This morning and this afternoon, we'll finish up this series of studies, of lessons from Luke and Job. I hope that it hasn't been laborious to you, but that it has been, that God has shown you insights about yourself, insights from His Word, insights regarding Him, that your faith in the Lord has increased through this study, that you're encouraged to know that He walks with us through the valley. If you've been to this book, we've learned lessons about trials. We've seen faith at its weakest point. We've seen the struggles of the soul. But we've learned throughout that we saw last Sunday that the righteous shall hold on His way. Isn't that good news? That the Lord will sustain, the Lord will see us through, You've heard of the patience of Job. But it's not Job's patience that we glory in, it's from the glory in the protection, the continuing of the Lord in our lives in Job. The righteous shall have on his way because God is the author, God is the continuer, and God is the completer of our faith. We've seen the valleys that a Christian can walk through. How those valleys that we've seen Job walk through should make us cling ever more closely to the vision of our Savior. But we've also said throughout this book that this book is not just about Job. In fact, it's not even primarily about Job. This book, as all the Bible is, is about God. It's about seeing God. It's about learning more about God. And in this book, God displays himself in wonderful ways, doesn't he? He gives us almost unprecedented glimpses into his dignity, his workings, his mind, what he's doing. So let's read a few verses from Job chapter 1 and see where this whole book comes from. Job 1 verse 6. He hath heard the patience of Job, and he hath seen the end of the LORD. We're willing today to begin to see what is the end of the LORD? What is God doing? What is God showing us about Himself? What is God revealing to us? Job 1 verse 6. Please continue to pray. The Lord be with us. This might be just a service where we learn facts that will be able to worship God this morning. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And satans came also among them. And the Lord said unto satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that fears God and is sure of evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not thy maiden hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed her with his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. Only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. Turn to chapter 2 verse 1. This picks up the story after the calamities that befell Job, after his cattle, his lands, his houses, and his children were gone. Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan came also among them to present themselves before the Lord. And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from all You see the relentless pursuit of Satan after evil, don't you? On both occasions, we've been doing Satan. I've been going to and fro throughout all the earth, walking up and down it. On his evil course, now we should beware of the rise of Satan. 3 The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and is sure of evil? And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save his life. Now, what are some of the things that we can learn about God from this passage, from this experience in the life of Job? Well, first of all, we can learn that God has a hold of protection around His children. God has a hold of protection around His children. I don't know if you heard the broadcast this morning of Bill O'Bandy, I don't know if you heard it earlier or not, but Bill O'Bandy was talking where the angels said, Glory to God in the highest. And talking about how the angels, their primary purpose is to bring praise and glory to God, as Brother Robert and Sister Nell talked about this morning. They come to say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, to serve Him and share bones, particularly. But there are also angels that are, Glory to God in the highest, but also they are ministering spirits to those who shall be the heirs of salvation. And the angels are not going to be worshipped, but God provides angels, and they're job is to provide hoses of protection around the people of God. Isn't that wonderful? God actively has inherited protection around all these people. In fact, for the very reason, the very reason that you're here this morning, the very reason that you have not cursed the name of God, the very reason that you have not completely made shit up in Christ, the very reason that you have Because you are, it's not because of survival of the fittest, it's because God has an interpretation around His people. Isn't it good to know? When we go out in the morning to face some traffic, to face the criminals that are out there to face life, to face the sickness that is around. We know there is a God who hedges his people. God is not a God that doesn't care. God is not a God that is aloof. But God is a God who actively has inherited protection around his children just as he hedged Joan. We also learn about God that he, listen to this, this is an amazing thing. God actively engages Satan. God actively engages Satan. Now, we're not told you that, are we? We're told to resist the devil, to flee from iniquity, to flee from the devil. But God is a being who is of greater power than Satan, and then you think you're of greater power than Satan, and God actively engaged in Satan. This is not astounding. Notice, it was not Satan. that wicked Job started hurting Job initially it was not Satan that wicked God said God can I have Job? Can I have his life? Can I have his children? Can I kill him? It was God that brought Job to Satan's attention Well, actively avenge Satan over Job. Now listen, I don't know what the witnesses have done wrong to me to try to explain and understand all the witnesses have done in their lives. But it's an awesome thought, isn't it not? That sometimes we live in a tremendous trial, under tremendous under tremendous