Job chapter 1, Doug, you lead
us in prayer. Our Father, we thank you, Lord. You've given us hearts this morning.
We have a desire to be in this place this morning to worship
our God. Lord, we thank you for your mercy
to us. Lord, we know your word teaches us that your mercy is
new evermore. Lord, we thank you for it. Lord,
help us to truly worship you this morning. Thank you for your
precious word, those precious promises that we find in it.
Lord, bless us this morning. Bless John as he brings your
word to us. Lord, fulfill us by our sins.
We ask you in Christ's name, amen. Now the title of the lesson is Lessons Learned in Trouble. Lessons Learned in Trouble. The
secondary title to this would be How Fast Can One Go Broke? How Fast Can One Go Broke? And
we'll see this in Job. Job it says in verse 1 he lived
in the land of us and he was a man it said that and that man
was perfect and upright now we know we know that in Jesus Christ
this is how God sees every one of his children. Job was a sinner
just like me and you But His perfection, His perfection, His
perfectness is how we are in Christ. It's how He was in Christ
and how we are in Christ. We are perfect in the Lord Jesus
Christ, not in ourselves, we know that. We know that in this
life we are still sinful and we sin and we know that. But
in Christ, we're perfect. God made us that way in Christ.
That's how he sees us. And the way God sees us is exactly
how it is. It's how it is. And it said,
there was born to him seven sons and three daughters, and 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, that
is servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the men
in the east. Job went from being the wealthiest,
greatest man in the East to the poorest man in the East overnight. Overnight. Look in verse 14 and
15. I'm not going to go through every
one of these particular verses, but look in verses 14 and 15. Well, starting in verse 13, 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 Sabeans 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, while
this one was speaking to Job, 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. Now remember
I read to you how many thousands of livestock he had. And hath
burned up the sheep and the servants, AND CONSUMED THEM, AND I ONLY
AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL. 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 SLAYING THE SERVANTS WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD. ALL HIS
SERVANTS WERE, IT SAID HE HAD A VERY GREAT HOUSEHOLD OF SERVANTS,
AND HERE THEY'RE And the servants, they were killed
with the edge of the sword. And I only am escaped to tell
thee. And while he was 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 thee. You know the story, Satan
went before God and God gave him permission to touch Job except
for his life. He said, you can touch him, everything
he has, but you can't touch his life. In an instant, in an instant,
he went broke. He was totally broke. And after
a little time goes by, this same conversation goes on between
Satan and God. Some say it was a year went by
and then Satan touched his health. He lost his health. He scraped
his boils with a pot shirt and he spoke of the worms on his
body, maggots. And he just had no doubt, he
just had such a stench about him. This is God's Son. This is the
one God says is PERFECT. He lost EVERYTHING. This is why
we are told in the Word of God not to trust in riches. Listen
to these scriptures. Psalm 62.10 Trust not in oppression,
and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase, set not your
heart upon them. You know, people feel very comfortable
when they have a fat bank account. God can take that away in an
instant. Proverbs 23, verse 5, WILL THOU SET THINE EYES UPON
THAT WHICH IS NOT? FOR RICHES CERTAINLY MAKE THEMSELVES
WINGS, THEY FLY AWAY AS AN EAGLE TOWARD HEAVEN. He says, DON'T
SET YOUR HEART UPON THESE THINGS. And Job learned this lesson.
He lost everything. He was the richest man in the
East. And he lost everything. And he even lost his children.
He had 10 children. 10 children. And every one of
them killed at the same time. They all died. Had 10 caskets. Can you imagine 10 caskets in
here? Can you imagine that? 10 of them. And not only did he lose his
children, he lost the affections of his wife. She turned on him. Look over in chapter 2. You know, so often we forget
that Job's wife went through the same thing. Same thing, but look over in, I believe it's
chapter 2, is it verse 2? Oh, verse 9 and 10 over in chapter
2. Then said his wife unto him,
Dost thou still retain thine integrity? CURSE GOD! and die. You know what she's saying to
him? Curse God and kill yourself. Commit suicide. She's telling
him to go kill himself. But he said to her, Thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speak. What, shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil or trouble?
And all this did not Job sin with his lips. He never charged
God with folly. And then Job, listen, Job had
a lot of respect. This man was highly respected. He was very well known in that
whole area. And you know, when you're that
wealthy and great, you're well known. But after this happened to him,
after God took this away from him and he lost his health, I
want you to read over in chapter 19. Turn over in chapter 19.
