gonna be looking at Job. We're gonna be looking at Job 1, starting in verse 20. Let me encourage you to highlight this so you can go back to it and take a read over it and let the words speak to you. It says then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to the ground and worshiped and he said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Today we're looking at that question why am I suffering? And our response is to bless the Lord. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you how you've made a way for us, lord Jesus, how you came and became a sacrifice for us, reconnecting us back to the Father. It's only by your sacrifice, only by your holiness, that we are made righteous. Lord, we thank you for breathing upon it by sending your Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit, we ask that you breathe upon this, make it alive to us, that it be transformative to our character. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Pastor Jason Brown: 12:57

Now we're looking here at the book of Job, and Job is a difficult book because it's within the way of wisdom. It's within these wisdom writings and also poetic writings. Most of it is seen in a very interesting way because it's woven together of all this dense Hebrew poetry that's written in an old style of dialogue to each other. And so when we look at it, translated into our languages today, in English or Spanish or whatever we're reading in, it kind of loses some of the elements that are there. But we can see it as we kind of delve into it to see the crimson threat of redemption challenging us today. So as we look through it, we'll take a look at that today and see how it can challenge us and our character after God. Now, it's a very interesting book in this way too, because many see it as allegorical because it takes place not just here on earth, in the land of O's, but also in heaven, and so it makes it complicated on who would be this author that would know this dialogue between God and others that are there, and so there is a piece of that that's there. At the same time, we see other references to Job throughout writings like Ezekiel and others in the New Testament, referencing him as a historical figure. So we hold both of those things together, understanding that this is something that's taught to us as an example of someone who we should be like in character.

Pastor Jason Brown: 14:17

Now we pick up with the story of Job, and it says that Job was the most baller guy in all of the East. That's what it says. No, it says it like this there was a man in the land of O's whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels and 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys and very many servants, so that his man was the greatest of all the people of the East, the most baller guy in the East Now. But think about this. I love what it talks about here. It's saying that he's somewhat of notoriety, he's the greatest of all the people, but the thing that lists first is not what he owned, but his character. The thing that lists is that his character, that he was a man after God. It was said he feared God, wisdom and he turned away from evil. He was following after the way of God. So that's the order in which we should also hold it in esteem as well, that his character was this because he aligned with God and as a result of that, he had all this stuff, and it's stuff is not what made him great. His character was what made him great. Think about it like this If you could fill in your name, it's like there was someone from the land of Avondale or Goodyear or Buckeye or wherever you're from, and their name was your name and they were someone who feared God and they were blameless and no one was like them. What a powerful thing to be said about your character.

Pastor Jason Brown: 15:54

Now we pick up here in the story and it starts talking about the blessing of God, and it's a result of who Job is and what he was doing, because he really did worship God every day. It talks about his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send an invite to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. So they had a party all the time, rotating party at somebody else's house. You guys know what I'm talking about. I mean, this is the kind of blessing that they had. So they were just like I'll host the party, I'll host the party, I'll host the party. But this is what Job did. So when the days of the feast had run their course, job would send and consecrate them. He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus Job did it continually, and I love this. He loved his kids so much he said I'm gonna make a sacrifice on their behalf Not just on his behalf, but on his kids' behalf that they would also be covered and forgiven for anything that they had done mistakes. What a powerful thing that he's the one making this sacrifice every day.

Pastor Jason Brown: 17:07

You know it's like many of you that you get up in the morning and you have your quiet time with God and you pray for your kids that they would know God. You pray for them that they would know the hand of God. You pray for your grandkids that they would know the favor of God and they would be blessed and kept and held tight. You pray that the one that's away from God or to return back to God is the parodical would return back to God, that they would not be a far off, but instead they would know the presence of God themselves. And not just that, but you're also praying that there would be no satisfaction of the things of the world, that they would not be satisfied there, that they would return back to a relationship with the Almighty God To an eternal relationship with God. That is our prayer, so just like your prayer over your kids and your grandkids, that's how Job was praying over his Now.

Pastor Jason Brown: 17:56

It's interesting because it transports from the situation with Job here in the situation in his land, where he lived, to a heavenly setting, and it picks up with God on the throne in his throne room, before all these heavenly beings, and it says that God was approached by the accuser, or the Satan, or the Satan. He's the one that comes and he accuses. He's the enemy of our souls, as it says in scripture. And so he comes and he actually starts to attack and in God says what have you been doing? He says I've been searching across the earth to and fro. It's exactly what scripture says in other places that he's like a roaring line looking after who he can devour. And it says that he was doing this.

