And he will. He's promised. He
has, hasn't he? Deuteronomy 8, he reminded them
that for all those 40 years of walking through the desert and
all the dangers they were surrounded with, none of them ever worked
one job. They never missed one meal. Never went hungry. Never went
thirsty. Protected from all their enemies. Healed all their diseases. And he said in Deuteronomy 8,
you're going to remember all the way that I led you. All the
way. Job chapter 1. Go over to Job
chapter 1. This is the oldest book in the
Bible. The oldest book in the Bible,
and that's for a reason. The reason the Lord It's the
first book. It's the oldest book. Not Genesis,
because Job lived during Abraham's time. Okay? Moses was after Abraham. Moses wrote those books long
after Abraham lived. Job lived during the time of
Abraham. Okay? This is the oldest book
in the Bible. It's an old, old story. It's
a story. Here's the story in a nutshell.
It's a story of the sovereign Lord God over all. The story
of one of his own, Job, that he loved and cared for. And the
story of how our Lord dealt with him for God's glory, for Job's
good. And all the troubles and trials
that God put him through. Everything that God did to Job. There were means, there were
enemies, there were this and that and the other, but God did
it. And he wrote this as the oldest
book in the Bible to tell us God's been God from the very
beginning. He's had a people like Job, and everything that
befalls his people, he did it. And the end. The end of Job. In the end of the book, the whole
book, James. James said, now you need to read
the end of Job. Lots of troubles in between.
But the end was so good. Double. He received double. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? We received at the Lord's hand double for all our iniquity. The Lord hath not dealt with
us after our sin. He's dealing with and going to
deal with this world according to sin. And we're sinners. But God. dealt with Christ, according
to our sin. All right, this is the story
of his trials, Job's trials. Our Lord put him through the
story of God's sovereignty, the Lord's glory, and his dealings
that he doeth all things according to his will, according to his
purpose. It was all in love to Job. Job
began, all the way through this book, he began to question. God,
he was okay until he began to question what God was doing.
But even that didn't matter because God was doing it all for good. Look at it, verse 1. There was
a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was perfect and
upright, one that feared God and askew of evil. You know what
the Scripture says in Psalm 24? Who shall ascend under the hill
of the Lord? Who's going to be with God? Who's
going to be in God's heaven? He that hath clean hands, a pure
heart, never lifted up his soul unto vanity, or sworn deceitfully."
It must be perfect. It shall be perfect. Leviticus
22, 21. It'll be accepted. He said, I'm not perfect. I'm
not either. And Job wasn't either in himself.
What was Job's hope? We're going to see in a minute.
He came to the Lord with a burnt sacrifice, didn't he? God's people,
Colossians says, they're complete. Where? In Christ. In Christ. They're complete in Christ. Completely
saved. Completely righteous. Completely
protected in Christ. Did Job know Christ? Did Job
know Christ? We're going to read chapter 19.
I know my Redeemer lives. He will stand on this earth.
He said, that's the root of the matter and that's my hope. He
could have said, my hope is built on nothing less than the Christ's
blood and his righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but I completely and wholly lean on my Redeemer's name. On
Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Job could have sung that. He did. Do you? And it's all good. He was just,
it said. Who's just? Our Lord one time
says, or upright, that's the same word, upright, who's just,
says there's not a just man on earth that doeth good and sinneth
not. Isn't that it? Well, here's what the scripture
says. It is God that justifies. You know how God can be just
and justify a sinner, don't you, Patrick? You know that. The world
doesn't know and they don't care. We do. How can God be just and
justify me? How can I be upright before God
and be accepted by God? Jesus Christ. One way. So, I'm not making this up. I'm
not stretching this. This is so. Our Lord said, Moses
wrote of me. He said, Abraham, that was Job's
day, saw my name. He was glad. So do we. All of God's people. Perfect,
upright, justified, fear God. Here's the result. He feared
God and eschewed evil. All of God's people fear God
and they fear sin. They hate sin. All around them
and in them. And as we say, Job knew he had
to have a burnt offering. Look at verse 2 and 3. They were
born unto him seven sons, three daughters. His substance was
7,000 sheep. 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-assets,
a very great household. So this man was the greatest
of all the men of the age. Where did he get all that? God
gave it to him. God giveth us all things richly
to enjoy. Right? Everyone in here is just
as rich as Joe. We don't have 7,000 camels. We
might have 3 or 4 horses. My truck has 500 horses. Seriously, we're just as rich
in material things. God giveth richly all things
to enjoy. He hath not withheld anything
from God's people. What does God require of us?
