I'm back to Job chapter 1. I'm going to attempt to go through
the book of Job. I've never tried this, and I
don't feel like I'm capable of going through this book, but
this book is on my mind off and on for some time, and I've thought
about going through it. And there is a lot of examples between Job and Christ. It's just so striking, as I was
reading through the book of Job the last time, how much Christ
just kept jumping out at me. You just look at the first verse. And that man was perfect. Talking
about Job, he was perfect. Who do we know was perfect? The
Lord Jesus Christ. Job was much like Christ. He's
perfect. He was rich. And then what happened? He became poor. And not only
did he become poor for the things that he learned out of it, but
you know why also he became poor? For you and me. We have this
book. We have this book. We have God
dealing with His saint. And we can see it. He was rich.
He was made poor. And then he was made rich again. He was the head of the family,
as our Lord is the head of His family. And it's a large family. Job had a large family, so our
Lord has a large family. And one of the things that just
jumped out at me, and this is a message in and of itself, but
not tonight. In verse 22, in all this, and
this is the title of the message, in all this Job sinned Not. We can look at our Lord. All that he went through. His
33 years walking on this earth. The suffering, the humiliation.
The lying that happened to him. People lied on him. In all this,
our Lord said not. Absolutely perfect. But we'll
see these things as we go through this book. But Job also is an
example of the power of God's grace to keep us in times of
trials. He said, my grace is sufficient
for you. And I assure you, if you are
a child of God, Sooner or later you will learn the power of His
grace to keep. That it is powerful and it does
keep. And that's one of the reasons.
And Job is an example of that. We also see what goes on behind
the scenes. Into that unseen world. We live
out our lives through things that we see just daily. But there
is a whole world that we can't see. Not with these eyes. Not
with these eyes. Job. Job had no idea that this
conversation went on between Satan and the Lord over him. And I assure you, this is not
the only time or the last time that ever happened. It still
happens. I'm sure it still does. Because
he's still, he's still, Satan is still. He said, have you considered
my servant Job? And you know what that word consider?
Have you set your heart on my servant Job? Well, he did. He did. But we also learn from this how
foolish, how foolish to trust in uncertain riches. Riches have
wings, Solomon said, and they fly away. Job was the richest
man in the East. He was one of the most powerful,
most respected and richest men of that day, which was somewhere
around the time of Abraham. From what I've read, we don't
know. We don't know who wrote this
book. We don't know exactly his time that he lived. But we know
it was before the law because he offered the sacrifices, which
the head of the house did that. The head of the house was the
priest. So Job did that for his children and led them in worship.
So we know it was in that time back in that time period. But this man had everything stripped
away from him in one day. It wasn't a downturn in the economy. In one day, this is astounding,
in one day, This man whose world was just, I mean, his life, his
steps were buttered. He says that, my steps were buttered. And then all of a sudden, that
fast, he was the brokest man in the East. There was none any
more physically, outwardly, more poor than Job. You heard the
old story, old Addie's poor as Job's turkey. I don't know where
that came from, but he was poor. He became poor. Our Lord. Now
think of the riches of our Lord. Okay, let's take this on an infinite
level. Let's think of the riches of our Lord. All things are His. He has all
glory. He has all the universe. Everything
is His. And yet, for our sakes, he becomes
poor. That we, through his poverty,
might be made rich. So we learn how foolish it is
to trust in uncertain riches. Alright, let's look at this.
First of all, we are given Job's character. He was a very real person. I
didn't realize how many people think that he wasn't really real
in the readings I've been doing. No, he was real. Job was a very
real person. And it says here that he lived
in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. There's a man in the
land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect. Now,
how is that so? How is that so? Well, there's
only one way that can be so. is through the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the imparted righteousness of
Christ. That's how Job is perfect. It doesn't mean that Job was
sinless. Our Lord was sinless, but nobody
else. Job sinned like you and I sinned.
But I tell you this, in Christ, you are perfect just as Job was
perfect. Perfect. And when God said perfect,
He doesn't mean better than most. He means absolutely without a
flaw. In Christ we stand that way. In Christ we are perfect. And he's upright in his dealings.
He dealt with men honestly. He did not get what he had, what
he possessed. He did not get it through dishonesty.
He got it through honest labor, honest dealings, and God blessed
the work of his hands. That's what Satan charged him
with there in verse 10. He said, Hast not thou made a
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." Job
worked, and God blessed. And that's the way it is. That's the way you want to get
what you get. You work, and God bless. He was an upright man,
and he's one that feared God. He wasn't afraid of God in the
sense that if he didn't do right, then God was going to kill him.