burden. It may be that God is engaging Satan in our lives for His glory, to prove His strength, to prove His power, to prove His ability, to prove His sovereignty over all. God may be, I don't know, but God may be This is not about Job, ultimately. This is about God. This is about God showing his power. This is about God showing his glory. This is about God showing his sovereignty. And by the way, by the way, no lies. Your life is not about you, ultimately. God has given you life to enjoy. God has given you family to enjoy. They're raised up in the nurture and the admonition of Him. What we must discover, what we must submit to, what we must understand is that ultimately, life is not about me. My life is not about me. My life is given to me to bring glory to God. My life is given to me to manifest the power and the excellency and the glory of God wherever I am in this earth, wherever I live, whatever I do. That's what my life ultimately is about, an ultimately good life, and it's experiencing joy that is so new to Him, that is so painful to Him, that is so, that goes into an incredibly extreme It's not about Job! It's about God! It's about God. God is the one that brought Job's case to Satan. You also learn that God acts with purpose. God acts with purpose. His ultimate purpose, as we all know, is to display His glory. God is pursuing, He pursues relentlessly, the display of His excellence, the display of His glory in all things. In heaven and in earth, ultimately, everything is there to display the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory of God. Man was created to be in the image of God. The stars sing His glory. The beasts act with glory. Everything has been created for the excellency to display the excellency of God. That's God's ultimate purpose. Why God is doing what he's doing? Ultimately, God is acting to display his glory. God acts with purpose. This experience in Job's life didn't come about as an accident, but it was God acting with purpose. Of course, we learn from this story, we learn much about the sovereignty of God. That God is reigning. That God is acting. That God is acting with purpose. God is sovereign. this sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God oftentimes is a controversial subject. How sovereign is God? What is God doing? What do we attribute to God? What do we say about God? We know that God is not the cause. God is not the first cause or any cause of sin. God does not cause sin. And yet, some of the things that happened in Job's life, the children handed out as gifts to the Chaldeans, and the Sabaeans falling upon them and killing them, slaying the servants with a sword. So what have we learned about the sovereignty of God? What are some possible scenarios that could have happened here in this story? First of all, one scenario would be that God had nothing to do with it. There were some bad things that happened. There was some sin that occurred. So we can say that God had nothing to do with it. But because of Scripture here, we know that's not true, don't we? God said, Satan, you can have Job, but don't take his health. Satan, Satan, you can have Job, but don't take his life. We know that that cannot be true. God certainly had something to do with it. We can say that God actively sent these calamities upon Job. Is that true? No. No. It was God cannot be charged with evil. God cannot be charged with sin. God is not the one that actively sent these calamities upon Job. God didn't send the caliphs to go and destroy Job. That's not true. Sin, sin occurred. Bad things occurred. God didn't actively send these calamities upon Job. We can say that God allowed Satan God allowed Satan to afflict Job, but with no essential intent. God said, Satan did not have Job, but there was no purpose behind him. Yeah, well no, that's not true either, don't we? See, sometimes in life, things happen, bad things happen. The people say, well there's no purpose behind that. Yes, bad things do happen in life. Yes, evil does happen in life. But even in evil, there is a purpose at the end. God did not actually sin. Yes, Glamis and Don Jobe, but the Lord's purpose wasn't there, as you're going to see. The Calamities were merely accidents that God had nothing to do with beyond His control. Is that true? Well, of course not. God did have control. God said, You cannot touch His life. You cannot touch His health. You can do everything else, but don't touch His health. So things do not either happen outside of the control of God. The truth of the matter is this. This is what we get from Scripture. God actively removed the hedge of protection that we need. God removed the hedge of protection and was aware of Satan's intent, his purpose, even allowing Satan to use nature for his evil purposes. Remember this? The storm came, the fire came, the lightning came. and slain his children, consumed, burned the sheep, burned the service, consumed them. God even allowed Satan to use nature for a time to do his purpose. This removal of the hedge was done on purpose by God, but for a greater purpose than Satan or even Job could ever imagine. So God removed the head of protection, allowed Satan to afflict Job to a certain extent that he was not allowed to go one bit farther than what God allowed him to go. Isn't that wonderful to know that Satan cannot go one bit farther than God will allow him to go? Yes, there's a head of protection. Yes, God removes the head of protection. God allows Satan to afflict Job. God allows Satan to do these things. But he says, Satan, you can go here and no farther. You see, ultimately, even if God allows our heads to be removed to a certain degree, it will never be removed completely. The license shall hold, in other words, because God will never allow the heads to be removed completely. God has committed Himself, God has sworn Himself to the care and keeping of His people. So God removes this hedge. God allows Satan to afflict Job. But God does this for a greater purpose than Satan had in mind, didn't he? That