Sometimes fellows ask questions
after a message is over. I have often had particularly
young preachers to ask me, or young aspiring preachers, say,
how long did it take you to prepare that message? I want to say a lifetime, but
this is one of those messages that I've had on my heart for
several weeks. I've been continually, for the last three or four weeks,
turning back here and studying Job chapter 14. And I want to
bring this message to you this morning. Now, serious men give
thoughtful contemplation to serious matters. They don't waste their
time and energy upon trifles, except as necessity requires
for recreation. Serious things they take seriously,
and they ask questions, serious questions. God's servant Job
was such a man. His experiences in life, his
experiences in the knowledge of God, his experiences walking
with God and seeking God's face and believing His experiences
caused him to raise thoughtful, thoughtful questions about life,
death, and eternity. Questions that are worthy of
serious thought from you and me. So my subject this morning
is found here in Job chapter 14. And I want to address these
five big questions. Five big questions. We will look
at them as we go along. But let me give you a little
bit of background. Now, we don't know who wrote the book of Job,
for certain. It was probably either Job himself
or Moses. But we do know that Job was a
man who lived in the earliest days of time. He lived somewhere. Some suggest during the days
of Abraham. Others suggest that he lived
during the days of Noah, or even before the days of Noah, right
after the flood, and suggest that he lived perhaps even during
the days of This much we know. When Job lived and walked with
God, when Job served the Lord God, he didn't have the privilege,
Rex, like you and I do, of walking with several folks who served
God. He didn't have the privilege of gathering with a good many
people who worshiped the Lord God. But Job was a man whom God
described as one who feared God and disputed evil, and God said,
there's not another one like him in the world. Said, not another
one like him. Apparently he lived like Enoch,
much to himself, and walked with God when nobody else was around
him. He walked with God when nobody else would. He worshipped
God when nobody else would. He led his sons and daughters
in the worship of God, but outside his family it appears that nobody
else during his lifetime worshipped and served the Lord God. Now
this man Job is one that is often a subject of controversy. Some
have questioned whether or not Job was saved. A few fellows
say Job couldn't have been saved, and they base that upon the passages
in the book of Job, in which Job justifies himself, and he
often does. When his enemies would accuse
him of being a hypocrite, a liar, and a deceiver, when they accused
him of doing things that were contrary to his character, when
they accused him of things that just weren't so, Job defended
himself. He said, I'll maintain my integrity.
What you say is not right. But remember, Job did not justify
himself as a self-righteous man. As you read the book of Job,
when he justified himself, he was justifying himself before
men, not before God. There's a big difference. A big
difference. When he spoke about himself before
God, Job acknowledged his sin. He acknowledged his transgression.
He acknowledged his iniquity, his utter nothingness. He said,
I abhor myself when I speak to God. He said, if I justified
myself, my own mouth would condemn me and would prove me perverse. Now this is important, I stress
it, because unless you understand who Job is, unless you understand
the kind of man Job was, it's impossible to understand the
book of Job. When you read the book of Job
and you don't understand the kind of man Job was, the circumstances
under which he lived, you can't come away with anything except
confusion and a few tidbits of truth here and there. But if
you understand Job's character, if you know who he is, Then as
you read through the book of Job, you see the unfolding of
the life of a man who walked with God. A man who walked with
God. Now, Job was a faithful, faithful
servant of God. God himself says so. Turn back
to Job chapter one. Job chapter one. When you think
about Job's troubles and his trials, don't think that they
began with Satan. That's not so. Satan's God's
devil, and God turned the devil to consider Job. In chapter 1,
verse 8, when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord to give report of what they were doing, as all creatures
must, Satan also came among them. And in verse 8, the Lord said
unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is
none like him in the earth? and an upright man, one that
seareth God, and deskeweth evil." This man Job was a man who's
called by God himself perfect, not because he was perfect in
his flesh. You know better than that. I
do. Anyone who has experienced God's grace in this world understands
no man walking in this earth is perfect, but God made him
perfect. God had imputed to him the perfect
righteousness of Christ. God had taken from him all record
of his sin, and God had given him a holy nature by the new
birth, so that Job walked before God upright and sincere. He was a complete man. That's
what the word perfect means here. Look in chapter 2 and verse 3.
