It's My joy is gonna be When I see
that He is near sweet spirit, sweet poor my soul. We have come into this time ? We have come into this house
? ? Feathered in His name to worship Him ? ? We have come
into this house ? I stand in I stand in Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 15. Hymn number 15. Brethren, we have pled to worship
and adore the Lord our God. will you pray with all your power
while we try to preach the word. All is vain and of the Holy One comes down. Brethren, pray, and holy manna
will be showered all around. Brethren, sing, o'er, sing, Bring on the brink of woe Death
is coming, hell is moving Can you bear to see them go? See our fathers and our mothers
And our children sinking down Brethren, pray and holy menna
Will be showered all around Sisters, will you join and help
us? Moses' sisters hated him. Will you help the trembling mourners
who are struggling hard with sin? the Savior, tell Him that He
will be found. Sisters prayin', holy manna will
be showered all around. ? Let us love each other too ?
Let us love and pray for sinners ? Till our God makes all things
new ? Then He'll call us home to Heaven Be seated we'll sing hymn number
67. Hymn number 67. O Savior, as my eyes behold The
wonders of Thy might untold, The hymns in glorious flight
arrayed, The vast creation Thou hast made. Our love is free My heart cries
out How can it be? How can it be? How can it be? That God should love his soul
like me Oh, how can it be? As at the cross I humbly bow
and gaze upon thy thorn-crowned brow, and view the precious In
grief I cried, how can it be? How can it be? How can it be? That God should love a soul like
me? Oh, how can it be? How can it be? How can it be? Was ever grace so full and free
from lives of bliss? To depths of woe In loving kindness
Thou didst go From sin and shame to rescue me O love divine How
can it be How can it be? How can it be? That God should love us so widely? Oh, how can it be? All right, open your Bibles with
me to Job chapter 23. I'll preach from Job tonight.
This is one I stuck in my desk drawer to preach and found it
this week. I skipped over this one. And
so I found it and I thought, well, I'll preach it Sunday morning
and finish up Job tonight out of 42. Ain't that something, you know,
you prepare a mess, you stick it in a drawer and then find
it two months later. Missed that one. Missed that
one. But I want you to look with me
here, starting at verse 10 to the end of the chapter. But he knoweth, he said he was
looking for where God was. And he said in verse 8, I go
forward, but he's not there. I go backward, and I can't perceive
him. I look on my left hand, and he doth work where he doth
work, but I cannot behold him. He hideth himself on the right
hand, and I cannot see him. Job can't see him, but look what
he says. Though I don't, I can't find
Him. I'm searching for Him. He's put me in a place that I,
in such a place that I can't perceive God. But look what He
says in verse 10. But He knows, God knows. I may not be able to find Him
and see Him. I'm in such a dark place. But
He knows the way that I take. And when He hath tried me, when
He hath tried me, That's going to happen to everybody. That
happens over and over and over again. When he hath tried me,
I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps,
his way have I kept. and not declined, neither have
I gone back from the commandment of His lips. I have esteemed
the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. But He is
in one mind, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires,
even that He does. For he performeth the thing that
is appointed for me, and many such things are with him. Therefore
am I troubled at his presence, when I consider I am afraid of
him. For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth
me. Because I was not cut off before
the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my
face. Our most blessed, gracious, glorious God of eternal God and Father
by Lord Jesus Christ. You who inhabited eternity right
now. And these heavens as far as we
can see and way, way, way beyond that. The heavens, the heavens
are your throne. And this little old celestial
ball or terrestrial ball that we live on here is your footstool. And Lord, as we consider you,
Lord, we get lost in thought sometimes. We can't comprehend how glorious, how
great How wonderful, how majestic, how eternal, how powerful, how
gracious, how loving, how wrathful, how justice, how righteous you
are. But Lord, we are thankful for
what we know about you. And we ask you to continue to
teach us. Take your word and open to our hearts and our understanding. And Lord, save your people in
this place with your gospel. And may the gospel go forth in
great liberty and understanding. May it find a lodging place in
our heart. And Lord, all said and done today,
bring glory to yourself. Forgive us of everything that's
so unlike you, every thought, Every motive, every attitude,
every step. Oh, Lord, forgive us for not
