Let's open our Bibles again to
the Gospel of Job, the book of Job chapter 1. The title of my message this
morning is Lessons from the Life of Job. Let's begin in Job chapter
1 and verse 8. The Lord said unto Satan, hast
thou considered my servant Job? I spent a lot of time in the
last two weeks considering God's servant Job and preparing this
message. And I hope today God the Holy
Spirit will cause you to begin to consider God's servant Job. Consider God's servant Job well
and often and ask God the Spirit to write on your heart the things
he intends you to learn from this man Job. Hast thou considered,
my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth? What a testimony from God concerning
a man. There is none like him in the
earth, a perfect man, a perfect man. Lots of folks say that means
mature, grown up, responsible. It means perfect. Who shall ascend
into heaven? He that hath a clean heart and
pure hands and has never lifted up his soul into vanity. That's
a perfect man. Have you considered my servant
Job that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an
upright man, one that feareth God and discuses, hates and turns
from evil. Now, as we read the book of Job,
we should read this book with this in mind somewhere You ought
to write this down and remember it. Everything in this book,
everything in these 42 chapters begins with God challenging Satan. Everything begins with God challenging
Satan. Have you considered my servant,
Job? That challenge I put to you. Hast thou considered my servant
Job? Hold your Bibles open here to
this book of Job and we will stay right here in these 42 chapters
this morning. This book of Job gives us the
history of this remarkable man whom God calls the best in the
earth. A perfect man and an upright
man. Now that's God's testimony concerning
his servant Job. There's not another man like
him in the earth. He's a perfect man. He's an upright
man. And God challenges Satan to consider
this man Job. The book does not begin with
Satan challenging God about Job. It's not Satan taking up arms
against Job, but rather it begins with God challenging Satan, have
you considered my servant Job? And everything follows that.
Everything follows that. This gripping, fascinating drama
of Job is a remarkable, remarkable book. It's an inspired narrative
of the life of a man who lived probably during the days of Abraham
sometime after the flood. An early, early, early man living
slightly after the flood, perhaps in the days of Abraham. This
is a real story about a real man. But as all other scriptures,
speak of things spiritual, understand this does as well. The Word of
God is to be read and interpreted typologically, that is, interpreted
as being a type of redemption, grace, and salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ. This man, Job, was a real historic
character who experienced real things in this world, but that
which he experienced was brought to pass by divine design to teach
us spiritual things concerning Christ and God's salvation in
Christ Jesus. We begin here what's called the
poetic books. It takes in Job through the book
of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, the Psalms, Proverbs, and then
the Book of Lamentations. Here we enter with God's saints
into their closets for worship. I've often told you what I consider
to be the reason why these poetic books are often the thickest
in the Bibles of God's saints. Here we're allowed to go with
men after God's own heart, men who believe God, men who worship
God. We're allowed to go with them
into their closets and hear them say what we would like to say
at times. But we lack either the courage
or the honesty or the faith to speak so plainly with God at
the throne of grace. These men were men who walked
with God, and they went into the closet to pray and worship
God. And when they did, they did what
we ought to do. They were honest. They opened
their hearts to God. I said to Brother Todd and I,
but a few weeks ago, with regard to a young man who had been converted
not long, and Pastor called on him to pray, and I said, I love
to hear a fella pray before he learns how. Don't you? I love to hear a fella
pray before he learns how. Once he learns how, he starts
saying the right things. Once he learns how, he starts
repeating words. Once he learns how, he starts
using the right cliches and sayings and folks will hear him pray,
but boy, can't he pray? Can't he pray? But before he
learns how, He just speaks honestly with God. Oh, God. Teach me so to pray. And so we open these poetic books
