Go with me if you would to Job
1. Job 1. Verse 20 says, Then Job arose, and rent his
mantle, and shaved his head, and 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 hath
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. We all know what happened to
Job. Most everyone knows Job's story. He was a rich man, very increased
with goods. He was a man who was well known
and well respected. He was a man who was experiencing
the joy and the prosperity and the peace and the comfort of
happiness. And in one fatal swoop, he was
all taken away, just all gone, all removed. If you look at verse
one, it says, 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 eschewed evil." Now I have a question for us. Was Job a
sinner? Was Job a sinner? Here's the answer. Sure he was.
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Was Job in his sinful flesh unrighteous
before God, not righteous before God? Most definitely. There is none righteous, the
scripture says. No, not one. Somebody will say,
well, what about Job? Have you read what the Word of
God says about Job? What about Job? Nope. Not one. Not one. Well, then why does it say right
there that he was perfect and upright? Why does it say that?
It's because he was in Christ. That's the reason why. He was
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ, a sinner is
nothing but a sinner. Outside of Christ, this flesh
is nothing but ruined and wrong. That's all this flesh is. But
in Christ, man, that's the gospel, that's the happiness, that's
the turning point, that's the relief, that's the refreshment. Oh, in Christ. If God puts a sinner in Christ,
in Christ a sinner is made to be a saint. A saint. In Christ, as Christ is, so is
the one inside Him. Whatever Christ is, that's what
the one is inside Him. What is Christ? Perfect. upright, complete. Oh, that we may be found in Christ.
This is what Paul said. We may have heard this recently.
Paul said that I may win Christ and be found in him. What's our
hope? What's the gospel? What's our
prayer? What's our cry? I want to win
Christ. and be found in Him." Now here's
the question. How does a sinner win Christ? Paul said, I want to win Christ. How does a sinner win Christ? Here's the answer. Christ wins
the sinner. Christ is the one who gets the
victory. Winning Christ is not something
that a sinner accomplishes. It's something that a sinner
receives. The scripture says, thanks be
to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul said, Oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
my own perfection, my own good deeds, and my own good works
before God. Which is of the law. No man or
woman can earn Christ through his perfection in the law. No
man or woman. Because all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Christ and his perfection must
be freely given to a sinner. It has to be given. It's by grace. So Paul said, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that righteousness,
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which
is of God, given by God, by faith of God, by faith, faith
in Christ. Paul said that I may know him.
I want to know him. Because that's the only way this
sinner is ever going to attain his resurrection. That's the
only way. The only hope that any man or
woman has of being perfect and upright before God. Who's gonna
stand in the presence of God Almighty? Who's gonna get to
stand there? Whoever is perfect and upright. I mean as perfect
as God Almighty. And the only hope that any man
or woman has of being perfect and upright before God is that
man or woman must be seen by God. As God looks on them, they
must be viewed in Christ. He must see them in Christ, in
the blood of Christ. When He looks at me, this is
my only hope, it's that He sees me standing there covered head
to toe, crown of the head to sole of the foot, in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That when He spilled His blood,
He on purpose spilled it on me. That payment, that work. He said,
when I see you in Him, I'll be satisfied. My wrath will pass
over you. You'll be perfect. You'll be
complete in Him. That's the only way that it can
be said in verse one. There was a man in the land of
us whose name was Job and that man was perfect and 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
in 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 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." Do
you know that's what Christ does for His people? That's exactly
what Christ does for His people. He has already paid their debt
and set them free already, but he makes continual intercession
on their behalf. Daily intercession for the sins
that we have to keep living out. He paid for them, but as we unfortunately
live them out, he makes intercession. I paid for that. I was sacrificed
for that. He ever lives to make intercession
for his people. Verse 6 says, 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, a 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? Hath not thou made an
hedge about him? Hath not thou made a hedge about
him? Now that's one of the most comforting
things that a child of God could ever hear. Hath not thou made a hedge about
him? God has put a hedge around his
people. God has put a hedge around His
people. They are being protected by Him. Nothing can remove them from
the hedge. In a moment, I'm just going to
start talking to us. And I want us to really enter
into this. Nothing. God has put a hedge around His
people. God is protecting His people
with a hedge. And nothing can remove them from
the hedge. Alright, now look at verse 10.
Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and
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 his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house. 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,
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 is 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 alone to tell thee.
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 they. You have lost it all. They all
came and said, you have lost it all. You've lost it all. Now,
let me just talk to us for one minute, okay? I'm going to leave
preacher mode and just tell you something. Let me start by asking
this question. Where is the comfort in that
hedge? Where is the comfort in the hedge? I thought God had a hedge around
him. I thought God was keeping him.
