Turn to the book of Job. No specific
chapter yet. Job. So you don't have to turn a lot.
I won't read any of the scriptures when I first began, but you can
go ahead and turn to chapter 42, the last chapter. So turn to Job chapter 42. The
book of Job deals with many complex issues. Let me just give you
a few just as a taste. Satan in the very presence of
God. That's a complex issue. The unholy
one himself suffered by the thrice holy God to enter into God's
presence and God converses with him. I'm not here to try to explain
that this morning. I'm just here to say that's a
complex issue. Here's another. God brings up
the subject of Job to Satan. having set a hedge about Job
for years so that Satan couldn't touch Job. That's a complex issue. Number three, God suffered theft,
death by terrorism. We're acquainted with that at
least to some degree in our day. God suffered theft. death by
terrorism, death and loss by natural disaster, and the very
death of every one of Job's children. God did it. It could not be done apart from
the fact that God Almighty suffered it to be done. That's just chapter
one. That's just chapter one. There's
another one. Rather than reinstituting the
hedge about Job, then Job is smitten with bottom-to-top bulls. And on top of that, his wife
turns on him. I would say the love of his life
in this world. She turns on him. Why don't you
just, you still retain your integrity? Why don't you just curse God
and die? I bet you their day was not a
very pleasant day that day, don't you think? He said, you talk
like the heathen women talk. That was his response to his
wife. That's just chapter two out of 42 chapters. Now give
ear to me this morning. If you have an ear to hear, listen
to what I am going to tell you this morning. This is not about pride. It's
not about how much I know. This is about thus saith the
Lord. And I cannot stand in front of
you and hope that maybe I'm right. And maybe I'm telling you a few
good things that might help you. Been trying to preach this gospel
for almost 31 years now. And yet, to some people, I don't
think anybody here, especially this morning, to some people,
that matters not at all. Spoke to a fellow one time about
the electing love of God in Christ Jesus. He went home and told
his wife. She told him, because he came back and repeated it
to me, well my wife said that's not in the Bible. And I said,
so she's a studier of the Bible, is she? He said, well, no. I
said, well, but yet you'll take her word over mine. When he brought
up the subject, not me. Give ear to what I say this morning.
Give you three things, first of all, as kind of a primer.
Do not, listen to what I say, do not fall into materialistic
religion's trap of thinking the whole book of Job is about double
blessings. You read the last part of chapter
42? Job received twice as much as he had before. And materialistic
religion zeroes in on that. Now it says Job was comforted
by that. But let me give you just one
thing to squash that into the ground in this materialism. How
many of you would rejoice in God right now if God would tell
you, I'm going to kill one of your children so you can have
two more. Exactly. There you go. Oh, God, please
do that for me. I'd rather have two than this
one. How many of you? You're nothing
but off your rocker if you talk that way. That's not faith. That's
not faith. That is not the purpose of the
book of Job, nor is it the purpose of why Job went through what
he went through. Do not fall into materialistic religion's
trap of it's all about double blessings. God may give you double. He may give you less. He may
leave you where you are. That's in his sovereign hands.
That's his business. He may give you four times as
much as you had before. That's his business. And it may
comfort you concerning loss, but it will not be the reason
for your testing. That's number one. Here's the
second thing. God is not subject in any way to Satan or man's
will or rebellion. God Almighty is not just in control
of it all, God Almighty ordains it all with the minutest detail. Neither Satan nor man can rebel
any further than what God Almighty has ordained for it to be done.
That is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Number three. This is my title. It's quite
a long one. Two things. Every believer is brought to
acknowledge by experience. You hear what I said? I make
it that long because I want you to get it all. If you got an
ear, listen to me. Two things. Every believer is
brought to acknowledge by experience. And we read these two things
in chapter 42, the first six verses. Then Job answered the
Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything. And not just that, because almost
everybody gives lip service to that. Not everybody, but many,
I should say. And that no thought can be withholden
from thee. You see that? Who is he that
hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Remember,
Job didn't have any scripture, far as we know. Far as we know,
and most of the scholars, most of them, at least the conservative
ones, feel that Job, the account of Job, took place even before
the time of Israel. But be that as it may or may
not be, Job acknowledges, I talked about things I didn't understand.
Here I beseech thee and I will speak, I will demand of thee,
and that's an old English word that simply means to inquire
or request. That's what it's talking about.