when we're in times of difficulty and trouble with heavy hearts
and we feel as though God's abandoned us and left us to ourselves and
the skies are dark above us and everything around us seems to
be falling apart. And we open the word of God and
we hear David cry, has your mercy claimed God forever? Because
that's just what we want to say, but don't dare say. We hear the
psalmist cry, as did the Redeemer, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Because that's what it appears
has taken place. And we want to say it, but we
won't dare be honest with God. We won't dare. And so we open
the word and find men who were and read the scriptures in their
language. These poetic books are wonderful books of worship,
but they're more than that. and marvelous pieces of divine
inspiration. Tennyson called the Book of Job
the greatest poem in all literature, ancient or modern. Now that is
some comment. That is some comment. Martin
Luther considered the Book of Job the most magnificent and
sublime book in Holy Scripture. It reads like a drama, an epic
drama, much like Homer's Iliad or Odyssey. But the Book of Job
is a historic record of God's dealings and the sufferings of
one of God's saints. The first lesson in the book
is just this. It answers a question for us
that's one of the greatest mysteries the world knows. The world puts
the question this way. Why do bad things happen to good
people? That's a horrible question. There's
not any such thing as good people. That's the reason the question
is horrible. It's a question supposedly that some people deserve
bad things to happen and other folks don't, which is just the
supposition that Job's three friends made. But Job does answer
a question, a question that's a paradox and a matter of confusion
to many. Why do the righteous suffer? I'm talking about folks made
righteous by God. I'm talking about folks who are
born again by God's Spirit, washed in the blood of Christ, robed
in His righteousness, men and women who are heirs of eternal
life. Why do the righteous suffer? Why do godly men and women, men
and women of faith, suffer great, heavy trials and sorrows? The answer is given very plainly
in chapter 19 and verse 21. If you ask Job why he suffered,
he suffered by the assaults of Satan. He suffered by the words
of his pretended friends. He suffered from his own wife
and family. He suffered bereavement. He suffered
painful loss of wealth. He suffered loss of reputation.
He suffered from the tongues of men. He suffered the loss
of his health. His wife finally looked at him
and said, why don't you curse God and die? He said, my breath
became a stench to my own wife's nostrils. These things he suffered. But if you ask Job why, he looked
beyond all the secondary means. He looked beyond all the instruments
by which he suffered to the cause of his suffering look at verse
21 chapter 19 Have pity upon me Have pity upon me. Oh ye my friends for the hand
of God hath touched me I'm covered with sores from the
top of my head to the soles of my feet. I've lost everything
I've ever owned. All my wealth is gone. All my
fame and reputation is gone. All my family is gone. All my friends are gone. And
I have these things by the hand of God who touched me. The hand of God has touched me. Whatever it is that you experience
in this world, believer and unbeliever, whatever it is you experience
in this world, good or adverse, whatever you experience in this
world, pleasant or painful, it's by God's hand. It is by God's hand. He makes peace and he creates
evil. He brings the sunshine and he
brings the tornado. He brings the great, calm, easy,
cool breeze of the evening and he raises up the tsunami. He
gives life and he gives death. He gives health and he gives
sickness. These are God's works among the
sons of men. Now, that's one thing to say
with regard to all people. It's something else for the believer.
Why do you suffer the things you suffer? Why do you endure
hardship? And most of us can say little
about that. Most of us can say little about
that, but what pain we have. What hardship we have, we tend
to accentuate it greatly. If I could be in health and be
strong and healthy and vibrant, but if I had an ingrown toenail,
that's the only thing I'd be thinking about. We tend to accentuate
small pains and forget magnified good things. But whatever it
is we endure, be it horribly evil in the experience of it.
Painfully evil in the experience of it. Whatever it is, this is
by the hand of our heavenly father. This is by the hand of our heavenly
father. You want to know the reason?
