Joseph Prince - The Story Of Job Through The Lens Of Grace

TOPICS: Job, Grace

Praise God. Thank God for all the wonderful, wonderful healings, amen? God is in the healing business. God loves to mend people up, God loves to heal, God loves to patch up. God loves to restore. God is not a God that breaks down. He's not a God that discourages you, depresses you. God is a good God. He loves you, amen? He loves you. And there are some people who don't even know that basic fact, that important fact about God: that God is a loving God. And that is the source and the root of the original sin. The devil came to Eve and said that, "Did God say you cannot eat from every tree of the garden"?

So the devil always presents God as if God is not generous, that God is holding back on you, that God is out for his own self, you know, wills, he has no concern for you. And how the cross of Jesus Christ destroys all that lie, that God who love us so much, who didn't have to give up Jesus, sent his Son to die for our sins, amen? We touched last week how that God is today just in justifying us. The question is asked in the book of Job: "How can a man born of woman be righteous before God"? Even our very thoughts are sin. So how can a man born of woman be righteous before God? And we're gonna look at that in a while's time, but the amazing thing is that God has made a plan. And don't forget that God is a holy God.

If God compromises on his holiness, this whole universe will disintegrate. God is not a God of his word, so we call that the judicial part of God, his righteousness, his holiness, but the Bible tells us, it does not define God as holiness. It says God is holy in all his actions. God is holy in all that he does. Holiness becomes thine house, O Lord, but the essence of God is love. That means God is self-sacrificing and we see the cross, self-giving. God loves us without a cause in us. We always want God to love us because of something in us. We try to give him a reason, but the reason only frustrates his grace. God loves us because of him. God is good to us because he is good, not because we are good. God is good to you because he's good. Our rejoicing must be in him. Can I have a good "Amen"?

So God has found a way where, by Christ dying for our sins, Christ becoming liable for our sins, the holiness of God that took our sins and laid it on Christ, which is portrayed down through the centuries from the time of Adam even in the garden, when God killed the animals and clothed Adam and Eve, who had just sinned, with blood, proving that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. And from henceforth, every Passover lamb, every lamb, every oxen that was laid on the altars, the Jewish altars, down through the years, all pointed to the fact there'll come one lamb without sin. So when Jesus came, John the Baptist pointed to him and says, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world".

Finally, he came, amen. God cannot find any man on earth to die on our behalf because every man have sin in their blood. And therefore, the virgin birth, amen. The virgin birth, where the baby was placed, the seed, the eternal seed, the eternal word that became flesh, he that was with God in the beginning. There are no three gods. The mystery of the triunity is three in one and one in three. But he who was with God in the very beginning, in the book of wisdom it says: "I was daily his delight. I rejoice in the most habited part of the earth". That one came down. He was placed as a fetus in his mother's womb and that's why there was no human involvement because God cannot have human blood determining the baby, all right? All the baby's blood came straight from the Father and now we learn scientifically that even Mother Mary cannot give her blood. The placenta is only to bring food to the baby and waste away from the baby.

So God in his wisdom knew all that, even before medical science caught up. The importance of the virgin birth. And the whole purpose is that God was showing that this baby was born to be the perfect Lamb for all our sins. And now that he has died, God has found a way. God has found a way where his holiness does not have to be pushed to the back seat where it's as if God is saying, "Well, you know, I know I'm just, I know I must punish sin like a judge". A judge is not worth his grain of salt if he sits behind, all right, the judicial table, all right, and pronounce judgment and then he looks and just, you know, pronounce freedom to the most hardened criminal to be abhorred, he sends him off and all that. He's not worth his grain of salt. Something's wrong with him. He needs a good check-up, isn't it? All right, society will crumble if there's no law and order.

So God is just, and God cannot compromise his justice. But because of the cross, the righteous Christ has died for all of us, the guilty, the innocent, all right? For the ones who have sinned against God, God has found a way and, church, today if God rejects the sinner, the poor miserable sinner, if God rejects him, God in essence is saying, all right, what Jesus, what you did at the cross is a waste, all right? And God will have to apologize to Jesus, which he doesn't. God doesn't apologize to anybody. You know why God doesn't have to apologize to anybody? Because he never made a mistake in his word, thought, or deed. God is kind but he never has to apologize, amen.

I know some of you want him to apologize. No, he cannot. He's not like you and I. He never have to recall a word. Never have to retrace a step. Concerning the deeds of his hands, he never has to repent. We have to. God doesn't have to. So God, all right, I said, he doesn't have to apologize to Jesus because God sent Jesus for this purpose, so that now his holiness is magnified. If the devil comes against God and say, "How can this person, that sister over there, that brother there, how can he worship you like a Son," and God says, "He is my Son". How can that be? God says, "Because his sins have been paid". No, you said that someone who sins must die. And God points the devil to the cross. I'll tell you something about the devil. He understands law. He cannot understand grace. Grace is beyond him, you understand? The devil is a lawyer, all right?

Now, I just wanna say to all our lawyer friends, I wanna say to all our lawyer friend, Jesus is a lawyer for 2000 years now, representing us at the Father's right hand. Are you with me? So I need to lay out this groundwork today that God is righteous in making you and I righteous. The idea is that if God does not make you righteous when you come to him, all right, it is his unrighteous if he does not make the sinner righteous. Unrighteous to who? To what Christ has done.

Now you say, "But Pastor Prince, how come God cannot make us righteous without Christ's sacrifice? What a heavy sacrifice. What a costly price God had to pay". No, there's no other way. There's no other way. Sin must be punished, and sin has been punished. Our entire life of sins have been punished in the body of Christ. So that doesn't make light of sin. In fact, it tells you how serious and how terrible sin is that God's Son has to die. But on the other hand, it shows us God's love, how wonderful God's love is, how he loves us because it was his Son who died, not you and I. Give him praise, church, hallelujah. That's the glorious gospel that we preach. That's the wonderful redemption that Christ has wrought on your behalf and my behalf.

So remember this: today the Bible, I'm using the language of the book of Romans inspired by the Spirit. God is righteous in making you righteous. In other words, God is not merciful, pitiful, in making you righteous. It's not as if God is saying, you know, "I can make you righteous and all that, whether the cross is there or not. No cross, I can make you righteous". No, God cannot. If God makes you righteous, he's not righteous. God has to found a basis to make you righteous, and the basis has been provided by the cross of Christ, hallelujah. Isn't God good? You know, if you have a terrible criminal in front of you and you are the judge, I mean, he's a terrible criminal, he's a serial killer and he's in front of you, all right? But the thing is this.

As he stands in front of you and you are the judge, supposing you have love in your heart for him. Is not that strange? That's super-weird. How many understand that? I mean, you look at him and you have compassion for him. You have love for him. Not because of what he did. It's who you are. And not only that, you wanna do something for him. You know what? You wanna take his place. That's double-whammy weirdo. All right, we will think that way, isn't it? I mean, there's no one on earth who would do that. What if to confound it, make it worse, not only do you feel love for him, not only you want to take his place, you want to give him the riches of your estate and you have acres and acres of estate in your inheritance and you just want to give it to him. From now on, he's gonna live in your place, where you die in his place.