The Lord said unto Satan again, Hast thou considered my servant
Job? There is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and
askeweth evil. And still, still, after all you've
done to him, after all you have done to my servant Job and all
the afflictions wherewith you have afflicted him, still, God
says, he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against
him to destroy him without a cause. This man Job, being a faithful,
faithful servant of God, one who worshipped the Lord and walked
with God, was a man whose faith was tried in every point and
circumstance in life. As you read about Job, you can't
think of any area wherein he wasn't tried. We think about
bereavement. He didn't have a bereavement.
He lost ten sons and daughters. He lost seven sons and three
daughters one day. One day. You talk about misery,
this man lost his health. So that he became a man whose
body was broken out with boils and one unclean and he scraped
himself, he scraped his boils. This man Job lost his reputation
and his influence. He was once a man of great, tremendous
influence, great, great wealth, but he lost it all. The scripture
tells us in verse three of chapter one, his substance was 7,000
sheep, and five, or 3,000 camels, and 500 yoke of oxen, and 500
she-ashes, and very great household, so that this man was the greatest
of all the men of Now, you and I can't imagine
what this is like. It's not much. It's not much
for us who have nothing to think about losing everything. That's
not a great deal. I have often said with regard
to preachers, it's one thing for a man to be called of God,
as I was as a young man, who has the possibility of a future. Let's say he has the possibility
of a great future He forgets that possibility as far as worldly
standards are concerned, and commits himself to the ministry.
But then you find a man who's a successful businessman, a successful
tradesman, a successful merchant, one who has some possessions,
and that man's called to preach the gospel. Now then, it's something
else to give that up. It's not too hard to give up
what you don't have, but to give up what you have. Now, Job was
the greatest man in all these. That's position. That's power. That's influence. That's wealth. That's somebody. John was somebody
that God brought him down to. Nothing. Nothing. He didn't have anything. He didn't
have anything. No influence. No riches. No family. No wealth, no power,
no health. He was brought down to nothing. Just nothing. And then his wife,
the last cup for the head in this world, his wife. You men
and women, you can't imagine until you've experienced the
kind of pain you've experienced what you can do to your husband
or wife. His wife said to him, when she saw all that, she said,
Joe, you're a fool. She said, old man, why don't
you just cuss God and die? Why don't you just cuss God and
die? Can you imagine? After all they've been through,
his wife turned to him and said, Joe, this is a waste of time,
energy, and care. You know it's no use serving
God. Why don't you cuss God and die?
get out of this world, I'm tired of looking at you." And then his friends came. I
imagine Job had a little hope, had a little hope. He saw these
three friends who were there, Mildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar,
he saw them coming. And Job had known these fellows
a long time. He'd been around, he'd been their
instructor, he'd been their teacher. And they came to see Job, and
when they came to see him, They sat down for a week, just astonished. Just astonished. And I imagined
during that whole time of their astonishment, Job sitting there
thinking, well, these fellows, they're going to come for me.
And first words out of their mouth to the last words out of
their mouth were nothing but accusations, nothing but scorn,
nothing but reproach, nothing but vile, vile slander against
Job. At times, Job showed signs of
weakness, frustration, even unbelief. But even in his lowest times,
he worshipped God. In his lowest times, he maintained
his integrity. In his lowest times, he believed
God. Let's look at some Scripture.