Look at chapter 23. Job 23 and verse 10. Hear the
wisdom of Job. Hear the wisdom of Job. Chapter 23, verse 10. He knoweth
the way that I take. God knows where I am. God knows how I got here. He
knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, when he
hath proved me, not to himself, God's already testified, have
you considered my servant Job? There's none like him in all
the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that fears God and eschews
evil. So the trial, the proving is
not for God's knowledge. The trial, the proving is for
Job to know himself. When he hath tried me, and he's
proven that the root of the matter is in me. when he has tried me
and he proved that I am indeed clean and righteous and just
before him, when he's tried me and proved that I am indeed one
in whom he's given faith and life before him, when he's tried
me and proved me, I shall come forth as gold. When God gets done, I shall come
forth gold Now certainly this is exactly what happened as we
read in the last chapter of this book Job was proved and it came
forth as gold But it's it extends beyond earthly experience I Recall
hearing for the Charles Alexander an old man. I was just a young
man. I was in my 20s he Came from England from Liverpool
England a little church in Anstead, West Virginia every year and
He's made this statement, I don't think I'll ever forget it He
said heaven shall be more glorious Than it could otherwise be because
of the trials of God's people on this earth and He gave these
two scriptures to back up what he said Our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. And the passage in First Peter,
speaking of the trial of your faith, being more precious than
of gold that perisheth. Not your faith, though that certainly
is more precious than gold. The trial of your faith is more
precious than gold that perisheth. And it shall be down to the everlasting
praise of God in heaven's glory. When he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. I have no doubt that we will
in eternity ever learn of God's wondrous ways of grace. And those things that we have
looked upon most bitterly here, those things we've felt most
painfully here, those things we've experienced with the greatest
sorrow here, will redound to the praise and honor and glory
of God and our eternal happiness ever increasingly in the world
to come. Our light affliction, our featherweight
affliction, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory. Here's a second lesson. This
book, don't take it for granted. You got a copy here? This book,
this is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. This book, this book you're holding
in your hand here, this is the inspired, infallible, inerrant
Word of God. Holy men of old spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. It is breathed of God, given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for instruction in righteousness, for correction, that the man
of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
And we have this clearly evidenced in the book of Job. The Word
of God is not a book about science or history. If you try to use
it for that, you've made a horrible mistake. But wherever this book
speaks of things scientific, wherever it speaks of things
historic, it speaks with absolute, precise accuracy. Let me show
you. Now remember, this book of Job
was written probably by Job, but it was written concerning
a man who lived at least as early as Abraham. This was the first
book to be written under inspiration of God. This was written before
Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
This was the first book to be written in the Word of God. It's
given to us right before the Book of Psalms, put in the poetic
books, and that by God's order. I have no question about it.
In Providence, the books are given in the order they are in
the canon of Scripture. But this book was written at
least 3,000 years ago. Oh, I wonder what you'd do if
you were to be on a trip somewhere and you go on one of those archeological
digs and you, you found something written by somebody a thousand
years ago. Man, you'd find, you'd go wherever
you could to find somebody who knew how to read the ancient
language, tell you what it said about the person who wrote it,
if you could find out anything at all, and you would treasure
it. Man, it was, this, I got, I found this. It was written
a thousand years ago. Look here. Pick it up now. Will, you got
your Bible there? You've got something in your
hand, right here, written at least 3,000 years ago. Now, let's see how accurate it
is. Look at chapter 26 and verse 7. This is not a book about science. It's not a book about history.
But the book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, contains more
scientific data than all the other books of the Bible put
together. It contains more scientific data than all the other 66 books
of Holy Scripture. Look at verse 7, chapter 26.
He stretcheth out the north over the empty place and hangeth the
earth upon nothing. He stretches out the north over
the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing. What could
more accurately describe the position and stability of this
planet in space? He stretches out the north over
the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Now, try
to get what most people thought about in those days. Job's contemporaries,
all of them, all the brilliant folks, all the learned folks,
all the brilliant minds, all the religious world and the pagan
world around him, everybody was convinced the earth was flat.
And you know how they thought it stood where it was? They thought
that it stood on the back of a huge elephant or a turtle. That was where science was in
those days. Or on the back of one of their
gods. But Job said, no, God hangs the
earth on nothing. And that's exactly what God's
done. Chapter 38, verse 7. When the morning stars Now I'm
not an early riser like some of you are. I don't try to get
up before the sun gets up. That doesn't bother me any at
all. But I have in my lifetime often been up still when the
sun was coming up. And the morning stars here are
talking about those bright lights of the heavens God created in
the morning of time. The morning stars are talking
about the bright lights of heaven just before dawn. And I can tell
you from experience on a clear night, the stars shine brightest
just as the night is ending. The morning stars sang together. What? Who ever heard of light
giving off noise? All the sons of God, all the
angels of God shouted for joy. No one in all the wise world
of scientists ever dreamed that rays of light give off sound
that no human ear can hear until modern times. But Job declared
it 3,000 years ago. Look at chapter 38, verse 24.
