WEBVTT 00:00:00.020 --> 00:00:01.960 It boils down to the sin of pride, doesn't it? 00:00:04.340 --> 00:00:06.740 This is the LifeSpring One-Year Bible Rewind, 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:08.940 and coming to you from Riverside, California, 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:10.960 podcasting since 2004. 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:13.960 My name is Steve Webb, and I am your OG Godcaster. 00:00:15.020 --> 00:00:17.120 This is the podcast that comes to you every day, 00:00:17.270 --> 00:00:19.360 and we're reading the entire Bible together in a year. 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:20.860 Thank you for being with me today. 00:00:20.970 --> 00:00:21.720 I appreciate it. 00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:22.180 I'm honored. 00:00:22.680 --> 00:00:24.780 The website is lifespringmedia.com. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:26.640 This is Poetry Thursday. 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:28.660 We'll read Job 33 and 34, 00:00:28.900 --> 00:00:32.680 and after today's reading and my comments, I have an announcement I need to make, 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:38.300 so please be sure to listen all the way to the end of the show. Let's begin. Our Heavenly Father, 00:00:38.400 --> 00:00:42.200 we thank you so much for your word, and we thank you for our time together. We pray, God, that you 00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:46.640 would touch our hearts and that you would teach us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:55.020 Job chapter 33. Listen to my words, Job. Pay attention to what I have to say. 00:00:55.380 --> 00:01:01.240 Now that I have begun to speak, let me continue. I speak with all sincerity. I speak the truth. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:05.780 For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:12.720 Answer me if you can. Make your case and take your stand. Look, you and I both belong to God. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:18.820 I, too, was formed from clay, so you don't need to be afraid of me. I won't come down hard on you. 00:01:19.460 --> 00:01:22.660 You have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard your very words. 00:01:23.270 --> 00:01:28.480 You said, I am pure, I am without sin, I am innocent, I have no guilt. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.320 God is picking a quarrel with me, and He considers me His enemy. 00:01:32.850 --> 00:01:36.140 He puts my feet in the stocks and watches my every move. 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.160 But you are wrong, and I will show you why. 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:41.680 For God is greater than any human being. 00:01:42.220 --> 00:01:44.220 So why are you bringing a charge against Him? 00:01:44.880 --> 00:01:47.520 Why say He does not respond to people's complaints? 00:01:48.020 --> 00:01:52.200 For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:58.540 He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:02.060 He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:04.640 He makes them turn from doing wrong. 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:06.320 He keeps them from pride. 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:10.360 He protects them from the grave, from crossing over the river of death. 00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:16.040 Or God disciplines people with pain on their sick beds, with ceaseless aching in their bones. 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:21.760 They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food. Their flesh wastes away, 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:27.060 and their bones stick out. They're at death's door. The angels of death wait for them. 00:02:27.720 --> 00:02:32.660 But if an angel from heaven appears, a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:38.520 that he is upright, he will be gracious and say, Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:44.500 ransom for his life. Then his body will become as healthy as a child's, firm and youthful again. 00:02:44.880 --> 00:02:51.240 When he prays to God, he will be accepted, and God will receive him with joy and restore him to good 00:02:51.440 --> 00:02:57.520 standing. He will declare to his friends, I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:04.740 God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light. Yes, God does these things 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:10.640 again and again for people. He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life. 00:03:11.220 --> 00:03:17.040 Mark this well, Job. Listen to me, for I have more to say. But if you have anything to say, 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:23.020 go ahead. Speak, for I am anxious to see you justified. But if not, then listen to me. 00:03:23.760 --> 00:03:27.780 Keep silent, and I will teach you wisdom. Job chapter 34. 00:03:28.940 --> 00:03:34.400 Then Elihu said, Listen to me, you wise men. Pay attention, you who have knowledge. 00:03:35.050 --> 00:03:40.860 Job said, The ear tests the words it hears, just as the mouth distinguishes between foods. 00:03:42.040 --> 00:03:48.240 So let us discern for ourselves what is right. Let us learn together what is good. For Job also said, 00:03:48.600 --> 00:03:54.560 I am innocent, but God has taken away my rights. I am innocent, but they call me a liar. My 00:03:54.840 --> 00:04:01.060 suffering is incurable, though I have not sinned. Tell me, has there ever been a man like Job, 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:08.159 with his thirst for irreverent talk? He chooses evil people as companions. He spends his time 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:15.420 with wicked men. He has even said, why waste time trying to please God? Listen to me, you who have 00:04:15.640 --> 00:04:22.500 understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn't sin. The Almighty can do no wrong. He repays people 00:04:22.780 --> 00:04:29.380 according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve. Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty 00:04:29.400 --> 00:04:36.180 will not twist justice. Did someone else put the world in His care? Who set the whole world in place? 00:04:36.860 --> 00:04:42.440 If God were to take His Spirit and withdraw His breath, all life would cease, and humanity 00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:43.840 would turn again to dust. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.520 Now listen to me if you are wise. 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:48.360 Pay attention to what I say. 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:51.000 Could God govern if He hated justice? 00:04:51.760 --> 00:04:53.620 Are you going to condemn the Almighty Judge? 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:58.900 For He says to kings, You are wicked, and to nobles, you are unjust. 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:04.140 He doesn't care how great a person may be, and He pays no more attention to the rich 00:05:04.290 --> 00:05:05.100 than to the poor. 00:05:05.700 --> 00:05:11.000 He made them all. In a moment, they die. In the middle of the night, they pass away. 00:05:11.880 --> 00:05:17.960 The mighty are removed without human hand. For God watches how people live. He sees everything 00:05:18.200 --> 00:05:24.620 they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from His eyes. We don't set the time when 00:05:24.620 --> 00:05:30.699 we will come before God in judgment. He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone, and He sets 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:35.920 up others in their place. He knows what they do, and in the night He overturns and destroys them. 00:05:36.820 --> 00:05:42.360 He strikes them down because they're wicked, doing it openly for all to see, for they turned away 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:48.620 from following Him. They have no respect for any of His ways. They cause the poor to cry out, 00:05:48.960 --> 00:05:54.540 catching God's attention. He hears the cries of the needy, but if He chooses to remain quiet, 00:05:54.870 --> 00:06:00.680 who can criticize Him? When He hides His face, no one can find Him, whether an individual 00:06:00.700 --> 00:06:05.640 or a nation. He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to people. 00:06:06.440 --> 00:06:13.020 Why don't people say to God, I have sinned, but I will sin no more? Or, I don't know what evil I've 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:19.860 done. Tell me, if I've done wrong, I will stop at once. Must God tailor His justice to your demands? 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:26.520 But you have rejected Him. The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead, share your wisdom with us. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.820 After all, bright people will tell me, and wise people will hear me say, 00:06:31.260 --> 00:06:34.280 Job speaks out of ignorance, his words lack insight. 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:40.240 Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked. 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:44.200 For you have added rebellion to your sin, you show no respect, 00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:47.460 and you speak many angry words against God. 00:06:49.940 --> 00:06:55.020 Well, even though Elihu is the youngest of Job's visitors, I find him to be the wisest. 00:06:55.500 --> 00:07:00.520 I don't think he has quite understood Job perfectly, and he does accuse Job wrongly in some aspects. 00:07:00.950 --> 00:07:04.720 But at least he doesn't accuse Job of lying when he asserts his righteousness. 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:10.700 But Elihu is correct when he says that God is not unjust in his dealings with man, 00:07:11.400 --> 00:07:15.660 and that if afflictions have come upon Job, then it is for his own good. 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:21.140 It's not that Job has necessarily done something wrong, but only that God has a reason. 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:27.400 Elihu says that we're not able to understand all that God does, but that God is almighty, 00:07:28.020 --> 00:07:32.620 righteous. He has complete control over the affairs of men, and He is wise. 00:07:33.900 --> 00:07:38.820 Some people don't accept the fact that God is wise. They don't accept that we're not able to 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:44.720 understand all that God does, so they don't expect that He is trustworthy. Have you ever known someone 00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:50.000 who looks at conditions in the world and says, how could a loving God allow these things to happen? 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:56.260 I could never worship a God like that. I have. They've judged God based on their own flawed and 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:02.760 limited human understanding. It boils down to the sin of pride, doesn't it? Romans 1.22 says, 00:08:03.300 --> 00:08:10.420 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. It's a sad thing to see, and in many, 00:08:10.580 --> 00:08:15.480 if not most cases, only prayer and the Holy Spirit can change their hearts and minds. 00:08:16.200 --> 00:08:20.320 because you cannot reason with a fool unless the Holy Spirit opens their eyes. 00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:24.280 2 Timothy 2, 23-26 says, 00:08:24.940 --> 00:08:30.500 Again I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 00:08:31.340 --> 00:08:35.320 A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be kind to everyone, 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:38.900 be able to teach and be patient with difficult people. 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:42.099 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. 