(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Amen. So Job chapter number one is where we're going to be this morning. So Job chapter number one is basically detailing the single worst day for an individual in the entire Bible. And we're going to look down at the end of Job chapter number one. So Job of course, we see this discord go back between God and Satan here. And Job, after this conversation between God and Satan happens, Job loses everything in one day. He loses all his wealth, all his possessions, his children. And we see how Job reacts to this. And in Job number, verse number 20 of Job chapter number one, we're going to focus on these three verses here this morning. The Bible says, Then Job arose, this is after all this has happened to him, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. So Job here, after losing all his wealth, all his children even, worships the Lord, and he praises God saying that naked came I. He's like, I came into this world with nothing, and I will leave with nothing. And verse number 22 is going to be the focus here where the Bible says, In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. So the title of the sermon this morning is foolishly charging God. Foolishly charging God. That's what we're going to look at this morning. We're going to look at how we, in our lives, we're going to look at this story of Job, look at the story of Job's wife in just a few minutes, and look at how we foolishly charge God in our lives. So the first thing I want to point out in Job chapter number 1 and verse number 22, the Bible says, In all this. What does that mean, in all this? That means in the things that have just happened to Job. All right? So the first point in the sermon this morning is that bad things will happen to you in your life. And hopefully, none of us have a day like Job had here, but this story is not only, this story proves so many valuable points to the Christian. What we're going to talk about this morning is just one of those points, but it's an extreme case where we can learn so many valuable lessons for our Christian life. But the first one is this. In all this, bad things will happen to you in your life. Period. End of statement. Job's an extreme lesson in this. I hope that none of us will lose everything, including our entire families, in one single day. That would be a terrible thing, and it's hard to even imagine what that would be like. But the point is this, and this is what Job says in verse number 20 and verse number 21, he's saying, like, look, life will not always be good thing after good thing after good thing. And to expect that is not realistic. Many of Jesus's lessons to the disciples were that very thing. Jesus said, I bring the sword. He's like, he just, one of the main themes of Jesus teaching the disciples before he left this earth was that bad times are going to come to you, mainly because you're a follower of me. Mainly because you are preaching me. The world hated me, so it's going to hate you as well. So look, bad events, bad times, things are going to happen. And look, for a multitude of reasons, bad things could happen. I mean, bad times will come to you. Maybe you have good financial times, maybe you have bad financial times. But even bad events could happen to you in your life that are much more serious than just, you know, financial things. Think about this for a second. We'll look at this in detail in just a few minutes in chapter number two. But I mean, just think of your health. Think of your health and the health of your family. This is something that you should thank God every day for, if you have it. It's one of the main things I believe that we take for granted in this life, that we're healthy, we're able to move around and live our lives, but bad things will happen to you. You know, serious things, maybe not so serious things, bad things will happen to you. And look, those two, bad things can be put into two categories in your life. Those two things, if you're going through bad times in your life, those bad times could be from God. Maybe that could be chastisement from God. And that's kind of one of the main themes of the book of Job is that he has these friends show up and his friends, you know, foolishly and errantly tell him that this is chastisement from God. So if somebody is going through bad times, it is that individual person, this is something to remember. It's up to that individual person to decide and kind of do some self-reflection. Hey, is this chastisement from God? Am I being chastised for something that I'm doing in my life? That is not my job to go up to a friend and say, listen, I think, you know, because you're having these problems, you know, you probably got some sin in your life. You need to get out. That's not for somebody else to make that judgment. But everybody should do that reflection because if I'm going through bad times, I want to make sure if it's chastisement from God, that's something I can fix. So I want to do that self-reflection myself. But here's another thing, folks, those bad times in your life, they could not be from God. They could be, it couldn't be, it could be something other than chastisement from God. It could be tribulation in the world. It could be persecution because, you know, you're a Christian, you could be persecuted from people in the world. That's what tribulation is. Or, you know, things just happen. Things break. People get sick. We live in a fallen creation here, folks. You're not perfect. Your body's not perfect. This world around us is not perfect. And things just happen. So the bad times in your life are coming. They could be from God, or they could be not from God. But here's the point. Even if those bad times are not from God, as we see here in Job chapter 1, God allowed those things to happen. If you're going through some sort of bad