By what way is the light departed, which scattereth the east wind
upon the earth? Well, you'd think Job had distinct
knowledge of spectrum analysis. But he wrote that 3,000 years
ago. Look at verse 31. Canst thou bind the sweet influences
of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Pleiades is a group
of seven stars in the constellation of Taurus. But I wonder how Job
knew that. He didn't have a telescope. He didn't have a telescope with
which to see them. This was written 3,000 years ago. Pleiades and
Orion, no man can control. Contrary to the opinion of modern
environmentalist and mother worshipers who have the idea the earth is
our mother and we ought to worship her, their proud thoughts are
that the seasons of the year are controlled and altered by
man messing with the environment. Now you can believe that nonsense
if you want to, I'll just go ahead and laugh at you. God says
otherwise. Job was taught by God that it
is not in the power of man to make changes in God's dispensations
of providence. To turn the winter of adversity
into the spring of prosperity, or to turn the spring of prosperity
into the winter of adversity. Providence is God's domain. This
book is God's word. You have in your hand the written
word of God and it is impossible to explain the things written
in this book. It's impossible to explain the
things written in this book on any grounds except God did that. Now you can't do that with any
other book in history. This book is the revelation of
God. Now, here's the third lesson.
We learn from Job's experience that God is always behind the
scenes. God is always behind the scenes. He's always behind the scenes,
sovereignly manipulating everything for the everlasting salvation
of his elect. God is always behind the scenes.
His hand is not always seen. His hand is always there. He
sovereignly manipulates. I chose the word deliberately. He sovereignly manipulates everything,
even the thoughts of men and devils. He sovereignly manipulates
everything, even the will of man. even the lust of the flesh. He sovereignly manipulates everything,
good and bad, for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. Here we're told, and told by
God himself, this Job, a righteous man, was a believer, a man saved
by God's grace, like you and I, sinner saved by grace. God ranks Job twice in the book
of Ezekiel chapter 14 if you want to read it. He twice ranks
Job with Noah and Daniel. That's pretty good ranking. That's
pretty good company. Job was not a righteous man by
nature. He was no more perfect by character,
by nature, by behavior than Charles Manson. No more perfect, no more
righteous than you and I by nature. Not at all. Job was born of Adam,
a sinner who went astray from the womb, speaking lies, depraved
at heart, full of every lust unclean, full of every lust obscene,
full of everything known in the history of man's depravity. It was in Job as it's in you
by nature. He was, like all others, a rebel
from birth. but he was made righteous and
made perfect by the doing and dying of his mediator, the God-man
Christ Jesus, just as you and I are. He was made righteous
by the righteousness of Christ being given to him freely in
free justification, washed in his blood and robed in his righteousness. And he was made righteous by
being born again by God, the Holy Spirit, having the righteousness
of Christ put in him, made a partaker of the divine nature. That's
how folks are made perfect. Now here in this congregation,
Our folks who are either altogether sinful or altogether perfect. Altogether sinful or altogether
perfect. There's no in-between grant.
There's my grandson and me. We are either altogether perfect
or altogether sinful before God. In the substitute, in Christ,
There is no sin. Can you grasp that? Christ put
away our sin, but brother Dodd, we're full of sin in ourselves.
Yeah, but this is going to die soon. Your mother doesn't have
that problem anymore. Oh, how I envy her. She doesn't
have that problem anymore. No more warfare with sin. No
more evil temper. No more biting tongue, no more
hard words, no more hurting others, no more injury to anyone. All
together, without sin! Because this body of sin has
gone to the grave. Understand that? Perfect and
upright through the perfection and uprightness of Christ the
Mediator. And that belongs to every sinner
who believes on the Son of God. Believe on the Son of God and
God puts in you everlasting life. Did you ever notice in the scriptures,
sometimes that gift of God is called eternal life. Sometimes
it's called everlasting life. But if you look up the words
in the Greek text, there's not a separate word. There's not
even a different inflection. Everlasting and eternal come
from the same word. Well, why is it sometimes called
eternal life and sometimes called everlasting life? It's eternal
life because this is the life we had with Christ before we
had any being in ourselves as our covenant shelter before the
world began. And it's called everlasting life
because, Merle, that's what it drops in your soul and you're
going to live forever. It's everlasting as the gift of God bestowed upon
us in time in the experience of His grace. The Lord God, we
see here working behind the scenes, this giver of life and righteousness
is the absolute monarch of the universe. He rules and controls
all things in heaven, earth, and hell, even Satan. Satan is God's devil. Satan is God's devil. He's not a rival to God. He's
God's devil. I don't know what to make of
or how to explain everything written in those first two chapters
of Job, but I do know this. It asserts God's dominion and
God's sovereignty. The angels of God, the sons of
God, came to give a report to God. Came to give a report. I've never discussed this with
Len Zero, my son-in-law, you fellas got businesses and you
have fellas work for you. I just presume by one means or
another you get reports on what they're doing. You send them
out to a job, go do that, come back at the end of the day, the
end of the week, the end of the month, or the end of the quarter, and say this
is what we've done, and you see how things are going. That's
exactly what we read in Job chapter 1. The sons of God, the angels
of God came to give a report to God. This is what we've been
doing. This is what we've been doing. And Satan came to give
a report to God. Satan came to give a report to
God. Oh, didn't that tickle you to death? Satan came to give
a report to my Father in Heaven. It was God who took the initiative
in challenging Satan. He challenges Satan with regard
to his servant Job. Have you considered my servant
Job? It was God who gave Satan permission to go and do what
he did to Job. But not only that, not only that.
