Old Testament in a Year: Job 20-42

If you will take out your bible or your device, whatever you're accustomed to use, and then open the Refuge app as well. We've put notes on the app, as we do every single week for you, that will just help you to go deeper in the word of God. Listen, I don't know about you, but obviously in my lifetime, I'm old enough now. I've seen so many changes in technology through the years. Everything is changing and the older I get, the faster technology changes.

We've seen a lot of changes just in the. In the telephone since I was a kid. There's some of you Gen Zers and Gen Alphas, you don't even know what a rotary phone is. You would have no idea how to use a rotary phone. Maybe some of you have never even seen a rotary phone.

We grew up with rotary phones in our day. Come on, how many of you can relate? If you grew up, you used a rotary phone. Listen, I've just got to share this video. Some of you have probably seen videos on TikTok of Gen Zers, Gen Alphas.

I'm not making fun of you guys, but here's two teenage boys trying to use a rotary phone for the first time ever. Check this out. It's hilarious. Here are two 17 year old boys confronted with an antique from a bygone era. A rotary phone.

You have four minutes to dial that phone number. Jake and Kyle Bumstead were challenged to make a phone call on a rotary phone. Under four minutes. Oh, no. Zero's all the way over.

How do I restart?

Wait a minute. Think of it. Forget to pick up the phone and then do it. Put the phone to your ear. What do you hear?

What does that sound like? The resulting video has older Internet users either laughing or crying at how much times have changed. If this was zero, then. Wait, wait, wait, there's a second. Watch out, watch out, watch out.

Is this correct? Bring it all the way around. And then. And then like, what's with all the holes though?

It's a great question.

Before you laugh at their effort, these two boys can probably show most of us a thing or two about how smart TVs work. 8,500. 8,500. We're done. Oh, you did it.

No, I didn't.

So good, right? So funny. Hey, listen, the younger generation, you guys have no idea how rough we had it growing up. You have no clue. I mean, the generation above me, they used to talk about having to walk barefoot in the snow to school.

Three miles uphill each way. Like, y' all don't even know. Listen, When I was growing up, everybody had in their vehicle something that looked like this. Some of you have never even seen this. You don't even know what this is.

This is called a Rand McNally Atlas. Everybody had one of these. You lived and died by this thing. States are in alphabetical order. If you were going to another city or another state, you had to have this.

And you go to that state, you would find New Mexico. And then you would see, well, I got to go from here to here. And then you would take a highlighter, and you would highlight the route, or you would write it out step by step, and you'd give it to somebody. That was their gps. It was a piece of paper, say, go to this city.

This city. This road, this road. And you depended on this thing. You had this thing. Look, we had it rough.

We had it rough back in the day. Listen, if you were in the city, you're trying to go from one place to another, and you've never been there before. It was a process. Let me tell you. You took this thing out like this.

You had a city map. You lay this sucker out on the kitchen table. You'd have to find the address of where you were going. And then you got letters on one side. You got numbers across the top.

You would find the grid for that address. Anybody know y' all remember what I'm talking about? Then you'd have to figure out, well, I'm going from here to here. And you gotta take these roads, and then you write it out. Cause you're not going to remember it.

Or you take this with you, and you highlight the route. Y' all don't even know. We had it rough growing up back in our day. Nowadays, all y' all do, you pull out your little phone. I do the same thing.

We punch in the address, and then we just listen to what it's telling us to do. Or you punch it in on the screen on your car, you punch in the address, and that thing just gets you there. Y' all got it made. You got it made. We all got it made.

So easy nowadays. I'll tell you when it gets complicated is when that GPS or that nav system starts saying this. Rerouting, rerouting. Then everything's messed up. And then you gotta decide.

There's this battle that takes place for a few seconds, and you're deciding who's smarter, the nav system or me. Like, am I gonna trust this thing? Cause it's gonna take me on roads I've never been on before. And that's kind of what it boils down to. It's like, will you trust the GPS when you're on a road that you don't recognize?

Hey, listen, if you're joining us for the first time, we are preaching through the entire bible over a two year period. And we just started two weeks ago. We're preaching chronologically. Old Testament in 2026, New Testament in 2027. And because we're preaching chronologically, it has us again this week in the book of Job.

