Hello, friends welcome to Faith Chapel. 00:00:31.22\00:00:33.13 I'm Christian Berdahl, Director of Shepherds 00:00:33.77\00:00:35.91 Call Ministry and before we pray, 00:00:35.94\00:00:37.86 I'd like to ask you a question. Are you going 00:00:37.89\00:00:40.55 through trials and tribulations right now 00:00:40.58\00:00:42.66 in your life, or have you been through some 00:00:42.69\00:00:44.45 that you couldn't explain. Friends, 00:00:44.48\00:00:47.38 have you ever thought that God is the source 00:00:48.38\00:00:51.47 of your problems, that he's causing these things 00:00:51.50\00:00:54.75 to happen in your life. Friends, 00:00:54.78\00:00:56.97 this is just not the case, God is not the source 00:00:57.00\00:01:01.47 of our problems, Satan is. Let's pray together. 00:01:01.50\00:01:06.34 Father in Heaven, please be with us as we study. 00:01:07.41\00:01:09.86 Lord, I ask that you would send the Holy Spirit 00:01:10.41\00:01:12.35 to anoint our time together, I pray that 00:01:12.38\00:01:14.89 you would lead us into all truth. 00:01:14.92\00:01:16.92 Let the devil be exposed for who and what he is. 00:01:17.84\00:01:20.71 And help our minds to realize who and 00:01:21.29\00:01:24.18 what you are. Please help us to be Christians. 00:01:24.21\00:01:27.17 In Jesus name, amen. Let's go right to the Bible, 00:01:28.12\00:01:31.85 Revelation 12 verse 7: And there was 00:01:32.39\00:01:35.85 war in heaven and Michael fought and his angels 00:01:35.88\00:01:40.47 fought the dragon; and the dragon fought 00:01:40.50\00:01:42.59 against his angels. And prevailed not; 00:01:42.62\00:01:44.75 neither was their place found any more in heaven. 00:01:44.78\00:01:48.05 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent 00:01:48.92\00:01:51.86 called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the 00:01:51.89\00:01:54.22 whole world: He was cast out into the earth, 00:01:54.25\00:01:58.04 and his angels were cast out with him. 00:01:58.07\00:02:00.82 Today, we find ourselves in a great cosmic war, 00:02:04.99\00:02:09.33 on one side we have Satan and he wants our 00:02:09.36\00:02:11.98 eternal destruction. He wants us to hate God; 00:02:12.01\00:02:15.00 he wants us to assign Satan's characteristics 00:02:15.32\00:02:18.14 to God. And we have God on one side saying 00:02:18.17\00:02:21.63 I love you and I want to be with you forever, 00:02:22.30\00:02:24.69 there's a great controversy going 00:02:24.72\00:02:27.00 on right now, a great war, Satan on one side, 00:02:27.03\00:02:30.26 God on the other. And friends, Satan is trying 00:02:30.79\00:02:34.32 to do everything he can in his hellish power 00:02:34.35\00:02:36.76 to deceive us regarding God's true character. 00:02:36.79\00:02:40.01 And his special affection for us, he seeks to 00:02:41.23\00:02:43.51 discourage us, to beat us down, to make us run 00:02:43.54\00:02:47.45 from God, even to blame God for problems that 00:02:47.48\00:02:51.62 the devil himself is causing. He wants us to 00:02:51.65\00:02:54.89 live for self and to question the value of 00:02:55.50\00:02:59.50 a Christian life. He wants us to look upon God 00:02:59.53\00:03:03.27 as a harsh, ruling dictator, who just wants 00:03:03.30\00:03:06.94 to snuff us out, if he has the chance. 00:03:06.97\00:03:09.14 There is a deep seeded belief in Christendom 00:03:10.75\00:03:12.48 today I've discovered and that belief is, 00:03:12.51\00:03:15.43 it goes like this, if we're suffering, 00:03:15.46\00:03:17.90 if we're having trials in our life and things just 00:03:18.60\00:03:20.62 aren't going the right way for us. 00:03:20.65\00:03:22.97 Then we must be suffering judgment from God 00:03:23.64\00:03:25.57 and this, this deception, this perspective is as old 00:03:26.26\00:03:29.98 as the devil himself. But friends, this isn't always 00:03:30.01\00:03:33.41 the case, yes, it's true that our own poor 00:03:33.44\00:03:36.60 decisions can give our loving God an opportunity 00:03:36.63\00:03:39.73 to correct us and help us. And he does this by 00:03:39.76\00:03:43.05 allowing trials sometimes, God will through 00:03:43.08\00:03:47.38 his providential hand set up circumstances, 00:03:47.41\00:03:49.82 to guide us back to a healthy life giving 00:03:49.85\00:03:53.90 invigorating Christian walk. But God does not 