Well, the Lord said, all right, you go do what you want to. No.
God, Lindsay, told him exactly what he could and couldn't do.
Exactly what he couldn't couldn't do you can now this this time
you got you do this and Satan comes back to give report again
He said well, he says you want to get out of you. That's it.
All right I'll tell you what you can do. You can take everything
he's got except his life He tells specifically what he could and
couldn't do Satan accused Job as believers are always accused
of serving God for nothing And the Lord God turned the fiend
of hell loose on his servant Job, so that he might make Job a better
man. So that he might make Job's life
better. So that he might make Job's eternity
better. Now, as we read these first two
chapters of Job, It's impossible for us to put ourselves in Job's
place and form any idea of what he felt. I've tried. I've sat and looked at these
things for hours and try to have some sense of what he felt. There
was a day, look at chapter 1, verse 13. There was a day when
Job's sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine
in their eldest brother's house. Nothing more to be made of that
than just that. They were having Thanksgiving dinner together.
And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were
plowing, and the asses feeding beside them, and the Sabaeans
fell upon them, and took them away, yea, and they have slain
the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only have escaped
to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there
came another also. and said, The fire of God has
fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants,
and consumed them. And I only am escaped alone to
tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there
came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three
bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea,
and slain the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only
am escaped to tell thee. By this time I can imagine Job
saying, I wish you had died too. I only have escaped to tell you
that God left one father to come give you the good news. I've
been left from God to come tell you what God's done. Read on.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, thy
sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house and behold, There came a great wind from the wilderness
and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the
young men, and they are dead, and I only am escaped alone to
tell you." God killed all 10 of your children at one time. God killed all 10 of your children
at one time. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his
head. and fell down upon the ground
and worshipped. Oh, what a man! What faith! What marvelous God-given faith! He 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.
In all this Job sinned not, Charge God with father Look down in
chapter 2 verse 6. The Lord said to Satan He's in
thine hand but save his life so Satan went forth in the presence
of the Lord and Smoked Job with sword boils from the sole of
his foot to his crown And it took him 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! He said unto her, Thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speaketh. What, shall we receive good at
the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil? In all this
Job sinned not with his lips. Then his three good friends came. His three fine, fine friends. Religious folks. Dedicated religious
folks. They came to comfort Job. And
they came and they made an appointment. They said, fellas, on the 10th
day of the month, we're going to go see Job. We've heard about
these things going on with him. Job needs us. Job needs us. And so they made an appointment
and came, and then they saw him. And they sat down on the ground
and couldn't speak a word for seven days. Now, I've never seen anything
like that, have you? I've never seen anything like that. I recall
once I was working in a hospital at Springfield, Missouri. I was
a janitor and a fellow decided to commit suicide. And he he
made the mistake of going a little too far. Most folks try to commit
suicide It ain't hard. A 12-gauge right here will do
it. It ain't hard to do that. But he made a mistake of going
a little too far to get too much attention. And he poured gas
all over himself, set himself on fire. And he burned to a crisp. I mean, his skin was black as
soot. And they had him propped up in
a bed so the air could get under him, and the whole floor stunk.
Just you could smell the man all over that floor of the hospital.
And I had to go in there and clean things up. And I was shocked. I was shocked. The man's still
alive and burnt to a crisp. He died in just a day or two,
I don't remember. But I was shocked. But it didn't
cause me to be astonished. It didn't cause me to sit down
and be quiet for seven days. These three men saw Job and saw
what God had done to Job. And they fell on their knees.
and sat there dumbfounded for seven days. And then they began
to talk. They began to talk. Eliphaz, he was the first to speak. He
had a vision. And assumed that his vision gave
him authority to sit in judgment over God's servant Job. Bill
Dadd thought himself a scholarly intellectual and backed his words
with the authority of a long list of forefathers who believed
exactly as he did and they couldn't possibly be mistaken. Zophar
was described by someone as one of those irksome people who we
all hope never to meet again. He was fresh out of seminary
and he thought he knew everything. He was full of words of faith.