We're going to be looking at job chapter 20 through chapter 42. And the theme of what we're going to see in these chapters is this faithful living. Faithful living. That's what we're going to be talking about. Hey, listen, do me a favor.

We have incarcerated men and women, thousands that join us in worship every week via the Pando app. Do me a favor. Would you welcome all of our friends who are in prison today. We love you. So glad that you can join us.

So glad you can be a part. Faithful living isn't as much about knowing where you are as it is about trusting the one who's guiding you. And here we are today in job, chapter 42. That's where we're going to begin. Job, chapter 42.

And I'll look at a couple of verses there. Would you do me a favor and stand to honor the greatest book on the planet as we begin to read verse 10? Job, chapter 42. Beginning in verse 10, it says this. When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes.

In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before. And then all his brothers, sisters and former friends came and feasted with him in his home. And they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the Lord had brought against him. And each of them brought him a gift of money and a gold ring. That's the kind of friends I want to have.

How about you? Verse 12. And so the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life, even more than in the beginning. Let's make some declarations together before you're seated. Everybody here?

Everybody watching online together. Ready, go. I will hide this word in my heart that I might not sin against God. This word is life to my body and health to my bones. I will be a doer of the word and not a hearer only.

And I am confident of this, that he who has begun a good work in me in Jesus name. If you believe that, come on, say amen. Amen. You can be seated. So last Week.

My son did an amazing job. Talking about the first 20 chapters of job, one of the greatest messages on suffering I think I've ever heard. It's tremendous. If you missed it last week, I highly, strongly encourage you to go back and watch that message.

First 20 chapters of job. We know. And if you are following along with our reading plan that looks like this, we've put together a reading plan that will have you read through the entirety of the Bible in a two year period. And it kind of sets you up, it tees you up each week for what we're going to be preaching on. Tees you up.

So you're reading ahead. And if you've been reading in the book of Job, you know that Job suffered tremendous loss. Job lost his wife, he lost his kids, he lost his family, he lost his house, he lost his livestock, and he lost his health. And in the midst of that, these three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Tophar, come supposedly to comfort Job. That's what they're supposed to do, but they don't do that at all.

As a matter of fact, these three friends come and they start leveling accusations against Job and calling into question his integrity. And the tension is building as you read the first 20 chapters. It's this back and forth dialogue where these three friends who were supposed to be there to comfort Job and say, hey, Job, we got your back, man. We're so sorry for what you're walking through. Job, what can we do?

No, instead they're like, job, you're a loser, buddy. You've got sin in your life. You might as well start confessing all stuff that you're doing. We know you got all this sordid stuff built up in your life, you know, but otherwise God wouldn't be doing this to you. And then Job would respond and then they would level more accusations.

And it was just this back and forth. And the tension is building. I love you can just feel Job reach the end with his friends. Job, chapter 26. I love this beginning of verse three.

I didn't put it in your notes, but Job says this. You can just hear the sarcasm dripping from his words when he says how you have enlightened my stupidity. What wise advice you have offered. Where have you gotten all these wise sayings? He's saying to his friends, whose spirit speaks through you.

In other words, Job's like, hey, that ain't the Holy Spirit coming through. That's some other spirit, you know. And Job just reached the end. He was just done with these guys because Here you have an example of three guys who have theology, but they have no common sense. Three guys who have theology, but they have no compassion.

Three guys who have theology, but they put no filter on their tongues in what they were saying. Now Job is confused, but Job remains faithful. Job is confused. He doesn't know why all these things are happening to him, but yet Job makes this declaration. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

I don't get it. I don't understand it. But blessed be the name of the Lord.

And now we find what it looks like to be someone who lives a faithful life. And listen. We know this. Every one of us have been through hard times, and we know this. Faithful living is a lot tougher when God is silent.

Faithful living is a lot tougher when the suffering outlasts the explanations. Maybe you've been through a season of suffering and you're crying out, God, I don't understand. I don't understand why this is happening. And maybe for you the heavens were silent. Maybe there was no answer coming from God.