times, God, either way, God allowed that to happen. Turn to Job chapter number 2. Turn to Job chapter number 2. Now, people are generally hard on Job's wife. Let me give you a little bit of a different perspective this morning. Look at Job chapter number 2 and verse number 4. Job chapter number 2, look at verse number 4. So, Job does not, after losing all these things, after losing all his possessions, his business, his servants, his children even, Satan says, well, yeah, but, you know, he still has his life. And men will, Satan basically says, men will give anything to save their own life. Look at verse number 4. It says, Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. And let me tell you something. This is true. This is true. I mean, you think about situations where people have health problems, and not only just their own life, but even health problems with their children or people that they love. Look, I have known people that literally gave almost everything that they owned for health problems that they had. I mean, you talk about somebody who has maybe saved up their whole life and has, you know, a nest egg saved and then has a child that gets sick. They will give everything that they own to help to fix, you know, that health problem or to at least try to fix that health problem. That's what Satan is saying. He's saying, a man will give anything for his health. So I mean, think about that just from the perspective of something that we take for granted. You know, if you're healthy enough to walk into the church this morning, you should be thankful for that because you have something that is basically priceless is what Satan is telling God here because he's saying, you know, when you have health problems, that's real problems. Those are problems that many times money cannot solve. And that's what Satan is saying. He said, yeah, but he still has his health. And so God here is going to allow Satan to also take away Job's health. Look at verse number five. Port forth thy hand now and touch his bone and flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life. So that God literally gives permission to Satan to curse his flesh. He's like, you can't kill him though. He stops him at the point where he could take his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils and the sole of his foot under his crown. And he took himself a potsherd to scrape himself with all. And he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die. So she is saying, why won't you curse God? And now everybody's pretty hard on Job's wife, but let me give a little perspective here. This woman just lost everything too. This woman, I mean, you have a mother here who has just lost all her children. I would challenge all the mothers, you know, that I've ever met really to go through something like this and still, you know, have it together, so to speak. Most women that I know would be in a very, very bad place. Look, I would be in a very bad place if I had a day like Job had. His wife is having a hard time. His wife is having a difficult time. And Job will not blame God at all, not even with the words that he says. And she's like, why? She wants someone to blame. She wants him to stop being positive towards the Lord. And look, she's not doing the right thing, but she's having a terrible time. And she is not as strong as he is very simply, as the Bible says that, you know, she shouldn't be. She's definitely not as strong as Job, but she's wanting someone to curse God with because she's upset. And she's upset with God. Look, and Job gives a perfect example of leadership here as a husband because his wife wants him to do something and, you know what, he basically says no. He says, no, I will not do that thing. And that's just, you know, a separate note on leadership, though. You know, as a man, as a leader, look, as a leader of anything, if you are never saying no, let me tell you something, if you're leading your home, just a little tip for you guys, if you're leading your home, you're the leader of your home, and you've never said no to your wife, or you've never said no to your children, I got news for you, you're not in charge. Somebody else, you're like, I just agree with everything that everybody wants to do all the time. Somebody else is the leader, if that's the case. A leader will have to say no from time to time on a regular basis, actually, especially when it comes to children. All right. These are people that, you know, if you have somebody, a parent that's never saying no to their children, the child is leading the parent in that case. And Job shows good leadership here, where he basically says no to his wife. And look, I'm not beating up on this lady. She's had a horrible day. She's lost everything that is dear to her. But another thing is, is that it's great leadership from Job to say no to his wife and lead his wife in a more positive direction. But here's a little tip for marriage, by the way. Just, you should not have a marriage where you have a husband and a wife that encourage each other in sin. There are many husbands out there who are led, you know, astray by their wife, and there's many marriages out there where a husband leads his wife astray. These are marriages where maybe, you know, the two, all they do is they complain to each other about people and about things and about scenarios, and they just feed each other's sin. That's not what's happening. Job sees something wrong, and he's like, No, I'm not going that way. Even when he is encouraged to go that way. It's always best, even if a wife can retain her integrity, if you just flip this around. Even if Job was in charge, and he wanted his wife to curse God, it would be within her bounds to not curse God, because her higher power is the Lord. So it's always best in a marriage if, you know, both people don't just throw their integrity