Partaking of the Glory of Christ — Zac Poonen

Growing in Grace and the Knowledge of Christ

I want to turn to 2nd Peter chapter 3. In an earlier study we considered how eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ and to lay hold of eternal life is to get to know God and Jesus better and better all the time.

And Peter says in chapter 3 verse 18, it's the last verse of his letter, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. One of my concerns is for good brothers and sisters who are not growing in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's not something for me to judge you in, but having been a believer for 56 years, there's a certain amount of discernment that I've grown in to be able to see that.

But you can judge yourself and ask yourself whether you have grown in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you when you see that grace is given only to the humble, it means you've grown in humility.

That's the only way to grow in grace. It's impossible to grow in grace if you don't grow in humility. It's a good question for all of you to ask yourself, compare yourself with how it was a year ago. It's easy to deceive ourselves here, to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the ways in which we know is by increasing in the reverence we have for God. If we are not growing in a greater reverence for God or what the Old Testament calls the fear of God, that would be one indication that we are not really growing in the knowledge of Jesus.

Gaining the Glory of Christ

Let me show you a verse in 2 Thessalonians now in chapter 1 where the gospel is 2 Thessalonians and we read here that we are called to 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 14. It was for this that he called you through our gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please remember that I believe there's one of the big differences between the gospel that is preached in many other churches and the gospel that we preach. The gospel preached in many other churches is that we can gain the forgiveness of sins or that we can gain heaven when we die.

But Paul speaks here about gaining the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is another gospel altogether. Forgiveness of sins is just like cleaning up the vessel. What do you clean up the vessel for? It's to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So that is why I call that an incomplete gospel that just saves you from hell, forgives your sins, and you're sure you're going to heaven. You're going to live your whole life with an empty vessel and stand before God with an empty vessel when you were supposed to gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ during your entire life on earth.

To compare it, it would be like you sent your son or daughter to college and he got admission. It was very difficult to get admission in some good colleges. But your son or daughter got admission but never did any of the courses.

Spent four years there studying nothing. Just glorying in the fact that I belong to this top college, to IIT or something like that. But what did you study there? Nothing. Four years, six years, ten years, you're still sitting there.

Glorying that you got admission into the IIT but studying nothing, getting no degree. That is what it means to have the gospel of forgiveness of sins and you've become a child of God, but you've not gained anything of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to beware of this, brothers and sisters. I mean, how would a parent feel you'd be excited when your child got admission into IIT or something like that, some top university. But they didn't study there, didn't gain anything.

What's the use? You might as well join a third-rate useless college and studied something. That is the picture I get. So it's very important that we gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ year by year by year by year, like Peter also said, to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reverence, Scripture, and the Glory of Christ

And as I said, one of those areas is to learn the reverence of God. Now turn with me to 2 Corinthians in chapter 4. See, like I've often urged you to read the Bible slowly, some of these verses I just pointed out to you, you may have completely missed because you didn't read slowly.

You missed growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ or the gospel of gaining the glory of Jesus Christ. I'm sure you read these letters many, many times, but it's so easy to miss it.

And I'll tell you why we miss it. Please listen to this. 2 Corinthians 4. And it speaks about how Satan blinds the minds of the unbelieving, not unbelievers. There are many unbelieving among believers.

And unbelieving believers, it's a terrible state to be in. He blinds the minds of the unbelieving, and let me paraphrase it, that they may see they may see the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, but they do not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

Do you get it? Now you see how believers can be unbelieving. You would have seen it yourself if you had read the Bible slowly instead of rushing past. There's a lot of difference between the gospel of the forgiveness of sins and the gospel by which we gain the glory of Jesus Christ.

We've always felt, oh, the devil's blinded those minds of those unbelievers. No, he hasn't. Maybe he has blinded their eyes from the gospel of forgiveness of sins, but it's your eyes that he has blinded from gaining the glory, the gospel of the glory of Christ, who's the image of God that we can partake of.

That's an amazing gospel. That's the only gospel that will keep you from backsliding. That's the only gospel that will keep you from going in up and down, up and down Christian life, sometimes victorious, sometimes defeated.

