4 Things Learned In the Time of Trouble

I'm going to speak to you today
on the subject, Four Things Learned in the Time of Trouble. Now if
you want to know something about trouble and severe trial and
sorrow, you turn to the book of Job. Job was a man of God
who was greatly troubled, perhaps as no other man in this world
has ever been tried. he was pride of God. Job lost
everything. I want to read you a few statements
that he made, first of all from the 16th chapter of Job, verse
11 and 12. Job said, God hath delivered
me to the ungodly, and God hath turned me over into the hands
of the wicked. I was at ease, but he hath broken
me asunder. He hath taken me by the neck
and shaken me to pieces. And then in the nineteenth chapter
of Job, writing about his sorrow and his trials, he said this,
God hath stripped me of my glory. God hath taken the crown from
my head. God hath destroyed me on every
side, and I am gone. All my friends hate me, and they
whom I love are turned against me. And then writing about his
trial and his sorrow, in chapter 23 he had this to say, I go forward
and God is not there, and I go backward and I cannot perceive
him, on the left hand I cannot behold him, he hideth himself
on the right hand and I cannot see him. Here was a man who was
greatly troubled and greatly tried of God. And yet there are
three things that are true of Job through these trials. Now
let's point them out and then we'll go into the heart of the
message, my subject. And I'd like you to listen to
this message carefully. My subject today is four things
that we should learn in time of trouble. But by way of introducing
the message and getting into the heart of the subject, Let
me point out three things about Job's troubles and his trials.
First of all, he didn't try to hide his sorrow. He didn't try
to hide his grief. He wept. It said, Job rent his
mantle, or tore his clothes, that was a sign of great grief,
and he shaved his head, and he wept before God. That's no sin
to mourn. It's no sin to weep. It's no
sin to sorrow. We sorrow as those, we do not
sorrow as those who have no hope, but we do sorrow. And God's people
are people with tender hearts. God takes away the heart of stone,
but he does not give us a heart of stone. And we're called upon
to bear the rod, and we feel it. We're called upon to bear
the burden and suffer trial, and we feel that burden. Paul
said that. He said, I have great heaviness
of heart. I have continual sorrow. This
was a man who knew God, who walked with God, and yet he wrote, I
have great sorrow and heaviness of heart for my brethren according
to the flesh. Peter said something about that.
He said, if need be, you are in heaviness through many or
manifold temptations or trials. And though we see the hand of
God and the purpose of God, and the providence of God in all
things that come into our lives, the good and the bad, the success
and the failures, yet we do not grow hard and callous against
these trials, we still feel the pain, we still carry the burden,
we still bear the sorrow, but not as those who have no hope.
So we see Job, when these trials came upon him, he He went into
great sorrow and mourning before God. He grieved. And the second
thing I notice is this. A believer's sorrow should be
sanctified by worship. Now when Job had received the
sad news of the destruction of everything that he had, all of
his camels, all of his oxen, all of his cattle, all of his
children, ten children had been killed all at the same time.
all of his possessions, when he received the news that all
of these things were gone, he rent his clothes, he shaved his
head, but he fell down and worshipped. He didn't murmur against God,
he didn't complain, he didn't find fault with the providence
of God, but he fell on his face. The scripture says he fell to
the ground and worshipped God. He didn't compare his lot with
others, he didn't say, well why is this happening to I've tried
to live right, I've tried to do right, I've tried to worship
God, and here's a man down the street who makes no pretense
at all of worshiping God, who never gives any of his time to
God, and yet he prospers, and he's getting along fine, and
his family's well and healthy. Now, God, why'd this happen to
me? Job didn't do that. He didn't murmur, he didn't complain,
he didn't find fault with the providence of God, and he didn't
compare his lot with someone else's, but it said he fell down
and worshipped. He didn't charge God foolishly,
that is, he didn't charge God with foolishness. He didn't complain
about injustice, but he worshipped. He worshipped. If grief presses
you to the ground, then worship right there. If sorrow and trial
has laid you low, then worship right there. If floods of sorrow
weigh you down, worship right there. Praise God. That's what
Job did. Now he wept. He felt every lash. He felt every pain. He felt every
burden. He felt every loss. And he grieved
and he mourned and he wept before God. But he did not murmur, nor
did he complain. He praised the Lord. He worshiped
God. Now the third thing. And this
will move us right into our text. Not only should the time of trouble
be a time of worship, but it should be a time of teaching.
