Job was once a man greatly admired
by his friends. His neighbors looked upon him
with great respect and esteem. He was a man blessed in God's providence with
great happiness, prosperity, good health, sound mind, and
peace. He was a man who enjoyed domestic
tranquility. He was loved and respected by
his family, loved and respected by his friends, and at least
respected, held in high esteem by his neighbors. But now he's
poor, friendless, and alone. His body that was once a palace
of health and strength is now a house of disease. The children
who once cheered his soul are all dead. His wealth, his wealth that was beyond the
riches of any man in the East, is all gone. His friends who
once sought his counsel now laugh at him, mock him, and deride
him. His wife, who was his beloved
companion, his wife who was the one on whom he leaned, his wife
the one with whom he walked in this world in joy, was now a
stranger to him and he to her. What happened to this great,
great man? What happened to him? What brought
him into such a condition? Look at verse 21 of Job 19 and
listen as he tells us what happened. Have pity upon me. Have pity upon me, O Ye, my friends, for the hand of God has touched
me. Now that's my subject this morning.
The hand of God has touched me. God touched Job. Not in wrath, not in anger, not because he was mad at him, but because he loved him. He stretched out his hand and
touched him in a most gracious way. And that's what brought Job where
he was. When God Almighty touches, things
happen. There was a day when God touched
the clouds of heaven and flooded the whole earth with the waters
of His wrath. We read in Genesis 32 about a
man who was chosen and loved of God, made to be a prince with
God by the name of Jacob, and God touched the hollow of his
thigh. And he limped the rest of his life on this earth as
a reminder that God had touched him. In Joshua's days, the Lord
God touched the sun and it stood still. In Moses' day, he touched
the Red Sea. parted the sea, dried up the
path of the sea, and made a highway as asphalt, concrete, through
the sea for the children of Israel to be delivered out of Egyptian
bondage. And when the Egyptians decided
they'd follow that same path, God touched the sea again and
drowned them in his wrath. When it seemed that Daniel would
be devoured by the lions, God touched the mouth of the lions,
sealed them up, and made them nice soft pillows for Daniel
to sleep. We read in Matthew chapter 8 about a leper who came
kneeling to the master, fell down before him, said, Lord,
if you will, you can make me whole. The master said, I will.
Touched him. Same home plate. Our Lord Jesus touched a deaf
man's ear and made him to hear. He touched a dumb man's tongue
and he began to speak. He touched blind men's eyes and
caused them to see. In fact, as many as he touched,
as many as he touched were made perfectly whole. One day our
Lord met a woman carrying her son, a widower lady, carrying
him out to the graveyard to bury him. And he stopped the funeral
procession and touched the beer carrying his coffin. And that
man was restored to life again. One day the hand of God touched
his own well-beloved son, made him to be sin for us. and slew him with the sword of
his justice as our substitute. And the master says, Is it nothing
to you? Is it nothing to you that God's
touched me? Is it nothing to you? O ye that
pass by, behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in
the day of his fierce anger. Has the hand of God touched you? Has the hand of God touched you? I'm not asking, Bill Raleigh,
if you're religious and profess faith in Christ. I'm asking,
has the hand of God touched you? Has the hand of God touched you? I pray that God will stretch
out his hand right now and touch you. You can be sure of this. If ever God touches you, you'll
never be the same again. Never again. I read a little
history and I'm aware of what men call revivals in history.
And I'm convinced for the most part they're diluted. What men
call revivals are just fits and spasms of religion that really
made no change in the lives of the people around them. They
just had a little fit for a little while, made them feel real spiritual
and act real good. But in the long haul, nothing
changed. If the hand of God touches you,
you'll never be the same again. What happens when the Lord touches
a man touches a woman with His grace. Let's take Job for the
example. We'll look right here in the
book of Job and see what happens. I'll show you five things. Here's
the first thing that'll happen. If God Almighty is pleased to
touch you with the hand of His grace, He's going to make you
know who He is. He will reveal Himself to you.
