Alright brethren, if you will
please open your Bibles to the book of Job. Our text tonight
is going to be Job, the first chapter. The title is going to
be Lessons from Trials. Lessons from Trials. We looked
before last year at the first five verses of Job and how this
is the oldest book in the Bible. Not that the time that it covers
is the oldest period of time, but chronologically this was
the first book written. And the first five verses, like
a prologue to any book you would read nowadays, gives you an idea
of what the rest of the book's about. And these first five verses
we see Job as a beautiful picture of Christ. And that sets the
tone for the rest of these scriptures, don't it? That's what we're to
look for. So let's start reading in Job 1. Job chapter 1, verse
1. There was a man in the land of
Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright,
one that feared God and eschewed evil. He shunned evil. Now we
know Job wasn't perfect. Job wasn't without sin. He didn't
perfectly fear the Lord, but he was the Lord's. Christ had
died for him. And that means in the eyes of
the Father, He was perfect. He was upright. He didn't shun
evil. That's what we want to be if
we're born of God, isn't it? Verse 2, And there were born
unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also
was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred
yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household. That's all the servants. so that
this man was the greatest of all the men of the east." That's
our Lord. He said, the cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. Everything's the Lord's, isn't
it? This is His earth. He just lets us live here. And
our Redeemer was the greatest of the east. He was the firstborn.
Verse 4 says, 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. On each of their birthdays, they
would have their siblings over to have a big dinner. And they
were going on about their lives, and Dad would take care of everything. They were not careless, but they
were carefree, weren't they? Comfortable. In verse 5 it says,
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. Christ died for a certain number
of people, didn't he? A perfect number of people. He
had seven sons and three daughters. Seven is the number of perfection,
three is completion. So for Job said, it may be that
my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did
Job continually. Christ is continually sacrificed
once and for all, for all of eternity, for those children
that are His. Now Job lived as a man. Job lived in an abundance of
grace and mercy from God. He was looking to Christ the
whole time, but he also had an abundance of worldly blessings. He had all these sheep, all this
household, thousands of servants to keep track of all these animals
and feed them. And he had to have just farmers
to grow enough feed for these animals, take care of them. He had a large, healthy family,
many servants, all those large fields to grow the feed. But
during this whole time, Satan was eyeing Job. He had his sights
on him. He eyes all men, especially the
saints of God. especially those children that
the Lord's bought. Now, Satan's powerful, but he's only powerful
as God allows. Paul wrote to Timothy concerning
the requirements of a pastor and the elders and the deacons,
and he said in 2 Timothy, in meekness, instructing those that
oppose themselves, Here's a result of what the proclaiming Christ
is all does in people. If God per adventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of truth and that they may recover
themselves, that means they are recovered out of the snare of
the devil. That's where we were. We're all
subject and vulnerable to the power of Satan. And we're about
to see the devil is limited and bound by God. But without the
Lord sustaining us, we are no match for Him. A common, horrible
error, misconception is that God's on one side fighting for
you, casting a vote, the devil's on the other side fighting for
you, casting a vote for you, and you're in the middle. And
you're the vote that counts. That's erroneous. That's a lie.
We remember Ananias there in Acts chapter 5. Him and his wife
had sold a piece of land and they brought the money to give
to the apostles for the furtherance of the gospel. But they kept
some of it. And the only people that knew
about it were those two, him and his wife. They kept back a little
bit in secret. And Peter said to Ananias, why
hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and
to keep back part of the price of the land? Peter knew that. The spirit was given to him to
call out Ananias at that time and he scolded him. And when
Ananias heard those things, he fell to the ground and gave up
the ghost. It killed him right then. He was subject to those
things. And ourselves were no match.
Eve, she was still without sin. Sin had never been on this earth.
She wasn't holy, but she was morally innocent. She had never
committed a sin. She fell prey, didn't she? In
that state, if she could not withstand the devil, how could
I? And our selves were no match.
But the Lord sends trials. He sends pestilence. He sends
sorrows through Satan. He uses him. He also sends great
material and worldly blessings. People say, oh, you won the lottery.
You got a great job. All you children grew up and
were famous movie stars. That could be terrible. Those who have lived a little
bit longer can see that worldly, but spiritually that could be
terrible too, couldn't it? It's not always bad things he
sends. Many times he sends good things. There in Job 1 verse
6 says, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord. And Satan came among them also.
Satan reported to God like a private reports to an officer. He showed
up. This isn't competition. He's
the devil, but he's the Lord's devil. Verse 7, And the Lord
said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? And 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 upright man, one that feareth
God and escheweth evil? God the Father asked Satan, have
you considered Job? Who brought that up? The Lord
did, didn't he? Satan said, I'm walking around.