to the wind, whether it's the husband or the wife. Go back to Job Chapter Number Two. So part of being a leader is saying no. Part of being a leader is saying no. Job Chapter Two, look at verse number 10. The Bible says, But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. You know what he said? He said, No. What shall we receive? And then he gives an explanation. He doesn't just say, No, I'm not doing what you like. This is great leadership right here. Because he he tells her, No, we are not going that way. And here's why we're not going that way. This is great leadership. This is encouraging his wife to get right and to follow him. This is giving that encouragement, that explanation, that biblical, you know, knowledge that will encourage her to get back on her feet and to get going in the right direction. He says, What? Now he gives the explanation, and it's a good one. Look at this. Shall we receive good at the hand of God? And shall we not receive evil? Evil meaning harm or bad things. And it look at this. Turn to James Chapter three. It says, In all this did not Job sin, look at this, with his lips. The Bible says that Job didn't even sin with the things that he said. Many times we think with sin, it's the things that we do. But the Bible is very clear here that you can sin with the things that you say. Haven't you ever met somebody? Turn to James Chapter three. Turn to James Chapter number three and look at verse. Haven't you ever met somebody where, you know, you could say about that person? Maybe you've even said about that person. Yeah, you know, that guy, maybe he's really good at that job or whatever, but his mouth gets him in a lot of trouble. You ever known anybody like that? Maybe they're really good at their job. Maybe they're really, you know, skilled in certain areas. Maybe they're very nice in many different areas, but their mouth just gets them in trouble. What does that mean? Look, your mouth can ruin everything for you. Look at verse number five of James Chapter three. The Bible says the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. It's like it's saying the tongue is such a small part of your actual body. Look at this, though, and the tongue is a fire. Look at this, a world of iniquity. Well, you know what that means? The tongue is a world of sin. The things that you say can be sin. You can say things that are sin. And like most people would think, okay, profanity or whatever. No, but how about this? How about this? Railing is like speaking badly about people behind their back. Gossip, back biting. All these things are things that you say. All these things are, you know, your tongue causing sin for you. And the Bible says that Job didn't even utter a word that could be called a sin. That's impressive. Go back to Job. So look, all that to say this, bad things happen. Bad things happen. We're talking about foolishly charging God. Bad things happen whether directly from God or not. God allowed those bad things to happen to you. You can't argue that. God is all powerful. He could have stopped anything that could have happened to Job even. Any bad thing that's ever occurred to you in your life, God allowed to happen. And Job's response is, what, do we think that we deserve nothing but good all the time? That was Job's response. You know what that is? Somebody that thinks, I deserve nothing but good all the time and I will only be happy with God if I just receive good all the time. You know what that is? You could define that as a fair weather friend. Somebody that's your friend as long as things are great for you. Somebody that's your friend. You know, that's somebody who's literally telling God, I'll respect you. I'll worship you. I'll follow you. I'll appreciate you. I'll be thankful for everything that you've given me. I'll be faithful to your word as long as everything is great for me all the time. That's a fair weather friend right there. And guess what? Things aren't going to be good all the time for you. It's not feasible. It's not going to work is what Job is telling his wife. Look, Job is saying, if I take the good, I will also take the bad. What a great response. You know, one of the main lessons of the book of Job and the story, like the story of Job, the story of the historical person Job. One of the great lessons is, is that bad times prove who you are. It's the difficult times. Look, we can all, we can all at least say that we will keep our integrity when times are good. Look, I mean, many can't even remain faithful in the good times. Okay, but this is like the easy lesson. Many people, this is the story of Solomon. Many people prove, have proven in their lives where when God gives them blessings, they take those blessings and they use those blessings to abandon God. They get blessings of, you know, whether it be earthly blessings or just things going well for them and they turn their back on God. It's like, oh, things are going really great for me in my life right now. And because of that, I have no time for the Lord anymore. Look, that is a, that is a Christianity 101 mistake. That is a baby Christian mistake to have God bless you and then use those blessings to turn your back on the God that blessed you with those things. Because you know what one thing God will do? God, anything that replaces him, God will destroy. I don't care if that's material things. I don't care if that's your wife. I don't care if that's your children. God destroys idols. Read the Bible. Anything that you put on the pedestal in front of God, God will take down. He will be after. Because God deserves and God wants to be back on the pedestal in your life. But look, that's Christianity 101. Being faithful in the bad times, that's a 400 level course right there. Having difficult times come upon you like happened to Job and be able to retain your integrity and not foolishly