Make it your passion to gain the gospel of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we think of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, we got to go, you know, it's wonderful to compare scripture with scripture because the answer for one verse is in another verse.

And it's wonderful that we have a Bible in our own language. To me, it's one of the greatest blessings that I have a Bible in my own language, that I'm literate enough to read it. And I feel sorry for anyone who can read and there's a Bible in your language and you haven't read it through yet.

I really believe you've got to hang your head in shame and say to yourself, this is what you got to say to yourself, I do not believe that the Bible is the word of God. Say that to yourself. Every person here who's been a believer for at least two years and you have not read the Bible yet, this is what you must confess.

I do not believe that the Bible is the word of God. Because even if you don't say it with your mouth, that's what you're saying by your life. It's impossible. It is impossible. For a man to say that he believes the Bible is the only book God has written for man and he's known Jesus for two years and he hasn't even read through the Bible even once yet.

Not saying slowly, read through it fast, get through the whole thing once. It's what I did. As soon as I was converted, I read through the whole Bible in six months. Then I went into it slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, studying chapter by chapter.

So I'd encourage you, first of all, read through the whole Bible. It takes only six months and I did it in the midst of my secular job. So in two years, if you haven't read it, I can without any doubt tell you, you do not believe the whole Bible is the word of God.

Maybe you believe the Gospel of John is the word of God. Or maybe you believe the Philippians or Ephesians. Those are the word of God. But you don't believe the whole Bible is the word of God. No, you don't.

Be honest. If you did, you wouldn't throw those things away. I mean, if you have fake currency notes, you'll throw them away. You won't throw away real currency notes. Why is it you treat some parts of the Bible as believe God's word and some parts are not?

Be honest and say, I don't believe that's the word of God. So that's why we miss out on something. So here is a verse which tells us about the glory of Jesus Christ. John chapter one, verse 14. The word became flesh.

Christ Reveals the Father Through Humble Service

The word is, you know, you know what our words are and the Bible's written in very simple language, really. It's not very complicated. John was not a philosopher. He was a unlearned fisherman. And an unlearned fisherman, when he writes, you don't have to think of complicated meanings.

Think of, you think, what is a word when you speak words? What is it? Words are an expression, an audible expression. Or if you write it, visible expression of your unseen thoughts. We can put it like that.

Your written words are a visible expression of your unseen thoughts. And so when Jesus Christ is called the word of God, it's a visible expression of the unseen God. That's all there is to it. It's an unlearned fisherman writing.

So if you don't come to it with great complicated, high thoughts in your mind and just come in simple way, you understand it. The word was with God, verse one, and the word was God. He came to earth in flesh so that we have a visible manifestation of what God is like.

That's why Jesus could say, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And you know, when he said that, by the way, he said that in John 14 after washing the disciples' feet in John 13. It's after that that he said in John 14, if you have seen me, you've seen the Father.

So what he's saying is, did you see me wash your feet just now? The job of a slave? The Father is like that. Do you believe that? Do you believe God the Father is the type of person who will come and wash our feet?

Has your earthly father ever washed your feet? I won't do that. It's beneath their dignity. You go and wash your father's feet. God is so different from what we imagine he is. A visible manifestation of the unseen God came and washed his disciples' feet and said, if you've seen me, you've seen what God is like.

It humbles me that my heavenly father is like that. He wants to wash my feet. So can you imagine how conceited any believer, any of you can be to think, to even think that you should have a greater ministry in the church than washing other people's feet, that you're a bigger man than the slave that Jesus was.

I tell you, most believers are like those disciples who sat at the table in the Last Supper and they knew that in every Jewish home, when you walk in with dirty sandals and dirty feet, there is always a slave, if it's a rich home, with a bucket of water at the door to wash your feet before you sit down for your meal.

But because Jesus had specifically said that night to that man who loaned him that upper room, said, I don't want anybody there. I don't want any slaves. I don't want anybody there because this is a private gathering of me and my disciples.

So the owner of that house did it like that. He kept the bucket of water. He kept the food on the table and there was no slave. So they all walked in and they saw the bucket there. They knew what is normally to be done.