00:03:53.93\00:03:58.79 cause the temptations; the devil causes the 00:03:58.82\00:04:05.45 temptations, I don't believe God 00:04:05.48\00:04:07.12 causes the trail. He may indeed allow the test, 00:04:07.73\00:04:15.12 but God does not tempt us. In fact let's go to 00:04:16.09\00:04:19.72 James 1:13 and this we'll bear it out, 00:04:19.75\00:04:22.40 God does not test, tempt us: 00:04:22.43\00:04:24.19 Let no man say when he is tempted, 00:04:24.73\00:04:26.69 that I am tempted of God: for God cannot be 00:04:26.72\00:04:30.95 tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 00:04:30.98\00:04:34.03 You see God may test us, but he doesn't tempt us. 00:04:35.33\00:04:41.08 God uses tests and trials for our own good 00:04:42.83\00:04:47.94 and our own growth and character development. 00:04:49.40\00:04:51.75 In fact let's read that, the Southern Watchman 00:04:51.78\00:04:54.51 February 7, 1905: "Affliction, temptation, 00:04:54.54\00:04:59.46 adversity and other varied trials are the means 00:05:00.27\00:05:04.40 by which God refines us and sanctifies us." 00:05:04.43\00:05:08.85 So, friends there are going to be trials 00:05:09.66\00:05:12.16 as a Christian, because it's the very means 00:05:12.19\00:05:14.20 by which God refines us and sanctifies us, 00:05:14.23\00:05:17.08 to be made Holy that means. 00:05:18.09\00:05:19.32 The devil knows that every single trial and 00:05:21.46\00:05:25.72 every episode of suffering that he inflicts on us 00:05:25.75\00:05:28.83 as God's people; he knows that 00:05:28.86\00:05:30.62 if we're connected to God. That God can work good, 00:05:30.65\00:05:35.01 out of even that nasty trial that the devil 00:05:35.04\00:05:38.78 has brought upon us. You see he's a beaten foe, 00:05:38.81\00:05:41.55 so when he tries to get us to look at God with 00:05:42.58\00:05:44.94 a distorted view that God is the one that's causing 00:05:44.97\00:05:48.30 the trials. It's not God, it's the devil, 00:05:48.33\00:05:51.78 for without God, think about this. Without God, 00:05:53.87\00:05:57.09 we would just be left as the sport of Satan, 00:05:59.21\00:06:01.47 we would be constantly tempted, 00:06:02.63\00:06:04.22 in fact without God life would just be a bunch 00:06:04.25\00:06:07.51 of meaningless suffering and toil. 00:06:07.54\00:06:09.93 But with God we can make sense out of the, 00:06:10.77\00:06:14.08 the suffering and the toil sometimes, 00:06:14.11\00:06:16.03 we can go through life knowing that God 00:06:16.06\00:06:18.40 will not allow us to be tempted above that 00:06:18.43\00:06:20.96 we're able in fact let's read that First Corinthians 00:06:20.99\00:06:23.91 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but 00:06:23.94\00:06:27.55 is as common to man: but God is faithful, 00:06:27.58\00:06:31.39 who will not suffer you to be tempted above that 00:06:31.42\00:06:34.40 ye are able; but will with the temptation also make 00:06:34.43\00:06:38.02 a way of escape, that you maybe able to bear it. 00:06:38.05\00:06:43.11 You see God is not going to allow us to go through 00:06:43.14\00:06:47.04 anything that he himself has not foreseen, 00:06:47.07\00:06:49.47 evaluated and said yes Christian can handle this, 00:06:49.50\00:06:52.38 or no he can't. That gives me courage to go on. Amen. 00:06:52.41\00:06:56.04 Even through the trial, in fact if we're going 00:06:56.07\00:07:02.25 to be grown up Christians. We have to get to the 00:07:02.28\00:07:06.02 place where we're just going to accept that 00:07:06.05\00:07:08.87 there will be trials and the sooner we do this, 00:07:08.90\00:07:12.21 the sooner we can get on with our victories 00:07:12.98\00:07:15.30 Christian life. I had a Revelation a while back, 00:07:15.33\00:07:19.92 I realize that I was praying two entirely 00:07:20.61\00:07:24.27 opposite prayers, I was praying Lord, 00:07:24.30\00:07:27.84 please help me to be like Jesus, help me to 00:07:27.87\00:07:30.37 overcome the sin in my life, help me with this 00:07:30.40\00:07:32.83 character perfection, help me to be like the 00:07:32.86\00:07:36.26 hundred and forty four thousand. 