If you don't remember anything else from this message, I want you to remember this. Faithfulness is revealed not by our prosperity, but it's revealed by our perseverance. Oh, let me say that again. I think a few of you might have gotten it. Let me say this again.

Faithfulness in our life and faithful living is not revealed because we're prosperous. It's revealed because we have persevered through hard times.

And that's what we see in the life of Job. As a matter of fact, today, if I can, over the next few minutes, I want to give you three principles, three indicators of faithful living. Number one. It's in your notes. Faithful living values, integrity over outcome.

Faithful living values, integrity over outcome. Job, chapter 27, verse 5 and 6. Job says, far be it from me that I should declare you right until I die. He says, I will not give up my integrity. I've kept hold of my righteousness and will not let it go.

My heart does not rebuke any of my days. Listen. In the midst of his suffering, Job reminds himself of who he is. How many of you know that when we suffer, oftentimes we'll begin to question who we really are. Or we'll begin to question everything we've ever known about the goodness of God and the goal of the enemy.

And the plan of the enemy is in the midst of hard times that you turn your back on God. That's why we find so many people deconstructing their faith. Listen to me. There's nothing wrong with deconstruction if deconstruction leads you into a more intimate relationship with Jesus because you find out more of who he is. But what the enemy is doing to so many people that are deconstructing their faith is that they are running away from God.

Listen, in the midst of our suffering, Job says, no, no, no. I want to remind myself of who I really am. I don't want to lose sight of who I really am. He says to his friends, he says to those around him, listen, this is who Job is. And then he starts naming some things.

Job 29:12, he says, for I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help. I helped those without hope, and they blessed me. And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Everything I did was honest. Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like a turban.

I served as the eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help. Job is saying, this is who I am. I'm not defined by my season of suffering. Oh, come on.

Let me say that again, because there's some of you today. The enemy wants to define you by what you've lost. The enemy wants to define you by your sickness. The enemy wants to define you by your addiction. And Job says, no, no, I'm not going to be defined by this season of suffering.

This is who I am. And then Job holds up some receipts and he says, oh, just in case you were to doubt that, I've got the receipts not to prove my perfection, but to prove my integrity. And Job says, I've got a receipt that shows that I have sexual integrity. Job, chapter 31, verse 1. Job says, Let me tell you something.

I made a covenant with my eyes that I would not look lustfully at another woman. Job says, Also in chapter 31, he's holding up the receipt. He says, I have sexual integrity. I'll go to my grave guarding and protecting my integrity. And he says this in verse 9 and 10.

If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I've lusted for my neighbor's wife, then let my wife serve another man. Let other men sleep with her. In other words, Job is like, no, no, no, no. I'm a person of integrity sexually, and I'm so grateful. Right now, on Wednesday nights for five weeks, we're offering a class for men.

And the title of the class is this. Restoring Sexual Integrity. Because we live in a culture that has Messed with the integrity of so many of our young people, so many of our men, so many women are struggling in the area of sexual integrity. Listen, I believe that as we consecrate ourselves before the Lord and as we determine that in 2026, we're going to be in the word of God more than we ever have before. I believe what we're going to see is a restoration of integrity in the body of Christ.

Come on. Do y' all believe that? Job says, not only did I have or do I have sexual integrity, Job says I have relational integrity in the way that I treated other people. Job, chapter 31, verse 13. He says, if I've been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me, how could I ever face God?

Job says, not only that, but he says I have financial integrity. Job, chapter 31, verse 16. Have I refused to help the poor or crush the hopes of widows? Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans? No.

He says, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father. And all of my life, I have cared for widows. Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes and the needy with nothing to wear, did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm? And then he says in verse 24 and 25, have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?

No. Job says, no, no, no. I value integrity more than I value the outcome. Listen, I think Job was human, and I think Job was hoping. I pray that I don't go through this in vain.

I pray that somehow I. There's going to be a good ending to this. But even if there's not, Job says, I'm not going to sin just so I can survive. Job says, I'm not going to jeopardize my integrity just because I don't understand the ways of God. Listen, integrity is priceless.