charge God, that is a mature Christian's game right there. Look, it is the really the bad times that really show who you are. I mean, we, I mean, you think about, you know, when we truly prove our loyalties in this life. I mean, I've often said this about friends, like, you know, friends rules. How do you know who your real friends are? Well, you know, friends are a real, a true friend is happy for you when you're up. And that's easy. That's easy to be that type of friend. It's easy to be happy for somebody. So look, you find somebody, you find somebody who says they're your friend, and they're not happy for your successes. That's a real problem. But a true test of a friend is someone that is there for you when you're down. And that's what Job proved to God right here. Look, it is the bad times where people really prove what they're all about. That's why you see, even in the world, you think about all these difficult training programs out in the world. You'll get like what like elite soldiers have to go through. Why do they do that? Why don't they just say, like, hey, who wants to be a Navy SEAL? Sign up. You want to be one? Congratulations, you are one. I mean, why are there all these difficult training programs to where they just they beat people to the brink of what they can physically and mentally take? And only the small percentage of people that finish get that get that title or that job or whatever it is. Why is it? Why is it that they put people through that? I mean, why go through all the suffering? The answer is, they want to prove you. They want to see who is, who really is qualified to do that difficult job. I even remember, I was talking about this with the kids and my wife the other day, but I remember my engineering class, I started out with like 25, 30 people my first year in college and not one single person that I started with I graduated with. Because it was difficult. It was a hard thing to do. So the point is this, folks, if you have something like these things are so valued by society, the reason these things are valued by society is because if you have a hard degree, if you have a hard license, if you've gone through some hard training program, people know what you had to do to get that. This is why I've said so many times that look, in many times, people that interview you for that job are people that have done that. Are people that have gone through that program or whatever it is themselves. I'm sure those guys that are training those, you know, wannabe special forces soldiers on the beach in Coronado, I'm sure that they went through that themselves. I guarantee it that they did. But the point is this, these things matter because they prove who you are in bad times. They prove what you will do through difficulty. You're saying when you have that certificate in your hand of whatever it is that, hey, this is what I do when things get difficult, I finish. I stick with things. I what? What a joke. I keep my integrity through those times. And look, you should pursue those things because they matter. This is where many homeschoolers, this is where many homeschoolers kind of fall short. Many homeschoolers think, okay, I homeschool and I don't have to, you know, do all the things by the book and all these different things and look, you don't and they're like, I'm keeping my kids from the world and I'm giving my kids a biblical worldview and all that's true and all that is great. But then they just throw off all the testing. They throw off all the certificates. They throw off the GED and the equivalency exams and all these different things. And that's a mistake to just make everything informal. You're doing a disservice to your kids there because people are going to look for those things to prove who they are, to prove that they can get through difficulty, to prove that they can, they can pursue, study and, and gain this level and then take a test and pass. And it shows who they are. If none of it's recorded, there's no testing along the way. It's a disservice to your kids. It really is because certificates matter. They prove you, they prove you, they prove what you will do in difficult times. You should pursue those things. Let's go back to Joe. See, cause here's the problem folks. Everybody says they are great. I can't tell you how many resumes I've seen, interviews I've gone through. People are just like, I'm great. I'm the best. I'm the best. But that's what these, these, these certificates, these programs, all these things, they prove that you are who you say you are. Because everybody's out there saying that they're great. So you should go ahead and you should pursue these things. Those things show that I've been tried, I've been tested and I kept my integrity. That's what those things say. Let's go back to Joe. Some people walk away from God in good times, but that's just the elementary test. The 400 level class is going through bad times and keeping your integrity with God. Can you endure hard times and not charge God is the question this morning. Can you do that and not abandon him into sin, even sin with your mouth, even sin with your tongue. Look, even things you would utter under your breath. You say, well, you know what pastor, this is an easy one for me because I would never do that. I would never curse God. I would never blame God. But let me, let me give you some ways that, that we do. Let me just give you some roundabout ways where Christians charge God all the time. How's this one sound? Making excuses in your Christian life. You ever make excuses? You ever see something in the Bible? How about this one? I can't go to church cause I'm too busy right now. I can't go to church because, you know, certain circumstances in my life right now. Hebrews 10 25, it doesn't really apply to me. You see this at the door all the time. Like churches where two or three