Review:
- Don't LISTEN to yourself.
- "I'm the ONLY one that has to deal with this!"
- "God doesn't CARE !"
- "God is not in CONTROL !"
- "I can't DEAL with this!"
- PREACH to yourself. (Job 1-2)
- Nothing happens without God's PERMISSION . (Job 1:12, Job 2:6)
- Nothing is MINE . (Job 1:21)
- Nothing diminishes God's GOODNESS . (Job 1:21)
- Nothing God does is "EMPTY". (Job 1:22)
4 Terrible Sermons after a Crisis (of any kind/degree):
1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
4 Truths to Preach to yourself after a Crisis:
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
-
00:00-00:15
We're continuing our series called "Defeating Depression." And just a quick review, we said that depression is a common and expected experience.
00:17-00:19
The issue is how do you deal with it?
00:23-00:28
Well, the answer and how we deal with it depends on what caused it, right?
00:31-00:33
You can't deal with all depression the same.
00:36-00:38
Different causes require different solutions.
00:38-00:43
And last week we talked about the most miserable person in the world.
00:43-00:45
Who's the most miserable person in the world?
00:46-00:49
A Christian who is in sin.
00:51-00:55
We saw in Ephesians 4 that you are grieving God's Holy Spirit.
00:55-00:59
You're acting against your very nature and identity in Jesus Christ.
01:00-01:10
The Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 4, Christians, when it comes to our sin, we need to get serious and we need to get specific and we need to get strategic.
01:11-01:12
And through it all, we need to be secure.
01:14-01:19
and knowing that forgiveness has already been purchased for us through Jesus Christ.
01:21-01:32
But sometimes, church depression comes because we mishandle a hard or unpleasant event.
01:32-01:52
That's why the title of this message is "Depression Caused by Crisis." "Defeating Depression Caused by Crisis." Now when we say crisis, we're not just talking about like a plane crash or a hurricane that wipes out a town.
01:54-01:59
It can be that, but we're really talking about any hard event that we deal with.
02:01-02:02
Let's play a game of Shout It Out.
02:04-02:15
Tell me some hard events that Christians go through, that everyone goes through, that might cause depression.
02:17-02:20
What are some events that we go through that can cause depression?
02:22-02:24
Job loss, right? Job loss.
02:25-02:36
You know, you're the provider for your family, and you're working and you're earning, and suddenly you find out your position is being terminated.
02:38-02:39
Certainly a cause for depression.
02:39-02:40
What else?
02:42-02:43
Death of a family member. Right.
02:43-02:45
That was actually at the top of my list.
02:45-02:49
You know, a family member passing away.
02:51-02:53
Certainly an occasion for depression.
02:54-02:54
What else?
02:58-02:59
I'll tell you what I have on my list.
03:02-03:03
Death.
03:04-03:05
Obviously, death of a loved one.
03:06-03:07
Illnesses.
03:07-03:13
Not just yourself, but if you've ever walked through an illness with a loved one.
03:17-03:18
Children leaving the home.
03:29-03:31
Maybe it's a bad accident.
03:34-03:44
Maybe it is a vehicle accident or some type of an accident at work that causes injury.
03:46-03:48
Maybe it's divorce.
03:50-03:52
A very hard, unpleasant event that causes injury.
03:54-03:56
The church has not been exempt from.
03:59-04:00
Maybe it's retirement.
04:03-04:04
Maybe it's very personal.
04:04-04:06
Maybe it's something like criticism.
04:08-04:16
Maybe somebody just really came down on you hard for something and unjustly and harshly criticized you.
04:19-04:21
Maybe there was an event where you felt rejected.
04:25-04:28
And last but certainly not least, maybe you just feel overwhelmed.
04:29-04:34
Maybe you just feel like there's so much happening in my life right now, I just can't even wrap my brain around it.
04:34-04:42
Like what's happening at work and what's happening at home and now there's all this stuff happening in the church and it's just too much.
04:46-04:53
I want you to know that none of these events actually cause depression.
04:53-04:54
Did you know that?
04:55-05:03
You can't say that these things really cause depression because many people have experienced some of these circumstances without becoming depressed.