Pastor Jason Brown: 18:39

And and then the Lord says to Satan have you considered my servant Job? There is none that's like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. Think about that. Think about that you are living so in sync, so in step with God, that God uses you as an indicator or as a story, as an example to the very one who rejected him to face to face, to the enemy of our soul At the same time. I don't know if I want God single me out to the devil. You guys know what I'm talking about. He's like hey, have you considered J? I'd be like, not me, no, somebody else, pick Victor, he's the one, pick somebody else. But he said, no, consider Job.

Pastor Jason Brown: 19:33

And this is what it's amazing, because Satan talks about what God had been doing for Job on his behalf. He says Satan answered the Lord and said does Job fear God? For no reason, he's still attacking. He says have you not put a hedge of protection around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You've blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. He's saying listen, you blessed him. He only praises you because you bless him and you keep him safe and you guard him and you multiply him. That's why he likes you. And God knows better than this. God knows the heart of Job.

Pastor Jason Brown: 20:12

And so the challenge that Satan puts before God about Job is accepted and the Lord takes his hand off of Job and it says that Satan attacked him and that all the things that had made him a wealthy person were all taken away in one day. They came, one after the other after the other. It said that a messenger would come in and say this group of people came and stole all the camels, and this group came in and took all of the slaves and all the other workers. They took them all and this thing happened, this calamity happened and killed these animals. And then the ultimate happened, and that a great storm comes through and it knocks down the tent where all of his children were having a feast together and they die.

Pastor Jason Brown: 21:08

Job had went from being someone of great wealth and notoriety and blessing to losing everything. He lost it all, one after the other, after the other, after the other. And I think some of us, we live that same kind of situation where we've gone through something difficult and we're like man, why am I going through this difficult thing? And right behind it, another one appears and then, as we're dealing with another one and we're like what is going on with my life, why am I suffering like this? His response is so telling of his character because he had lost everything. He was a broken man, but he refused to reject God. It says this then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped In his day.

Pastor Jason Brown: 22:13

To tear your robe was to show your remorse, to tear something that was very important to you their garments. It wasn't like they could get a brand new fit at the mall this afternoon. They had to go and it had to be something that painstakingly was done to make for them, to make this nice garment. They would tear their garments, this thing that said I am who I am, I'm the person of importance, I'm the person of wealth. He tore these things off of himself. He shaves his head, the glory, the covering of his head, shaves it down and sits down in the ashes to feel the remorse, to understand that now my outside reflects how I feel inside.

Pastor Jason Brown: 22:56

But in all of this he did not turn his heart away from God and in the midst of all the pain, he worshiped God. He said naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Friends, I know many of you have lost people. You've lost mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, you've lost children, you've lost dear friends and neighbors. You still feel the pain of it. You're still in the ashes. But let me encourage you that you would use your worship as a weapon against heartbreak. You would use your worship as a weapon against the darkness, you would use your worship as a weapon against everything that would try to drag you down, and that you would declare, in the middle of your circumstances, in the middle of your chaos, in the middle of the calamity that you experience, in the middle of your suffering, that you would say bless the Lord, blessed be the name of the Lord, that you would not let the circumstances around you steal from you the very thing that's eternal, but that you would run to Him and not away from Him. Bless the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 24:41

We pick up here and it starts to talk about how His response was not everyone's response. He sat in these ashes and as it came, it was painful. He took the ashes from the fire and he put it upon His head and he sat down in the midst of them and he understood what it meant to be there suffering, but he did not turn His heart from God. And so it flashes again and it takes us back up to the throne room of the heavenly place and there Satan, having done all these things and attacked against Him, satan's back, talking to the Lord, and he says I'm back.

Pastor Jason Brown: 25:25

And the Lord says to Satan something very interesting. He says have you considered my servant Job? There's none like Him on the earth. A blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil still holds fast to His integrity, although you have indicted me against Him to destroy Him without reason, he's saying. He's lost everything around Him and still he hasn't turned from me. The enemy of our soul, satan the accuser. What does he say? He says well, of course he didn't. I mean, you didn't touch His health. He still has His health. Let me take His health. He'll turn against you. Now I don't know why God is using Job as a lesson for Satan. I don't understand it. But he agrees to take His hand of protection off of Job's health and, as a result, satan strikes Job with all sorts of affliction.