At one, he walks. That's a real person. This isn't
a figment of our imagination. It's not a bedtime story to frighten
little children. He's real. And he was going around
seeking who he could devour and the Lord said, have you thought
of Job? You know what's happened in my
life? He said, Satan, have you considered Kevin? Bob, has he considered you? The
Lord brought that up, didn't He? There in verse 9, then Satan
answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear thou for naught? Does
he honor you for nothing? Why would he ask Him that? He's
suggesting that Job loved and respected the Lord because of
all he had. He had given him so much because of all this wealth
and these cattle and these children, healthy children. He said, that's
the only reason he likes you. Job was provided for greatly
and he was protected greatly. We are provided for greatly,
both materially and spiritually. And the Lord protects us. He
hedges us about. There in verse 10. Hast not thou
made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all
that he hath on every side? The Lord protects, for those
children of his, the Lord protects your soul. You are eternally
secure. You are eternally secure. It
can't be taken from his hand, but it says everything on every
side. I have three cats up there at
the house. Those cats are protected. If Satan wanted to come kill
those cats, the Lord has them protected, and my children protected,
my home protected. Everything that has to do with
his sheep, the Lord has hedged about everything. Verse 10, 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. The Lord said, Do anything you
want to him, but don't touch him. Even in allowing this trial to
come on Job, that was the Lord's hedging him about. He had just
allowed Satan inside of that hedge, didn't he? At this point,
Satan couldn't touch him personally. He couldn't touch his body. He
could touch his family, touch all of his household, everything
he had. But if we keep reading there in chapter 2, then he can
touch his body. But he can't kill him. The Lord
lets us go pretty far. Then in verse 13 it says, And
there was a day when his sons and 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 to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, the
fire of God has fallen from heaven and hath burned up the sheep
and the servants and consumed them, and I only am escaped 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 to tell thee. What would you do One band of
misfits come in, wipe out so much of your cattle, fire rains
from heaven, lightning storm kicks up, sets the fields on
fire, burns up all your sheep. Another band comes in, three
bands of Chaldeans come in, kill all your camels, carry away your
servants, destroy every bit of it. What would you do? I would
gather up everybody I knew and I'd go on the hunt. I'd want
to rid the world of Sabians and Chaldeans, wouldn't you? I'd
want swift justice, that Job was made to believe God, not
just believe in Him. He was made to believe him. And
what did the Lord say in the scriptures? Deuteronomy 32 says,
To me belong with vengeance and recompense. Their foot shall
slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and the things that shall come upon them make haste. Vengeance
is of the Lord, isn't it? If he had given Job all those
cattle and those servants and everything else, that was his
cattle. Job became a steward of them. Someone came and killed
those cattle. They didn't kill Job's cattle,
they killed the Lord's cattle. Vengeance is His. But now the
devil hits Job closer to home. He takes everything he owns,
all of his livestock, his servants, and he takes something that Job
didn't work for. He takes something that was given
to Job. Look there at verse 18. 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 to tell thee." All that Job had on this earth
was taken in a day. In the same day, everything he
had, all the great wealth he had, his family, his fields,
everything, it all fell. Everything he cared for and was
responsible for was taken from him. Now we see sorrow coming. Verse
20. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and
fell down upon the ground and he worshipped. Whenever you rent
your mantle, you rent your clothes, that means you tear them. Joe
grabbed his clothes and tore them off of him while he was
screaming. And he shaved his head. That means he's becoming
like a child. He's humbling himself. And he fell on the ground and
he worshiped. It's okay to have sorrow. There's nothing sinful in having
sorrow. It's okay to weep. And it's good
to share your pain with your brethren. They wouldn't know
to pray for you if they didn't know you was hurting, would they?
It's good to do those things. Jacob rent his clothes and he
put on a sackcloth and he mourned after he thought Joseph was dead
in that pit. Our master wept at the tomb of Lazarus. And the
Jews said, look how much he loved him. And David and Uriah's son
was deathly ill David fasted, and he slept on the ground for
six days until that child died. And you know what happened after
they came to him and said, David, your son's died. They were disgusted
beforehand. They were afraid to tell him.
They said, he's already so miserable. Man hasn't eaten in a week. He's
sleeping on the ground. I don't want to tell him. But
they had to. They said, David, your son's
dead. And David stood up. And he washed
himself, and he put on clean clothes, and he anointed himself,
put some cologne on, got cleaned up, and he went to the house
of the Lord and he worshiped. During this time for Job, he
learned some things. I pray that you and I can learn
some things from this. I pray we can learn some things
through our own trials, the trials that we have, trials going on
today. what's happening in our nation right now. And if we're
the Lord's sheep, we will learn. He will teach us. A.D. Mews was a pastor there in Louisville,
Kentucky, back in the early 1900s, and a young man came to him and
said, Brother Mews, will you pray with me? He said, ask the
Lord to give me wisdom. He was about 22, 23 years old,
young pastor. And A.D. said, I sure will. And I got down and knelt, and
he said, Lord, be hard on this boy. Send him trials. I mean, be rough with him. Beat
him down, Lord. Bring him to the ground. And
that guy bumped A.D. and said, what? What are you
praying for? I asked for wisdom. He said,
how do you think you get it, boy? That's where it comes from. I hope in our trials we can learn
some things. And if we're His, Lord will grow
us in knowledge. He'll grow us in wisdom. He'll grow us in grace.