in his true character in the face of his Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look back in Job chapter 9, verse
30. When God touched Job, he found
out there was a vast difference between him and God. Now that's
a tough lesson for human beings to learn, but God's just not
like you. He's not like you. He doesn't
even resemble you. God is not a man. He's not like
a man, he doesn't resemble a man. About everybody thinks God's
like them, only a little weaker. Maybe a little bigger, maybe
a little wiser, but a little weaker. Maybe able to control
some things, but really like a man. Changeable, fickle, frustrated,
defeated. But God touched Job and this
is what he found out. Verse 30, chapter 9. He said,
if I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean. Oh boy, if I quit smoking and
drinking and cussing and chewing, if I start wearing the right
clothes, watching the right TV programs and watching none at
all, if I don't read anything except my Bible every day, if
I pray three times a day, an hour at a time, go to church
every Sunday, Sunday night, midweek service, not missing one, Spend
all my time serving other people. If I wash my hands with snow
water and make my hands ever so clean, yet God shall plunge
me in the ditch in my own clothes, a poor man. For he is not a man. David put it this way, my righteousness
extendeth not unto thee, O God. My righteousness just can't reach
that high. My righteousness may extend to a man, and my righteousness
may commend me to a man, and my righteousness may make me
look good to a man, but my righteousness extendeth not unto thee, O God,
for he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, and
we should come together in judgment. I don't dare stand before God. I don't dare stand before God
in my righteousness. Now understand me, the only way
you'll ever know God is if He reveals Himself to you. I know
God is made known In creation, I know God is made known in a
man's conscience. I know God makes himself known
in lots of ways. If you look up into the skies
in the midsummer noon day, lift your eyes to heaven and say,
That's a declaration that God is. Step out on a clear night
and just try to count the stars. That's a declaration that God
is. Don't see how anybody can not
believe in God. Believing in God like that is
sort of like believing in God like the all of hell does. Had
nothing to it. It'll condemn you, but it'll
never make you know God. The only way you'll ever know
the living God is if in His infinite mercy. He touches you and causes you
to see who He is. And if God reveals Himself to
you, you're going to know who He is. He'll reveal Himself to
you in His true character. Folks argue and debate all the
time about this religious world, so full of nonsense, so full
of idolatry. Well, he loves the Lord, he just
doesn't know anything about it. If you ever come in contact with
him, you're going to know something about him. You're going to know
something about Him. You're going to know who He is.
You can't worship a God you don't know. You can't trust a God you
don't know. You can't believe a God you don't
know. Job found out that God Almighty is an absolute sovereign. And you will too. Look in chapter
23, verse 13. This is how Job spoke. Who is God? What's He like? Chapter
23, verse 13. He is in one mind. And who can turn him? You're
not going to change God's mind. You're not going to change God's
mind. Our children and grandchildren
are even worse. They negotiate and negotiate
and plead and argue and offer excuses. And they're good at
it. They're good at it. I mean, fantastic
at it. They can get you to change your mind a dozen times over
the same thing. I mean, they're good at it. Not
God. You're not going to change His
mind. What His soul desireth. Isn't that a wonderful way to
describe that? What His soul desires. What He wants. What
He wants. Even that He does. Verse 14,
For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me. Always has
and always does. And many such things are with
him. Verse 15, Therefore I am troubled at his presence. I understand,
Lord, that my wife calling on me to cuss God and die, and looking
on me as a stranger. I understand that my sons and
daughters being taken away. I understand that my health being
wrecked. I understand that my wealth being
taken wings like a bird and flying away. I understand that these
friends who mock and deride me. I understand the maid who counts
my breath to be strange. I understand, Lord, I trembled at his presence. When I consider, I'm 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. In other words, Job says, Lord,
I found out. You made all things, you control
all things, you dispose of all things exactly according to your
soul's desire. And that includes me and mine. Now here's somebody before whom
I tremble. Here's somebody before whom I
walk softly. Here's somebody I must bow to. The Lord says, remember the former
things of old. I am God. There is none else. I am God, there's none like me.
I declare the end from the beginning. I declare from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. The God of glory is absolutely
sovereign. In absolute predestination, He
ordained all things to come to pass in time. Now, letting it
argue and fuss and kick and fight all they want to, that's just
the way it is. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will, and I'm tickled to death. That's
the way it is. He's sovereign in creation. He said, I have
made the earth and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have
stretched out the heavens and all that therein is. It's in my command, all of it. God Almighty disposes of all
things in providence exactly as He will. He hath performed
the thing appointed for me. And he's performed the things
appointed for you. Bless God. He is sovereign in
the salvation of his people. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. He has compassion on whom he will have compassion.
