I have a message today that I
think will be of great benefit to many of you, be a blessing.
I want you to listen very carefully, very carefully to the message
and prayerfully. And I'd like very much if you'd
get your Bibles and follow along as I read the Scripture. I'm
going to be speaking from the book of Job, the first chapter
of Job. Now, here's the title of the
message, Some Lessons Learned in trouble. There's some lessons
to be learned in time of trouble. Now, those who believe on Christ,
all true believers, have many things in common. The Bible talks
about the common salvation. We have a common salvation. We're
all saved by the grace of God through faith in the blood of
Christ. We have a, no matter where you
find believers in America or England or Mexico or Australia,
wherever you find them, they have a common salvation. And
then also the Bible speaks of a common faith. There's just
one faith. There's one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God, one Father, one body. So it's a common faith. Everyone who knows the Lord has
the same faith, not the same degree of faith necessarily,
but the same object, that's Christ Jesus. But another thing we have
in common is trouble. That's right, troubles and trials
and tribulations. Listen to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians
10, 13. There's no trouble or trial upon
you, but such as is common to me. It's common, it's to be expected. You have no trouble and no trial. But that which is common to believers
everywhere, just as we have a common salvation and a common faith,
we share this together too, troubles, common troubles. But God, listen,
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tried above
that you're able, but will, with the trial, also make a way of
escape that you may be able to bear it. So there's no trouble
or trial upon you, but such is common to believers everywhere. And then our Lord said to the
disciples, before He went to the cross, before He ascended
back to the Father, He said to these 12 disciples, He said,
in this world you shall have trouble, tribulation, but be
of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And
then Paul wrote in II Corinthians 1, listen to this, Blessed be
the God of all comfort, the Father of all mercies, who comforts
us in our trouble. The Father is the God of comfort
and the God of mercies, who comforts us in our trouble, that we may
be able to comfort those which are in trouble. Many of our troubles
are to help us comfort others who have the same trouble. David
said this, he said, it's been good for me that I've been afflicted. That's right, good for me that
I've been afflicted. The apostle Paul said, I glory
in my infirmities and my sufferings for Christ. And then in 2 Corinthians
4, the apostle wrote this, 2 Corinthians 4, 8 and 9, we're troubled on
every side. but we're not distressed. We
are perplexed, but we're not in despair. We're persecuted,
but we're not forsaken. We're cast down, but we're not
destroyed. Now, do you understand that?
I've read you many scriptures, and preachers, whomever it may
be, who tell believers that they will not have troubles, that
they will not have suffering, that they will not have sickness,
that they will not have sorrow, are not telling the truth. The
scripture says, there's no trouble or trial upon you, but such is
as is common to all believers. And our Lord said, in this world
you shall have trouble and tribulation. And our God is the God of comfort
and the God of mercies. And now all of you are familiar
with the troubles and great trials of Job. I know you're familiar
with it. I brought messages from the book
of Job. And I believe the reason that
the Lord allowed Job to be so troubled and so afflicted was
so that he could be an example to us in our troubles and in
our sorrows and in our trials. That's what James wrote. James
wrote in the 5th chapter, verse 10, My brethren, now listen to
this. What I'm saying is this, Job was greatly troubled and
greatly afflicted, a man who endured much sorrow and pain
and suffering. And it says here in James, the
5th chapter, that he's an example for us. My brethren, take the
prophets. who have spoken in the name of
the Lord for an example, for an example of suffering affliction
and of patience. These prophets are an example
to us. These men suffered affliction,
and they showed great patience in time of affliction and suffering,
and this is an example. That's what he said, take these
men for an example. Behold, listen, We count them
happy who endure, who continue in the faith, even during troubles
and trials. You've heard of the patience
of Job, and you have seen the blessings of the Lord upon him.
The Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercies. Yes, Job was
a man greatly afflicted and greatly troubled. But after it was all
over, and he had patiently endured the hand of God upon him, He
was greatly blessed, greatly blessed. Now, Job was a man who
knew God. Job was a believer. I don't have
any problem with that. God called him My servant. I
hear people who debate the conversion of Job, when he was converted
and so forth. But right at the very outset,
the Lord God said, Have you considered My servant Job, a man who fears
God and hates evil? Now, that's pretty good testimony
concerning this man Job. And then in chapter 19, Job said
this, "'I know that my Redeemer liveth.'" Job believed in the
Redeemer. Yet, Job was greatly troubled
and greatly afflicted and tried, really, as few believers have
ever suffered in this world. There are very few believers
that have ever suffered like this man Job, the servant of
God, the child of God, the son of the Redeemer, and yet he suffered
as few men have ever suffered. He lost his entire family. You
can read that in Job chapter 1. He had 10 children, and they
were all killed at one time. He lost all of his wealth. Job
was a wealthy man, but all of it was taken away, just taken
away in a moment. He lost his influence, his position,
People ridiculed him, made fun of him. Job was a man of great
influence and great power. And after this affliction and
trial came upon him, no one cared for him. Even his wife turned
to him and said, why don't you curse God and die? Why do you
continue to maintain your integrity? Just curse God and die. And then
he lost his health. Job became a man afflicted not
only in mind and heart, but in body. And he didn't try to hide
his sorrows. Let me tell you something here.
Job didn't try to hide his sorrows. I hear people talk about suffering
in silence. Not necessarily. Job was very
open about his troubles. He was very open about his sorrows.
He wept and grieved openly. He didn't try to hide them. You
know, we sorrow. Don't be afraid to cry. Don't
be afraid to share your troubles and sorrows with others. You
know, Job complained about his sufferings, but he never complained
against God. He spoke about his sufferings
and he spoke about his trials, but he never spoke against God.
But he openly talked about his troubles and about his sorrows
and about his suffering. We sorrow, believers do, but
not as those who have no hope. Listen, in Job chapter 1, verse
20, if you have your Bible, open it there to Job 1 verse 20. After
all this had taken place, his children were gone, his health
was gone, his wealth was gone, his friends were gone. When all
this took place, it says here in Job 1 verse 20, then Job arose
and rent his clothing. That was a mark of great sorrow. They tore their mantles or tore
their cloaks or tore their clothes. Shaved his head and fell down
upon the ground and worshiped God and he said naked I came
out of my mother's womb and Naked I shall return the Lord gave
and the Lord had taken away Blessed be the name of the Lord and in
all this Job did not sing nor charge God with foolishness. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Sorrow and trouble ought to lead to worship. Ought to. It ought to lead us to praise
God. If we're happy, praise God. Or if we're sorrowful, praise
God. And like I said, Job spake against
his pain, but he never spake against God. Job spake against
his sorrow. He had a lot to say about the
sorrow that had overcome him and flooded him and broken him. But in all this, he never charged
God with foolishness. He never spoke against the providence
of God. David did that. That's right. Job never compared his lot with
others. Now listen to this. Job wept
openly. He was in great trouble and sorrow. His heart was broken. His body
was in extreme pain. And he let folks know about it
and talked it over with his friends. It came to comfort him. But he
never spoke against God. And he never spoke against the
good providence of God. And he never charged God with
foolishness. And he never compared his lot
with others. He said, naked, I came out of
this world, into this world, and naked, I'll leave this world
and God gave to me and God's taken away from me. Blessed be
the name of the Lord. He never made the mistake of
comparing his lot with others. Why'd you do this to me and not
to him? David did that. That's right. In Psalm 73, you
read it sometime, is a bad mistake. And God in his good providence
and in his sovereignty and purpose has recorded that Psalm 73 where
David complains because he was afflicted and other people weren't.
And he found out God taught him a lesson. He took him down to
the sanctuary and taught him a lesson. And David said, I was
dumb. I was dumb as a beast. I acted
so ugly in your presence, O Lord. That's Psalm 73, if you want
to read it sometime. Now, I want to show you several
things that I believe that Job learned during this time of great
trouble and sorrow. I think we learn more at that
time than we do in times of blessings and happiness. Lessons we need
to learn. These are lessons that Job learned
that we need desperately to learn. Will you listen to me and think
about these three or four things here? First of all, Job learned
in this time of sorrow, in time of great trial, in time of great
suffering, and some of you are going through some some deep
water right now, and some bad experiences, and the hand of
God is heavy upon you, and you're suffering, and your heart's broken,
and your body's in pain, and you're in the sunset years of
life. Job learned some things in his time of trouble. Let's
see if we can learn them. The first thing that Job learned
was this, the brevity. the brevity and frailty of this
life on earth. Here was a man in good health.