05:04-05:11
So a better way of saying this is these are occasions for depression, but they're not causes of depression.
05:11-05:12
Does that make sense?
05:13-05:25
that would mean if one of these things happens to happen to you, then you have no choice but to be depressed, cause and effect. That's not true. These are occasions for depression.
05:25-06:08
They're not causes of depression, but these are occasions, church, where we often find ourselves in depression. Depression is caused by a person's response to an event in their life, not the event itself, because it's all about the reaction. I want you to write this mathematical formula down. Write this formula down. Event plus interpretation equals equals response.
06:10-06:10
I'm going to say that again.
06:13-06:16
Event plus interpretation equals response.
06:16-06:17
Let's face it.
06:18-06:19
Bad stuff is going to happen to all of us.
06:19-06:20
True or false?
06:21-06:21
Truth.
06:21-06:23
So event - that's going to happen.
06:24-06:25
That's in the bag.
06:27-06:42
If you're here this morning and you're like, "Event's not in my equation." Well, I'm coming to live with you in your little fantasy world where the fondue pot's probably always on, I'm coming to live with you.
06:45-06:47
We all deal with hard events.
06:51-06:56
But the event plus the interpretation - see, that's the variable.
06:57-06:59
It's the interpretation of the event.
06:59-07:01
That's what leads to the response.
07:03-07:15
It's not just the event that leads to the response, it's the interpretation that goes with it, meaning this, interpreting an event with a biblical perspective leads someone to handle it biblically.
07:17-07:19
Which will result in growing spiritually.
07:21-07:38
But having an unbiblical perspective is going to lead someone to handle the event unbiblically, using worldly wisdom, leading to a number of other problems, including depression.
07:41-07:53
So as we talk about crisis, tragedy, heart event, whatever you want to call it, how does a crisis bring about depression?
07:56-07:59
But we seem to replay the event over and over in our minds, don't we?
08:01-08:02
Think of a hard time that you've gone through.
08:02-08:04
Maybe some of you are going through something right now.
08:05-08:06
Here's what you're doing.
08:09-08:11
You have it on loop in your brain.
08:12-08:19
Whether it was a conversation that took place or an accident that took place or an illness.
08:20-08:25
As you're playing this over and over in your mind, you're asking yourself, "Why did this happen?
08:26-08:31
stopped it. Why did he say that? What am I going to do? Where do I go from here?
08:34-09:03
This is eventually what brings someone to the point of depression, because you've sold yourself on a hopeless, unbiblical evaluation. You see in your little math formula there, if your interpretation is wrong. More than likely, you're going to be depressed. If your interpretation of an event is wrong, more than likely you're going to be depressed. So on your outline, defeating depression caused by crisis.
09:05-09:06
This is real simple today.
09:12-09:17
There's two things you need to do, and the first one is don't listen to yourself.
09:19-09:23
But secondly, you need to preach to yourself.
09:26-09:30
Stop listening to yourself and start preaching to yourself.
09:31-09:32
Like, what do you mean by that?
09:32-09:37
Well, the truth of the matter is everyone in this room is a preacher.
09:38-09:38
Everyone.
09:42-09:43
And when you go through a crisis.
09:46-09:59
You're going to be preaching to yourself, but the question is, what sermon are you're going to preach to yourself? So. Don't. First of all, don't listen to yourself.
10:02-10:07
Meaning this. I'll jot these down. These are four terrible sermons after a crisis.
10:10-10:16
Do you know what I mean by a terrible sermon?
10:20-10:21
You know what I mean by that?
10:24-10:31
I am so delighted you guys are like, no, I have no idea what you mean by a terrible sermon, but just that does my heart good.
10:32-10:33
Terrible sermon.
10:35-10:36
What is this you speak of?
10:39-10:44
Four terrible sermons after a crisis of any kind, any degree, pick one.
10:45-10:49
These are the terrible sermons that you're preaching to yourself that you need to stop listening to.
10:50-10:51
And here's the first one.
10:52-10:55
You've gone through a crisis, you've gone through a hard event.