00:07:36.29\00:07:37.57 I'm, I've been praying that for many years and 00:07:37.89\00:07:39.73 yet trials would come and then I would say 00:07:39.76\00:07:42.01 Lord please I'm failing here why are these 00:07:42.04\00:07:44.74 trials here, please take them away. 00:07:44.77\00:07:46.65 I don't wanna go through this, 00:07:47.24\00:07:48.52 please Lord what's wrong, why am I going 00:07:49.38\00:07:50.99 through these problems, and it occurred to me 00:07:51.02\00:07:54.55 one day as I was studying this, 00:07:54.58\00:07:56.07 the trials and tribulation and why we have to go 00:07:56.10\00:07:59.72 through this suffering, it occurred to me that 00:07:59.75\00:08:02.88 God was answering my first prayer when he 00:08:03.52\00:08:06.03 allowed the trials to come. You see if I've a 00:08:06.06\00:08:09.86 problem with money, God will allow money 00:08:09.89\00:08:12.76 problems to come. So, I can learn my lesson 00:08:12.79\00:08:16.77 to overcome the defect that I have, 00:08:16.80\00:08:19.01 God was just being the faithful Father. 00:08:19.77\00:08:22.57 He was saying I will honor your first prayer 00:08:23.17\00:08:26.40 request, I will help you through the trial, 00:08:26.43\00:08:29.84 praise God. You see I didn't understand how 00:08:30.79\00:08:38.92 trials and tests and temptations worked. 00:08:38.95\00:08:41.37 You see God was helping me to overcome the 00:08:42.13\00:08:44.82 character, the very dear character defects that I 00:08:44.85\00:08:47.67 needed to overcome. James 1:12 says: 00:08:47.70\00:08:51.73 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, 00:08:52.28\00:08:56.89 for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown 00:08:57.63\00:09:01.65 of life. You see there is gonna be a trial, 00:09:01.68\00:09:03.12 which the Lord hath promised to them 00:09:03.86\00:09:05.46 that love him. Friends when we're tried and 00:09:05.49\00:09:09.95 the trials are coming I think the best place 00:09:10.15\00:09:11.77 to start is Lord am I being corrected for 00:09:11.80\00:09:14.70 sin in my life. Because Hebrews 12:6 says: 00:09:14.73\00:09:19.07 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 00:09:19.45\00:09:23.08 and scourageth every son whom he receiveth. 00:09:23.69\00:09:27.16 You see to chasteneth that doesn't mean like 00:09:27.61\00:09:30.50 in my mind I used to think that was like you 00:09:31.07\00:09:32.86 would whip somebody, you would chasten them, 00:09:32.89\00:09:34.71 no to chasten means to instruct. 00:09:34.74\00:09:37.26 For whom the Lord loves, he instructs. 00:09:38.04\00:09:40.11 Amen, I need to be instructed, 00:09:40.59\00:09:42.12 it's also means to correct or to reform. 00:09:42.15\00:09:44.90 For whomever the Lord loves, 00:09:44.93\00:09:46.83 he's going to correct and reform, 00:09:46.86\00:09:49.51 I need reformation in my life friends, 00:09:49.54\00:09:51.32 I'm sure you do too. For whomever the Lord loves 00:09:51.35\00:09:54.23 he chastenth. And God does as I would 00:09:54.26\00:09:57.96 with my children. If I truly love my children, 00:09:57.99\00:10:01.74 I'm going to chasten them, I'm going to love them, 00:10:01.77\00:10:04.28 instruct them, correct them, and help them back 00:10:04.31\00:10:08.91 on the path of righteousness. God 00:10:08.94\00:10:10.52 does just as a faithful Christian father would; 00:10:11.28\00:10:13.94 he helps us back on the path of righteousness. 00:10:14.74\00:10:18.55 Hebrews 4:16 says: Let us therefore come boldly 00:10:21.09\00:10:25.29 to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, 00:10:25.32\00:10:28.47 and find grace in time of need. Friends, 00:10:28.50\00:10:31.70 we need to come boldly to God's throne, 00:10:31.73\00:10:33.97 don't run away from him come to God. 00:10:34.00\00:10:36.83 And he will work good, out of the bad, 00:10:37.44\00:10:39.82 God won't waste your pain friends. 