greater than Job. The 42 chapters of the book of
Job pass through some very deep and dark waters. Suffering, trouble,
sorrow, heartache. Only to arrive at the end of
the book with Job not only surviving the
storm, but in his right mind, with honor, with prosperity,
and blessing above all he'd known before. It's a miracle, really. Chapter 1 is a miniature of the
entire book. A good man having lost all his
wealth and all ten children, more devastation in his life
than we could imagine, and yet in the end of the chapter he
is able to say, blessed be the name of the Lord. what we sang a while ago. Only
we just sang it with our lips. Job was singing it with his heart. And in the end, the Holy Spirit
can record in all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. A miracle indeed. But we're talking about a greater
than Job this morning. We have to look beyond a fallen
child of Adam named Job to really get the message God would give
us today. I've often said the entirety
of Old Testament history is simply God painting pictures of his
son. and so it is here in Job chapter
1. Also you remember the risen Lord
on resurrection day as he appeared to two who walked on the road
to Emmaus. And he said to them there in
Luke 24, 27, beginning at Moses, that is the books of Moses, the writing
of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy, and all the prophets, that is
all the Old Testament. He expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. That includes Job chapter 1. So in the beginning of this chapter
we find a man who seemingly has everything. And to get the picture from the
eons of eternity, God the Son had everything. And then we read that Job suffers
the loss of it all. Shame was his lot among men. Lost his wealth. Lost all of
his ten children. That in itself in Old Testament
times was a shame, was a very traumatic thing to have no posterity. The Lord Jesus came into this
world and laid it all down voluntarily. but in the end would come forth
victorious over death, hell, and the grave. So you see the
picture. And I want to look at this chapter for a few minutes
under four headings. Number one in verses one through
five, a character unknown. Now there's a Job that we know
about. We know of Job, as verse 1 says,
to be perfect. Not perfect as in sinless, but perfect as in heart attitude
toward God. The Bible tells us that Noah
was perfect. David's heart was perfect. King
Asa's heart was perfect. And Job here is said to be perfect. Not in that he's sinless, but
in that he's blameless in his heart's attitude toward God. And then Job was an honest man,
upright. Reputation among his neighbor's
friends. And then we read that he's a
godly man, one that feared God. and eschewed evil, that is, avoided
evil. We read that he's a praying man.
In verse 5, he offered sacrifices and besought the Lord in behalf
of his children. He did this on a regular basis,
not just occasionally, but verse 5 concludes with the words, Thus
did Job continually. We also read that he's a wealthy
man. In verse 3, 7,000 sheep, 3,000
camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-asses, and a very great household,
meaning lots of servants. In Job's time, all this together
was great, great wealth. And verse 3 concludes by saying,
this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. What
an introduction. This is the Job we know. But my heading is a character
unknown. Perhaps the greatest description
of all is the simplest. The first four
words of verse one. There was a man. Is that all he was? There was a man. We are so locked into possessions
and positions and talents, we make more of people than what
they are. We judge based on what a person
has, what a person can do, and we forget the plain truth, there
was a man. He's not Superman, just a man. And we think and would ask, well,
he's such a good man, a godly man. Shouldn't he get a free pass
and avoid all the dark side of life because of his greatness? And the answer is no. Being chosen of God to experience
the dark side of life proves and reveals God's greatness
and God's grace in him that he's just a man. There was a man. God is taking Job to paint a
picture of another man, the man Christ Jesus. Paul said there is one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He's born to suffer and die. He said about himself, The Son
of Man must suffer many things and be killed. And he said to
Nicodemus in John 3, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. We find this all the way through
the book. Isaiah said, In his prophecy, chapter 32, a man shall
be in hiding place. Again, he said that he's a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. John the Baptist said, after
me there cometh a man preferred before me. The woman of Samaria in John
4 said, Come see a man, which told me all things that ever
I did. The disciples, the storm at sea, when it was calmed, they
asked, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and
sea obey him? The officers said, never man
speak like this man. His critics said, we know this
man, he is a sinner. The Jews said, we will not have
this man reign over us. Pilate said, behold, the man. And the Roman centurion at the
foot of the cross said, certainly this was a righteous man. The apostle Peter preaching at
Pentecost Acts chapter 2 said, this is a man approved of God
among you. There was a man. The Son of God became the Son
of Man. Paul wrote in Philippians, and
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Job was just a man. There was
a man. But God's looking deeper. He calls the man in verse 8,
My servant. My servant. That's how He referred
to His Son in the Old Testament prophecies more than once. That's Christ. Also in verse 8, there is none
like Him in the earth. Well, that certainly was true
of Job, but it's greater true of Christ. There is none like
Him in the earth. So this character unknown is
a man, just a man. Leave off the wealth. Leave off
the honor. Leave off the reputation. Leave
off the religion. Just a man. Christ was born in
poverty. Lived in poverty. Died in shame. And yet He is more than a man.