You'll say, "Get out of here. There's no such person. There's no such human being". But there is one. This God that the world calls all kinds of names and they point him, you know, the God Upstairs, the Almighty God, whatever it is. Friend, this is him. He loves us. He loves sinners, all right, and gave his Son to die for us. What a God. What a glorious God. And the world out there still think God is against them. No, God is for them. God has provided a ransom for them. So today, real quick, I wanna jump into the story of Job. I've been alluding to Job for the past sermons, you know, but I just wanna focus on Job per se, all right, to understand and I know I've shared many of this, the conclusion of it, down through my sermon series, you know, and you all can tell that I love the story of Job, you know, and I love the truths, rather.

I don't love what happened to the man, you know, but I love the truths that God is unveiling in this book. There are many players, many actors, in the book of Job. The book of Job is a very interesting book, all right? In the canon of Scripture, the book of Job is part of what we call the Wisdom books, all right? Wisdom book, the books are Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. These are the three Wisdom books, we call them, okay? And the wisdom is not the wisdom of English poetry. It is written in poetry, prose, all right? But it is not English poetry. It is Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry, all right, many a times, does not rhyme, but it brings across a truth, okay? It brings across a truth, like, Proverbs. You have two lines that say the same thing in a different way or two lines that contrast, all right, as opposed to compare. So that's Hebrew poetry, all right? You ready?

All right, look up here. Chapter 1: "There was a man in the land of Uz," where Uzi machine guns came from, "whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him". I figure that it's best that before we go into the story of Job, that you see the account, the Holy Spirit mentions about Job, so that when you see all his sufferings you don't think that it's a bad person suffering. It's not a bad person suffering. It is a man who is "blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil".

So don't forget, we are talking about a person who is actually in the category today in this dispensation, he'll be a believer, someone that God has pronounced righteous by the blood of his Son, someone that God says, "You are my son, you are my daughter". And yet you are going through some things that you are wondering, "What's going on," okay? Amen, and there'll be voices that come and say, "You are going through this because of your sin. You are going through this because of that sin or your past sins". So, is this true? There's a whole body of teachings in Christendom that teaches that if you go through something bad it is because you have done something bad, you've done something wrong, something sinful in the past. You lose your children, you lose your health, you lose this, they say you have sinned. Somehow you've sinned. Is that true?

You know, I just wanna tell you of this from the start, that many things that happened to Job, by the way, Job's sufferings was only about nine months. Please keep that somewhere. When you read it, it's like, the book is 42 chapters, but most of it is made up of conversation, different actors, all right? The three friends of Job, Job himself, and even a third party who is a type of Christ, Elihu, and then we have God himself. Plus the narration of the story. So it takes the 42 chapters, all right? Are you ready for the next 42 hours? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. All right, so, ha, ha, don't worry. The Lord is with me, you see, and he is kind and longsuffering and patient, even if you're not, all right? So I'll make sure that the main truths come true, okay? By the way, it is the oldest book in the Bible. Job probably lived, most likely lived, before Abraham, all right? And he was, although it's the oldest book, it does not mean that he's the oldest man, okay? He lived before Abraham.

So, very interesting, that Job's truths is not about Israel, because Israel did not yet exist. Israel will come forth from the loins of Abraham. Israel is God's covenant people, all right, after Abraham, from Abraham. So you don't find truths about Israel. Then you don't find things about the law, although he talks about adultery, he talks about lying, he talks about the things that what we call the moral code, amen? But the law was not yet given to Israel at this point in time. And yet the principles are universal. How many understand that? So there are many truths that we can see in Job. By the way, being the oldest book in the Bible, it is very interesting, you can find many scientific facts long before science realized that fact or discovered that fact. For example, in Job 25, 25 or 26, it says: "God hangs the earth upon nothing".

How in the world did they know that God hangs the earth upon nothing? Did someone take a space shuttle, go into the universe out there in the Milky Way and look back? How in the world do they know? God who created inspired them to write it, all right? There is another verse that says: "Man is known by his hands". By his hands. And the hands there is referring to the hands with the fingerprints, long before fingerprinting was actually an art, a science. It talks about how the clouds contain water and the water going to the sea and the sea went, go back to, condensation is talked about in the book of Job. Very interesting. If you have been here for some time, remember I did some things on this along these lines. It talks about the Orion, the stars, the Pleiades.

When you are lost at sea and you're a seaman and your negotiate, I mean, your ability to navigate and all that is gone, you lost them or whatever, all right, there's one thing you can look up at night in the dark sky to know which direction you are going. There is something called the Southern Cross. God put the cross to tell you where's South because there's a cross there, literally. It looks like a cross. And if you find the cross, you find your way home, hallelujah? And of course, the Australians took that as their flag, you know what I'm saying? But it's for everybody. It's for everybody. But we're not gonna study about the background of Job and the historical veracity of the Scriptures, all right? That's an established. We're not gonna argue on scientific facts, even with those who are scientifically inclined. We want to take the truths that God, the Holy Spirit wants us to learn, real quick, okay? I think enough time.

So here, establish first, he's a man that God himself says, later on, when Satan came to God, God himself said, "Have you found my servant"? He called him "My servant". "A man who fears me, who eschews evil, hates evil, all right? A blameless, upright man". So even God himself calls Job that. That's what God says of you and I today that we are upright, blameless, perfect in Christ. Not in ourselves; in Christ, amen? That's what God says of us. But the thing is this: just because you are perfect, blameless, upright, doesn't mean there's no root to be dealt with, okay? Are you listening?

In all of us, the number one root that God wants to remove out of our lives and hence, some of the things that God allows to happen in our lives, so that this root of self-righteousness, "Everybody is to be blamed but me," all right? "It's Pastor's fault. It's this person's fault. That person's fault. It's never me," all right? Or "It's my parents' fault," all right? "It is my relatives' fault. It is the government's fault". It's a sign of self-righteousness. Many people don't believe that they are self-righteous. Neither did Job. But I'll tell you right now, the root cause of all his problems here is self-righteousness. Now, Satan made it worse.

So there is a place where some word of faith, I'm a word of faith preacher, but the word of faith don't believe that God has dealings. I believe God has dealings. But God doesn't deal, when I say "dealings," means discipline. God, as a Father, disciplines his children, but God doesn't discipline with car wrecks, God doesn't discipline with sickness and disease, any more than a good father puts someone outside to be disciplined. Now, when these things happen, who is the player? Satan. There is a devil. But nonetheless, God wanted to bring this root up, okay? So God allowed, there is an allowing going on in the book of Job. And sometimes, you know, if we preach it so extreme in terms of faith, we say that, "Oh, God had no choice. The devil came to God and the devil says, 'You know, you blessed Job. Job is blessed.'"