10:58-11:01
First thing you say is this, I'm the only one that has to deal with this.
11:02-11:04
I'm the only one that's ever had to deal with this.
11:08-11:09
That's certainly how it feels, doesn't it?
11:10-11:11
I'm so alone.
11:13-11:17
I can't talk to anybody about this problem I'm going through because nobody understands.
11:19-11:20
Nobody understands.
11:21-11:23
Nobody could possibly understand what I'm going through.
11:23-11:25
I'm just...
11:26-11:28
We have two autistic children.
11:29-11:30
Like, who am I going to talk to about that?
11:33-11:38
Because your kids are so normal and perfect and sinless and everything is great at your house, but.
11:42-11:45
I feel so alone. Who would understand?
11:49-11:53
That's often a terrible sermon that we tell ourselves when we go through a crisis, I'm.
11:55-12:02
I'm a pioneer here, nobody's ever had to deal with this. Secondly, here's a terrible sermon.
12:02-12:03
God doesn't care.
12:05-12:06
God doesn't care.
12:06-12:12
I have prayed and I have fasted and I have nothing to show for it.
12:14-12:16
God could have fixed this, but he didn't.
12:16-12:17
He doesn't care.
12:20-12:22
That is a terrible sermon.
12:23-12:28
But there are people that are preaching that to themselves and gobbling up every word.
12:28-12:29
Stop it.
12:32-12:37
Let her see God is not in control.
12:43-12:44
Right, Levi? That's a terrible sermon.
12:45-12:46
We can agree with that, right?
12:46-12:47
That is a terrible sermon.
12:48-12:49
God is not in control.
12:53-13:00
You know, I hear what the preacher says at church about God, but you know what? My life is just a complete wreck right now.
13:00-13:02
And everything seems to be out of control.
13:02-13:04
And where's God when I need Him most?
13:06-13:16
It's hard for me to believe that there's an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God in heaven, and I'm dealing with this.
13:18-13:21
Maybe God's not in control.
13:24-13:26
Maybe he's only partially in control.
13:29-13:30
Maybe he doesn't care.
13:32-13:33
Terrible sermons.
13:34-13:35
Then letter D.
13:36-13:38
"I can't deal with this.
13:40-13:41
This is the point of despair.
13:43-13:44
I just can't do it anymore.
13:46-13:48
You know what? I've tried to be strong.
13:48-13:49
I've tried to put on the brave face.
13:50-13:52
I've tried to wear the big boy pants walking through this.
13:52-13:56
I just can't do it anymore. I can't do it anymore.
13:58-14:04
And I've been waiting, and I'm done. I can't do it anymore.
14:04-14:10
I can't do this marriage anymore. I can't raise these kids anymore.
14:10-14:11
I can't deal with this illness anymore.
14:12-14:15
I can't deal with this stuff at work anymore. I just can't do it.
14:18-14:20
I'm done. I've had enough.
14:23-14:24
That is a terrible sermon.
14:26-14:35
And you're like, well, Pastor Jeff, can you possibly debunk those four sermons from the Bible?
14:36-14:40
And the answer is I can debunk those four sermons from one verse in the Bible.
14:41-14:43
And I put it on your outline. Look at your outline.
14:44-14:49
This is like one of the greatest verses in the Bible, Especially when we're dealing with this stuff.
14:49-14:52
Look at 1 Corinthians 10.13, okay?
14:52-14:54
We're done with the lies that we preach to ourselves.
14:54-14:55
This is God's truth.
14:56-14:58
And God's truth says none of the above are true.
14:59-15:17
1 Corinthians 10.13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man." God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.
15:21-15:26
All four of those terrible sermons completely vetoed by one verse.
15:29-15:30
Look at it, it's all right there.
15:30-15:34
For the person that says, I'm the only one that has to deal with this.
15:36-15:38
God's word says, no temptation.
15:38-15:43
By the way, that word temptation can also be translated experience or adversity.
15:43-15:46
It doesn't just mean the word is perosmos.
15:46-15:51
It doesn't just mean like something enticing you to sin.
15:51-15:52
It means a hardship.
