FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

TITLE: SUFFERING AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

TEXT: JOB 1&2

INTRODUCTION: (1) MANY TIMES, WE AS BELIEVERS WRESTLE WITH THE QUESTION WHY?

* WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME? WHY DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH SO MANY TRIALS? WHY DOES IT NEVER SEEM TO LET UP?

** AND AS WE WRESTLE WITH THOSE QUESTIONS, WE START TO WONDER ABOUT SOME THINGS LIKE:

*** WHY DID SO & SO DIE AT SUCH AN EARLY AGE? WHY HAVE I LOST MY HEALTH OR WHY AM I ALWAYS SICK? WHY AM I BROKE ALL THE TIME? WHY DID GOD ALLOW OUR BABY TO DIE?

**** WHY DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO SUFFER WHEN IT APPEARS THAT THE UNGODLY DO NOT? WHY WAS I EVEN BORN? AND ON AND ON.

(2) AND MY POINT IS, THE QUESTION WHY MANY TIMES IS ON OUR MINDS AS BELIEVERS. IN FACT, SOMETIMES WE WONDER IF GOD IS REALLY JUST AND REALLY IN CONTROL.

* I MEAN WHY DO THE RIGHTEOUS SUFFER IF GOD IS LOVING AND ALL POWERFUL? HOW CAN SUFFERING BE CONSISTENT WITH A SOVEREIGN GOD?

* RAY, SOMETHING SEEMS OUT OF WHACK, SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT, WHY DOES GOD ALLOW ALL THIS SUFFERING?

** AND SOMETIMES WE EVEN THINK, MAYBE WE’RE EVEN BEING PUNISHED FOR OUR SINS, AND THAT ALL AFFLICTION AND SUFFERING IS CHASTISEMENT FOR SIN. AND SO AND SO IS JUST GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES OR I’M GETTING WHAT I DESERVE.

(3) AND I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT ALL KINDS OF THINGS GO THROUGH OUR MINDS WHEN IT COMES TO SUFFERING AND WHY. ALL KINDS OF THINGS.

* BUT THE KEY TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHY AND WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR SUFFERING COME FROM AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHO OUR GOD IS AND UNDERSTANDING HIS WAYS COMMUNICATED IN SCRIPTURE.

** IT COMES FROM KNOWING GOD THROUGH HIS WORD AND WALKING WITH HIM AND COMMUNING WITH HIM.

*** AND WHEN WE START TO KNOW GOD AND UNDERSTAND HIS WAYS, THERE CAN BE A CONFIDENT TRUST IN HIS CONTROL AND DECISIONS THAT HE IS JUST AND HOLY AND THAT HE DOES EVERYTHING RIGHT.

**** THE PROBLEM IS WE DON’T KNOW OUR GOD AS WE SHOULD AND AS A RESULT WE DO NOT TRUST HIM FULLY.

(4) BUT ALSO, WE NEED TO COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT EVEN THOUGH ALL SICKNESS AND AFFLICTION ARE UNDER GOD’S CONTROL AND ARE PART OF HIS PURPOSES. IT IS NOT TRUE THEY ARE ALL CHASTISEMENT FOR SIN.

* AND YES SOME AFFLICTION IS DEFINITELY CHASTISEMENT FOR SIN AND IS SENT TO BRING US TO REPENTANCE AND EFFECT SPECIFIC CHANGE IN US; HOWEVER, THAT IS NOT TRUE ALL OF THE TIME.

** DO NOT THINK THAT EVERY TIME YOU SUFFER AND ARE AFFLICTED THAT YOU ARE BEING CHASTISED FOR SIN, FOR SOMETIMES GOD ORDAINS AND ALLOWS HIS PEOPLE TO SUFFER JUST TO DEMONSTRATE THE POWER OF HIS GRACE.

*** SO THE KEY TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SUFFERING AND THE REASON FOR SUFFERING IS COMING TO KNOW OUR SOVEREIGN GOD AND HIS WAYS. HOW HE WORKS AND REALIZING THAT ALL SUFFERING IS NOT CHASTISEMENT.