having our hearts filled with you and our minds overwhelmed with
you. But, Lord, that's why we're here
today. We need you. We need you to do
something for us. Need you to do it in our hearts,
in our minds, in our wills, in our affections, in our various
souls. Do for us, oh Lord God, what
only you can do. We ask these things in our Lord
Jesus' name, amen. Let's all stand together as we
sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin. This fountain so dear, he'll
freely impart, unlocked by the spirit. With blood and with water, the
first to atone, To cleanse us the latter, the fountains but
worn. This fountain is such as thousands
can tell The moment we touch its streams we are well All waters
beside him are full of the curse For all that have tried them,
swell-rotted growers, this fountain Bathe here and behold, Rush here
and bewild, Whatever diseases or dangers befall, Let me say
it again. Amen. How can it be that Thou art with
me? God should die for me. How can it be that I should gain
forgiveness through My holy name My soul was bound
In sins so deep And in these wounds My name so sweet, my chains fell
off, my heart was free. I rose and went forth to follow
Thee. He took my cares. He dried my
tears. Amazing love replaced my fears
that I cannot explain. I can only say it was an amazing
day. was bowed in sin so deep, and
then he spoke my name so My heart was filled with joy. I rose and went forth to follow
Thee. Amen. What a blessing. I can't explain it. I know it's amazing grace. Alright, back in Job here. Let's
look together and see what the Lord would say to us today. See what the Lord would say. I get my subject there out of Verse 12, Neither have I gone
back from the commandment of his lips. I esteemed his word,
the word of his mouth more than the necessary food. Job is a
very unusual man. God spoke of him in James and
God spoke things about Job three or four men that God spoke
highly of, and that was Abraham, he is a friend of God, Daniel,
Noah, and Job. And Job, you know, they accused
him of being a liar, being a hypocrite, being an awful sinner. And Job,
it was impossible for him to defend his character, to convince
men what God had done for him, because they were already convinced
he was a hypocrite. And once a man thinks you're
a hypocrite, there's nothing you can do for him. He's not
going to change his mind. And these fellas never changed
their mind about Job. Never changed their mind. But
Job knew some things about God that these fellas didn't. He
knew some things about God Almighty, and only God to be one who teaches
that. And I tell you, here's the first
thing that Job was conscious of about knowing God, was back
up there when he said in verse 10, He knows the way that I take. God Himself knows. I don't know
a whole lot about Him, but He knows me. He said, He knows the
way that I'm going. He knows the way that I'm going.
He knows the direction I'm going in. He knows the way that I take.
He knows the way that I take. He knows exactly where I'm at
and what I'm doing. And when He's tried me, He tried
me. And Peter says this, he said,
if it's necessary, if it need be, if it's necessary that through
trials, through many trials, manifold temptations, if it's
necessary, and God does this, that your faith may be tried
and be found under praise, honor, and glory at the appearing of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that your faith may be as gold. betrothed as gold. And he goes
on to say here, and here's what he's conscious of. He's conscious
of knowing God and God knowing him. He says, God even knows
my foot hath held his stake. Now when he talks about his foot,
he's talking about the whole man. You know, wherever your
foot takes you, the whole man's gotta go with it. And that's
what he's talking about. He's talking about my whole man.
My whole man, look what he says, has held his steps, hath held
his steps. And I tell you what, and when
he talks about the steps, I think I preached on this a few weeks
ago, where he says, he knows he hath appointed my steps. God
hath appointed each and every one of us steps. And there's
not one step that we're going to take that God's not already
ordered for us. There's not a step we're going
to take in this life that God has not, every one of us got
so many steps. And when a baby first starts
walking, everybody's just overjoyed at his first step. He just took
his first step. Well, God's got so many set for
that baby until he gets old and he takes his last step. And that's
what Job is saying here. He knows that my foot has held
his steps. My steps, those appointed for
me to take. And I'm grateful that God knows
our steps. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. And I'm grateful that we all
have a certain amount of steps. I'm not going to take one less
than I should, not one more than I should. I'm not going to be
here one moment longer than I should, not than nobody else has. And
I know that it's grievous as a young family that my heart
is so heavy for. I think of them all the time.