It's far more than material gain. Faithful living is about who you are more than it is on what you own or how much that you gain in life. Faithful living says, even if I suffer, even if God is silent, I'll not sin to survive, and I will not give up my integrity. Listen, maybe in the job field, in your career path or whatever, maybe that you did the right thing when others wouldn't do it and it cost you the promotion. Maybe as a student, when everybody else was cheating on an exam and you chose not to cheat and you got a lower grade, or maybe it dropped your GPA a little bit.

Or maybe it jeopardized your ability to get into a certain university. Or maybe you've lived your life as a person of integrity. Maybe you've lived your life as one who's pursued the holiness of God and the righteousness of God, and yet you've still suffered things that were unjust and unfair. And you're wondering, how does it any of this makes sense? Well, let me tell you something.

It is far better for you to sacrifice the reward that the earth can give you in order for you to gain the reward that only heaven can give you. And listen, every single time you choose to be righteous, every single time that you choose to be a person of integrity, even if nobody else sees it, even if nobody else knows about it, let me tell you something, Church. God in heaven sees every time that you make that choice. And God will reward you for that. Secondly, faithful living recognizes the value of knowing God over knowing why.

The value of knowing God over knowing why. My son talked about how we go through all 42 chapters of the Book of Job and we don't get the answer to the why question. We don't know. Job didn't know why he had to suffer. In Job, chapter 38, God begins speaking to Job.

But rather than offering the answers that Job so desperately desires, God starts asking questions. Don't you just love it when somebody answers a question with a question? That's what God did. But by asking Job questions, God begins to reveal his power and his wisdom and his sovereignty to job. In verse three of chapter 38, God says this.

Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. And then God starts asking Job questions over the next three chapters. He says, in chapter 38, beginning in verse four, oh, Job, by the way, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions, stretched out the surveying line?

What supports its foundations? Who laid its cornerstone? As the morning star sang together and all the angels shouted for joy, who kept the sea inside its boundaries? Job. And as it burst from the womb, as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness, he said, for I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.

I said, this far, no farther. Will you come here. Your proud waves must stop. He asked Job these piercing questions. He said, have you ever commanded the morning to appear and cause the dawn to rise in the east?

Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth to bring an end to the nights? Wickedness he says in verse 19, where does the light come from? Where does darkness go? Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?

But of course you know all this, for you were born before it was all created. He says to Job, and you are so very experienced. Then he says in verse 31, can you direct the movement of the swords binding the cluster of the Pliades, or loosening the cords of Orion? Can you direct the sequence of the seasons or guide the bear with her cubs across the heavens? He asked Job, do you know the laws of the universe?

Can you use them to regulate the earth? Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?

Who can tilt the water jars of heaven, when the parched ground is dry and the soil is hardened into clods. He's asking Job questions like this. And he goes on in chapter 39 and chapter 40, and he pauses in chapter 40 and verse one. And the Lord says to Job, do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You're God's critic, but do you have the answers?

And then Job responds in verse four and five, I'm nothing. How could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.

And in the process of Job questioning God and wanting to know why is it that I've had to suffer to the extent that I've suffered? And then God begins to ask him these questions, not to humiliate Job, but to show Job just who he is. He begins to reveal his power and his sovereignty to Job and for Job to see God. You're unlike anybody, your majesty, your supremacy, your power. There's nothing that compares to you.

And the problem is with so many of us is that we want to reduce God to an explainable size. We want to fit God in some box that fits our paradigm, especially in seasons of suffering. And the reality is that his ways are higher than our ways. The reality is there are many questions that we have about life or loss or suffering or grief or sickness or prognosis or poverty or whatever it might be, the injustices of the world. And we may never get the answers to those questions.

But somebody who lives a faithful life in the process of pursuing God, in the process of wanting the answers to questions, realizes there's more value in me knowing God than knowing why. It's like the greater treasure, the greater prize is understanding more of who he is. Job had to get to the place that he said, if I never get the answers to the questions, as far as we know, he never did. Job had to get to the place of saying, I thought that the prize was understanding what I'm walking through. But the real prize is understanding more of who God is.

The real prize is that when we journey through a hard place, if we choose to run towards him rather than running away from him, God in his faithfulness will always reveal facets of his character that we've never known before. And I believe that God wanted Job to see, there's some things that I want to show you about myself. And God said, rather than explaining why everything has happened the way it's happened, Job, I'm just going to reveal more of myself to you. Rather than giving you the explanations that you seek, I'm just going to offer myself to you. And that's the greater prize.

