Well, good evening. If you would
care to open your Bibles with me to Job 1. Job 1. Let me remind you to keep Novi
Sparks in your prayers. She's still having her abdominal
pain. Keep her in your prayers. Juanita
Thompson Scott tells me she's doing very well. over most all
the symptoms from this COVID with the exception of extreme
tiredness, but they feel like she's doing very well. We want
to remember the congregation at College Grove. They're having
some problems with COVID and Claire's dad, Jimmy, has tested
positive. So let's keep them in your prayers.
You know, with all the things we have to pray for and worry
about, you know, we should never forget how much we have to be
thankful for. Sunday, Charlie Davis was here.
He told me he's looking up a marathon. He's going to try. Cecil's back. He had a good report. Think they can do some things
to help him feel better. Bob's back. We're so thankful. Janine's
here visiting. We have a lot to be thankful
for. I'll tell you, this week I have worked and worked and
worked and worked and worked on Psalm 132 and absolutely got
no message. from the Lord. And when I gave
up trying to bring Frank's message to you, went to searching for
the Lord's message for us tonight, I came here to the Book of Job.
That's where our text will be from this evening. We're going
to read the first two verses. That's the length of the first
two chapters. It's a lengthy passage, but I'll never apologize
for reading God's Word. We'll come back after Brady sings
and make a few comments. Job 1. There was a man in the
land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and
upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil. And there
were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance
also was 7,000 sheep, and 3,000 camels, and 500 yoke of oxen,
and 500 she-asses, and a very great household. So this man
was the greatest of all the men of the east. And his sons went
and feasted in their houses every one his day, and sinned and called
for their sisters to come to eat and to drink with them. And
it was so in the days of their feasting were gone about that
Job sinned and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning
and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For
Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in
their hearts. Thus did Job continually. And there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan came
also among And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou? Then 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 an upright man, one that feareth
God and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? 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'll
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. 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 Sabeans fell upon them and took them away. Yea,
they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword. And
I only am escaped alone to tell thee. And while he was yet speaking,
there came also another and said, the fire of God has fallen from
heaven and has burned up the sheep. and the servants, and
consumed them, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. And
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 alone to tell thee.
And 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 alone to tell thee. Then Job arose and rent
his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground
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. In all this Job sinned not, nor
charged God foolishly. Again there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came
also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord
said unto Satan, From 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 an upright man, one that feareth
God and escheweth evil? And still he holdeth fast his
integrity, although thou movest me against him to destroy him
without cause. And Satan answered the Lord,
and said skin for skin, Yea, all that a man hath will he give
for his life. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch his bone and his flesh, and he'll curse thee to thy face.
And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, he is in thy hand, but
save his life. So went Satan forth from the
presence of the Lord, and smoked Job with sore boils from the
sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to
scrape himself withal, and he sat down among the ashes. Then
said his wife unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity?
Curse God and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest,
as one of the foolish women speaketh. What, shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this
did not Job sin with his lips. Now when Job's three friends
heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every
one unto his own place. Eliphaz the Tiamite, and Bildad
the Shuite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment
together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And when
they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted
up their voice and wept. And they rent everyone his mantle
and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they
sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights.
And none spake a word unto him, for they saw that his grief was
very great." We'll end our reading there. Let's bow together. Our Father, Oh, how we thank
you that we could come before you as our children, as your
children, and come before the God of all the universe, the
God who rules and reigns over all. Father, how thankful we
are by your mercy and your unspeakable grace that we're able to call
you our Father, to cry unto you, Abba Father. And Father, beg
of thee this evening that we might hear a word from thee and
be enabled by thy spirit to worship thee in spirit and in truth.
Father, I pray you take your word as it's preached and reveal
your glory to the hearts of your people. Take your word as it's
preached. Cause it to take root in our
hearts. So that if we don't need this
specific instruction at this very moment, that when it comes
our time, to be in the time of trouble and trial. We might remember
these scriptures, these words of your instruction, and be comforted,
be pointed to trust in thee, to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, how we thank you for a place that you've provided
for us where we can worship thee in peace and love and unity.