Chapter 1, verse 20. After Job heard the report concerning
his sons and his daughters and his cattle and his servants,
everything Then Job arose and ran his battle, and shaved his
head, symbols of mourning and sorrow and lamentation, and fell
down upon the ground and worshipped." What a man. What a man. He fell down on the ground, and
he didn't curse God, he worshipped God. He didn't persecute God,
he worshipped God. He didn't murmur against God,
he worshipped God. Look in chapter two. He said
to his wife when she said, Why don't you cuss God and die? He
said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
What? Shall we receive good at the
hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil? In all this
did not Job sin with his lips. Look in chapter 13, verse 15. Behold, he breaketh down, and
it cannot be built again. He shutteth up a man, and there
can be no opening. Behold, he withholdeth the waters,
and they are dried up. Also he sendeth them out, and
they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver
are his." Job said, God's in control of this. God's the one
who rules, they say. God's the one who's in charge
of these things. And then in chapter 19, he gives
those blessed words of confident faith with regard to the resurrection
of the dead. Here's a man who lived back in
the days, at least in the days of Abraham, probably in the days
of Noah or earlier. And he speaks concerning the
resurrection, much like Enoch did concerning the Lord's second
coming. He said, I know, verse 25, that my Redeemer liveth. and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. 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, though my reins
be consumed within me." And in the midst of his heavy, heavy
trials, Job acknowledged God, acknowledged God's total His
absolute dominion over everything, he acknowledged his faith in
God. And in the end, God honored Job,
and made even his enemies to understand Job was honored of
God, and favored of God. Turn to chapter 42. Chapter 42. Look at this. William Cowper must have had
experience in his mind when he said, Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace behind the frowning providence. He hides a smiling face. His
purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have
a bitter taste, the sweet will be the flower. Here in Job chapter
42, the Lord God condemned the harsh judgment of Job's three
pretended In verse 7, the Lord speaks, And it was so that after
the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz
the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy
two friends. For you have not spoken of me
the thing that was right, as Job did. Job told the truth,
you didn't. Therefore take unto you now seven
bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a
burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you. I'll
accept him." God sets everything in its proper
light. Give him time. God puts everything in its proper
perspective. Just hang on. Just hang on. Now
look at verse 9. So Eliphaz, the Temanite, Bildad,
the Shuhite, and Zophar, the Namathite, went and did according
as the Lord commanded them. The Lord also accepted Job. And the Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also the Lord gave Job
twice as much as he had before. Twice as much. So now this man
who was the greatest man in the East twice as great as he was
before. Then came there unto him all
his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of
his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his
house, and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the
evil that the Lord had brought upon him. Every man also gave
him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. So the
Lord blessed the latter end of Job. more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep. He had 7,000 before, remember?
And he had 6,000 camels. He had three before. And he had
1,000 yoke of oxen. He had 500 before. And 1,000
she-asses. He had 500 of those before. And
he had also seven sons and three daughters. That makes 20. I can
count right. That makes 20. He had 10 before. They were with the Lord now.
He got ten more, that makes twenty. And he called the name of the
first, Jemima, and the name of the second, Keziah, and the name
of the third, Cherenhepoch. And in all the land were no women
found so fair as the daughters of Job. And their father gave
them inheritance among their brethren. After this lived Job
an hundred and forty years, a hundred and forty more years, and saw
sons his sons and his sons' sons, even the four generations. And
Job died being an old, old man and full of days. All right,
now turn back here to chapter 14. In the light of these things,
in the light of what Job had learned and experienced, in the
light of his dealing with reality, he has five big, big questions,
five important Let's look at them as we go along. First, read
the beginning of verse one. Job chapter 14, verse one. Man
that is born of woman is a few days. Few days. Men living on this earth, in
this world, live just a little while. Our life is like a vapor. It appears for a little time,
and it's gone. You stepped out on a cold morning
this morning, and you could see your breath in the air, but not
for long. Just like a flash in a pan, it's
gone. That's our life in this world. Man that is born of woman has
a few, few days. At longest, if we live through
the age of Brother Montgomery, 90 years ain't much in the light
of eternity. It's just a stack. And it passes
faster than a weaver's shovel. It goes like a ship passing through
the night. It's here, and then it's gone.
And the older you get, the faster it moves. Anyone here will attest
to that. You who are older than I am and
you who are younger, you recognize that as the days continue, the
longer you live here, the faster the days go by. I can't keep
up with what happened last year and what happened three years
ago, because the days just kind of run together. They run so
fast through this world. And I'm going to tell you something.
As things are in this present evil world, I'm glad it's so. I'm glad it's so. And when God
makes all things new, we'd be all right to live here forever.
But like it is now, Bobby, I wouldn't want to live here very long.