00:10:41.23\00:10:45.00 The Faith I live by, page 134: We should remember 00:10:47.67\00:10:50.92 that all make mistakes, even men and women 00:10:50.95\00:10:55.25 who have years of experience sometimes err. 00:10:55.28\00:10:58.15 But God does not cast them off because of 00:10:58.40\00:11:01.04 their errors, to every erring son and daughter 00:11:01.07\00:11:03.74 of Adam; he gives the privilege of another 00:11:03.77\00:11:07.74 trial. Did you hear that? To every erring son, 00:11:08.99\00:11:11.28 he gives the privilege of another err, 00:11:11.31\00:11:13.46 so if we don't meet it, we don't learn the lesson 00:11:13.49\00:11:16.48 the first time around. God will faithfully bring 00:11:16.51\00:11:19.67 it back around, what a terrible psycho frankly; 00:11:19.70\00:11:22.27 I don't wanna go back through the same trials 00:11:22.83\00:11:25.18 over and over again. And if we learned the 00:11:25.21\00:11:28.26 lesson the first time, God has no need to bring 00:11:28.29\00:11:31.96 that same trial around again, praise the Lord. 00:11:31.99\00:11:35.21 What a coach. The next reason we need to 00:11:36.00\00:11:39.21 ask ourselves if I'm not being corrected by God 00:11:39.24\00:11:41.62 for sin is, am I being prepared for special 00:11:41.65\00:11:45.29 service, I think of Joseph. Young Joseph was 00:11:45.32\00:11:48.50 sold into slavery and he became as a slave, 00:11:48.53\00:11:52.66 he eventually became the second-in-command 00:11:53.25\00:11:55.53 of all of Egypt, how did he go from being a slave 00:11:55.56\00:11:58.62 to being Second-in-command, 00:11:58.65\00:11:59.97 because he didn't whine and complain, oh! 00:12:00.47\00:12:02.38 My brothers sold me, I'm sure he had moments 00:12:02.85\00:12:04.97 of that, but eventually he got over it and he 00:12:05.00\00:12:07.53 went forward in his faith with God, 00:12:07.56\00:12:08.99 knowing that at least God was with him. 00:12:09.02\00:12:11.00 His family wasn't, his dad wasn't, 00:12:11.44\00:12:13.20 his brothers weren't but God was with him. 00:12:13.96\00:12:16.54 And God was preparing him for special service, 00:12:17.01\00:12:19.70 in fact he became Second-in-command 00:12:20.04\00:12:22.04 of Egypt and because of his faithfulness, 00:12:22.07\00:12:24.54 millions were fed during a great time famine, 00:12:24.57\00:12:29.25 where if Joseph hadn't been used of God 00:12:29.28\00:12:31.87 and if he had just been a whiner and become 00:12:31.90\00:12:33.72 a normal slave like everyone else. 00:12:33.75\00:12:35.13 God couldn't have worked through Joseph 00:12:35.16\00:12:37.73 because he was being prepared for special 00:12:37.76\00:12:39.53 service; God couldn't have worked through 00:12:39.56\00:12:41.65 Joseph to bless millions, if Joseph hadn't been 00:12:41.68\00:12:46.05 surrendered to God, perhaps millions would 00:12:46.08\00:12:49.07 have starved. You see eventually God helped 00:12:49.10\00:12:56.15 Joseph to not only be a blessing to millions 00:12:56.18\00:13:00.79 of people. But he became a blessing to his own 00:13:00.82\00:13:04.06 family and you know the story, God didn't waste 00:13:04.09\00:13:06.74 Joseph's pain of being a slave, no, no, no. 00:13:06.77\00:13:09.29 He brought Joseph's brothers back to him, 00:13:09.79\00:13:11.73 he brought his father back to him and 00:13:12.23\00:13:13.88 they were reconciled, God didn't waste Joseph's 00:13:13.91\00:13:16.90 pain and if you're being prepared for special 00:13:16.93\00:13:19.32 service. God will not waste your pain either. 00:13:19.35\00:13:22.32 Amen. Amen, the third reason I thought about 00:13:22.35\00:13:28.02 why would we be having trials and tribulations 00:13:28.05\00:13:31.11 in our life, perhaps we're being attacked 00:13:31.14\00:13:34.01 just simply because we're living a Christian 00:13:35.13\00:13:36.93 life and the devil hates that very fact. 00:13:36.96\00:13:39.29 Jesus from his birth, he was misunderstood 00:13:40.57\00:13:43.43 and attacked by the devil, he was misunderstood 00:13:43.46\00:13:45.79 by his brothers, by his parents, by his church, 00:13:45.82\00:13:48.77 by his disciples, by the Roman government, 00:13:48.80\00:13:50.94 everyone misunderstood Jesus Christ. 00:13:50.97\00:13:53.31 And he was attacked and we're told that Satan 00:13:54.99\00:13:58.09 made stronger attacks upon Christ than he 00:13:58.12\00:14:01.30 will ever make upon us, you and I can never 00:14:01.33\00:14:04.88 be tempted like Jesus was tempted. 00:14:04.91\00:14:06.78 But God didn't waste Jesus pain either. 00:14:08.24\00:14:10.79 You see sometimes we as Christian are 00:14:11.96\00:14:14.27 misunderstood and it is hard and 00:14:14.30\00:14:16.12 we're thinking Lord I'm just trying to do the 00:14:16.15\00:14:17.82 right thing, why is this happening. 00:14:17.85\00:14:19.50 We're asking the wrong question friends, 00:14:20.62\00:14:22.25 stop asking why and start asking what 00:14:22.28\00:14:25.22 can I learn, how can I be a light. 