Look it up yourself. Here I beseech thee and I will
speak, I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me. I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. There's the hole. purpose for
what Job went through. Right there. That's the whole
purpose of the account of the book of Job. It's seen in those
six verses. So that's my title. Two things
every believer is brought to acknowledge by experience. Here
they are. Number one, the first thing,
that's verse two. God is absolutely sovereign in
all things. The reason this world, especially
this religious world, this professing Christian world, the reason they
don't know anything about sovereignty, you mentioned the word sovereignty,
you know why? They don't know him that way. That's exactly
right. That's why it's a foreign language
to them. Now granted, I've heard men that I never thought would
use that word, use that word in our day, but when they define
it, they have no idea what they're talking about. Sovereignty is
not relative. It is absolute. Or it's not sovereignty. Water is wet because water is
water. It's the nature of the thing. God is sovereign and he
is absolutely sovereign because he is God. That's one of the
things. that every believer is brought
to acknowledge by experience. God is absolutely sovereign in
all things. Here's number two. Here's the
second thing. That every believer is brought to acknowledge by
experience. I hate myself and I repent before God. That's in
verse six. Now Job acknowledges this to
have been brought to him by experience. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. But now. But now. Now what? Now what? Now in light
of all that's taken place in the whole book of Job. All of
it together. Not just one part. Not just one
page. The whole thing together. But now mine eye seeth thee. Now listen to this. This is not
ocular as opposed to verbal. You get what I'm saying now?
This is not just Job saying, I've heard of you in here, but
now I've had some vision of you. Religion would love to just take
that and say, oh, I had a vision. I seen Jesus last night. No,
they didn't. They ate too much cheese and
had a bad dream or something. Or Satan himself may have appeared
to them. Remember, he comes as an angel of what? light. No, this is not ocular, these
as simply opposed to these, the ears. It's not ocular as opposed
to verbal. This is verbal revelation being
confirmed by what Job has experienced in his life circumstances. You
hear what I said? That's what Job's talking about
here. Let me say it again. This is verbal revelation. I've
heard of you by the hearing of my ears. But now mine eyes see
thee." In other words, I know what the verbal revelation is.
I know what others have told me. I understand it. I believe who God is by what
I've heard from others who know Him. But it's being confirmed
in Job's experience by Job's life circumstances. I have four
points to give you as the body of my message. The fourth will
be the summary. Believing the sovereign God as
He is proclaimed in the Gospel of Christ is vital to the first
manifestation of saving faith. You hear what I said? Paul makes
it clear. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. But does that mean that
anybody can just say, Oh Lord, save me, and they're saved? No. Look at what he says. Now let
me turn to it. I don't want to misread that. Romans chapter 10. For whosoever,
verse 13, shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
So this caller must be a believer first. You see it? How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not what? Heard. You got to hear first
before you can believe, and you got to believe before you can
call in this way. You see, in this way. And how
shall they hear without a proclaimer, a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be what? Sent, as it is written. And Paul said this is not new.
It's not something I've come up with. This is God's ordained
way. as it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But we know there's a problem,
but they've not all obeyed the gospel. Everybody who hears it
with these don't obey, do they? For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report. Now that does not discredit anything
Paul said thus far. He's simply bringing up a problem
in man. But look, so then faith cometh
by hearing. Cometh in what way? Cometh to
manifestation. Not cometh into being. Faith
is a quality of God himself. Faith is eternal. It is the fruit
of the Spirit. But it comes out to manifestation.
You want to use the word cometh, that's fine. It's put in there,
but it has to be cometh in what way? It cometh to manifestation. So then faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. In other words, you cannot just
hear someone's opinion about God and faith be manifested. You have to hear what God says
about God. But what God's going to do is
send some other sinner just like you. He will send them to you
to tell you who God really is. Why? Because that's the way God's
ordained it. And Job, back then, I've heard of thee
with the hearing of my ear. This experience cannot be bypassed. You understand what I'm saying
now? Well, what about so-and-so? Don't
try to play games with God. Don't worry about so-and-so.
Worry about thus saith God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Therefore, that's how
you're going to hear it. God will send somebody to you to
preach it to you. In some form, in some form, this cannot be
bypassed. But secondly, here's the second
thing, believing the sovereign God. as his sovereignty is experienced
in our everyday lives is the ongoing manifestation that the
faith that we claim to have is the result of saving grace and
not the result of something else. You hear what I said? Believing
the sovereign God as his sovereignty is experienced in our everyday
lives is the ongoing manifestation that the faith we claim to have
is the result of saving grace and not the result of something
else. The devils believe and tremble. In John 8, many believed
when he spoke to him and it says specifically they believed in
him. They said, we think that's the Messiah. That's Him. But
as He continued to speak, what happened? They wanted to kill
Him. And He, knowing this was going to take place, even told
them, if you continue in My Word, then are you My disciples indeed. It's not just making a start,
it's how you continue and how you finish. In other words, troubles,
that's the whole thing we see in the book of Job, isn't it?