(5) AND TO ME THERE IS A BOOK IN THE BIBLE THAT CLEARLY HELPS US TO COME TO THIS UNDERSTANDING AND IT’S THE BOOK OF JOB.

* FOR THE BOOK OF JOB TELLS THE STORY OF A MAN WHO LOSES EVERYTHING – HIS WEALTH, HIS FAMILY, HIS HEALTH, AND WRESTLES WITH THE QUESTIONS WHY?

** AND THE BOOK BEGINS WITH A HEAVENLY DEBATE BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN AND MOVES THROUGH 3 CYCLES, 3 ROUNDS OR EARTHLY DEBATES BETWEEN JOB AND HIS FRIENDS, AND CONCLUDES WITH A DRAMATIC “DIVINE DIAGNOSIS” OF JOB’S PROBLEM.

(6) AND BELOVED, IN THE END JOB ACKNOWLEDGES THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN HIS SUFFERING AND IN HIS LIFE AND RECEIVES MORE THAN HE HAD BEFORE HIS TRIALS.

* AND BECAUSE OF THAT I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE THIS MORNING SUFFERING AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.

** AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 5 THINGS – NO. 1 JOB’S TRAITS; NO. 2 JOB’S TRIAL; NO. 3 JOB TRUE; NO. 4 JOB TESTED; AND NO. 5 JOB’S TRIUMPH.

*** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE IN MIND LOOK AT JOB 1:1 WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE JOB’S TRAITS.

I. JOB’S TRAITS, (READ VV. 1:1&8 AND 2:3)

A. NOW 3 GODLY CHARACTERISTICS WERE GIVEN ABOUT JOB AS WE EXAMINE HIS TRAITS. NO. 1 HE WAS BLAMELESS AND UPRIGHT. AND THESE TWO THINGS GO TOGETHER.

* NOW AS WE LOOK AT THESE TRAITS, THEY DO NOT MEAN THAT JOB WAS PERFECT OR SINLESS FOR THE KJV USES THE WORDS PERFECT AND UPRIGHT.

** BUT WHAT IT MEANS IS JOB WAS SPIRITUALLY MATURE, CLEAN, YOU COULDN’T POINT A FINGER AT HIM FOR SINFUL PATTERNS, HE WAS BLAMELESS THAT WAY.

*** BUT ALSO HE WAS UPRIGHT WHICH LIT. MEANS HE WAS A STRAIGHT ARROW OR WALKED A STRAIGHT PATH, HE LIT. TOWED THE LINE FOR THE LORD, THAT WAS THE PATTERN OF HIS LIFE THAT MADE HIM BLAMELESS. AND THEY GO HAND IN HAND.

1. NOW A SECOND CHARACTERISTIC WAS THAT HE FEARED GOD.

* AND THAT MEANS JOB HAD A REVERENTIAL TRUST IN GOD WITH HATRED FOR EVIL, HE HAD A REVERENCE FOR GOD, HE REVERED GOD AND REALIZED THAT GOD WAS CONSTANTLY WATCHING AND EVALUATING EVERYTHING HE SAID, EVERYTHING HE THOUGHT AND EVERYTHING HE DID.

* AND THAT’S A GOOD DEFINITION OF THE FEAR OF GOD, AND FOR JOB HAVING THE FEAR OF GOD IN HIS LIFE LED TO A THIRD CHARACTERISTIC, HE TURNED AWAY FROM EVIL.

2. AND WHEN YOU FEAR GOD YOU TURN AWAY FROM EVIL. YOU LIT. SHUN EVIL, YOU AVOID EVIL, YOU WITHDRAW FROM IT, YOU ACTUALLY HATE EVIL AND WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. YOU SEE EVIL AND SIN AS AN OFFENSE TO A HOLY GOD, PROVERBS 8:13.

* SO JOB WAS BLAMELESS AND UPRIGHT, FEARING GOD AND TURNING AWAY FROM EVIL. AND FROM THESE CHARACTERISTICS WE SEE THAT HE WAS A GODLY MAN, HE WAS A PATTERN.