I want you to see what happened. FRIENDS ARE FICKLE. I tell you
what, they're fickle. Look in verse 13. 13 through 19. He had put my brethren
far from me and my acquaintance are very strange to me. My kinfolk
have failed, they've left me, and my familiar friends have
forgotten me. They that dwell in my house and
my maids count me a stranger. I am an alien in their sight.
I called my servant, and he gave me no answer. I entreated him
with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife,
though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body. Yea, young children despise me. I rose and they spake against
me. The young children, you know,
children, they repeat and have the attitude usually that comes
from the parents. They listened to what their parents
were saying about Job and they carried their attitude toward
Job. Young children despised me. I rose and they spake against
me. All my inward friends, my close
friends, abhorred me. They whom I loved are turned
against me. Now we know this has reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They all turned on Him. He came unto His own
and His own received Him not. Job is a good picture of Christ
throughout his trials here. But as a man here, and as a believer,
he lost all of his possessions, his children were all taken away,
and all his friends and respect was gone. They all turned on
him. He lost his health. Later on,
as I said, he was scraping his flesh, it had boils on it, he
was scraping it with potsherds, broken potsherds. That is suffering like no other
suffering except our Lord. He suffered greater. He suffered
greater. We know this is great suffering.
But now listen, as Paul said, it is not even to be compared
to the glory which is to follow. Job had probably the greatest
suffering of anyone I know of as a man, except for our Lord.
But his suffering still, and we can't grasp this, but his
suffering was a light affliction compared to what our Lord suffered
at the hands of a just God. When God's wrath fell on him
at Calvary, we can't even imagine what that was. He took the actual
hell that I deserved and took it out on his son. That's suffering,
now that's soul suffering. But Job, now listen here. Job,
when all this came upon him, He fell down before God and wept. That's a good thing to do. That's
a good place to be, isn't it? When God sends hard afflictions
on us, the best thing to do is fall down before Him and weep. Don't be afraid to weep. Weep. Weep. and Joe did he wasn't afraid
to he felt the hand of God the hand of God was upon him and
he acknowledged it but I tell you what happened here is the
trials this these trials that Joe went through his his great
heartaches was sanctified by worship not complaining about
worship Look in verse 20 and 22 in verse
chapter 1 here. After all this was told to Job,
then Job arose, rent his mantle, his robe, he just rent it, tore
it, shaved his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshiped,
and worshiped. And he makes this statement,
and it's a very short statement. You know, worship is not something
that has to be long drawn and carried out. Worship is when
your heart expresses itself to God in a right manner, in a reverent,
respectful manner, no matter how hard the affliction is. Listen
to this. And Job said this, NAKED CAME
I OUT OF MY MOTHER'S WOMB, AND NAKED SHALL I RETURN THERE. THE
LORD GAVE, AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY. You notice something in
this verse? He doesn't say, THE LORD GAVE,
AND SATAN HAS TAKEN IT AWAY. HE NEVER MENTIONS SATAN AS THE
ROOT PROBLEM HERE. HE KNEW, HE KNEW GOD IS THE FIRST
CAUSE OF ALL THINGS. EVERYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY
CAUSES. EVERYTHING ELSE GOD USES. THIS IS GOD'S CHILD IN GOD'S
SCHOOL RIGHT NOW. HE'S SCHOOLING JOB. ALL THY CHILDREN
SHALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD. Now we just automatically think
that when we read the word, we're sitting there in the preaching,
that we're being taught of God. You are. But when you go out
of this building and you go home, you get a phone call and to you,
it's a tragedy and your heart's broken. I thought this morning, I thought
of the Terrell family and the Morell family. or what a day
can bring forth. I said, when Vicki and I was
watching a program on hero dogs, dogs that have saved their masters. And this woman taking her, she's
with her two dogs, a wolfhound and a mastiff. She's out taking
a stroll and turns around and a grizzly bear attacks her. I
mean, tears her face, just about tears her face off. But those
dogs attack that grizzly bear. And it gave her enough time to
get up and get away. And I said to Vicki, I said,
we just don't know what a day will bring forth, do we? Here
you are on a nice stroll, taking a hike, and next thing you know,
a grizzly bear is eating your face off. We don't know what
a day will bring forth. But we know this, God brings
forth every day. And God brings forth our troubles
as well as our happiness and our troubles. our joy and our
sorrows. God does that. God does that
in the life of His children day by day. My whole life, my whole
life is ordained of God. Is that so? My whole life and
your whole life is ordained of God. and He's going to teach
me not only out of His Word and through the preaching of His
Word, He's going to teach me by trials and afflictions. It's
interesting that both messages today are about afflictions,
both messages. Evidently, we need them. The Lord gave and the Lord taken
away, blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned
not, nor charged God with folly or foolishness. He didn't charge
God with foolishness. He sanctified His sorrows by
worship, by worship. He did not cry, Why me? Why does
bad things happen to good people? He didn't say that. He said,
THE LORD GAVE THESE THINGS TO ME, AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN THEM
AWAY. BLESSED BE HIS NAME. He knows
what I need. And He knows when I need it.
