Came through Big Stone Gap while
I go again. I'm familiar with this. I told
you last time I was here, I preached at Appalachian and different
places, but had experience at Big Stone Gap I thought of. Tom
and I were talking. I said, I went back years ago. I guess it's been in the 60s
maybe. Maybe I was in my 40s. But preached at Big Stone Gap
and a Free Will Baptist Church. Brother Carl was pastor of the
little Free Will Baptist Church in Big Stone Gap and he invited
me to come preach for him. And I was flattered. I was so
happy and Went down and preached and had a great, wonderful time.
He let me preach the gospel that I love, you know. And I never
will forget this. I finished my message and told
him about it. I stepped down and a tall, gray-haired
man, I can almost see him now, came walking towards me. I was
in my thirties. He's up in years. and walking
towards me, and he looked at me and he said, son, he said,
I ain't never heard those words before, but that's the way the
Lord saved me. What you preach tonight is the
way the Lord saved me. God moves in mysterious ways
His wonders. He recognized that God had done
a work in his heart. He couldn't explain it. in theological
words, but he knew what had happened in his heart. Well, at that very
meeting, Brother Carl called on a preacher to lead in prayer. A man I knew. And he got up to
dismiss us after that message. And I never will forget what
he said. I never will forget what that old gray-haired man
said. I never will forget what that preacher said. He prayed,
he said, Lord, if I sin and come in here tonight, you forgive
me. And I thought, two men, same message, different reactions. This old man heard from God,
and he was left in his Pharisee-ism. That's sad, isn't it? But the
Gospel, the Gospel will be effectual to the hearts of people. according
to the Lord's will. It will happen. And that's what
we're looking for, isn't it? That's why I'm here. To see if
the gospel runs well for all of us. The book of Job. The book of Job. I want you to
turn to chapter 1 first. The book of Job. You know, the
book of Job is said to be the oldest book in the Bible. I can't
verify that. That's what they say. The book
of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. And when you study
the book of Job, you'll come up with this thought. The whole book of Job has to
do with what God said about Job and what Job said about God.
That's what this book is about. What God said about Job, and
what Job said about God. And watch this, chapter 1, verse
8. Let's start with verse 7. Job 1, verse 7. And the Lord
said to Satan, Whiscometh thou? Then Satan answered the Lord,
and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down on him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Have you considered my servant Job? Have you set your heart
on my servant Job? On who? My servant. God said
about Job, He's my servant. He's my man. He's my child. Read on. And there's none like
him. There's none like him in this
earth. Perfect, mature, an upright man,
a man that fears God and hates evil. That's a pretty good recommendation. I've heard preachers say, they
didn't know whether Job was saved or not. Sounds like the Lord
already was saved. He's my servant. He's a perfect
man, upright, that loves God and hates sin. Now listen to
this over in Job 42. Job chapter 42. See what God
says about But the Lord said about Job here, now remember,
My servant, perfect man, upright, that hates evil. Now listen to
Job 42, verse 7. And it was so, Job 42, 7, 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 your two friends. For you have not
spoken of me the things that are right, as my servant Job
hath." You fellows hadn't told the truth about me, but Job told
the truth about me. Isn't that a pretty good recommendation? The Lord says, He's my servant.
He's a perfect, upright man. He loves God and hates sin, and
he told the truth about Christ. Alright, now let's see what Job
said about God. Turn to Job chapter 19. Job chapter
19. This is that great, great confession. Job's confession of faith. Job
19, verse 23. Here it is. Watch this now. Job 19, verse
23. Oh, that my words, oh, that my
words were now written. And they were, weren't they?