15:56-16:06
And you're saying, well, I'm the only one that has to deal with this and God's word says that no hardship, no adversity has overtaken you that is not common to man.
16:09-16:11
So we can get that one off the shelf immediately.
16:12-16:14
The stuff that I'm going through, guess what?
16:14-16:16
There are what?
16:17-16:22
Hundreds, thousands of people in this area dealing with the same thing.
16:24-16:25
The only one that has to deal with this.
16:27-16:31
Secondly, it says God, the bad sermon is God doesn't care.
16:34-16:36
But first Corinthians 10, 13 says that God is faithful.
16:39-16:39
God is faithful.
16:42-16:43
I'm going to talk more about that in a minute.
16:44-17:00
Letter C for the person that says, "God is not in control." God's Word says, "He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape." Sounds like God's pretty much in control there to me. How about you?
17:02-17:04
You feel like the oven's getting hot?
17:04-17:07
Well, God has His hand on the thermometer.
17:08-17:16
I realize you're going through a hardship, but I am not going to let this get beyond a certain point.
17:16-17:17
I'm not going to let it.
17:21-17:23
God is in complete control.
17:26-17:28
And then the idea, I can't deal with this.
17:30-17:33
Look at the last phrase, that you may be able to endure it.
17:37-17:45
You can endure it, not in the flesh, but by God's Spirit.
17:48-17:55
This is one of the greatest verses in the Bible, but it's also so misquoted, and it's so poorly used.
17:58-18:00
Because here's what we do with this verse, Christians.
18:01-18:05
Somebody's going through a hardship and we're not sure what to say to them.
18:05-18:05
What do we say?
18:06-18:16
Well, you know the Bible says, "God doesn't give you anymore than you can handle." That is not what the Bible says. Okay? That is not what the Bible says.
18:18-18:20
By the way, that's lame anyways.
18:21-18:23
It's like God's up in heaven looking down.
18:25-18:36
He's like, "Well, Justin, I see how much you're capable of handling, And that is the exact amount of hardship I'm sending your way.
18:38-18:39
Thanks God.
18:39-18:42
That is not what the Bible says, at all.
18:44-18:49
In fact, Scripture would teach that God gives you much more than you're able to handle.
18:50-18:50
Why?
18:51-18:54
So you learn to depend on Him instead of your own strength, right?
18:54-18:56
You're going to walk through life like, "You know what, God?
18:57-19:00
Things have been pretty easy. I've been able to handle everything." And you know what?
19:01-19:05
Yeah, yeah, we've had a couple of minor things happen, but I've been able to figure that out.
19:05-19:09
I've been able to get through a couple of bumps on the road.
19:10-19:11
You don't need God for that.
19:13-19:20
But so many times in life we find ourselves in situations where it's God shows up or nothing.
19:20-19:21
That's where I'm at.
19:22-19:26
That's where if the Lord doesn't show up and deliver me, we've sunk.
19:28-19:32
If the Lord doesn't show up and give me strength, I'm not going to make it.
19:32-19:37
That's the place where God would have you, so that you learn to depend on Him and not yourself.
19:41-19:44
God doesn't give you any more than you can handle. Yes, He does.
19:47-19:54
The testimony of your life is not, "Look what I was able to manage, But God's grace carried me through seasons and trials.
19:54-19:57
I could not have survived on my own.
20:00-20:02
Those are four terrible sermons.
20:05-20:13
And instead, I want to leave you with this today, number two, preach, don't listen to yourself with those lame sermons, those lame, fleshly sermons.
20:15-20:16
Preach to yourself.
20:17-20:19
Open up your Bibles to the book of Job.
20:21-20:22
I preach to myself what?
20:23-20:24
Open up your Bibles to the book of Job.
20:27-20:35
Job, actually, the book of Psalms is right in the middle of your Bible and right before Psalms is the book of Job.
20:38-20:43
So if you go the middle of your Bible and take a left, you're in Job.
20:47-20:56
Church, if you're going to overcome depression, if you're going to allow the Lord to defeat depression in your life, you've got to learn to preach to yourself.