Pastor Jason Brown: 26:34

It says it like this in Scripture. It picks up here. It says thank you, sir. Satan went out of the presence of the Lord and struck Job with lozham sores from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head and it said that Job took a piece of broken pottery in which to scrape himself and he sat in the ashes. I think about this example of sitting in the ashes. It seems very Old Testament to us, but at the same time, the same process of the enemy of our soul coming to attack us we see in the New Testament. It's actually an example. It talks about it in Luke 22.

Pastor Jason Brown: 27:19

It says this the Lord says Simon, simon, behold, satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when you've turned against, strengthen your brothers. Peter the tough guy, the guy with the moxie, got out of the boat to walk on the water. Peter says to the Lord Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus says I tell you, peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you've denied me three times that you know me. You think about this. You think about the character that's being worked out here. You think about someone like Peter, who we see how much strength and how much passion he has, but then he runs whenever his life is threatened about him being aligned with God. He runs and is afraid. Even when a servant girl identifies him to be a Christ follower, he's like no, no, I don't know her, I don't know him, and he cusses.

Pastor Jason Brown: 28:26

Whenever we start looking at our circumstances, all the circumstances that you're walking through, are they brought on because of your bad decisions or they attack from the enemy? See, there's a big difference between them, because if they're an attack from the enemy, it's attack from the outside, then that means you're in right standing with God. But if it's as a result of your decision making, then you need to turn to God and ask Him to forgive you, ask Him to help you to navigate out of this mess. It doesn't mean that you're not suffering in the middle. You are, but it is a big difference between the two. See, that's what Peter later experienced was that his heartbreak, his calamity, his brokenness came from his decision making. He had rejected God, he had denied God, he had done these things and, as a result, all of that, shame came upon him. But that's not what Job was walking through.

Pastor Jason Brown: 29:18

Job was walking through righteously, experiencing the pain of what he's enduring, scraping at his sores with the broken piece of pottery. But how bad was the traffic on your way to work this week. I mean it's terrible. I mean it just wrecks my day. I mean I'm suffering through it. It's pottery just scraping on himself, man. You know, it really annoys me when my coworkers they do this thing and this other thing. Man, I feel like I'm suffering at work and here's the thing we are.

Pastor Jason Brown: 30:17

But there are levels to this thing, and understanding where we are and what our character is will help us walk through whatever difficulty, be it something as light or as trivial as that, to something as serious as everything being lost. We have to bless the Lord. We hold on to the Lord, no matter what we're walking through, may it be an irritation with our drive to work or what our car worker says about us, or what's going on around us or how I feel about the future. We still have to make a choice that I'm gonna hold on to God, I'm gonna bless the Lord no matter what's going on. That I'm gonna make a choice to use my worship as a weapon against my hurt, against my circumstances, because he is worthy to be praised. And see, that's the difference that we would choose to bless the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 31:07

Now, job's wife did not agree with his perspective. She actually decides to be someone who says something quite the opposite to him. She becomes very jaded, she's very hurt After all, it's all her children are gone as well and all her wealth is now gone also. And she sees this man who's there blessing God and she gets bitter and she gets upset and I think she responds how many people would respond? But she doesn't have eternity in her heart. Instead, she does the opposite. She rejects God and blames God for what's going on, even though it's being an attack from the enemy. It says when his wife said to him do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her you speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil. And all of this Job did not sin with his lips. So she goes away from him and there he is left alone.

Pastor Jason Brown: 32:06

Now his friends hear about the calamity that had struck him and three of his very important, very wise friends left their areas of influence from their lands and they come to visit him. It says they made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. It says in Job 2, 12,. And when they saw him from a distance. They did not recognize him. He's full of sores. His head was shaved. He's sitting in ashes. It says they did not recognize him. They raised up their voices and they wept. They tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads towards heaven. They were showing the Lord that they too were heartbroken, that they truly were taking up the side of their friend who had lost everything. They were mourning with him and the depths of their heart. It says that they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Pastor Jason Brown: 33:06

Now, I don't know what kind of friend you are, but are you sit on the ground for seven days and not say anything kind of a friend? Are you tear your clothes and put ashes on your head? Kind of a friend man? These are people that really cared about him, and so there comes this debate that starts to happen, because these are people of wisdom. They are walking in the way of wisdom. They're like if you live correctly, then you should reap the rewards that are good. You had been living this way, you had been rich and influential, and so what's going on now. And so that's the question they start to ask. And so this debate starts to come up.

Pastor Jason Brown: 33:45

And Job himself he's so heartbroken, he wishes that he would never have been born. He even puts a curse. On the day that he'd been born he said let the day perish on which I was born and the night that said a man is conceived, let that day be darkness. May God not seek it or shine light upon it. And he starts to talk about these things and his friends are like listen, let me correct you here. He says behold, you've instructed many, you've had strengthened the weak hands.