** AND WHAT I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND FROM JOB’S TRAITS IS THE AFFLICTIONS SENT TO JOB HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH CHASTISEMENT FOR SIN. HE WAS WALKING WITH GOD.

3. AND AGAIN AS I SAID EARLIER ALL SUFFERING AND AFFLICTION ARE NOT CHASTISEMENT, SOMETIMES GOD ORDAINS AND ALLOWS HIS PEOPLE TO SUFFER JUST TO DEMONSTRATE THE POWER OF HIS GRACE.

* IN FACT LET ME SAY RIGHT HERE THAT IT IS WRONG FOR A CHRISTIAN TO EVER FEEL THAT GOD IS “GETTING EVEN” AND PUNISHING HIM WHEN SUFFERING COMES, THAT’S MISUNDERSTANDING OUR FATHER.

** FOR YOU SEE GOD ONLY PUNISHES SIN IN ONE OF TWO PLACES.

* ** HE EITHER PUNISHED IT IN CHRIST FOR HIS OWN, HIS ELECT ON THE CROSS, AND THE PENAL DEBT IS TOTALLY PAID, OR ELSE HE PUNISHES IT IN THE SINNER IN HELL. (IT’S ONE OF THOSE TWO – ON THE CROSS OR IN HELL).

4. AND GET THIS, EVEN WHEN AFFLICTION COMES INTO OUR LIVES AS CHASTISEMENT, IT IS NEVER PENAL, THAT IS FROM GOD AS JUDGE, BUT THE CHASTISEMENT IS ALWAYS REMEDIAL, THAT IS FROM A LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER TO CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR, READ HEBREWS 12:6, PROVERBS 3:11&12, JOB 5:17.

* AND DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER TEACHES US THROUGH AFFLICTION, BUT HE NEVER PUNISHES US, WHEN THERE IS SIN HE CHASTISES FOR CHANGE, FOR OUR OWN BENEFIT NOT IN VENGEANCE, FOR OUR SIN WAS TAKEN CARE OF ON THE CROSS. CHRIST TOOK OUR PUNISHMENT, OUR JUDGMENT.

** AND GETTING BACK TO JOB, JOB WAS WALKING WITH GOD, SO HIS SUFFERING WAS NOT FOR CHASTISEMENT FOR SIN.

*** IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING HE DID. CHAPTER 2 VERSE 3 SAYS AND HE STILL HOLDS FAST HIS INTEGRITY, ALTHOUGH YOU INCITED ME AGAINST HIM, TO RUIN HIM, WITHOUT CAUSE IN ANYTHING HE DID. SO JOB’S TRAITS ARE GODLY.

- NOW WITH THAT IN MIND LET’S MOVE ON TO OUR 2’D POINT THIS MORNING, JOB’S TRIAL. LOOK AT VV. 6-12 OF CHAPTER 1.

II. JOB’S TRIAL, (READ VV. 6-12)

A. NOW IN VV. 6-12 WE SEE A DIALOGUE BETWEEN SATAN AND GOD INVOLVING A CHALLENGE BY GOD AND A COUNTERCHALLENGE BY SATAN.

* AND IN V. 10 IT IS OBVIOUS THAT JOB IS SECURELY IN GOD’S HANDS, GOD HAD PUT A HEDGE AROUND JOB, HIS FAMILY AND ALL THAT HE HAD.

** AND SATAN USES THAT REALITY AND THROWS IT UP TO GOD THAT JOB SERVES YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE MADE HIM PROSPEROUS, YOU’VE BUILT A HEDGE ABOUT HIM, “GOD, JOB SERVES YOU FOR WHAT HE CAN GET.”

*** AND WHO WOULDN’T? JOB HAS A GRAVY TRAIN; HE HAS IT MADE IN THE SHADE.

1. SO IN V. 11 SATAN CHALLENGES GOD TO “PUT FORTH YOUR HAND (GOD’S HAND) AND TOUCH ALL THAT HE HAS AND JOB WILL CURSE YOU.”