20:59-21:04
While you're turning to Job, I want to recap, I really wish we had the time to just like read the whole thing.
21:07-21:22
I want to recap chapter one, Job was this godly and wealthy man in the Old Testament And God declared before Satan, look at Job, there is no one like him on the earth.
21:26-21:32
And Satan, the accuser of the brethren, said to God, do you know why Job loves you, God?
21:33-21:34
It's because you're good to him.
21:34-21:41
That's why. But I'll tell you what, if you didn't give Job all this stuff, he would spit in your face.
21:41-21:43
He would turn his back on you.
21:43-21:45
The only reason Job loves you is because you give him stuff.
21:45-21:46
I mean, let's be honest.
21:47-21:54
That was the accusation that Satan made against God and against Job.
21:57-22:01
So God, in his sovereignty, allowed Satan to afflict Job.
22:02-22:05
But he said, you're not allowed to touch the man himself.
22:08-22:14
This is in chapter one, verse 12, "And the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has God is in your hand only against him.
22:14-22:16
Do not stretch out your hand.
22:20-22:21
God allowed this.
22:27-22:28
What did Satan do?
22:28-22:34
Well, in verses 13 through 19, Job lost his wealth.
22:36-22:43
His animals, his servants, and his children.
22:46-22:53
Job had to bury seven sons and three daughters.
23:01-23:03
It's almost hard to wrap your brain around, isn't it?
23:06-23:07
losing wealth.
23:09-23:10
How do you deal with that?
23:10-23:13
I remember getting fired up because somebody stole a lawnmower out of my driveway.
23:15-23:16
But imagine losing everything.
23:18-23:18
Everything!
23:20-23:21
Your bank account is zero.
23:25-23:26
That's bad enough.
23:28-23:29
That's crisis enough.
23:32-23:33
But then to lose your children?
23:35-24:27
hard enough to lose one child. No parent should have to go through that. But losing ten children at once. So what was Job's reaction? Look at chapter 1 verse 20. This was after he got all these reports, Job you've lost everything and your children are dead. It says, "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head." Those were signs of mourning. The Bible says, "And fell on the ground and," what does your Bible say? "Worshipped." What?
24:28-24:29
What?
24:34-24:35
He worshiped.
24:40-24:42
How can you worship at a time like this, Job?
24:43-24:45
You've just lost your children.
24:47-24:47
How can he?
24:50-24:51
How can I?
24:53-24:59
through a hardship, make worship the reaction.
25:03-25:04
Well, here's how you do it.
25:05-25:06
It takes preaching.
25:09-25:14
The truths of God's word to yourself, because I want to show you that's exactly what Job did.
25:16-25:19
And I would commend his sermons to you.
25:23-25:26
So four truths to preach to yourself after a crisis.
25:26-25:28
Anybody going through a crisis right now?
25:32-25:33
If you're not, you know what that means?
25:34-25:35
It just means you're between crises.
25:36-25:38
You're going to have one coming up.
25:41-25:46
So when that next crisis comes, this is the sermon, these are the four sermons you need to preach to yourself.
25:47-25:48
Your first sermon is called this.
25:48-25:50
Nothing happens without God's permission.
25:52-25:54
Nothing happens without God's permission.
25:55-25:57
We already read that chapter one, verse 12.
25:57-26:02
The Lord said Satan could afflict Job but not touch him personally.
26:03-26:05
Then look at chapter two and verse six.
26:08-26:11
Satan wasn't too fired up about Job's reaction of worship.
26:14-26:18
Appears before God again, verse chapter two, verse six, the Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand.
26:19-26:22
only spare his life, meaning this.
26:23-26:24
Yeah, he still has his health.
26:25-26:29
Satan's like you take his health away, then he's really going to turn his back on you, God.
26:29-26:30
And the Lord says.
26:32-26:34
You can afflict his health, but you can't kill him.
26:39-26:46
But you have to see here one of the most amazing things that we learn about Job is the sovereignty of God.
26:46-26:48
The word sovereign means solely raised.
26:50-26:53
And we have an insight here that Job didn't even have.