I pray for them as much as I possibly can. But his steps are very,
very few. but his family's gotta stay here
and keep on stepping, keep on walking. But he says, my foots
have held the steps of his providence. You know God in his providence,
providence means just God's world, God's government in this world,
God providing everything that's necessary for this world. And
his providence just means that he governs things, he provides
what's necessary for this world. And what he's saying is that
I've not gone back from the steps of his providence. His providence
sent that I should lose everything in this world. His providence
ordered that I should lose my family. His providence has ordered
that I should lose my wealth. His providence has ordered that
I should lose my health. But what have I done? Have I
stopped following Him? Have I stopped walking? Have
I quit walking? Have I give up? No, whatever steps God's ordered
for me in the darkness, in the light, or wherever it's at, He
said, I've not stopped. I've not stopped. And I tell
you what, we don't know where God's providence is gonna lead
us to. We really don't know. We don't
know where they're gonna lead us to. Up a hill, down a hill, through
a river, through a fire, we don't know. But I'll tell you one thing. Wherever He leads us, we're gonna
follow. Huh? There's an old song that says,
where He leads me, I'll follow. Where He leads me, I'll follow.
Wherever He leads, and you know what? The shepherd is responsible
for the sheep, and the sheep are going to follow the shepherd.
And we're going to follow him. Job said, I'm going to follow
him. And wherever he leads, we're going to follow. We're going
to follow. And look what he says, not only
has my foot held his steps, his way have I kept. Oh my, what
does he mean by his way? Well, God has a way. Sometimes
it, you know, it led into Egypt. It led Jacob into Egypt. It led
Israel into Egypt. It led Israel back out of Egypt
through the Red Sea. It led Israel through the desert
and through the wilderness for 40 years. But Job said, whatever
way He's ordered for me in His way, His way, His way, not my
way. Everybody wants their way. They
start out from the time they big enough to start crying, they
want their way. And we want our way all the days
of our life, but Job said, I want His way. Do you want His way? Huh? Job said, David said like
this, Lord, I take heed to my ways. Oh Lord, I want to follow Your
ways. And that's what he said, His way have I kept. Whatever
way it was, whatever way he led, I kept it. And what he's saying
is I didn't decline. After this pandemic has made
so many people decline, they've not kept his ways, they've declined. When you decline something, that
means you stop, you go back. And oh, Job said, I didn't. He
said, I kept his ways. I didn't even pause. I'm going
to put it on pause. I'm going to put it on pause.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put it on pause,
and I'm going to sit around here for a while until I get ready
to move again. I'm going to sit around here
for a while until I get ready to take up my way again. That's
not what he done, no. And he said, I didn't go back
either. I didn't go back. You know that story about that
man who went out and said, the first born who comes to my house,
he said, I'll offer the sacrifice and his daughter come. And he said, I've lifted my hand
to God and I cannot go back. And that's what Job said, I haven't,
I'm not paused, I'm not going back. He led me and I followed
him. He told me and I did it. This
was His daily life. It wasn't just a Sunday or a
Wednesday or a Sunday night. It was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday. All the days of His life. This
is my life. This is my life right here. Where
He leads me, I've not kept back His steps. This is my life. This was His daily life. This is his daily life. And oh
my, look what else he does. Oh my, he is aware of God knowing
him. He knows me. He knows the way
that I take my foot. And that's what he's talking
about here. Neither have I gone back. That's what he says there
in verse 12. And look what he says. He loved
and appreciated and just delighted in God's word. He said, I've
steamed the words of his mouth more than what I need to eat. I remembered Ed Elmore come here
years ago before the Lord took him home, and he wouldn't eat
supper till after the got back from the service on Sunday night
or Wednesday night. You know why he didn't do that?
So he wouldn't be sluggish and sleepy when he comes to the service.
He said, I'll eat when I go home. I remember your dad doing that.
He said, I'm going to go home and make some cornbread and milk.
I remember him saying that. And he said here, I said, I love,
I esteem God's word. Now I got to eat. We all got
to eat. And it's wonderful to eat. Good food, there's nothing like
good food. But there's nothing like God's
Word either. God's Word will do more for your
soul. Food will do something for your
body. God's Word will do something for your soul. God's Word will
do something for your mind. God's Word will do something
for your heart. God's Word will do something for your affections.
