I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of Job, chapter one. Job, chapter one. I've entitled this message this
evening. This is in the form of a question.
Fearing God for naught? I've got two questions. Is the will of God the first
cause in the lives of all men? Is the will of the Lord the first
cause? The answer is yes. Here's my second question. Since that is the truth, Should not our trials drive us
to Him? Is the Lord the first cause in
the lives of all men? Especially tonight, I'm gonna
see concerning His people. And since that is true, should
not these trials that we suffer drive us to the Lord? Let me
tell you something that's very comforting to me. In the midst
of all trials, Remember this, believer, it's
ordered of God. The Lord sent it. Now that right
there ought to take the sting out of whatever we're going through,
and we all do. The Lord ordered this. Tonight I want us to look at
the first chapter of the book of Job and consider the proof
from these scriptures of those two truths. I want to read the
22 verses in the book of Job, chapter one. There was a man
in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect,
upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him
seven sons and three daughters, His substance also was 7,000
sheep, and 3,000 camels, and 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 she-asses,
and a very great household, so that this man was the greatest
of all the men of the East. And his sons went and feasted
in their houses every one his day, and sent and called for
their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was
so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent
and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered
burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job
said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in
their hearts. Thus did Job continually. Now
there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord
said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the
Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from
walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like
him in the earth, perfect and an upright man? one that feareth
God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord,
and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an
hedge about him, about his house, about all that he hath on every
side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance
is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself,
put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his
sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house. 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,
they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and
I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking,
there came also another and said, the fire of God has fallen from
heaven and has 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,
carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of
the sword and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. And 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're dead. and I only
am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose and rent his mantle,
shaved his head, he 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 has
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord
in all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Here was a man that knew and
reverenced Almighty God. A man that God had blessed with
material wealth, a man who cared for, prayed for, His family,
a man that was respected in the land. And one day, scripture
says in verse six, the sons of God, actually it's, if you look
at Job 38 in verse seven, there's a reference there that seems
to indicate that these were the angels of the Lord. these angels
that do the Lord's bidding and ministering spirits to those
who shall be heirs of salvation. They came and they took their
place before the Lord, obviously awaiting His word. We read in the scriptures where
the Lord would command them and they left the Lord and He commanded
them and they left and they did as the Lord did command. And
the adversary himself, Satan, Came also, the scripture says,
and took his place in the midst of the group. And the Lord spoke
to him. And he asked him, from whence
did he come? Where have you come from? And
that question was not out of ignorance. The omniscient God
knows all. But rather, he asked Satan that,
that he might admit before the Lord his actions. And he said,
I've come from going to and fro in the earth, from walking up
and down in it. Spirit of God revealed what he
was doing in 1 Peter 5, 8. Here's what he was doing, seeking
whom he may devour. goes about as a roaring lion.
And when the Lord questioned Satan, he asked him a question. He said, have you considered
my servant, Job, a perfect and upright man? One obviously not perfect in
himself, but perfect being in the Lord Jesus Christ. An upright
man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil. And that's when
Satan replied with that wicked question. Does Job fear you for naught? Now you write this down. Satan's
question was not only an attack, merely an attack upon Job's motive
for serving, fearing the Lord. But that question was actually
asked to cast a doubt. He's in the midst of all these
angels and he's talking to the Lord. That question was levied. He's a liar. He's a deceiver. He's a conniving evil. And that question was to cast
a doubt upon God's sovereignty and power to truly give his people
a willing heart to serve him. Here's what he said. Do you think
that Job's serving you for nothing? Do you think that he's doing
this for no reason, really. Satan opposed the God of all
grace, the one that is honored and respected and adored and
praised and worshiped by his people with a willing heart. He could ask that question of
any of God's people right here. Do you think these people are
serving you for nothing? Do you think that they're not
expecting something out of it, of course. Satan told the Lord,
Job fears you. Well, sure he does. Well, I mean,
you've got him hedged up, and you've given him all this money,
wealth, and you've blessed everything that he's done. But if you touch what he has,
he'll curse you to your face. insinuating that God's people
only reverence the Lord because of what they'll get out of Him.