are gathered together. And I have two or three people in my house. Really, where's the pastor there? Look, people making excuses for not doing what God commands them to do, you know what they're doing? They're judging the word of God. They're saying that God's word which applies to everybody doesn't apply to them. I just have to take care of some things and then I'll, I'll be back. Then I'll have time to do what, you know, look, this stops Christian growth. Stopping Christian growth, not just coming to church, but anything in the Bible that you hit and say, you know what? I'm not going to do that one. I'm going to stop there. Just anything. Look, a command only has two parties involved. When I tell, I mean, let me give you an example. If a, if a, if a husband would tell his wife, if a husband would tell his wife, I don't want you to go to church. I mean, the, the husband and the wife are the only two that are involved there. And then the wife, she goes anyway to church because she knows what the Bible says. She goes to church anyway. She has judged his command. She's judged his command. She's decided that that command is, you know, doesn't apply to me because I have, you know, responsibility to the higher power, which is God. She knows the Bible. But the point is by not obeying that command, she judged the command. She charged the command. She decided something's wrong with this command. So when, when you take a command in the Bible, when you learn the Bible and you say, you know what, I'm going to stop there. I'm not going to do that one. You don't listen to clear commands from God. Look, it's not hard to understand most of the commands in the Bible, but people know they're just saying, I can't do that right now. They're just saying that one, that doesn't apply to me because of this. When they know that it clearly does, you know what they're doing? They're foolishly charging God. They're judging his word. They're saying that their judgment is better than God's judgment. Look, it'd be one thing. It'd be one thing if people were just like, you know what? I'm not going to do that command because I'm not right with God. But you know what? They rarely do that. Rarely. When you find people that are backslidden Christians and have just hit that wall in their Christian life and they're just like, I'm just not going to do that. Oh, you know, alcohol and drunkenness and sobriety, I'm just not going to do that one. Fornication, yeah, that doesn't really apply to me. I don't know about that. I just can't really do that right now because of this. You know what? Very rarely do people say, you know what? I'm not in church because, hey, where were you? I'm not in church because I'm not right with God. Rarely. As a matter of fact, people are backslidden. Many times you talk to them, they're going to tell you how spiritual they are. It's shocking how consistent that is. But at least somebody that would come and say, you know what? I'm backslidden and I'm in this sin because I'm just like, I'm a bad Christian and I'm not right with God. At least they would not be foolishly charging God. But people that are just making excuses in their Christian life, that's exactly what they're doing. They're foolishly charging, they're foolishly judging the word of the Lord. Another one is just like not raising their kids the way the Bible says to raise their kids. Like it's not complicated about the Bible and what it teaches about, you know, raising our kids. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter number six. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter number six. Not bringing them to church, not teaching them the Bible. You know, one of... I talked to a mother. I talked to a mother a while back and it was a very profound conversation that stuck with me and my wife and it actually, it really moved me, this conversation. And I talked to this... I don't want to mention any names or anything but I talked to this mother. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter number six and look at verse number six. So the Bible says this, it says, in these words which I command thee this day, the Bible, shall be in thine heart and thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children and thou shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest, by the way, when thou wisest down and when thou risest up. I talked to a mother a while back and she told myself and my wife, she told us how she just finished reading through the Bible with one of her children, one of her younger children. This mother said, this mother said, it took two and a half years to go through the Bible verse by verse with at the time her youngest child. Two and a half years, verse by verse through the Bible with her child. That's Deuteronomy 6. And you know what this mother said? And it was profound and it will stick with me for the rest of my life. She said, I know that it's one of the most important things I've ever done or that I will ever do. So when you read past Deuteronomy chapter six, verse number six and verse number seven, when I read that to you again and again and again throughout the years, two and a half years, verse by verse, taking that child to church, explaining through the Bible, answering every question along the way. So why did it take two and a half years? Because when you go through the Bible verse by verse with a 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, 13 year old that is saved, they will ask question after question after question, and they will tell you profound things. They will tell you at the dinner table, have you ever thought about this? And you will say, as a 40 some year old saved believer, I've never thought of that before. Because the word of God is infinite. So as we blow through Deuteronomy chapter six, verse number six and verse number seven again and again, you