It should be a time to learn. Job thought so. For if you look
carefully at verses 21 and 22, you'll find Job considering four
things. Now, David, if you read the book
of Psalms, you'll find David talk to himself. That's right.
He examined himself and he talked to himself. Here's an example
in Psalm 42 verse 5. David said, Why art thou cast
down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? He's asking himself that question. That's scriptural.
The Bible says let a man examine himself whether he be in the
faith. Examine yourself. Know ye not your own self? Give
diligence to make your calling and election sure. When you come
to the Lord's table, examine yourself. Do you properly discern
the broken bread? Do you properly understand the
shed blood? Do you understand these things?
Do you discern the Lord's body? Examine yourself. And David did
that. He said, Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? Why art thou disquieted in me? Hope in God. There's no reason
for you to be downcast and despondent and depressed, hoping God. Why,
he said, I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
And here's Job, weeping, broken, burdened, and yet worshiping
God. And while he's worshiping God,
he's learning something. And Job learned four things through
this terrible experience. The scripture tells us that A
messenger came running in and said, the Sabaeans fell upon
your oxen and your donkeys and your property and destroyed them
and killed your servants and everything's gone. I'm the only
one who escaped. And while he was yet speaking,
another one came running in and said, well, the Chaldeans fell
upon your camels and upon your cattle and all your servants
and they're all dead. And I'm the only one who's escaped,
to tell you." And while he was yet speaking, another messenger
ran in and said, your seven sons and three daughters were all
having a party at your oldest boy's house, and a tornado came
and tore the house down, and they're every one dead. I'm the
only one who's escaped, to tell you. And the Scripture says,
Job rent his clothes and shaved his head and fell down and worshiped
God and said, I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall
I return thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
And in all of this, and in all of this, Job charged God not
with being foolish or being unjust. Now, there are four things that
Job learned, and I need to learn them and you need to learn And
it's good if we can learn them without terrible trial, but usually
we can't. But here's the four things to
learn in time of trouble. Number one, Job learned the extreme
brevity of human life, how short it is. He said, naked I came
out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither.
In other words, he's saying, I came and I shall return. I came from the womb of mother
earth, and I shall return. Dust thou art, to dust returneth."
This was Job's idea of life. I came, and I shall go. I heard
an interesting story last week while I was away in a meeting.
Said a man was standing on the corner, just standing there enjoying
the view, enjoying the sunshine, and he was an elderly man, A
friend walked up to him, and they were talking, and the friend
said, Say, I've got a question. What is life? What is life? And the old man stood there for
a moment and just looked at him, and then he turned and walked
away. Well, the next day, the friend met this old gentleman,
and he said, Say, he said, Yesterday I asked you a question, and you
didn't answer me. And the old man said, oh, but
friend, I did answer your question. I did. The friend said, no, you
didn't. You didn't answer my question.
I asked you the question, what is life? And you were here, and
then in a moment, you were gone. And the old man said, that was
my answer. You asked me what was life, and
that's what life is. We're here for the moment, and
then we're gone. My friends, I see life as a procession. I see life as a procession. I see my family and my friends
as they walk by. They come, they're here, and
many of them are gone. And others come on behind them.
And they're here, and they're gone. And then new ones come
along, and they're here. But the difficult thing for us
to see, you and me too, It's difficult for us to see ourselves
in that procession. We see our friends come, and
they die, and they're gone. You know, Job said, man that
is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh
forth like a flower, blooming today, enjoyed today, fragrant
today, tomorrow he's gone. He cometh forth like a shadow,
he fleeth, and continueth not. This is life. I came, Job said,
and I shall leave. I came, I'm here for a moment,
and then I shall be gone. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after that the judgment. Our Lord said, this is an appointment
that every person must keep, the appointment to die. And you
and I are marching, and our hearts are beating. Someone said, a
funeral march to the grave. Life is so short, so brief. And Job learned that. He said,
naked I came, and naked I shall return. Now, the second thing
he learned. Job learned, secondly, the frailty
of earthly possessions. Naked I came out of my mother's
womb. I had nothing. And naked I shall
return. Job had nothing when he was born.
Nothing at all. Nothing at all to his name. But
he lived to accumulate great wealth. He lived to accumulate
great possessions. He lived to accumulate a large
family, and now here he is with nothing. It's all gone. Naked. Naked. Naked I came, and
naked I shall return. Why is it so difficult for you
and me to learn that all of Earth's possessions and all of Earth's
relationships are temporary, Why is it so hard for us to learn
that these things are not ours to keep? They're loaned to us
for a little while. We can enjoy them for a little
while, but they're not permanent possessions. They're just ours
for the brief time, not even the whole time that we're here.