I told Shelby, we were discussing some of the folks in the rest
home and other folks live so long. I know so many who live
much longer than they want to. I have no aspirations. I do not
attempt to give orders to God. I know better than that. As far
as I'm concerned, I want to live just as long as God intends,
what God's purpose is, but I have no aspirations to live to be
an old man, to live beyond mental sharpness, to live beyond usefulness
in the kingdom of God, to live beyond being of service to other
men. I can't imagine what it'd be
like to live in this world 969 years like Methuselah did. I just, I can't imagine it. I'm
thankful that since the days of the flood, the age of a man's
life has been shortened, and the hope of a man living three
score years and ten is about all you can expect. I'm thankful
for that. And you're not promised that.
You're not promised tomorrow. You're not promised the next
breath. Let a man be wise, therefore, and understand that his days
are short, and so let us number our days and apply our hearts
to them. Would to God everybody here would hear that? Time is short. Time is short. You think you've got all the
time in the world. You think, boy, things are going so good. I'll give consideration to God
and eternity and salvation and my sin and judgment. I'll give
consideration to that sometime, but not right now. Listen to
me. Time is short. And the reality is, if God leaves
you to live until you're an old man or an old woman, old men
seldom seek you. Old people seldom seek you. They
all get a little religious. They all get a little, a little,
well, they don't get nice or necessarily, sometimes get a
little crappy, but they all get a little less mean as far as
what they can do. But the Ten Kings said they get
to be rocking chair rebels. They can't do anything anymore.
Everybody says they're having to behave themselves. But they're
still rebels at heart. Old men seldom seek God. Old
men and women seldom ever come to know the Lord God. Thank God,
here and there a few. But by and large, old men, men
and women who've lived their days in rebellion against God,
will die in rebellion against God with perfect peace and confidence
that everything's all right between them and God. the scripture says here, full
of trouble, full of trouble. Man that's born of woman, all
of us are, born of our mother Eve, full of trouble. Those few days that we live here
are days of trouble. Job describes them in the latter
part of the book, of the chapter here, verse 18, He says, Surely
the mountain falling cometh down, cometh to naught. The mountain
comes to nothing. The rock is removed out of its
place. The water is where the stones. Job says, Thou washest
away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth. That's
you. That's me. Everything else, God
just washed it away. Just washed it away. And thou
destroyest the hope of man. The natural things that men hope
for. You folks, you men particularly,
you build your businesses, you build your houses, and you get
to be 45, 50 years old, and you start thinking about a little
retirement, you start thinking about what you're going to leave
for your sons and your daughters, and you have an aspiration of
seeing your sons' sons grow into manhood and become star athletes,
have become great businessmen, have become politicians, whatever,
great lawyers, doctors, everybody, they have hope. They have hope.
And God just wipes it away. It's gone. Gone. See nothing. See nothing. Thou prevailest
forever against man, and he passeth. Thou changest his countenance
and sendest him away. His sons come to honor. He doesn't
know it. brought low, he proceeds with
it, not of them, but his flesh upon him. Even though his mind
is gone, even though his mind can't function anymore, his flesh
upon him shall have pain and his soul within him shall mourn. Man's days are full of trouble.
This word trouble here is one of those words with many shades
of meaning. It might be translated trouble, because sin and trouble
always go hand in hand. Where sin is trouble will follow.
It might be translated commotion or abuse, because the lives of
men in this world are like the troubled sea, restless, tossed
here and there, so that man who is unconverted, man who doesn't
know God, is in a constant state of stir, a constant state of
agitation, a constant state of uneasiness. And the word might
be translated, trembling. The reason for man's restlessness
to a very great extent, the reason psychiatrists and psychologists
and counselors get filthy rich trying to help folks through
trouble, the reason the doctors prescribe Nerve healed by the
busloads. Just throw it out there and public
consumes them. I'll tell you why. Because man's in constant
restlessness. Uneasiness. Trembling. Trembling. Trembling in his soul. Trembling. Because he knows one
day he must meet God. You know it. You can try to suppress
it all you want to. You can say it's not so all you
want to. Man in his soul trembles knowing that he must thank God. Troubled man whose life is but
a momentary thing in this world is as insignificant as a withered
flower after the first morning winter freeze. plant these flowers out here
in the springtime, and you watch them, and they're so pretty.
And they last, oh, they bloom for some of them a day or two,
a week or two, a month or two. And then the first freeze comes.