Satan had in mind the purpose, I can get Job to curse God. I can get Job to leave God. I can get Job to let him away from God. And yet he could not do that, could he? Instead, God's purpose is to show His power in keeping Job. His power in preserving Job. His power even in bringing Job closer to God than he was before it ever happened. That's amazing, isn't it? There's only a man that fears God. There's only a man that pursues evil. There's only a man that allows righteousness. There's only a man that hates iniquity. There's only a man that is fervent. He prays for his children. He's quick to worship. He's concerned about his children. God is a man, a good man, an upright man. He fears God. He cares what God thinks. And all of Satan's forces, all of Satan's intent, all of Satan's purpose, all of his power do the exact opposite. of what he intended, didn't he? Satan intended for Job to curse God! And yet God said, I've got a greater purpose! I'm going to confront him with the image of my Son, Jesus Christ. Oh, it's wonderful how we learn about the sovereignty and the power of God. God is in control. God is reigning. God protects His people. God is our hedge. He does the movement. He allows Satan to do it. He's actively involved. He's aware. He's not aloof. He's not distant. It's not outside of his control. It's not outside of his knowledge. In fact, God was in charge. God was in control even in the affliction of Job. But you know what? These are all truth. This is all truth, I believe. These are all true facts. True facts about God. But my prayer is that these truths may become more than just facts. Children are learning in school. They're learning how to count, learning how to read, learning how to write, learning about science, learning about history. But these things are all just facts that come into our knowledge bank. Same thing can be true about the study of God, the study of Job in particular. But my desire, my prayer is that these things go away from just being facts. Yes, God is in control. Yes, God is a hedge. God is working for the purpose. God is working for the glory. All these facts will become more than just facts. They become real truth in our lives, lived in real time. And Job learned these facts about God in real time. Because experience was not about just learning facts about God's sovereignty, about God's wisdom, about God's power. The aim of God was for Job to experience God, because to really see God, because to between his relationship with a real being. That's what I want you to see. God is, this is true facts about God, but God is a real being who is really involved in our lives, who is really the one thing we have to do. This is God. So let's learn, let's learn these facts in real time as experienced in Job's life. Turn to Job 31. Job 31. What we all need. or anything else in a personal encounter with God. Job 31. The previous message made mention of the fact there were three requests or three demands that Job made upon God. But actually four, I went home on the 4th of this morning. The first three was when Job cursed the day he was born. He said, God, why did you ever let me even come into this world if you knew that I would experience such evil? Job then asked God, God, just kill me. Just destroy me. Just let me go. And finally, Job asked God, God, please, why don't you just leave me alone? I'm not worthy of your attention. I think I don't want your attention. God, just leave me alone. The fourth one is found here in Job 31. Job 31. The question that arisen before, why do you Why do you try to put off sin? Why do you try to do the right thing? If you read in your Bible that you're a not-hate-your-enemy, then why do you not hate your enemy? If you read the Bible that connects us to lust, then why do you try to fight lust? That's the question. Why do you try to do these things? Why do you try to live a moral life? What's your purpose behind it? What's your reason? I'm asking these things not to talk it, but I really want to know. In your own mind, examine it. Why do you try to live a godly life? If you are trying to live a godly life. Why do you try to do that? Let's read Job 31, verse 1. I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then should I speak upon a maid? I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a mane? This version has been used many times, especially with young men. You need to make a solemn oath with your eyes that I am not going to allow my eyes to be used for lust. I'm not going to allow my mind to be used for lustful thoughts. I'm not going to let my mind be used for sinful desires. I'm going to make a covenant with my eyes that when I'm walking around or walking through the mall, I'm going to look down, I'm going to look away. I'm not going to lust. This is a covenant that Job had made with his eyes. I am not going to look upon a maid in lust. It's a good covenant, right? It's a good promise to make, right? God says, not just about committing adultery. He says if you have desired a woman in your heart, you have committed adultery in your heart. It's a good promise to make. God, I'm going to make a covenant. I'm going to make a promise before you. I am not going to allow my eyes to be used to lust. It's a good covenant to make. Except for one thing. For what portion of God is there from above, and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked, and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps? If I had walked with vanity, or if my foot had hastened to deceit, let me be may know mine integrity. If my step hath turned out of the way, and my heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaned to mine hands, then let me sow, and let another eat. Yea, let my offspring Are you looking back now to the motivation of Job? Can you see it in these verses? Because I have made a promise to my eyes, I have made a commitment that I will not let my eyes be used to lust. And yet, guess what's happened? I've lost my family. I've lost my home. I've lost my health. I've lost