God's Word will do something for your will. God's Word will
do that. Oh, that's most precious. It's
most precious. It's how we live. The Word is
our life. The Church Christ is our life.
And this Word is necessary for life. Necessary for us to live
it on. God's people, we esteem the words
of His mouth. Let me tell you something, that
word esteem, you look in the margin, it says, It says laid
up or hid. We esteemed it. We laid it up here. We hid it.
This is hid. Where's it laid up at? In our
hearts? Where's it hid at? In our hearts? In our minds? Huh? David said like this, I've
hid thy word in my heart. What for, David? That I might
not sin against you. Huh? Let me tell you something. You lay it up and hide it as
a treasure. Then the 119th Psalm, the whole 119th Psalm, 176 verses,
has every single verse has something to do about God's Word. Every
single one of them. And why do we esteem His Word?
Well, first of all, God used His gospel, used His Word to
save us. We're saved by God's Word. God
sent the gospel to us. We're born again by incorruptible
seed. Made new creatures in Christ.
We're born again, the word of God saves us. God used his word
to save us. And then he uses the same word
to keep us. How are we kept from sin? How
are we kept from ourselves? How are we kept from self-will?
How are we kept from self-love? How are we kept from sin? How
are we kept from self-will? How are we kept back from self-righteousness
and pride and self-confidence? The Word! The Word keeps us. I told you the other day that
R.G. down there, In Florida, an old,
old man, 1987, he said this. He said, if you come in here
like that, God's gonna take His Word and bring you down. And
if you're way down here, He's gonna take His Word and bring
you up. You know why you're here? Because the Word of God has kept
you coming. If you give in to your flesh,
what happens when we do that? But the Word, that Word keeps
us. Kept by the power of God through
faith. We're kept in Christ's hands,
kept in God's hands. And not only are we kept by it,
but we're fed by it. When we come here, we expect
to get the table set. Huh? We expect food on the table. What kind of food? Huh? Grace, Christ, His righteousness. We're getting holy manna right
now. You know, we sung that song,
holy manna. Every time we come here, God gives us holy manna.
He gets us bread from His Word. He feeds us! You come in here
sometimes, and you know, your mind's everywhere, and then God
all of a sudden, He gets your mind, gets your sinning on there,
and next thing you know, you said, oh! Boy, Joe, I don't know
how many times you said, I had to put sideboards on my plate,
I believe. He said, got my plate full this
morning! And that's what we're to do. And the Word feeds us. Feeds us, oh it feeds us so good. It feeds us. Babies, you know,
they start out on milk, and then they go to baby food, and then
they go little, and that's what we do. We have to start out with
milk. And as we grow and grow and grow, you know what causes
us to start growing? God's Word. Huh? God's Word. You know, these preachers
come down here that haven't been preaching very long. Aaron Greenleaf
been preaching, what, 7 or 8 years maybe? I don't know, 10? Not
very long. Cody Henson? Gabe hasn't been preaching all
that long, but here's the thing about it. What caused these men
to have the depth of preaching that they have and the ability
to preach it. They was fed by their pastors. They was fed the
word of God. And as they was fed that word,
they took that word and they laid it to heart and God gifted
them. They had to be fed. And now they've
learned how to come and feed somebody else. Only God can do
that. Oh my, I want you to look with
me in Psalm. Keep Job, not Job 23, and I want
you to look with me in Psalm 19. Psalm 19. This is about God's Word. Steem
means to hide, laid up. It's a treasure. Oh, what a treasure
it is. He said, you know a good man
out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things. Look what He said here in verse
7. The Law of the Lord. The Law of the Lord. And when
you look in the margin, that Law means doctrine. I told you
different things that the Law means. It means the whole Word
of God. Here it means the doctrine of
the Lord. The doctrine of God is perfect. And you know what
it does? It converts the soul. Changes
the soul. takes that soul and turns it.
The testimony of the Lord is sure. Whatever God says, it's
sure, positive, it's real. And I tell you what, it takes
simple people like us and make us wise where it counts. Makes
us wise in Christ, makes Christ to be our wisdom. And then look
what else, the statues of the Lord are right. Oh, everything
God says is right. And you know what it does? It
rejoices our heart. It makes our heart glad. And
the commandment of the Lord is pure. And oh, it gives light
to our eyes, makes our eyes to be able to see. And then look
what else he says, the fear of the Lord is clean. Oh, I tell
you, the fear of the Lord cleanses you, and it's a clean thing.