No slave around. They all go and sit down. Feet are dirty. Who's going to clean it? Everybody is pretty big. Peter is the leader and John is a relative of the high priest and Matthew is a chartered accountant and somebody else is a equivalent of a college graduate or whatever it is.

Judas is scared, I think. And so Jesus says, I'm the only one here who's just a nobody. So I'll pick up the bucket. That was the spirit. And he said, if you have seen me, you've seen the Father. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the scriptures, the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of Jesus Christ. And if you really see the glory, you'll be humbled. You'll put your face in your hands and say, Lord, I'm not like that. You'll weep many, many times.

I wept when I've seen the glory of Jesus in the scriptures. And I said, Lord, I'm not like that. But I want to be like that. I'm willing to pay any price to be like that. I want you to, you who, Spirit of God, you showed me that glory.

I want you to make me like that. It's so important, my brothers, when you read the scriptures, to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. So important. See, I was in a, I grew up in the early days, after I was born again, 56 years ago, in a church which had zero emphasis on the Holy Spirit.

They were very strong on the Word of God. I'm thankful for that because I, I was a new Christian and I studied, studied, studied the Word, but it was all so dry and something missing. And I said, Lord, this is not the way it should be.

And so I had to seek God myself for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I was not taught that in a church. I didn't even know about the Pentecostals. And I went to the Pentecostals. I was disappointed with what I saw there.

They told me to repeat some words and I said, I'm not going to do that. So I left them. I left this other group and I went to my room and I said, Lord, I want you to fill me with the Holy Spirit. That's where God met with me first, when I was just about 23 years old.

And that was the beginning where I began to understand the scriptures. You know, the difference between God's Word and God's Word enlightened by the Holy Spirit is like good, clean meat hanging in the shop, not dirty, freshly cut.

And the same meat cooked on the fire. Think of a chicken curry cooked in the fire. And a chicken freshly, you know, with all the feathers, de-feathered, taken off. You don't feel like eating that chicken, which has just been feathered and cleaned.

It's clean. You don't have any appetite to put one piece of it in your mouth. But when it's put in the fire and cooked, what a difference. That is the difference between an academic knowledge of the Word of God and the same Word, the same Word set on fire by the Holy Spirit.

The world of difference. I remember about two great men of God who lived in America in the 19th century. One was D .L. Moody. He was a preacher. And in his preaching, many times in public meetings, he used to always see two old ladies sitting on two chairs and praying.

So he was so happy. He went up to them and said, Thank you very much for praying for all these unconverted people. And they said, No, Mr. Moody, we are praying for you. He said, Praying for me? What are you praying for?

We are praying that you will be filled with the Holy Spirit. That spoke to him, you know. Here he thought he was a great preacher and he needed to be anointed with the Holy Spirit. And he sought God and the Lord baptized him in the Holy Spirit.

It changed his life. I remember reading that story as a young man. And I said, Lord, do that for me. I have so much knowledge of the Word, but the touch of the Spirit is missing. There's a lot of difference.

There was another man there in the 19th century called A .B. Simpson. Another great man of God. He's the one who wrote this song, Once It Was the Blessing. Now It Is the Lord and many other songs. Jesus Only Is Our Message.

Some wonderful hymns. He was a great hymn writer. But he wasn't like that in the beginning. As a young man, he was a defeated Presbyterian pastor, sick. And he went to the coast somewhere to refresh his health.

And he heard somebody singing there about Jesus saying, No man can work like him. And just that little song gripped him that he really needed the power of Jesus in his body. And he began to seek for the Holy Spirit.

And he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. And it changed him completely. He was such an anointed speaker that D .L. Moody said this about A .B. Simpson. He says, Whatever that man speaks always goes to my heart.

See, this is not an ordinary person saying, D .L. Moody said that about A .B. Simpson. My brothers and sisters, does God have favorites? No. All are the same to him. If you are humble, God will give you the same spirit of grace that he's given others.

He may not give you the same ministry. You may not have be called to stand in pulpits and preach to great crowds. But even in ordinary conversation with people, imagine if someone can have this testimony about you, you're not a preacher, you never stand in a pulpit, but you all of us speak to one another.