my life. Where is the justice here? Where is the fairness here? I love my eyes to be used for evil. And yet what have I got in return? Evil. What have I got in return? Pain. What have I got in return? Heartache and misery. Sickness. This is not right. This is not fair. This is not what I deserve. Again, why is it that you serve God? Let me get this. Legalism. Legalism is a great danger. Living a Christian life for the return is an incredible danger. I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, and I'll get something in return. Last Sunday morning in Colorado, a gunman, a young gunman, entered into a mission home. Shot two or three people. walked in armed to the gills and began to shoot, killed several people until finally some brave person brought him down before he could slay many, many more people. This young gunman turns out later was the son of very religious parents. He was homeschooled. In fact, as it turns out, I read on some of the internet in the post, his rage was actually against his upbringing. He had been brought up, he was very angry with a man named Bill Gothard. He was very angry with the ATI way of living. Obviously this young man was a very evil young man. He was very full of terrible, terrible bitterness. Full of terrible, terrible evil heart. And yet I wonder, yet I wonder, sometimes we show Christianity to our children the wrong way, don't we? We say, if you follow these steps, you'll be a good Christian. If you dress a certain way, you'll be a good Christian. As I've said many times before, Christianity should affect dramatically our dress. It should affect dramatically the things that we do. It should affect dramatically the things that we say and where we go and what we do. But a legalistic Christian outlook will not necessarily produce what we are desiring. And Job was living, frankly, a very legalistic Christian life. Yes, he was faithful to his true evil. He had made a covenant with his eyes. I will not look upon a maid. But he expected a certain return. God, therefore, you must bless me. You are under obligation to bless me with prosperity. Let's keep reading verse 13. If I did despise the cause of my manservant, or of my maidservant, when they contended with me, what then shall I do when God riseth up? And when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb make him, and did not one fashion us in the womb? If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have called the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fathers have not eaten at all. For from my youth he has brought it with me, as with the father, and I have guarded her from my mother's womb. If I have seen any perish, If I have made gold my home, I will make gold my home, and I will make gold my home. or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence, if I rejoice because my work is great, and because my hand hath gotten much. If I have beheld the sermon that shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand, this also are iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I should have denied the God that is above." See, this is a different Job than we've done in Job 9, isn't it? In Job 9, he's in Midrash and he's saying, How can man be just with God? Because David, which is me and thee, he realizes that there is no righteousness in him on himself, but now he's changed that. He said, listen, I have done the right thing. I have never withheld money from the poor. I have never withheld affluence more than is needed. I have never made gold, riches, materialism, my goal in life. I have never done these things. If I had, then I would deserve what's befalling me. If I had, I would deserve the punishment of God. You see, this gets right down to the core of our motivation. Why am I serving God? When I come to church on Sunday morning, what is my purpose in living the life that I'm living? Trump is saying, I have done the right things. I washed my feet, washed my shoes, dyed my eyes, crossed the T's. I've been careful to listen to God. I've made a desired goal. Keep reading. Verse 33. If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me that I kept silence and went not out of the door? Oh, that the Lord would hear me! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book. Surely I would take it upon my shoulder and bind it as a crown to me. I would declare unto him the number of my steps. As a prince would I go nearer to him, if my land cry against me, or the pharaohs likewise dare complain, if I have eaten the fruits that without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their lives, let thistles grow into the wheat, and cockles into the barley, the words of Job are ended." Wow! He said, this is my one desire. This is my fourth request. He said, this is my demand. I want the Almighty, who all of a sudden is not so almighty in Job's book, is he? I want the Almighty to give me an appointment. And I'm not going to go into his office or his palace. And I'm not going to go and humble a contrition. I'm not going to go needing engagement. I don't need engagement. I've got what I've done. And it says, as a prince, would I go near unto him. I'm going to walk unto him like I belong. A prince belongs in the throne of the king, doesn't he? As a prince, I'm going to go near unto him. And I'm going to order my cause. I'm going to declare unto him the number of my steps. I'm going to again, listen up, I've never arrested after I've made. I have never helped the poor. I have never desired God as my end. I have never done any of these things. As a prince, I would go near to Him and I would order, I would declare unto Him the number of my steps. My desire is that the Almighty would answer me. And that my adversary had written a book. Oh, he had written a book. He was saying that I've done the right thing. I walked the righteous path. You know the Bible answer to this question. I got home last Sunday from church and was getting out of the car and two men walked up from the side of the road and they were from a