26:53-26:59
We get this whole behind the scenes view of this conversation between Satan and God.
26:59-27:04
And as far as I can see from Scripture, Job didn't know this was going on.
27:05-27:06
Did he?
27:09-27:16
You have to see that Satan, while he is powerful, powerful enough to wipe out a man's wealth and family and his health.
27:18-27:22
Even though Satan is powerful, he does nothing without God's permission.
27:24-27:25
Did you know that?
27:26-27:29
Satan does nothing without God's permission.
27:30-27:34
It's not as if God's all fired up about this new Harvest Bible Chapel.
27:34-27:35
Where's that at?
27:36-27:36
Malaysia?
27:37-27:40
Yeah, so God's all fired up about Harvest Bible Chapel in Malaysia.
27:42-27:47
Satan's like, "Woohoo! This is my chance to attack, like, Harvest Bible Chapel Chattanooga.
27:47-27:54
This is my chance because God's not looking." And God turns around and he goes, "Well, how did I let that happen?" That's not how it goes.
27:57-28:05
Even for as wicked and powerful as Satan is, he does nothing without God's permission.
28:09-28:36
just talking about Satan, even broader than that, there is not a single event that happens in the universe that surprises God or that God is unaware of. God has said a lot in His Word, but there are some things that He has never said. One thing God has never said is Whoops. Whoops. Oh. Oh.
28:38-28:38
Dude, oh.
28:39-28:40
My bad.
28:42-28:43
He's never said that.
28:45-28:47
Something else God has never said is I don't know.
28:51-29:00
So you have to know, whatever trial you're going through, it wasn't like the captain stepped away from the wheel for a second.
29:01-29:04
God stepped away from being present in your life.
29:05-29:08
He promised to never leave you or forsake you.
29:09-29:15
So anything that happens, you have to know, is not taking God by surprise.
29:19-29:20
Letter B.
29:22-29:28
This is one of the hardest sermons you will ever preach to yourself.
29:30-29:31
It's just three words.
29:33-29:34
Nothing is mine.
29:37-29:38
Nothing is mine.
29:40-29:41
Here's how Job put it.
29:41-29:41
Look at verse 21.
29:43-29:47
Ok, so Job falls on his face and worships verse 21.
29:47-29:57
And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return." The Lord gave.
29:59-30:01
And the Lord has taken away.
30:06-30:07
That's really what causes depression.
30:12-30:14
Is the sense of loss, right?
30:15-30:16
Isn't that really what it boils down to?
30:16-30:17
I've lost something.
30:18-30:19
Somebody dies.
30:19-30:20
I've lost that person.
30:22-30:24
You're terminated from your job.
30:24-30:27
I've lost my source of income.
30:29-30:30
Health issues.
30:30-30:31
I've lost my health.
30:31-30:35
I've lost the time I could be doing other things.
30:35-30:36
Were I healthier?
30:37-30:42
If my family member were healthy, it's a sense of I lost, I lost, I lost.
30:43-30:44
I lost.
30:49-30:54
But if you get this sermon down, It will change everything.
30:56-31:00
And the sermon is this, nothing is mine.
31:03-31:05
We're getting near the end of the sermon now.
31:05-31:06
Is there anybody that's like hungry?
31:08-31:08
Anybody hungry?
31:10-31:11
Brooke, you're hungry.
31:11-31:12
Would you like your Rice Krispie Treat?
31:14-31:15
You like your Rice Krispie Treat?
31:15-31:15
Alright.
31:16-31:18
It just so happens that I have one.
31:22-31:25
I'm not going to get shocked if I walk in front of this thing, am I?
31:25-31:26
I sure hope not.
31:26-31:26
All right.
31:31-31:32
There you go.
31:34-31:34
Open it up.
31:40-31:41
Go ahead, take a bite.
31:43-31:43
It's good, isn't it?
31:44-31:45
Makes you happy, doesn't it?
31:46-31:47
Take another bite.
31:49-31:50
Good, isn't it?
31:50-31:51
Makes you happy, doesn't it?
31:52-31:52
All right, give it back.
32:03-32:04
That was depressing, wasn't it?