* WELL, GOD RESPONDS BY SAYING, “ALL THAT HE HAS IS IN YOUR (SATAN’S) POWER; ONLY UPON HIM PUT NOT FORTH YOUR HAND.

** NOW THE QUESTION COMES UP WHOSE HAND IS JOB IN, SATAN’S OR GOD’S? WELL, IT NOW APPEARS THAT JOB IS IN SATAN’S HAND.

2. BUT IN REALITY IF YOU UNDERSTAND VV. 10-12 YOU SEE THAT JOB IS IN BOTH THE HAND OF GOD AND THE HAND OF SATAN.

* HOWEVER, YOU MUST ALSO SEE THAT THE HAND OF GOD IS OVER SATAN’S HAND, FOR SATAN’S HAND CAN ONLY DO WHAT GOD’S HAND ALLOWS TO BE DONE.

** GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. GOD IS STILL REGULATING THE AFFAIRS OF THIS SITUATION.

*** AND GET THIS, IN REALITY; JOB IS JUST AS MUCH IN THE HAND OF GOD WHEN SATAN IS GOING AFTER HIM AS HE WAS BEFORE.

**** THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE DEGREE TO WHICH GOD HAS CHOSEN TO LET DOWN THE HEDGE THAT HE HAD PLACED AROUND JOB. (GOD IS SOVEREIGN).

3. NOW THE ACTUAL TRIAL IS FOUND IN VV. 13-19 AND WE’LL NOT TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT THIS MORNING FOR TIME’S SAKE.

* BUT LET ME SAY IN LESS THAN 60 SECONDS, FOR IN VV. 16-18 THE PHRASE “WHILE HE WAS STILL SPEAKING” WAS USED 3 TIMES. JOB LEARNS THAT HE IS BANKRUPT OF EVERYTHING.

** HE LOST HIS POSSESSIONS AND MOST OF HIS SERVANTS. AND IMAGINE LOSING ALL YOUR WORLDLY GOODS WHICH REMINDS US THAT THINGS SHOULD NOT BE OUR SECURITY, OUR SECURITY BETTER BE IN CHRIST, OUR ECONOMY IS SO VOLATILE.

4. BUT NOT ONLY DID JOB LOSE HIS POSSESSIONS, IT SAYS BEFORE THE THIRD MAN HAD FINISHED SPEAKING, A FOURTH SERVANT RUNS UP WITH THE NEWS THAT ALL OF JOB’S CHILDREN HAD DIED WHEN A GREAT WIND HAD DESTROYED THE HOUSE IN WHICH THEY WERE FEASTING.

* BELOVED JOB LOSES HIS CHILDREN, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, ALL HIS POSSESSIONS ARE GONE AND HIS CHILDREN ARE DEAD.

** HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND? HOW WOULD YOU REACT? TO GET ALL THAT AT ONCE. WELL JOB’S RESPONSE IS FOUND IN VV. 20-22 WHICH IS MY THIRD POINT THIS MORNING, JOB TRUE.

III. JOB TRUE, (READ VV. 20-22)

A. NOW JOB’S INITIAL RESPONSE IS WORSHIP, CONTENTMENT, TRUST AND SELF-CONTROL. JOB IS A TROPHY OF THE GRACE OF GOD. FOR HOW ELSE CAN YOU EXPLAIN HIS RESPONSE?

* I THINK SOME OF US WOULD HAVE GONE CRAZY. BUT JOB KNEW THAT GOD WAS IN CONTROL, HE KNEW GOD, HE TRUSTED HIM EVEN THOUGH I’M SURE HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON.

** AND I WANT YOU TO NOTICE THAT JOB NEVER MENTIONS SATAN. JOB ATTRIBUTES IT ALL TO THE HAND OF GOD.

1. GOD HAD GIVEN ALL OF THE SHEEP, OXEN, CAMELS, AND DONKEYS TO JOB, AND JOB SAID, “THE SAME GOD HAS CHOSEN TO TAKE THEM ALL AWAY.”