00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:46.480 Perhaps God will change those people's hearts, and they will learn the truth. 00:08:47.560 --> 00:08:50.480 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap, 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.840 for they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. 00:08:56.140 --> 00:09:01.420 Beloved, we've been commanded to preach the gospel to every creature in Mark 16.15. 00:09:02.380 --> 00:09:04.820 Notice it doesn't say, except for fools. 00:09:05.880 --> 00:09:07.780 So, as 1 Peter 3.15 says, 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:13.860 We must always be ready to gently answer anyone who asks the reason for the hope we have in 00:09:14.040 --> 00:09:15.480 God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:18.900 Pray for your foolish friends and family members. 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:24.920 Ask God to soften their hearts and ask Him to give you or someone else the opportunity 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:30.400 to share Christ with them in a way that will cause the scales to fall from their eyes so 00:09:30.540 --> 00:09:34.140 that their foolishness will be replaced with God's light. 00:09:35.300 --> 00:09:35.960 What do you think? 00:09:36.140 --> 00:09:42.280 send me an email at steve at lifespringmedia.com. Our reading tomorrow is Jeremiah 22 through 26. 00:09:47.160 --> 00:09:51.000 So at the top of the show today, I told you that there was an announcement I need to make. 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:54.620 I'm not going to make it long and drawn out. I'm just going to say it. 00:09:55.520 --> 00:10:00.059 I've mentioned on the show a few times that the lovely lady Leanne and I have a business that I 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:06.400 opened way back in 1988. Between her income at her full-time job and the income from our business, 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:11.180 I've been able to spend up to four hours a day to bring this show to you seven days a week. 00:10:11.680 --> 00:10:17.060 Well, I'm not going to be able to do that for the foreseeable future. Today, we had a pretty big 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:22.720 setback in the business, which will cut our income substantially. And I'm going to have to spend much 00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:27.140 more time actively working that business in order to try to make up for the shortfall. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:34.140 I will still put up a show every day, but I won't be able to create any fresh content for each episode like I have been. 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:42.280 I do hope to be able to create an episode of Verses We Missed each week, but if you listen to that show, you know it's a shorter show with fewer moving parts. 00:10:43.260 --> 00:10:47.520 I will say this, and this is important. Stay subscribed to both shows. 00:10:48.020 --> 00:10:55.940 As quickly as this setback happened today, the Lord can bring another change in the other direction, and I might be able to bring new content for you here. 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:02.600 You never know. But one thing I do know is this. God knows, and He is in control. There are times 00:11:02.700 --> 00:11:08.000 in each of our lives when surprising things happen and we ask, why? Sometimes we get an answer, 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:14.080 often we don't. But I've discovered that God always knows what He's doing, and He is faithful, 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:20.340 and He is trustworthy. He is God, and I am not. And I'm happy with that arrangement. Amen? 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:24.640 I would ask that you would pray for Leanne and I, though. Please do that. 00:11:25.160 --> 00:11:28.060 Okay? And now on with today's show. 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.200 On this date in church history, February 12th. 00:11:37.800 --> 00:11:43.460 On this day in 1663, one of the most prolific minds in early American history was born. 00:11:44.060 --> 00:11:48.980 Cotton Mather was a third-generation Puritan minister who seemed destined for leadership. 00:11:49.820 --> 00:11:53.440 By the age of 12, he was studying at, get this, at Harvard. 00:11:54.140 --> 00:11:56.940 By his 20s, he was a leading voice in the Boston wilderness. 00:11:57.940 --> 00:12:04.540 Mather is an often misunderstood figure, frequently remembered only for his connection to the Salem Witch Trials, which was minor. 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:11.840 However, his real legacy was his attempt to harmonize the Christian faith with the dawning age of science. 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:18.040 He was a pioneer of medicine, an early advocate for small group prayer meetings, and the author 00:12:18.220 --> 00:12:20.260 of nearly 500 books. 00:12:20.980 --> 00:12:25.120 Mather believed that a sharp mind was one of the best tools for serving God. 00:12:25.740 --> 00:12:31.200 He pushed the American colonies to look forward, blending traditional theology with a vision 00:12:31.230 --> 00:12:33.760 for social reform and intellectual growth. 00:12:34.280 --> 00:12:39.140 His work helped lay the groundwork for the spiritual awakenings that would follow decades 00:12:39.560 --> 00:12:39.700 later. 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:54.620 comment on the show at comment.lifespringmedia.com or email me at steve at life spring media.com i 00:12:54.620 --> 00:13:00.120 would love to hear from you so now until tomorrow may god bless you richly thank you so much for 00:13:00.170 --> 00:13:02.900 being here my name is steve webb bye 00:13:06.400 --> 00:13:12.200 All the programs in the Lifespring Media family are made possible by your value-for-value support. 00:13:12.770 --> 00:13:13.240 Thank you. 00:13:15.260 --> 00:13:22.680 The Lifespring One Year Bible Rewind is a Lifespring Media production hosted by Steve Webb, the OG Godcaster, since 2004.