You know, keep on reading, you'll find that, verse 3? "His possession were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels," look at the guy's wealth, you know? And the devil says, "You know why? You know why he fears you? You know why he fears you? It's because you have blessed him. You take away everything, you see whether he still blesses you or not". Now, God is not a God that says, "Well, I got no choice, okay? He's in your hands. Because of his fear, his great fear, he's in your hands". I don't believe that. I believe that the Lord allowed a certain movement, restricted nonetheless, all right, to bring out that root of self-righteousness in Job. But the way it was done by the devil was extreme. And here is where I come in and assure you that I believe this nine-month trial of Job, many of it cannot happen to you. But the dealings, yes. Because God loves you, he will deal with the self-righteousness, all right?

So when you see some things and all that, don't forget, Job actually said, "I wish there was a daysman. I wish there was", you know, a daysman is a go-between, "between God and me who can hold one hand on God, one hand on me, and plead," like a lawyer. And Job didn't have that. You and I have. His name is Jesus, amen. You know, we have one of our own who made it to heaven and he's at the Father's right hand. Please, I know he's God, but over there he's functioning as man, glorified man, perfect man, and his heart beats with affections of a man. He knows exactly what you're going through because he's been a man. And that's why he need to be made perfect or complete through his sufferings because, as God, he can be compassionate, but to sympathize with man, you have to be a man. And that's why Jesus became a man. Of course, there are other reasons he became a man, for example, the Redeemer, to become a Redeemer.

Now, back to this again, so some things cannot happen. Another thing is that you'll find in chapter 1, that Job came before God, together with the angels of God. It seems like he has a right to come before God's throne. God's throne is holy. How many understand that? So how in the world did this outlaw spirit stand before God, you know? Now, the thing is this, I don't believe for one moment that that place of access is open to him anymore in our day and age. Okay, are you listening or not? Number one, at that time, God didn't have a daysman, a go-between, an advocate, a lawyer, our defense counsel at his right hand. Number two, the devil could have access to God. In Hebrews it says when Jesus took his blood, he went up to heaven and he sprinkled the heavenly tabernacles, and if you're studying Jewish sequence of cleansing of the day, they will sprinkle seven times on the floor of the tabernacle in front of the ark.

I read that years ago, and God spoke to me, "That's why Satan cannot come anymore to that place". Then I said, "In the first place, why give him that place"? God says, "I never gave him that place. It belongs to Adam". That place belongs to Adam. Adam committed high treason, all right, surrendered all that he had to the devil, therefore, the devil had that place of access. So because he has a place of access, he's an accuser, he can accuse God. Are you listening? He doesn't accuse God directly, in a sense, but he says, "It's because you've blessed him," but he was after Job because he knows that God loves Job. To hurt Job is to hurt God. That's what, you know, some evil people, they feel like if they hurt your child, they hurt you. That's extreme evil. There are evil and very evil. Evil people hurt you. Very evil will hurt your child to hurt you. The devil is evil-evil. Okay, are you with me?

All right, let's go on. So don't worry. These things won't happen to you, the story of Job. We have Jesus as our advocate, all right? So you're gonna see some parts are the dealings of God, but some parts the devil push it, all right? So, straightaway after that, the devil left God's presence, and straightaway, one after another, all right, the Bible tells us the Sabeans came, took away the oxen, killed all the servants of Job, and then, one after another, blow after blow, tragedy after tragedy happened. Then we have the Chaldeans who came and took away the camels. We have lightning from heaven that consumed all his flocks and all that. He lost all his possessions in one day, and worst of all, there was a strong, probably, a typhoon wind, a "strong wind," the Bible says, and his seven sons and three daughters were eating.

They were feasting in a house of one of the brothers, and it hit the four corners of the house, and the whole house collapsed. He lost all his children in one day, and then Job himself, he was covered with boils from his feet to his head. I always notice, it's very interesting, when it comes to disease, it's the feet to the head; when it comes to healing, from the head to the feet. All right, that shows disease come from hell. Healing comes from heaven, amen. So he was there and scraping himself with potsherds, all right, and all he said was, "Blessed be the name of the Lord". Now, some things that Job said were not accurate, and those things that Job said about God was not accurate. Later on, we know from God himself, but his three friends came, now, think about it, blow after blow after blow, we know who is behind it. The devil. It wasn't the lightning. It wasn't the typhoon.

All right, they call this today acts of God. They are not acts of God. They're not acts of my Father because in heaven there are no hospitals. In heaven there are no crisis emergency calls. Everything is beautiful in heaven, amen. So this is not an act of God. It's a act of the devil, amen. So the devil will come and try to confuse God's dealings, all right, with the frown of God, and he comes and makes it worse. All right, so the thing is this. God put up this story so that all of us can learn, when we are going through our trial, okay, and see it in right perspective what God is after. In James chapter 5, the Bible tells us, "Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate, very compassionate and merciful". This is your heavenly Father. He's very compassionate and merciful, very.

So look at the end result, okay? There were a lot of players involved. For example, God said, you know, Israel keep on sinning, keep on sinning. God says, okay, he's gonna lift his hand of protection, and then a nation comes in. You don't acknowledge God? God steps back. You know, people are amazing. You know, they don't acknowledge God for so many years, then when disasters happen on TV, they say, "Where's God"? Obviously, this world is not fully under the control of God, but God's kingdom is within his people. His reign is within his people, all right? So, back to this again. So, blow after blow, tragedy after tragedy happened to Job, and Job is now covered with diseases and he's scraping himself with potsherds, and his three friends came. Literally, these are, I mean, these are truehearted friends, you know, by the way.

These are not friends who just come to make trouble. They did not plan to make trouble. They came, all right, to comfort Job, but later on, Job calls them miserable comforters. They started well, end up really bad, that, even at the end, God has to ask Job to pray for them and to offer an offering, burnt offering for them. So the thing is that they came, but they were truehearted friends. They came to comfort Job actually, all right? So they came and surrounded him, and the Bible tells us that the three friends, their names were Bildad, oh, sorry, Eliphaz. Because he's the leader, I must mention him first. Eliphaz, then Bildad, then Zophar, all right? Very simple to remember. Bildad, by the way, the Bible says he's a Shuhite, S-H-U-H-I-T-E, Shuhite. He's the shortest man in the Bible because he's shoe-height. Okay, I'm just kidding, okay? Praise God.

"Pastor Prince, very painful, you know"? Yeah, I know. Imagine what my wife has to go through. She lives with me. So we have Zophar, Bildad the Shuhite, and we have Zophar, all right? So the three friends came to Job, and if you've studied the book of Job carefully, you'll find that the moment the three friends came, Satan is no more mentioned because he knows, in these three friends, he's no more needed. Do you have friends like that? Do you have friends that, you know, that do the job of the devil? The devil's an accuser, a slanderer, a faultfinder. So the moment the devil sees your friend coming, he says, "Okay, my shift is over. It's time for me to take a nap, siesta". All right, so the thing is that the three friends began.

