Job chapter 42. Job 42. Feels like I haven't been in
a pulpit for forever. But it felt good last Sunday
to just listen. Listen and be fed myself. I was asked to preach last Sunday,
but I turned it down. Vicki talked me into not doing
it, so... And I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad I sat and listened. Job chapter 42, and the title
of this message is SEEING GOD, or SEEING GOD FOR THE FIRST TIME. JOB SAID BY THE HEARING OF THE
EAR, I HAVE HEARD OF THEE, JUST LIKE EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM HAS,
BUT NOW I SEE YOU, I SEE WHO YOU ARE. Job had a much deeper
experience after that trial and God gave him that trial as He
gives us all our trials to give us a deeper understanding and
to let us with eyes of faith to see Him more and more. Do you want to see God? I want to see God. But in saying
I want to see God, I realize what that involves. That involves
more than just reading THAT INVOLVES MORE THAN READING THE SCRIPTURES
AND THEN PULLING DOWN A COMMENTARY AND SEEING WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT
THE SCRIPTURE I JUST READ. SEEING GOD IS AN EXPERIENCE. KNOWING GOD IS AN EXPERIENCE.
KNOWING ABOUT GOD IS SOMETHING YOU LEARN. KNOWING GOD IS AN
EXPERIENCE. Now in Job chapter 1, God spoke
to Satan. And he said this about Job, he said, Have you considered,
my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth? What
a statement! There is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, FEARETH,
E.T.H. That means continually, that's
what that means, continually. He continually fears God, it's
not sporadic. Job lived in a right fear of
God. Job knew God, not like he's going
to. None of us know God like we think
we do, none of us. He's one that fears God and escheweth,
shuns evil, evil company. Job did not keep evil company
because evil company corrupts good manners, the Word of God
says. He shunned evil, he shunned evil
company, the appearance of evil he turned and walked away from
it, he left it. And then Job proved God to be
right because at the end of chapter 1 It says Job rose, ran his mantle,
shaved his head, fell down upon the ground, and he worshipped.
He didn't complain at this time. Now he had some complaints later. You know, when the trial gets
long, our patience gets short. But that trial is working on
our patience and gives us endurance. in faith and in quietness, not
complaining so much when we go through hardships. But he worshipped
and he said this, NAKED I CAME OUT OF MY MOTHER'S WOMB, AND
NAKED SHALL I RETURN THITHER. The Lord gave, the Lord gave
me all that I have AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY ALL THAT I HAVE."
He did, He took it all away. He didn't say, THE LORD GIVETH
AND SATAN TAKETH. Satan doesn't have the power
to take one thing from you, not even a hair of your head. But he said, THE LORD GAVE AND
THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME. AND ALL THIS JOB SINNED NOT,
NOR CHARGED GOD FOOLISHLY. Job proved God to be right. Now
when we read the book of Job, we see in Job the character of
a believer. We see the integrity of Job. It says over in chapter 2 of
Job, it says this, in chapter 2, let me just read it to you.
In verse 3, And the LORD said to Satan, Hast thou considered
my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a
perfect and upright man, one that fears God and escheweth
evil? And still he holds fast his integrity. He holds it fast. God's people are a people of
integrity. HE'S A MAN THAT FEARED GOD, HE
HAD A RIGHT FEAR OF GOD, HE'S A MAN THAT FOLLOWED THE LORD
AND HE FOLLOWED THE LORD FAITHFULLY. FAITHFULLY. BUT GOD IN HIS WISDOM DESIGNED THESE TRIALS FOR JOB
AS HE HAS DESIGNED OUR TRIAL. OUR TRIALS ARE DESIGNED OF GOD. therefore a purpose and that
purpose is to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ
and that you and I by faith would see God more and more I want
to see God by faith I want to see God and whatever that takes
and I know what I'm saying it's a hard thing to say if you understand
what you are saying I want to see God. I want you to see God. I want us to see God. I want
us to grow in grace and in knowledge of Christ. But that's not an
easy path. It's not an easy path. God designed
this trial for Job, a severe trial. You know, Job suffered
the loss of all that he possessed, and you know why? because of
his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said this
in Philippians 3. For Christ's sake, he's saying,
and I'm going to paraphrase, I have suffered the loss of all
things. I've given it all up. Paul was
a wealthy man at one time. Most believe him to be that rich
young ruler that came to the Lord. But he suffered the loss of all
things. Job suffered the loss of all
things here because of his relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. If
Job had just been a rebel, Satan would have had no interest in
him at all. And then we find Job's friends.
