00:00Hello everyone, this is William Chambers. It is good to be here with you all.
00:04I'm so thankful that there's people who love to hear the Word of God.
00:09Great is our God.
00:10Today, if I had a title for today's message, I would call it,
00:14Worship from the Ashes.
00:18Oh, goodness.
00:19Can you worship God from the ashes?
00:23What am I talking about?
00:24When everything is burnt down, when everything is taken away,
00:27when everything looks like it's going wrong, can you still worship God?
00:33If God took everything from you and never restored anything,
00:38could you give him worship?
00:40Job answers that question.
00:42The answer is yes.
00:44We're going to look at this text and say,
00:47Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither.
00:53The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
00:55Blessed be the name of the Lord.
00:58These are the words of Job after God then took so much from him.
01:04Immediately after God took stuff from him.
01:06Job had lost his oxen.
01:08They were stolen.
01:10Job had lost his sheep.
01:12The Bible says that it was burnt with fire from heaven.
01:17Job had lost his camels.
01:19He was a very wealthy man.
01:20He had many camels.
01:21He had lost his camels.
01:22They were stolen.
01:23And his servants were killed.
01:25And if that weren't enough, he had ten children.
01:28All of them died by the house falling upon the children.
01:32And Job learned this one thing after another.
01:35A servant came to tell him this happened.
01:37Right?
01:38While that servant was still speaking, the other one said that this happened.
01:41And this happened.
01:42It was overwhelming catastrophes.
01:44One after another.
01:46And Job said this statement right after losing everything, which shows his maturity.
01:53He said, God, give it to God, take it away.
01:56Blessed be the name of the Lord.
01:59Many people can praise God in addition.
02:02Many can praise God.
02:04A fool can praise God when there's multiplication.
02:07Many can praise God when there's increase.
02:09But it takes maturity to praise God and subtraction and division.
02:15When you're on the decline and going down, can you still say, blessed be the name of the Lord.
02:22So Job said, naked came I out of my mother's womb.
02:25We came in this world with nothing.
02:28God gave Job his life.
02:32Before he was even aware of it, God had gave it to him and made him aware of it.
02:37Then, God also, not only did God give Job his life, he also gave the wound that he was in.
02:43That wound didn't even belong.
02:45There's nothing.
02:46And the mother who nurtured Job, Job did not earn that.
02:50There is nothing in this world that you can say that you earned.
02:54God didn't owe you your life.
02:56You didn't earn your life.
02:57You didn't achieve your mother's womb.
02:59You didn't achieve the nurture that you got.
03:01Nothing.
03:02Naked he came in.
03:03I had absolutely nothing.
03:04That's all of us.
03:06And this strikes at human pride.
03:09Nothing.
03:11There's nothing that you own.
03:12So when God gave it all, you are just a steward of what God gave.
03:17I am just a steward of what he gave.
03:20So when God takes it back, you cannot claim God to stow anything from you.
03:27Because you own nothing.
03:29And God gave it and he's just taking it back.
03:32Help us.
03:33So Job says, naked I came into the world, naked shall I return.
03:40I came in with nothing.
03:42I'm returning with nothing.
03:44I came in vulnerable.
03:45I'm returning vulnerable.
03:47All your wealth, your health, your position, your family, all of it is unstable.
03:53It's not yours.
03:54It's not permanent.
03:55We have an illusion of permanence.
03:57This text is striking at the illusion of permanence.
04:01Oh, it feels like it's stable until it's not.
04:05There's a time where God's going to take everything away.
04:08I remember being in very great health.
04:10I'm in decent health now, but I'm getting more frail.
04:15I tried to pick up a television a few days ago and realized I'm losing strength.
04:19My legs are more fragile than they were when I was 25.
04:24But God takes away.
04:27Can we bless God when he takes away?
04:30Maturity is not measured on how long we hold on to something.
04:35Maturity is measured by how faithful we let go.
04:41Can you praise God when it's time to give it up?
04:44Blessed be the name of the Lord.
04:47From the ashes, Job gave God praise and he did not reserve.
04:53He didn't hold back.
04:54Many people struggle to praise God when they lose something.
04:59And this is a life of loss.
05:01You come out of the womb, you lose the comfort of the womb.
05:04You gain some friends, you lose some friends.
05:06You gain some money, you lose some money.
05:07You start to lose your health.
05:09And things start to go down.
05:11Can you thank God when you are at loss?
05:16That's what Job is doing here.
05:19Job is speaking praise unto God.
05:21In the middle of grief, he refuses to despair in pain.
05:28Blessed be God.
05:29He gave God praise because he wasn't praising God for the circumstances.
05:33He was praising God based on his name, based on his reputation, based on his character.
05:38He is saying basically, God is still good no matter if I get something or if it's taken away from
05:44me.
05:45God is still good.
05:48That needs to be our disposition.
05:50Job doesn't say, God, when you answer these questions that I have for you, then I'll praise you.
05:55Job doesn't say, Lord, when you restore all that I have, that's when I'll praise you.
06:00Sometimes we face God transactionally.
06:03There's a lot of people that praise God.
06:04God did this.
06:05God did that.
06:05God did that for me.
06:07Praise God.
06:07Everybody can do that.
06:08It's a transaction.
06:09He gave me something.
06:11Can you keep that same energy?
06:13Ah, when he takes away.
06:15Okay, so heaven, out of Job, heaven heard praise rise in the midst of subtraction.
06:24Heaven heard praise rise in the midst of ashes from Job.
06:29Can heaven hear praise rise from you in the midst of ashes?
06:32When everything seems burnt down and everything seems confusing, can you still recognize that God is still good no matter
06:41what?
06:42If we can praise God in the midst of loss, in seasons of loss, it'll keep us steady.
06:48It'll keep us from fluctuating too much.
06:50Still, I can give God praise no matter what I lost because he's been good.
06:54It'll hold you steady so that you can endure the hardships of this life.
06:59Help us, God, to be able to worship you in the middle of ashes.
07:03In Jesus' name I pray and say, amen.
07:25Amen.
07:26Amen.
07:27Amen.
07:30Amen.
07:32Amen.
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