00:14:25.25\00:14:27.42 Jesus pain wasn't wasted friends. 00:14:30.48\00:14:32.06 He went from being the majesty of Heaven, 00:14:33.28\00:14:36.47 the creator sitting on the throne and he 00:14:36.50\00:14:40.39 became like me, a lowly human being and he died, 00:14:40.42\00:14:46.73 he went through a life of misunderstanding, 00:14:46.76\00:14:49.01 he went through a life of, of attack by the devil. 00:14:49.41\00:14:52.15 You know from the time he was born, 00:14:52.58\00:14:54.10 the devil worked on Herod to try to kill him, 00:14:54.13\00:14:56.22 he was constantly being attacked friends. 00:14:56.93\00:14:58.77 You and I don't even have to go through that 00:14:59.17\00:15:00.78 much, yet Jesus chose to come here. 00:15:00.81\00:15:05.54 He chose to be a man like you and me, 00:15:06.97\00:15:10.14 but God didn't waste his pain, even though, 00:15:11.44\00:15:13.64 even though he went all the way through with 00:15:13.67\00:15:15.84 the plan of salvation and he hung on that cross 00:15:15.87\00:15:18.41 and he died and he died of a broken heart, 00:15:19.36\00:15:21.48 separation from his, his father. 00:15:21.51\00:15:23.25 God didn't waste his pain, because he raised 00:15:23.74\00:15:26.31 him in three days. Amen, he raised him 00:15:26.34\00:15:28.70 in three days and Jesus Christ pain wasn't 00:15:28.73\00:15:31.28 wasted. Because he could go to the throne of God 00:15:31.31\00:15:33.55 and he said yes son, your sacrifice is accepted, 00:15:33.58\00:15:36.94 praise God. But I want you to think about this, 00:15:36.97\00:15:40.49 God's pain won't be wasted either friends, 00:15:43.15\00:15:46.89 think about this God is the only one who has gone 00:15:48.54\00:15:53.01 through all of the suffering from the 00:15:53.04\00:15:56.37 first sin in Heaven and it broke his heart. 00:15:56.40\00:16:00.12 Taking a third of the host of heaven which 00:16:00.88\00:16:02.81 broke his heart, to seeing Adam and Eve follow 00:16:02.84\00:16:06.20 the devil which broke his heart, 00:16:06.23\00:16:07.64 was God going through trials, yes. 00:16:08.18\00:16:10.22 Then stop whining and complaining if you are, 00:16:10.65\00:16:12.89 if God can't even escape trials and tribulations 00:16:13.27\00:16:15.86 neither are we as Christians, amen. Right, 00:16:15.89\00:16:19.52 God has gone through trial and tribulation with 00:16:21.98\00:16:25.24 every single one of us since beginning of time, 00:16:25.27\00:16:28.94 we only have to live this long in our life 00:16:29.41\00:16:31.56 and we're going oh! It's just too hard, what? 00:16:31.59\00:16:34.33 But you know, God's pain is not gonna be wasted 00:16:36.91\00:16:40.18 either friends, halleluiah! When Jesus comes 00:16:40.21\00:16:43.63 he's gonna have a people who have loved 00:16:44.47\00:16:46.47 and had faith in him and God will have his children 00:16:46.50\00:16:49.71 with him again. And so God's pain won't be 00:16:49.74\00:16:52.38 wasted either, there is no one more in this 00:16:52.41\00:16:54.99 universe that wants the pain and suffering to stop, 00:16:55.02\00:16:58.80 no one more than God the father himself. 00:16:58.83\00:17:02.14 If we suffer and we have trials another reason 00:17:07.65\00:17:12.47 we may be going through this, is perhaps 00:17:13.19\00:17:15.35 I've been selected, you've been selected for 00:17:15.38\00:17:18.97 special character growth. Maybe God really 00:17:19.00\00:17:23.05 wants to work in our lives and I think about Job, 00:17:23.08\00:17:27.12 you can't talk about trials and tribulations from 00:17:27.66\00:17:29.61 a Biblical perspective and not talk about Job. 00:17:29.64\00:17:32.38 That brother went through trials and tribulations 00:17:32.82\00:17:36.52 didn't he. We all know the story, let's start Job 00:17:36.55\00:17:41.32 1 and we'll start in verse 6: Now there was 00:17:41.35\00:17:48.47 a day when the sons of God came to present 00:17:48.50\00:17:50.54 themselves before the Lord, 00:17:50.57\00:17:51.64 and Satan came also among them. 00:17:51.67\00:17:53.38 And the Lord said unto Satan, 00:17:53.75\00:17:55.05 Whence comest thou? In other words, you know, 00:17:55.46\00:17:56.95 where have you come from? 00:17:56.98\00:17:58.07 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 00:17:59.53\00:18:01.07 From going