They make a journey. They heard about Job and they
made a journey. They came to investigate what
happened and they saw Job and they sat down for seven days
and nights and never said a word. And it would have been to their
wisdom if they hadn't have said anything instead of blaming Job
for the trial. Job, you've done something bad,
bad, bad. God doesn't do this to good people.
GOD DOESN'T DO THIS TO THE RIGHTEOUS, OH YES HE DOES. OH YES HE DOES. HE MAKES HIS CHILDREN CRY. YOU
KNOW MY PARENTS MADE ME CRY SOMETIMES. WHEN THEY CHASING ME, I BELIEVE
YOU ME, I CRIED. THEY MADE IT HURT. AND GOD IN
DISCIPLINING HIS CHILDREN AND TEACHING HIS CHILDREN SOMETIMES,
NOT EVERY TIME, BUT SOMETIMES HE MAKES THEM CRY. JUST AS HE DID JOB HERE. His
friends turned on him. But Job, as we read on through the book
of Job, Job really defended himself. You know, we can get caught up,
now listen, we can get caught up in trying to defend ourselves
and go too far with it. And Job in some areas, he went
too far. And then we find in chapter 32, WE FIND THIS FOURTH PERSON! I'm going to go back and read
it, because I was reading it this morning, what Elihu had
to say. And all this time we hear of Job's three friends,
we hear them speak, and at the end of this, Job offers a sacrifice
for three, the three friends. But this fourth one, Elihu, he
speaks. and he speaks from chapter 32
I think to chapter 38 and Job doesn't speak, the friends do
not speak, he speaks, and then God speaks in chapter 38. And God says concerning Job's
three friends, He said, They have not said that which is right
concerning Me, but Elihu He didn't say anything about. Elihu DID
say. He spoke those things right.
Eli, he was younger, he speaks of his reason he didn't speak.
He was younger, he respected his elders. Can you believe that? They taught respect. He respected
his elders, that's why he didn't speak. And then in chapter 38,
as I said, God speaks. He speaks to Job. The Lord had
been silent through all this, through all this trial. God didn't
speak to Job at all. because He's teaching him, the
instruction is in the trial, the instruction is in the suffering.
He's being instructed and He doesn't know, but He's going
to know it. This is not in vain. No trial of God is in vain. There
are instructions in it. He'll speak when it's time. He'll
speak by His Spirit through His Word and you'll learn something,
and you'll look at that trial and you'll say, By the hearing of the ear I have
heard of thee, but now mine eyes see it thee. I see Him more and
more clearly. And God said in chapter 38, I
think it's in verse 2, He says here, Who is this? that darkens counsel by words
without knowledge. He's speaking of Job and his
three friends, but you're talking about things you don't know anything
about. Ever done that? Have you ever talked about things
scripturally that you don't really know what you're talking about? God tells Job in verse 38 after
he says, you're darkening counsel without knowledge. Now He says,
Job in Job 38.3, Gird up now thy loins like a man. Boy, that
statement has always jumped out at me. God does not apologize
for taking His children, taking His wealth, taking His health,
and everybody turning. God does not apologize to Job. He doesn't say, Job, I'm sorry
for putting you through this. God's not sorry for anything. If you're wrong, you need to
be sorry, but when you're right, you don't need to be sorry or
apologize. Gird up now thy loins like a
man, for I will demand of thee, and answer me, or do you teach
me? Job, I'm going to ask you some
questions, now you teach me something here. Me teach God? What he's going
to do is show Job how ignorant he is. He's going to find out
how ignorant he really is. And he's going to regret a lot
of the things that he said. And he's going to understand
that a lot of things I said, I said in ignorance. I really didn't know what I was
talking about. And the reason God's doing this
to Job is that he might reveal himself to Job. I tell you this,
if God is going to walk with us, if we're going to walk with
God, God's going to have to burn off some of the dross. The closer the walk, the hotter
the fire to burn off dross that we may walk with Him. And you
can't walk with somebody until you know Him. And He's going
to reveal Himself through these trials and these questions that
He's asking Job. And one of the things that Job
is going learned since it's all past. One of the things that
Job learned, he learned something of the real power of God and
the sovereignty of God. Elihu is the one who said he
gives no account of any of his matters. He's not going to answer
to me and you why he does what he does. IF HE TOLD US, WE STILL
COULDN'T GET IT. WE STILL WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND.
IT'S TOO DEEP. THESE PEANUT SINFUL MINDS OF OURS CAN'T GRASP SUCH
KNOWLEDGE AND SUCH WISDOM. IT'S TOO HIGH. IT'S ABOVE US.
WE CAN'T GRASP IT. I THINK I WROTE THIS IN A BULLETIN.