Oh, that they were printed in a book. I've got it right here
in my hand. That they were graven with an
iron pen and laid in the rock. For write this on my tombstone,
he said. Write this on my tombstone. iron
pen, lead in the rock, and the stone feather. I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day
upon this earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I
shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another
Although my reigns be consumed within me." That's what Job said
about the Lord. That's his testimony. I believe
he's a saved man. I love his writings. So I'm going
to turn to chapter 14 now and bring you a message from the
book of Job chapter 14. Take chapter 14, let's just look
at it together. together. The first two verses
of this chapter tell us a whole lot about ourselves. And then
the next ten or twelve verses ask four or five or six vital
questions, vital questions, powerful, powerful, powerful questions
that Job asked God. All right, here's Job 14.1. Man that's born of a woman. Man
that's born of a woman. What's that say? It says this,
that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That's what we are. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
in sin. My mother conceived me. That's
what I am. Flesh. Sin. David said this, the wicked are
strained from the womb. They go astray as soon as they're
born, speaking lies. Man that's born of woman is a
sinner. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. I want you to remember something. I want to tell you about the
four nuns. I bet you never forget this. You know who the four nuns
are? There's none righteous, no, not
one. There's none that understand it. There's none that seeketh
after God, and there's none good, no, not one. Now, you'll remember
that, won't you? That's us. That's us. None righteous,
none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God, and none
good, no, not one. Man born of woman. That's the
state. Now, watch this. The next line. Man that's born
of woman is a few days. David said, our days, oh, our
days are passed away in God's wrath. We spend our days as a
tale that's told. What is your life? It is but
a vapor that appears for a few days, just a little while, and
then it vanishes away. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream,
dies at the close of day. Change and decay. Oh, I know
about this. All around me I see. O thou that
changest none, abide with me. Man is born a woman, and he's
a few days, just a few. I haven't got many left. I'm
glad. I've got a good hope. A blessed
future. A few days. Alright, watch this
now. Man that's born a woman is a
few days. Now watch this. And full of trouble.
Let me tell you this. Sin and trouble go together.
If we're born in sin, we're going to have trouble. Now you just
write it down. We're born in sin, we're going
to have trouble. God said that to Adam and Eve. Turn to Genesis
in a minute. Genesis chapter 3. Sin and trouble. Man born of woman is a few days
and full of trouble. Genesis 3 verse 17. And unto Adam he said, Because
you have hearkened to the voice of your wife, and you have eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, curse is the ground for your sake, In sorrow shall
you eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also, and thistle
shall it bring forth unto thee. Thou shalt eat the herb of the
field. In the sweat of your face you
shall eat bread, till you return to the ground. For out of it
you were taken, from dust you are, and to dust you shall return."
That's us. That's a man born of a woman,
a few days, and full of trouble. You know, the Word of God says
this, writing to God's people, exhort them, exhort them to continue
in faith. For we must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. You know about that. Brother
Gary, you've been through that over the last several months.
Much tribulation. Much heartache. But that's our
path. And no telling what's ahead of
us. But if you just work through much tribulation, you're going
to enter into the Kingdom of God. All right. Man. Born a woman. Few days. Full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower.
He comes forth like a flower and is cut down. Well, what shall I cry? All flesh
is grass. All the goodliness thereof is
as what? Flower of the field. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord
bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth. Why does the Lord keep comparing
us to a flower? I'll tell you why. Like a flower, we came from the
earth. What he said, dust our earth,
the dust you're going to return. Flowers all come up from the
earth. They come from the earth. Secondly, a flower, like a flower,
we come from the seed of another flower. Adam knew Eve and she
bare a son, the son of Adam. Every one of us came from the
dirt, Every one of us came from another fallen man. Now read
thirdly. And watch this. Like a flower,
he looks good when he's young. I've never seen an ugly baby.
I think babies are the cutest thing in the world. They're so
cute, they're so lovable, they're so wonderful, and then they start
growing up. And they wither and die. My, my. That sucks. Be like a flower. We came from
the earth. We came from another flower just
like us. And we're going to wind up just
like them. Wither and die. Fade away. Let me show you this. Turn back to my text. Job 14.
Man born of woman. Few days. Full of trouble. Comes
forth like a flower. He's cut down. And he fleeth
as a shadow. Now this will really shock you.
This is really something. He's like a shadow. And the Bible talks about us
being like a shadow in several places. I'll show you this. First
of all, a shadow is an empty thing. A shadow has no substance. Where the light shines, there
is my shadow. There's nothing there. It looks
like something, but it's not there. We're like a shadow. We've got no substance. There's
nothing to us by nature. That's right. Secondly, a shadow
is soon gone. It flees from the light. The
Lord says, our days on earth are as a shadow. There is none
abiding. And let me tell you this, and
when a shadow's gone, it leaves no bark. That's all we are. We're nothing. No substance. And we go quickly. The light shines and we're gone.
And then, nothing left. Nothing left. Turn to Psalm 103. You say, you're cutting us down
pretty good. We're supposed to. Listen to Psalm 103. Verse 14. Listen to this, Psalm 103, verse
14 through 16. Listen to this, Psalm 103, verse
14. For he knoweth our frame, he
remembereth it with dust. As for man, his days are as grass. As the flower of the field, he
flourisheth, and the wind passeth over it, and is gone. And the place of shall know it
no more. Or we'll grieve for a while,
we'll miss them for a while, but after a while, they never
brought up. After a while. That's right. You know, it reminds me of cows
in the field. You go by the pasture and there's
a whole bunch of cows out there in the field. And the farmer
comes out and he brings his truck out there and rows the ramp and
he gets a pretty fat little cow or calf or heifer or whatever.