Now, Eliphaz began, and you'll see that all these three, they have arguments, and many a times, the arguments are not wrong. Listen carefully, the arguments are not wrong, per se, but it was wrongly applied to Job. I'll repeat again, how many understand, truth out of its season is no better than a heresy? In other words, when you come to someone, make sure that the truth you share is in season. Don't share everything that you know. It's gotta be in season. Many things that I wanted to share that God has given me years ago, I didn't wanna share earlier. Sometimes it got out anyway. It caused a lot of problem before its season. So they came with truths as well as some lies, but they argued, and three, all three represents some things. I'm gonna show you right now, all right, real quick, Eliphaz, the leader of the three, don't forget, they are truehearted friends. They began well, and then they start arguing. Look at Eliphaz's argument.

"Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off"? He told Job this, "Hey, Job, have you ever heard anyone who is innocent that perished"? Now, that is really cutting it low, a low blow for Job. He says, "Job, you're not innocent. Come on, you're suffering like this. I can tell you, there's some sin in your life. Who ever perish being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off"? And there are some Christians with these kind of theories, okay? Just remember this, there are trials, and the more godly you are, you will suffer persecution. That's a promise in the Bible. Persecution means persecution for the name of Jesus. Don't get persecuted for something stupid you did and then say you are under persecution. The Bible says, "Don't be persecuted for being an evildoer," huh? Amen?

But you stand up for the name of Jesus and people make fun of you, all right, enjoy it. And if you see someone like this, look at their faces. It's probably glowing, amen. So he says this, Eliphaz, "Even as I've seen, those, even as I've seen", okay, write this down. He argues from experience, Eliphaz. So experience, some people say, "Experience is the mother of all wisdom". No, it's not. That statement is not from the Bible, okay? If you wait until you experience, you'll be very old, and many a times, you're confused because sometimes you experienced this, this is the result, you experience that, and this is the result. There's only one thing that can give you truth, and that's this sacred volume, all right? Every word is inspired of God, amen. So he argues from experience, Eliphaz. So he says this, "Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the blast of God they perish," wow, "and by the breath of His anger they are consumed".

In the midst of... Job is struggling, and Job is trembling, and Job is trying to catch his breath, and he came and says, "Job, who ever heard innocent people perishing"? He's kicking Job after Job has fallen. And then Bildad came. Now, Bildad, his argument is not from experience. See if you can get it or not. He says, now, this is Bildad talking, "Inquire, please, of the former age, and consider the things discovered by their fathers". What's that? Referring to the former age, referring to the fathers? He argues from tradition. This man argues from tradition. "For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you, and utter words from their heart? Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh"? In other words, "Job, no marsh, no papyrus," you know? Marsh, it's a picture of sin, slimy, marsh. "You are the marsh, Job, or else how can the papyrus grow"?

That's terrible. "Can the reeds flourish without water? While it is yet green and not cut down, it withers before any other plant. So are the paths of all who forget God. And the hope of the hypocrite", guess who's the hypocrite here? "Shall perish". With friends like this, I told you, you don't need the devil. Right after that, you don't find Satan anymore in the story. He's taking his siesta. You have friends like this? Mother-in-law? Okay, never mind. You have anyone like this? I don't, okay? My mother-in-law is wonderful. She is. I mean, it's almost like the devil is talking through their mouths. Okay, so Eliphaz, the first one, argues from experience, but Bildad here argues from tradition, all right, and "Tradition says this," "Tradition says that," "Tradition says this," okay, and it's not the truth.

Some of these things, you find that you cannot completely disagree on the general principles, but it's not true. It's wrongly applied, especially the third one, which is Zophar, all right, the third friend, Zophar, and Zophar argues from legality, all right? He's like a lawyer, legalist, okay? Everything go by the book, legalist. Not the book, our sacred volume, the scriptures. He's going by the book, you know, what he believes, this "two plus two is four, never five". You know that kind of thing? So this is now Zophar. He says, "If you would prepare your heart", If, big if, huh. He's saying that "Job, you haven't done this, that's why all these things happening". "If you would prepare your heart, stretch your hands towards Him. If iniquity were in your hand, you put it away, would not let the wickedness dwell in your tents".

Nothing wrong with all this, right? I mean, it's general truth. Lastly, just now, "Then surely you could lift up your face without spot. Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear". It is true. All that he said is true, okay? But it's not truthfully applied. Job is not the one to be the recipient of this, and that's the reason why Pastor Prince is so concerned about people taking passages that's meant for the Jew, all right, who is rebellious, and then starting to apply that to God's children, hitting them. Do you understand now, all right? All scripture is inspired of God, but not all scripture is written to us, okay? When scripture says, "The Lord rebuke you, O Satan," last week we read that in the vision of Zechariah, that rebuke is not for you. When Jesus says, "Woe to you Pharisees," it's not for you, all right? It's written for your benefit to study how come self-righteousness evokes such a response from Jesus, but yet learn to rightly divide.

So whenever you apply the passage of scripture wrongly to someone, you increase their misery. Nothing wrong with Zophar's argument, all right? Let's drop down all the way. He says, "because you'll forget your misery," and all that, "and then your life become brighter," you know, 'cause right now it's very dark right now, but "if you do this, put away sin," all right, "your life become brighter". This is very famous. This legalistic teaching is very famous. Whenever someone's suffering, someone will come to you and say, "You know, your life is very dark now, all right, I'm telling you there's sin in your life. There's sin in your life". That's always this first response. Not too long ago, someone lost, quite a long time ago now. This person is no more in our church, and he came to this couple who lost their child and said that God gave him a word that they lost it because of sin in their lives. I only found out about it one or two years later after he left.

For me, it's how stupid can someone get and still breathe? I mean, these people are so narrow-minded, they can look through a keyhole with both eyes, you know? There are Christians like that. They are so narrow-minded. Everything is sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. "Your suffering is sin". "Oh, you didn't get the job? It's sin". "Oh, this? This is sin". Everything is sin until it happens to them. Have you noticed that? Then, when it happens to them, it's not sin. "People". "People betray me. People persecute me". It's everybody else. By the way, would you like to see Job's, I wish I got time to go through the book, and already my time is nearly up, but the thing is this, I want to go through the book, but it's 42 chapters, you understand, 42, y'all.

All right, the Bible talk about the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and there's 42 generations. It talks about the stations, the stations of the children of Israel, where they stayed in the wilderness for the 40 years, and there's 42 stations. Why 42? Number 42 means completion. It means you come to the end of your journey. The 42nd generation is the Christ generation. So we're gonna see and go through the 42 chapter, okay, as soon as we can. So let's go on. So let's skip all this because I realize that I need to get back to the more important stuff here because, just know that, put up the pictures of Bildad, Zophar, Eliphaz. Remember that Eliphaz argues from experience, Bildad from tradition, Zophar from legality, okay?

Now, these are the three kinds of preaching you have in the world today, not just friends sharing, but three kinds of, you know, even among Christians, there are people who preach from experience, from experience, from experience, "You know, my wife and I, we have done this for all these years, and it's worked for us". It may work for you. Doesn't mean it work for every family, all right? "You know, my wife and I, you know, we make sure that, you know, she keeps the money. All right, it's very safe, very peaceful. Ever since she kept the money, it's very, very peaceful". Good for you. That's your wife. You married her, all right? So you gotta work out. Every family is different. God just say, "Husbands, husbands love your wives," and how you love, how you put her down and all that, what to agree, what not to agree, you gotta work it out. Divorce is not an option, okay? Amen. Are you listening or not?