It makes you turn to Him, and the fear of the Lord is enduring
forever. The judgments of the Lord are
right and true, righteous altogether. Whatever God does is exactly
right, exactly right. And I tell you, listen to this
now. God's Word, the Law of the Lord, the Doctrine of Christ,
the Testimony of God, the Statues of the Lord, the Fear of the
Lord, they're more to be desired than gold. Gold, yea, than much fine gold,
and always sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, listen to this now,
By them is thy servant warned. And in keeping of them, there's
great, great reward. Oh my, no wonder Job said, I
esteemed your word. And I'll tell you, go back over
here, instead of putting in the words of his mouth, more than
my necessary food, instead of food put in there, my necessary,
you know, put purpose in there. What's your determination? What
is more precious to a man than his own will and his own way?
But Job felt and believed God's truth to be more precious than
anything else. Look what God said about Job
over here, chapter one, verse eight. This is what God said
about him. This is why God, that's why he believed the word of the
Lord. That's why he believed it and he had, he put, you know,
this is my purpose, this is my determination, my food, God's
word is more than unnecessary food, that's my purpose, that's
my determination, that's my will, that's my way. And look what
he says here about Job in verse eight. 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
fears God and absolutely hates evil. That's what God said about
him. No wonder he said, I've kept
his steps. I've kept his steps. And I tell you, it's not just
receiving in the head, but a love in the heart, a love in the heart. Receive the love of the truth.
And then look what else is back over here in Job 23. Look what
else happens here. He recognized God's sovereignty. He acknowledged God's sovereignty.
He said, He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? What His soul
desireth, even that He doeth. He said, you know, He said, God's
sovereign. He can do whatever He wants to
with me. He put me in this position. Ain't that what He says? He said,
men, you know, they impugned Job's character, and men, these
men, these men, these men that Job's comforters, they impugned
the character of God Almighty. Said, Job, God would be, God's
punishing you for your sin. If God, Christ died for your
sin, you've already been punished, and that's what Job understood.
And they impugned the purpose of God. But Job here, he says,
listen, you all may impugn God's character. You may impugn God's
purpose, but I'm telling you here that God is in one mind. Oh, he was aware of God's purpose. He's got one mind. He's got one
way. He's got one will. He's got one
purpose. He's in one mind. Who can turn
him? What he said, his mind is unalterable. And you know, you
hear people say all the time, preachers say this, it's awful,
awful that they do this. And I, of course, I was guilty
as anybody else. And I'm thankful, thankful. Oh,
bless God that he saved me from that, saved me from this. But
here's the thing. People say, I believe we, I believe
if we was to pray, I believe we can change God's mind. We
can change God's purpose. I believe your will can change
God, that God would be willing to save you if you're willing
for Him to save you. And they think that His will
is alterable, but His will is unalterable. He's in one mind. Why doesn't He change His mind?
Why doesn't He change His purpose? He's free. He can do what He
want to. He's the freest person in the
whole universe. And I'll tell you what, why doesn't
he do that? Because if it's perfect to start
with, why in the world would you change? If you're immutable, why would
you change? If it's perfect, it don't need
any improvement, does it? God needs no improvement. His
will needs no improvement. His purpose needs no improvement.
His words need no improvement. His mind and His purpose is perfect. Perfect. And that's what He's
saying here. He said, Oh, God's sovereign.
And I'll tell you who can change. And then not only that, but it's
effectual. Look what else He says. There
in verse 13. And what His soul desires, even
that He does. Now God uses words to accommodate,
you know, His desire is like His will. And what He's saying
is, whatever He desires, that's what He does. You know, He doth His will, all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and ain't nobody can stay his hand
or say unto him what you're doing. Look over with me. Keep Job and
look in Isaiah 46. Look in Isaiah 46. I love these verses over here. Verse nine. His whatsoever desires, He does. He does. His will is effectual. Can you imagine somebody telling
God that He can't do something? But people actually say that. But whatever He wills, He does. He does. And that's why we say,
Lord, your will be done. Do for me. And look what he says here in verse
nine of Isaiah 46. God said, remember, I want you
to remember something. Remember the former things of
old. Back when I created the world, I spake and it was done. I commanded and it stood fast.