And Father, I pray that you would preserve and protect this gift
that you've given to us, that you give each one of us wisdom
to preserve and to protect the unity of the saints, that our
most important purpose of preaching Christ might be fulfilled, that
we might be enabled by Thy Spirit to preach Christ to this congregation,
to our community, that You might bless Your Word as it goes forth
from this place to call out and save Your people, to comfort
the hearts of Your people and edify and strengthen Your people
through the preaching of Your Word. Father, don't leave us
alone. We thank you for all the many,
many blessings, how freely you've blessed us, Father, and we're
thankful. Thankful for the good report
we've had on so many of our brothers and sisters and pray your continued
hand be upon them. Father, for those that are still
in great straits and difficult, difficult trials, deep waters,
Father, we pray for them. We pray you'd heal. Above all,
Father, we pray that you'd comfort the hearts of your people with
your presence. Make us patient to wait on thee, knowing that
thou doest all things well. Be with your people in a special
way until you see fit to deliver. Father, we pray for our country.
We pray that you give us some relief from this awful pandemic
and that you might enable people to return back to their daily
lives and work and that your people may be able to to once
again worship without worrying about all these other things.
Father, we're thankful to know that these things are not left
up to an accident in the wind, but according to thy eternal
will and purpose. Now, Father, bless us. As we look into your
word, bless us, we pray. Enable us to see the Lord Jesus
Christ. For it's in his blessed name
we pray and give thanks. O come, all ye faithful, joyful
and triumphant, Come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the
King of angels. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. Sing, choirs of angels, sing
in exultation, Sing, all ye bright hosts of heaven above. Glory to God, all glory in the
highest. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born
this happy morning, Jesus, to thee be all glory given. Word of the Father, now in flesh
appearing O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him Alright, let's open our Bibles
again now to the book of Job. The title of the message this
evening is, Five Lessons Learned in Affliction. And I know those
of you who have a few years under your belt, have experienced some
things, maybe right now in the furnace of affliction, I'll have
your attention based on this title. five lessons learned in
affliction. And for those of you who are
younger and got the tiger by the tail and the downhill pull
on the shady side, I hope and pray that you'll listen to me
tonight and file these things away, because the day's coming
when you're going to need them. And maybe the Lord will bring
these Scriptures back to your mind and you'll be somewhat prepared,
because this day's coming. It's coming because we know this.
God's children are going to have trouble. They're going to have
tribulation. They're going to find themselves in the hot furnace
of trial. We know that's so because our
Lord promised us that. He said, in this world, you shall
have tribulation. Now aren't you glad He didn't
end there? He said, in this world, you shall have tribulation. He
said, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Our
Savior has overcome this world. That's our comfort. But now we're
going to have tribulation as long as we're in it. Trials will
not overcome God's people. They're coming, but they're not
going to overcome God's people and cause them to leave Christ
because Christ our Savior has overcome the world and he overrules
everything that happens in the world. And he's not going to
allow his people to be taken from him. He's going to keep
them while they're in this world. But still yet our father will
often send his children hard trials for a reason. And the reason is so that we
will learn. As I was preparing this message,
I thought about my dad. I learned a lot from my dad.
I loved him. I admired him so much. And I learned. I learned. I learned
by watching him. I learned by listening to him.
But I tell you the lessons I remember the most. The lessons that had
the most lasting impact were the lessons that he taught me
in discipline. And those lessons, they hurt
for a while. But now they were effective.
They're effective. And I had to learn those lessons. I had to. And he had to teach
me. It was his job to teach me those
things. He had to make sure I learned those things so that I learned
to behave myself like a man. So my wife didn't marry a boy.
I mean, he had to teach me these things, you know. Well, that's
what our Heavenly Father does for his children. And the way
he teaches is through trials. Now trials are not punishment
for our sin. I know when we're in them sometimes
it feels like punishment, but trials are never punishment for
the sin of God's people. The sin of God's children has
already been punished. They've been punished in the
person of Christ, our substitute. So our father does not punish
his children in anger, but rather he teaches his children. He teaches
them in love. And it's good for us to be reminded
in those trials that hurt, God sending these things to us, this
painful trial to us, not because he's angry, but because he loves
us, because he does. Now that's Job. Job was a child
of God. Job knew God. Job was a believer
right at the very start of this book. Verse one says that Job
was a man who was perfect and upright, one that feared God
and shooed evil. And when Satan asked, or the
Lord asked Satan, have you considered my servant Job? He said, there's
none like him in the earth. He's a perfect and upright man.