Now that's the natural man. That's what the natural man does. It's all about me. I want something. With that wicked accusation,
God owing no explanation to Satan, But according to God's will and
purpose, sovereign will, he gave Satan permission to touch all
that Job had, but he forbid him to touch Job at this point. Later
on, he will. He touched Job. But in this chapter,
he could not touch Job personally. And in one day, one day, very small part of a day, messenger
after messenger after messenger, while one was talking, another
came and started talking, another came and started talking. And
one day, everything that was mentioned that Job had in that
chapter right there was gone. Gone. Took his livestock, took
his servants, took his kids, took everything. And what did
Job do? Verse 20, then Job arose and
rent his mantle and shaved his head and he fell down upon the
ground and he worshiped God. He said, I came into this world
with nothing. I'll go out of this world with
nothing. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all that happened to him,
he did not charge God foolishly. He did not charge God with folly. He knew that the God that rules
in heaven and earth does as he will. And Job bowed to that. Now this man was broken. This man was broken. He arose,
he rent his mantle, shaved his head. This man's hurting. I would say You know this is
so. Those 10 kids, he had seven sons
and three daughters, and God took all of them in one day.
In one moment, he took them all. The camels, the asses, the cattle,
but those kids, those kids. God gave me those kids and God
took them away. They were the Lord's. All souls
are mine. All souls are mine. The earth
is the Lord. Job was a broken man. And I'm just saying this in light
of the trials that we go through. We hear something, I've told
you, from Brother Scott, and I mentioned to Brother Scott
one day, almost 15 years ago, When I went to a doctor, the
doctor told me, he said, you're sick. I came back, I told Brother Scott
about it. He said, worst part of it's when you first hear it.
And I thought, and you know that proved to be so, Neil. Worst
part of it when you first hear it, you know. Oh, what Job heard. in just a few moments. Nobody had any good news. There was no good news to this.
Fire came down from heaven, a big wind blew my kid's house down,
killed them all, and civilians came in and took the livestock
and killed my servants. He was a broken man, but in his
sorrow, he worshiped God. I read that and I think, oh Lord,
help me. Lord, help this weak, beggarly
sinner. But in that experience, right
there, Job learned some things. He learned some things that I
want us to consider. He beheld first of all the fleetingness
of this life, fleetingness. We do too. Some of us just turned around,
just graduated from high school just a few years ago. Here we
are over 50 years later. Some of us more than that. Oh, the The fleet, this life
is a vapor. His kids were just there. They
were just there. They're gone. Oh, how many times
have we experienced that? This morning, everything was
okay. This afternoon, it was just that
quick. It was just over. It was gone. our loved ones. I just saw them,
just talked to them. Oh, Job, you realize how quickly
this life passes. Concerning man's time on this
earth, Job 14.2, it's what scripture says. Concerning man, he cometh
forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow. and continueth not. Job was taught
something about the fleetingness of this life. Brethren, I've
said this so many times, unless the Lord returns and we're still
alive on this earth when he comes back, we're going to die. You're
going to die. We're going to go the way of
all men. We're going to leave this world. Then the judgment. Life is fleeting. Here's another thing Job was
made to see, the uncertainty of earthly possessions. Job had wealth, thousands of
animals, servants to watch over him and just everything. At one
time, he just sitting on top of the world, Brian, he had it,
he had it. What you got? I got it all. I got money in the bank. Everything's
set up. And before he knew it, before
he had time to think about it, it was gone. Gone that quickly. It was gone. Again, we brought nothing into
this world. We're going out with nothing. We're going out with
nothing. all of the things and the mess
and the stuff that we think we got. You ain't got it. You don't
have that. That's the Lord's. And when it's our time, it's
all staying here and it's going to burn up. Set not your heart on the things
of the earth. Set your heart on the things
of heaven. I'm telling you. We're going to meet God. Next, Job learned something concerning
the hand of the Lord, being in all things. Here's the answer
to the first question that I asked. The first question that I asked
when I started was this, is the will of God the first cause in
the lives of men? The answer is yes. He worketh all things. after
the counsel of his own will. And all means all. It means everything. He worketh all things. You mean
even me going to the doctor and doctor telling me you just, you