Leads him away and puts him up on his truck and shuts the tailgates. And all the other cows, they're
eating, you know, and watch him go. They're taking him to the
slaughter. Then he comes back two or three
days later and he gets another cow. And they all look up. They
watch and take him away. That's why there ain't none of
them left. But the one left, the last one there is still eating
on his cud. Didn't know what's happening.
Let me show you a verse of Scripture. Listen here to Psalm 32, verse
9. Psalm 32, verse 9. And this ought
to open our eyes. This is Psalm 32, verse 9. Right along this line. Listen
to this now. Psalm 32, verse 9. See if I can
find it. Psalm 32, verse 9. Be not as
the horse or the cow or the mule which have no understanding.
We need to have some understanding of what's going on here. Job's
telling us what we are. He's telling us what we are.
And then I'm going to tell you That's what God says He can make
of us. All right. Back to Job. Back to Job 14. Job 14. Now, that's the beginning. Man born of woman, few days full
of trouble, comes forth like a fly which cut down, fleeth
as a shadow and does not continue. Now, Job asks five questions. Let me give you five questions. Verse 3. And dost thou open thine
eyes upon such a one? Lord of heaven and earth, do
you look on these worthless shadows and flowers and weeds that are
cut down and cast into the oven? Are you interested in us? Do
you open your eyes upon such a one? Do you care about or consider
these frail, sinful, worthless creatures that are like weeds
to be cut down and cast into the fire? Well, the question
is not, does He see us? The question is, God sees everything,
but the question is, does He look upon us? Does He regard
us? Does He have an interest in us?
Is He mindful of us? Yes, He is. That's the good part. I'm going to ask you to turn
to Psalm chapter 8. Psalm chapter 8. The question
is, does God look upon us? Does He regard us? Does He have
an interest in us? Is He mindful of the sons of
men? Listen to this scripture. Psalm
8, verse 3. When I consider the heavens,
the work of thy fingers, the sun, the moon, the stars which
thou hast ordained, What is man? What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Or the son of man that thou visiteth
him? What is he? Is God mindful of
us? What does it mean to be mindful
when He says, What is man that thou art mindful of? What does
the word mindful mean? Well, it means this. It means
to be marked out. It means to be regarded. It means
to set your affections upon. Now, Job says, Lord, this being
the case, what I am, do you care anything about me? Are you mindful
of me? Do you regard me? That's what
the thief on the cross asked Christ. You're not going to stay
dead, he said. You're coming into a kingdom.
Would you remember me? Would you be mindful of me? Would
you set your affection and love upon me? The Lord said, I will. Today you'll be with Me in paradise.
He does. There's some He loves. Let me
show you a scripture. Turn to Psalm 111. Psalm 111,
verse 3-5. Psalm 111. Lord, do You open Your eyes upon
such a woman? Such a woman? That He does. not open his eyes upon them,
but set his heart upon them. Psalm 111, verse 3, listen. His work is honorable. Psalm 111, verse 3. His work is honorable and glorious. His righteousness endureth forever. He hath made his wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. He hath given me unto them that
fear him, and he will ever be mindful of his covenant." Oh,
that new song, new covenant, new way through the veil, new
heaven and new earth, and a new creature in Christ. He put a
new song in our mouths. Turn to Psalm 115. Psalm 115,
verse 11. Psalm 115, verse 11. Listen to
this. Psalm 115, verse 11. You that
fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. And the Lord hath been mindful
of us. He will bless us. He will bless
the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.
Yes, He will. Job, I've answered that question
for you. Does the Lord regard us? Is the
Lord mindful? Will He look upon us? He certainly
does. In Christ Jesus. Here's the undeniable proof that
God looks with favor upon us. Turn to Galatians. Galatians
4. This is the undeniable truth
that Almighty God does look upon us with favor, with love, with
grace and mercy. Galatians 4, verse 4. I like this. Listen. Galatians
4, verse 4. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons And because you are sons, God
has sent forth His Spirit, the Spirit of His Son, into your
heart, crying, Father, Father. That answers it, doesn't it?