We have to surrender many of them even before the end of life.
But naked I came, and naked I shall return. The rich young ruler
was lying on his bed one night, contemplating his great riches.
And he considered his fields, his corn and fields of wheat
and fields of grain, and he said, Now I think tomorrow I'll lay
plans to tear down these barns that I have. They're all full
anyway, and they're too small. I think I'll just tear down these
barns and build bigger barns because I'm going to have a good
harvest this year, and I'll build some bigger barns to take care
of all these things that I possess. But the Lord said to him, Thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, and then
who shall these things be that you've accumulated? Who shall
they be? Naked I came out of my mother's
womb, and naked I shall return. I came with nothing, and that's
the way I'm going to leave. And these things that I accumulate
here on this earth is just like so much clay that we accumulate
on our feet walking through a fresh, freshly plowed field. Did you
ever walk through a field that's just been plowed, muddy? And
as you walked through, you started out walking pretty good, but
the more you walked, the more stuff you got, the clay you got
accumulated on your feet, and that makes it harder and harder
to walk. There was a fellow sitting one time, a believer, a man who
knew God. was sitting in his living room
one day, his pastor was there visiting with him, and his friends
were sitting around, his children, and his wife, and his grandchildren,
and he had good health, and everything was going his way. He just was
living comfortably and luxuriously, and had his family, and his children,
his wife, and his pastor, and his brethren, and all his friends
there in his home, and they were having such a nice visit, and
the man got real quiet. And in a moment he looked at
his pastor, and this is what he said. Ah, pastor, these are
the things that make it hard to die. These are the things
that make it hard to die. Well, God made it easier for
Job, didn't he? He took these things away. And
it may be that God will have to do that to one of us in order
to teach us to put the right emphasis on the right things,
to order our affections aright. Paul wrote in Colossians 3 verse
1, if you be risen with Christ, set your affections on things
above, not on things of this earth. Nothing you have and no
relationship that you enjoy here on this earth will abide. It's all going to pass away.
I'm not talking about the relationship we have in Christ. I'm talking
about these earthly relationships. And these things are frail, they're
but soap bubbles, they're but toys, and Job one day had everything. Good health, big family, wealth,
possessions, and the next day he was totally naked. He had
nothing. And he learned the frailty of
earthly possessions. The third thing, I want you to
get this. Job saw the hand of God in everything. He said, the
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. The Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away. Listen to the book of 1 Samuel,
chapter 2, verse 6 through 8. The Lord killeth, the Lord maketh
alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
He bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, the Lord
maketh rich. The Lord bringeth low, the Lord
lifteth up. The Lord raised up the poor out
of the dust and the beggar out of the dunghill. Job didn't look
at his fine clothes and his big house and his large fields and
his cattle and say, I earned all this. He said, the Lord gave
it. He didn't look at all these possessions
and say, this is the product of hard work. That's what proud
human nature says. I'm a self-made man. I did all
this, I deserve this, I earned it, I applied myself. No, he
didn't. He said the Lord gave. That's
the lesson he learned, the Lord gave. All that I have physically,
good health, happiness, all that I have materially is the gift
of God. And all that you have is the
gift of God. I don't care if you're a believer
or unbeliever, if you're a church member or a non-church goer,
if you believe in God or you're an atheist, the earth is the
Lord's. and the fullness thereof, the
world and they that dwell therein. The cattle on a thousand hills
belongs to him." You're just borrowing it for what? You're
just using it. God gave it to you. God Almighty
gave it. Who maketh thee to differ? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now, if you received
it, why do you brag and boast as if you didn't receive it?
God gave it. The Lord gave, Job said. Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from the Lord. All that I
have spiritually is the gift of God. My Savior is the gift
of God. For God so loved the world, He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should
not perish, but have eternal life. And this is eternal life,
that you might know God and Jesus Christ, whom He had sent. And
this is the record. God had given us eternal life.
And the gift of God is eternal life. The wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God. Repentance is the gift of God.
Paul wrote, the goodness of God led you to repentance. God had
granted repentance to the Gentiles. Faith's the gift of God. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself.