Job described them considerably more pleasantly than I would.
He said, you are miserable comforters. They were fully convinced because
of what Job had been and what Job now was. God's getting you. Where there's smoke, there's
fire. Something's wrong. Job, you've been a hypocrite. Job, God's exposing you now for
the hypocrite you are. Job, if you were right, God wouldn't
treat you this way. Job, if you believe God, God
wouldn't deal with you this way. This is manifest token of God's
judgment and God's anger. Look at you. Look at you. Who could imagine that this is
a man blessed of God? Who could imagine that this is
a man redeemed by the precious blood of God's Son? Who could
imagine that this is a man who walks with God, born of His Spirit,
who believes God? No, Job. No, Job. We've been
fooled by you long enough. Now come clean. Come clean. And
then Elihu spoke. Elihu comes on the scene. Things
change you see a lot of you was a young man and he had been sitting
by Listen to Job's three friends all this time talking go all
the way through chapter 32 All this time they've been they've
been accusing Job and a lot of you say I've had enough I've
been listening to you older men speak and I realize I'm young
and nobody gonna pay attention to what I say But you fellas
have been wronged And then he speaks to Job, and he said, Job,
you shouldn't have justified yourself before these men. You
ought to just justify God and leave them alone. On both counts,
Elihu was right. Elihu spoke of God and his ways
of mercy and grace in delivering his people. Look at chapter 33.
Chapter 33. Elihu shows us a marvelous thing
about God's grace. and the way he delivers his people,
both in saving mercy and in saving them from adversity and trial
and heartache. When you find yourself shut up
in some deep pit, whether it is that God has shut you up in
the pit of judgment and God's about to speak life and peace
to your soul, giving you faith in Christ, or God has shut you
up in some deep pit of trial and adversity. There's no deliverance
but by God's hand. Look at what this man Elihu says
in verse 12. Verse 13. Why dost thou strive against
him? Against God? He giveth not account
of any of his matters. You're a fool if you think God's
going to give account to you. You're a fool if you think God's
going to give account to you. For God speaketh once, yea, twice,
yet man perceiveth it not. God speaks by his word, and he
speaks by his providence. He speaks by judgment, he speaks
by blessings, but man doesn't hear it. In a dream, in a vision
of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men and slumberings
upon the bed, then openeth he the ears of men, and sealeth
their instruction. He speaks to you when you sleep
at night. that he may withdraw man from
his purpose, and hide pride from man. God's purpose in speaking
is to take you away from your purpose and destroy your soul.
He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing
by the sword. He is chastened also with pain
upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones are strong with
pain. so that his life abhorreth bread,
and his soul dainty meat. He can't eat, he can't drink,
his soul is crushed within him. His flesh is consumed away that
it cannot be seen, and his bones that are not seen stick out.
Verse 22, Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his
life to the destroyers. Have you been there? Oh may God
bring you there. Oh God bring you down to the
grave. God slay you! That he may make you alive by
his grace. Watch this, verse 23. If there
be a messenger with him, if there be a messenger with him, oh what
a mercy. If God sends an interpreter,
one among a thousand, to show unto man God's righteousness,
God's uprightness. Then he is gracious to him. What grace when God sends a messenger,
a preacher, an interpreter to show you God's uprightness and
saith, deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found
a ransom. That's God's way. Then his flesh
shall be fresher than a child's. He shall return to the days of
his youth. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. He's like a newborn baby. And
the baby can play on the cockatrice den and he won't be hurt. He
can play with the air and he will not be stung. Read on. He
shall pray unto God and he will be favorable unto him and he
shall see his face with joy for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looketh upon me, and if any
say I've sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it
puffeted me not, any man confesses his sin, God will deliver his
soul from going down to the pit, and his life shall see light.