No, he feared God out of respect for who God is. See, that's one
of the things that Satan charges Job with. He says, does Job fear
God for nothing? What does he fear you for? Here's
what he fears you for. Of course, I'm getting ahead
of myself here. Satan says, here's what he fears
you for. You've blessed the work of his hands. You've put a hedge
about him. You've blessed him. He has all
these riches. And this is why Job fears you.
No, it isn't. That's not why you fear God.
You fear God because God's got a work of grace in you. God's
given you a new nature. He's given you a nature to fear
Him. He puts you in your right mind. Anyone who does not believe God
is not in their right mind. You believe God, God puts you
in your right mind. And now you fear God. This is
Job's character, and he feared God, and he shunned evil. He eschewed evil. He shunned
it. If there was something wrong going on over here, Job stayed
away from it. He didn't mess with it. He got away from it. And that's
wise. If it doesn't smell right, go
the other direction. Go the other way. You know, when
you're young, you get pulled into these things. Satan is so
subtle. Learn when it's not. If it doesn't
feel right, leave it. Leave it. And he was a family man. He had
seven sons and three daughters. God blessed him. Children, it
says, are a heritage of the Lord. Happiest man who has his quiver
full of it. Family man. He was a rich man.
And here's something I thought was such a blessing. It's not
number three. It's not verse number three.
His substance was 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen,
500 she-asses, and a very great household. That's not to me the
real blessing. The real blessing is this. And
his sons went and feasted in their house, and everyone his
birthday, and they all sent, and they called their sisters,
and the family got along. That family got along. That family
was able to get together And they would go to one's house
on their birthday and they'd have a feast. Then they'd visit
the other ones when it was their time. It was a family that got
along. They enjoyed each other's company.
You know what a blessing that is? What a blessing to have a
family of brothers and sisters that talk to each other. I know some that won't talk to
each other. What a blessing. How pleasant. How pleasant it is when brethren
dwell together in unity. And then he worshiped God. Look
here in verse 5. And it was so when the days of
their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified
them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings
according to the number of them all. Oh, what a father. What a father
God gave that family. A faithful father, faithful husband,
faithful not only in his business and providing for his family,
but faithful in worship. You know, these children here, bringing them here to see your
faithfulness, as I said here, and to hear the gospel week after
week after week. Job here, he was being the priest
of the family. And it says here, it may be that
my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Spurgeon
said this, it may be that they have not blessed God as they
ought to have. They did not give God the glory
that belongs to God. You know, you can get that way
at times. And Job was aware of that all the time. There's nothing
greater that we can do for our children. And as much as we try
to do for our children, we try to save up, send them off to
college, see that they're well educated. We want them to marry
well. The greatest thing we can do
for our children is to constantly hold them up before God. That's
the greatest. I may not be able to provide
the biggest home or the best home or the house. I might not
be able to provide them with the best of things, but if I
can hold them up before Almighty God, that's the best. That's the best. That's far greater
than the riches that Job lost. That he lost. But he worshipped
God. He offered the sacrifice unto
God He worshipped God and he led his family in the worship
of God. He was a leader in that home and he led them in worship. Then comes along the adversary
in 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, in their midst. Some say these are the angels
who came to give account of their dealings. Spurgeon said these are the saints
who have come to worship. And this is so frightful to me.
They've come to worship and Satan has come right in their midst. We wouldn't be able to spy him
out, but God did, and God can, and God does. He spies him out. They came to worship, and Satan
came with them. Judas, I thought of this, I thought
Judas was one of the twelve. Think of that. Walked with the
Lord, and he's called, what's he called in the scriptures?
The son of perdition. And he walked with the Lord.
He was one of the twelve. Satan never leaves. He never
leaves. And as a pastor, I've realized
this. I need to realize this more and more. And never lose
sight of it. He never leaves the assembly
of God's saints alone. Never. He's always trying to
stir something up. He's always trying to cause trouble,
because where Christ is most glorified, that's where he mostly
wants to attack. You can mark it down. That's
where he wants to attack. And the Lord asked him, the Lord
said to Satan, whence comest thou? And he's not asking for
information. He knows exactly where he is
and what he's doing. It's not like he's out of sight
and he don't know where he's at. He knows exactly. He's given this for our information.
You see, he's a very real person. He's very real. Very powerful.
