If you're an intellectual, just sit on it, will you? Let's talk about it on this edition of He Like It. That's Steve Brown. He's no guru, but he loves Jesus Christ. He loves the Bible, and he loves the teacher. The program is He Like It. And here is Steve with a teaching for today. Steve? Thanks, Mike. Hope you had a great and restful weekend. And I hope your worship was as meaningful as mine and that your pastor sermon was as good as mine. If you have your Bible open and we're in the process of studying God-pain, evil, suffering, broken ropes, and it's really not as down as it sounds. But this is a good time given the events of 9-11 and some time that is passed for us to sit down and to talk about what the Bible says about these sorts of things. And we will return to our Old Testament survey in three or four weeks when we finish this particular series. So if you have your Bible, keep it there. I'll be referring to the scriptures as we go along. These are not my ideas. I got them from somewhere else from the throne through the book. Before we study the book, let's pray. Father, we're thankful for another week. We're thankful that you're sovereign and that nothing's going to happen this week. Period that doesn't first pass through a nail-scarred hand. Father, it's hard to remember that when it hurts really bad and when the wounds are deep and the tears are flowing. But teach us to keep trucking in the dark and to remember the things that you taught us in the light. Father, you know everybody who's listening to this broadcast. You know those who are having financial problems, family problems, those who are doubting those who are really in pain. Come yourself and grant your healing hand. Show yourself as the great physician. Father, we praise you and we worship you because you're worthy and we lift up this week of broadcast before you. Forgive the one who teaches his sins for they are many. We would see Jesus and him only and we pray in Jesus' name. I'm in. Now, if you were listening last week, some of you weren't and I know your names. We talked about how to minister to people who are going through really difficult times. And we went to the book of Job and we used Job as an example of our Job's friends of what you should do when you relate to other people who are going through a difficult time. We saw that you ought to be there. Job's friends were there. You don't have to be smart. You just have to be there. We said that you ought to keep quiet. Job 213, a wonderful verse. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him for they saw that his grief was very great. Then we saw you shouldn't gossip. The friends didn't interrupt Job and they didn't talk to other people about Job. They talked to him. We talked about the importance of giving your friend freedom. Listen guys, don't ever be superficial about suffering and pain. That's hard stuff. It's a hard world. Life is not for sissies and when people are going through stuff they don't act in normal ways. They do dumb things and they say angry things and they question things and they do things that if everything was copacetic they probably wouldn't. Christians, we've got to give other Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to give them freedom. We need to cut some slack for them. We need to be there for them without having to say how could you as a Christian say that sort of thing after all that Jesus has done for you. Listen, don't do that to people. We're human beings. We're all messed up and we're all doing the best we can. Our most of us are and we do really dumb things and we got to be love each other enough to get each other some freedom. Now we spent time talking about that last week because we were talking about what you ought to do when you're ministering to somebody who's going through a difficult time. But let's use Job's friends and find out some things you shouldn't do. First, for those of you who are taking notes, first don't be an intellectual. You know what these friends tried to do? They tried to have an intellectual discussion with Job while he was scraping the scabs off the bad disease that he had and was mourning over his children they decided that we're going to have a theological discussion about God pain and suffering. Let me show you, if you get your Bible, turn to Job 4 1 through 5 A. Then a lion fast and the Timonite answered and said, if one attempts a word with you, will you become weary? But who can withhold himself from speaking surely you have instructed many? You have strengthened weak hands, your words have upheld him with stumbling. You have strengthened the feeble knees, but now it comes upon you and you are weary. In other words, now let's talk about what the Bible and Burkoth and Calvin and Wesley and Arminius have to say about this particular problem. Our story of a chaplain in the Civil War, he was ministering to a group of Confederate soldiers and these soldiers were trying to push an army wagon out of a mud hole where it was stuck. Soldiers were wet and they were tired, they were up to their knees in mud. And the chaplain came up and he was standing next to the men and he turned to one of them and said, do you know Jesus as your personal savior without looking up the soldier replied, this ain't no time for riddles, Reverend, I'm stuck in mud. Well, when you're stuck in mud, it's not time to discuss the finer points of Calvinism or salvation. Similarly, when someone is