One that feareth God and escheweth evil. Job is the one who said,
I know my Redeemer liveth. So he knew God. He knew the Savior.
He believed in the Savior. Job was a child of God. Yet Job
was tried harder than anyone. He suffered more than anyone
with the exception of our Lord Jesus. Job was a man of great
wealth. And in a moment, Job was poverty-stricken. Job lost all of his animals.
He lost all of his servants. You know, those were measures
of his wealth. Look here at verse 13 of chapter
1. There was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating
and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. And there came
a messenger unto Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the
asses feeding beside them. And the 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 alone to tell
thee. And 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 alone to tell thee.
And while he was yet speaking, there came also another, and
said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the
camels, and hath carried them away. Yea, and slain the servants
with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell
thee." I mean, the hits just kept coming, didn't they? Wave
after wave after wave. Job just got that first wave
and he couldn't even recover from that wave of bad news before
the next wave came, knocked him down again. And even after all
that, it got worse still. Job was a family man. Job loved
his family. You can tell from the way he
offered sacrifices for him, Job loved his family. And in a moment,
he was childless. Look here at verse 18. And 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're dead. I mean, you could tell, you can
just imagine Job. He hears about this and he's
hoping, he's hoping, he's hoping. that his children would still
be alive. Maybe some of them. And they're dead. Every one of
them. And I only am escaped alone to
tell thee. And then look over at chapter
2, verse 9. Job's wife even turned on him. Then said his wife unto
him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die. That's so hard. That was so hard
for Job to hear. I can tell you from experience,
it's a whole lot easier to go through a painful trial with
a spouse that's so loving and caring and, you know, but not
say things like that. But let me caution us here. Don't be too hard on Job's wife. Don't be too hard on her. This
woman just lost all her children, too. She lost all her visible
means of support, too. Have you ever said something
in a moment of grief and agony? Have you ever said something
later on, you wish you hadn't said that? I'm going to assume
that was the way it was for her. But it still hurt. It still hurt.
And Job must have been a man with some health and some vigor.
And now he's emotionally and physically collapsed. He emotionally
collapsed when he found all of his children were dead. And he
physically collapsed from physical pain. Look again at chapter 2,
verse 7. So went Satan forth from the
presence of the Lord, and smoked Job with sore boils from the
sole of his foot unto his crown. His whole body was covered with
these things. And he took him a potsherd, a
piece of broken pottery, to scrape himself withal, and sat down
among the ashes. It was just so hard for them. Job had been a man. He'd been
a man with some health and some strength. Now he's just a shell
of himself. He's a bag of bones. It's so
bad his friends didn't even recognize him. Look down at verse 12. His
friends that came to visit him, when they lifted up their eyes
afar off, they knew him not. They saw this man. They didn't
even know it was their friend. And they lifted up their voice
and wept. And they rent every one his mantle
and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. Job had
been a man of influence and respect. He was the greatest man in the
East. He would have been one of those men that sat in the
gates, you know, and everybody respected him. Now, Job's a laughingstock. Look over a few pages at Job
19. It's amazing how quickly that can go. You can go from
a man of being such respect in the community, held in respect
by all, to just being a laughingstock. Job 19. Verse 13. Job says, He hath put my brethren
far from me, and mine acquaintance are very estranged from me. My
kinfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me. They
that dwell in my house and my maids count me for a stranger.
I'm an alien in their sight. I called my servant, but he gave
me no answer. He felt no need to obey and come
when Job called. He gave me no answer. I treated
him with my mouth. My breath is strange to my wife,
Though I am treated for the children's sake of mine own body, yea, young
children despise me. I rose and they spake against
me, and my inward friends abhorred me, and they whom I loved are
turned against me." You know, now that Joe had been a man of
influence and had a lot of friends and family, now that Joe's poor,
nobody wants to be his friend anymore. Everybody acts like
they didn't see him, you know. Children, children even make
fun of this man who used to be so respected. That's a lot to
swallow, isn't it? And Job did not suffer silently. Job, throughout this book, talks
openly and honestly about his pain and his suffering. In chapter
3, he says, I wish I'd never been born. In chapter 5, he said,
if you could weigh all my grief, and you'd weigh it, it would
weigh more than all the sand of the sea. Tons and tons and
tons. My grief would weigh more than
that. In another place he said, I wish the cores could be cut
so I could just leave this place and die. And Job was honest about
his suffering. He was honest about how bad it
hurt. And I know, here's another word of warning to us, I know
that we don't want to be a complainer. I do not want to be a complainer.
