Job chapter 1 verse 21, Job says,
And 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. The title of this message is
Blessed Giving and Taking. Blessed Giving and Taking. Now, this man Job was used of
God as a shining witness to every believer in Christ concerning
suffering. Suffering in this life as a believer
in Christ is a promise of God. In this world, you will suffer
tribulation, persecution. But how are we to take suffering? Well, the example is given to
us in Scripture concerning this man Job. God has used a segment
of this man's life as an example to us as to how we are to suffer
patiently. James chapter 5 says this, Behold,
we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience
of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. You can't look at Job and not
see how the Lord graciously blessed him even in this suffering. God graciously blessed him even
in this suffering, and he endured this suffering patiently, patiently. The Lord has given to us who
believe patience, patience. Is it perfect? No, by no means
is our patience perfect. But I'll tell you this, the only
way patience is perfected is by tribulation. It's the only
way that our patience can grow. It is a grace that God gives
us to humbly accept the trials and troubles to know that they
are a direct result of the hand of God, and they are given to
us. Given to us. But Job, most importantly, was
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Job was a type of Christ in his
suffering. Jesus alone, we know this, is
the eternal boast of God the Father. Yet look what God says
of Job here in verse 1. He said, There was a man in the
land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and
upright and one that feared God. and astute evil. And this is
the word of the Lord himself when he confronts Satan. He says, Hast thou considered
my servant Job? There's none like him in all
the earth. He's a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God and astuteth evil. That was God's testimony of Job. But we know this. We know Job
was born of man. We know he was born of the seed
of Adam. We know that he was a sinner.
that this man was not perfect and upright in his obedience
to the law of God. He was a sinner. And I'll tell
you what, there's some things in here, in this book, where
Job just overreaches in pride. He just overreaches in pride.
He goes, and that's just like us. I mean, we're accused of
something we didn't do. We're going to go overboard to
defend ourselves. Well, Job did that many times.
He went way over. And God said to him, who darkens
counsel without knowledge? Job said, I put my hand over
my mouth. I'm not going to say another word. I've said too much. But Job is only a picture of
the perfect and upright man, Jesus Christ. The only one that
truly feared God, the only one that truly astute, or ran, or
kept from evil, and was perfect in every way, was the man, Jesus
Christ. Job pictured this man. He pictured
the Lord Jesus Christ. Job truly was born dead in sins. We know that in Romans chapter
12, it says, "...wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin, so then death passed upon all men." That
included Job. The only way God could testify
of His righteousness is the same way that God can testify of our
righteousness. in the perfect man, Jesus Christ,
who is all our righteousness. Jesus Christ is the only righteous
man. And we know this, that Job was
a sinner because he offered sacrifices. One thing about it, if a man's
perfect, he doesn't need a sacrifice. A man is holy and without sin.
Yet Job knew he was a sinner and he knew his sons and daughters
were sinners. That's why he offered sacrifices,
it says. And it was so, in verse 5, when
the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent and sanctified
them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings
according to the number for them all. Job said, it may be that
my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. You see,
Job knew this because his children were sinful, the products of
a sinful man. The products of a sinful man.
I know this, that I'm a sinful man and my children are sinful
because they are products of me. They were born dead in sins
just like I was. But praise God for Jesus Christ. who has offered the sacrifice
of himself for our sins. I like that in verse 5. It says,
When the days of feasting were gone about, Job sent and sanctified
them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings.
How early did Christ rise up for this burnt offering? When
was this When were we sanctified? When was it purposed that Christ
would sacrifice himself? Was it not in the dawn of eternity? In the dawn of eternity, Christ
rose up and said, I'll be a surety for them. I'll offer myself as
a sacrifice for them. The scripture tells us of this
because he is as a lamb slain. before the foundation of the
world. What an amazing, remarkable statement. Before there was sin, there was
a sacrifice for sin. Christ had offered Himself. Christ
had offered Himself. Secondly, Job was a type of Christ
in that he suffered the loss of all things. Go over to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse
9. For ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Job
was a rich man, was he not? He was a ruler. He was a man,
the greatest man of that day. How much richer was Christ? How
much richer was Christ who gave him all of those things? Satan,
when God told him, he said, didn't you see my servant Job? Isn't
he great? And Satan said, well, it's because you've hedged him,
because you've prospered him, because you've protected him. Friends, Christ was truly the
object of God's love and affection from eternity. And he was truly
rich in glory and praise and righteousness. Yet, for your
sakes, he became poor, that you through his poverty might be
made rich." You see, Satan was given permission of God to take
all that Job possessed, and even so was Satan given permission. by the hand of God as He turned
over His only Son into the hands of wicked and sinful men. It was the Son of God that created
all things, and by Him all things consist. He was worshiped from
eternity by the youthful angels And man, when he was created
after his image, worshipped God. Christ was rich and clothed in
majesty and righteousness. Yet the Scripture tells us that
he became poor. How did he lose all things? What
did Christ lose? Job lost some camels, some sheep,
and some sinful children. What did Christ lose? What did
he give up so that he might redeem us. He became poor. He who was worshipped
and feared was now oppressed by wicked men. Job, in the middle of the book,
I can't remember the chapter right now, Job said this, he
said, you know, I'm oppressed, I'm troubled, I haven't done
anything wrong and I'm troubled, I'm oppressed, and I'm oppressed
by men who weren't fit to watch my sheep. I'm sorry, watch the dogs of
my sheep. That's what he said. He said,
I'm oppressed by men who aren't even worthy to watch my dogs
that watch my sheep. Is that not what Christ experienced?