I thought God was protecting him. He must have taken the hedge
away. He must have taken his hand away.
That's what he must have done. He must have taken his hand away. Apparently he let Job go. Not at all. Not at all. See if you can enter
into this. Verse 20, Then Job arose, and
rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the
ground, and worshipped. Worshipped God. He worshipped
God. In that moment, he worshipped
God. Verse 21, 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. I'm going to tell you, those
are the words of a man who is being kept. Those are the words of a man
who is being hedged about. That is the heart cry of a man
who is being protected by God. Hedged to him. It takes the keeping,
saving, hedging hand of God to cause a sinner to say that. Do you know how against the nature
of this flesh that is? The flesh naturally thinks that
because all of those things came upon Job, well God took the hedge
away for a minute. On the contrary. God did not
take the hedge away. All of those things came upon
Job to prove that it was there. To prove that it was there. Verse
22 says, In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. In all this, even throughout
all of that, Job was kept How was he kept? By the power
of God. Unto the glory of God. He was
kept by the hedge of faith in Christ that was wrapped around
him. Totally wrapped around him. Even
through all of that, it says Job sinned not. Now, had Job not been in that
hedge, what would have been his sin against God? He would have charged God foolishly. That would have been his sin.
This is what he would have said. He would have said, you shouldn't
have done this. This was not for my good. This
is not for your glory. I don't trust you in this. I don't trust your will. I don't
trust your purpose. I don't trust your ability. I don't trust you. Thank God for the hedge. Alright, that's the title of
this message. That's all we can say. Thank God for the hedge. That would be all of us. I'm telling you right now, everything
that I just illustrated would be me. It would be you. It would be all of us, all of
God's people, but for the hedge. Thank God for His saving, keeping
hand that wraps His people in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not my faith, it's His faith. He gave it to me, He wrapped
it around me, and in spite of me, our Lord kept saying, are
you yet without faith? Have you already lost what I
gave you? Here, I'll give you more. O ye of little faith, what's
the matter with you? Here's more. Here's more. Here's more. Here's more. Do
you need more? Sure you do. Here's more. But for the hedge, but for God
causing His people to rend their own robe of self-righteousness,
like Peter, Oh, I'm with you. I'll never, I tell you what,
I'll never leave you. That's self-righteousness. Job rent
his self-righteousness, rent his robe, but for the hedge of
God that causes his people to shave the pride of their own
works before him. I just shave it off. Who am I? I know what I am. I know what
I do. and causes all of his people
to fall down broken, helpless. The word prostrate means completely
flat on your face before him, before his feet. Crying, holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, all thy works shall praise thy
name in earth and sky and sea. Only thou art holy. There is
none beside thee perfect in power, in love, and in purity. Do you know that it takes the
saving, keeping, hedge of God to make a sinner say that? While every one of us here knows,
or we ought to know, that if given the chance, we ought to
know that if given the chance, If we could remove ourselves
from the Hedge of God, the sinful, wicked flesh of all of us would
say, I don't trust you anymore. But because God has put us in
the Hedge, all because God put us in the Hedge of His Hand,
the Hedge of His Love, the Hedge of His Covenant, the Hedge of
His Blood, That hedge is Christ Himself. All because God put us in the
hedge. This is what He caused us to
say. In the hedge. This is what His Spirit in us
will say. Not us. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us. His Spirit in us
will say this. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him. Buddy, that's the power of God,
that's the work of God, that's the Word of God, that's the doing
of God, that's the mercy of God, that's the grace of God. Christ
in you, that's a hope of glory. His Spirit crying for us, Abba,
Father, though you slay me, yet will I trust you. Is that not
what Christ said from the cross? Thank God for the hedge. Job
is the one who said that. Though he slay me, I'll trust
him. Thank God for the hedge. If we walk out of here today
thinking one thing and just having one thing burned into our minds,
let it be that. Thank God for the hedge. But
for the hedge, there go I, a goner. Thank God for the ability. in
His Spirit and the desire in that new man that He puts in
us to say, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall
I return thither. The Lord gave, the Lord hath
taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. In all this, blessed be the name
of the Lord. It is the Lord, let Him do what
seemeth Him good. Oh, it takes a power of God to
make a sinner say that. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When you look up the word blessed
in the Bible dictionary, blessed be, those two words, blessed
be, this is what it means. It means I kneel before, I adore,
I praise. Blessed be the name. The name
means, and I love this, the name means the reputation. the character, the glory, the
honor, the authority. Blessed be the name of the Lord
Jehovah, the self-existent eternal God. I kneel before and I adore
and I praise the glory and the honor and the authority and the
character. of my almighty God. Blessed be
the name of the Lord. Turn with me to Psalm 20. Oh, we read these verses with
humility, thankfulness. Psalm 20, verse 7, it says, Some
trust in chariots, And some in horses. But we will remember
the name of the Lord our God. By His grace, we will remember
the reputation. The reputation. We will remember
the character. We'll remember the glory and
the honor and the authority of the Lord our God. Look with me