Here was a man with a wife and ten children. Here was a man
wealthy, had everything that a man could possibly want, and
suddenly, just like that, all ten children were dead, and it
appeared that he would soon die. He was covered over with boils
from head to foot. His health was gone. In fact,
when his friends came to see him, they didn't even recognize
him. He was so afflicted and so disfigured
and swollen, they didn't even recognize him. So he began to
talk about what? He began to talk about the brevity
of life. He began to talk about death.
He said, in a few years, I shall go the way from which I shall
not return. He learned this. in this time
of trouble. Job chapter 7, he said this,
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. You know what a weaver's
shuttle is? When I go to Mexico, we watch the weavers. They weave
these rugs and blankets and other things, and that shuttle just
goes like this, just faster than your eye almost, putting in those
rows of colored thread. And that's what Job was saying,
My days on earth are faster than a weaver's shuttle. He said,
My days on earth are like the wind. James says, like the vapor. And then in chapter 9, verse
25, Job says, My days are swifter than a post. That's the mail
carrier, the man that back then rode a horse or rode some kind
of animal and delivered the mail, and he'd ride to a certain point
and get a fresh horse and ride to another and get a fresh horse,
like that, you know. swifter than the post. They flee
away. My days pass away as a swift
ship driven by the wind, and my days pass away as an eagle
hasted to the prey." That's what he's learned. He's learned in
the death of his children and the loss of his health and this
great affliction that this life doesn't last long. He said here,
a man is born of a woman and is a few days few days, and full
of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower,
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow, and
continueth not. And the number of his months
are with God." Number of his what? Months. Why do we have
to wait for sickness to learn this? Why do we have to wait
for sorrow and trouble to learn this, that life is so fleeting? It's appointed unto men once
to die. Life is short. brief, at its longest, it's just
a few days. Why do we have to wait? Until
we're in the hospital with cancer or heart trouble or we're standing
over the dead form of a loved one, why do we have to wait to
find out that this is expected? It's the lot of all sons of Adam. We're going to die. So teach
me to number my days. that I may apply my heart to
wisdom." What kind of wisdom? To seek the Lord, to call upon
Him, to believe His Word, to find my way into the Scriptures,
to seek the way of God. Moses of old asked three things
that every one of us ought to be asking and asking right now. Lord, show me Your way. Go with me. If you don't go with
me, don't let me go. And thirdly, show me your glory."
We need to know His way. We need to have His presence
and to behold His glory. Why do we wait? Some of you sitting
out there listening to me, you've got white hair, your days are
far spent, the sun is setting, it's the end of the road, the
sand's almost gone out of the upper chamber in the glass. Well,
wait, no. Job learned the brevity of life.
I'll tell you something else he learned, too, secondly. Job
also learned the vanity of earthly possessions. Job was at one time
a very wealthy man, one of the most wealthy men of that area. He had great earthly possessions.
And now, just so quickly, he had nothing. It was all gone. He was sick, sorrowing, Empty. And he used the word naked. He
said, naked I came out of my mother's womb. That's where I
came into this world. That's where I'm going to live.
Without a thing. Naked. When a man's born, what
does he possess? Nothing. When a man dies, what
does he possess? Nothing. Then everything he possesses
here is temporary. Isn't that right? Vanity. That's what Solomon finally That's
the conclusion to which he came. Finally, vanity of vanities,
it's all vanity. The fashion of this world faded.
I had one brother. My brother was a brilliant, brilliant
young man. He went to the Naval Academy
during World War II. He went to the Merchant Marine
Academy. After the war, he received a commission from West Point.
He climbed rapidly in the service, lieutenant, first lieutenant,
captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel. He was in all of the
theaters. He was in all in NATO. He was
in all of these special places when he was recommended for brigadier
general. When a plane came in, he was
on the plane. Everybody stayed seated until the colonel got
off. Top of the world, possessions, everything, fame, influence. power, battalion commanders,
48 years of age, he died. As far as I know, he had no spiritual
interest. I couldn't tell if he did. As
far as I know, he didn't have any interest in the gospel or
interest in God. Now, where's all these things?