He was truly, truly suffered oppression under men who were
not worthy to even speak his name. And yet they didn't just
speak it, they cursed it. He became poor, despised and
rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He
was stricken and smitten of God. God had forsaken Christ on the
cross. He heard not his cries, but by
his strong vengeance he crushed his only son because of our sins. The righteous Son of God cried,
My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why have you turned me over into
the hands of dogs who only did what pleased you? Why? Because of our sins. It was our sins that nailed Him
to the cross. It was our sins, our iniquity,
our transgressions, our rebellion. And God laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And he bore that iniquity under
the fires of God's justice. Let's go over to Lamentations
chapter 1 and hear the voice of Christ. Lamentations chapter
1. Look at verse 12. Is it nothing to you, all you
that pass by, 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? From above hath he set fire into
my bones, and it prevaileth against me. He that spread a net for
my feet, he hath turned me back. He hath made me desolate and
faint all the day." You that pass by the cross this morning,
we are passing by the cross. Is it nothing to us? Has the
suffering of Christ become commonplace to us? Have we become cold and
indifferent to what He suffered? Because what we read about suffering
in Job, none of us have experienced. Not one of us in this building
has suffered like Job. And yet, how much more Did our
Lord suffer for our sakes? How much more was he richer than
Job, and yet how much poorer did he become? There was no man that had suffered
loss like the Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, Job is a type of Christ
in that he lost his children. Look at verse 18, it says, While
he was yet speaking, there came another and said, Thy sons and
thy daughters were eating and drinking in the 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 on the
young men and they are dead. Did not Christ lose all his children
in the fall? Did we not all die in Adam? Yes, we did. Job lost seven sons
and three daughters, whereas Christ lost his race to sin and death. I'm sure that this was the greatest
heartache that a man could possibly face is to lose his children.
I don't want to make light of what Job suffered in this. I
hope and pray that I never have to endure such a loss. But I'll tell you this, Christ
suffered great loss. And we, his children, were born
dead. Born dead. Dead in sins. How much did Job love his children?
How much more does Christ love his children who were in bondage
to sin? Did He not pity us even in that
condition? Did He not sustain us in that
evil condition? Before we were born again of
the Spirit of God, what happened to us? The providence of God
led us to the place where He would say unto our souls, Does the Scripture not speak
of the long-suffering of God towards us while we were in our
sins? Yes. His love and mercy toward
us. We were lost in our federal head
in Adam. We died. And all God's saints, all God's
children being born dead in sins, yet He loved them. You see, I
was not yet born. We were not yet born, and yet
our Lord had taken into account his love for us. He had taken
already into account our death. And by his death, he would bring
us life. What happened to Job at the end? Well, Job had more children than
he had at the beginning. Even so, Christ. When Adam fell,
the human race fell, and God's children, God's elect, were among
that race. But yet, at the end, we know
this, that all of God's children shall live. All of God's children
shall live. Because Christ has done all things
for them. Believer in Christ our Savior,
who we worship, our God, in whom we trust has by his death accomplished
our righteousness and by his resurrection our justification. You want evidence of your eternal
life? Behold the empty tomb of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God restored Christ to his former
state as he restored Job. But how much more glorious is
the state of Christ than the state of Job? Job lived four
more generations. He saw four generations of his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But how many more generations
will Christ remain on the throne? Forever. He will see all his
children. He will see all his generation. He shall see his seed and prolong
his days. How long? Forever. Forever. So then the suffering of Job
was truly just a type of the suffering of Christ. And there
was a great difference in the suffering of Job than the suffering
of Christ in this. Job did not die. Christ did. What good would it
have done if God killed Job? Nothing. Job's sacrifice and
suffering would mean nothing to his friends. But in the end of this, God commands
Job. In chapter 42 of Job, God commands
him. He says, And the Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also, the Lord gave
Job twice as much as he had before. Let me see, verse 16. I'm trying to find it, just a
second. And it says, And it was so, after
the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said unto
Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee and against