So they argue from experience. Then there are those who argue from tradition, "This is how we have done it". "Okay, pastors can only last for two years, then we change. This how we have done it". "Worship leaders only last for five months, and then we change it". Why do you change it? "Because lest pride comes in, you know? Pride comes in". Then what about you as superintendent that decides on all these things? How come yours is years and years and years? "Shut up," okay, never mind. Okay, so that's tradition. Then we have Zophar. Zophar, so good, but no good, okay? Zophar, you see he argues from legality. He argues from legality. Even though the law, at that time, wasn't given yet, you can see the legalism of Zophar. Zophar says, "If you do this", everything is just like, you know, idealistic. Everything's just idealistic, you know? And preaching truths, religious truths and all that, nothing wrong.

You cannot fault what he says, but it was wrongly applied to this righteous man. That doesn't justify this righteous man, okay? I'm coming to that. You know what the response they got? And every time, listen carefully, pastors, leaders, and all that, when you preach from experience or you preach from tradition or you preach, and you try to convict people from legality, the response is the opposite. You know what Job did? Job got so angry, y'all must write down chapter 29, 2-9, write down chapter 29 of Job. I don't have time to read everything. It's a long chapter, but I'll tell you this, never did a man talk about himself more than Job in chapter 29. You know, he referred to himself, you know how many times he referred to himself? Over 40 times in one chapter. "I," "me," "my," "what I did," "what I did," "what I did," "I did this" 'cause he was challenging all those arguments from tradition, from experience.

So I'm saying that if you wanna bring someone to the place of humility where they are broken before the Lord, where the Lord can become everything to them, where God can bless them richly and they will not be hurt by the blessings, where they know the source of all their blessings, if you wanna preach in a way that people can come to the place where they see God as a source, you cannot argue from experience, from tradition, from legality. Are you listening, people? Yes, all depends on the church. Every church has their own tradition. There is a tradition. It's okay. It's good for the tradition to be there, some traditions, but if the tradition is not met when you die, people get uptight about these things, but they celebrate Christmas in a very big way.

Actually, Christmas, the birth, his birth didn't save us. His death and Resurrection save us, so why don't we celebrate on Resurrection Day, Sunday? And those people who say that, many of them, they themselves don't come. No, if you want to, just have a quiet time thinking about his sufferings. It's not time, just, "Rah, rah, rah, rah". It's a time to meditate on what, the price he paid. So there are things that, "Pastor Prince, you don't have all-night prayer meeting". Well, we don't have the tradition. Years ago, I met a pastor from another church, years ago. He has all-night prayer meeting. He requires all his leaders to turn up. So I asked him the question, I said that "the next day, your leaders go back to work"? "Oh, yes, they all go to work".

Like, you know, he's got good leaders that sacrifice, I mean, he's got good leaders that sacrifice. Then I asked him a question. I thought about something else to throw him off, and I said, "What about you? What do you do after the overnight prayer meeting"? "I go back and sleep". Something is not right here. Something is not right. Overnight prayer meeting. And I'm not knocking overnight prayer meeting. I'm not knocking celebration or whatever. I'm just saying, all right, don't kill each other over tradition. In chapter 29, Job starts saying to, "You know what I did? I was eyes to the blind. I was feet to the lame," all right? "When someone cries out for help, I helped the poor," and all this is true. All this is true of Job. Job was such a man. We're not saying he's not, but then he began to value that. God was not even in his thought.

In fact, in chapter 29, I said, over 40 times he referred to himself, God, only 5 times. He mentioned God only five times. So, in other words, you can have people in church, they are upright, they are blameless, they fear God, they eschew evil, but they are as self-righteous as self-righteous can be. I'm telling you, you know, you tell 'em to serve right. They will only serve as benefactor or patron. They will not serve anywhere, they will only serve if "I can be the benefactor, let people know that I'm the benefactor, the patron". Okay, don't let me go into all the dumb things, okay? Okay, so the thing is that, because of time, just to let you know that this is what Job did. Job wants to serve as patron. You know, he talks about his, he say, "I will die in my nest finally," you know? It's a lot of "I's, I's, I's, I's".

And I'm not saying that he didn't do all those things. He did all those things. He was kind to the poor. He helped the elderly. But the language became bitter, later on, from chapter 29. By the time it's chapter 30, all right, he became, 30, 31, 33, he became very bitter. He even blamed God, and he starts saying this, all right, "I used to be, when I stepped into a room, the young people will rise up, and now the young people make me a mockery. I become a parable in their mouth. These young people, their fathers, I will not set among my dogs". Did you hear that? Bitterness start to rise up.

So the thing is this, when you argue or you preach from experience to bring people to the end of themselves, or tradition or from the law, legalism, all right, remember this, it produces the opposite. It causes them to rise up and more in self-righteousness, hmm? Look at some of his response, Job's response to his friends, all right? Job answered and said, "I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are you all". He's not wrong. "Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? I also will speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul's place. I'll heap up words against you, and shake my head at you". It's true, isn't it? If you were in Job's position, let's see how well you do.

Another thing that Job said, all right, "Job answered and said, 'How long will you torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words? These ten times you have reproached me, you're not ashamed that you have wronged me. And if indeed I have erred, my error remains with me.'" "And if indeed," he says. "If indeed you exalt yourself against me, and plead my disgrace against me, know then that God has wronged me". He blurted out, "God has wronged me". Can I tell you something, church? "God's surrounded me with His net". No, God was not his problem. Satan was. Look up here. I wanna tell you something about human nature, okay? Maybe not you, your neighbor, next door.

Okay, I wanna tell you something. What is it about us that we would rather condemn God than condemn ourselves? We would rather justify ourself and condemn God. In other words, "I have a reason. What's God's problem"? David is different. When David sinned in Psalms 51, it's recorded for us. David told God, "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done this evil in Your sight, that You might be justified in Your sayings, and be clear when You are judged". He justified God. Said, "God, what You say is truth. You can never do wrong, Lord. I can never blame You. I may not understand everything now, but I know that You are a compassionate God".

Now, to Job's credit, Job did say, all right, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord". But Job was wrong, 50% wrong. The Lord giveth, but the Lord didn't taketh. A lot of people, you know, they will say this at a funeral, you know, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord". And poor little ones down there, they look at their mother in the coffin and all that, and they wondering, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh. Why doesn't he make up his mind? Is this the kind of God that you wanna serve"? Even your friends, when they give you, they don't ask you back, okay? No, God is not that kind of God. When he gives you salvation, it is eternal life, all right, and God is not a God that giveth, and God taketh.