And because he has compassion upon us from everlasting, he
sent his son to redeem us from our sins by the sacrifice of
himself. Isaac Watts put it well. Keep
silence. all created things, and wait
your maker's nod. My soul stands trembling while
she sings the honors of her God. He sits on no precarious throne,
nor borrows leave to be. Life, death, and hell, and worlds
unknown, Hang on his firm decree. The first thing God teaches men
when he's about to show them mercy is that he's suffering. The very first thing God will
teach you if he touches you by his grace is this. He doesn't
have to be gracious to you. You have no claim on his mercy.
That's the very first thing he'll teach you. So I, the Lord saved
me and then I studied and I researched this thing and I came into the
doctrines of grace and I found out God has mercy on whom he
will. No, the very first thing God teaches you when he makes
himself known to you is mercy's his and he'll have mercy on whom
he will. Job found out that God's sovereign
and he found out that God knows everything. Look at chapter 42
verse 2. I know that thou canst do everything,
and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Hypocrisy is a fool's game before
God. You can hide from me, that's
not hard, I don't know much. You can hide from mom and dad,
that's not difficult, they don't know much either. You can hide
from your sons and daughters, that's easy, they don't know
much either. You can hide from your neighbor, they don't know
much either. You can hide from husband or wife, they don't know
much either. Bobby, we can't hide from God. All things are naked. and open
to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. And that makes
His Word sharper than a two-edged sword. That makes His Word cut
deep. Oh my God. Infinite God of glory. You know me. I wouldn't want everybody to
know everything I've done. God knows everything we do, and
He knows why. Everything we think, and why. Everything we are, He knows. As God knows all things, God
Almighty can do all things. Abraham said, is anything too
hard for the Lord? Of course not, He's God. God
Almighty can strip me, and He can clothe me. He can cause me to hunger and
thirst, and He can feed me, and He can quench my thirst. He can
slay me, and He can make me alive. He can send me to hell, or He
can save me by His grace. And it's all up to Him. Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. And Job found out that this all-knowing,
almighty, sovereign Lord God is perfectly righteous, holy,
and just. Go back in chapter 15, verse
15. In chapter 4, we read he charges
his angels with, Father, the heavens are not clean in his
sight. Verse 15, chapter 15. Behold, the heavens are not clean
in his sight. The heavens. What's that talking
about? Well, just apply the word to
anything that would apply to heaven. The atmospheric heavens,
the stars of heaven, the heavens above the earth, heaven, the
very seat of God, the angels of heaven, the saints in heaven.
Behold, nothing is clean before Him. Nothing compares to Him. He is light, and in Him is no
darkness at all. God's holy. He's holy. He demands holiness. And this
holy God must punish my sin. No wonder Job said, he touched
my heart and made it soft. I tremble in his presence. Here's the second thing. If the
hand of God and marvelous grace ever touches you, He'll show
you who you are, and He'll put you in the dust
before Him. You will be humbled by His touch.