suffering, it isn't the proper time to discuss theological, philosophical, and metaphysical implications of the problem of suffering. Yet that's what Job's friends do and that's what we do too. Friends' daughter died, getting birth through her child. My friend was so hurt and angry, he came storming into my study and practically yelled, how could your God allow something like this to happen? As came to sit down and as soon as he did, he began to cry. His tears flowed for a while and many. Then I said to him, you need to know that God is the God of the mind as well as the God of the heart. We can talk about your mind some other time, but right now your heart's broken. You're hurt and angry. What you need is someone who will accept your anger, help you bind up a broken heart. And I'm your man, that's what I'm going to do for you. When you're on the other side of all this and some time is passed, we'll discuss some of those answers. But right now, let me cry with you and let's pray. During the next year, my friend would see me and answer my question about how he was doing by saying, oh, Steve, I'm not doing too good, but I'm doing better. But don't forget, you promise me that we're going to talk about the reasons for suffering when I get well. After the year was over, that's about how long it takes if you read the psychology books on grief work. After the year was about over, my friend didn't bring up his need for intellectual answers to the problem of suffering much. I asked him not too long ago if he was ready to have that discussion and he said, no, I don't need the answers. I probably wouldn't understand them anyway. I'm just a simple man, but I've decided to trust God even if I don't understand. The angels started singing. Someone's rope is broken. When they're going through really hard time and great loss, and the hurts terrible, for their sake, don't engage in intellectual discussions about the nature of God, pain, and suffering. Let me give you another one here. I'll just talk about it a little bit today and we'll talk more about it tomorrow. Secondly, in the list of Don'ts, Job's friends took a superior position to him. Don't do that. After all they thought Job's rope had broken and that meant that he had done something wrong. Their ropes had not broken. That's it followed logically from Logic 101, that they had not done the bad things Job had done. Listen to a live as a superior, arrogant, no stuck up in the air smelling feathers in the breeze. Listen to what a lie. This is Job 5, 1 through 2 in the 8 and 17. Call out now. Is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn for wrath, kills of foolish man? And envy slays a simple one. But as for me, I would seek God. And to God, I would commit my cause. Behold, happy as the man whom God corrects. Job, well you couldn't put in the text what he said. So it's sort of a rough translates. Job's an old friend of mine. And it was not pretty when he responded. But in the text, Job 12, 1 through 3A, no doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you, you turkeys. But I have understanding as well as you and I'm not inferior to you. Kim Keller, a dear friend of mine, lives in Miami. When I was the pastor there, he was a singles minister at the church. He gave me a personal ad he had found in a magazine, a singles magazine. And let me read it to you. Outworlder, outworlder, no home to phone, male human 25, dull, insecure, humorless, likes pop tarts, legos, seeks female counterpart to share empty meaningless existence. Sin police composite, number F-150. Kim said he would expect a person who wrote that to get hundreds of inquiries. And he might be right. Whatever else that young man is, he won't be judgmental about anybody else. People are looking for other people who will accept him. Teachers and teachers in the church today often give the impression that they've achieved what they preach or teach. They shouldn't do that and I shouldn't do that. And you shouldn't do that when you're ministering to somebody else. Say man, it's got to really hurt. I don't know what I do if I were in your position. You think about that. I'm in. Listen up, brand new booklets called Reactions to Redemption. Now this is in preparation for Easter but it's also a good witnessing tool. And it is absolutely free. Reactions to redemption life with or without Christ. I'd love to send it to you. Let me know. You can call 1-800-keylife-24 hours a day or you can write key life. Post office box 5000-Mateland Florida 327-94. You can write key life Canada. Post office box 321-50. Cambridge Ontario in 3H5M3. You can email us at stevetkeylife.org with your regular mailing address and ask for reactions to redemption. We'll send it to you as long as supplies last and it's free. We'll pay the postage. But if you can help us financially, I would give you my first form. But I would be so grateful. Only a few people who are ministered to by this ministry are able to help us financially. If you're one of those champions, pray about it and be as generous as you can. I'll send you the gift card. Be said, discover card. If for any contribution of any size, I'll send you the cassette teaching, the scandal of the cross talking about how God took something bad, made something good. Hey guys, I gotta get out of here. Be sure and give us the call letters of this station when you're right or full. And key life is a listener supported production of the life network.