But we also do a disservice to our brethren when we suffer silence. And we act like it's all okay,
you know, and it just doesn't bother me. This trial is not
causing me any pain or suffering. And when we do that, and then,
later on, our brother or our sister, they go through a similar
trial and they suffer. They want to talk about it. It
hurts and they want to talk about it. And I think, well, you know,
brother or sister, so and so, they acted like it was no big
deal when they went through this, so maybe there's something wrong
with me, you know. And they think, you know, listen,
if it's a real trial, it hurts. It hurts. I don't care what anybody
says, it hurts. Maybe they're suffering silently,
but it hurts. And if we suffer silently, we
do not allow our brethren to comfort us wherewith the comfort,
wherewith they've been comforted by our God in the past. If we
suffer silently, we don't allow our brethren to pray for us.
We don't allow our brethren to come and cry with us. And I tell
you, that could be very helpful. That could be very helpful. You
know you don't have the answers for somebody who's going through
something, but you can come and you can cry with them. There's
an illustration I heard about an old man. His wife had died. He was broken hearted. He missed
her so bad. He didn't know. He didn't know
how to do anything. He didn't know how to do anything
without her. He just cried all the time and missed her so bad.
And there was a little boy who lived next door, four or five
years old, and his mother hadn't been able to find him for a little
while. Finally, he came home and she said, son, where have
you been? He said, I've been over at Mr. Smith's. And she
said, what were you doing over at that old man? He said, I was
helping him cry. I was just sitting with him,
helping him cry. That could be a good thing for
us to do for one another, couldn't it? But Job's friends should
have done that. Job's friends appeared to be
a whole lot better friends till they opened their mouths. Maybe
if they just sat with Job and helped him cry, they'd have been
better friends. Job suffered honestly. But now
listen, here's the key. Job spake against his pain. He
spake against his suffering. Job spake against his miserable
friends, but Job never spake against the Lord. Look at verse
22 of chapter 1. In all this, Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly. He did not He did not speak against
the Lord. Even though he spoke against
all these other things, he never spoke against the Lord. Now that's
his affliction. That's the way Job began this
suffering. And I want to give you five lessons learned from
affliction. Maybe the Lord will be pleased
to teach us these lessons from Job's example, or at least prepare
us for when the time comes for us to suffer. The Lord asked
Satan, have you considered my servant Job? Well, have you done
that? Have you considered Job? What
we might learn from watching Job? Well, here's the first thing
we learn. Affliction teaches us the brevity
of life. The day before all this happened,
Job probably thought he's going to live for a long time. And
he certainly thought his children were going to live a long time.
They're going to give him plenty of grandchildren to enjoy and
bounce on his knee, you know? Give him grandchildren. He can
tell them the same story over and over and over again. Job
thought he and his wife were going to grow old together and
enjoy their golden years with their family. And it was all
gone in a moment. In a moment it was gone. Now
scripture says all flesh is grass. And that includes my flesh and
your flesh. And we do good to remember that.
Whatever beauty and strength that we have right now will quickly
fade. But boy, it could be gone in
a moment. This life could be snuffed out so easily and so
quickly. And even if we do live longer
than three score and ten years, those years are going to pass
so quickly. Jacob was an old, old man. He
came in to meet Pharaoh. His son Joseph brought him in
to meet Pharaoh. They say that Jacob must have been the oldest
man that Pharaoh had ever seen. Pharaoh asked him, how old are
you? And Jacob talked about the days. of his pilgrimage. He was an old man, but he said
it was just days. Days that pass so quickly. James
4 verse 14 says our life is a vapor. It's just a mist. It appears
for a little time, but it just vanishes away so quickly. Look
at Job chapter 7. This is how Job, he learned this. Affliction taught him the brevity
of life. Job chapter 7 verse 6. He says,
my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and are spent without
hope." I remember being a little boy and we would go to Shaker
Town. I hated that. But y'all took
us there. And there was a weaver there.
