Well, thank you so much, everyone who's participated in the service so far.
Thank you so much, Charles, for leading us in prayer.
And it's wonderful to see you this morning, folks,
particularly maybe this is your first time or you're visiting Edinburgh.
We're just so delighted that you've taken this Sunday to join us.
And we just hope that you're blessed during your time with us.
Come with me to Job 32.
We're going to try and take in the breadth of these six chapters today.
Some wonderful truths that God has for us in his word.
But as you're turning there, let me tell you about a conversation I had recently.
Our car was faulting a bit.
So I was trading it in this time last year.
And I'm talking to the car salesman, getting to know him a little bit.
We're talking about our families.
We're talking about life.
The stuff had just opened up.
It was last summer again.
We're talking about everything that's been going on.
And we're talking a little bit about our jobs.
And he's asking me about my job.
And I'm telling him about what I do.
Leads to some great conversations.
He's listening to me tell him what I do for a job.
I'm a pastor.
I'm a minister of a local church.
So I ping the question back at him.
And I say, well, mate, how long have you been selling cars?
How long have you been doing this?
And he starts telling me how long he's been doing it.
And then he starts telling me about his former life when he used to be in the army.
And he used to spend a bit of time in the 90s in Northern Ireland during the riots.
So he starts telling me about everything, having learned what I did for a job.
He starts telling me about everything that he went through.
And if I remember the conversation rightly, he says something to me along the lines of,
listen, son, when you've been through what I've been through,
when you've seen the things that I've seen,
do you know what?
I used to believe in that God stuff.
But having been through everything that I've been through,
seen everything I've seen,
how on earth could a good God allow all of that to happen?
So three things go through my mind.
First of all, guys, we need to take really seriously
reaching people with the goodness of Jesus,
who from their own admission will never darken the door of our church.
How can we reach people in our city with the goodness of Jesus?
They ain't going to come to us.
We need to go to them.
Okay, thought number two,
there's some really painful stories that people have in life.
Some big questions about everything that goes on.
Some of you will be sitting here today with your own stories and your own scars
about things that have happened in your own life.
Okay, we're not to duck them.
We have to listen and walk with people through their pain.
And thought number three, as I listened to him,
it occurred to me once again,
that how often is it true, friends,
that when suffering comes, we go through painful times,
whether it happens to ourselves,
whether it happens to other people that we know and love,
it can cause us to ask some really big questions
and begin to doubt the very character of the gods who we claim to know.
Yeah?
So things like in our minds,
does God really love us?
Is God really there?
Is God really fair?
Can this God really be trusted?
Is God really in control?
And if the answer to those questions you think is yes,
then how do you know that?
Have you ever asked those sorts of questions in your life?
I take it we all do in the life of faith,
as we go through life.
Who is this God?
Well, see, as we tap into Job this morning,
here's what I reckon is going on in his mind.
Okay, if you're joining us this morning,
we've been in this book for a number of weeks now,
and we've journeyed with Job and his friends.
Here's what I reckon is going on.
Because of everything that Job has suffered,
compounded with the absolute drivel,
which his friends have offered him as an explanation
as to why those things have happened.
I wonder whether Job started to believe things about God
and question his very character
and wonder why the things are happening to him
the way they're happening.
Okay?
Now, let me just say,
that has been the aim of the devil ever since Genesis 3.
Did God really say?
Which, if you can dig beneath the surface of that question,
underneath it is the subtext, sub-question,
can God really be trusted, right?
What is he hiding?
How can you know God's heart?
Did God really say?
It's been the serpent's light ever since the beginning.
And I reckon,
having spent a lot of time in these chapters this week,
I wonder whether those thoughts are in Job's mind.
And so, enter stage left.
I don't even know whether it's stage left or stage right,
but we're going to stage left, right?
Enter stage left in this drama,
this man called Elihu.
Now, come with me to chapter 32.
This is where we meet him.
This man called Elihu.
Now, just notice the details at the beginning of chapter 32
as we get to know him a little bit.
He's a young guy, okay,
who I think we're meant to understand.
He's been there with Job and his three friends
this entire time.
He's been there, right?
So, he's seen Job's suffering.
And he's heard the three friends offer their unsympathetic
and untrue claims as to why this is happening to Job.
So, he's heard all of this.