32:07-32:09
How many people would agree that that was depressing?
32:14-32:19
Now Brooke's sitting there going, I lost my Rice Krispie Treat.
32:20-32:21
It made me so happy.
32:22-32:23
It was good, wasn't it?
32:24-32:27
And now it's gone, and I lost it.
32:29-32:31
Brooke, did you walk in here this morning with a Rice Krispie Treat?
32:37-32:39
Are you walking out of here with a Rice Krispie Treat?
32:42-32:44
So really, what have you lost?
32:46-32:48
Did Brooke really lose anything?
32:50-32:54
If you think about it, she actually gained something, didn't she?
32:55-32:59
She had two bites of a Rice Krispie treat that none of the rest of you people had.
33:03-33:05
But that's what we do, isn't it?
33:06-33:22
Instead of saying, "I was blessed to have something for a while." "You know what, I'm sad that I lost this job, but it was a real blessing for me to be able to work there for a few years." or to have a child die.
33:24-33:24
The worst.
33:27-33:39
But to be able to say, even though life will never be the same, and even though it hurts, what a blessing it was for me to have that child in my life for a few years.
33:43-33:47
But the way that you get there is by preaching this sermon.
33:47-34:09
thing is mine. That Rice Krispie Treat was not hers. And she had the privilege of enjoying it for a few seconds and then it was gone. But the reason that's depressing is as soon as I handed it to her it was mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Look at me, I'm entitled to a Rice Krispie Treat now. And we do that with the little things in our lives.
34:10-34:18
Everything that we have has been given to us by God. And oh how tightly we cling to to these things and are entitled to these things.
34:19-34:21
What did you bring into the world with you again?
34:23-34:24
Nothing, right?
34:26-34:29
None of you came into the world with like pockets.
34:31-34:35
Like make sure I get buried with this because I brought it with me.
34:36-34:38
That was Job's message here.
34:39-34:40
I came naked.
34:40-34:41
Guess how I'm leaving?
34:42-34:49
naked, I'm leaving with everything that I brought.
34:50-34:55
And everything that I handle in this life is just something the Lord entrusted to me for a season.
34:58-35:05
Anything I have was given to me, and I'm not keeping anything forever.
35:07-35:08
True or false?
35:09-35:12
Is there anything in this life that you will possess that you are keeping forever?
35:13-35:15
The answer is no.
35:17-35:18
Nothing is truly mine.
35:22-35:23
Nothing is mine.
35:25-35:29
Let's be thankful for the time God lets us have things in our hands.
35:32-35:34
We're not holding too tightly.
35:34-35:35
Nothing is mine.
35:36-35:40
or C. Nothing diminishes God's goodness.
35:42-35:44
Nothing diminishes God's goodness.
35:48-35:55
Look at the end of verse 21, Job says, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Nothing diminishes God's goodness.
35:55-36:00
Question, is God more awesome when He gives or when He takes away?
36:04-36:05
What's the answer?
36:06-36:08
But we think He's more awesome when He gives.
36:10-36:16
We're thankful for the stuff that we have, and the job that we have, and the children that we have, and the health that we have.
36:17-36:20
And what happens when they're gone?
36:26-36:29
Question, does God change or do we change?
36:30-36:32
Is God fickle or are we fickle?
36:36-36:40
Is God only good when we are happy?
36:42-36:44
That's how we've learned to regard the Lord.
36:45-36:47
And that's how we need to unlearn to regard the Lord.
36:49-36:57
People show up at a prayer meeting, "Hey, praise the Lord, I got a job." "Praise the Lord, I got a car." Praise the Lord, you know, we just bought a house.
37:00-37:13
You hardly ever hear the person say, "Praise the Lord, I lost one of these things." Is he less worthy of praise in the hard times as he is in the good times?
37:14-37:15
Well, not according to Job.
37:17-37:21
In the face of the worst tragedy a human being can face.
37:25-37:27
You're like, we still had his wife, right?
37:28-37:30
And I'm like, have you ever read Job?
37:34-37:35
That was a joke, people.
37:37-37:37
That's better.