And boy, that thing went fast. Job said, that's how my days
go. Just bam! So fast you can't hardly see
it. He said, I'm going to be here one minute and the next,
I'm going to be gone. Look here, he says in verse 8,
"...the eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more. Thine eyes are upon me, and I'm
not. As the cloud is consumed, the
fog just vanishes away. So he goes down to the grave,
shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his
house, neither shall his place know him any more." Job said,
you're going to see me now, and next thing you know, I'm going
to be in the grave and you're not going to see me anymore. Just
like that. Look across the page, Job 9, verse 25. He says, now my days are swifter
than a post. They flee away, they see no good.
Now what he's talking about there is those riders who would deliver
mail. They'd ride on a horse and they'd just ride that horse
at dead spring. That horse would wear out. And they'd jump off
and they'd get on a new one. And you'd watch him take off
and he'd be gone out of your sight before you knew it just
so quickly. He'd vanished away. Job says, that's how my days
are. Verse 26, he says, they're passed away as swift ships. Just
these ships that pass the night. Jay and I were on a cruise one
time and we were looking out and there was another cruise
ship about where we were. And we turned around and that
ship was gone. I mean, where'd it go? Just gone
so fast? That's the way my days go so
fast. He said, my days, verse 26, as
the eagle that hasteth to the prey. You know when an eagle
sees its prey, it swoops down so fast, just bam! Gets that
little lamb and never knew where to hit it. That's our days. Just gone and you don't know
where they went. Gone so fast. Look at Job 14. Job agrees with
Jacob when he talks about our lives as just being a few days.
Job 14 verse 1. Man that is born of a woman is
a few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow. and
continue with not. Just a few days and those days
are going to be full of trouble. And that's not just true of Job.
That's true of all of us. Now why is it so important for
you and me to learn this lesson that life is short and it will
soon be gone? Why is it so important for us
to learn that? So we don't waste our time and we seek Christ now. We seek Him now without delay.
Look at Psalm 90. David says the very same thing
here in Psalm 90. It's not surprising David would say
the same thing. It's all scripture. It has the same message. David learned this from affliction. I'm sorry, this is Moses. Moses
says it. Verse 7, Psalm 90. We're consumed by thine anger.
By thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities
before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath. We spend our years
as a tale that's told. The days of our years, just days,
three score and ten. If by reason of strength they
be four score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, and
it's soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of
thine anger? Even according to thy fear, so
is thy wrath. Now this is what Moses learned
from this suffering. Teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Teach us to number
our days, from the youngest one here to the oldest one. To number
our days, so we apply our hearts to wisdom. To Christ, who is
our wisdom, and seek Him without delay. Alright, number two. Affliction teaches us how frail
earthly possessions really are. Now I'm just sure of this. was
not like Scrooge in his counting house being greedy and counting
up his money and hoarding it all away, you know. But I am
sure of this. Job had a pretty good accounting
of his wealth. Job knew how many animals he
had. He knew how many servants he had. He knew what it cost
to feed them all. He knew what they're all worth.
He knew how much profit that they would be expected to bring
in in a year. Job knew all that. I'm just sure of it. But very
quickly, Job learned how fragile all those things are. They're
just gone in a moment. You can spend a lifetime accumulating
things and they're gone in 60 seconds. But I'll tell you what
else Job learned. He learned the true value of
all those earthly possessions. You know, we think that all those
things, our earthly possessions, the money that we can have and
you think that's our security and houses and lands and all
these things. We think those things are awful
important. But you know what Job learned? Same thing Solomon
said. You can't take any of it with you. You're going to leave
it all here. And Solomon said, you might leave it to a fool.
You just don't know. You don't know who's going to
get it after you because you can't take any of it with you.
Job 1 verse 21. This is what Job said after he
lost everything. This is what he 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. Job says, I came into this world
naked. I came into this world without
anything. And I'm going to leave it the
same way. I'm going to leave it naked. Without anything. I'm
not taking anything with me. Job learned that all of earth's
possessions are so frail And they're really worthless. They're
really worthless because they can be taken away so easily.