You know, when my boys were growing up, I disciplined my boys, but
I could not control the outcome of it. You can't control the
outcome of disciplining your children. God does. God controls the outcome. Job said, He knows the way that
I take when He has tried me. God knows the outcome. He didn't
say, why me? He fell down and he worshiped
God. If grief, sorrow, trials come
our way, if they come our way, the best thing to do is to fall
down and worship God, worship God there. Worship Him where
He's put you. I'm talking to myself as well
as I'm talking to you. I listen to myself. You know,
I read this, I go over these notes many times before I come
out here. And I read them out loud. In
my study, I read them out loud. I hear what I'm saying. And I
hear what I'm saying to myself as well as you. by God's grace now and now is
by God's grace let us worship there wherever he puts us whatever
he brings us to if he we go through the waters he said I'll be I'll
go with you I'll go with you I won't wait
for you on the other side till you get out of them I'll go with
you all the way through those waters I'll go right I'll go
I'll be right there with you not only that he's carrying us
through the waters he's carrying us through the waters This is a good time. When we
have heartaches and trials, it's a very good time to sit down
and reflect upon God, upon my relationship, your relationship
with the Lord. I tell you what, there's nothing
that will get your attention greater than trials and afflictions.
Nothing will get your attention. He may have to burn your field
up to get your attention, but He'll do it. God'll burn your
field up if He needs to, to get your attention. David said this over in Psalm
42. Go over to Psalm 42. Psalm 42, look in verse
5. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul, David says, and why art thou disquieted in me. Hope thou in God, while you cast
down, hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for
the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down
within me, therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan
and of the Hermonites and the hill Miser. Deep calleth unto
deep at the noise of thy waterspouts. All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command His
lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song will
be with me in my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say
unto God, my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? And why go I mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy? But why art thou cast
down, O my soul? Hope thou in the Lord, hope in
His promises. He's never broken a promise.
call upon me in the day of trouble and I'll deliver thee." Now that
doesn't mean we're going to instantly come out of a problem like that,
I've learned that because I've quoted that so many times in
prayer over the years. I've quoted that but I've also
learned yes, He will bring me out in His time and when I have
learned the lesson when the trial has served its purpose You know,
so many times in school, the kids are let out of class and
they haven't learned a thing. God doesn't let His children
out of class until they learn the lesson. Until they learn
it. Now Job, we see here by the way
he speaks in chapter 1, that he was taught of God. He was
taught of God. Now listen, he's taught of God,
now what did God teach him? What did God teach you? And God
has taught some of you these lessons. Some of you young, you're
gonna, if by God's grace He saves you, you're gonna learn these
lessons. You know, I don't pray for trials. I don't pray for
trials on my boys or my grandkids. I don't, because they're coming.
If they're God's children, they're coming. They're ordained of God.
You know what I pray for them? Here's what I pray for them.
God grant them faith and repentance. Everything else he'll take care
of it. He'll take care of his own. He'll teach you his own.
Those trials are already coming. They're coming. Here's what Job
learned. And he learned this. He learned that life is short. It's short. He said I came Joe 14 1 through 5 we learn this
he says I came and I shall return I Came and I'm gonna go Here's
the disadvantage of youth and I'm speaking from experience
Believe it or not. I used to be young one time But
here's the disadvantage of youth you always think you got time
You always believe you got time Time is in God's hands. David
said, my times are in your hands. My times are. You go over to
the cemetery, there's babies buried over there. And there's
people that's old. I don't know, I've never looked
at the oldest one over there, but old, 100 years old or more, buried
over there. All in between. And you know
what every one of them have in common over there? Is on their
grave, the date, there's a dash between them. I thought this morning, I thought,
from the time you're born, you're on a dash to that day you die. And it's that short. It's that
short. You know, in the Word of God,
Job compares it to a flower. You know, a flower grows up,
it's beautiful. You know, youth, I've said this
before, youth is beautiful to me. I see youth now like I never
saw it before in my life. Not a wrinkle on their brow. My granddaughter, she won't wear
makeup. She don't have to right now.
She's only 18. She's only 18. But that'll soon be gone. It's
like a flower. And then it's gone. You see it
start to wilt and dies and the petals fall off. And James calls it a vapor. How
long does a vapor last in the air? Gone. You go out in the
morning, I was out the other morning and my breath was, you
could see my breath for an instant, that's all. And it was gone.