Pastor Jason Brown: 34:10

This is a friend talking to Job. He's like you've been influential in this way. You've encouraged other people, you've given wisdom, you've been the one that's helped. He says your words have helped him who was stumbling. You have made firm the feeble needs. But now it's come to you and you're impatient. It touches you and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God, your confidence and the integrity of your ways, your hope? He's saying reframe your thought process here. You are someone who still believes in God. Your hope is still in God. Do not be dismayed and wish you never existed, because these things happen to you.

Pastor Jason Brown: 34:48

But at the same time his friend brings this accusation. He says remember who that was innocent, ever perished, or who, at the upright cut off. He's saying you did something to bring this stuff on your head. Now we, as the reader, we understand that Job hasn't done anything wrong. This is actually an attack from the enemy and that's the encouragement to us to remember as we deal with each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord, is that we don't accuse someone of the hardship they're going through because of their activity or sin in their life. That's an important thing that we don't say oh, I see this in your life and we're looking at the speck in their life whenever we have a big plank in our own eye, to quote the words of Jesus, but instead that we would be those that aren't cutting someone down.

Pastor Jason Brown: 35:37

Now he's coming from a way of wisdom. He's like why is this stuff happening to you? Okay, if the camel's got stolen, okay, but all of it, you did something. What did you do? What did you do?

Pastor Jason Brown: 35:50

And that's what most of this dialogue of this book happens to be. It's if you have one friend saying listen, these are the things we know about who God is and the way of wisdom. And this is just. And these things are not that have happened to you or not. Just God is just. Therefore, you have sinned. And he's saying no, I didn't sin. He has a rebuttal that's there saying I am innocent. So as he brings this rebuttal to him, he says but now be pleased to look at me, for I would not lie to your face. Please turn, let no injustice be done. Turn now. My vindication is at stake. Is there any justice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

Pastor Jason Brown: 36:29

And it goes back and forth between Job and his friends who are saying well, if this is true, then you should not experience this. And one friend says this in Job eight, five and six If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely he will rouse himself for you and restore you to rightful habitation. What they're asking is why did these bad things happen to you? And Job is asking why did these bad things happen to me? And they're going through this back to forth and back and forth. And here's the interesting thing about it they are right in that if you're living sinful ways, you will have sinful consequences. That is the correct thing. But they are not correct in that they're blaming their friend for a sin he didn't commit, and so they're placing themselves in a place of judge against him and he's making a plead to them that I haven't.

Pastor Jason Brown: 37:28

This is actually something else, a calamity. The attacker, an accuser, the enemy of my soul, is attacking me, and you see the delineation of things that happen there. And so, in his frustration and in his folly, he reaches out. And this is what Job demands he demands that God give him an answer for what is going on. Now let me encourage you to do this. Don't demand from God to give you an answer. Okay, can we get on the same page with that? Don't do that.

Pastor Jason Brown: 38:02

And what I love about this is there's another friend that comes along, a fourth friend, and he's a little younger than the others, but he knows Job. He sits and he listens to the conversation. He starts to correct. He's actually, he's like the voice of wisdom, and he comes in and says to Job do not do these things. God is holy and God is amazing and God is powerful. You don't put yourself into a place where you're demanding anything of God. And you guys over here understand, you have great wisdom and you have great experience, but it does not mean that he has done anything wrong. You're accusing him of stuff he hasn't done that you instead should worship God and see God sort it out.

Pastor Jason Brown: 38:42

And what's amazing about this whole situation is he starts to declare the Almighty. We cannot find him. He is great in power, justice and abundant righteousness. He will not violate. Therefore, men fear him. He has regard, not any who are wise in their own conceit. He's saying he'll put them in their place and God, in his grace, appears to Job and he comes in the storm cloud.

Pastor Jason Brown: 39:11

It's the same idea, the same concept that you might see in other places where he came in the form of a cloud. He led the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt by a cloud, by day, a pillar, by night. Whenever he would descend upon the mountain to meet with Moses, a cloud appeared there. When his presence would be upon the tabernacle, a cloud would descend. And the same symbol is given to Job. And from within this whirlwind, within this storm cloud, within this pillar, he speaks to Job and he says put on your man pants, buckle up, buttercup. I'm not joking. He does say put on your man pants. He says put on your pants and get ready for activity. It's what he says and the reason he says it.