To give him all the glory for him. To realize who gave it. What do we have we have not received?
Job knew that, and he worshipped God. Romans 1 says of the people
of the world, So God lavishes people all the time. He said
they weren't thankful. And they didn't glorify God.
That is, they were proud. Saying things like this, all
these things have my hand acquired. And God's angry. So God doesn't withhold things. but gives them. And Job was generous.
If you go over to Job 29, you'll see. And he made a mistake in
talking about it. What all he'd done for everybody.
But he did. God's people are generous. They
know who gave it. And it's just on loan. So they
freely give. He had sons and daughters. Look
at this. Verse 4. Seven sons and three
daughters. And it says they feasted in their
house. Nothing wrong with feasting.
They sat and called for their three sisters, and they ate and
drank. Nothing wrong with that. Our Lord did. He ate and drank
with publicans and sinners. And those Pharisees, Rick, said,
You can't do that. We don't do that. We don't eat
with those sinners. And our Lord said, You don't know it, but
you're the worst sinners of all. He said, I came. I'm the friend
of publicans and sinners. He came and ate and drank. You
talk about exposing himself, he came into this leper colony.
Our Lord came into this leper colony, willingly, and became
a leper. Yes, he did. Aren't you glad? Anyway, he ate and drank with
publicans and sinners, and these sons and daughters of Job were
eating and drinking, and so do God's sons and daughters. Verse
5. says he sent, they were feasting,
and Job sent and sanctified them, rose up early in the morning
and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. In
other words, Job was praying for them. Verse 5, it says, he said,
it may be they've sinned, my sons have sinned and cursed God
in their hearts. What about our sons and daughters? I've warned all our young people
and everybody about taking God's name in vain. It's just rampant. Is it any
wonder why God is doing this? Do you behold the divine irony
in it? Everybody just taking His name,
just happy and full of things that God gave them, not thankful
and calling His name. Nobody calling His name for mercy
and forgiveness. Now, now, now. But God's people, He's made us
to know these things. And Job knew it. He said, maybe
they're not calling on the Lord. Maybe they're cursing God. He
said, I'm going to pray for them. I'm going to pray for them. Our
Lord told us after this matter, pray. Our Father which art in
heaven, forgive us. We're all sinners, aren't we? All of sin comes short of the
glory of God. Now here's something I want us to see, we need to
see. Salvation belongs to the Lord. He saves whom he will. He chooses whom he will. No one
deserves to be saved. There was a time that Job didn't
know the Lord. He was just like his sons, wasn't
he? Yes, you were. But God revealed Himself to Job. God chose Job. That's why Job
knew the truth. That's why Job knew God, because
God chose him and revealed Himself to him. Right? Job's sons did
it. Well, that's God's prerogative.
That's God's choice in it. He saves whom He will. It belongs
to Him. It's not up to man. It's up to
the Lord. And nobody deserves it. I didn't deserve it. Neither
did my daughter and my daughter's daughters don't deserve it. That's
what this whole world needs to realize. That's what we need
to do, and I think we do. Now, God could have saved all
of his sons and daughters or none of them. The fact is, none
of them deserved it. Did he? Does it say that they
were caught on it? Jokes. And neither did we. 65, 63 says, I sought of them, but asked
not for them. That's Isaiah 65. So Job went
to worship, and what did he bring? A burnt offering. What's that? That's Jesus Christ, Him crucified. And he said, Lord, Oh, may the
blood of a sacrifice of a substitute of the lamb, he knew about the
lamb, like Abraham did. You know, Abraham knew the Lord
had mercy on him, on his son Isaac, his only forgotten son,
that the Lord didn't kill him because a lamb died in his place. Didn't he? And so Job says, Lord,
let the lamb, let the blood of the lamb be propitiation. That's
what we need to be praying more than anything else for our sons
and daughters. You know that, sister? You know
that? Not that they'll be rich in fame,
but not that they'll be healthy and wealthy. But be rich toward God in faith,
because all this stuff, God's showing the world right now,
isn't it? Take it all away. Isn't it? We see Him. God did this. Job offered a burn offering.