Very powerful. You don't want anything to do
with him. I don't want anything to do with him. No, he knows where all the cheats
are in my armor. He knows where they are. And Satan answered the Lord and
he said, now listen to this. He says, from going to and fro
in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. Well, what's
he doing that for? He says, I'm going to and fro
in the earth, and I'm walking up and down in this earth. Poor
old 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 5. Look in verse 8. Be sober, be
vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about seeking whom he may bless, devour, like a hungry lion. You watch
these programs, these nature programs, when that lion is hungry
and he rises up with a kill and he chases. He'll chase and he'll
chase and he'll chase until he makes that kill, until he devours. And this is what he likened Satan
to. Your adversary, the devil, he goes about The Lord said,
where have you been? He knows where he's been. He's
just telling us now, this is what's going on. The curtain
is being pulled back on the things that we cannot see with these
eyes. And he says, I'm going to and fro, up and down in the
earth. But he didn't finish it. Peter
finished it. Peter said, here's what he's doing. Seeking whom
he may devour. And he has set his heart on Job. He has set his heart on that
man because that man is a perfect man. He's an upright man. He's
a just man. And in Satan's heart, he wanted
to destroy him. Just like he set his heart on
Christ. And he wanted to destroy Christ. To destroy him. Why would you want to destroy
a perfect man? Think about that. Do you know how evil, evil has
to be to want to destroy a perfect man, an upright man, a just man,
a good man? Do you know how evil that is? That's beyond our comprehension
of evil. That you want to destroy a perfect
man. Oh, evil. Evil, evil, evil. The Lord said, where are you
going? He said, going to and fro in the earth. Notice something else in that.
Here's something else about sin and evil. It causes restlessness. No peace. No rest. No joy. No joy. No rest. Going to and
fro. Running. I'm going up and down.
Eager to find somebody to destroy. Restlessness. No joy, no peace. You know, with the work of righteousness,
you know what the first one, the evidence of it is in the
scriptures? I forgot to write it down. Peace. It says it's peace. Believe it
or not, Isaiah. It says it's peace. The work
of righteousness is peace. The work of evil is restlessness.
Restlessness. And verse 8, and the Lord said,
and the Lord said unto Satan, it's amazing this conversation
is even going on, but the Lord is allowing this to go on. So
you and I can get a glimpse of what goes on and the things we
can't see. You know, this world, we see
these battles and these wars and these, all these things going
on. There's a war going on that we,
it's a spiritual war going on. It's going on. And the Lord said
to Satan, Hast thou considered? Have you set your heart on my
servant Job? And there's none like him, just
like our Lord. There's none like him in all
the earth. Actually, we can add to that. There's none like him
in heaven and earth. There's none like him. And perfectness is God. God is
saying this man's perfect. Wouldn't you like to have this
testimony? This is a testimony I want to have, and I want you
to have, that comes from the mouth of God. Have you considered
my servant Job? There's none like him in all
the earth. A perfect and upright man, one that fears God and shuns
evil. God said that about him. God said that about him. Satan
set his heart, now listen, he set his heart on Job's destruction. Not on blessing Job, not on anything
that, not one speck, not one speck of good. But he had his
heart set on Job to destroy him. He watched him. He watched him. He studied Job. I believe this. I believe he
studied Job. And he watched this man. And he did this for one
reason, to find a chink in the armor. Every one of us have it. Every one of us have a particular
sin or a particular problem or something, whether it be lust,
whether it be pride, whether it be want of power or position. Satan, he watches. And he studies
and he knows us. And I tell you what, he waits. He waits. Then he knows exactly,
he knows exactly where to attack. Exactly where to attack. He watched
Job, he studied Job, trying to find his weakness. It all happened. It all happened. Here's Satan's purpose. It's
to destroy God's work. That's why he wanted to destroy
the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted to destroy the work
of God. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
2. He is bent on destroying the
work of God. Look in verse 10. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus. Now, if he could destroy Christ,
he'd destroy the work of God. He'd destroy you. You and I are
goners. We are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus under good works. And there's nothing more that
Satan hates more than good works. Good work, genuine good work
done from the heart of a believer. He hates it, despises it. Which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in this. He wanted to destroy God's work.
He wanted to bring down the glory of God. He wants the glory of
God for himself. That which belongs to God. What
is God's glory? Who He is. Who He is is His glory. And Satan wanted that for himself.
But you and I want to give unto him the glory that's due unto
his name. Satan wants that glory that's due unto his name given
to his name, to himself. He's just bent on that. He's
bent on it. And then he wants to have the
preeminence in worship. Isn't that what he said to our
Lord? If you'll fall down and worship me, Just nobody's here. We're out here in the wilderness.
Nobody will know but me and you. Just fall down here and worship.
Give me some homage. Pay me some homage. Just a little. Just acknowledge
it. Just that much. Our Lord didn't do it for a second.
And you know what? Joe didn't either. And all this
jokes and none. And his purpose in this was nothing
but pure evil. I thought about this today. How
ignorant pure evil is. You would think, after 6,000 years of failure,
of failing, that it would dawn on you that you're not going
to win. You would think it would dawn on you that it's over. Seeing
Christ seated at the right hand of God and you were not able
to bring Him down, you would think that sooner or later you'd
give it up. But here we are, 6,000 years
later, And he's still trying. How ignorant evil is. How ignorant. How dead. Satan's hatred of a good and
perfect man is unimaginable. Unimaginable. You know, we see
these people on television, serial killers and stuff like that.