to and fro in the earth, 00:18:01.48\00:18:03.55 I've been patrolling and walking up and down in it. 00:18:03.58\00:18:05.77 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou 00:18:06.13\00:18:08.05 considered my servant Job, that there is none like 00:18:08.08\00:18:11.92 him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, 00:18:11.95\00:18:14.91 one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 00:18:14.94\00:18:17.90 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, 00:18:18.38\00:18:20.08 Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not 00:18:20.11\00:18:24.08 made an hedge about him, and about his house, 00:18:24.11\00:18:26.49 and about all that he hath on every side? 00:18:26.52\00:18:28.34 Hast thou blessed the work, 00:18:28.37\00:18:31.00 you've blessed the work of his hands, 00:18:31.03\00:18:32.72 and his substance is increased in the land. 00:18:32.75\00:18:36.07 Put forth thine hand now and touch all that 00:18:36.48\00:18:38.68 he has, and he's gonna curse you to your face. 00:18:38.71\00:18:40.49 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, 00:18:40.89\00:18:42.78 all that he hath is in thy power; 00:18:43.44\00:18:46.10 only upon himself put not forth thine hand. 00:18:47.29\00:18:50.38 So Satan went from the presence of the Lord. 00:18:50.86\00:18:53.16 Oh! The devil was excited, I can go and I'm 00:18:53.86\00:18:58.17 gonna show God that I'm right, 00:18:58.20\00:18:59.88 that Job only worships you because you've 00:18:59.91\00:19:02.20 put a hedge of protection around them. 00:19:02.23\00:19:03.75 Friends, do you see what's happening here, 00:19:04.96\00:19:07.68 God is allowing the devil to do certain things, 00:19:08.78\00:19:12.45 I don't like that, I don't but God, 00:19:13.36\00:19:16.68 he has an expected end for Job. 00:19:17.53\00:19:20.73 Let's read Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the thoughts 00:19:21.94\00:19:26.73 that I think toward you, saith the Lord, 00:19:26.76\00:19:28.81 thoughts of peace and not of evil, 00:19:28.84\00:19:31.55 to give you an expected end. 00:19:31.58\00:19:34.95 You see God had a plan for Job, 00:19:35.94\00:19:38.58 he wanted to help Job grow in his Christian 00:19:39.33\00:19:41.99 experience and so he allowed the devil to go 00:19:42.02\00:19:44.68 and to tempt him, to bring the trial, 00:19:45.36\00:19:48.96 to bring the tribulation and in the story in Job 1:3 00:19:49.58\00:19:53.04 through 19 we're not gonna take the time 00:19:53.07\00:19:54.38 to read it but there were four calamities that 00:19:54.41\00:19:56.27 befell Job very quickly in rapid succession. 00:19:56.30\00:19:59.55 The first calamity was that people came and 00:20:00.03\00:20:01.62 stole his oxen and his asses and killed his 00:20:01.65\00:20:04.03 servants, part of his major wealth, 00:20:04.06\00:20:05.87 a major part of his wealth was taken. 00:20:05.90\00:20:07.60 Second calamity, right rapid fire right after 00:20:08.17\00:20:10.54 fire came down from Heaven killed sheep 00:20:10.57\00:20:13.99 and servants, the third, people stole camels 00:20:14.02\00:20:17.31 and killed the servants. Now, all of his wealth 00:20:17.34\00:20:19.69 is gone and the fourth and the most terrible 00:20:19.72\00:20:22.34 you know Job kind of probably dealt with 00:20:22.37\00:20:24.31 becoming a poor man, but then the fourth 00:20:24.34\00:20:26.25 one and the most terrible in my estimation 00:20:26.28\00:20:28.68 is that a tornado came and it smote the four 00:20:28.71\00:20:31.87 corners of the home where all of his children, 00:20:31.90\00:20:34.36 ten children were inside. The roof falls 00:20:34.39\00:20:37.72 in and kills them all. Job receives the news 00:20:37.75\00:20:41.31 that he has lost absolutely everything 00:20:41.34\00:20:43.95 including his children within a manner of 00:20:43.98\00:20:46.71 moments. Did Job know why this was happening? 00:20:46.74\00:20:50.50 No. Did he know who was behind all of this terror? 