And Faithful living recognizes the value in that, the great value in knowing him. Listen, Faithful living means that we trust his character even when we don't understand his word plan. And I believe. Oh, Church, listen to me. I believe one of the greatest things that could happen for all of us in 2026 is that we know him more.

That rather than being focused on some earthly gain, and we say, oh, God, if I just go deeper with you, if I know you more, if I recognize you more, if I fall more in love with you, that's the greatest thing that could ever happen in my life. Number three. Faithful living demonstrates true humility. Job, chapter 42, verse one. Then Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do anything.

Nobody can stop you. You asked, who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? It is I, Job says, and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, listen, and I will speak. I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.

Watch what Job says in verse five. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance. In other words, Job says, I was after answers. I was after the why did I have to go through this?

And I had heard about you, but all of a sudden I've seen you with my own eyes, and there's nothing greater than that in view of the greatness and the majesty of God. Joe says, I humble myself before you because Faithful Living takes that posture of humility. And says, God, compared to you, I'm nothing. And the Bible tells us if we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, he will exalt us. He will lift us up.

Job humbles himself before the Lord and realizes real faith grows when pride shrinks.

The true prize of suffering. Listen to me. Church is not answers, but it's transformation.

I don't know that y' all are with me today. The true prize of suffering is not that we get all the answers. It's that we're transformed into the image of who God is, that we look more and more like him. It's that we get to a place as a believer, as a disciple, as a follower of Christ, that we can say in the midst of suffering, in the midst of things we don't understand, in the midst of unjust or unfair things that happen in everybody's life, in the midst of that, that we can release a praise from our lips that says, if you give, if you take away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Job was transformed through suffering because of his humility and only because he reached the place of humility. God says to him, hey, those three guys have spent a lot of time accusing you and bringing into question your integrity. God says, job, I want you to go pray for them.

I want you to pray for them. It reminds me of Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a cistern, sold into slavery, falsely accused, thrown into prison some 14 years later, when his brothers come not knowing that Joseph was now the prime minister of Egypt. When his brothers come and they need food, they don't recognize who Job is. And in that moment, Job had to make a decision. Will I exact revenge on my brothers?

I have a right. But through the process of being sold into slavery, through the process of being falsely accused, through the process of being in prison for years, Job humbled himself before the Lord. And he realized we've. We find In Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20, Job says, this was all. Or Joseph says, this was all for your glory.

It's all for the preservation of your people. So when Joseph had the opportunity to exact revenge on his brothers, Joseph chooses to bless them. Job could have sought revenge on these three guys who were supposed to encourage him. But God says, I want you to pray for them. And Job does just that.

And it was then that God restored all of Job's fortunes. And the Bible says, we read it a moment ago, that God gave him twice as much as what he had before. God brought back his health. God gave him kids again. God gave him livestock.

God gave him homes. God gave him prosperity. And listen to me. Job did not endure suffering so that he could get some reward. Job didn't know chapter 42 was coming.

Job didn't know how it was going to end. But Job valued his integrity regardless of how it was going to end. Job realized, in the process, I've gained a prize and a treasure greater than those material things that I lost. I've gained an understanding where I can see God for who he really is.

Job didn't know that God was going to restore. So Job didn't endure so he could get something from God. Job endured because God is worthy. God is worthy. I believe God's looking for people.

I believe God's looking for people at the refuge who will get to the place that regardless of what's happening to us, regardless of the severity of our trial, regardless of the depth of our suffering, regardless of whether it's fair or unfair, that we can get to the place that we, in the midst of suffering, we lift up a worship to God. We run to him and we say, God, I don't get this. But like David said, I'm confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living God. I don't understand.

I don't get. I don't get what's going on. I don't get why I had to declare bankruptcy over the business. I don't understand why the doctor gave me that diagnosis. I don't understand why I lost everything that I've lost.

I don't understand why I went through a divorce. I don't understand those things. But, God, I know this. You're still good and you're worthy. You're worthy of my worship.

I believe that's what God looks for in us.