That makes them worthless. And the certainty that they'll
be taken away from us someday makes them really worthless,
doesn't it? Now, why is it so important that we learn this
lesson? That there's no value in any
of the things in this world. The frailty of it just makes
them worthless. Why is it so important that we learn that
lesson? Well, I'll tell you why. So we learn not to trust in those
things, but we learn to trust Christ. Don't ever mistake physical,
material blessing for God's spiritual blessing on your soul. Now if
you have plenty, you're like Job here, how'd you get it? God
gave it, didn't He? God gave it. God blessed you
in that way, but don't ever count material blessings, don't mistake
them for being God's blessings, spiritual blessings on your soul. You could lose him tonight. The
rich fool with his barn so full, learned that lesson, didn't he? But now listen, we're going to
leave this world naked, but by God's grace, we don't have to
leave this world the same way we came into it. We came into
this world naked. Physically and spiritually, we
came into this world naked. And we're going to go out of
this world physically naked, but we don't have to leave this
world spiritually naked. By God's grace, His children
are going to leave this world clothed. Clothed in Christ's
righteousness. Look over at Job 19. Job knew
this. Job knew he's going to leave
this world with everlasting, eternal life. Job 19, verse 23. He said, Oh, that my words were
now written. Oh, that they were printed in a book. That they
were graven with an iron pen and leaden to rock forever. And
this is what he's saying, you carve this in my tombstone. For
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. Job here is prophesying of the
Lord's second coming before he came the first time. He's going
to stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and
not another. He won't be a stranger. Though
my reigns be consumed within me. Now that's what's truly valuable. It's knowing Christ, knowing
that my Redeemer liveth. And to leave this world, not
the same way we came into it, but clothed in His righteousness.
Could be we'll seek that, that righteousness, if we learn better
that things of this world have no real value. All right, here's
the third thing. Affliction teaches us that God
is in control. He's in control of everything. We're still there in chapter
19, look up verse 21. Job says, have pity upon me.
Have pity upon ye, me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God
hath touched me. Job's saying, God did this. Satan
didn't do this. God, his hand has touched me.
The balance of the universe is not God on one side and Satan
on the other. Sometimes God wins, sometimes
Satan wins. You just don't see how it's going
to turn out. No, that's not it at all. Now
Satan is real. He's the real enemy. He's the
accuser of the brethren. But all Satan is is just like
everything else in this world. He's an instrument. He's an instrument
of God to accomplish God's purpose. That's all he is. I can show
you that back in chapter 1, verse 6. Now there was a day when the
sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came
also among them. And I like to think about this.
Satan had to come give an account. He'd come in here to God. He's
got to come and give an account. In verse 7, the Lord said unto
Satan, whence comest thou? Then 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? See, Satan didn't bring up Job,
did he? God did. That there's none like him in
the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and
escheweth evil. Have you considered him? Satan
answered the Lord and said to Job, fear God for not. Hast thou
not made a hedge about him and about his house and about all
that he hath on every side? You 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'll curse thee
to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. Only upon himself,
his body, his person, put not forth thine hand. So Satan went
forth from the presence of the Lord. And that was repeated there
in chapter 2, verse 3, the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered
my servant Job? But there's none like him in
the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and
escheweth evil. And still he holdeth fast his
integrity, although thou movest me against him to destroy him
without cause. And Satan answered the Lord,
skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his
life. But put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his
flesh, and he'll curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto
Satan, behold, he's in thy hand, but save his life. You can do
whatever you want to him, But don't kill him. See, Satan could
only go as far as God allowed. He's on God's chain. The Lord told Satan how far he
could go, and Satan was powerless to do anything else. And even
Satan didn't say, I'm going to touch Job. He told God, you put
forth your hand now and touch him. All Satan is is an instrument
in God's hands. See, all of this was God's doing
from the get-go. This was God's purpose. That's
why God brought Job up to Satan. This was God's purpose. And all
he did was move Satan to do what he did so that God's purpose
could be accomplished. So that Job and all of us could
learn these lessons. And Job knew this. He never doubted
this. He knew God had directed all
of this. He said it was the Lord who gave.