* BUT RAY, WHAT ABOUT HIS CHILDREN? WELL, JOB STATES IN ESSENCE THAT BOTH THEIR BIRTH AND THEIR DEATH WAS FROM THE HAND OF GOD, THE LORD GAVE AND THE LORD TOOK AWAY.

** AND JOB MAINTAINS HIS CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S SOVEREIGN CONTROL AND HIS COVENANT PROMISE, EVEN WHEN HIS PERSONAL WORLD IS DESTROYED.

2. AND LET ME ADD A QUICK FOOTNOTE RIGHT HERE. JOB HAD NO KNOWLEDGE WHAT WAS GOING ON BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN IN HEAVEN, HE COULD NOT READ CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO AS WE CAN, WHEN THE BIBLE TAKES US BEHIND THE SCENES OF WHAT IS HAPPENING.

* JOB HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT HIS HEART WAS BEING USED IN A WAR BETWEEN SATAN AND GOD. JOB DID NOT AND COULD NOT HAVE ANY LOGICAL, RATIONAL OR EVEN THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATION FOR WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO HIM.

** ALL HE HAD WAS CONFIDENCE IN A SOVEREIGN, HOLY GOD WHO HE HAD WALKED WITH FOR MANY YEARS.

*** SO IN ROUND ONE, CHAPTER 1, THE STRUGGLE WENT TO THE POWER OF THE GRACE OF GOD. JOB MAINTAINED HIS FAITH AND INTEGRITY.

**** BUT ROUND 2 BEGINS IN CHAPTER WHICH WE’LL START TO SEE IN OUR 4TH POINT THIS MORNING, JOB TESTED. JOB IS TESTED AGAIN. LOOK AT CHAPTER 2:1.

IV. JOB TESTED, (READ 2:1-10)

A. NOW SATAN IS STILL CONVINCED THAT JOB IS A HYPOCRITE. SO SATAN BLAMES GOD FOR BEING UNFAIR IN THE CONTEST BY PROTECTING JOB FROM PERSONAL PHYSICAL PAIN.

* SATAN’S RATIONALE WAS: IT’S ONE THING TO LOSE THINGS AND SEE OTHER PEOPLE SUFFER PHYSICALLY, BUT IT IS QUITE ANOTHER TO EXPERIENCE UNRELENTING PAIN IN YOUR OWN LIFE NIGHT AND DAY.

** AND AGAIN NOTE IN V. 5 THAT SATAN, SPEAKING TO GOD SAYS, “STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND AND STRIKE HIS FLESH AND BONES? AND IN V. 6 GOD RESPONDS AND SAYS TO SATAN, “VERY WELL, THEN, HE JOB IS IN YOUR HAND, BUT YOU MUST SPARE HIS LIFE.”

1. AND WHAT HAPPENS IS GOD LOWERS THE HEDGE A LITTLE MORE, BUT CLEARLY SETS THE LIMITS. IT IS STILL GOD’S HAND THAT IS IN CONTROL, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE HAND OF SATAN IS THE AGENT OF AFFLICTION.

* BELOVED ULTIMATELY IT WAS GOD WHO MOVED AGAINST JOB WITHOUT ANY REASON IN JOB, THE SUFFERING WAS IN NO WAY CONNECTED WITH ANY SIN IN JOB.

** JOB WAS BEING USED AS A “TEST MODEL” WITHOUT ANY KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

*** BUT JOB WAS DEMONSTRATING AND PROVING THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S GRACE UNDER UNEXPLAINED AFFLICTIONS AND BELOVED THERE ARE TIMES WHEN EVERYTHING COLLAPSES AROUND US AND WE HAVE NOTHING LEFT BUT GOD HIMSELF!!

**** AND ALTHOUGH OUR HEARTS ARE BREAKING, ULTIMATELY HE IS ALL WE NEED!

***** AND WE MUST HANG ON TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS CHARACTER AND HIS PROMISES, IN THAT HE IS FAITHFUL AND TRUE AND THAT HIS WORD IS TRUE.