thy two friends, for ye have not spoken of me, the thing that
is right, as my servant Job. Therefore, take unto you now
seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and
offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job
shall pray for you." For him will I accept, lest I deal with
you after your folly, in that you have not bespoken the right
thing of me as my servant Job." Now, is that not truly a type
of Christ? He not only offered himself for
us, but as our High Priest, he prayed for us. We have not spoken
the right thing about God by nature, yet Christ has spoken
the right thing. about God. He has only spoken
what is true of God, and we trust in Him. Therefore, believer in
Christ, we are also to suffer after the example of Christ. We studied this on Wednesday
evening service when we had 1 Peter, when it says that this is what
we're called to. He says, here unto you are you
called. Called to what? Called to suffering, as our Lord
is the example of suffering. But friends, we are able to bear
suffering only by faith in the goodness and grace of God toward
us in Christ. The only way you'll be able to
bear through the sufferings of this life is by faith in Christ. By faith in his promises. What has God promised you? Two words. All things. What does that include? All things. All things. That includes everything. Everything is yours. That's what God said. He that
spared not his own son, how shall he not with him freely give us
all things? all things. This was the hope of Job, that
no matter what God has given and no matter what God has taken, blessed be the name of the Lord,
for he has given me all things. Now I'll tell you this, if I
say I love my children and give them all that they want, we know that that's going to
end very badly for me. And it's going to end very badly
for them. We know that. We as sinners understand that.
There's just no way around that. We know it. But we give them things. and
we take from them only to benefit them, only to prosper them, not
for their hurt. My son thinks I am the greatest
killjoy in all the world, that I am the biggest no fun person
in all the world. He just thinks, and this is running
humor now, My answer usually is no. That's that. And so every
time he asked me a question, I say, what do you think? And
he said, no, that's right. That's right. But I don't do
that because I don't want to kill his joy. I'm trying to I
want to help him. I want to do what's right for
him. And that's the same with God. God gives and God takes
all things. Because it's good for us. It's
good for us. Whatever God gives and whatever
God takes is good, because we are truly heirs of heaven and
earth. We are truly heirs of eternal
life. We are truly heirs of the kingdom
of God. We who truly believe on Christ
even have God himself as our reward. But now, in this life, until
the appointed time, we must suffer persecution. We must identify
ourselves with our Savior. And he suffered. He suffered
the loss of all things. Is it not just right to ask of
us to suffer the loss of all things for his sake? Is that
not just right? To yield ourselves to suffering? Therefore, let us who believe
in Christ receive comfort in the wisdom of our God that He
has taken into account only that which is good for us. He is only
doing what is good. You don't have to understand
it. Believe it. You don't have to understand
it. God never asks you to understand it. He demands that we believe
it. The Lord gives and the Lord takes
away. He does both. He said, I am God and there is
none else. I heal and I make alive. I wound and
I heal. Now, that God is not known to
the religious age that we live in. They would not think of a
God who kills, who takes life. But we know our God does. Our
God gives life and takes life at His own pleasure. But this is not a detriment to
us, it is a comfort. Because He is our Father. Our
God, who is the only God who can kill and make alive, who
can wound and heal, is our Father! And we are His children. Consider some of the things then,
quickly, what the Lord has given, and then what the Lord has taken.
He has given His Son. Now, what greater gift could
there have been but His Son? There is no greater gift because
there is no greater person. There is no greater person to
give than Christ. God so loved the world. That he gave his only begotten
son. That whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. God gave us His Son. God gave us His only begotten
Son. The Son of God was given to us
so that we would not get what we deserved. Praise God He didn't give me
what I deserved. He gave me a Son that none of
us deserve. The only thing that God could
give to us that would ever merit our salvation was his Son. The only thing that could obtain
God's favor was his Son, the gift of his Son, so that all
who believe on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. God has given us a perfect salvation. Can you ask for anything better
than that? God has given us a complete salvation. It's complete. There's nothing lacking in it. I've been working on a ceiling
fan for the last, what, week and a half now? And it's never
complete. I'm never finished with anything.