at Psalm 33. Verse 21 says, For our heart
shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon
us, according as we hope in Thee. By Your grace to us, we trust
in Your holy name. Holy, holy. Right here in Psalm
34, verse 3 says, Oh, magnify the Lord with me
and let us exalt His name together. Let's exalt His glory and let's
exalt His honor and let's exalt His character and let's exalt
His authority together. Let's do it together. Turn with me to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 1, it says, Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities. We bless and we kneel before
and we adore and we praise and exalt His name and His reputation. And here's the reason why we
do that. It's because He made Himself
of no reputation. He had all the reputation. And
He made Himself of no reputation. He forsook His own name. He forsook
His own glory, His own honor, so He could hedge us about. He
made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of
a servant. He humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He did that
so He could forgive the iniquities of all of His people. Because of that, do you know
what the Heavenly Father has done? He has highly exalted Him. and
given him a name which is above every name. He's given him a
reputation that is above every reputation. He's given him a
character that is above every character. A glory, an honor,
The Lord has highly exalted Christ and has given him a name that
is above every name, that at the hearing of that name, every
knee, especially the knees of his people, should bow and that every tongue,
especially the tongues of his people, should confess that he
is Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Verse 1 says, Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. I told you
a little bit ago that we have a brother. who looked at the Lord Jesus
Christ at 3.30 this morning, face-to-face. He beheld Him,
far above the starry sky, face-to-face in all His glory. And do you
know what the Lord did for him at 3.30 this morning? He healed
him of all his diseases. That's what He did. He'd already
forgiven his iniquities. But at 3.30 this morning, He
healed him of all his diseases. Verse 4 says, Who redeemeth thy
life from destruction? At 3.30, He redeemed His life
from destruction. Pulled Him out. At 3.30 this morning, He crowned
Him with loving kindness and tender mercy. At 3.30, He satisfied
His mouth with good, good things. His youth was renewed like the
eagles. Verse six says, the Lord executed
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made
known his ways unto Moses, his acts under the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous
in mercy. He will not always chide. The
Lord's angry with the wicked every day, isn't he? But he will
not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He
hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For he knoweth
our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his
days are as grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place
thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting. upon them that fear Him, and
His righteousness unto children's children. To such as keep His
covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to do them,
the Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom
ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye His angels,
that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of His Word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye His
hosts, ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure, Bless the Lord
all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. Bless the Lord. How many times
does the scripture say, Bless the Lord for His name's sake?
For His name's sake. What is His name? Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. His name shall be called the
Lord our Righteousness. Call His name Savior because
He shall save His people from their sins. Call His name Emmanuel
because God is with us. There is no other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. His name is King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. Blessed be the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, the Hedge
of God. The Hedge of God, the Securer,
the Protector, the Keeper of all His people. Now I'm going
to wrap this up, but let me show you one of my favorite portions
of Scripture in all of the Bible. Turn with me to Psalm 125. Psalm
125, verse 1, it says, They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth
even forever." That's the hedge. He's the Hedge. And Christ the
Hedge is round about His people from right now, even forevermore. Forevermore. Concerning Job,
this is what the adversary said. He said, I can't touch Him, but
if you touch Him, that's what he said, I can't
touch Him. But if you touch Him, Now God touched him through the
means of the adversary. Through the means of his adversary.
But God touched him. Can and will God touch his people
with afflictions? If that's what he's pleased to
do, yes. Yes, and he has every right to do it. Every right to
do it. But he will never remove them
from the hedge. Never. He may touch them in the
hedge. but never will He remove them from the hedge. It's the
hedge of God that keeps a sinner crying, blessed be the name of
the Lord. If you want to know why am I
saying that right now, it's the hedge of God. That's why. All praise to Him who reigns
above in majesty supreme, who gave His Son for man to die. that he might man redeem. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Only God's hedge will keep a
sinner crying, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
Naked came I out of my mother's womb. Naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath
taken away. You've done all these things.
You've done right. You've done well. I kneel before
you. I adore, I praise your glory
and your honor and your authority because you are my eternal God,
no matter what. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Thank God for that hedge. Thank God for that hedge. All
the glory goes to God for Christ, our hedge. May He keep us in
the hedge. Lord, keep us in the hedge. All
right, let's all stand together.