***** AND JOB DIDN’T HAVE THE WRITTEN REVELATION LIKE WE HAVE. READ I CORINTHIANS 10:13, ROMANS 8:28&29, I PETER 4:12&13&19, JAMES 1:2-4, I PETER 1:8.

- THEN IN GENESIS 18:25B ABRAHAM’S SAYS TO THE LORD GOD, “SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DEAL JUSTLY?”

2. AND IN REALITY, WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN ADVANTAGE OVER JOB, WE HAVE THE COMPLETE REVELATION OF GOD.

* BUT HE WAS TRUE UP TO THIS POINT. AND JOB IS AFFLICTED WITH BOILS THAT COVERED HIM FROM HEAD TO FOOT. AND HE SAT AMONG THE ASHES BECAUSE IT WAS THE SOFTEST THING HE COULD FIND AND SCRAPES OFF THE SECRETION FROM THE BOILS WITH A PIECE OF BROKEN POTTERY. HE WAS SUFFERING.

** BUT THE SUFFERING CONTINUES IN VV. 9&10, IT COMES FROM THE HAND OF JOB’S WIFE, NORMALLY OUR CLOSEST AND MOST INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP ON EARTH.

** SHE SAID, “JOB DO YOU STILL HOLD FAST YOUR INTEGRITY? CURSE GOD AND DIE!” AND OH HOW THAT MUST HAVE HURT AND MAYBE THIS WAS THE GREATEST PAIN HE FELT UP TO THIS TIME.

3. FOR IN ESSENCE, JOB’S WIFE WAS SAYING, “ARE YOU TELLING ME JOB THAT YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT GOD IS IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THESE AFFLICTIONS?”

* “I WOULD NOT LOVE AND SERVE A GOD LIKE THAT!”

** AND YOU KNOW WHAT, FEW PEOPLE WOULD HAVE THE COURAGE TO VERBALIZE WHAT THEY FELT THE WAY JOB’S WIFE DID, BUT THEY ARE IN BASIC AGREEMENT: “I WILL TRUST AND LOVE GOD AS LONG AS HE GIVES ME WHAT I WANT TO BE HAPPY.” WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN, WHEN THINGS GO MY WAY.

*** BUT IF HE THROWS IN THAT KIND OF SUFFERING, THEN I AM NOT ABOUT TO TRUST HIM! AND SOMETIMES SATAN THROWS THAT INTO OUR MINDS. WELL, JOB’S WIFE VERBALIZED IT.

4. AND IN FAIRNESS TO JOB’S WIFE, REMEMBER THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE CARE OF JOB AND LISTEN TO HIS COMPLAINING FOR IN CHAPTER 3 JOB WILL START TO ASK WHY IN VERSES 11, 12, 20 AND 23.

* BUT ALSO REMEMBER THAT ALL OF THOSE CHILDREN THAT DIED WERE ALSO HER FLESH AND BLOOD, HER CHILDREN THAT SHE WENT THROUGH CHILDBIRTH FOR.

** AND ALL THAT LOST WEALTH WAS EQUALLY HERS. SO SHE WAS GOING THROUGH A GREAT TRIAL ALSO.

*** BUT NOTICE JOB’S RESPONSE IN V. 10 TO HER, IT WAS CLASSIC, SHALL WE ACCEPT GOOD FROM WHO? GOD. AND NOT ACCEPT TROUBLE FROM WHO? GOD. IN OTHER WORDS GOD GAVE US THE GOOD AND GOD GAVE US THE BAD AND IN CHAPTER 13:15 JOB SAYS: (READ IT).

5. AND BELOVED MY POINT IS JOB KNEW THAT GOD HAS SENT EVERY ONE OF THE AFFLICTIONS AND GOD MUST HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR DOING SO EVEN IF JOB COULD NOT FATHOM THOSE REASONS.