And the Lord had taken away. The Lord did it. You know, and
all this accumulated wealth Job had, he said it wasn't good It
wasn't my hard work and my ingenuity and my good business sense that
gained me everything. God gave it to me. He gave it.
He gave it freely. And when I lost it all, it wasn't
Satan that took it away. It wasn't the Sabians and the
Chaldeans who came and took it away. I didn't have a string
of good luck that gained me everything. I didn't have a string of bad
luck that made me lose everything. No, the Lord gave it. And the
Lord took it away. He took it away the same way
he gave it, sovereignly, by his sovereign will. Now the lesson
for us here to be learned is God is sovereign over everything. Over everything. Everything material,
everything physical, and everything spiritual. God is sovereign. over everything. People get so
worked up. This time of every four years,
people so worked up, you know, about who's been elected president.
I tell you what, God's man is in that old office. I can tell
you, that didn't happen by accident. God did that. God is sovereign. Listen, it's not God is sovereign,
but this, that or the other. No, sir. God's sovereign over
all things. And that means that everything
that happens is God's will and God's purpose. That's right.
I mean, somebody does something evil and that's God's will. Did it happen against God's will?
Of course not. Everything that happens is God's
will. It happened because God willed it to happen, whether
we think it's good or whether we think it's bad. Now, why is
it so important that we learn this lesson? God is in control
of everything for this reason. So we will give up our free will
and we'll submit. We'll submit ourselves to the
righteousness of Christ. We need to learn this lesson
so we're not so stiff-necked and demanding our way all the
time and bow ourselves to God's will. I tell you, we'd be a whole
lot better off if we do. Just bow. Just submit. Bow to
God's will. God is in control. And aren't
we thankful? Aren't you thankful that God's
in control? If all this was just happening to whim or whatever
was blowing through the air, I'd be scared to death, wouldn't
you? But this is God's will. God's in control. Who else would
you rather have in control? God help us to submit and bow
to Him. Alright, here's the fourth thing. This is a very important lesson.
Affliction teaches us that God is to be worshipped. He's to
be worshipped at all times. Job worshipped God as a way of
life. When everything was going well,
Job worshipped God. Look back at chapter 1, verse
4. Or verse 5. It was so when the days
of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified
them. He rose up early in the morning
and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For
Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in
their hearts. Thus did Job continually. He did this every day. Job worshipped
God as a way of life. He worshipped God when God blessed
him. And he worshipped God through a sacrifice, through this burnt
offering. That's important. He worshipped God the right way.
Alright? Well, Satan thought that's understandable,
didn't he? He thought that's understandable, that Job would
worship God when God blessed him so much. But what did Job
do when God took everything away? Huh? Did Job curse God's face
like Satan thought he'd do? No. Job still worshipped God. When he said, blessed be the
name of the Lord. That's worshipping God. See, the Lord gave. The
Lord took it away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
That's worship. And the lesson for us here is
God is to be worshipped at all times. Now why is that so important? Why is it so important that God
be worshipped? Why is it so important that you and I learn this lesson?
Well, it's because God is to be worshipped for who he is. God is to be worshipped. No matter what God does with
me, God's to be worshipped. God's to be worshipped for who
he is. He's God. You and me worshipping God. That's
the only right relationship there can be between God and us. Us
worshipping God, us getting down in the dust and worshipping God,
that puts us in our right place. And worship that exalts God,
puts Him on the throne, puts Him in His place, that's only
right. Now when sorrow and trouble come, you know that should lead
us to worship. It highly concerns me if when
bad times come, trouble comes, somebody quits worshipping God.
Like them pouting at God is going to make any difference, you know.
But listen, usually it's only natural. Somebody gets in trouble. Boy, they never miss a service.
But now listen to me. You should worship. Who else
are you going to turn to when these things are happening? Who
else are you going to turn to? We should worship God at those times. But we're
not to worship God only because we're seeking a shelter from
the storm. We're to worship God the same way when the storm is
over. and the trouble stopped. We're
to worship God the same, whether it's on the mountaintop or whether
it's in the valley, we're to worship God. Wherever it is that
God has providentially put you, worship God there. David said,
worship God at all times. All times. Whether you think
they're good or bad, worship God at all times. I want you
to listen to what Brother Henry said about this. He said, grief
presses you to the ground Worship there. If trials lay you low,
worship there. Worship there. God is to be praised
and He's to be worshipped for who He is. Not because He gave
me a toy to play with. Not because He took my toy away.