A GOOD DEFINITION FOR SOVEREIGNTY IS GOD TAKING FROM YOU AND NOT
ASKING IF HE CAN. THAT'S SOVEREIGNTY. God is not answerable to us,
we are answerable to Him. And then we come to Job 42, 1
through 6, and we are going to see the reason for this trial,
and the reason for it is this, that he might know God, that
he might have a deeper acquaintance with God, and this is why God
sent this trial. And Job says in verse 2, Let
me read verse 1, Then Job answered the LORD and said, I know that
thou canst do everything. You have the power to do all
things. It's one thing to know this.
It's another thing to experience the power of God. I want to know. I want to know
God's power. I want to know the power of His
grace, power of His love. I want to know it. I want it
to conquer me. I want God s love to conquer
me and know what that means. I want to know the wisdom of
God, and that s knowing Christ, to know the wisdom of God. I know thou canst do everything,
I m sure, I m sure. You know, everybody in this room,
you believe that, don t you? You believe God can do everything,
don t BUT WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE, IT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. WHEN
YOU EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF GOD, IT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. WHEN
YOU EXPERIENCE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, IT IS NOT A DOCTRINE
NO MORE. IT IS NOT A DOCTRINE, IT IS GOD. THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE WHO BELIEVE GOD
IS SOVEREIGN. GOD IS SOVEREIGN. HE DOES AS HE WILL, WITH WHOM
HE WILL, WHEN HE WILL. AND WE KNOW THAT. And he said,
No thought can be withholden from thee. He believed in the omniscience
of God. But brethren, to know that God
knows every thought, to know that. Peter said, Lord, you know
all things, you know I love you. It's one thing to be educated
in these things, it's another thing to experience God. I'm
telling you the truth, it's another thing to experience it. No thought,
no motive, no action. Job said, I'M STANDING BEFORE
YOU NAKED! YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME!
Everything! You know, when I read this, now
I'm not one who believes in dreams. I'm not a dreamer. I don't put
any stock in any dream at all. But when I was a young man, And
I'd heard the gospel going out 13th Street. I had a dream. I've
had a couple dreams that just stuck with me. But I dreamed
I was standing there wanting to go in with the men who surrounded
the Lord. He was surrounded by his people.
I wanted so bad to go into that circle, and I thought, He knows,
and this is why I'm telling this, He knows every thought I have.
I can't even have a thought and He doesn't know it. And what
if I have a bad thought? What if I have an ornery thought? He's going to know it. That struck me so hard when I
woke up. He does know why every thought,
every good thought or every bad thought, He knows it. The Lord
knows it. He knows it perfectly. He knows it more than I know
it. He knows where it comes from. No thought, He said, can be withholding
from thee. He knew God He's not omniscient,
but he's not just everywhere, like the air, the wind. But God knows when you think
and what you think and the motive behind why you're thinking it.
That's God. Here's a question. DO WE REALLY
BELIEVE ANYTHING UNTIL WE EXPERIENCE IT? There's a lot of things I
have been taught when I was in school that I've never experienced.
But I tell you what, what you EXPERIENCE is what you REALLY
BELIEVE. Now God revealed Himself to Job
and Job really saw the Lord, I see you. Now mine eye seeth
you. And God sent these trials on
Job that Job may worship the Lord more deeply if I can say
it that way in spirit and in truth Not in ceremony because
Job offered sacrifices, he offered them for his children, lest they
curse God in their heart, lest they sin. Job offered sacrifices
but salvation and this relationship we have with God is more than
that, it's real. It's a real, true, spiritual,
heart worship of God. That's what it is. He's everything to you. He's
your life. If Jesus Christ truly is not
absolutely everything to you, you've not met Him yet. You haven't
met Him yet. He's more than just some facts
to believe. He's a living God. He's the living
God. And we don't worship Him in ceremonies
and rituals, we worship Him in Spirit and Truth. And he says
in verse 3 here, Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?
Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not, things
too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Now back over, I think it's
in verse 38 when God said, Who is this that darkens counsel
without knowledge? Job is repeating what God said. Who is this that darkens counsel
without knowledge? And Job is saying this, HE'S
RAISING HIS HAND AND SAYING I AM, I'M THE MAN. HE'S REPEATING IN
THIS VERSE WHAT GOD SAID TO HIM AND HE'S SAYING I'M GUILTY. I'm
guilty. He didn't say he's three friends. You know, the Lord said, one
of you is going to deny me. And they said, one by one, Lord,
is it I? And Job was saying, Lord, I'm
the one, not the three friends, I'm the one who darkened counsel
without knowledge. I've spoken of things too wonderful. I've spoken in ignorance. I've
spoken in ignorance. You know, preaching is so much
more It's so much more important to
me now and it was important to me when I started but not like
it is now. Solomon said that the preacher
sought for right words, right words, not babbling, right words. Lord give me right words to say,
teach me right words. And Job is confessing and he
realized I'm the one who spoke. My knowledge is so limited, it's
so limited. I said this to Vicki yesterday
or the day before yesterday. I said, I'd like to just go a
day, just one day, that anything and everything I said, I really
stopped and thought about it before it came out of my mouth.