"But, Pastor Prince, it's in the Bible, I'll have you know". Friend, it's in the Bible, but it's not quoted by God. It's quoted by Job. Job said it, and later on, God said of Job that "He didn't speak right of Me," okay? So let's go right to the end, if we can, but we need to introduce one more player. All the while the three friends were talking, there was one young man. Again, we come to a young prophet. His name was Elihu, and Elihu actually said this. He kept quiet, and he heard Job's discourses and all that. First of all, he turned to Job, and, you know, he was angry with Job, the young man, because Job is justifying himself and condemning God. And then he addressed the three friends, and he says, "None of you said something that can help Job," all right? He said, "I kept quiet because I'm young. They should speak," he says. I think we have the portion there but, yeah, we do have it, okay?

Let's drop down to what he said, verse 4. Do we have verse 4? Yeah, "Now because they were years older than he, Elihu waited," all right? "Elihu saw there was no answer in the mouth of these three men. His wrath was aroused". Any more? "Elihu said, 'I'm young in years.'" Nice name, the son of Barachel, all right, "the blessing of God". "And you are very old," so Elihu sang a song. "I'm so young. And you're so old. This, my friends", "I'm young in years," all right, he says, "I'm young, and you are very old, therefore I was afraid, and I dared not declare my opinion to you. I said, 'Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.'" Verse 8, "But there's a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, nor do aged always understand justice".

And he began to talk about, you know, the fact of, by the way, he's a type of Christ, the go-between, and when he spoke, when the three friends spoke, Job answered, answered, answered in self-righteousness, but when he spoke, Job never answered. Job knew, although he wasn't brought yet to a place of humility, complete humility, all right, of realizing that he's nothing without God, all right, he's still attempting to, like, "There's something good in me," "There's something good in me," all right, but he did not argue with Elihu, not a single argument from Job. Elihu said something very precious. Those people who are suffering, those people who are having conditions in their body, listen carefully. The devil will come to you and say, "You're having this problem because you sinned".

And even if you're not conscious of any sin in your life now, he'll point to a sin that happened years ago, some years ago, and if that's not enough, you don't know years ago what sin you committed, he says, "It's not your sin. It's your father's sin". And there's a lot of this teaching going on, "Generational curse," they call it, going back to the law, because you cannot find Paul preaching on this, cannot find Peter preaching on this. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, all right? So these are teachings that breaks people instead of helping them. So if you're sick, what do you do? Number one, know it's not God's will. God wants you well, all right? And we know Job became well. He got healed of his boils. Not only that, became super-healthy, lived to 140, okay? But before we go to the end, which is very soon, all right, I need to show you this.

Elihu said something about a messenger of God. This is Elihu's words. "If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand", now, the verses before this, a man is in his bed, suffering. A man, his bones are sticking out. He's near to the gates of death, and then Elihu says about this man, "If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His," not man's uprightness, "His, God's, uprightness". If somebody is suffering and you go to the person, don't talk about what he has done wrong. Don't talk about what he has not done right. It is not about him. It's about him, the Lord Jesus, amen. And "If there is a messenger, and he's one among a thousand". I thank God, all right, he says, "One among a thousand".

Sometimes I feel like one among a thousand. God is raising many in these last days, young people, one among a thousand in their city, in their province, in their areas around the world, amen. They might feel like one among a thousand, but if he's a true interpreter, he's a messenger from God, and he will declare to men, not about men, but about God's righteousness, God's uprightness, which comes to men as a gift. All right, once this mediator is able to preach that, share that with people, "Then God is gracious to the suffering one, and God says, 'Deliver him from going down to the Pit. I have found a ransom.'" "I have found a ransom," and the word ransom in the Hebrew, atonement.

Do you know why God can be righteous in healing sinful man? Because God has found a ransom. The price for your health, the price for the good life, the price for a wonderful marriage, the price for blessed children, blessed of the Lord, the price for having days of heaven upon the earth, doesn't mean it's rosy all the time. You'll be persecuted for Jesus's sake, and that's the only suffering that the Bible promises you will suffer from, persecution, amen. But the price for all these good blessings that God has given us is because God has found a ransom. God says, "I've found a ransom," okay? God says to this sick person, if you read the verses before this, I told you, what? His bones are sticking out.

You know, Elihu was saying this guy's on the bed. He's suffering close to the gates of death. His bones are sticking out, looking at him, all right? But if someone had go and tell him about God's righteousness, all right, God has found a ransom. God says, "Deliver that man from going to the Pit. His flesh shall be young like a child's. He shall return to the days of his youth". Be unto me, Father, according to your Word, in Jesus's name. I claim this, Lord. Hallelujah, in Jesus's name. How about that? Would you like to claim that? Would you like to claim that? One moment, you're losing weight, all right? Your bones are sticking out. All the reports that come to you horizontally has all been bad. The devil is the one that attacks you from below, all right?

Now the voice from heaven comes to you. "I have found a ransom, and I will heal you, and your flesh will be young again, fresher than a child's". And I'm telling you, when I hold my Justin, his hand is so smooth like tofu, soya. I mean, and I'm thinking to myself, "Fresher than a child's, I do not know how, and don't look at my face, for the sun has looked on me". I asked God to renew my youth, and last week, I had a big pimple coming out from here, and last few days, I had a pimple coming out from here, so I said, "Wonderful, at this age, you have pimples. Wonderful, hallelujah. God is renewing", but it's there in the Bible, amen? And this is inspired of the Holy Spirit, so believe that, that your flesh, I'm gonna pray that for you at the end of the service, and I believe that God always confirms the Word preached, amen? All right, praise God.

So that is Elihu's ministry. Then, after Elihu ended, God began to speak. Then God spoke. "The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 'Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man. I will question you. You answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know"! Does he know he doesn't? "Or who stretched the line upon it"? I wish that you have time to read all of God's arguments to Job. You know how God argues? God didn't argue how bad he was. God argued about the grandeur and the sublimity of his wonderful creation. Who can be like God? His wisdom is perfect. His compassions never fail. God's saying, "You would rather condemn Me"? Drop down to another thing that God said to Job. "Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified"?

See, there are people, the Bible condemns some behavior they're doing, and they point to the Bible and say, "Yeah, this is old-fashioned". In other words, they'd rather condemn God and justify themself. "Oh, the Bible is in error, not that my life is in error". The Bible outlives you, my friend. Long after you're gone, just remember, everybody will breathe their last, and it doesn't mean through disease. Everybody will breathe their last. If Jesus tarries, everybody will breathe their last one day. The real life is the real life to come. This life is just temporal. All your accomplishments come to nothing. The best thing you can know about this life is to know him. God loves us. He's very compassionate. And God speaks from a whirlwind.

Then God talks about a creature called the leviathan and then another creature called the behemoth, and scholars have tried to find out what are these creatures. No one really knows, but it's a picture of the devil, and God is saying to Job, "If you're gonna talk about your righteousness, you are no match for the devil, all right? He's been around for a long time. You are no match, but remember this, With Me, the devil has no match". Let me tell you something about God, all right? Time and time again, and Satan, who appeared in the beginning of this book, have you noticed that Satan is always a loser? Have you noticed that? Have you noticed that Satan, all right, tried to attack Job, ended up, right, meeting God. He came against Adam and Eve, all right, to instigate them to take the fruit. What happened? Because of that incident, the promise of the Messiah would come, announcing Satan's doom.

