Well, this morning we come to our second in the series on the book of Job. I don't know how long this series will go. Thirteen weeks? Eighteen weeks? I don't know. We'll see how the Lord leads us through it. But this morning our sermon is entitled, Blessed Be the Name of the Lord. To try to summarize the book of Job in a sentence or two is like trying to hold sand in your hand without losing any of it. It's like trying to contain the ocean in the confines of a puddle. To comprehend and express the depths of this book in a few words is like trying to grasp the air. You can feel it. You can see its effects. You might harness some of its power, but one cannot compress its infinite fullness into a finite space. In an effort to explain this book, many have said that Job was written to answer the question, why do the righteous suffer? It is natural to question why such awful suffering would come upon such a man as Job, of whom it was stated in the first verse, and the Lord God himself repeated twice, that he was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. Why should a man such as he suffer at all, let alone so terribly? Why do the righteous suffer? As we study the book, we will come to understand God's divine and eternal purposes in the suffering of his people. But at the same time, it is vitally important to seek more than an answer to that question alone. In my mind, the question, why do the righteous suffer, is rather narrow in reach and thought, and perhaps, in some cases, the people that ask it are being man-centered. Why do the righteous suffer? The question needs to be broadened to reach further, searching beyond the plight of man into the revelation of God, who God is. Well, the book is named for Job. Church, it really is a book about God. God is the principal character. God is the focus. And as is all scripture, God is here making himself known to us through his servant, Job. This book will overwhelm and depress the one who misses that it is about almighty, sovereign God. If we think This is all about Job and his suffering. We will miss that it is about the almighty, glorious one, God himself. In this vein of understanding, we must also keep in mind that Job is a type or a prefigure of Jesus our Lord. We must go beyond looking at Job and asking, why do the righteous suffer, to looking at Christ to consider what this teaches us of him. With mindset on Christ, we would do well to ask the greater question, not why do the righteous suffer, but why should the righteous one of God suffer and die? We will get to the answer to that question as we progress through the teaching of this book. But for now, as we read the book of Job, we are to consider him as a foreshadow, a type of Jesus Christ. So as we open our Bibles to Job chapter one, let us consider that Job teaches us of our Lord God and of our Lord Jesus. So please stand for the reading of the word. This is God's word and we stand in reverence to him. Though we studied verses 1 through 12 last Lord's Day. And by the way, if you didn't hear it, you can get a recording of it on our website. I encourage you to do that. It's important to the rest of the study. But as we studied verses 1 through 12 last week, we will reread the first 12 verses to remind us of what led up to today's text. Then we will read verses 13 through 22, which will be the focus of our study. So here now the word of the Lord, written in Job chapter one, beginning to read at verse one. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants. And that man was the greatest of all the men of the east. And his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And it came about when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus Job did continually. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, from where do you come? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it. And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. Then Satan answered the Lord, does Job fear God for nothing? Has thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side? Thou has blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now and touch all that he has. He will surely curse thee to thy face. Then the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him. So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. Verse 13. Now what happened on the day when his sons and daughters were eating? and drinking wine at their oldest brother's house, that a messenger came to Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, the Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. And it fell on the young people and they died. And I alone have escaped to tell you. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head. And he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Through all this, Job did not sin, nor blame God. That concludes the reading of the word. You may be seated. As we progress from Job chapter one, verses one through 12, and dive into verses 13 through 22, I offer this outline. First of all, we have Job's deep devastation, then Job's devout declaration, and then we're going to talk about our Lord God, and then our Lord Jesus. The account of Job teaches us that God is sovereign over all. And the church said, amen. I was reading an article last week and said the most hated doctrine of the church is the sovereignty of God. And yet it is the one doctrine that brings his saints grace and peace and rest in the trials of the life. Amen. So the account of Job teaches that God is sovereign over all. Therefore, as the righteous suffer, as did Job, they have good reason to continue to faithfully worship the Lord. Our faith church is not a blind faith. I have a Friday morning Bible study that I've been going to, I think for 20 