local church there and wanted to talk and they asked me He said, if you died today, would you have confidence that you would be in heaven? I said, yes, I would. He said, well, if you did die today, and God said to you that you got to heaven, why should I let you be in my heaven? What would your answer be? Very quickly off the top of my lower necks of right answers, I said, I would say I'm embarrassed of your son Jesus Christ. and they turned around and left and I walked into the office or to the hospital and looked at that myself. The question, is that really, is that really in my mind how I would answer that question? I know that's the right answer. You know that's the right answer. Jordan knows the right answer. When he got down to the very blessing point, when he looks in and he's miserable and he says, this is not right. I have lived good. I have preached. I have studied. I have read my Bible. I've gone to work. I've provided for my family. I've given money to the church. What's your answer? How would you approach the Almighty? That's the last words of Job. Let's turn to Job 38, where God answers Job. We won't get into this last portion very much this morning. We'll finish it this afternoon. But there are a lot of things that God could have done here, right there. A lot of things He could have done here. He could have said, Job, that kind of attitude, I'm going to remove one more layer of your protection. I'm going to grind you, Job, until you get it. And honestly, you haven't gotten it yet. He could have given an explanation here of the age-old question, why do bad things happen to good people? A question we have to ask in our own lives, right? In books we've been written about. Why do bad things happen to good people? But God doesn't do that, does he? He could have given a defense of himself. He'd been accused pretty strongly, hadn't he? He had done right, God. It ain't fair. He told people to do peace with themselves and said, listen, Job, you don't understand. It wasn't me. It was Satan. Don't get mad at me. For Satan, get mad at Satan. But God didn't do that, did he? In fact, I hope it's not disappointing to you that God never fully gives an explanation. He never says, see Job, this is why. And often times, often times in our lives, it's the explanation we desire above all else, right? And the reason that we want the explanation so bad is because we care so much about ourselves. And we're so self-involved that we say, well, this is God who makes sense for that. I've got to know why He's looking to me. But God doesn't even provide an explanation, Joseph. He just says, this is why. But also God didn't destroy Job. But Job really deserved, he really deserved that. This is how I really deserve a destruction for just saying that glibly. Oh, I'm the mercy of Jesus Christ, and I'm a preacher. Yes, I'm a preacher. That's why I'm going to heaven. I just got back from church. I've still got a tie on. That's why I'm drinking inside. I'm in the back of the bed. I don't really care about how early it is. I'm just trying to walk tough. So we deserve God to destroy us for our rebellion, for our iniquity, for our self-righteousness. God is so consumed with self-righteousness. And it's God who has this incredible power to do evil things. You know why? Because God knows you're friends. God knows that you are blessed. God knows he's responsible for inconsistency. God knows he's responsible for austerity. God can sing the yo-yo and have a joke, but one second he's just defending God, the next second he's defending himself. One second he's saying, I know the righteous shall hold no way. The next he's saying, I've said that, I'm gone, I'm gone, just destroy me. He knows the joke, he said, I know that my redeemer lives, saying he's a legionary redeemer. The next thing is saying, God, leave me alone. God knows our flames. He knows that we are the dust. He knows that we're weak. He knows that we're frail. He knows that we're helpless, even when we don't know that we're helpless. And Joel felt pretty strong and pretty secure in himself right here that God knew that what had actually happened was that Joel was helpless and pitiful. And the desire that God had was that we would see at the end of the moment that he was very pitiful and full of tender mercy. And so what God does in the next few chapters is to show just how pitiful that he is just how full of mercy that he is not in providing an explanation but in unveiling himself see what you and I need most of all is to be able to see God as God is. You know something? God did something for Jordan that even this trial could not do. Jordan! Many of you have experienced many trials. You'll have to confess that all of our trials, probably people together don't really compare to Job's trial. As far as the severity of it. I mean, he lost everything. Everything. Even this trial could not humble Job as the vision of God could. So that's why I'm saying you now should seek God. Not just a set of facts. He has His protection. He's sovereign. He has His purpose. All good facts. But if you don't seek God in reality, those facts aren't meaningful to you are they? I'm going to inform you. I'm going to humble you. I'm going to inform you. If you don't seek God in reality. So if God wants to go to what we all need, God, will you show us yourself? Yes, nobody's seen God before. He ain't seen God. He knew God. He feared God. He loved God. He served God. But all he needed was a fresh vision. A continuing revelation of who God is. This book is designed to do that. But if this book is just a set of facts, a line, this book will not do that. God to reveal himself to us. It's been a quiet and disjointed message, but I pray that God will bless these truths to your hearts. And I look forward to this afternoon to completing this book and seeing the revelation of God in this part of our communion service. God bless you. Sing a song. And the opportunity for anybody who wants to follow God and baptism to make that known is to sing this song.