All right, here's Job's second question. Job's second question
in Job chapter 14. Let's turn back to Job 14 and
verse 3. Job says, Thus thou opened thine
eyes upon such a one that we've been talking about. And verse
3, the second line says, Do you bring me in the judgment with
you? This is interesting. Will God
bring me in the judgment with Him? Now, we know what we are. Frail, weak, sinful creatures
at best. We know who God is. Holy. I wish I could explain who God
is. I can't. Holy. Just. Perfect. Pure. Alright, Job said, you going
to bring me into judgment with you? And I hear a lot of talk
about judgments. They talk about the five judgments,
the six or seven judgments. I hear a lot of talk about the
general judgment. Judgment of nations. Judgment
of Israel. Judgment of Christians. Judgment
for reward. But old Job, he didn't want any
part with any other. He didn't want any part in any
kind of judgment having to do with God and truth and righteousness.
Job realized that he's no match with God. That God's not a man. That he should stand together
with the man in judgment of truth and righteousness. So Job says,
don't bring me into judgment with you. Let me miss the judgment. And I have missed it and you've
missed it. There is therefore now judgment. No judgment to
them who are in Christ Jesus. You know what David said? Turn
to Psalm 143. Psalm 143. This is a powerful scripture
here. David says in Psalm... I don't
want anything to do with judgment. I don't mind being a... A person standing by watching
it, but I don't want to participate in it. I don't want to participate
in any kind of judgment. Any kind. Watch this, Psalm 143,
verse 1 and 2. David says, Hear my prayer, O
Lord, give ear to my supplications. In Thy faithfulness answer me
in Thy righteousness, and enter not into judgment with Thy servant. For in thy sight shall no man
be justified." We don't want anything to do with the judgment.
None whatsoever. If thou, Lord, should mark iniquity,
who shall stand? I don't want to be a participator
in any kind of judgment. And we won't be. There's no judgment
to them who are in Christ Jesus. Because the sin that's paid,
we're perfect in Christ. Here's another question Job asked.
Verse 4. All right, who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean? You know, Job and his friends
asked that again and again and again. Let me show you some Scripture. Job 9, Job 9, verse 1 and 2. Job 9, 1 and 2. Who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean? Job 9, verse 1 and 2. Then Job
answered and said, I know it's sober truth. But how can a man
be just with God? Look at Job 15. Job 15, verse
4 through 14. Job 15, verse 14. You have it? Job 15, verse 14. What is man
that he should be clean? Can you bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? He that is born of a woman that
he should be righteous? God puts no trust in His saints.
The heavens are not clean in God's eyes. How much more abominable
and filthiest man which drinks iniquity like the water. Can
the eaves open change his skin? No. Can it be changed? God can. Nothing is impossible with God.
Can the leper change his spot? Can He be changed? Make Him a
new creature. That's right. Let's look at that
question again, Job 14. It says, Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean? God can. God can. Purge me with thistle, and I'll
be clean. Wash me in the blood of Christ,
and I'll be clean. with God all things are possible,
who said, My arm is not short that I can't see, and my ear
is not heavy that I can't hear. I used to go to Mexico almost every
year when we had three missionaries down there one time, Brother
Pledger, Brother Howard, and Brother Walter Groover. And Darce
and I went down almost every year. But there were three things
you had to have to enter Mexico. I don't know about now, about
then. You had to have proof of citizenship, birth certificate.
You went down, you had to have a birth certificate. You had
to prove that you were born in the United States. Two, you had
to have a visa. That is, put out by the Mexican
government. and where they will accept you. They'll let you come in. They'll
accept you. Number three, we walk up. You remember this? We
had our birth certificate, had our visa, and then we walked
up to a fellow and he got a record book out, like this. And he began
to look for names. He said, you go on, sir. You
go on, sir. He's looking to make sure we
didn't have a police record. We don't have any charges against
us. Well, that's true of everybody who enters the glory. You've
got to be born again. Born of the Spirit and the Word.
You've got to be a child of God. You've got to be born again. Number two, you've got to have
righteousness. You've got to be accepted in the beloved. Number
three, you've got to have no record. A preacher, I've got
a record. Not now. In Christ it's put away. No charge against me. There's
therefore now no charge. Who shall lay the charge of God's
elect? Let me in. That's right. Born
again. I'm accepted in the Beloved,
and I've got no record. There used to be a black preacher
in the South, John Jasper. Rhapsody in Black, his life story. And a well-known preacher. But
somebody said to him one time, John Jasper said, do you expect
to go to heaven? Yes, I do. What if you came to
the gate and they asked you, what right you got to be here,
John Jasper? What are you going to answer?