And Shelby says, let's get them out. They look smack. Let's get
rid of the flowers. Cut them down. Get rid of them.
Well, what do you do with them? They're useless. Find a place
to put them where nobody sees them. They're ugly. They're insignificant. And this is what Job says about
man. He says in verse two, he cometh forth like a flower, comes
out of the earth in springs and blooms, and then suddenly he's
gone. He's cut down. He fleeth also
as a shadow and continues not. And in the light of these things,
Job asked this first question. He's simply overwhelmed. simply
overwhelmed. He says in verse 3, And dost
thou open thine eye upon such an one? Oh God, do ye fetch my way? Do you open your eye upon such
an insignificant, worthless, worthless piece of flesh as I
am? Dost thou open thine eye such
a man. Thank God. What a wondrous, wondrous
thing this is, that God Almighty should look our way, that He
should cast His glance toward us. Amazing love. How can it be that
thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Does God Almighty open his eye
upon such useless things as we are, such sinful wretches as
we are? Yes, he has, and yes, he does,
and yes, he will. He cast his eye on us in eternal
election before the world began. He said, I'll be their God and
they shall be my people. He set his eye upon us in covenant grace,
made a covenant with us, ordered in all things and sure. He cast
his eye upon us as he slew his son as our substitute. And he
cast his eye upon us in his good providence, preserving and keeping
us to the day of our calling. And he continues to cast his
eye upon us, keeping us in his grace and in his mercy. And then
Job asked another question. Same verse, verse 3. and bringest thou me into judgment
with thee." Oh, now what a horrible realization
this is for sinful man. Sooner or later, sooner or later,
you better pay attention now, sooner or later, you must face
up to the fact of divine justice and The Word of God teaches it. It's
written through this book. History illustrates it. History illustrates it. God judges
sin. God judges sin. What do you think
the flood's all about? Why do you think God drove Adam
and Eve out of the garden? Why do you think Sodom and Gomorrah
stands in the memory of every man, woman, and child in this
country? reading the Indian newspapers about all that goes on in our
society and goes on in your life. All the sorrow and the pain and
the suffering in this world is a result of sin. And it's just
a warning. God judges sin. God's going to
judge you. And your conscience bears witness
to it. One of these days, we're going to meet God in judgment.
We're going to meet God Almighty in judgment. But now notice these
two things. Not only is it a fact that there
is a day appointed by God when we must appear before his august,
great, white throne to be judged by him. That's a fact. But notice
the second thing. In that great and terrible day,
the standard of judgment will be God himself. But you notice
Job does not say, bringest thou me into judgment before thee.
He said, bringest thou me into judgment with thee, with thee. God, you can bring a man, a sinful,
fallen, befrayed, wretched man into judgment with you. Oh Lord, God, if you'd mark your
neighborhood to who will stand in judgment with you. So the
standard of judgment is not a man's opinion of himself. The standard
of judgment will not be the good opinion of others about you.
The standard of judgment will not even be just the opinion
of God, but the very character of God. Holiness, righteousness,
and perfection. I remember the first time I visited
13th Street Church in Ashland. One of the elderly ladies there,
Ruth Adkins, she's now with the Lord, Her husband was on the
appropriate committee that called Brother Mahan to Ashton. She
met me after service, first time I preached there, and she said
to me, she said, Brother Fulton, I want to ask you a question.
She said, how good does a man have to be to get to heaven? I said, I reckon he's got to
be as good as God. And she just smiled, real broad
smile. She said, that's exactly right.
I knew you was going to say that. I'm telling you, that's how good
you gotta be. As good as God. The scripture says it must be
perfect to be accepted. Perfect. God won't accept less. God won't accept your best efforts.
God won't accept your repenting. God won't accept your believing.
God won't accept your turning away from your sin. God demands
perfection! And only God can give it. And
that brings us to this third question. Job says in verse 4, have man's insignificant, just
like a withered flower, insignificant, sinful. If man must stand and
be judged with God, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? How on earth is Bobby Esther
going to be made clean before God? Clean! Clean! Now, the text in our translation
gives this answer, not one. Quite literally, a better translation
would be this. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? And the question continues, is
there one? Is there one? The fact is no
man can. If man has no power over his
own will, and has no power over his own life, has no power over
his own death, if man has no power over his health or even
his will, then how on this earth is a man going to change himself
from being defiled to undefiled, from being unclean to clean?