Troubles. Life circumstances. Hell on earth, if you want to
use it metaphorically, so to speak. Troubles drive true faith
to Christ, not away from Christ. Now, it doesn't make the believer
perfect. Go back and read. Job started to brag on himself
when his three buddies started to condemn him, or say, Job,
you've got some kind of secret life. Job began to brag on himself
a little. but it didn't drive him away
from his Redeemer. He said, even in the midst of
all this, Mason, I know that my Redeemer, he knew he needed
one. I know that my Redeemer liveth
and that he shall stand in the latter day on the earth and I'll
see him with my own eyes. I'll see him with my own eyes. He cried out this, though he
slay me, yet will I trust him. But he said, I'll still retain
my integrity before him. But you see, the whole point
is true faith, accompanied with all of the circumstances of life,
drives true faith, is driven to Christ by those circumstances,
rather than away from Christ by those circumstances. That's
number two. Number three, saving faith, which
is the result of saving grace, Mark that down. That's doctrinal.
That's true. Saving faith, which is the result
of saving grace, for by grace are you saved through faith and
not vice versa. You don't get grace by coming
up with faith or either exercising faith. It is because God Almighty
has shown you grace that you have saving faith. Saving faith,
which is the result of saving grace, is accompanied by self-abhorrence. Wherefore, Wherefore, I hate
myself, that's the language. And I repent in dust and ashes. Paul said it, Romans chapter
7 verse 24. Oh, wretched man that I am. And David McCollum, you never
get over that. Until he's gonna make us in his likeness and then
we'll be done with that. But not until. true faith, since
it is the result of saving grace, always cries out, O wretched
man that I am. Everything that happened to Job
was to bring him to experience those two things. Didn't Paul say in Philippians
chapter 3, the first few verses, he said we're of the circumcision,
we worship God the Spirit. You beware them. You beware them
other people out there. And that's what we, people say,
but you're too hard on people. I'm not hard enough. I'm not
near as hard as the God of this book is. I'm far too compromising than
the God of this book is. Far more than, you know, he doesn't
compromise at all. Paul talks about the severity
of God. Unbelief. One of the hallmarks of unbelief
is not receiving the historical record of the Bible. It's denying
who God is. We've just talked about that
today. It's denying who God is. Job has said, Lord, I've heard
of you. I've heard of you for years, but now mine eye sees
thee. And because of that, I hate myself. You see that? Again, let me finish
what Paul said. We're the circumcision that worship
Christ Jesus, worship in the Spirit. We bow to Christ and
have no confidence in the flesh. Now if you have no confidence
in it, do you think you like it? If there's something you don't
have no confidence in, I figure you're just going to be on the
negative side. And what is it we have no confidence in? Even
our flesh. Paul said in that same chapter
again, Romans 7, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. That's the two things that every
believer is brought to acknowledge by experience. God's absolutely
sovereign in all things. And I hate me. I hate me. You all remember the one preacher,
you might not have directly heard him say, you can't love God if
you don't love yourself. That's a lie. Only those who
truly hate themselves truly love God. Job said it. I've heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, and because of that
I hate myself, and I repent in dusted ashes." Told you it was
going to be quick. Here's my summary. Here's number
four. This is it. It's not about how much I say.
It's about God Almighty's Spirit applying it to each and every
one of our hearts. and allowing us, causing us, bowing us down
by His grace to give Him glory in every circumstance in our
life. The Lord gave, the Lord taketh
away, and what is the answer to that? Blessed be the name
of the Lord. Job not only knew to say that
because what he heard after he went through all this, David
McCollum, he knew that's what it's got to be. There is no other
alternative. It wasn't until after that, Joe,
that Job started realizing some of these double portions, was
it? Now, here's the fourth thing.
This is my summary. Human religious faith, when it encounters all
the severe circumstances of life, bucks and kicks and denies and
mocks, One or other or maybe a combination of all those things.
But human religious faith will buck and kick and deny and mock. We've just seen this this past
week. That one of our very own by profession
who said they wanted to be a part of this group and was baptized
said you people talk about love but all you preach is hate. Well
let me tell you something our God hates. as well as loves,
and I will declare his character as long as he gives me grace
and breath to do so, and may that be true for you as well.
And if my wife, like Joseph, turns on me, so be it. If I turn on her because of it,
so be it. Right? Stand true to God no matter
what the circumstances are. Why? Because human religious
faith will buck and kick and deny and mock. Saving faith bows
down before Jesus Christ. Even when it groans and has to
scrape itself with a piece of broken pot. Doesn't it? It bows down to Christ. That's the difference. These
two things every believer is brought to acknowledge by experience. Father, teach us these things
and I know in asking that we may be asking for trouble but
God Almighty by your grace you'll bow us unto Jesus Christ to give
glory to you Him and through him and by him forever in his
name I ask amen