And if you can have this testimony, that whatever that sister says always speaks to my heart. So many sisters, they are so curious. Their conversation is all about curiosity, about so many details about your life.

I know young sisters are fed up with some older sisters being curious about their life. So I tell those young sisters, tell that older sister, Sister, how will that knowledge help you in your spiritual life?

Just ask them that question. They'll never ask you again all those curious details that they want to know. How will that help you, sister, in your spiritual life? A lot of people, you know, we have to be very careful.

Just like we don't walk into somebody's house without knocking at the door. Don't be curious about people's affairs. It's exactly like walking into people's houses and bedrooms without getting permission.

Leave it. You don't have to go around. You know, I sometimes go to some people who built a new house and they say, Brother Zak, I want to show you this new house. I say, no, I'm not interested in seeing it.

I don't want to go and see your bedrooms and your bathrooms. I have no interest. I'm not even curious about that. I want to spend that time edifying them spiritually. We are so curious about so many things.

When we could have spent our life in a more profitable way. Have you heard that proverb in English that the curiosity killed the cat? You know, the cat put its head into the dog's kennel to see if the dog was there and that the head got bitten off.

Why do you want to put your head in the dog's kennel to find out if it is there? If it's there, let it be there. If it's not there, let it not be there. So many unnecessary things grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus told the Samaritan woman, you've had five husbands and the one you're living with is not your husband. She immediately changed the subject. She said, Lord, I want to talk about worship. Look at the glory of Jesus there.

He never said, no, no, no, no, no. Hang on. We got to clear this matter about your husbands first. That's what we would do. That's what curious, stupid people will do. Jesus said, OK, you want to talk about worship?

Let's talk about worship. He did not want to embarrass her. Have you seen the glory of Jesus? Do you want to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? Pursue it. People will love to be with you. People will love to hear you.

I'm not talking about pulpit speaking. They love to just talk to you because they know that one sentence from your life will bless their hearts and lift them up and keep them going. You write a two sentence email and they'll be delighted.

Don't you want to be a brother, sister like that? You may never in your life preach in a pulpit, but you can manifest the glory of Jesus. Sisters, brothers, just stop being curious. Stop walking into people's lives and houses without knocking at the door.

These are little examples. So here we see the word became flesh in John 1, 14. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth. The glory of God was seen in Jesus Christ in an earthly form, full of grace and truth.

Moses, God's Presence, and Seeing His Glory

Now, I don't know whether you've seen this verse in the Old Testament. It's good. Whenever we read the New Testament, if you read the Old Testament verses, come back to your mind. Hey, that reminds me of something I've read in the Old Testament.

In Genesis, sorry, Exodus chapter 33, Exodus 33, you know, the children of Israel had disobeyed God by worshiping a golden calf. And God was so angry with them. And he told them, I am not going to lead you anymore, but I won't forsake you.

I'll send my angel with you. And Moses says to the Lord in Exodus 33, he says, Father, verse 15, Exodus 33. If your presence does not go with us, don't lead us from here. I don't want to read the whole passage.

He said, I don't want an angel. I don't want an angel. Lord, if you're not going to go with us, I don't want to move from here. That is always the word of a man of God. Lord, if you don't go with me, I don't want to go from here.

I heard of a great preacher who was invited to speak in a public tent meeting. In the olden days, they used to have big public tent meetings. And he was staying in a small room and the time had come, the singing was over and the time had come for him to speak and he was not there.

So they went to his room and before they knocked at the door, they heard him praying, Lord, if you don't go with me, I'm not going. He didn't want to enter that pulpit without being sure that the Lord was with him.

Boy, I read that, I think, 50 years ago and I've never forgotten it. I said, Lord, I want to be like that. I never want to get into a pulpit thinking that I've got so much experience or I've got so much knowledge.

If you don't go with me, don't take me. I don't want to go in and let the meeting be cancelled. It's okay. What am I going to get up there and waste people's time? I wish every preacher in the world were like that.