A weaver shuttle, a post, all these are spoken of in the Scriptures
to tell us how short life is. It?s short! And we should always keep this
before us. Now, it?s morbid to those who
don?t believe God, it is, I understand it, but to us who We have a good
future. We have a good future. I have
a better future in coming than I've got in this life. I do, and you do too. And Job knew how quickly he could
lose everything. He knew it. He knew this. He said, I came into this world
naked. And God made him rich. God blessed
the work of his hands. That's what Satan said. He said,
you put a hedge about him and you've blessed the work of his
hands. He was not a lazy man. He doesn't
bless laziness, but it blessed the work of his hands. And then overnight, in an instant,
I mean, in an instant, one after another, after another, and after
another, he lost it all. And you know what? It was good
for him. It was good for him to lose it
all. And he knew it. He said, naked
I came and naked I'll leave this. I won't take anything with me.
I'm not going to take anything with me. Everybody, everybody
is born with the same birthday suit. Naked. everybody and you're gonna leave
that way too you're not taking anything and he learned a vanity
of what life is without christ what is life without christ it's
nothing it's a useless life it literally
is a useless life it's a it's a life of vanity WE BROUGHT NOTHING INTO THIS
WORLD, in 1 Timothy 6, 7, WE BROUGHT NOTHING INTO THIS WORLD,
AND IT IS CERTAIN, CERTAIN WE CAN CARRY NOTHING OUT. I've said
this many times, you never see a U-Haul following a hearse,
and you never will. WE CAME INTO THIS WORLD AS And
by the grace of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can
leave this world as saints, saved, sanctified, saved, justified. That's how we can leave this
world. We could leave this world differently than we came in.
Now, naturally, we're going to leave it just like we came in,
naked. We're not going to take anything with us. But now, the
believer leaves this world justified, sanctified, in Christ, righteous,
holy. That's how we leave this world.
The believer does. That's how we leave. But without
Christ, we're going to die lost. He's going to stand before God.
You know it says in, I believe it's in Revelation, that all
things before Him are naked and open. Nothing, not even a thought. Every thought every human being
has ever had is going to come back and be judged of God. That's
how strict His judgment is. right down to the thought. And
then he saw the hand of God in everything. Do you see the hand
of God in everything? Do you? He acknowledged the hand
of God in everything. The Lord gave and the Lord taketh
away. Not Satan, the Lord taketh away. Satan and men are just second
causes. And we've got to notice this.
Job acknowledged that all I have the Lord gave me. Paul said what
do you have that you didn't receive? What do you have that God hasn't
given to you? Everything you have. The air
you breathe, even the mental capacity you have is God-given. Even that's God-given. If you have faith and repentance
God gave that to you also, didn't He? Faith, it said, is a gift
of God. In Acts, it said God granted
to the Gentiles repentance. He didn't leave you alone. He
didn't leave you alone. And Job didn't play the blame
game. He didn't blame Satan. He said
the Lord had taken away. He saw the hand of God in the
giving and in the taking. He acknowledged that all things
are of God. All things are of God. You remember whenever God killed
Aaron's two sons? You know what it says? Aaron
held his peace. You know when Samuel told Eli
that God was going to kill his two sons? You know what Eli said? It's the Lord, let him do as
he pleases. He didn't complain or he just
said, it's the Lord. And he declares by his statement,
by when he said, blessed be the name of the Lord, he declares
that God is to be praised all the
time in every situation, every situation. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. WE SHOULD PRAISE AND BLESS GOD
WHEN WE ARE ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN OR WHEN WE ARE IN THE LOWEST
VALLEY, SHOULDN'T WE? BECAUSE WHETHER WE ARE ON TOP
OF THE MOUNTAIN OR IN THE VALLEY, ALL THINGS ARE WORKING FOR YOUR
GOOD, YOUR SPIRITUAL GOOD. HE'S WEANING US FROM THE WORLD. WE HAVE A REAL ATTACHMENT TO
THIS WORLD. and I'll read let me let me give
you this last point Paul puts it right in first Thessalonians
5 18 in everything whether God's giving to you or taking from
you in everything whether God's taking away your health or giving
you health in everything give thanks give thanks and here's
the here's the here's the PUNCHLINE! Here it is. For this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything give thanks
because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. You look at a brother that's
doing well and has it made and making money and here you are
broke and sick and give thanks. because this is God's will for
you at this time at this hour and when it's all over and if
Job could come here this morning he'd tell you that we're just
a light affliction compared to the glory I'm enjoying right
now all right