know, you're going to have to have an operation? He worketh
all things. It's from the hand of God. The
Lord has ordered that. The will of the Lord is the first
cause in the lives of all men. What he said, the Lord gave and
the Lord hath taken away. Well, I thought Satan, no, Satan
was the mean, Satan was the second cause. Satan could do nothing. That's what he, Satan admitted
that. Well, sure he fears you. You
got him hedged up, I can't get to him. Satan knew that the Lord Here, Satan was the means by
which God would prove Job and prove his faith. Proof. Faith is going to be proven. It's going to be shown. It's
going to be proven. The Lord orders everything. Turn with me to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel
16. 2 Samuel 16. The Lord orders. We've got people
in our lives that just, sometimes we take a deep breath. But you know who sent them? The
Lord. The Lord. Are you talking about
that person I work with? I mean, are you talking about
that person? The Lord. David was riding through town one day, and a man named
Shimei, 2 Samuel 16, 7, thus said Shimei when he cursed, come
down, come down, thou bloody man, thou man of Belial. The Lord hath returned upon thee
all the blood of the house of Saul in whose stead thou hast
reigned, and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the Hand of
Absalom, thy son, and behold, thou art taken in thy mischief
because thou art a bloody man. That's what he was saying to
David. David's the king? Then said Abishai, the son of
Zeruiah unto the king, why should this dead dog curse my lord the
king? Let me go over, I pray thee,
and take off his head. And the king said, what have
I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because
the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say,
Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, And
to all his service, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels,
seeketh my life. How much more now may this Benjamin
do it? Let him alone. Let him curse,
for the Lord hath bidden him. Brethren, The Lord is the first
cause of everything that happens in our life. He sends, He gives,
He takes, He removes. Job was taught something. The
fleetingness of this life, the fleetingness of riches, and the hand of God being the
first cause. If we possess anything in this life, God gave it. If we don't have something in
this life, God took it. The scripture says in John 3,
27, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. Get nothing. I worked hard for
what I got. Good, you need to work hard.
I got it all by my own sweat. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. Man can sweat a lot and get nothing,
you know? Man, I'm telling you, my dad
used to send me out in the field to pull cuckoo birds, pull cuckoo
birds. I'm telling you, I'd get out
there all day long, and all I got was hot and sweaty and dirty, sweat and have nothing. And I'm
telling you, Almighty God gives anything. If you have anything
materially, mentally, spiritually, the Lord gave it to you. Philippians 129, for unto you
it's given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
also to suffer for his sake. Job learned some things. But I want to wrap this up by
asking this question concerning that question that was asked
of the Lord by Satan. Does Job fear? Does Job reverence,
honor God for naught? For nothing? For no purpose? Knowing something of the lying
accusations of Satan Let me lay this question before us. Can
a man truly fear, truly reverence God for nothing? Can he reverence,
fear the Lord and have nothing for it? I can tell you this,
no. Anyway, I'm gonna prove this
according to the scriptures. In this world, What are we promised
concerning our life, our walk? Here's what the Lord's promised.
In this world, you're gonna have tribulation. You're going to
have trouble. You're gonna have trials. You're
gonna have adversity. I promise you, from the word
of the Lord, we're gonna have it. Can a man fear God for nothing and receive
nothing, have nothing? Can he fear God and have nothing
for it? I'm telling you, no. There was a man named Lazarus.
And this man, Lazarus, was a beggar. He sat at the gate of a rich
man who fared sumptuously every day. And that man Lazarus, what
he did was he sat there and all he waited for was some crumbs. If the man happened to just throw
out some pieces of crumbs of bread or just a chicken bone,
just anything, anything. Dogs came and licked his sores.
That was the comfort he had. That man died. He was carried
by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. Lazarus obviously
feared God. God received him unto himself. Did Lazarus fear God for nothing? There was a thief dying on a
cross one day. He was hanging there. He came by the grace of God to
see who was beside him. One time he was railing on the
Lord like the other one. But then in a moment of sovereign
grace, regenerating power, an old heart removed and a new heart
put in, faith given him from above, all of a sudden the other
thief that he was in agreement with, he turned on him and he
said, do you not fear God? We're getting what we deserve.