00:20:51.87\00:20:57.35 No, did Job have all the facts? No, 00:20:57.82\00:21:02.43 all he knew is what he could see and what he 00:21:03.57\00:21:05.84 could he hear. This was an all out attack from 00:21:05.87\00:21:09.91 the devil friends, did God do it? No, 00:21:09.94\00:21:14.02 did God allow it? Yes. Who did it? The devil friends, 00:21:15.38\00:21:20.44 the devil did this. Now did Job like this at all, 00:21:20.47\00:21:23.95 did he like the fact that this was happening to him? 00:21:24.25\00:21:26.91 Of course not friends. Did Satan tempt him after, 00:21:26.94\00:21:31.83 see here's how it works. The trial comes and 00:21:31.86\00:21:34.67 then when the trial's there and our emotions 00:21:34.70\00:21:36.90 are getting the best of us then the devil 00:21:36.93\00:21:38.93 comes in to tempt us to forsake our God. 00:21:38.96\00:21:41.38 Friends, we must be careful not to sin, 00:21:42.76\00:21:44.67 because of the trial, amen. You know when things 00:21:45.19\00:21:50.92 are all falling apart and there is no apparent 00:21:50.95\00:21:53.73 reason for it, we must and we've been living 00:21:53.76\00:21:55.95 a healthy Christian life and God's not correcting 00:21:55.98\00:21:57.92 us for something, we must then conclude that 00:21:57.95\00:22:00.71 we don't have all the facts. In the middle 00:22:00.74\00:22:04.12 of this Job mourns in the great loss, 00:22:04.15\00:22:07.40 but amazingly enough, he gets down in the 00:22:07.74\00:22:10.50 ashes and he worships God. He worships his God, 00:22:10.53\00:22:14.36 his maker, this was a man of great faith friends. 00:22:14.39\00:22:18.33 And I guarantee you God did not allow this 00:22:19.62\00:22:23.46 trial to come at the beginning of his Christian 00:22:23.49\00:22:26.41 experience, because God looks at things 00:22:26.44\00:22:28.50 and evaluates and says I know the faith 00:22:28.53\00:22:30.76 that Job has and he can see this one through 00:22:30.79\00:22:33.73 with my strength and my power. 00:22:34.34\00:22:35.88 Did Job understand why all this was happening? 00:22:39.78\00:22:43.07 He didn't, and he had to bring into his life, 00:22:43.89\00:22:46.71 Second Corinthians 5:7 that says: 00:22:47.26\00:22:48.74 We must walk by faith, and not by sight, 00:22:48.77\00:22:50.88 he had to walk by faith and not by what was 00:22:51.87\00:22:54.03 going on around him, he couldn't look at the 00:22:54.06\00:22:57.59 fire that came down from Heaven and consumed, 00:22:57.62\00:23:00.01 you know it didn't consume a couple 00:23:00.04\00:23:01.47 of sheep, it consumed seven thousand of them. 00:23:01.50\00:23:03.68 I mean that would seem like God did this, 00:23:04.40\00:23:06.51 well the devil has control over those things 00:23:07.36\00:23:08.71 too friends. He had to walk by faith, 00:23:08.74\00:23:11.00 not by what he was seeing and when we're 00:23:11.54\00:23:13.66 tempted and when we have trials and tribulations 00:23:13.69\00:23:15.38 that are going on around us. 00:23:15.41\00:23:16.49 We have to walk by faith knowing that God 00:23:16.52\00:23:19.51 is in control, and then Satan is not happy 00:23:19.54\00:23:24.80 that Job stood through it because now 00:23:25.38\00:23:27.28 he's proven wrong. He goes back up to Heaven 00:23:27.65\00:23:30.00 and Job too and he says, alright, 00:23:30.03\00:23:32.32 you know round one ding, ding alright Job won 00:23:33.48\00:23:35.68 this one, but give me another chance, 00:23:35.71\00:23:37.06 let me afflict his person and if you let me 00:23:37.09\00:23:39.20 afflict him. He's gonna curse you. God says 00:23:39.23\00:23:41.13 you can afflict his person, do not kill him. 00:23:41.16\00:23:45.20 So, Satan comes back and says what can 00:23:45.67\00:23:48.22 I give this man that's gonna cause him, 00:23:48.63\00:23:51.53 I've got to give him something, I've 00:23:51.56\00:23:52.53 got a give him a dozy. So, Satan smote him, 00:23:52.70\00:23:55.85 smites him with boils from the top of his head 00:23:56.21\00:23:59.42 to the bottom of his feet even into his throat. 