What a difference it would make. If your presence does not go with us, don't lead us from here. My brothers and sisters, I plead with you, remember Exodus 33 verse 15. If your presence doesn't go with us, don't take us from here.

Say that about every move of yours. Not just when you're to preach, but when you're anything, even when you go on a vacation. I want the Lord to go with me when I go on a vacation. I don't want to go alone anywhere.

If your presence does not go with me, don't take us from here. I'll stay here for the rest of my life. And then the Lord said, okay, I will do this thing. Verse 17, which you have spoken. What a wonderful thing.

He first said, I won't. I won't come with you. I'll send an angel. But see the difference that prayer makes. Some people say prayer accomplishes nothing. If Moses had not prayed there, it would have been an angel that led Israel.

Do you know why the Lord led Israel? Because Moses prayed. It made all the difference. Can you imagine the difference between an angel leading you and God leading you? And it happened because of one righteous man's prayer.

Some people think that, oh, if we get 100 people to the prayer meeting, God will hear. Rubbish. James 5 .16 says, one righteous man's prayer, fervent prayer, accomplishes more than a million people praying.

It's a question of righteousness. Moses, one righteous man. All those two million Israelites praying would have accomplished nothing. But one Moses. Those people didn't realize what a blessing it was to have a man of God like Moses in their midst.

His prayer changed things. Changed it from an angel to God himself leading them. He said, I've granted you. OK, I will do this thing. Then see Moses. This is always the mark of a man of God. He's never satisfied.

Never satisfied. I mean, he's satisfied materially. He doesn't want anything. I'm content with all things, whether I'm poor or rich. A man of God is always satisfied with his material earthly condition, even if he lives in a hut.

He doesn't want Naaman's gold or clothes and all like Elisha. He doesn't want all that. The little hut I live in is OK. But spiritually, he's never satisfied. So Moses is not satisfied with God's presence going with them.

He says, isn't that enough, Moses? No, no, no. He says, one more thing, Lord, show me your glory. Verse 18. And the Lord says, verse 20, you cannot see my face and live. You have asked for too much. I mean, my presence going with you is OK, but to see my glory.

Sorry, you won't be able to live. But there's a place by the go and hide yourself in the rock, verse 21. And when my glory is passing by, you will see, verse 23, you'll see my back. You will not see my face.

You won't be able to live. Is this the God you worship? Now turn to John 1, 14, where John says, we beheld his glory. We beheld his glory. And where was that glory seen? Turn again to 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6.

For God who said, light shall shine out of darkness, 2 Corinthians 4, 6, is the one who is shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God told Moses, you cannot see my face and live.

And yet the disciples saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It's not just a bright light. It's his life. And that is our calling. Grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the knowledge of that glory.

That's the glory we are supposed to gain. And that glory we read in John 1, 14. Turn back to John 1, 14, has got a balance full of grace and truth. God has created this world with a perfect balance. And the glory of God is balanced.

It's not only grace, it's not only truth, it's not only truth, it's not only grace. The glory of God is balanced. It's not 50 grace, 50 truth. No, it is 100 grace and 100 truth. If you can't understand that, well, that's because divine things are a bit complicated.

It's not 50 -50, it's a 100 -100. Like we say in a good Christian marriage, it's not 50 -50, it's 100 -100. So this is the balance that we see in Jesus Christ. The grace that could speak with compassion to an adulterous woman or to a five times divorced Samaritan woman.

And the truth that would turn the tables of the money changers and let the coins fly around everywhere and turn them out and saying, don't make my father's house a den of robbers. The grace that could tell people, don't fear little flock.

It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Come to me, I'll give you rest. And the truth that from the same lips could say, you Pharisees, you generation of vipers, how will you escape the damnation of hell?

See, that is the glory of God, full of grace and truth. And the more we become like Jesus Christ, the more we will have this balance of grace and truth in our life. When we are initially converted, all of us, you and I, are imbalanced.