They're gone. They're gone. They were here
for the moment, a very brief moment. And then they're gone. Why don't we learn that? Job learned it. He said, naked
I came into this world and naked I'll be leaving it. But I'll
tell you what we need to learn. We need to learn that we don't
have to leave this world naked. That's right. We can leave this
world rich in grace. We can leave this world rich
in faith. We can leave this world with an inheritance in glory.
I came into this world broke, but I'm not leaving it broke.
I got treasures in glory. I've got an inheritance, he said,
that's incorruptible, undefiled, fated not away, reserved in heaven
for you who are kept by the power of God. That's right. I came into this world naked
as son of Adam, fallen and depraved. I'm leaving this world clothed
in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ." And he said, he
that believeth on him shall never be ashamed, shall never be found
naked. Why don't we learn that? That's,
you know, no use me pushing this pulpit back, walking up and down
in front of here, ranting and raving and take my coat off and
and sweat and yell and holler and do all these silly contortions.
What you need, my friend, is to hear God's Word, the truth
of God about these important matters. That's what you need
to hear. Preachers are entertaining. They're acting foolishly. They're claiming power they don't
have. They're drawing disciples after
themselves. They're building great monuments
to their own names. What we've got to do, people
have got to learn some things. They've got to learn who God
is. They've got to learn who they are. They've got to learn
the brevity and frailty of life. They've got to learn the vanity
of all these possessions. They're not worth anything. And
then Job learned this. He found, found out, he saw the
hand of God in all that he suffered. The hand of God. Now you listen
to me here. Many people read this passage, and they read about
Satan appearing before the Lord and accusing Job, and God said,
Have you considered my servant Job? And a lot of people would
say that Satan afflicted Job, and Satan took away his possessions,
and Satan took away his children. That's not so. Job knew better. Job knew better. Job said, The
Lord giveth, and the Lord hath taken away. You see, my friend,
Satan can't do anything without God's permission. You don't have
to fear Satan. Don't be afraid of them that
kill the body. Fear God. The beginning of wisdom is the
fear of the Lord. Satan had to have permission to touch Job.
Satan cannot, the devil, demons, or any other spirit, evil spirit,
cannot touch one of God's elect, one of God's sheep, one of God's
children without God's permission. He couldn't touch Peter without
God's permission. Our Lord said that to Peter.
He said, Peter, Satan hath desired thee that he might sift thee
as wheat. He can't touch you. You're a
child of God. Satan can't touch you. He doesn't send the wind
and the rain. God does. He doesn't send the
storm. God does. He doesn't send the trouble.
God does. God's the first cause of all things. Job didn't curse
the wind that killed his children. Job didn't curse the Sabaeans
who stole his cattle. Job didn't curse the Chaldeans
who brought this evil his way. He said God willed it. He said
the Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Anything that happens in a believer's
life happens by the will of God, for God's glory and our good.
Samuel, when his two sons died, you know what he said? It's the
Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good."
My friend, Satan is defeated. He met Christ and Christ conquered
him. Christ destroyed his power. He can't touch you. Will you
understand that? Job knew that. All of this trouble,
some of these preachers saying, boy, the devil's got a hold of
him. They don't know what they're talking about. Almighty God gave
these demons, this Satan, this wind, gave them permission to
afflict Job for Job's good and for our example and for God's
glory. The Lord gave and the Lord has
taken away. And then, last of all, Job learned this. He learned
not only God's the first cause of all things, but he learned
to give thanks even during the greatest trial. What did he do? What did Job do when they came
to him with all this bad news? He said he ran his mantle. He
showed his grief. He was a broken-hearted man.
And he worshipped. He fell down and worshipped God. And he said, Blessed be the name
of the Lord. He did not charge God with foolishness. Here's the key. I Thessalonians
5, 18. In everything, give thanks. This is the will of God for you. Lessons learned in trouble. Are
we learning? Are we good students? Are we
like Job? Can we praise the Lord at all
times? You want this message, write
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next week, God bless you.