* JOB TRUSTED IN THE SOVEREIGN GOD. GOD DOESN’T PROMISE HEALTH, WEALTH AND PROSPERITY. HE PROMISES GRACE, HE PROMISES HIS PRESENCE, HIS STRENGTH.

* AND LET ME SAY QUICKLY AGAIN FOR TIMES SAKE THAT JOB QUESTIONED WHY IN CHAPTER 3, ALL OF HIS RESPONSES WERE NOT RIGHT, AND THEN WHEN HIS SUPPOSED FRIENDS COME AND ACCUSE HIM OF BEING A HYPOCRITE, AND THAT HE IS SUFFERING AS PUNISHMENT FOR HIS SIN, JOB POINTS OUT IT IS NOT TRUE.

** JOB BELIEVES THAT HE HAS FAITHFULLY SERVED GOD AND THAT HE IS BASICALLY AN “UPRIGHT MAN”.

*** NOW IN NO SENSE IS JOB CLAIMING TO BE WITHOUT SIN OUR GUILT, BUT HE IS CLAIMING THAT HE HAS LOVED AND FOLLOWED GOD WITH AN UPRIGHT HEART, JOB 23:12 (READ IT) AS JOB RESPONDS TO ELIPHAZ.

4. YET JOB’S FRIENDS POINT IS, IF THIS IS TRUE THEN WHY ARE YOU SUFFERING? THEY TOTALLY MISUNDERSTOOD THE WAYS OF GOD AS MANY OF US DO, LIKE JOB’S WIFE. ISAIAH 55:8&9 – GOD’S HIGHER WAYS.

* BUT ALTHOUGH JOB DOESN’T UNDERSTAND HIS TROUBLES, HE KNOWS THAT HIS REDEEMER LIVES, HE DOESN’T TRY TO PROTECT GOD OR GIVE AN ANSWER AS MANY THINK TODAY, THAT GOD IS FAIR AND REWARDS GOOD PEOPLE AND CURSES BAD PEOPLE. JOB TRUSTS GOD, PSALM 62:8 (READ IT).

** WELL, MOVING ON, BECAUSE OF JOB’S TRUST AND GOD’S PURPOSES, JOB ENDS UP TRIUMPHANT IN THE END, WHICH IS OUR LAST POINT TODAY, JOB’S TRIUMPH, WHICH IS REALLY GOD’S TRIUMPH. LOOK AT 43:10-17.

V. JOB TRIUMPHANT, (READ 42:10-17)

A. NOW OUR GOD WHO IS IN CONTROL ALWAYS WRITES THE FINAL CHAPTER. AND IT DOESN’T ALWAYS TURN OUT THIS GOOD MATERIALISTICALLY SPEAKING, BUT ALWAYS FOR GOD’S GLORY AND OUR ULTIMATE GOOD.

* AND THIS STORY HAS A HAPPY ENDING, FOR JOB HAS VICTORY IN THE END. (READ VV. 1& 2)

** VERSE 6 SAYS, “THEREFORE I RETRACT, AND I REPENT IN DUST AND ASHES.”

*** AND JOB, THE MAN AFTER THE PROCESS IS DIFFERENT FROM THE MAN BEFORE THE PROCESS. (IN JOB 42:1-6 – HE IS REVEALED TO HIMSELF).

B. JOB HAD NOT ONLY BEEN REFINED AND WAS GODLIER, BUT HE HAD TWICE AS MANY POSSESSIONS AS IN THE BEGINNING SO GOD EVEN BLESSED HIM MATERIALISTICALLY.

* AND FOLKS THIS SHOULD TEACH US THAT THE VALLEY ROUTE IS NORMALLY THE BEST WAY TO HIGHER GROUND, IT’S THE WELL WATERED ROUTE, THE BEST GRADE TO HIGHER GROUND, TO THE RICHEST FEED, THE BEST FORAGE AND CHOICES MEADOWS.

1. NOW HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED. JOB HAD AS MANY CHILDREN IN THE END, AND NO WOMEN WERE AS FAIR AS THE DAUGHTERS OF JOB, V. 15.