And people, they're out there holding signs up when they cry,
when they execute them. And they're out there rejoicing
when they do that. But then, here Satan is, trying
to enjoy and trying to bring down a perfect man. A good man. Matthew Henry said this, You
can be sure that the more one honors God, the more he or she
will be attacked by Satan and the world. The more honor is given to God
by you, the more he's going to attack you, as God allows. And he says here, Then Satan
answered the Lord. I got to hurry up through this. Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, did Job fear God for nothing? What's the reason he fears you,
Lord? Why does he fear you? And he says, have you not put
a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he has
on every side? You and I are to take great comfort
in this right here. Great comfort. There is a hedge
about every one of God's children. And Satan literally has to get
permission to move a finger against you. We have his word on it. He says, I can't touch it. I
can't touch him. I can't touch his house. I can't
touch what he has. You put a hedge about it. And
what is that hedge? It's his word. Like he says to
the sea, hither shalt thou come, no further. You blessed the work of His hands.
This is why Job fears you. He doesn't fear you because of
who you are. But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he
has and he'll curse you to your face. He'll curse you to your face.
Well, God knew he wouldn't do that. You see, Satan's never
had a new nature. He's never had a new nature.
All he's ever had is an evil nature. He fell and all he's
ever had is an evil nature. And he doesn't know that that
man Job truly loves God for who God is and not for what he gets
out of Him. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold,
all that he has in thy power, only upon himself, put not forth
thine hand. He says, you can touch him. You can touch him. You can take
away all that he has, but here's some boundaries. And the Lord
sets the boundaries. He sets the boundaries. And Satan
has to operate within the boundaries. He said, you can take what he
has. And then there was a day when
his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their
eldest brother's house. I don't know how long this gap
is between here, but when everything lined up
the way he wanted it, the way God allowed him to do it, my
soul, in one day, Servant after servant came, who only escaped
to tell the bad news. He lost all that he had. He lost
all of his servants. And then all of his sons and
daughters were killed. Can you imagine that? No, you
can't. I can't. All of that. And behold, it says here in verse
20, so I can wind this up. Then Job arose, rent his mantle,
shaved his head. He fell down upon the ground
and he did what? He worshipped. He worshipped. When he lost all that, lost his
ten children, lost everything, absolutely everything. He worshipped. That is a child of God. And that
is the work of God. That's the work of God. And he
said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall
I return there. I didn't bring anything and I'm
not taking anything. And there's one thing I want
you to notice here. He doesn't blame circumstances. He does not blame Satan. He said the Lord gave, and the
Lord takes away. He knew who gave him what he
possessed, and he knew who really took it. He knew this. Job knew, and he believed, and
he proved it right here, that God is the first cause of all
things. He may use means, and he will use means. He may use
Satan. But while Satan is mining, God
is undermining Satan. He's undermining him. Here he is, here this fiend is. He doesn't realize this, but
the gold is being refined. He doesn't even realize it. He's
too stupid. One thing he's not, he's not
wise. God is wise. And God has allowed him to do
this to his servant, to his child, in order to refine him, remove
draws, and to make him even more rich than he was before. But
here's the thing, not just to make him more rich than he was
before in earthly things, but to make him more rich in his
knowledge and his understanding as to who God is. By the hearing
of the ear I have heard of thee, but now mine eyes see of thee,
and I pour myself a sackcloth and ashes." Job needed that,
we have never got it. We get what we need. God's children
get what they need. We get what they need. In all this, in all this, in
all this trouble, in all this heartache, in all these losses,
in all that Joe suffered, Joe sinned not, nor charged God with
folly. Why did he do this? Why did he
bless me and then take it away? Let me charge God with folly,
wouldn't it? Why did God give me this and let me Wrap my arms
around it, there's children. Why did God give me ten children
and then take ten children away? Well, it says all over in the
book of Job, He gives no account of any of these matters. Just
trust Him. Just trust Him. He knows what
He's doing. Even when we don't. And that's
about all the time. That's about all the time. Well,
in all this, Job sinned not. All these troubles and trials
and losses. He did not charge God with folly.
And our Lord didn't either, did He? In all that He suffered,
He sinned not. Nor did He ever charge His Heavenly
Father with foolishness. I pray the Lord will bless us
with this study. If I don't get any liberty in
studying, I'll jump somewhere else. I'll abandon it. But I pray He gives me liberty
in study. There's a lot in this book. A lot that we can learn
about trials and chastening and God's hand and God's purpose
and Christ. There's a lot in this book. It
will take over a year to go through it.