But for who He is. He's to be worshipped at all
times. Here's the last thing. Number five. Affliction teaches
us how vile we are. And how holy and just God is. and how completely dependent
we are on God to deliver us. Now look at the last chapter
of Job, Job 42. We see how Job reacted when this
trial began. But when it was all over, how
did Job react? What is it that he had learned?
What is it that he learned from this experience? Job 42, verse
1. Then Job answered the Lord and
said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought
can be withholding from thee. 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. Here I beseech thee, and I will speak, and I will demand,
and that word would be better translated inquire. I will inquire
of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Wherefore, I abhor
myself and repent in dust and ashes. See, Job already knew
these things. You know that from the way he
talked about God. He already knew these things.
Job knew he was a sinner. He knew he was a vile man. Job
already knew that God's holy. He already knew that God is sovereign.
But now, he learned. You know, there's things that
I've known and then I learned them. I learned them by experience.
That's what happened to Job. Job had been taught in God's
classroom, in the furnace. One more scripture, Job chapter
33. And all of that, all of this that Job learned by experience,
made Job all the more dependent upon God. And you and I need
to learn this lesson. We need to learn that we're vile,
that God is holy and just, and that we are completely dependent
on God to save us. Whatever God does with us is
going to be right. It's going to be just. And if we're going
to be saved, if we're going to receive mercy, we're dependent
on God to save us. We're dependent on God to give
us mercy. Now that's the lesson that we must learn or we'll never
be saved. And that's the lesson God teaches
His children. And unfortunately, because of
our nature, this is a lesson He normally teaches us repeatedly.
Look here at Job chapter 33, verse 14. For God speaketh once,
yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. in a dream and a vision
of the night when deep sleep falls upon men and slumberings
upon the bed. Then he opened up the ears of
men and sealed their instruction that he may withdraw man from
his purpose and hide the pride of man. He keepeth back his soul
from the pit and his life from perishing by the sword. God spoke,
but did he really listen? But look at verse 19. He's chastened
also with pain upon his bed and the multitude of his bones with
strong pain. so that his life of horse bread
and his soul dainty meat, his flesh is consumed away that it
cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Yea, his soul draws near unto the grave and his life to the
destroyers." Now he's going to pay attention, isn't he? And
if there be a messenger, oh, if God will send him a messenger,
if God will send him a preacher with him, an interpreter, one
among a thousand to show unto man his uprightness, God's uprightness,
Then is He gracious unto him and says, deliver him from going
down to the pit, for I found a ransom. I found an atonement.
And his flesh shall be fresher than a child's. He shall return
to the days of his youth. He shall pray unto God and he'll
be favorable unto him. And he shall see his face with
joy. For he will render unto man his righteousness. He'll
render unto man Christ's righteousness, God's righteousness. And his
flesh will be fresher than a child. We're dependent on God's the
one that's found the ransom. God's the one that's provided
the atonement. Oh, may God be pleased to teach that to you
and me tonight. How dependent we are on Him to
deliver us and to save us. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank You
for Your Word. We thank You for this solemn
portion of Your Word the suffering of our brother Job. And Father,
I pray you might use it to teach us, to teach us to number our
days, that we might apply our hearts to wisdom, that we might
apply our hearts to seeking Christ, to seeking real, true, lasting
riches, the riches of your mercy and your grace in our Lord Jesus
Christ. Father, I pray you'd give us
a heart, a heart of worship, that you'd give us the heart
of a submissive, teachable child, that we might learn these lessons. And when it comes time for us
to be in the time of trouble and trial, that we might remember
these lessons, that they might comfort and encourage our hearts
and cause us to wait on God our Savior. Father, now as we return
back to our homes and prepare to go back out into the world
to work School and our various activities tomorrow. God bless
us. Watch over us, lead and guide us, we pray. Bring us back here
on Sunday when it's time to, once again, if it could be Thy
will, hear again the glorious good news of the gospel of Christ
our Savior. For it's in His blessed name
we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, you're dismissed.