How on earth is a man who was born unclean going to make himself
clean? A man can't regenerate himself.
A man can't give himself faith. A man can't save himself. A man
can't justify himself. A man can't even put himself
in a position to get saved. How on earth can a man be made
clean? Bless God, there's one who can. Is there one? Oh, yes. There is one who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean. The Lord God, our Savior,
takes that which is unclean, me. He takes that which is by
nature, by practice, by birth, unclean man, makes him clean. I'll tell you how. Three things. Redemption, regeneration, and
resurrection. That's how he does it. He makes
us clean by purging our record of sin through the blood of Christ.
He paid our debt. He makes His people clean by
implanting in them a new nature, a holy nature in divine regeneration
so that they are born from above and thus enter into the kingdom
of God. And bless God one of these days, He will make us clean
by translating these bodies in resurrection glory to be made
life into His holy body. Salvation, you see, is of the
Lord. He alone can bring a clean thing out of an unclean. All
right, here's Job's fourth big question. Start reading at verse
seven. Or verse five, I'm sorry. Seeing
his days are determined, the number of his months are with
thee, Now it's the point of his bounds that he cannot pass. Now you can mark it down. You
can mark it down. I was born June 10th, 1950. That makes me almost 46 years
old. I'd stop and think and get too
old. But God Almighty, God Almighty, marked the hour, the moment,
and the means of my death before that birthday ever came. God
set your bounds. I'm sitting here looking, standing
here looking at Sammy. Sammy Wall, God Almighty, set the bounds
of your existence before you came into this world. That's
what that book says. And nobody's going to extend it. Not by a
breath. Not by a breath. Now look at verse seven. Job
says there's hope of a tree. If it be cut down, that it will
sprout again. And that the tender branch thereof
will not cease. You cut down a locust tree. Try
to get it to die. Cut down a maple tree. If you
leave it alone, it'll come back up. Just give it a little water.
The scent of the water. It'll start looking for a way
to get to the water. It'll sprout. as you stay around long enough,
there'll grow out to be a huge big tree of death. Then he says
this question in verse 15, But man dieth, and wastes it away. Man giveth up the ghost, and
where is he? Where is he? As waters fail from
the sea, and The flood decayeth and dryeth up, so man lieth down
and riseth not till the heavens be no more. They shall not awake,
nor be raised out of their sleep." But where is he? The man dies. I'll tell you this, if you die
without Christ, as soon as you close your eyes in death, you'll
awake in hell. And mama and daddy may stand
over your coffin and say, well, it's better off now. What mercy
he was taken so quickly, but it'll all be a lie. Those words
will ring in your ears like a hellish laughter for eternity. Oh no,
it won't be better off then. It won't be better off. You'll
awake in in chains of darkness, with the devil and his angels,
answered from God, answered from goodness, answered from grace,
further unto the wrath of God. But for the believer, when he
dies, as soon as he closes his eyes
in death, he opens his eyes in life, in the presence of God,
in the presence Christ, in the presence of his holy angels,
in the presence of just men made perfect, he awakes in righteousness,
in heaven, in paradise, in light, he awakes. We know that if our
earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now, some folks have the idea
that God's people, their souls sleep with their bodies until
the resurrection. Some, their souls sleep with
their bodies forever. Some have the idea that the soul
is disembodied and sort of floating around in the sky somewhere and
will be gathered to the body again. But Paul teaches very
clearly in 2 Corinthians 5.1 that the believer, when he dies,
has a half, another kind of body. another body in which he resides
until the resurrection of this body. We have a house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens. And the believer is taken immediately
into the presence of Christ his Savior. Now Job prayed that the
Lord would graciously take him out of this veil of tears and
keep him. That he would hide his body in
the grave and his soul in heaven until the days of God's wrath
and judgment in this world are over. Look at verse 13. Oh, that
thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep
me secret until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint
me a set time and remember me. But in the meantime, hide me,
hide me, keep me. Turn over to Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. Death for a believer is not something
to be dreaded. We, oh, we dread it. We dread losing anyone we love.