And he's heard Job give his defense
in which he's continually pleaded his innocence
before them and before God.
Okay?
So, Elihu's heard all of this.
He's seen all of this.
And now he speaks uninterrupted for six chapters.
And here's my take on him.
And people do see this differently,
but here's my take on him.
I think he's coming on the scene here in the drama
playing an almost prophetic role in the story.
So, he's bringing truth about who God is
to Job's attention and into Job's situation.
Now, let me just give you a few things in the text
that might suggest that
because I think it's important that we kind of wrestle with
what is this character doing in the story.
In the context, it's really interesting
because not only does Job not respond to Elihu's words
like he's done his other friends,
but the very next thing in the story that happens
once Elihu is finished,
end of chapter 37,
as we enter chapter 38,
the very next thing that happens is God speaks.
God speaks.
Which, as a side,
is that not a wonderful testimony to the patience of God?
Because God could have rightly broken in at chapter 3,
couldn't he?
And answered Job and his three friends.
Could have broken in at that point.
But no, God waits.
Graciously, patiently,
seeing and hearing everything that's going on
before giving his response.
You know, we had some friends around recently
who were reflecting on that.
We're 36,
they're around our age as well.
We're reflecting back
on the things we used to do in our 20s
and the things we used to think and say.
How patient is God with us?
We reflected.
As we think back on that,
how patient is God with us?
And do you know what?
We'll be saying exactly the same thing
in 10 years' time.
How patient is this God?
It's interesting when God speaks,
he corrects Job.
You see that next week and onwards.
He corrects Job,
and he certainly corrects the three friends,
gives them a stinging rebuke.
But he's nothing to say to Elihu.
Nothing to say to Elihu,
which again, I think,
might add another weight to the understanding
that he's playing an almost prophetic role here.
Now, two things I want us to see
before we get into what Elihu says.
I want us to see two things
about how he goes about his job.
Okay?
Now, firstly, notice that Elihu's desire
is a godly one.
Okay?
Four times in the first five verses
of chapter 32,
we're told that there were what?
Look for the word.
What's the word?
He's angry.
Okay?
See it?
He's angry.
Now, we immediately can read that
in light of everything that's come,
and we conclude that this guy's
a bit of a hothead.
Okay?
Youth, arrogance,
we put it together
in light of everything that's come before,
and we think that's the case.
But look at verse two.
Why is he angry?
He's angry because he's been listening
to Job and his friends
say things about God
which just aren't true.
So Elihu has a fire in his belly
that this God is represented
and understood rightly.
His desire is a godly one,
and I think his approach
is a humble one.
Look at verse six
of chapter 33.
Just glance at it there.
Speaking to Job,
he says,
I am the same as you
in God's sight.
I too am a piece of clay.
Now he views himself.
He's a piece of clay.
Isn't it a very humbling thing
to say?
Right?
Weak,
fragile,
brittle.
You ever been to
doodles on the meadows there
and make clay pots?
That's what it is,
isn't it?
You mould it.
Fragile,
weak,
vulnerable.
That's what he's saying
about himself.
He's not speaking to Job
from his ivory tower.
He's coming alongside him
as a piece of clay.
And verse seven,
no fear of me
should alarm you,
nor should my hand
be heavy on you.
He's not come to Job
seeking to add burdens
to his life.
He's come to help
and bring truth.
And I take it,
did you see during the Olympics
the gymnasts
who were on the rings?
I love this image.
What is it they do,
the gymnasts?
This is where you see
the biceps.
What do they do?
They grab both rings tightly,
don't they?
Both rings.
And friends,
see when it comes to
our relationships
with one another,
a love for God's truth
and a love for God's people.
Right?
We hold just one of them
and let the other one go,
we will fall.
Okay?
We need to hold
both of those things
when we come to
loving one another.
Take a leaf out
of Elihu's book,
Love for God's truth
love for God's people.
So here's what I want to do
really quickly
in the time that we have left.
I want us to pick me to,
I want to pick out
four truths
that Elihu brings
to Job's attention
about this God
and then we'll try
and bring it together
at the end
to see its central message.
Is that okay?
Here we go.
Okay, here's number one.
Elihu's saying,
Job,
God's grace
is deeper than you think.
God's grace
is deeper than you think.