He is the Lord of glory. The King of kings. In this world,
he was a character unknown. Number two, in verses six through twelve,
there's a conversation unheard. The Lord had a conversation with
Satan. The Lord asked him, where you
been? Satan answered, well, going to
and fro in the earth. Seeing what damage I can do. Trying to disrupt your creation. All I can. Disputing your authority. And
defeating your saints. That's what I'm doing. And the Lord said to him, have
you considered my servant Job? What do you think you can do
with him? Job never heard this conversation. It's a conversation unheard. He never knew what was coming
in his life. Neither do you, neither do I. But we can't limit this to the
man, Job. Satan's gonna cut him to pieces
Just a few chapters over Job never heard the conversation
But Christ did know He didn't come into this world
not knowing Who he was and why he was here and what he would
suffer while he was here He knew. So God is really saying to Satan,
have you considered my son? What do you think you can do
with him? Satan said, I can't do anything
with him. You've got a hedge around him. Protected him. Verse 11, Satan said to the Lord, Put forth
thine hand now, and touch all thee hath, and he will curse
thee to thy face. And the Lord said, No, you do
it. You do it. The Lord gave Satan permission
to attack Job. And he set a limit. You can't
kill him. But other than that, go for it. So Job's life becomes a battlefield
between heaven and hell. Job in all the turmoil of it
is searching his own heart as we do. His friends have all kind of
answers as people do. But it wasn't really about Job. His life was a battlefield between
heaven and hell. But again, we're not just looking
at the man Job. Christ is the real battlefield. Number three, in verses 13 through 19, there is a conflict, unexpected. Job didn't know what the next
day held for him and neither do we. There's a conflict unexpected. Satan was set on destroying Job and he was set on destroying
the man Christ Jesus. We read in these verses how that
Job was stripped involuntarily of all his wealth and his children
and his honor and his reputation as was Christ. Satan has robbed
and stripped all Adam's race. It's significant that Job's children
were ten, which is totality. All there is. When you get to
eleven, you're starting over. Ten is all there is. And Satan has robbed and stripped
all Adam's race. And Paul tells us in Romans,
including you and I, there is none good. No, not one. There is none that seeketh after
God. You say, well, I sought after
Him. Not till He sought you. Why aren't the world around us,
people smarter than most of us, why aren't they seeking after
God? I'll tell you why. He's not seeking after them. Same reason you never sought
after Him. until He sought you. That's how it works. Satan has robbed us. But Christ was made sin for us. He committed no sin. He was no
sinner. But He was made sin for us. He plunged voluntarily into the
deepest darkness of suffering and shame and was shunned and
rejected, not just of men, but of God. And here's the end of it. Satan
didn't win. He didn't win. It was a conflict unexpected in
Job's life and unexpected in our lives. But the Son of God
knew exactly what He was doing when He came and was made sin
for us. And He suffered in our stead.