Satan moved King David to number the people, resulting in their deaths. What happened? Because of that incident, David offered on the Temple Mount, which became the spot for the temple. He instigated Peter. Jesus himself says, "Satan desire to have you, Peter. Satan has asked for you, to sift you like wheat," but because of that sifting, is it of their faith failing? The brethren was strengthened. And, finally, y'all know the crux, the cross, Satan thought the cross was his glorious, crowning achievement to put an end to the Son of God, perfect goodness that ever walked on this earth. He thought that was the end. The cross became the instrument to save all of us, and the blood shed cleansed us from all our sins. I'm telling you, the devil always loses. He thought he could speak bad about Job to God. He thought he could threaten Job. He thought he would do all these things, only to meet time and again with a mighty God instead of a weak saint. He always meets up with a mighty God. He thought he was dealing with a saint. God always shows up. Always remember that, okay? Will you?

God says, "You know, you know what's unbelief? Unbelief is, all right, having a higher opinion of yourself and having a low opinion of what God says". That's why people are in unbelief. When you think of it that way, how terrible unbelief is. So there are people who justify themself more than God. No, my friend, if you're gonna be blessed, like, beyond your wildest dreams, learn to agree with God. If God says you're a sinner, say, "I am". And all of a sudden, you'll find peaceful. You find yourself being peaceful, amen? And then you know what? When bad thoughts come in on it, you're not shocked. Some of you are, "How can I think those thoughts? How can I, NRIC17, think of those thoughts"?

It's nothing but a shock, you know, at themselves having even bad thoughts. Why are you so shocked? The Bible says, "In your flesh dwells no good thing". That's why God wants us to come before him as our justifier. If you stand before God as judge, you cannot be saved. If you stand before God as justifier, you cannot be lost. If God justifies you, who can condemn you? So God shows up, and God declares his glory, his majesty demonstrated in his creation. At the end, this is Job's response. Job said, answered the Lord and said, "I know You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know". Next, "Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, 'I will question you. You answer Me.' I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear".

So many of us are like this. We know about God secondhand. We know about God through what other people preach, but when we go through something, we know God. We learn how good, how compassionate he is, that he is not our problem, he is our answer. And he says, "Now my eye sees you. I have heard about You. I have heard, my relationship'". Even though he's an upright man, there are many upright Christians all over the world, not only are they justified by Jesus's blood, they're upright. But there's a trace, there's a pride of position, pride of the cloth, pride of denomination, pride of the church. That's why when people ask me, "How big is your church"? I don't like to talk about it.

When I go to a conference, I tell them, "You know why a Menorah has no measurements, only the weight? The picture of the church. Because it's not how big the lamp-stand is. There's no measurement recorded. It's how heavy, amen. I am there to encourage, not to, you know. So, big deal, your church is this, your church is that. I can leave this all if God tells me tomorrow, 'Go. Go somewhere.' I'll leave, amen? Thank you for no amen. Appreciate that, all right? 'I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.' I have a revelation of how good and how powerful, and even though You're powerful, You're tenderhearted". And he says, "My eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes". You know what it means or not? It means he condemned himself. Are you listening?

I'm not talkin' about this condemnation, "Oh, I'm so lousy," you know, "I'm so this," you know, "I'm not so smart," "I'm not so good-looking," "I'm not so strong," "I'm not so educated," "I'm not", stop it. That kind of condemnation kills. I'm talking, like, before God, have you ever said when you hold your baby, "Lord, I had nothing once, Lord, and all that I have, Lord, is from You". Have you ever thought that? "Oh, Pastor Prince, I built this through my own ingenuity, this business". Yeah, but God, there's no such thing as self-made man, you know? There's always someone who helped them, an inheritance, a parent, a someone, a friend. Getting, giving information. And the source of it all, God. And God can also take it back, all right? This thing, God can take back. Life, God won't, amen. The very breath people use to profane the name of Jesus, given by God. They blaspheme. They use the breath to blaspheme him. They are right, God is wrong. You can blog. No problem, you can do blogging and all that and it's a good way of making the world smaller, passing information.

But when you start blogging and you start justifying yourself and condemning people, I can't begin to see how many people are just a wall of they are right and others are wrong. And even if others are wrong, I'm gonna tell you something, because you say it and you publish they're wrong, now you're wrong. So, there's only one good God and he has given Jesus to be our righteousness. I'm telling you, you wanna experience peace like you never experienced before? Joy uninterrupted? You wanna experience aggressive peace? Learn to say once a while, "Lord, even take the car. This car, I will never drive this car if it's not for you. These clothes I wear, Lord, I wouldn't have clothes to wear, if it's not for you".

So, you bow your heads, it's not a ritual. Say, "Lord, this is good food". Many around in the world don't even have... what I'm trying to say is that you say, "Oh, they are small things, and I", but the small things demonstrate to yourself your indebtedness to God and his grace. And when God sees that, you know what God does? Let's finish the story about this. The moment he came to that place, all right, this is what God did. "The Lord restored Job's losses," same chapter, "when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before". In other words, what happened right after that was that God told Job, all right, God told the three guys, "You didn't speak right about Me to Job. Now, before I do something to you, you better bring your burnt offering to Job, and let Job pray for you".

So all these, Eliphaz, Bildad, all the doodad, you know, and Zophar, all brought their offering in haste to Job, and Job prayed for his friends. Remember this, even for those who have given you a wrong teaching or even a previous leader of somewhere, a denomination or whatever, do not hold grudges. You are to pray for them, all right? When did God turn Job's losses around, when did the Lord restore Job's losses? When he prayed for his friends. "The Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends". While you wait in the clinic, pray for those other people. Stop thinking of yourself. Start praying for their healing, amen. The Lord turns people's captivity when they pray for others. "When he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before". All right, drop down. "Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had fourteen thousand sheep".

Now, in the beginning we saw, what? Seven thousand sheep. "Six thousand camels". In the beginning we saw 3,000 camels. "One thousand yoke of oxen". In the beginning we saw 500. "One thousand female donkeys". Again, 500. So all doubled, all right? "He also had seven sons and three daughters," all right? So God blesses with quantity, and God blesses with quality. These three daughters, their names are given, Kerenhappuch, Jemima, Kezia, all right, and look at these women. Drop down. "In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters" of Joseph Prince. I mean, "the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers," Wow, these women were beautiful. Who says that God doesn't bless you with beauty? It's throughout the Bible.

If you think you're ugly and your friends agree, number one, they are miserable comforters, all right? Number two, you can ask God. You can ask God. There is a beauty that's natural. It comes with DNA of the family, whatever. They're born, you know, with nice features. When we spend some time with them, all of a sudden it's like shell. And there are people you meet, all right, their features may not be beautiful, but you get to know them, they're very attractive. They grow. Many of you ladies, you know what I'm talking about. You see the guy. The guy looks like an old coat, you know, in Korean drama, but he's the hero. After, you know, episode ten, twelve, you're in love with this guy already.