Anybody confesses his sin, anybody confesses his sin, anybody confesses
his sin, God's faithful and just to forgive us his sin, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness by the blood of his Son. Lo,
all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring
back his soul from the pit, and to be enlightened with the light
of the living. And then Job tells us that he
was brought to repentance when he heard God speak. That's the
next lesson. Only God can speak to the heart. Zophar spoke, and Eliphaz spoke,
and Bildad spoke, and even Elihu spoke. And then God began to
speak. And God spoke to Job. And God
spoke to Job. And God spoke to Job. And Job
stopped, and he said, I've heard myself! And God kept on speaking. God kept on speaking. He said,
I have heard of thee. with the hearing of mine ear,
but now mine eye seeth thee, and I repent in sackcloth and
ashes." And Job fell on his face before God. Here in the book
of Job, we're given so much clear gospel instruction. Job teaches
us clearly about God's sovereignty. He spoke plainly about the need
of a mediator, a kinsman, redeemer, which Christ Jesus the Lord is.
He spoke plainly about the accomplishment of redemption in Christ Jesus,
salvation by his blood and grace and resurrection glory. He said,
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself and not another. My eyes
are going to see my redeemer standing on this earth. Imagine
that. Three thousand years ago, Job
said, I'm going to see God in human flesh with these eyes standing
on this ground, and I'm going to see him for myself. And then
Job stands before us clearly as a marvelous, marvelous type
of our Lord Jesus. Now, this, I presume, is what
God used to inspire this message with me. Let me just give you
the types. You can work them out. Some of
you got these a week or so ago in the daily readings by email.
What an instructive picture Job is. Job was the greatest man
of the East. Christ, the wisdom man, whose
goings forth from eternity have been from everlasting to everlasting.
He's the greatest of all. In all things, he has the preeminence.
Second, Job was perfect and upright, fearing God and eschewing evil. Our Lord Jesus was the perfect
God-man, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Job
was suddenly brought from great riches to great poverty. This man had, when old wealthy
men saw Job, They pulled their hat off and bowed. And the young
men see Job. Man, there's Mr. Job. He's somebody. You want to know anything, go
see Mr. Job. You want to do anything, go see Mr. Job. Job was admired
by everyone around him. Had power and influence and riches. A large family. A wife that adored
him. And suddenly, Job was laughed
at by everybody. He's empty. He's got nothing.
His family's gone. His wife said, why don't you
cuss God and die? His children are gone. His camel's
gone. His ashes are gone. His sheep are gone. His health
is gone. Everything's gone. And now the children laugh at
him. And the men walk by and say, well, I always did think
there's something wrong with Joe. He suddenly was brought
from the heights of humanity to the lowest depths of humanity,
from the heights of riches to the depths of poverty. You know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. This man Job was assaulted by
Satan. But what were the sufferings
of Job compared to the sufferings of our Lord Jesus for the salvation
of our souls? Satan was the instrument by which
Job was brought to sorrow, but all of his adversities were by
the hand of God and he knew it. So it was with our Lord Jesus.
He said, who has been made to suffer like this? Behold and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done
unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger. Then we read in chapter 42 how
that Job made an effectual sacrifice and effectual intercession for
his friends by the will of God. How our hearts rejoice to know
that our Redeemer has made an effectual sacrifice by which
he put away our sins and makes effectual intercession which
shall bring us at last to glory. When I sent a note out Friday
about the Lord taking Wilma home, I stated it something like this. I said, Wilma Warta in answer
to the Savior's prayer was taken to glory today. The Savior said,
Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory. He made an effectual
sacrifice and makes effectual intercession by which we shall
be landed at last safe in glory. Number six, because the Lord
God accepted Job, He accepted those for whom Job made intercession. And so it is with our Savior,
because the Lord God accepts Christ. He accepts every sinner who comes
to Him by faith in Christ. That means if you come to Him,
If you believe on Him, if you come to Christ right now, God
will accept you for Christ's sake. Indeed, has accepted you
and will accept you forever. One more picture in this type.
Job was laid low, so low that his friends were
astonished for seven days. Have you ever seen anything like
that? He was made, Merle, I suppose, to be what must have been the
lowest state of any man in the world, and then exalted higher
than any, given twice the wealth he had before. and all the sons
and daughters he had lost. So our Lord Jesus, he who was
greatest in the kingdom of heaven, was made least when he was made
sin for us and laid in the dirt of the earth, buried as our substitute. until he with his own blood entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. And now he that's the least is
made the greatest. And God's given him power over
all flesh to give eternal life to as many as God's given him. Oh, may he do that for you. Amen.