For I am God and there's nobody else. I am God and there's none
like me. I declare the end before I ever
start. And oh my, and from ancient times, ancient times, The things that
are not yet done, saying, my counsel, my will, my purpose
shall stand. And you know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna do everything that pleases me. Huh? Oh, and it's not only is
it affection, but it's personal. He says, look at, look, he says
there in verse 14, back over here in our text. Not only is it affection, he
does what he will. But he said it's personal, said
he's in one mind, he performs the things that is appointed
for me. Not only is it effectual, but it's effectual in my life. And that's what he said, it's
personal. He performs the things that's appointed for me. You know what the scriptures
tells us plainly? That he performs. Paul said in
Philippians 1, 6, I'm confident of this one thing, that he which
begun a good work in you, God has to start the work. And you
believe God would start a work and not be a good work? And he
says, it's God which worketh in you. And he's confident of
this one thing, that God which hath begun in you a good work
in you, you know what he said? He will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. I'm gonna keep it on. You know why we keep keeping
on? Because God keeps keeping on. And oh my, you know it's God
which worketh in you, worketh in you both to will and to do
of his good pleasure. We are His workmanship, God's
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God
hath before ordained that we should work in. Huh? All things work together for
good. That's how good work got started,
for good. To them that love God, to them
that are called according to His purpose. Here's the next
word. For whom He did foreknow, listen
to this, He did predestinate. What did He predestinate Him
to? To be conformed to the image of His Son. And then He predestinated,
He called Him. What did He call Him with His
Word? Huh? Secondly, He justified Him. Thirdly,
He glorified Him. And then that's why Paul said,
who, what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who
can be against us? Oh, that's what Job said here.
God has a purpose for me. He performs what he does for
me and my life and everything and he's performed it for me.
He's performed it for me. Now the hairs of his eye and
his will is for me. And oh my. Thank God He's for
us and He has a purpose for us. And I tell you what, whatever
it is, He'll get us through it. And then look what it's done
for him. It produced in him a reverence and a fear for God. Look what
he says there in verse 15. He said, therefore am I troubled
at His presence. You know, God is so above me,
so beyond me, I can't change Him. His will's
unalterable. And, oh, He said, I'm afraid.
I'm troubled at His presence. When I consider Him, I'm afraid. Now, what does that mean when
He says, I'm afraid? That means that I have the fear
of God in me. God can do anything with us at
the snap of a finger. A snap of a finger. I know of
two people, two people, real, real recently, that they got diagnosed and neither
one of them is going to live another two or three months. One's young, the other's a little
older. You know what they said? I listened
to one of them preach. Last, we'd go Wednesday night. You go listen to it. Dee Parks.
He preached down there at College Grove. Oh, what a good message. What
a good message. Go listen to him. Listen to him. When we were down in Florida,
he preached. And I'll tell you what. You're talking about needing
God. You know, that's what he said,
I'm afraid. You know, when we talk about being afraid of God,
God can change our lives just that quick. John Newton said,
only difference between us and being an idiot is a rock placed
in the right place at the right time. That's all it takes. And oh my, and he said, I'm afraid
when I consider, that's what David said, when I look at the
stars and sun and moons that I have ordained, I say, what
in the world is man? What is man? That you'd even
think about him, let him cross your mind. Let him cross your
mind. And oh my, this is one thing
that men are now, they're not afraid of God. Why should men
be afraid of God? He loves them. Why should men
be afraid of God? Christ died for them. Why should
they be afraid of God? Nobody goes to hell. Everybody
goes to heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven
to see their loved ones. I gotta see them again. Oh, at least they're at peace now.
They lived in hell, lived like hell, died like hell, but yet
they're at peace now. NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES! NONE! If I've got any children
that have the fear of God before their eyes, I don't know it.