So, "After this Job lived", and all the guys says, "I have hope, amen". Yes, yes. It is not that. Ask God to give you favor. Ask God to give you beauty, amen? I mean, if not, why in the world is this a blessing? Verse 15, all right? And "After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations". Remember what Bible says? Look at the end result. The Lord is very compassionate, amen? "So Job died, old and full of days". Some people are old and many evil days, but he's full of days, satisfying days. Friend, I'm here to tell you, you're going through a trial. There's an ending, and one of the best ways, all right, why not we all do this, okay? Many of the things in Job's life won't happen to us, okay, because we have Jesus at the right hand, but trial to manifest our self-righteousness so we can deal with it, all right, by the power of the Holy Spirit, yes.

Can I suggest something? Instead of going through the process, why don't you jump straight to this chapter 42, and say, "Lord, you are right, and I'm wrong, Lord. You are my righteousness, Lord. I repent. I abhor myself, Lord, in ashes, Lord. Whatever you say is right, Lord. Whatever I am today is from you. Whatever I have is from you, Lord". Why not bypass this? Don't collect 200 and just go straight, amen? Come on, give Jesus a praise, church. We made it. We made it, chapter 42, hallelujah! Whoa! And I was praying, "God, how am I gonna get through this chapter"? It's 42 chapters. Supposed to finish in one setting, but we did it. Praise God. And God's grace is there. God's anointing is there. Praise God.

My friend, every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place. I just wanna tell you this, I wanna pray for you two things, okay? Can I? I wanna pray for you that God will make your flesh fresher than a child's. Now, some of you don't believe that. I'm telling you, God's Word, this is God's Word, "Fresher than a child's". And pray that God will restore you to the days of your youth, okay? You'll all be running around after this. And then pray, let the beauty of the Lord come on you, amen? But why not, at this time, believers, why don't you just tell the Lord, "Lord, why am I impatient with people who don't see? You have given me wisdom. This wisdom that I have is from you. This calling is from you. Is there pride in me? Has pride come in? Pride, especially pride of status, pride of position. If tomorrow all these things are gone, who am I? Father, am I one of those who wanna serve, but only serve as a benefactor? Not serve unconditionally? Am I one of those who give so that others will know that I give? Or even the recipient will know that I give and give in return? What is my motive? Am I really caring? O Lord, you know, without you I am nothing. I will even twist all your blessings into self-gain".

I want to announce to you something. Before Job went through the trial, he was afraid for his children. He rose up every morning, offered burnt offerings. At the end, we don't find any more the fear over his children. The trial you go through when you come to the end of your self-righteousness, it's amazing, the fear you have, even over your children, will disappear. In other words, fear over your children is a sign of self-righteousness. Don't ask me why. I don't have time to tell you. At the end, after he finished his trial, he was no more afraid for his children. He don't look at them with fear anymore. He look at them with admiration. They were beautiful, inside and out. His friends were reconciled to him. Oh, we want this wonderful ending, don't we, amen.

Let's arrive there at chapter 42. Pass by the stations real quick and arrive there real fast or else the journey will take long. Not because of God, but because of us, our stubbornness in justifying ourself, in condemning God. What about this? In your marriage, how about taking responsibility, how about not condemning your spouse and saying, "Lord, there are people who wanna get married and they're not married. I have a spouse. Yes, yes, he's not perfect, but he comes home and I'm willing, Father, to learn. I'm willing to be wrong. I'm willing to be the first one to say sorry. And the devil put the fears about they'll take advantage of you if you do that, I'll cast this fear to you and I'll do it anyway". In all the areas of your life, believers, I feel that the Spirit of God is just dealing with us. This is called child discipline. Hebrews 12, chastisement, child discipline. It's going on right now.

If you are here today, my friend, and you say, "I'm not a believer, but I know now that God has found a ransom," my friend, you said it right. It's not that you found a ransom, it's not that I found a ransom. If we find a ransom, it's never perfect. But God himself found a ransom, his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ whom he sent to be the propitiation, and that's a big word. It means to die on the cross, to be the sacrifice to avert God's wrath from us and to bring God's blessings on us. My friend, if you stand before God today, and God is your judge, you cannot be saved. But God is not your judge today. God is your justifier. Stand before him today as your justifier, God is your justifier, and you cannot be lost. You cannot be lost. If that is you, wherever you are, you want this experience, pray this prayer with me right now from your heart:

Heavenly Father, Father God, thank you for your Word today. Thank you for the gift of your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is my Lord. I believe he died on that cross for all my sins. He died in my place. He wanted to. He loved me so. And you sent him. Thank you, Father, for your great love for me. I know you are very compassionate, full of kindness. Thank you, Father, for the gift of your Son. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying for my sins. Thank you, Father, for raising Jesus from the dead. All my sins, past, present, future, have all been sent away. They've all been forgiven because the atonement, the ransom, Jesus Christ, is greater than all my sins. Thank you, Father, I look forward to a blessed life, more blessed than ever before. In Jesus's name, and all the people said, "Amen, amen, amen".

Lift your hands all across this place. We're gonna have a great week, amen? And just remember this, God is God. He loves us so much, he will not discipline in any shape, form, or fashion unless he sees something hurting us, hurting our loved ones. We don't even know sometimes some things have crept into our personality, our characters, that have become a pain to our family members. And you're no longer cool, you're no longer fun to be with. And God loves you so much that God will deal with it. And sometimes, it may seem that you're more disappointed with your colleagues, more disappointed with people, but why not just look up and say, "Lord, what are you teaching me"? That Moab can be your washpot. Maybe the colleague can be your washpot. God loves you. He will not do anything more than what is necessary, but remember this, he will not use accidents, he will not use disease. He will use his discipline word, and sometimes disappointing circumstances. Let's come to that place quick, amen? I wanna pray for you right now that God will renew your youth. Your flesh will be fresher than a child's. I know many of you are claiming that, so let it happen.

Father, I thank you, Lord, that you are a God who confirm the Word with signs and wonders following. Father, in Jesus's name, right now confirm that word, Lord, because we have a messenger. We have an interpreter. We have a daysman, the go-between. We have a mediator. One in a million, Lord. No one is like him, Lord. No one is like our Lord Jesus and because we have him, you have found a ransom, Lord. And now you have a basis to be gracious to us, Father. And Father, we thank you, Lord. We ask in Jesus's name that you cause our flesh to be fresher than a child's, our health to be more vibrant, Lord, today than it was, Lord, when we were younger. Strong, aggressive health, Lord, and return all of us to the days of our youth, Lord. Days of carefreeness, days of boundless energy, strength, and days when honor prevailed in all that we did. Father, thank you for this week. Protect your people, Father, I pray.

All the people here under the sound of my voice, Lord, everywhere that's watching this, protect us, Lord. Protect your people from every sickness and disease, every contagion, from accidents, from danger, from harm, for you are our dwelling place. You are our fortress and our refuge. Surely, God will deliver you throughout this week, you and your loved ones, from every danger, from all evil. The Lord favors you, smiles on you, and grant you his supernatural favor. The Lord lift up his countenance on every one of you and grant to you and your families his shalom peace and wholeness in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach, amen and amen, amen.