You see, before God exalts a sinner with His saving grace, He humbles
the sinner in the dust of repentance. Before God washes in the blood
of Christ, He makes you know your filth. Before God clothes
you with the righteousness of His Son, He strips you of all
your pretentious righteousness. God always brings sinners down
in repentance before He lifts them with His grace. It is His grace that brings us
down. And it is His grace that lifts
us up. And this business of being brought down by the hand of God,
it's the most painful experience a
man can ever know, this side of hell. But it's necessary. and it's
blessing. God touched Job and it was a
painful touch. But it was a touch of infinite,
infinite mercy, love and grace. The Lord hedged up his way with
thorns and made a wall so he couldn't pass over it. He took
away his corn, and took away his vine, and took away his wool,
and took away his flax. He discovered the man's lewdness
before everyone. He caused all his mirth to cease
and destroyed every hope he had. How does God bring me in doubt? I wouldn't limit it to this by
any stretch, but I'll tell you three things
he does. In his providence, he brings down the proud sinner
whom he's determined to save. I recognize judgment will never
bring repentance. It won't happen. It's the goodness
of God that leads to repentance. And a man or woman merely being
brought down in providence will never cause them to turn to Christ
in faith. Won't happen. But often, the
soul upon whom God has pitched his love for eternity, he brings down like he did that
prodigal until he's flat-busted. And he got no hope, and no refuge,
and nowhere to go. He reels to and fro in the depths
of the sea like a drunken man, and he's at his wit's end. And when he comes to himself,
he says, how many hired servants there are in my father's house
who have bread and nothing to spare, and here I am dying of
starvation. I believe I'll go see if he might
give me a piece of bread. He brings them down. He brings
them down with legal conviction. Let me speak for a minute from
my own experience. During my 16th year on this earth, I came to such utter ends, such utter misery, such utter worthlessness. I would have committed suicide
many a time. And most folks would have been
tickled to death to give me the gun to do it. Except for one thing. I was scared
to death of going to hell. I was scared to death of meeting
God in judgment. And that's the only thing that
kept me from taking my own life. The only thing. But legal conviction
is not faith. And legal conviction will never
produce faith. It may produce a profession.
It may let a preacher get you on his tote board so that he
can put you up in his numbers and say, I saved this one, I
saved that one. Legal conviction may get you
in the church and may get you convinced that you're going to
heaven. It may do all those things. Legal conviction will never produce
faith. It won't happen. But then one
day, in God's providence, I was sitting in the Sunday school
class with some other boys, and I heard a couple of men teaching,
teaching the gospel of God's grace. And I kept listening. And I kept trying to drive a
bargain with God. I promised him I'd do everything. If he'd
just let me live through the night, if he'd just have mercy
on me, I'll do this, I'll do that, I'll do that. I promise
I will. I promise I will. Like I had all my life. But they
told me it wouldn't go away. And said, one morning, I heard
about a Redeemer who died in the place of sinners. And I saw it. and saw how it is that God could
justify such a sinner as I am and still be God and still be
good. And the way He does it is by
the sacrifice of His own darling Son to satisfy His holy wrath
and justice for a people who could never satisfy His wrath
and justice. And seeing Him, I could not help
myself I believe Him. I believe Him. I saw the glory
of God in the face of His Son. When the hand of God touched
Job, he saw himself in the light of God's holiness. He said in chapter 19, verse
9, He has stripped me of my glory. Oh, now this is a wonderful thing. This is a wonderful thing. And taking the crown from my
head. Oh, it's good when God takes
the crown off your head. And He's the only one who ever
will. Chapter 40, verse 3. Then Job answered the Lord and
said, Behold, O God, I bow. What shall I answer thee? I'll
lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I'll
not answer. Yea, twice, but I'll not proceed
further. Chapter 42, verse 5. I've heard
of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself. I repent. and dust and ashes. Lord God, I'm a guilty sinner
without excuse before you. Hopelessly, helplessly lost without
you. And now there's hope. You see,
when a man is made to see that he's utterly lost, He can't do one thing to commend
himself to God. He can't do one thing to make
himself better. He can't do one thing to cut
away God's wrath. He can't do one thing to earn
God's favor. It's caused the hand of God's
touch to him. Is there a lost sinner in this
place? I mean a lost... Is there anybody here? who doesn't
have a shred of righteousness, not a shred of goodness, not
a principle of uprightness. Anybody here with nothing to
offer God, anybody here, utterly vile in themselves, utterly vile
in their own eyes before God Almighty. Oh, preacher, that's
me. The hand of God just touched
you. Christ died for sinners. He came
to save sinners. When the hand of God touches
a man, he sees God as he is, and he
sees himself as he is, and he sees everything in his true light.