Here's what I think
Elihu senses
as he looks at Job
and as he listens
to what he's saying.
He senses that Job
as a believer
has begun to think
that God is treating him
like his enemy.
Now,
have a look at chapter 33
and verse 9.
We're going to be
a lot in the text today
because I want you to see
where this is coming from.
Okay?
So verse 9 of chapter 33,
Elihu's quoting Job.
Right?
This is what Job is saying.
I am pure.
I have done no wrong.
I am clean and free from sin.
Yet,
God has found fault with me.
He considers me his enemy.
Do you see that word?
His enemy.
That's how God views me.
And Elihu comes on the scene
and says,
that is simply not true.
That's not true.
Verse 23,
in this you are not right.
God is gracious.
And see where Elihu takes Job.
He takes him to the very fact
that Job knows him as God.
Okay?
Verse 22 onward.
Just see the flow.
God acts to save people
from the pit of their destruction.
You see where he takes him?
This is what this God is like.
This God acts to save people's souls
from the pit.
Okay?
You hear Jesus in the New Testament
talking about the place
of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He's talking about hell,
isn't he?
This is what this God does.
He saves people from that place.
And God in his grace provides,
verse 23,
a mediator
who will declare them right
in God's sight.
And because of what that mediator does,
has done,
the person who knows God,
verse 27,
because what of God has done,
will sing to others,
I have sinned,
I have perverted what is right,
but I did not get what I deserved.
That's what this God does.
God has delivered me
from going down to the pit,
and I shall live to enjoy
the light of life.
This is the song of the people
who know God is their redeemer.
This is what he has done for them,
and they sing it to the world.
They sing it to others.
And that is the heart of this God,
to save sinners,
graciously.
So Job,
never entertain the thought
that as a believer,
God isn't gracious.
Never entertain the thought
that he is your enemy.
The very fact that you know him
as God,
as provider,
as forgiver,
as redeemer,
is proof of the fact
that his grace is deeper
than you think.
It's wonderful, isn't it,
when we get to the New Testament.
What is,
how did God show his love?
That while we were still his what,
he died for us.
He sent Christ for us.
While we were still his enemies,
we will never be an enemy
in his sight
if our faith is in Christ.
God's grace is deeper
than you think, Job.
It's deeper than you think.
Secondly,
and we'll rattle through these, okay,
God's ways
are fairer than you think.
Chapter 34,
and I think the whole
central issue
in this chapter,
and you could argue
it's the whole issue
of the whole book.
Pick me on that afterwards
if you want.
The whole issue here
is the justice of God.
Is God right
in doing what he does?
And look what Job
is saying,
verse 5.
For Job has said,
I am in the right
and God has taken away
my right.
In spite of my right,
I am counted a liar.
My wound is incurable,
though I am without transgression.
So, Job is accusing God
of being unfair.
And what is Elihu's response
to that?
To underscore
the rightness
and goodness of God
in all that he does.
Travel with me, okay.
Verse 10.
Just see how he does this.
Far be it from God
that he should do wickedness.
Do you see it?
Verse 11.
For according to their deeds
he will repay them.
Verse 12.
Of a truth God
will not do wickedly
and the Almighty
will not pervert justice.
So what he's saying
is that this God,
there is no partiality
with him.
There is no evil
with him.
You're not going to dig
underneath the surface
of God
and find
some impurity there.
No, God is holy
and his ways
are always
right
and his ways
are always
good.
As the saying goes,
friends,
we might not always
see his hand
but we can trust
his heart.
This God
is good.
He's perfectly just.
We might not see it
in this life
but friends,
one day when Christ
returns,
we will.
It's what the Narnians
always say of Aslan,
isn't it?
That all will be right
when Aslan
comes to sight.
You know,
the first song
they sang
at the Keswick
Convention
this year
and it's just finished
was the hymn
Great is Thy Faithfulness.
I've heard
countless churches
up and down the country
who when it came
to the first song
that they were going
to sing
after 16 odd months
of not singing
went for that song.
Great is Thy Faithfulness
because they just,
it's not just wonderful
to be reminded
in song
that God
never changes.
Everything in our world
has changed
and yet this God
never changes.
Great is Thy Faithfulness
O God my Father
there is no shadow
of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not
thou compassions
they fail not
as thou hast been
thou forever will be.
He's got the old English
right there.