There's wires hanging out all over the place. And I pass by
the wires and I say, well, those need to be put back in there.
I'll get it tomorrow. And I never seem to complete
anything. Christ completed everything. There's nothing left for you
to do but look to Him, hold to Him, and die. And friends, there's nothing
lacking. And as soon as we breathe our
last in this life, breathing the breath of heaven
in the next. Because it's all done, it's finished,
our work is complete in Christ, he has given us the gift of his
blood that covers our sins, his righteousness in exchange for
our sinfulness. Life in exchange for death, light
in exchange for darkness, what a gift. Is there anything greater
than his salvation? Anything more perfect? No. We
are made complete in Christ. God has given us the blood atonement. He has given us faith and life
in Christ. We who were dead now are alive. Life, what a precious gift. What a precious gift is life.
And I'm not talking about this body. That's a gift altogether
great, but this is a gift of eternal life. Would any one of us want eternal
life in this body? What a torment! What a hell that
would be, to live forever in this mortal frame. But Christ
has prepared for us a body, like unto His glorious body. And when we are received into
heaven, friends, we shall be like him, for we will see him
as he is. What a gift. What a gift of life
and faith in Christ. And God has given us his word
to sustain us, his word of salvation, his word of comfort. How many times do we forget? Here it is. You don't have to
forget. God wrote it down for you. God
wrote it down. He sent a man to preach it to
you, to declare it to you constantly. Friends, God has given us his
word. Let us be faithful then to attend
to it. To love it, to cherish it. and
to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord that has given to us
all things." Lastly, what has God taken? This
always, when I read that, always seemed to have a negative connotation. We always think of what God took
away from Job and how he suffered, but friends, I don't Think that
it should be seen in this light because whatever God takes is
blessed. Whatever God takes from us is
a blessing. He has taken away our sins. Is
that not the blessing? Is that not great that God has
given us Christ and taken our sins away? Yes. He's taken them
all away and where are they? Gone. I don't know where that
is because that's a land uninhabitable. It is the forgetfulness of God. God says, there's a day in that
day I will remember their sins no more. He took them away. God has taken away the reign
of sin in our lives. He has created in us a new life,
a new heart, a new mind, a new love, a new affection, a new
service, a life of faith that wasn't there before. What reigned
before? Sin reigned unto death. But praise God that through Jesus
Christ, He has given us a new life that reigns unto righteousness.
How is it that you desire the gospel and others don't? How
is it that you love Christ and others have no feelings or care
for Him? It's because sin reigns in them
and it does not reign in us. Do we sin? Yes. But I tell you
this, it's not the desire of our heart. It's not the desire
of our heart to sin. Praise God that He has given
us the ability to reject sin. The ability to see sin and know
who we are and what sin is. God has taken away the reign
of that old man and given us his Holy Spirit. God has taken
away all our enemies. Is that not great? You see, even
though we know that God is here, and even though Satan, who is
not omnipresent, even though if he is in our midst, he's not
going to speak unless spoken to. God is the one that initiates
the conversations here. I like this. Turn one more place
for me, Zephaniah chapter 3. God has taken away our enemies. Zephaniah chapter 3, and look at verse 14. This is
speaking to you. You, believer in Christ, this
is speaking to you. Sing, O daughter of Zion, and shout, O Israel,
and be glad. Rejoice with all the heart, O
daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy
judgments. Was not the law our foe? Was
not his judgments just against us? God has taken it away. He has cast out thine enemy.
the King of Israel, even the Lord is in the midst of thee,
thou shalt not see evil anymore. Is that not great that the Lord
has taken away our enemies so that they cannot touch us without
his consent? Amazing. Amazing what the Lord has taken
away. He has taken away his anger.
The Lord is no longer angry with us because of our sins. I'll tell you what, our conscience
feels it. How many times has your sin pressed against your
soul to feel your guilt and need of mercy as though God himself
would cast you off in a second? Well, that's not how God thinks.
God's taken away all his vengeance and put it on Christ. And Christ
extinguished the wrath of God. And God has removed all things
that would hinder the gathering of His sheep. Let me ask you
this, is there anything, anything in this world that would stop God from saving
His people from their sin? No. I like that it's a, when there's
a million reasons, when there's a million reasons why God should
hate me, He gives me a million and one reasons to trust Him. He loves us. He's always loved
us. He'll always care for us. And
whatever our suffering is, endure it patiently. because he has
given it to us. And whatever he takes away, it's
for our good. I pray that God would bless you,
that God would keep you looking to Christ. Let's stand and we'll
be dismissed in prayer.