For the first time in his life, Merle, he understands everything
else is vanity. Job began to see clearly the
brevity of his life. Look in chapter 7, verse 6. He began to understand that he
was soon to stand before God in judgment. He said, my days are swifter
than a weaver's shuttle. They're spent without hope. Oh,
remember that my life is wind. Mine eyes shall no more see good. The eye of him that hath seen
me shall see me no more. Thine eyes are upon me, and I
am not. Chapter 14, verse 1, it says,
Man that is born a woman is a few days and full of trouble. when the hand of God touches
a man. The words of our Savior echo
in his soul and can't be silenced. What shall it profit a man if
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. that everyone may receive things
done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. Let me share with you some things that sort of led to this
message being preached to you today. I have a constantly increasing awareness of four
things, the influence of which become more and more powerful
with every passing day. I have just one life to live. I have one death to die. I have one judgment to face. I have one long eternity to spend
somewhere. And you know what? There's not much else that matters. We live in a world where everything's
temporal. Everything's changing. Everything's
passing away. We're going to a world rapidly
where everything is eternal. Nothing changes. Here's something else. When the
hand of God touches a man, he'll seek God's mercy. He'll
cry, how should a man be just with God as Job did in chapter
9? Job sought a daismon, a mediator, someone to stand between him
and God. He says, neither is there a daismon betwixt us that
might lay his hand upon both. I've got to have somebody, somebody
who can lay hold of God. and not sully his character,
and somebody who can lay hold of me in all my defilement, and
bring the two together in perfect harmony. And that somebody is
Jesus Christ, the only mediator there is between God and man. One more thing. When the hand
of God touches you. He saved you by His grace. He
makes you to know His Son. Humbles you before Him. Causes you to see Him. Turn to
chapter 33. Here's how Job describes the
experience of grace. Elihu is speaking. These are his words
of wise counsel. The only one of Job's friends
who seemed to have any sense at all about spiritual things.
In verse 22 he says, yea, his soul draws nearer to the grave,
his life to the destroyers. I can almost hear Job say, well
buddy, I know what that is. I know exactly what you're talking
about. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, that's
what I am. God sent me to you as a messenger
to interpret his word. One among a thousand to show
unto man God's uprightness. Oh, when God sends somebody to
tell you who He is, then He's gracious to him. And saith, Deliver
him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. His flesh shall
be fresher than a child's. He'll be born again. He shall
return to the days of his youth. He shall pray unto God, and God
will be favorable to him. He shall see God's face with
joy. For God shall render to man God's
righteousness. He looketh upon me, and if any
say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it
profited me not, man confesses his sin. He will deliver his
soul from going down to the pit, and his life shall see light.
Lo, all these things God worketh oftentimes with men. How come
will I heal? To bring back his soul from the
pit. To be enlightened with the light
of the living. When God touched Job with the
hand of His grace, Job was given faith in his dear
son. Look at chapter 19, verse 25. He said, Have pity upon me. Have
pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God has touched
me. Now look what it says, verse 25. I know. I know. I know. Oh, hear me, my friends. I know. This is not a matter
of speculation or theory. This is not a learned opinion.
This is what God's taught me. I know that my Redeemer liveth
and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And
though after my skin worms destroy this body as they must, yet In
this body, in my flesh, shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins
be consumed within me. Has the hand of God touched you? I've carried this poem around
for 35 years. I wrote it down the first time
I heard it and read it often. It was battered and scarred and
the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much
time on the old violin. But he held it up with a smile,
what am I bidding good folks? He cried. Who will start the
bidding for me? A dollar? A dollar? Then two,
only two? Two dollars? Who will make it
three? Three dollars once, three dollars
twice, going for three, but no. From the room, far back, a gray-haired
man came forward and picked up the bow, then wiping the dust
from the old violin and tightening the loosening strings. He played
a melody as pure and sweet as a caroling angel sings. The music
ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
said, now what am I bid for the old violin? And he held it up
with the bow. A thousand dollars? Who'll make
it two? Two thousand? What? Three thousand? Who'll make it three? Three thousand
it is! Going and gone, cried he. The
people cheered, but some of them cried, We don't quite understand. What changed the worth of the
old violin? Quick came the reply, the touch
of the master's hand. And many a man with life out
of tune and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned cheap
to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. Ruined and
running from God, he goes in madness to hell headlong. He's
going once and going twice. He's going and almost gone. But
the master comes, and the foolish crowd can never quite understand. the worth of a soul and the change
that's wrought by the touch of the Master, say it. Amen.