00:23:59.45\00:24:01.44 And Job begins to lament, he begins to wish 00:24:02.90\00:24:05.99 that he was dead, he doesn't even want 00:24:06.02\00:24:07.81 to live anymore and God's not giving him any 00:24:07.84\00:24:10.60 answers. And his friends that come to comfort him, 00:24:10.63\00:24:13.42 that's why they came amazingly enough, 00:24:14.74\00:24:16.31 if you know the story, they went on for thirty 00:24:16.34\00:24:18.51 something chapters and just beat down the 00:24:18.54\00:24:20.41 brother who was having a problem. Trying 00:24:20.44\00:24:21.98 to convince him, the reason you're suffering 00:24:22.29\00:24:24.25 Job is because well you've got some hidden 00:24:24.28\00:24:27.46 sin in your life. Well, that wasn't the case 00:24:27.49\00:24:29.71 and then to add insult to injury that his wife 00:24:31.57\00:24:34.87 says just curse God and die. 00:24:35.42\00:24:37.08 Would it be fair to say, Job feels all alone 00:24:38.32\00:24:41.96 in this world, yes. Would it be fair to say 00:24:41.99\00:24:45.80 that Job feels forsaken of his God, 00:24:46.32\00:24:48.41 here he had been living his life as an upright 00:24:48.78\00:24:50.69 Christian man and all of a sudden boom, 00:24:51.08\00:24:53.24 sudden calamity. Job begins struggle friends, 00:24:53.27\00:24:56.28 he did, he struggled and he started to think 00:24:56.31\00:24:58.35 that God was against him, because his reaction 00:24:58.38\00:25:02.17 to the second affliction, which was physical 00:25:02.77\00:25:04.56 suffering was very different in marked 00:25:04.59\00:25:07.08 contrast to his first affliction. 00:25:07.11\00:25:10.30 The loss of his children and his wealth, 00:25:11.21\00:25:12.72 but amazingly enough Job still goes through this, 00:25:13.81\00:25:17.50 this terrible trial and he's able to put it in 00:25:18.33\00:25:21.05 perspective and he weaves together beautiful 00:25:21.08\00:25:23.81 words in a poem of trust, from about chapter 26 00:25:23.84\00:25:27.12 to about chapter 31 and finally God steps into 00:25:27.15\00:25:30.29 the picture. And he says look your friends are 00:25:30.32\00:25:32.79 wrong, I'll deal with you later he says. 00:25:32.82\00:25:34.90 But I'm not gonna answer why, did you realize that? 00:25:36.25\00:25:39.50 God didn't answer Job's million dollar question 00:25:39.53\00:25:42.91 why? But God started asking Job a bunch of question 00:25:44.52\00:25:46.76 and he says, what do you know about the 00:25:46.79\00:25:50.39 creation of the earth? What do you know about 00:25:50.42\00:25:54.60 the animal kingdom? He begins to asking him 00:25:54.63\00:25:58.16 a bunch of questions that no man could possibly 00:25:58.19\00:26:00.67 answer and what he was doing was he was 00:26:00.70\00:26:02.71 trying to teach Job, that God's moral purposing 00:26:02.74\00:26:08.12 may not always be what we understand it to be, 00:26:08.92\00:26:11.43 that there is a bigger picture. He was using 00:26:12.20\00:26:16.11 Job's ignorance of God's creation, 00:26:16.14\00:26:18.76 to expose his ignorance of God's moral purposing. 00:26:21.48\00:26:25.61 Turn with me to Second Corinthians verse 10 00:26:29.42\00:26:33.84 or chapter 10 verse 4: For the weapons of 00:26:34.40\00:26:36.77 our warfare are not carnal, 00:26:36.80\00:26:38.27 but mighty through God did the pulling down 00:26:38.30\00:26:40.29 of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, 00:26:40.32\00:26:43.77 and every high thing that exalteth itself against 00:26:44.36\00:26:47.39 the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity 00:26:47.42\00:26:50.02 every thought to the obedience of Christ. 00:26:50.49\00:26:52.56 Friends, when we look at the great controversy, 00:26:53.89\00:26:58.59 everything that's going on we have to realize 00:26:58.62\00:27:01.15 that God will see us through and our weapons 00:27:01.18\00:27:04.54 of warfare are not carnal, but Spiritual. 00:27:04.57\00:27:06.91 So we must tap-in spiritually to God 00:27:07.29\00:27:09.24 and Job did and God restored unto Job, 00:27:09.80\00:27:13.14 he didn't waste his pain. Because he restored 00:27:13.50\00:27:16.63 unto Job, his family, his wealth and beyond this 00:27:16.66\00:27:22.01 Job got to live for a hundred and forty years 00:27:22.75\00:27:25.41 in a deeper experience. It says in the Bible that Job 00:27:25.79\00:27:28.78 said I had heard about you before but now 00:27:28.81\00:27:31.71 I have seen you. Friends, I want to encourage you 00:27:31.74\00:27:34.90 go through the trials with God, be like Job, 00:27:35.41\00:27:38.62 yes you'll struggle, but stand, stand through the 00:27:38.65\00:27:41.89 trial and God will deliver you for one day soon. 00:27:41.92\00:27:45.31 There will be no more pain; no more hurt for God 00:27:45.71\00:27:49.84 will led all the former things pass away. 00:27:49.87\00:27:52.17 God bless you as you move forward. 00:27:52.75\00:27:55.39