He said, I'm going to answer, I ain't got no right to be here
at all. I'm not here on my rights. I'm here on the righteousness
of Christ. Well, he said, what if they let
you in and then Put you out again. He said, no,
they're not going to do that. He said, if the Lord puts me
out, He's going to lose more than I lose. He said, John Joseph,
how can you talk like that? God's going to lose more than
you lose. Well, if God puts me out, having been washed in the
blood of the Lamb, God's going to lose His honor, and I'm going
to lose my soul. But He's going to suffer the
greatest loss. His honor is engaged to keep
the weakest of his sheep. That's good. All right, let's
see the next word here. Job 14 verse 5. All right, let's look at verse
5 through 10. Seeing man's days are determined,
the number of his months are with thee, and thou hast appointed
his bounds, he can't pass. Turn from him, that he may rest,
till he shall accomplish his hire and his day. Now there is
hope of a tree, if it be cut down, it may sprout again, and
that the tender branch thereof shall not cease. That's a tree,
you see. And though the root thereof wax
old in the earth, and the stalk thereof die in the ground. You've
seen fence posts in real wet, like Mexico. They cut down these
trees and make fence posts, and they grow. They get enough water,
sunshine, and they grow. That's what he's talking about
here. In verse 9 it says, Yet through the scent of water it
may bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dies. and wasteth away, he goes back
to the dust. He gives up the ghost. Tell me
where he is now. If I die right now, if the Lord
takes my life right now, I'll drop dead of a heart attack,
y'all gonna hope he'll pick me up and take care of me and bomb
me and put me in the ground. But where am I? Well, our Lord Jesus Christ died
on that cross. He died on that cross. That guy
shoved a spear in his side. Blood and water came out. Took
him down to the cross. Put him in a tomb. Where was
he? At the right hand of the Father. He said today to the
thief, you'll be with me in paradise. I don't have a problem with that,
do you? My body's in the ground. His body was too in the ground. His body was in the ground. But
he was with the Father. And that's where we're going
to be. If this earthly house and this tavern are to be designed,
we have a building of God not made with hands, eternal in the
heaven. We're going to be with the Lord.
Do you understand that? That's so. Here's his last question. Verse
14. Verse 10, that says, man gives
up the ghost, where is he? He's with the Lord. All right,
verse 11, as the waters fail from the sea, floods decay and
dry up, so man lies down, and rises not, till the heavens be
no more. They shall not awake, nor be
raised out of their sleep, till it's over. If thou wouldst hide
me in the grave, So that thou wouldest keep me secret until
thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest support me a set time,
remember me. But here's my last question.
But if a man dies, shall he, shall that man live again? Shall that man live, know, and
be known again? Will he be like he was? He won't
be like he was. He'll be new, all new. God makes
all things new. But he'll be who he was when
Elijah and Moses appeared on the mountains with our Lord.
It was Moses and Elijah, not somebody else. That's what Job
said. Those who are skinned will destroy
this body in my flesh. I shall see my Lord, not another.
I'm going to see Him. So when we die, we're going to
rise. We're going to wait. The same
person I am right now. Henry May, Chris, Eastwood, Tony,
Pastor. You're going to be who you are.
That's right. You're going to know and be known.
And we have that in Luke 24. Turn to Luke 24. Luke 24. Luke
chapter 24, verse 36. Luke 24, verse 36. Now when our
Lord died on this cross, and His body was in the tomb, His
soul was with God. That satisfies me. And we'll
be with God. Alright, when He raises us from
the dead, and whenever that is, I can't explain all of it, but
I know He raised Christ. Now look at Luke 24, verse 36.
And as they spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst
of them and said unto them, Peace be unto you. They were terrified. They saw Him die. They were affrighted. They supposed they had seen a
spirit. And He said to them, Why are you troubled? Why do
thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold, My hands, My hands, My
feet, it is I Myself. Handle me, reach out and touch
me, and see, a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me
have. I have flesh and bones, glorified
flesh, holy flesh, bones, flesh and bones as you see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and
his feet. I believe he showed them the scars. I believe he
kills their bodies with scars, side and his hands and feet.
Why would he show them his hands and feet? It's the wounds. And while they yet believed not
for joy and wondered, he said unto them, Have you any meat?
You got something to eat? And they gave him a piece of
boiled fish and a honeycomb. And he took it and ate it. And he said to them, These are
the words I have spoken to you while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law
of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then
he opened their understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures. And he said to them, Thus it
is written, thus it behoove Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead
the third day, that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in his name. among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem."