Chris did preach my message,
and I'm glad. I'm glad when someone preaches
the message I'm going to preach. We're on the same page. It's
always good to be on the same page. We are in Spring Lake. The Lord does mysterious things,
mysterious things. I remember several months ago,
I mentioned to Joe Terrell. I said, I can't believe this.
It's 61. God's called me to pastor there. And Joe said, well, Moses got
19 years on you. He was 80. And Todd asked me, how it was
going there. I said, it's going so good I'm
afraid to breathe. He said, well, it won't last. I told them that they got a kick
out of that. Turn to Job chapter 23. Job chapter
23. Now, I did not title this, what is the gospel, as far as
the title goes. But by the grace of God, by His
help, when I finish, you will know who the gospel is, you will
know who your only hope is, your only righteousness, your only
sanctification, your only justification, You're going to know that Jesus
Christ is all in all, and that's the gospel. He's all and in all. He's all to the Father, and He's
all to the sinner. He's all the Father needs to
have anything to do with me, and He's all that I need to have
anything to do with the Father. He's all that I need. But last
Wednesday morning, about four o'clock in the morning, I'd been
wrestling about a message and the place to preach Christ from.
And I woke up about four o'clock in the morning, and this message
stayed on my mind. This just rolled, scripture after
scripture, thought after thought for two to three hours. And then Wednesday I sat down
and I sketched out this outline. And I titled the message, Have
You Ever Been Afraid of God? Have you ever been afraid of
God? If not, you've never met him. You've never met him. Such a
one as myself cannot meet such a one as he is. and not be afraid. John, on the Isle of Patmos,
when the Lord spoke to him, he fell down like a dead man. He
didn't just walk up and say, how you doing? No, he fell down
like a dead man. The Lord had to put strength
in him. The Lord had to lift him up so he could speak to him.
And on this premises, I want to preach the gospel to you.
Now, it's written in Job chapter 1 that Job was a perfect man. How'd that happen? Perfect man? The scripture says there's none
good, no, not one. And yet here it says he's a perfect
man. Well, I'll tell you how it happened.
The same way it happened for every one of you that are perfect in Christ. That's
how he was a perfect man. That's how we are perfect. In
Jesus Christ, we are absolutely perfection. We are perfection. Perfect. And it says He was an
upright man. He's an honest man. Who made
Him that way? I've never met an honest man before. You know, we're not born that
way. We're not born honest. But when
God saves a sinner, He makes an honest man out of him. Honest man or honest woman. He
does. And he said he was a man that
feared God. He had a right fear of God. He was a man greatly tried of
God. And I love the honesty of Job. When it hurt, he said it
hurt. He said it hurt. He didn't act
like it didn't hurt. He said it hurts. Now let me
read you three scriptures and then let's get into this. In
Job chapter 23, in verse 13, we're going to start right out
with the sovereignty of God. He's going to meet a sovereign
God. But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his
soul desireth, Even that He doeth. That's what's going on right
now. Right now. You go over to chapter 37. And it says that God says to
the snow, Be thou on the earth. So that ought to shut up any
complaining of what's going on out there tonight. God's not
Mother Nature. Nature doesn't have a mother,
it has a God. It has a God, God Almighty. That's who it is. And
He says, Be thou on the earth. It says, By the breath of God,
frost is given. Oh, that we would recognize that
everything that is and moves, God's hand is in it. His hand
is in it. But Job said here in verse 14,
For he performeth This is what's going on with Joe. God is performing
the thing that's appointed for me. And many such things, many
such appointments are with him. Therefore am I troubled at his
presence. And this is the words that got
me thinking. When I consider, when I consider,
I am afraid of him. I'm afraid of him. There are
at least two times that comes to my mind when a child of God
finds him or herself afraid of God. I mean afraid of God. The first time is when God first
awakened you from death and gave you life. You see, God has to
give us life before He can teach us anything. You can teach an
old dog new tricks, but you can't teach a dead one anything. You
can't do it. And God has to give life before
He can instruct us. All thy children shall be taught
of God. And all who have heard and learned
of the Father cometh to me. Christ is the teacher and the
lesson. But he's got to give life before it takes hold. He's
got to give life. You've got to have something
to receive in there. It's like this cup. You've got to have this cup to
receive water in. Spiritually dead's not going
to receive anything. Not at all. For the first time, you found
out that God is. That he really is. For the first time, you considered
the God that is. People believe, and we believe,
before God gave us life, that there is a God. But not until
we are given life and light from the dead do we believe the God
that is. There's a difference. There's
a difference between believing that there is a God and believing
God that is. Abraham believed God. He believed
Him. God becomes real. You become. For the first time, conscious,
conscience of God. You become God conscious. You become like it was Hagar
said, Thou God, seest me. That becomes real. That becomes
real. Until this happens, we have no
fear of God while in spiritual death. We don't fear God. We
think God is like ourselves. That's a low thought of God.
You can't thank any lower God than to think He's like you.
You can't do it. It says in Psalm 50, 21, a portion of that
verse says, You thought I was altogether not kind of like you,
but altogether like you. You think I'm like you. I don't know anybody that's ever
been afraid of themselves. And that's why there's no fear
of God. You think God's like you. That's what he said. Or, if you have a fear of God
of some kind, it's been taught by the precept of men. It's a
Bible class fear. Listen to this in Isaiah 29,
13. Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw
near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me,
but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of men." That's nothing more than
a Sunday school fear. That's all that is. But when
God gives you life, and when God calls you and quickens you
for the first time, God is God, and sin is sin. Sin's not a mistake,
it's sin. Christ didn't die for mistakes.
Christ died for sin. You know, I've learned some time
ago now that I've never made a mistake in my life, but I sure
sinned a lot. And Christ died for sin. He died
for sin. I learned this, and you learned
this. Holy takes on a whole new meaning. God is unlike me. God is light. I am darkness. God is truth. I am a liar. God is just. I am unjust. God loves righteousness. I love
sin. The difference between God and
me is infinite. It's absolutely infinite. It's
as far apart as the East is from the West. There's that much difference.
It's an infinite difference. Just as much as there's an infinite
difference between righteousness and sin. There's an infinite
difference. And then we learn for the first
time when we've heard this, and it's so, and you're going to
hear it again. We learn that God is sovereign. Job said in
verse 13, but he's in one mind, and who can turn him? You know,
the psalmist said, Lord, turn me. Turn me? I'm not trying to turn God. God,
turn me. Turn me. Who? Who can turn him and what his
soul desires? Even that, he doeth. That's exactly what's going on
right now throughout this whole world. It's exactly what God
desires. Exactly. It's written in Job
33, 13. Why dost thou strive against
him? I believe Elihu said this. Why
dost thou strive against him? For he giveth not account of
any of his matters. Why are you doing what you're
doing? What do you say, Chris? Shut up. He says shut up. You know, he never apologized
to Job. You go over to Job, I think it's
37 when God speaks. He never says, Job, I'm sorry,
I had to prove a point here. Well, that's an awful tough way
to prove a point. Find somebody else to prove your points on.
He never apologizes. He never says, I'm sorry. You
know what he says? Joe, gird up your loins like
a man, stand up and answer me. Stand up like a man, like the
man I've made you, and you answer me. I'm going to put some questions
out here now, and God's going to display His glory. Oh, I wish
I could preach God as He is. because you'll never meet Christ
until you see something who God is. You won't do it. Only a sovereign can do that. Only a sovereign can say, I don't
answer to you. The President of the United States,
I don't care how cocky he is, he still has to answer, but not
God. Not God. And we'll see a little
more of this later on in the chapter. It says this in Job
37, 22. Fair weather cometh out of the
north, with God is terrible, terrible majesty. The prophets
of old called him the great and dreadful God. That's what they
called him. Nehemiah called him The great
and terrible God that keepeth covenant and mercy. Oh, if I
could just scratch the surface of the greatness of God Almighty,
of the one who spoke this all into existence. If I could do
that, then I could preach Christ. Then I could preach Christ. He said in Isaiah 2, verse 10,
"...Enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust for fear of
the Lord and for the glory of His majesty." Your majesty. God does not answer to us. The
potter has power over the clay to make it a vessel of wrath
or a vessel of mercy. Whichever is wisest for him to
make it. Henry said one time, God's going
to save all he can wisely save. All he can wisely save. God can
save me for the first time. Every child of God will realize
this, that God can save me. God could save you or damn you
or damn me. He can do it. There's enough
there to damn a whole lot. God can do either one and be
a just God, whichever He does. We are in His hands. I'm telling you, until God gives
you life, you think God's in your hands. But when God gives
you life, you realize you're in His hands. And you realize
you are in the hands of a sovereign. We are at his mercy. I can't
think of any place to be that's better because it says he delights
to show mercy. He delights to show it more than
anybody here delights to have it. He delights to show mercy. That leper said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. And God, we realize for the first
time that God must do right for God to be God. He's a just God. He's got to do right. He can
do no wrong. Listen to Psalm 119, 75. I know,
O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness
hast afflicted me. Psalm 72, 97, 2. Clouds and darkness
surround about Him. Righteousness and judgment are
the habitation. They dwell there. the habitation
of His throne. Now we know if God, this God,
if He deals with us in justice, we're goners. It's over. It's over. If God deals with
me in justice, it's over. We cannot stand before God as
we are. There has to be someone between
us. There's got to be a day's man,
an umpire between us. I can't deal with God as I am. Job couldn't even answer a question.
All the questions that God asked, he didn't answer one of them.
It was over his head. I'm convinced that one of the
reasons God didn't reveal any of that to him or answer He wouldn't
have understood it anyway. His thoughts and his ways are
so high above ours, there's no need for him to reveal a lot
of things to me. I still can't get it. I don't have that kind
of mind. I don't have the mind of Christ
yet, like I'm going to have when this is all over. I don't have
it. The scripture says, you know,
listen. Scripture says that God is consuming
fire. And you and I are wood, hay,
and stubble. Guess who's getting burned up? Us. The scripture says, and it says,
has this ever troubled you? This has troubled me. I understood
the gospel. The Lord gave me some peace with
it. He will by no means clear the guilty. God's never cleared
a guilty man. You know what he did? He killed
him. The substitution of Christ was
so effectual that when justice dealt with him on Calvary's tree,
it dealt with John Chapman. And that guilty bird was put
to death. He was put to death in Christ.
And that new man that's created of God, he's not guilty. He's
not guilty. I looked at that and I thought,
how could He say He was by no means clearly guilty. He doesn't. He put me to death in Christ.
He put every one of His elect to death in Christ. He dealt
with their guilt. Christ became, so much became
me. And when He died, I died. The
law of God, the justice of God was absolutely satisfied that
I died and I've been dealt with and it's over. Now, how can I stand before God
and not be afraid? How can I? But how can a wretch
like me stand before such a glorious person as God, holy and just? Turn over to Isaiah 32. Isaiah
32. I'll give you the verse after I get a drink. Isaiah 32, verse
2. Here's how I can stand before
God Almighty, and a man shall be as a hiding place from the
wind, and a covert from the tempest. as rivers of waters in a dry
place, as a shadow of a great rock in a weary land." There's
a man. God has provided a man. God has provided Himself as a
man. The man Christ Jesus. You know,
John said, we've touched Him, we've handled Him, we saw Him.
And what he said, we saw life, we touched life. And you know
life has a name? Jesus Christ. Truth has a name. Jesus Christ. The next time we
preach on the names of God, the first name of God we ought to
preach is Jesus Christ. I've heard men take the names
of God, preach on the names of God, and the very first one we
ought to preach and use is Jesus Christ. Because all the names
of God are embodied in that man. In that man. God became incarnate. Now listen to this. God has provided
Himself and the person of His Son to be a hiding place from
Himself. Oh man, that blessed me when
I was laying there in bed and that thought came to me. There's
no better place to hide from God than in God. There's none. In Christ, in Jesus Christ, we
have been chosen. You know, if you're going to
talk about election, somebody said this, I believe, but you
got to start with God's elect. Behold, in Isaiah 42, Behold
mine elect, in whom my soul is well pleased. Probably the reason most people
hate elections is because we don't start with the right place.
Christ. You've got to start in the right
place. Christ. He's the elect. And God chose
a multitude of sinners in Him and He's going to make everyone
just like Him. Just like Him. In Christ, we have been chosen. In Christ, we've been blessed
with all spiritual blessings. In the heavenlies. Is that when
we accepted Him? Did that happen when we accepted
Him? Did that happen when we let Him
come into our stinking hearts? No, that happened before God
created. You see, God's a God of order. Everything God does,
He's already... God's not reactive. God's never
reactive. He's proactive. He's taking care
of everything. It's already done. It's already
settled. Jesus Christ has made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Listen to Colossians
2.10. And ye, you, O child of God,
sinners, worry, afraid, get a hold of this. And you are complete
in Him, which is the head of all principality and powers. But you are complete in Him. You are completely righteous
in Him. You are completely justified in Him. You are completely forgiven
in Him. You are completely cleansed in
Him. You are completely accepted in
Him. Is there anything hard to understand
about the word complete? That's an easy word to understand.
You're complete. You're whole. You're whole. We lack nothing in Christ. In Him we're complete. And in
Christ we have a mediator. We have one to stand between
us and God Almighty. God standing between God. Does it get any better than that?
It gets no better than God standing between me and God. God put Himself
between me and Him. Get a hold of that. That'll make
your day. We have a court-appointed mediator. Court-appointed. Court-appointed. I love what Job said here. Look
back here. You know, Job is talking about being afraid of God, but
look at the confidence he also uses in this same chapter. A
believer is nothing but a paradox. Let me find the verse. Job said here in verse 6, Will
he plead against me with his great power if I go before him? No! He'd put strength in me. And you know that strength is
Jesus Christ. He's my strength to stand before
God. There, there, The righteous might dispute with
him, might lay out their case before him. So should I be delivered
forever from my judge. I like this reading. So shall
I be justified by my judge, cleared of all charges. That's what's
going to happen. He's going to say not guilty.
It doesn't matter if the whole world and all of hell stands
there and says, I can tell you what he did. He's gonna say,
not guilty. Ain't a thing on the books. There's
not a charge on the books. That's justified. That's how
thorough, oh, that's how thorough salvation is in Jesus Christ. We lack nothing in Christ. His
blood cleanses from all sin. Do you have sin? He has cleansing. He has cleansing. You need forgiveness? Listen to this. Ephesians 1.7,
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins. If you know what sin is, you
need forgiveness, and you know it. You know, guilty only means
something to those who are guilty. Justification only means, it's
more than a doctrine to those who are guilty. Now, if you're
not guilty, it's just a doctrine, it's theology. But boy, if you
know what guilty is, it's more than that. It's to be set free. In Christ, we are delivered from
the judge by the judge, justified by him. Jesus Christ is the good
news of the gospel. He's it. Now briefly, the second
time a child of God is afraid of God. Job said he's in one
mind and who can turn him. Nobody can change his mind and
he performs the things that's appointed for him. When God lays
His hand of affliction, you see, faith that's in Christ, that's
of God, is going to be tried. Untried faith is no faith at
all. And He's going to lay His hand of affliction. That word
means hard experience. It means hard experience. God
took Job's ten children. That's a hard experience. I can't
enter into that. I can't imagine that. God does
not ask what he can or cannot take. He takes what is best for
our eternal good and his glory, and sometimes that's very painful. God may reach in and take the
dearest thing to me and to you. He might do that. I can remember
Henry saying that sometimes along that line, and I think, I wish
you wouldn't say that. That would just trouble me. If it need be, he will. I've
seen him do it over the years. And that makes me afraid of him.
There are times it has made me afraid of God. Job said, when I consider, I'm
afraid. I trust him, though he slay me.
Well, I trust him, but that doesn't always drive away the fear. Job said, he's in one mind who
can turn him, and what his soul desires, even that he doeth.
If he performs a thing that's appointed for me, and many such
things, many such appointments are with him. Therefore, I'm
troubled at his presence when I consider I'm afraid of him.
Job knew this would not be the last of his afflictions. He knew that God had appointed
more and it could get worse. Job said in Job 3.25, For the
thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which
I was afraid of is come unto me. Now what are we to do when this comes, when this kind
of fear comes? We look to Christ. We look to
Christ when God awakens us and we see who God is and we see
ourselves as sin, not just some things we've done, but who we
are. And we run to Christ. God enables us to run to Him
and trust Him. And now what? Now He brings this. Turn over to Psalm 56, and I'm
going to close. The same thing you did when you
trusted Christ, when you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Look in verse 3. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee. When the storm of appointed afflictions
pass my way, it passes our way, let's trust
the one who sent Our Heavenly Father knows best. When these
times come and God makes you afraid, whether it's over sin
or over Him reaching in and taking something that's dear to you,
let's trust Him who is infinitely wise. He makes no mistakes. Let's trust Him who is infinitely
good. Let's not judge God's goodness
by circumstance. Now, if I'm having a bad day,
if God is reaching in and taking something, that doesn't change
the nature of God. He's still good. God is good,
whatever He's doing with me. We trust Him who loves you with
an infinite love, an everlasting love. We trust Him whose grace
is sufficient. And listen to this. We trust
Him who has already taken care of the weightier matter, our salvation. That's the weightier
matter. Remember this, our troubles are
not a matter of God's power to deliver, but are a matter of
His will. Trust Him who is the head of
all principalities and powers. It says in Ephesians 1, listen,
that Christ is far above all principality and power and might
and dominion in every name that is named, not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come. And that put all things
under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all. Let's trust him who's above all
principality and power, whether it be for the forgiveness of
sins, or to help me through heartache. Trust him who is God, who is God, who plants his foot upon the
storm and rides upon the wings of the wind. Job said, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. Let's trust him to bring us through
all our fearful days until he brings us home. We sing a song. Only trust him. Only trust him. That's how we start out. And
that's how we end. That's how we end. All right. I don't know that I've ever heard
a better day of preaching, ever.