Balance in Grace and Truth

That's why if an imbalanced person tries to build the body of Christ, he will build an imbalanced body. And that's why Jesus always sent his disciples two by two, so that there's a balance that was not true in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, it was all one alone, one by one, starting with Noah, first prophet. And all the way, Enoch, he was the first prophet. And then Noah, and then all the way down, Isaiah, Elijah, Malachi, John the Baptist.

One, one, one, one. Always one. You never see two prophets working together. Even Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai was a much older man. Zechariah was a young man who came in much later. But once it comes to the New Testament, Jesus sends two by two, his disciples.

You read that in Luke chapter 10. And then in Acts chapter 13, the first great missionary outreach of the church from Antioch, the Holy Spirit said, separate me Paul and Barnabas. Saul and Barnabas. Paul's name was Saul then.

Why not just Saul? Why not just Barnabas, son of encouragement? No, they will be imbalanced. Paul is the man who is strict. Barnabas is the man who is an encourager. And together, they could manifest truth and grace.

And as long as they respected and valued one another, they could do a great work. And that's why the devil came and separated them. Then the Lord had to give Paul another young man called Timothy, who was like Barnabas.

But this is the mistake that single pastors, however gifted they may be, who think they can build the body of Christ. This is the mistake they make. No human being was perfectly balanced. Jesus Christ was the only one who walked on this earth perfectly balanced.

As we grow in grace and the knowledge, we become closer and closer to be balanced, but we're still slightly imbalanced. We should be growing, even if very strong on truth once, very low on grace. As you grow, grace will become more and more and more, but still it doesn't become perfect.

Some people are very gracious and not so strong on truth. Over a period of time, truth increases in their life, but they're still not perfectly balanced. If you can acknowledge that in your life you're not perfectly balanced, and you need other members of the body of Christ, the input from them, in order to be balanced, it'll help you.

And it doesn't have to be from an older person always. Sometimes we think we can grow only if we spend time talking to very great men of God. Not necessarily. I've been blessed sometimes talking to young people.

I'm blessed often sitting at the Wednesday meeting, listening to young people. If you're not blessed, something must be wrong with you. You know, we can be deaf. We can be deaf when we don't keep a good conscience.

We can be deaf when we have high thoughts about ourselves, that we think we are so big that nobody can teach us. Then we become deaf. Then even if Jesus spoke, we couldn't hear it. There were people in Israel who couldn't even hear Jesus speaking.

That's why Jesus had to say to them, he who has years to hear, let him hear. And even in Revelation, that word comes down to churches, to the seven churches. He who has years to hear, let him hear. I mean, why do you have to tell people in a church who are born-again people, do you have years to hear?

Born-again people can have a bad conscience. They become deaf. Born-again people can become proud. Then they become deaf. I think that could have happened to many of you sitting here, that you're not able to hear Jesus speaking to you.

You know, the Bible says in Revelation 1, that when John heard Jesus' voice, it was like a trumpet. But a deaf man cannot even hear a trumpet. So, but a person whose ears are absolutely clear, because he's kept a good conscience, and he's so humble that he falls on Jesus on his ground with his face in the dust, like John fell at Jesus' feet.

If you're like that, you'll hear God's voice like a trumpet. But very few believers keep their face in the dust. Do you know what I tell all, we work with about 120 elders in all our churches, and I tell all of them one thing.

I say, brothers, keep your face in the dust. I don't know how many of them listen to me. My duty is to exhort them. But if they listen to me, it'll go extremely well with them, I know. The anointing of God is always upon people who keep their face in the dust, who are worshippers.

Worship as Reverent Surrender

That's why I've always said to you, brothers, be a worshipper more than a preacher. Always seek to be a worshipper. And worship, please let me explain again. Worship is not praise and thanksgiving. It's not shouting and praising and lifting our hands.

I agree with all that. I want to raise my hands. I want to shout. I want to praise. And I want that. But that is not worship. Worship is something completely different. Let me show you. The first man in the Bible who is said to have worshipped God, the book of Job.

Just in case you did not know, out of the 66 books of the Bible, the first book written was Job. But because it's a poetical book, the people who arranged the Bible put all the poetical books together.

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. They lumped it all together, even though they were not, you know, even the New Testament books are not written in, placed in order. The first book written was James.