It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Faith is the gift of God. He's that author and finisher
of our faith. He's the author of it. It originated
with Him. He gave it. He's the source of
faith. He's the object of faith. God Almighty gave His Son to
die for our sins. All that I have physically, all
that I have materially, all that I have spiritually is the gift
of God Almighty, the Lord gave. And Job learned that the Lord
taketh away. Now here's something you need
to hear. The Sabaeans fell upon the ox
and the asses and destroyed them and the servants. The Chaldeans
made off with the camels and with the cattle. The Tornado
killed his children. Now you know what response you
and I would have given to that, you know the response old human
nature would have made? Oh, those wicked Sabeans. Let's
get an army together and trail them and track them and find
them and destroy them. Oh, those wicked Chaldeans. They
shouldn't be allowed to live on this earth. Let's find them
and murder them like they murdered my servants. Oh, that terrible
wind, that horrible wind. I heard a preacher say on television
one day, He said, now these tornadoes and hurricanes and disasters,
God's not in that. Now don't you ever think that
for a moment. God is the first cause of all
things. There may be second causes and
may be third causes and fourth causes, but there's nothing that
takes place in this earth and in this universe. that's not
under the hand of God Almighty and in the permissive will of
God Almighty. God didn't go off somewhere and
open him an office and let this world go to hell. Almighty God's
the first cause of all things. He hasn't deserted his creation. He's the Lord of creation. And
all things are in the permissive or directive will of God. Yes,
Satan was the second cause. He brought these things to pass.
because God turned Job over to Satan. He said, now he's in your
hand, but don't you put your hand on him. Do what you want
to with his property and with his possession, but don't touch
him. And then God turned Job over to Satan and said, all right,
you can afflict him, but you can't kill him. You see, God's
the first cause of all things. And that's what Job said. He
said, he learned. He learned the Lord giveth and
the Lord hath taken away. If you can learn that, you can
find some comfort. And you learn that in the darkest valley, you
can find some joy. If you learn that in the deepest
trial, you can praise God. Aaron did. If you'll read Leviticus
10.3, you'll find that his sons brought strange fire and burned
it before the Lord, and God slew them. And the Scripture says
in Leviticus 10.3, Aaron held his peace because God did it. He kept his mouth shut because
God did it. And then David said in Psalm
39, 9, when he went through a great catastrophe, he said, I open
not my mouth, because God did it. And then when God told Samuel
that he was going to destroy Eli's family, Eli said, well
it's the Lord, let him do what he will. Now that's the place
for us to come if we believe in God. It's the Lord, let him
do what he will. Now the fourth thing. Job learned
the brevity of life. Job learned the frailty of earthly
possessions. Job learned the Lord giveth and
the Lord taketh away. And then Job saw that the Lord
was to be praised in all things. He said, Blessed be the name
of the Lord. God is to be praised in a wedding
or a funeral. God is to be praised in birth
or death. God is to be praised in sickness
or health. God is to be praised in success
or failure. God is to be praised in poverty
or plenty. God is to be praised in summer
or winter. If you'll read 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 18, you'll find Paul saying this. He said, in everything
give thanks. In everything give thanks. For
this is the will of God concerning you. Give thanks. It doesn't
matter if it's a severe blow or if it's a touch of prosperity. Thank God for it. Because that's
the will of God for you at that present time. Do you want the
will of God done? It's going to be done, but do
you want it done? Our Lord said, when you pray,
whatsoever you ask in my name, according to my will, it shall
be done. And you can't pray the prayer
that the Lord gave to the disciples without closing it this way.
Thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven.
Right? Thy will be done. All right?
Then when something comes to pass in your life, whether you
understand it or not, whether it's good or bad, whether you
can appreciate it or not, praise the Lord. Give thanks, because
this is the will of God for you. In time of sorrow, go ahead and
weep. Cry your eyes out. Mourn before
God. God didn't give you a hard heart,
but a tender heart. But Times of trouble is a time
for worship, praising the Lord. And it's a time to learn something.
And it's a time to learn that this life will soon be over.
And all these things we have in our grasp now, we've got to
let go of them sooner or later. And the Lord gave them anyway
that he is to take when he pleases. And in all of this, Job didn't
charge God with foolishness, but he praised the Lord. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. You want this message on cassette
tape. You write to me. The address
will be given at the close of the broadcast. And there's two
sermons on each one of these tapes, and we'd be happy to send
them to you for a small charge. You write to me. The address
is to follow. Till next week, I bid you a very
pleasant good day.

4 Things Learned In the Time of Trouble

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4 Things Learned In the Time of Trouble

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