He's not going to come
and go
like fashion.
Right?
He's not going to go off
like a pint of milk.
This God
never changes.
He never changes.
And His compassions
will fail not.
God,
Job,
don't think
that God
has changed.
His ways
are fairer
than you think.
And thirdly,
friends,
His purposes
are bigger
than you think.
God is all-wise,
Job.
He's all-wise.
And His wisdom
is just,
it's just so much
greater than ours.
Right?
It's not like
we're in the championship
and He's just one league up
in the Premier League
in terms of His wisdom.
Right?
No,
if God
were to explain
all His ways,
it would be like
a parent
trying to explain
neuroscience
to a toddler.
Right?
It just,
it just can't happen.
It's just on a different
level to us.
His wisdom.
Verse 5 of chapter 36,
I think it's slightly
better than the ESV.
Behold,
God is mighty
and does not despise any.
He is mighty
in the strength
of His understanding.
Verse 22,
God is exalted
in His power.
Who is a teacher
like Him?
And that is a wonderful
truth about this God
that somehow
in His wisdom
He can use even
the most horrific
of things
for His good
purposes.
Look at verse 15.
He delivers the afflicted
by their affliction
and opens their ear
by adversity.
Right?
So this God,
He teaches us things
through the hardships
that I take it,
friends,
you and I
wouldn't have learned
any other way.
and I say that
sensitively
because I know
what people
have gone through
and perhaps you are
going through
right now.
But this God
for us in Christ,
He molds
and shapes
and renews
and teaches
and He has
committed Himself
to us
always
as His people.
What is the promise
Jesus made
right at the end
of the Gospels?
Behold,
I am with you
until the end
of the age.
I've heard so many
of you testify
to me
in my time here
that in times
of horrific pain
and suffering
that you can
honestly look back
and hand in heart
say
that not only
did you come
out the other side
of a horrendous
situation in your life
knowing God
in ways
that you never
thought possible
before
but that through
your story
and your pain
and your experience
God has used it
to help
others.
And honestly
when I get to glory
and they ask me
who were some
of the saints
that encouraged you
along the way?
Friends,
a number of you
will be there.
As I've seen you
just keep on
clinging to God
through your
hardships.
You know,
it was C.S. Lewis
who famously said
God whispers to us
in our pleasures,
speaks to us
in our consciences,
but shouts
in our pains.
And his famous
phrase,
it is his megaphone
to rouse
a deaf world.
God's purposes
are bigger
than you think,
Job.
And finally,
God's power
is greater
than you think.
And in Job's mind
he's saying to himself
verse 3
of chapter 36,
he's saying to himself
what's the point
in trying to be good?
What's the point?
What does he say?
What advantage have I?
How am I better off
than if I had sinned?
So he's saying
what's the point
in being good?
And I think
he's beginning
to believe
the prosperity
gospel lie.
Remember that his friends
have been subtly
sowing all the way.
And it's the inverse
of what his friends
have been saying.
He's thinking that
because I'm following God
surely things
should be going well
for me.
But Elihu comes
in the scene
and he says almost
that that's the wrong way
of looking at things.
Right?
Not to worship God
for his stuff.
Not just to worship God
when things are going well.
Worship him
because of who he is.
And Elihu breaks in
at verse 14
and he says,
I love this,
hear this,
O Job,
stop and consider
the wondrous works
of God.
So look up,
stop what you're doing,
look up
and think about
who God is.
And as we'll see
next week,
there are massive echoes
of what Elihu says here.
Massive echoes
of it in what the Lord
says next chapter.
From verse 16,
right?
Just follow the questions.
Have you journeyed
to the springs
of the sea
or walked
in the recesses
of the deep?
Right?
Rhetorical question.
Have the gates
of death
been shown to you?
Have you seen
the gates
of deepest darkness?
Have you comprehended
the vast expanses
of the earth?
Tell me
if you know
all this.
Friends,
don't let anyone
tell you there's not
sarcasm in the Bible.
He's saying,
isn't he,
rhetorically,
think about who God is.
You know,
we're doing that
on a holiday.
Sitting with the girls
on the beach
just looking at the clouds.
Looking at the shape
of the clouds.
Right?
All these different shapes
doing different things.
And thinking,
wow,
isn't that cool?
But it's not exactly
what Elihu's saying.
Job,
were you there
when the skies
were laid out?
Consider the manifold
power and wisdom
of God.
Who is this God?
You should look up
and consider who he is.
Stop.
Do some of us
need to do that today?
To stop and consider
the wondrous works
of God.
And just notice
where Elihu leaves it
right at the end
of chapter 37.
What does he want
for Job?
It's a great question
to ask as we go
through all of this.
What does he want?
Surely he wants
that Job would stop
and repent
of saying wrong
things about God
and run back
to this God
and know him
as the gracious
God that he is.
Right?
Verse 24
of chapter 34.
Therefore men
fear him.
He does not regard
any who are wise
in their own conceit.
So what is the right
response to knowing God?
The answer here
is fear of the Lord.
Fearing him.
So friends,
big questions in life,
right?
Does God really love us?
Does he really love us?
Is God really fair?
Can God really be trusted?
Is God really in control?
And the question comes,
how do we know?
How do we know?
Friends,
we know
so much more
where we stand in history
because of the
truer and greater
Elihu.
Right?
The prophet,
the word of God
who doesn't just
bring truth
but who is truth.
Grace and truth.
You know,
here's something
I was thinking about
in holidays.
You just see the connections
as you're going through
the gospels
reading about it.
One of my favourite things
in the gospels,
Mark chapter 4.
Right?
Tucked it at the end
of Mark chapter 4.
Jesus,
we read it earlier,
on the boat
with his disciples.
Right?
What is happening
in that scene?
The boats are getting
hammered by the waves.
Something like
something out of the North Sea.
Remember that program
Trollerman and BBC?
It's how I always picture it.
The boat getting hammered
by the waves
and you always know
it's a crisis,
don't you?
When the professionals
start to panic.
It's what they always said
about the credit crunch
in 2008,
wasn't it?
When the professionals
start to panic,
that means the rest of us
can panic.
Here's hardened fishermen
in the boat
and they're freaking out,
aren't they?
We're going to die.
And all the while
they're suffering.
They're looking at Jesus
and what is he doing?
He's sleeping.
Can you just get in the boat
with the disciples
asking all sorts of questions
about Jesus,
looking at him,
sleeping,
thinking,
does he care?
Does he know?
Does he see?
Does he love us?
All this stuff
that's come before us,
he's healed people.
Has he spoken to people?
And yet here we are.
Does he care?
All comes together
in their question.
What do they say?
Do you not care
that we are perishing?
Because at the moment
it doesn't look like
any of that stuff is true,
does it?
Being there.
Does Jesus care?
Jesus wakes
and he speaks
three words,
peace,
be,
still.
and the waves
stop
and there's calm
at sea.
Because
and to nick a line
from Elihu,
the one who created
the vast expanses
of the earth,
the one who laid out
the heavens,
the one who laid out
the skies,
the one who knows
the depths,
through whom
all things were created,
is in the boat.
He's in the boat
and here is the creator
bringing order
from chaos
and what happens
to the disciples
as they look at Jesus?
What are they filled
with in their hearts?
They're no longer
looking at the storm.
That's not what
they're scared of.
Fear fills their hearts
as they look at Jesus.
Now I take it
when we think about
fear of the Lord,
what does that mean?
It means
I'm looking at Jesus
and because I know
who he is,
I am taking my eyes
of him
no time.
I am looking at him
and of course
marking the context
it's about trusting
his word.
Here is who this
Jesus is.
That's what it means
to fear the Lord,
surely.
Not to run away
and cower
but to fix our eyes
on him
and trust in him
to go nowhere else.
I'm tying up
my whole life
leaning at all
on who he is.
So friends,
does God really love us?
Is God really fair?
Can God really be trusted?
Is God really in control?
Heaven's answer
to our questions
is a person.
Heaven's answer
to our questions
is Jesus.
You want to know
an answer to him?
Look at him.
Get to know him
in the Gospels.
This is who he is
as God unveils his heart
to us as human beings.
Jesus,
God in the flesh.
And more importantly,
heaven responds
to our questions.
Not just with a person
but particularly
with a person
on a cross.
If you're ever tempted
to think,
friends,
does God really love me?
Look nowhere else
but to Jesus
on the cross.
That's how God
showed his love
for us.
That while we were
his enemies,
Christ died
for us.