Pastor Jason Brown: 39:57

He says because he's challenging Job, saying were you there whenever the world came into existence? Were you the one that hung it in place and established what the world is? Are you the one that put the clouds in the sky and created their patterns to be there? Are you the one that separated the sky from the sea and its beauty that is established there? Are you the one that makes the sunrise happen? Do you understand where these things originate? Are you the holy God that has all this power that does these things and makes it snow upon the ground and upon the mountain? Are you the one that holds hail up in where it is and then dispenses it upon the earth? Is that you? Are you the one that makes the wind go from this place to that place? Is that who you are? Are you the one who has this knowledge? Are you the one that makes it rain upon the earth and gives life to plants and life to people? Are you the one that makes these things happen? Are you the one that has the power of lightning and thunder in the sky? Are you the one who has this kind of power to make the desert beautiful and to make the grass grow? Is that who you are?

Pastor Jason Brown: 41:03

Do you understand the mother bear and her cubs and how they go about, what they're doing and where they get their food from? Are you the one that understands the hierarchy of the lions fighting together and the young lions fighting and clamoring against each other? Are you the one that knows where the raven is fed from or where she makes her home? Are you the one that knows where the mountain goat goes and how they climb upon the mountain? Are you the one that knows how the grass feeds the do and feeds the fawn? Are you the one that makes it happen? Are you the one that holds these things in your hand and you understand where the wild donkeys, how they go, where they go and how to keep them in their place? Are you the one that knows about the ox? Are you the one that knows where it goes and where it roams? Are you the one that understands the plumage of the ostrich and the beauty that's been made by that? Do you know about horses and how they run across the land? Did you make these things happen? Are you the one that makes the hawk soar and the eagle be majestic? No, you're not. You're not the Lord God is.

Pastor Jason Brown: 42:10

When you think about all the grandeur that God has done and made, all the things he holds in his hands, and we blame him for our misfortunes, it makes God be a very small God. But God is grand and God is powerful and God is holy and God is our creator and God holds all of these things in his hands. He holds them together and the tensions that's there. He holds them all together and he says I am God and you are not. When we have the correct perspective of who God is, it helps us understand the circumstances by which we're walking. It helps us to navigate the difficulties that we're walking through the middle of, because we realize that these things are fleeting and they are not eternal. Our difficulties and our suffering is not eternal. God is eternal and so our lives need to be aligned with him and our thoughts need to be aligned with his thoughts. And we understand that we can walk through this situation because we are not destroyed, because in him we are already our victorious. I will bless the Lord. Bless the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 43:41

The Lord says to Job shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty, he who argues with God, let him answer it. And you could imagine, as Job was standing there looking at this storm cloud, getting a download of the creation of God, hearing the thundering voice of God before him and his friends, he was a little bit humbled. He had realized his humility and he had done so, understanding that I am the creation, not the creator. And he said I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. And his response to the Lord was one that aligned him.

Pastor Jason Brown: 44:29

And the wrestling with God did not take God off his heart. He saw that Job was one after his own heart. He was wrestling with his faith. It's not a sin to wrestle with your faith. It's a sin to give up your faith. To wrestle with your faith is to understand and to refine it. He never gave up on God, and God reminded him of who he was to Job, and he did so in front of not just Job but also his friends. And the Lord chastised Job's friends and told them you've accused this innocent man essentially of these things. And he didn't do these things. This calamity happened to him, and so he said you should go and make a sacrifice, just like he has before for his children, that you would go and sacrifice and that Job would pray that you would be forgiven, that you would be forgiven. And so the Lord used Job and vindicated Job, brought justice to him in front of his friends, saying that Job had not sinned, that this stuff had happened to him, not because Job had sinned, but because things happen to good and to bad people, things happen to the righteous and to the unrighteous. It's our choice how we're going to respond and as for me, I'm going to say bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. The Lord. It says that what he did is he restored the fortunes of Job.

Pastor Jason Brown: 46:01

Job was brought back not just to his fortune, but it was multiplied. He doubled it. When he had prayed for his friends, the Lord gave him twice as much as he had had before. And here's the amazing thing about this whole process it was never about the stuff, it was about his character. And because his character could handle it when everything was taken away, then God could trust him with twice as much. And because his character was not hung up on the things around him and the character was aligned with God, then the proof was made not just to his friends around him, not just that testimony, but also as a testimony to the heavenly beings that God is holy and worthy of praise, that no matter what we're going through it our choice as well like Job, that I don't care about my circumstance, I will not let go of God. I will bless the Lord. I will bless the Lord. Friends, that's our challenge today. That in the middle of our suffering, that we don't let go of God, but instead we solidify in our heart that I will bless the Lord.