I said, I wish I could do that one time instead of just spouting
off and answering. If I could just do it one time.
But so many times we speak in ignorance. I thought this morning, I wrote
it down in a, I got a pad, I write down just thoughts. We sing above
our experience and we speak above our knowledge. We do. Joe said, Oh man, I'm so ignorant.
You know, when God said, Joe, where were you when I created
the heavens and the earth? Tell me if you've been, if you're
around, tell me about it. When I laid the foundations of
the world, where were you? It's so beautiful the way the
Lord just asks these questions and Job is in dumb silence. Couldn't
answer God. Couldn't answer Him. And Job
said, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear. Most
people have, haven't they? Most people have heard of God,
of Christ. You've heard, but very few have
seen the Lord. Very few have seen the Lord Jesus
Christ. Creation speaks every day about
God. God's Law that was given speaks of God. The Law written
on the heart speaks of Him, on your conscience it speaks of
Him. This Word right here that you got open speaks of Him. But it doesn't stop there. BY THE HEARING OF THE EAR I HAVE
HEARD OF YOU. FAITH COMES BY HEARING, HEARING BY THE WORD
OF GOD. BUT NOW, NOW MINE EYE SEES YOU. I HAVE
FAITH, HE'S TALKING ABOUT NOT THESE FLESHLY EYES, I HAVE FAITH,
NOW I SEE YOU. I SEE HOW YOU OPERATE, I SEE
WHO YOU ARE, IN YOUR HOLINESS, IN YOUR POWER, I SEE GOD. NOW
MINE EYE SEETH THEE. NOW I UNDERSTAND MORE OF YOUR
MAJESTY AND YOUR GLORY AND YOUR SOVEREIGNTY AND YOUR POWER. NOW I SEE MORE OF WHO GOD IS,
I DO. IS TO SEE HIM IN HIS CHIEF GLORY,
IN HIS REDEMPTIVE GLORY. NOW I SEE HIM MORE CLEARLY. I SEE MY NEED OF CHRIST MORE
CLEARLY. I TELL YOU THIS, It's when you, by God's power, when
you see God with eyes of faith for the first time, that's when
you will SEE YOURSELF. You will not see yourself until
then. You will not see how sinful you are until then. Job did not
say, By the hearing of the ear I have heard of thee, and now
mine eye seeth thee, and I REJOICE He said, no, you know what he
said? Wherefore, verse six, because
of this revelation, I abhor myself in repenting dust and ashes.
I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry for all the
things I've said. I spoke in ignorance. I said
things way over my head. I spoke of things way over my
head. I'm sorry. I hate myself. I abhor myself.
Have you ever abhorred yourself? Has God ever made you to abhor
yourself? Now I know everybody knows to
say yes. THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN THE EXPERIENCE OF IT. THAT'S
DIFFERENT THAN WHEN YOU JUST LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND YOU CAN
THROW UP ON YOURSELF. AND YOU CAN TELL, YOU CAN REALLY
TELL BY THE WAY WE TREAT OTHERS IF WE'VE REALLY SEEN GOD AND
IF WE REALLY ABHOR OURSELVES BY THE WAY WE TREAT OTHERS AND
SPEAK OF OTHERS. As he says in verse chapter 40,
he says, I put my hand on my mouth and he said, I'm going
to say no more. I'm just going to, every time I open my mouth, I'm
just going to put my hand over my mouth until I learn something. I wish, wouldn't you like to
just do that? God helped me put my hand over
my mouth till I actually have something to say. That's what his reaction, I hate
myself, I abhor myself, I put my hand over my mouth. Job stood
in silence. Job, for the first time, I think
he had some understanding of his sinfulness, but not like
he had at the end of this trial. Because God brought out of him,
you know, it only takes certain situations to bring out that
sin that's still in us. You let somebody cut you off.
Just cut you off out there. And all of a sudden, your little
Sunday school boy goes out the door. And then you go into a
rage. And you realize, and you realize,
that's still in me. Oh, how I need a Savior. Have
you seen God? i pray i do pray that the lord
will open our eyes and let us see him all right