What have we got? We ain't got nothing. We have
nothing. We're hanging on a cross. And
that man turned to the Lord and he said, Lord, when you enter into your kingdom,
would you remember me? Would you remember me? Doesn't
even say what his name was. The Lord knew him. He said, I
know my sheep. Would you remember me? You think
that guy feared God for nothing. Now, I'll tell you what he had.
He had this word. Today, verily, verily, I say
unto you. Remember, I say unto you. This day, right now, you
will be with me in paradise. Did that man fear God for naught? Lion Barnimaeus, on and on and
on. Can a man truly fear reverence,
respect, honor, praise, worship God for nothing? No. No. No. What did the Lord tell, turn
with me to Genesis 15.1. Genesis 15.1, I started to quote
this, I said, now, I want you to look at Genesis 15.1. Almighty God has called Abraham
out of Ur of the Chaldees, and he's leading him and guiding
him. Genesis 15, one, after these things, the word of the Lord
came unto Abram in a vision saying, fear not, Abram, I am thy shield
and thy exceeding great reward. Abraham left his home, left everything. Abraham believed God. Where was
he? He's out there in the middle
of nowhere. Out there in the middle of a land, a barren land. What did he have? He had God. He had the Lord. These that have seen tribulation
and trial and trouble Those, according to Hebrews 11, 13,
who were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with the sword,
and wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, and tormented. Do you think that they considered
the blessed privilege to fear the Lord? You that fear the Lord. Do you think that we serve God
for nothing? The Apostle Paul, he said, all
these things that I once trusted in. He said, they're dung, they're
dung. God's people, by the grace of
God, give up nothing. That's what Paul was saying,
it's dung, it's dung. They give up nothing to gain
everything. They have everything. Can a believer have nothing materially
in this world, like these that I've mentioned, and be without
great gain? The fear of the Lord, the respect,
the honor that is given unto our Lord and Savior. That's,
according to the scriptures, the beginning of wisdom. And
those who fear God are made to know the bounty of the riches
of the grace of God and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have everything that means
everything. We have everything that matters. We have nothing in this world. I tell you what we have. We have
the love of God toward us. Does Job fear God for nothing?
Does Marvin, Gary, Pat, Mitch, Dave, you, Nancy? You fear God
for nothing? The Lord has delivered us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. We're robed in
the very righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a
place in glory The Lord said, in my father's house are many
mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. The only thing I can tell you
is that the Lord said there's many mansions there. He's prepared a place for us.
Do we have nothing? The Lord is praying for us right
now, interceding for us with groanings that cannot be uttered,
helped by the Spirit of God. He's coming back. He's coming
back for His people. And all the saints that have
gone before us, they're gonna come with Him. Trumpet of God is gonna sound.
The dead in Christ is gonna rise first. We're gonna meet Him in the air.
Is that nothing? Is that nothing? God's people. The attitude of
everything this world has to offer, all the fleetingness of
it. We're heirs of God. What does that mean? It means
everything that God has to give His people, in Christ we have. It's ours. What does it mean? I don't know. But I can tell
you this, it's good. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. What he has, we have. Joined and unioned with him.
So I'm gonna ask you this now, in closing, can a man, can a
woman fear God for naught? Can they? Can he be given respect and reverence
for God and not receive all the blessings of God with it? Satan declared that if God touched
all that Job possessed, he would curse God to his face. And God
proved him wrong. And I'm thankful that he did. And we have this book right here
to tell us just exactly what Job did, and I'll tell you this,
every believer would do. You say, well, I don't know if
I could do this. When the time would come, you would. You would.
Why? Because the Lord said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. I'll keep you from falling. He told Peter that Satan has
desired to have you and sift you as wheat, but I prayed for
you that your faith fail not. We'd do the same thing. You say,
I don't see how. Well, if that time comes, you
will then. You will. Job will curse you to your face.
Well, here's what happened. Job fell upon the ground and he worshiped God. That's the answer to the second
question I asked when I started. I said this. Since it is the
truth that the will of God is the first cause of the lives
of all men, since that's true, shouldn't our trials drive us
to Him? What did Job do? He worshiped
God. He praised and honored the one
who was worthy. And I pray Almighty God bless
this to our hearts, for His glory and our good.