Verse 6, There was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. Now,
this is a mystery. This is a mystery, what this
is all about. But we just have to take it face value, all right?
I know this, that God orders all things, and everybody will
stand before Him. At some time or another, that
all the sons of God, and we're, if we're the sons of God, we've
come before now. Here is what. And he ordered
it. And Satan had to come. God ordered it. You with me? And this is also a picture how
that every time the sons of God meet, not only is Christ there,
but the answer. There must be heirs among you.
That's what our Lord said. Heirs among wheat and so on and
so forth. Now, the Lord, look at verse 7. The Lord said to
Satan, Whence comest thou? Satan answered the Lord from
going to and fro in the earth, from walking up and down in it.
The Lord didn't ask him, Where have you been? The Lord demands
an answer. And our own mouths will reprove
us. Of all human beings, every knee shall bow, and every tongue,
Satan came, and I bet the Lord made him bow. And every tongue
will confess, where you been, Satan? I think God is mocking
him. God is not mocked. Men may mock God, but God is
the one that will end up mocking, not cruelly, but in truth saying,
hmm. Peter said, Satan, your adversary,
as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking who may give him help. The whole world needs to hear
this. But they're not. We are. Satan cannot do anything
that he will. That's what the Lord's showing. He is not sovereign over anything. Well, he's called the God of
this world preacher. That's right, because the Lord delegated him.
God is God of God's, King of kings, and Lord of lords. We're
going to see that. Satan could only do what God
allowed him. That was for his glory and his
purpose, and Job's good. Though it all seemed bad, though
Satan meant it for evil, God meant it and did it for good. Oh, how we need to hear that.
There aren't many people in here preaching. You don't need to
holler. Yeah, I do. Whatever it is, it is the Lord. All right, look at this. And
I was going to have you turn to Isaiah 14. Read it for yourself
sometime. That's where Satan fell from
heaven as a lightning. Our Lord said, I beheld Satan
fall as lightning. Why? He was the one that cast
him down. That's Revelation 12. And all through the Revelation,
it speaks of Satan casting the earth to deceive the nations,
like now, and his angels. That's now. We're not deceived. Job wasn't deceived by God's
will. Satan wanted Job. Didn't he? He had others that
the Lord left in his hand. Didn't he? He wanted Job. Satan wanted Adam and Eve. And
that was God's will. Alright, look at verse 8. The Lord said, Hast thou considered
my servant Job? You see, the Lord is the one
that gave Job into his hand. But he really, Brother Patrick,
he really wasn't in his hand. He couldn't do anything but what
the Lord directed him to do. Is this heresy? This is Bible. The whole world thinks, Jennifer
thinks, that Satan's doing it. No, no. God's doing it. God's
God. There is no other. Verse 8, he
said, There's none like him in the earth, perfect and upright
man. If Satan is called the accuser of the brethren, you know what
God did? God said, Who shall lay anything to charge in my
name? I've justified it. Satan, he said, He's a sinner
like everybody else. No, he's not, God said. I've
justified it. You see that burnt offering he
brought? That's his salvation. He's one that fears me. I put
my fear in him. I sheweth evil. Satan answers
and says it's for nothing. It's for nothing. It's all according
to your will. Who can resist your will? That's
what Satan is saying. You're sovereign and he had no
choice and it's for nothing. You give him a choice and we'll
see what happens. That's what Satan is saying. That's what
people argue. Verse 10, Satan says, You put a hedge about him.