There in verse 21, Job 121, Job had fell down and worshipped
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.
First, Job learned how temporary and frail earthly possessions
are. He said, their naked came out
of my mother's womb and naked shall I return. He learned that
he came into this world with nothing, absolutely nothing. And whenever he leaves this world,
he'll leave with absolutely nothing. I heard John Chapman say before,
he said, have you ever seen a U-Haul fall in a hearse? You don't take
nothing with you, do you? However, during his life, he
did accumulate some things. He gained possessions and wealth
and family, but now it's all gone. Why do we have such a hard
time learning that everything on this earth is temporary? Nothing
on this earth will last. Let me turn over to Luke chapter
12. I struggle with learning that.
I come to services and I hear The good news, what Christ has
accomplished, He's accomplished it forever. It's done. It's finished.
Oh, my heart fills up and I feel like my cup's running over. And
then on the road to the house, I'll see a shiny new car, or
I'll see a building or something. And I'll go, ooh, man, that's
nice. And my attentions took away like a child in a candy
store. Turned so fast. And what if I
did get that new car? It would batter time, hit rust.
Brakes would go out on it, tires would go flat, motor would quit
running. It all fades. I know this, but whoa, how quick
my attention gets turned. Look here in Luke chapter 12,
verse 16. And he yet spake a parable unto
them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentiful.
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because
I have no room where to bestow my fruits? What am I going to
do with all this crop I've got? And he said, this will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul,
soul, thou hast. Here's the problem. The man sees
all these blessings he has, all these storehouses filled with
fruit as his doing. He's speaking to himself, and
he says, self, you have much goods laid up for many years.
Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto
him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.
Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So
he that layeth up treasure for himself is not rich towards God. We are to be faithful what the
Lord puts in our hand. But what we steward over is not
where our heart is. Because the Lord gave us something
to do, that doesn't mean we solely focus on that. We don't have
our heart towards those things. Our hearts are to be with the
one who sends the blessings, not the blessings themselves.
That takes an act of grace for the Lord to do that to us, doesn't
it? For Him to teach us those things. But what should we rely
on? What is worthy of putting stock
in? Turn over to Colossians chapter 3. If we know things on this earth
are going to perish, and we know not to look to those
things for security and comfort, what should we look to? Colossians
3 and verse 1. If ye then be risen with Christ,
Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth, for ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." That's
where our affections need to be. Well, I wish my heart could
be upset on things above all the time. But Job learned this. Job learned that everything on
this earth passes away. They fade. But the riches of
Christ are eternal. His blessings are eternal. The
life He gives lasts forever. That's something to look for.
Secondly, Job learned how short and frail life is. to point it
unto man once to die and then to judgment. That's what we looked
at the other day. Our days are limited. Moses wrote, And the
Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that
he is also flesh, yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty
years. We have a limit on this earth and we know this. Turn over to Psalm 103. Psalm 103, verse 15. As for man,
his days are as grass, as a flower of the field. So he flourisheth,
but the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and the place
thereof shall know it no more. Once the wind comes, which is
the spirit of the Lord, takes us, we're gone, and the place
where we were, it's not even remembered. I worked so hard
on that garden at the house, and that house, and we clean
it, and we cook there, and we live there. Two hundred years
from now, they won't even know there's a house that was there.
Verse 17, But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's
children. That's what will last. Not Kevin,
not anything that Kevin has, not Kevin's life. the Lord's
righteousness. Christ's glory will last forever.
Are you thankful for the way that the Spirit has given these
writers the words, the order that they put these in? It says,
the person looks to the wealth and then God speaks. Everything
around us will fade away, but Christ did your life. It's always
that last paragraph, isn't it? Our lives will end one day, but
God's mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. This will keep
progressing in our lives until we finally understand that all
flesh is grass and Christ is all. He'll keep hounding us,
keep after us, keep chasing us until we learn, until He shows
us. Job learned how little things mean, how fragile lives are.
And then thirdly, he learned that the hand of God is in everything.
He said, the Lord gave and the Lord taketh away. Turn over to
1 Samuel. 1 Samuel 2. We looked at the sovereignty
of God and providence of the day and creation. Here in 1 Samuel
2.6 it says, "...the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth
down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and
maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up.