2. HIS REAL FRIENDS COMFORTED HIM.

3. HE LIVED 140 MORE YEARS AND SAW FOUR GENERATIONS OF HIS FAMILY, GREAT GREAT GRANDCHILDREN AND DIED BEING OLD AND FULL OF YEARS, V. 17.

C. AND I WOULD SAY THAT HE WAS THE BETTER MAN FOR HIS SUFFERING AND IF I COULD ASK JOB WAS IT WORTH IT, HE WOULD SAY YES, EMPHATICALLY!!

* BUT DID HE UNDERSTAND IT AT THAT TIME? NO! BUT HE TRUSTED HIS SOVEREIGN GOD.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY (1) BELOVED, I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHO IS IN CONTROL OF JOB’S LIFE. IT WAS GOD ALMIGHTY. GOD WAS NOT A SPECTATOR IN THE LIFE OF JOB BUT A CONTROLLER, A DIRECTOR, AN ORCHESTRATOR.

* IN FACT SATAN’S CHALLENGE WAS GOD’S OPPORTUNITY, GOD ALLOWED AND ORDAINED JOB TO SUFFER AND GOD WAS GLORIFIED AND JOB WAS REFINED.

** AND SOMETIMES WE SUFFER AND WE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON. BUT WE MUST TRUST OUR SOVEREIGN GOD WHO REGULATES THE AFFAIRS OF THIS WORLD, WHO IS IN CONTROL.

(2) FOR WHEN WE BLAME ALL THE GOOD ON GOD AND ALL THE BAD ON SATAN WE ARE ACTUALLY GUILTY OF AN ANCIENT HERESY CALLED DUALISM.

* AND DUALISM BASICALLY SEES GOD AND THE DEVIL (GOOD AND BAD) AS TWO INDEPENDENT AND SOVEREIGN POWERS STRUGGLING FOR ULTIMATE CONTROL OF THIS WORLD. SO WE HOPE OUR SIDE WINS.

** AND EVERYTHING BAD THAT COMES INTO OUR LIVES IS FROM SATAN.

*** BUT LET ME SAY THIS, IF GOD ISN’T BIG ENOUGH TO CONTROL THE BAD THINGS AS WELL AS THE GOOD THINGS, THEN WE ARE IN DEEP TROUBLE.

**** FOR WHEN THE BAD THINGS GET MORE NUMEROUS THAN THE GOOD THINGS IT LOOKS LIKE GOD IS LOSING THE WAR.

(3) BUT WHAT WE FORGET ABOUT IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS OF GOD AND EXALT OUR PERSONAL HAPPINESS TO BE THE CHIEF GOAL OF GOD’S PLAN.

* WE BECOME SO OCCUPIED WITH OURSELVES AND OUR OWN PLEASURE THAT WE LITERALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD EXISTS FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF MAKING US “HAPPY” BY GIVING US WHATEVER OUR SELFISH HEARTS DESIRE.

** GOD IS VIEWED AS ONE MAN SAID, “AS A HEAVENLY BELLHOP THAT IS READY TO CARRY OUR SUITCASE OF SELF-AMBITION ANYWHERE WE INSTRUCT HIM.”

(4) BUT BELOVED, WE EXIST FOR GOD AND FOR HIS PLEASURE, NOT HE FOR OURS!! REVELATION 4:11, ROMANS 11:36 (READ THEM).

* COLOSSIANS 1:16 – ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED BY HIM AND FOR HIM.

* AND OUR CHIEF END IS TO GLORIFY GOD AND WHEN WE DO, WE ENJOY HIM AND WILL ENJOY HIM FOREVER.

** WE WILL HAVE THE CONFIDENCE THAT SUFFERING HAS TO BE BROUGHT BY HIM AND IT WILL BE FOR HIS GLORY AND FOR OUR OWN GOOD.

*** LET US TRUST HIM FOR THAT WAS WE GROW IN HIM. LET US UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUFFERING AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.