And He bore the judgment of God upon our sin. He bore it. He bore it. A fourth thought,
and I'll be through in verses 20-22. The conquest, unbelievable. Had Job been left to himself
at this moment, he would have cursed God. But what he did tells us that there's one greater than
Job in Job. What he does is something greater
than a fallen man himself can do. You say, well, I never would
curse God no matter what. If He left you to yourself, you
would, with far less trouble than Job had. Here's the beauty of grace. In the very midst of this war
between heaven and hell, Job is brought to worship. Worship God. Verse 20, Then Job
arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved
his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. I came here with nothing, I leave
here with nothing. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You think that's the words of
a fallen sinner who had walked through the living hell that
Job had walked through? A greater than Job. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now in the last verse, 22, we
definitely see someone greater than a selfish, sinful, fallen
child of Adam. In all this, Job, sin not. Say what? Didn't he, at least somewhere
in private, pitch an awful fit and pound the wall with his fist and grit his teeth in anger at all God had let happen? That's not what we read in all
this. Send not. I have several books. On the
subject. Of the miracles of the Bible. None of them mentioned this one. In all this. Job. Send it not. Nor charged God foolishly. Who among us has not said on
occasion, at least to ourselves, Oh Lord, you've gone too far this time. Oh Lord, you're wrong about this. This is so unfair. This is so cruel. Oh God, this
is not right! You're doing me wrong." In all this, Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly. As the people looked at Job's
situation, some no doubt said, no man can
survive this. He'll never lift His head again.
When the Lord Jesus, the man Christ
Jesus, suffered and died, they buried Him and they sealed the
tomb and they even put guards to guard it. And they said, we've finally
done it. He'll never lift His head again. We'll never hear from him again. And guess what? They didn't. They didn't. He never appeared
to the unregenerate world after the resurrection. He appeared
only to his own. His people knew and still know He lives, seated at the right
hand of the Father. He lives on high, beyond the
sky. His tomb is empty now. He lives. You ask me how I know
He lives? He lives within my heart. There was a man, He was dead and behold, He's
alive forevermore and has the keys of death and hell. He won. He's the victor. It's a conquest unbelievable
to natural man. But by divine enlightenment,
By a miracle of grace, we believe it and know it's true because
He lives in our heart. Remember they told Thomas, we've
seen Him. He's alive. Thomas said, don't expect me
to believe it. I won't believe it until I I can see the print of the nails
in his hands. And thrust my hand into his side. Guess who wasn't standing there
visibly but heard that? The next time he showed up, he
said, alright, Thomas, go ahead. Reach hither thy finger. I hold my hands and reach hither
thy hand and thrust it into my side." It's okay. We don't read that Thomas did
it. We read that he answered, my
Lord and my God. His eyes were opened. There was
a man. sent from heaven to suffer and
to conquer. And in all this, Jesus sinned
not, nor charged God foolishly. He came to redeem God's elect
chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, and that He did. have no patience with the sissified
man-made religion that has Christ's success depending on us. It's just sicker every time I
see it and hear it. Christ's success depended on
him and he conquered. He conquered. He redeemed his people He's calling
out His people. He saves His people and He damns
the rest. And He does so justly. He's a greater than Job. The
only hope for you this morning, the only hope for me this morning, is to cry to Him for mercy. You're
not exempt from suffering, sorrow, shame, grief in your family and
in your life. You're not exempt from poverty,
from sickness, from cancer, from heart attacks. We're not exempt
from any of that. But thank God we don't face it
alone. There is a greater than Job living in us. And if there's one thought throughout
these 42 chapters that is so glorious, it would be for Job
to be able to say at the end of each chapter, this is not
the end of the story. This is not the end of the story.
This is not the end of the story. And wherever you're at today,
wherever you'll be at tomorrow, next week, or next year, or the
next, thank God, in Christ, we can say, this is not the end of the story.
Why? A greater than Job lives in us.