37:38-37:39
No, seriously, like read the rest of it.
37:42-37:44
Wonderful, godly advice from his wife.
37:45-37:46
Sarcasm off.
37:48-37:52
God's goodness does not depend on how we feel about our circumstances.
37:53-37:56
God's goodness does not depend on how we feel about our circumstances.
37:58-38:07
Us feeling the sting of the evil that temporarily shows its ugly face does not suddenly put the character of God on trial.
38:10-38:14
He didn't cause the mess, but by His grace He saved us from it.
38:16-38:21
And He is going to eternally clean it up someday soon.
38:26-38:30
So much of the mess that we find ourselves in is a result of sin.
38:31-38:47
And how dare we question God's goodness when He came to take our sin away, saving us from ourselves, With a promise in his word that he's going to come back and do the ultimate clean up someday soon.
38:49-38:50
And finally.
38:53-39:01
OK, nothing happens without God's permission, nothing is mine, nothing diminishes God's goodness, finally, nothing God does is empty.
39:04-39:05
Look at verse 22.
39:07-39:14
If our worship team would make their way forward, if the ushers want to come up as well.
39:16-39:27
Verse 22 says, "And all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." Interestingly, that word for wrong in the Hebrew is the word Tifle.
39:30-39:32
Do you know what the word Tifle literally means?
39:33-39:37
It literally means empty or frivolous.
39:43-39:49
Notice what it says about Job, he didn't charge God with doing something.
39:51-39:55
Frivolously, he didn't charge God with doing something that's empty.
39:58-40:24
Meaning this. God never does anything that someone can come alongside him and say, God, why did you do that? And he says. Because I felt like it, I don't know. Just something to do, I guess. God never does anything like that. You see, Joe realized. Even in the in the midst of tragedy.
40:28-40:31
God never does anything frivolously.
40:31-40:34
He never does anything empty.
40:36-40:38
And this is a glorious truth about God.
40:39-41:13
Everything He causes, everything He permits, everything He allows - whatever you want to call it - As we close here, you ask, "Well, that, yeah, I really believe that there's a reason for God doing some of the good stuff, but what about the hard stuff?" And as we close our service today, I'd like to remind you that God took the worst thing that ever happened in history and turned it into the best thing that's ever happened in history.
41:15-41:47
If I were to ask you, "What is the worst thing that could possibly happen on this planet?" Your answer would be, "Well, the worst thing that could happen on this planet is if somehow the God who created the planet became a man and lived with us, and we treated Him like garbage, and we spit on Him, and we humiliated Him, and we stripped His clothes off and publicly executed Him." That's like the worst thing that could ever happen.
41:49-41:51
That's exactly what did happen.
41:52-42:06
Our Creator God came to this earth, Jesus Christ, and instead of embracing our Creator, we killed Him.
42:08-42:25
But you know, the Bible says that God took that horrible circumstance, the worst thing that could have happened, and He used that to be the best thing that could have ever happened because it was the cross of Jesus Christ that became the means of our forgiveness.
42:28-42:38
It was on the cross that Jesus was bearing the penalty for my sin and He was suffering the wrath of God for my sin and for your sin.
42:39-42:46
God took the worst thing that could have happened and He used it to be the best thing that's ever happened.
42:47-43:06
The church - if He can make something eternally glorious out of the death of Jesus Christ, He can sure take this much lesser crisis that I'm going through and use it gloriously.
43:08-43:28
The cross - the reminder that we have in the Lord's Supper and communion that we're about to receive that God never does anything empty, but he specializes in turning a tragedy into a triumph.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Job 1-2
When facing a crisis, EVENT + INTERPRETATION = RESPONSE. How can you properly interpret an event? What are some wrong interpretations you need to avoid?
What is wrong with the oft-repeated counsel from Christians, “God doesn’t give you any more than you can handle? (Read 1 Corinthians 10:13)
When Satan appeared before God, why do you think God initiated the conversation about Job’s uniqueness, blamelessness, and uprightness (Job 1:8)?
Breakout Questions:
Are there any hardships “causing” depression in your life? Share them and pray.