He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the
beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, to make
them inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them. He will
keep the feet of His saints. And the wicked shall be silent
in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail." The Lord
controls everything. It says, and He takes away. What does the Lord give? He gives
knowledge and wisdom. He gives us through trials, doesn't
He? That's how He grows us. He gives physical and spiritual
life. I'm standing here today because the Lord separated me
from my mother's womb. I have the knowledge of Christ
because the Spirit entered me and convinced me of sin and quickened
me, gave me life. Job had been taught this and
he didn't brag That it was all the hard work that he'd put in.
That was the reason for his success. It wasn't just on something that
he had done, that his hands had worked on. The Lord had given
it to him. He knew that. It says, the earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
for who maketh thee to differ one from another? And what hast
thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why glory thou as if thou had not received it? Why do we act
like everything we have? I'm the worst in this room for
that. Anyone listen to this, I'm the
worst that said, look at all I did. I put that together. I worked on this. I fixed that.
I amassed that. Why do I act that way? I know
it comes from the Lord. His hand's in it. He gave it.
The Lord gives everything. It says, Blessed be God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Anything on this earth
I have or anything spiritual I have, it's a gift from God.
But chiefly, the Lord gave us a substitute. Like that ram caught
in a thicket, a substitute was provided for us in Christ. God
so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. Unto you a child is born, but
unto you a son is given. The Lord gives us life, and this
is the record that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. He gives repentance, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. It's what
Paul wrote to Romans. He gives us faith. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is a gift of God. Those are all the things He gives
us. Everything we have physically and spiritually, but He takes
things. Lord giveth and Lord taketh. What does He take from
us? He can take wisdom. He took Nebuchadnezzar's wisdom,
didn't He? Had Him walking around like a
beast on all fours. He can take physical life, like
we saw there with Ananias. The Lord can come in with truth,
and you give up the ghost immediately. Takes all of our earthly blessings,
like He had with Job. But to the believer, He takes
our pride. He takes our self-righteousness.
our self-worth. He takes away our desire to come
to Him by ourselves. And then He gives us that grace
to know to come through Christ. I don't need to be proud. I have
a Savior. By doing that, by taking those
things from us, He takes away our cares. He takes away our
worries. And He should take away our fears, but He leaves us with
them, doesn't He? Leaves us just enough fear to
learn something. All the possessions mean nothing. Job would learn
that. He learned that life is a vapor,
fadeth quickly. He learns that the Lord's hand
controls everything. He gives and He takes. He learned,
and we will learn, to say with Eli, it's the Lord. Let Him do
what seemeth good in His sight. And fourthly, Job learned that
the Lord is to be praised in all things. He said, Blessed
be the name of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians says, In everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning
you. Times of trouble should be times
for worship. Times of trouble should be times
for worship. Anything we go through is for
our benefit. It is God's will in Christ concerning
us, concerning God's elect, everything it sent to us. Romans 8, 28 says,
We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. All
things. It says there in Job 1, 22, In all
this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job didn't foolishly
charge God with sending these trials in error, with sending
these trials in anger, or he sent these trials by accident.
He knew the Lord's hand had touched it. He'd sent these trials on
purpose. That's why he worshipped the Lord. And he worshipped God
in all things. He didn't hide his sorrows. He
mourned, and he worshipped God. He didn't ask why it only happened
to him. He wouldn't compare his lot with others. How come I'm
going through all this? All these other people, they got it so
good, they haven't lost everything they had. He didn't look to what
somebody else's condition was. He looked to his own, and he
worshipped God. And he didn't murmur about the
Lord's giving and the Lord taking. He didn't complain about it.
He worshipped. And I pray that we can learn to bow to the Lord's
providence concerning us. No matter what these great trials
that we think we have, it's a lot of affliction. I hope we're not to fear. The Lord takes that fear from
us. He takes that worry from us and
keeps us from complaining, keeps us from murmuring, and lets us
only worship Him. That's a hard thing to do, isn't
it? The Lord has to give that grace to do that. I pray He'll
do that for you. I pray He'll do it for me. Amen. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're in deep
trials and struggling. Allow us to know that Your sovereign
hand has sent that. Allow us to know that You control
all aspects of it. And You're the one that keeps
us, Lord. We don't keep ourselves. Give us a heart that praises
You for sending it in all things. Give us a heart that doesn't
murmur, doesn't complain. Don't let us look to those around
us and compare. Let us be thankful for what You've
sent, Lord. And keep us always remembering,
not just on this trivial world, this world that fades, this life
that fades away. Allow us to remember what You've
given. You've taken away our sense of
self, our pride in us wanting to do it, and You've given us
a substitute, Lord. You've given us a Redeemer. Thank
You for Your Son. Give us the faith to look to
Him. Give us repentance to turn from
ourselves and our works to Christ's works. Keep us always looking
to Him. Be with our brethren everywhere,
Lord, as they gather. Comfort them. Keep them. Keep us always. In Christ's name
we ask it. Amen.