Pastor Jason Brown: 47:20

Today's we come to this time of altar. We do so wanting to have an impartation to the spirit of God. We want to know his presence with us in a more rich and powerful way. We want to embrace who he is, and we're gonna give him an opportunity in just a moment to come forward and we'll be able to pray for those who like prayer, just for more of a touch and impartation of God, here at this altar at this time. But first we want to give this opportunity to those of you who haven't made a decision to follow Jesus. But today would be your opportunity to do so, to make a decision to follow Jesus. Each one of us has to answer that question have you embraced Jesus? No one can answer it for you, but, friends, let me encourage you that you would make that decision today, to invite Christ into your heart and life.

Pastor Jason Brown: 48:12

For us, the symbol of the cross is a powerful one. It's one of forgiveness. It's where Christ took all of our sin and all of our mistake all of my sin and all of yours and he paid for it once and for all. Upon the cross, he made a way for us to be back into relationship with the holy God. He was the holy sacrifice for us and because of it we can place our faith and trust in Christ and ask him to forgive us of our sin, and it starts a new relationship with God. Apostle Paul he writes to the Church at Rome. He says this because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Pastor Jason Brown: 49:01

Friends, today is your day of opportunity. It's your day to ask Jesus into your heart and life. I'm gonna ask if you would, if you just stand to your feet, right where you're at and you bow your head. If you're online, you just prepare your heart for what God wants to do. Thank you, jesus. Thank you, jesus. If that's you and you want to make a decision to follow Jesus today, his heads are bowed here in the room. If you just raise your hand right where you're at, just indicate to me, pastor, you just remember me in that prayer today. I want to ask Christ into my heart and life. See hands that are raised here and there. Thank you, lord, for people making a decision to follow Jesus, for you online, making a decision as well.

Pastor Jason Brown: 49:48

I want you to pray this prayer and speak it in your heart today and invite Christ into your heart and life. It's a simple prayer, the one we pray. I'm gonna ask if everyone would just repeat after me Lord, thank you for loving me, thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name, I pray Amen, amen.

Pastor Jason Brown: 50:30

Friends, we rejoice that you made a decision to follow Jesus today. What a powerful decision that you made. If that was you, you made a decision to follow Christ today. We have something for you. We want to give and put into your hands just a resource so that you can be more successful in following after Christ For all of us. We're gonna open up this altar with an opportunity to respond to him and, if you're going through a circumstance, that he would empower you with this spirit and meet your needs in that circumstance, and that he would empower you by a spirit that you would not give up and you would hold on to the Lord, that out of your mouth you would bless the Lord Jesus.

Pastor Jason Brown: 51:11

We thank you so much for your word, lord. We thank you how you speak to us, lord, out of this story that Job endured. Lord, I thank you how you can speak to us about how we're supposed to respond to you, how our hearts are supposed to be aligned after you. Lord, in the same way, I ask Lord, I pray a blessing, lord in healing over all those that need a touch from you today, all those that are suffering. Lord, I pray healing in the name of Jesus Christ over their bodies.

Pastor Jason Brown: 51:36

Lord, we come against any kind of sickness or disease in the name of Jesus Christ and ask for healing and wholeness. In Jesus' name, lord, we ask for healing and resurrection, lord, to happen within lives and within stories and within relationships, lord, we ask in Jesus' name, lord, there, for you to be unity in healing and marriages and in families, between siblings and between parents, lord, in between children. God, that you would restore those relationships back to yourself. Lord, that you would heal all these things. Lord, that we pray, lord, for mentalities. Lord, and for people going through stress and anxiety and even depression. God, that you administer to them right now, right where they are, they would know the healing power, the touch of God. Lord, in all these things we come to your altar seeking more impartation of who you are, more of a power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, that we would be those, no matter what the circumstance say. I will bless the Lord. We give you praise in all these things and pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pastor Celeste Brown: 52:41

Join us this Friday evening. We're going to be meeting here at the church at 7 o'clock for an amazing night of worship together. You're not going to want to miss it. It's going to be amazing. We have an incredible worship team and they have been preparing for a great night, so come and be with us. It'll start at 7 pm this Friday.

Pastor Jason Brown: 52:59

Before we go, we're going to put this blessing over us today. Amen, the Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. I do an empowers by your spirit to live your love up to those around us. We pray this is the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen, know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.