We dread losing anyone that's dear to us. But for them, for
them, death is not something to be dreaded. I'm not talking
up top of my head. I'm not just I'm not just saying
words, I'm telling you what I know so, for the believer, death is
not something to be dreaded. Our dear friend Bessie Coffin,
God took her out of this world, sadly. Immediately, immediately, we
know he relieved her of tremendous pain, tremendous suffering, tremendous,
tremendous, tremendous physical, emotional difficulties. But we've
got no way of knowing. We've got no way of knowing.
Only God knows what sorrow He saved her from. You see, God
takes His people out of this world to save them from sorrow. To save them from sorrow. Do
you remember He told Hezekiah in his day, He said, I won't
bring judgment to the house of Judah in your day for your sake.
That's over. When He took Hezekiah out, then
judgment came. Look here in Isaiah 57. The righteous
perisheth. No man lays it to heart. And
merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous
is taken away from evil to God." Taken away from evil to God. And then Job asks one of the
questions. He said, God, will you look at
me? Will you turn and look my way? Will you bring me into judgment
with you? He said, how can a man that is
unclean be made clean? Who can bring a clean thing out
of the unclean? And when a man dies, where is he? And then in
verse 14, he asked this question. If a man dies, Shall he live
again? And he asked the question sort
of rhetorically because he answered it. Look in verse 14 again. This is his answer. All the days
of my appointed time will I wait. He's talking about waiting in
the grave. His body waiting in the grave. His soul with the
Lord, but his body waiting in the grave. All the time, the
days of my appointed time will I wait till my change comes. thou shalt call. I'll answer
thee. Thou wilt have the desire, thou
wilt have a desire to the work of thy hand. Oh yeah. If a man dies, he'll live again. He'll live again. One of these
days, the Lord God will snatch us up out of the grave to live
again. Now let me show you three things. You can take these home. This
is just becoming something added. I picked it up as I was wrapping
up this message, preparing it. But it's so good. Let me give
it to you. These will be three good things you can take home
and console your soul. The Lord God had promised for
his people a bag, a book, and a bottle. a bag, a book, and
a bottle. Look at verse 17. My transgression
is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. In cases where a man dies at
sea, I don't know about now, but years ago, when a man would
die at sea, they couldn't come back to land and bury him, so
they'd sew him up in a bag, crack a flag over him up in a bag and
put some rocks in the bottom of the bag. And off he'd go. And he would plunge into the
depths of the sea. That's what God's done with our
sin, Ron. He sewed it up in a bag, cast it into the depths of the
sea of his forgetfulness, never to bring it up again. Look over
in Psalm 139. Psalm 139 and verse 6. God's prepared a bag for our
sins, and He's written a book for our names. And it was written
before the world began. Look what David says here. Psalm 139, verse 6. Or verse 16, rather. Thine eyes
did see my substance, yet being imperfect, and in thy book All
my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned
when as yet there was none of them. God wrote your name in a book
before the world began. In all things concerning you,
written under your name, he brings to pass. And in that book is
the security your life everlasting, you who live in it." He's written
a book, a book. And then in Psalm 56, Psalm 56, the Lord keeps the body. Let me try to illustrate for
you. Sometimes when you read things in the Scriptures, you
miss the blessing of it because you don't understand the ancient
customs they're referring to. It was customary in Egyptian
funerals for mourners, when they would come to the funeral, to
be given a a small piece of cloth or a small sponge with which
they would wipe their tears from their eyes. And then they would
wring out their tears in a little vial, a little bottle. And it
would be placed in the tomb of the one who was born, symbolizing
their great care for the one who was dead. Now look here in
Psalm 56 and in verse 8. David says to God, thou tellest
my wonderings, put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not
in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall
mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me." The Lord God had made a bank
for our sins, to He's written a book for our names, in which
he's recorded them, and he keeps a bottle for our tears, for he
cares for us. Can anything be more comforting
in this world of sin, sorrow, and death? Now, God teaches to number our
days and to apply our hearts to wisdom in the prospect of
judgment. and be connected. Amen.