You put a wall around him. I can't touch him. Was it true? Yes, it was. What about us? Huh? I told you Isaiah 26.3 says that
salvation, or 1 and 2, the Lord hath appointed salvation for
walls and bulwarks. The gate of the city was walled. 2 Kings 6. Let's go over 2 Kings
chapter 6. Boy, I hope somebody listens. I hope I'll listen. Because the
wall, you know, the first thing that children did when they were
sent to Israel. Build a wall. Enriching the gospel or foundation
of the wall. And then build a wall. 2 Kings
6. Now more than ever, we need to
read this. We need to hear this. We need to believe and understand
this prayer of comfort. Are you with me? These are not
my words. This is God. And here's the thing, people.
We don't really trust God. until there's no one else to
trust. When all human reason, in the
face of human fear and reason, that's really the only time we
will really trust God. You know what I mean? When you have no help, no hope,
full of fear, then you have to trust God. He's hedging you about whether
you trust him or not. See, fear is torment. Fear hath
torment. That's why John said, perfect
love. Cast out fear. Whose love? Your
love. Alright, 2 Kings 6, look at verse
13. This is a wicked king of Assyria
who always represents Satan. Always, throughout the Bible.
The king of Assyria. He said, go find out where that
Elisha is, and I'm going to fetch him. I'm going to bring him here.
I'm going to put him in jail. I'm going to shut his mouth.
Find that man Elisha and fetch him. Man, you can't. God doesn't
fetch him. Find him. So he sent chariots
and horses and a great host. This is the evil king. Represents
Satan. Go by night, do it in darkness.
Surround him. One man. Verse 15. Elisha's servant, a
young man, rose up early, like we've done this morning, and
went forth. Behold, he went outside, and he saw They were everywhere.
Surrounded him. Sitting, horses and chariots.
He filled him with fear. He ran inside. Alas, my master,
how shall we do? How shall we do? What shall we
do? And how is it going to turn out
for us? Well, you are not going to do
anything. The Lord hath done, is doing,
and shall do all things for us. Are you with me? Somebody with
me? You have not, you do not, you shall not protect your own.
Save yourself. No. Never have, never will. God
hath. God hath, God doth, and God shall. He's promised that, hasn't he?
We shall not do anything. We shall stand back and see the
salvation of the Lord. That's what we'll do. Please hear this. He answered,
verse 16, "'Hear not!' Don't holler at me. Yes, I'm hollering at myself because
of my baseless fears. They that be with us are more
than they that be with them. I know the whole world quotes
Romans 8.31, but it's for God's people whom he did foreknow,
whom he did predestine, whom he called by the gospel, whom
he justified, whom he glorified to see Christ, all their need
and cry out. He said, it's God before us. That's the majority of it. One. We're all a bunch of nothings. Put us all together, we're a
bunch of zeros. He put a one in front of us. They that be with us. You see
that there's a great cloud of witnesses. Hebrews 12 is passed
on before. You know what all they've gone
through? Read Hebrews 11. Brothers and sisters, read Hebrews
11. Keep reading it until you see that they went through everything
you could possibly go through. Who brought them through? Who
did it? God did it. Did they make it? They all died in pain.
Where are they now? They don't remember anything. No pain, no sorrow. What are
they doing? What we're doing is set perfectly. Perfect understanding. And they're rooting for us. Tell
them. Tell them, preacher, there's
nothing to worry about. Tell them. Tell them to look
up. It's just a veil separating us
and them, and they'll soon pass through it. Why? We worry about
our sins, don't we? We worry about our sins. But
our sins have been put on Christ. See, it started with a burnt
offering in it. Alright. I don't have time. But you know what all happened?