Consider the lengths
that he went to
for you.
You are his child
adopted into his family.
Justification,
I love this,
someone put it recently,
justification says
you're right in God's courtroom.
Adoption says
you're welcome
in his living room.
This is who you are.
Have you ever attempted
to ask the question,
do I matter to him
in light of what I've done?
Does he care?
Am I worth anything?
Am I precious in his sight?
Friends,
look at the cross.
He says God's yes,
surely,
to that question.
Have you ever attempted
to think,
is God fair?
Look at the cross
where Jesus bore
all of God's
righteous anger
against our sin
on the cross,
in our place,
didn't just sweep it
under the carpet,
pretend it didn't happen.
Jesus really did die
on a cross
for our real sin.
Have you ever attempted
to ask,
is God in control?
Then surely we have
to look at the cross.
If ever there was
a moment when it looked
like God was not
in control,
surely it was there.
Jesus despised
by his own,
abandoned by his friends,
seemingly powerless,
crucified by his enemies.
And yet,
is it not true
when we look at that,
that God used
the most horrific thing
imaginable
to bring about
the greatest good
that you and I
can ever know?
Friends,
is God powerful?
Is he in control?
Look at Jesus
on the cross.
Paul would call
the gospel,
the power of God
unto salvation.
Friends,
there are some
big questions
and horrible things
that happen in life.
But where does this passage
tell us to run?
Once we close,
let me just tell you
a story about
Corrie ten Boom.
Okay,
taken to the
Ravensbruck camp
in Germany
during the Second
World War
along with her sister
taken there to die.
And when they got there
they were put in a dorm
piled high
with bunk beds
and people.
And her diary,
if you read it,
it goes,
as soon as they got there
they were just
thrown upon
by fleas
everywhere,
started just
devouring their bodies.
You can imagine
the smells
and the sights
that would make
even the strongest
of us here
today sick.
Fleas everywhere.
But the fact
there was fleas
everywhere
meant that the guards
never went near
their dorm.
Never went near it.
Don't want to go
and get bitten
by fleas ourselves
so they never
went near it.
So what the ladies
in that dorm
used to do,
every evening
a number of them
would gather
in a circle
and they would read
from this little
pocket Bible
that Corrie
had somehow
managed to smuggle
into their dorm.
So they'd get together
in this circle
and they used to
read it together.
And they would try
and translate it
into Polish
and French
and German
so that the people
from different places
could understand.
And reflecting
many years later
do you know
what she wrote
in her memoirs
about these little times
as they opened
the Bible?
She said
the blacker
the night around us
she's talking
about the suffering
everything that's
going on
the blacker
the night around us
the brighter
and truer
burned the word
of God.
And the scripture
that they came back
to every single
night
was Romans 8
37
that we are
more than
conquerors
through him
who loved us.
Every night
they came back
to that verse.
So friends
when we're
asking those
big questions
about life
why does God
what's going on
is he in control
does he love us
where are we
to run
we're to run
to the word
of the truer
and greater
Elihu.
Right
we need to
cherish
and respond
to God's word
as it's come
at us
this morning
and fix
our eyes
on Jesus
Christ
and bask
ourselves
in his
great love
for us.
So why don't
we just take
a moment
just as we
finish this
morning
and everything
that's come
at us
I realise
we covered
a lot of
territory
there this
morning
why don't
we just
be still
and let's
bring our
prayers
and our
thanks as
well to
our creator
and then
I'll close
us in prayer
and we'll
stand to
close with
our final
song
but let's
just have
a moment
of quiet
and let's
just allow
God by his
Holy Spirit
to minister
amongst us
this morning
and so
Father we
thank you
Lord for
the
precious
truth
that while
we were
your enemies
Christ died
for us
Lord thank
you Father
for your
commitment
to us
as your
people
that in
Christ
you have
promised
never to
leave us
or forsake
us
and you've
given us
your spirit
to help
us know
that
and so
Father I
pray for
any here
this morning
who are
struggling
in any
way
Father that
you would
be the
comforter
this morning
so Father
we just
praise you
for who
you are
today
and we
thank you
for our
time together
in your
precious word
name we
pray
amen
that
do
nothing
I
want to
do
blah
so
can
do
.
Or
can
maybe
I
do
have
hope
to