If I have a grandchild that has the fear of God, I don't know
it. Does any of your children have the fear of God? Any of
your grandchildren have the fear of God in them? Oh, no! You know, they say, I'll
see them again one of these days. You know how many people I know
is already going to glory? Just in the last couple of years,
Bill Grisham, Bruce Daley, Gary Spracker, Becky Spracker, Lola
and Larry Matthews, Barb, Herman. I know all these folks
are going to glory. I know how many people from this
congregation going to glory. And I'll know Abraham when I
see him, and I'll know Isaac when I see him, and I'll know
Jacob when I see him. But I'm not going there, I don't care
who I see, as long as I see Christ! You know, we'll know one another. But that has nothing to do with
this flesh. That's why there's no fear of
God in anybody's eyes. Huh? No wonder James asked this
question. What is your life? What is your
life? You started, some of you all
started out so young, and now you're old. And you ain't got much life left.
But here's the thing. What is your life? That's what he said. Hold my
hand out there. That's how long your life is.
What is it? It's a vapor. It appears for
a little moment. It's like grass. Grass is dead. And I'll tell you what he said.
Look what he said. He felt his weakness. Look what
he says there in verse 16. God maketh my heart soft. Oh boy, God, ain't that what
you want God to do for you right now? Lord, please come make my
heart soft. Take this old hard heart and
make it soft. Take this old hard heart, soften
it up. Tender it up. Soften it up for
the feel. Soften it up, Lord. Where it
can be touched with other people's Burdens and heartaches and sorrows? Huh? Oh my. And why he says, oh, he says,
make my heart soft. Make it soft. I don't have no
trouble making my heart hard, but Lord, you have to soften
it up. Then look what else he said here.
And the Almighty troubles me. I tell you what, if God ever
troubles you, be thankful for it. If he ever wakes you up and
troubles you over yourself or somebody else, give thanks to
God for it. If you're just troubleless over
sin, troubleless, oh, troubleless. Oh, almighty troubles me. If
he troubles you over things, Be thankful that he troubles.
You know how many people he leaves alone, never bothers them, never
troubles them, don't even pay any attention to them. But thank
God he comes in there and troubles our hearts, troubles our minds,
troubles our sleep, troubles us. Oh Lord, trouble me over
myself, trouble me over others, trouble me over, I'm troubled
over the conditions that surround us in this world. And then look what he said. He
was thankful. He was thankful for what God
has done for him. He said, Lord, I'm thankful that I was not cut
off before the darkness. You know, God put him in a dark
place when he took everything he had. I mean, he was in a dark,
dark place. Dark place. And he said, I'm
thankful that you never cut me off. before you put me in this
place. You could have cut me plumb off
and said, I don't want nothing to do with you, Job. But God
took everything from him and he's left in darkness. And he
said, I was so thankful that you didn't cut me off before
the darkness. And I'm thankful that he's not
covered my face in darkness. That he's gave me a face to see
him, to behold him. And oh my. Oh, Lord. As well, he said, he covered
the darkness of my face. Sometimes God covers our face
in darkness, our heart with darkness, and our understanding with darkness.
But ain't you grateful that he don't leave us that way? And Job started out saying, he
knows the way that I take. And he said, and he got me in
darkness. And he put me there. And when
he's done with me, I'm gonna be gold on the other side of this. God is God. And his way of dealing with us
as individuals is altogether different. He deals
with us as a group, as a congregation of believers, but he deals with
every one of us differently. Oh, our great, blessed God in
heaven. Thank you, Lord. Oh, thank you
for your word. Oh, your word is so precious,
so powerful, so clean, so pure. And Lord, it changes us. It changes
us from a moment that we're just lifeless to where we're lively. Where we have a hard heart and
then it's tendered. Where we don't seek you and then
with all our hearts we seek you. Oh Lord, your word is clean,
pure. And Lord, we praise you for it.
Praise you for the gospel. Praise you for your word. Praise
you for your people. Praise you for what you do in
our hearts and souls. Thank you for the life you give
us in Christ. And thank you, Lord, that you've kept us, kept
us, kept us, and will keep us. And when you've tried us, when
you've tried us, we're all gonna come forth as
gold in the end. Not only will we come forth as
gold, but we'll walk on streets of gold. We praise you and thank
you, save you people in this place. Bless you, dear saints. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. Reach out and touch the Lord
as He passes by. He's not too busy to hear your
heart's cry. He's passing by this moment,
your need to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord
as he goes by. Well, we'll see you tonight,
God willing, six o'clock.