It says the Sabeans came and fell on them, sons and daughters. Killed them all. Down in verse 17, while he was
yet speaking, the Chaldeans came and carried away everything that
Job owned. slew all of his servants. The
Chaldeans did it. While he was speaking, verse
18, it says the sons and daughters eating and drinking and there
was a great wind. Smoked the four corners, killed
all the sons and daughters. The Sabeans slew the servants
and this wind slew his sons and daughters. The wind. Who did
all this? Look at verse 11. Satan said,
you put forth your hand and you touch all you have and he'll
curse you to his face. You've got to touch him. I can't
get to him. There's a hedge about him. There's a wall about him. But if you touch him, if you
take away everything he's got, if you kill his family, if you
take away all his earthly possessions, he'll curse you to his face,
to your face. Yes, he will. Who did it? God did. Why? To the praise of
the glory of his grace. We had these fiery trials. Why? They were down unto the praise
and honor and glory of the God who gave us this faith, this
real faith. And real faith is not faith until
it's tried. Everybody says they have faith,
but it's not faith until it's tried. That's when real faith
comes out. And it says, look at verse 21,
Job said this after it all happened. Naked came I out of my mother's
womb. Naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Can you say that? This is our
profession of faith. Naked. All things are naked and
open before the eyes of God. Naked. We know that we're wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked. We've come into this world without
a covering. We're sinners. All things are naked before God's
eye. And when it's all said and done, we're going to lose everything
that we have. But you know, Job didn't stay
naked, did he? Soon as he left this earth, God
put a robe on him. He'll never be naked again. You
know what that means. And all this that the Lord gave
and the Lord hath taken away, the Lord hath given me this,
my children, the Lord hath given me my home and all these things,
the Lord hath given, the Lord hath given, the Lord hath given.
By God's grace, we don't take glory for what the Lord has given
us. We give glory to God. We give thanks to God. And we
bless His holy name. If He takes it away, we say God
gave it, God take it away. There's one thing He will not
take away. Everything is going to be taken away, like Job. All
this happened to Job, to one man, at the same time. Everything
that could happen to us in this life, and of 70 years, happened
to Job at one time. Why? To show us that all this
is going to happen, to some degree, to all of God's people. Not at
the same time, but over a period of time. And it's God that did
it. And the salvation that God has
hedged them about is real, is very true, though He'd take away
everything. This is the one thing He will
not take away. He told Peter, I pray for you that your faith
fail not. Remember, they all died in faith. What will the Lord do to us if
we get sickness where we get it? Now more than ever, we need to
realize that. I'm not going to do anything foolish. Martin Luther.
There was a terrible plague going on in his day. Thousands of people
died. He sinned. He said, I read it written down
somewhere, maybe in the next hour, but I'll quote it then.
But he basically said, if the Lord is looking for me, he'll
find me. So I need not run. He actually said, I'm going to
fumigate the air. And wash my hands, do what they
tell me. But I'm not going to run in fear,
he said. And my people, he said, need me. And I'm going to serve
them. If the Lord wishes to find me,
he shall. Because it's the Lord. All things. It is I, Christ said. Be not
afraid. It is I. We don't do things foolishly. We don't put ourselves in harm's
way. And I told the people earlier, it is not putting your life in
risk to trust the Lord. It is casting all our care on
Him. That's what we do. They were calling on him on behalf
of us and other people to spare us. He ought to kill us all. May he bless the name of the
Lord in all this Job's sin, not foolishly. Why? Because the root
of the matter turned real quickly to Job 19. I quit. Job 19. You've
got to see this. Because this is Job's profession
of faith. This is Job's hope. in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I partially quoted it. Look
at it. Job 19, after all this. Now, Job is a broken man. He's
lost everything and everyone, even his health. Boyle has covered
his body. Right now, he's saying. His wife. His wife turned on him. So Job said, here he said, verse
25, Job 19, I know that my Redeemer liveth. That's what Paul's saying.
I know whom I have believed. And he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. And after my skin, worms destroy
this body. Yet everything about me, including
my body, is going to be destroyed. But in my flesh, I'm going to
have a new body. I'll see God. whom I shall see
for myself, mine eyes shall behold him, not another, though my reins
be consumed within me." You should say, don't persecute him anymore. The root of the matter is in
him. You should be afraid of the sword and wrath. Job said, I'm not, because I know whom I believe. Ah, may the Lord put that on
our hearts now. As never before. Stand with me. Let's pray.