just remember that. Write that in your Bible right now if you write in your Bible. Two and a half years. And a woman saying that she knows that it's the most, one of the most important things that she will ever do in her life. I mean if you're bored as a homeschooling mom, you're not doing it right. You're missing something. Two and a half years. But if you say that's not for me, I don't need to spend that time. I can do it differently and get the same results. You're rejecting the clear commandment of God. That doesn't apply to me. You are foolishly charging God. Foolishly charging God. People that walk away from this Christian life. You know this going to church three times a week, this is getting me nowhere. Who goes to church three times a week anyway? Who's even heard of this before? Three times a week? Is that necessary? Where's the say in the Bible? You have to come to church three times a week. Where's the say in the Bible? Look, something's wrong with your heart. Something's wrong with your heart. This assembly of believers gets together three times a week. It doesn't work for me. Are you joking? The Bible doesn't work for you? Hey, you're using the wrench backwards. You're not using the tool right. I mean you have the audacity to say that what God has prescribed in his word for your life is not working for you. You know what you're doing? You're foolishly charging God. Notice that word fool in there over and over and over again. Every time that we know what God wants us to do and we don't do it, we are charging God. We're saying my way's better. Unless you're one of these rare people that I don't even know if I've met one that's like, yeah, I'm just not doing it right. Yeah, I just, I know God's way is better, but I'm just in sin right now. And I'm having a hard time getting out of sin. Look, that's a person right there that would end up getting out of sin with that kind of attitude. But foolishly charging God, saying, yeah, God, you know what? I understand something that you don't. Or, you know, I just don't want to. You're passing judgment on the word of God. Turn to Psalm chapter number 18. Talk about a lack of respect. Only a fool would do these things. Imagine a child that casually obeyed or disobeyed his or her parents. Be foolish. They'll be a foolish child. God's word is perfect and it does apply to you. Look at Psalm chapter 18 and verse number 30 and we'll end here. Job is such a great story because it's the extreme of the bad things that could happen. And the man stood up, he kept his integrity, he led his wife back, hopefully back, to her integrity at some point. And he said, look, we don't just deserve good things. Whatever God wants to allow to come my way, God is right no matter what. I don't know how many times I've had things going on in my life. And look, many times in your life when you're going through the bad things, here's what you just need to remember. You will look back at those bad things and you will understand them much better than you do. You're not going to many times understand what it's all about when you're in those bad times. You just have to be in those bad times. You have to retain your integrity. Do not charge God. Go through those bad times. Keep your Christian life going. Keep doing what the Bible says no matter what is happening. And you will look back and you will understand what those times were all about. But if you keep, don't keep your integrity and you charge God and you turn against God in those times, look, you failed. And you will not be able to go back and gain your integrity in those times again. You will only be able to prove your integrity to the Lord when you go through the next rough patch. So just get it right the first time. Look at Psalm chapter 18 in verse number 30. You say, well that sounds like it takes a lot of trust. Look at Psalm 18, 30. The Bible says this, as for God, his way is perfect. That's all you need to know. That's all you need to know. It doesn't, it doesn't say that you need to understand everything that's going on. It's just his way is perfect. You just do it and if bad things come from it, fine. If good things come from it, fine. As long as you're doing his way, as long as you're following God's way, the word of the Lord is tried. It works. It's been tried again and again and again. He is a buckler. That means a shield. That means a protector of all those that what? That give lip service to him. No, all those that trust in him. This isn't just talking about salvation. This is talking about the entire word of the Lord. To go into bad times and realize, man, if I do these things in the word of the Lord that God is telling me, this is going to cause me some hardship out here. This is going to cause me, I mean, I don't see how in my logical mind doing these things in the Bible is going to make X, Y, and Z problem any better. As a matter of fact, it might make Y and Z even worse. Do it anyway. Because the word of the Lord is tried and he is a shield, a protector to those that trust him. You don't have to understand everything. The word of the Lord, his commands are easy to understand. You don't have to understand every single thing. Why God, you know, tells you to do the things that he tells you to do. You will understand, I believe, after time as you mature as a Christian. But look, just all you need to do is to just trust him and to do it. This is what the Bible is saying. And he's a protector. I'm going to talk about, you know, the type of protector that he is to those that trust him in tonight's sermon. But he's a shield, the Bible is saying. So retain your integrity. Every single time you look at the word of God and you say, yeah, I don't know about that. You're charging God. Just read it and just do it. That's all we need to do in this Christian life. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.