years now. And every time we talk about faith, they'll talk about your faith has made you whole. and rise up and be healed, your faith has saved you. And one of the things I'll constantly drive home is when we say your faith has made you whole and your faith has saved you, we cannot think of faith as its own object, that just believing something makes it happen. Faith is only as good as the object in which we trust, right? We can say, in God I trust and have that printed on our mind. Well, how good is your money? and can it be taken away? So if your faith is in money, let me tell you, you're set up for some great disappointments. Faith is only as good as in the object of which we believe. If we believe in the Lord, our God, and His Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we know that our faith is established. That faith is a faith that is saving faith. That is a faith that makes one whole. We must believe upon the Lord God, and here as we study Job, we're learning more and more of who God is. Well, let's talk about Job's deep devastation. After being introduced to the exemplary God-fearing man Job, we were then presented with a heavenly scene at verse 6 where God confronted Satan concerning Job. That confrontation ended with the Lord saying to Satan, the Satan, the accuser, verse 12, behold, all that he, Job, has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him. Satan was complaining, the only reason Job worships you is because you put a hedge around him on all sides. And so God says, okay, let's see if that's the case. Now, the Lord knows, but the Lord is going to be glorified in showing that Job truly trusts in him. So God lets down the hedge and says, okay, Satan, all that he has, all his possessions are in your power. So with God giving Satan limited authority over Job's possessions, Satan, then in order to carry out his dirty deed departed from the presence of the Lord. So we pick up at verse 13. Now what happened on the day when the sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, that a messenger came to Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabians attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. The day was as any other. All was well. in the life of that reverent man, Job. That God-fearing, blessed-of-God man woke up that morning without the least indication that things were going to change and change drastically. Without a hint of warning, his world was about to be rocked and he was about to be shaken to his core. On that particular day, Job's children were doing what was spoken of in verse four, whether they celebrated a birthday or some type of a holy day, we don't really know, but whatever the occasion, all seven of Job's sons and three of his daughters were gathered in a joyous celebration. All was well in Job's world, but suddenly a messenger burst on the scene bearing bad news. Well, Job's oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing. Without warning, the Sabaeans attacked, and killing his servants stole his 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys. David Alladin informs us that the Sabaeans were a ruthless nomadic people who came from the region of Southeast Arabia, known today as Yemen. Unprovoked. They attacked Job's servants, killing all but one messenger. This messenger alone escaped the murderous Sabians, bringing the bad news to Job. Your servants are dead, and the oxen and the donkeys are gone." Now, we can only imagine the shock. and the surprise that came to Joe. Just a moment before, it seemed like everything was fine. His children were celebrating all as well. But now the news comes. Now, this is just me, so I wouldn't put too much into this. But as Job began to hear of this attack, it seems that he would have been thinking about how to gather up his other servants and his friendly alliances to go and rescue his animals and avenge his fallen servants. The Sabians had done this terrible thing. Let's go get them. I think that's what a man would think. But verse 16, while he, that messenger, was still speaking, still telling about what had happened. Another messenger also came and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the oxen and the servants and consume them and I alone have escaped to tell you. Well, how does one take this in? One thing was bad enough, a second thing? Just when you think it can't get worse, oftentimes gets worse beyond what we can even think or imagine. The fire of God, the fire of God fell from heaven. It's most likely a reference to lightning, but wait a minute, to lightning? Job had 7,000 sheep. Whether there was a supernatural lightning storm or the lightning started so many fires, we do not know. But in any case, the event was cataclysmic. And all 7,000 sheep were burned up along with all the servants, except this one bearer of bad news. If as I suppose that at first Job was thinking of rescuing his animals from the Sabaeans, there is no rescuing his sheep or avenging those servants who were burned up. What was he to do? But that wasn't the end of it. Verse 17. While he was still speaking, another came also and said, the Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. In a three-point attack, the Chaldeans from the part of the Mesopotamian Valley near modern-day Kuwait, killed all but one of Job's servants, stealing his 3,000 camels. Again, only this messenger survived to bring him this devastating news. By the way, as a footnote, We can assume that in the two events involving the Sabians and the Chaldeans that the servants perished defending Job's livestock. If that was the case, then we also know that his servants were loyal to him. And that would have been devastating to lose all your servants along with all your livestock. How are you going to bring the flocks back? Who's going to tend to them? His wealth had to be cared for. With the loss of so many servants, there was little hope of rescuing any livestock. Job could do little. Then we think, well, what more could go wrong? Well, don't ask. The Bible tells us, verses 18 and 19. While he was still speaking, another came and said, your sons and your daughters, now that would pull your heart out. Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine with the oldest brother's house at the older brother house. And behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you. Of all that might devastate a soul, I don't know of anything that could compare to the loss of a child. And Job lost all 10 of his loving, joyful children in one disastrous moment. While Job thought they were at the older brother's house celebrating, their end fell upon them. Frankly, I don't want to talk about it. It's too terrible, and it's not in me to try to expound upon this. The only item I will point out is that the wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. Wind usually comes from one direction and doesn't strike on all four sides. And what did Satan accuse Job of? Worshiping God because God had put a hedge around him and protected him on all sides. Now on all sides, the house fell down. I don't know how to take that except literally. The forces were not that of nature, but supernatural. The house fell on the young people, all 10 of them. The only survivor was the servant who had escaped to relay the awful news. Satan employed the ruthless Sabians and Chaldeans against Job, and supernaturally used lightning and wind to wreak havoc upon him. All his God-given possessions, children included, were gone. As that righteous man Job was described by God with four commendations, being blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning from evil, and as God's blessings upon him were described as fourfold with glad abundance of family, livestock, servants, and honor, here Satan, who comes but to kill, steal, and destroy, brought ruin upon him by four devices, the Sabaeans, the Chaldeans, lightning, and wind. While one could place blame on the Sabaeans and the Chaldeans, how does one blame lightning and wind? The destruction of lightning and wind are often referred to as what? Acts of God. That with which God had blessed this righteous man was gone in one protracted, torturous moment with pain and suffering that would endure for a long, long time. How would Job respond? Was Satan right? Did Job fear God only because of the blessings God had poured upon him? Was Job's faith in God superficial? are rooted deep within him as he knew God as the almighty sovereign. With God's hedge of protection down, with his household devastated, with the work of his hands in ruin, with his possessions lost, will he now curse God to his face as Satan said he would? Not only was the richest, godliest man instantly, outside of his own decision making, brought to rags, but his joy filled family was gone. Their celebrations have come to an end. Again, how will Job respond? Well, let's come to point two, Job's devout declaration. Job's devout declaration, verse 21. Then Job arose, and he tore his robe, his outer garment, and shaved his head. And he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Whatever Joe's posture was, whether he was sitting as the messengers came in and spilled the shattering news or the news had taken him to his knees, we don't know what posture he was in, but at this point, having heard it all, he arose, he stood up. Was this a reaction or a deliberate act? I don't mean to split hairs here, but perhaps you will not see it as I do, but since Job proceeds to worship God, I think he did not react as one who reacts without thought, but as a righteous man, he acted deliberately. He acted righteously. For what reason did Job arise? Why did he get up? As it was and still is in some cultures, the deliberate act of tearing one's outer garment and then shaving one's head is an outward display of the inward being, the grief. It is a deliberate, thoughtful expression of grief and mourning. Now again, one might argue saying the tearing of an outward garment hardly sounds deliberate, but when joined to the shaving of the head, It's a very deliberate act, a very deliberate act. It's a controlled act. Job did this to express his grief and remorse. Job arose to tear his outer garment and shave his head, and then he fell to the ground and worshiped, or better, fell to the ground to worship. He laid himself low before the Lord as God, and Job worshiped the Lord with these immortal words. You should memorize this. Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Tremper Longman, a commentator, writes, when Job speaks, he does not lament, complain, or weep. He actually worships the God who has taken away that which is dear to him. Everything that he has had was a gift from God given to him. He came into the world with nothing. He knows that when he dies, he can't take it with him. That Yahweh has taken from him what Yahweh himself has given him is within Yahweh's rights. Thus he does not rail against God, but rather he blesses the name of God." End quote. Another commentator named Holden says, and take this in, it is a great thing for a man to realize when he seems to be overwhelmed that he is in fact really overshadowed. Let me quote again David Allen. Job's devastation was not dependent on his, excuse me, Job's devotion. Job's devotion was not dependent on his prosperity. The modern so-called prosperity gospel, which is no gospel at all, did not have its tentacles around Job. Propagandists of the health and wealth gospel, the naven and claimant crowd, promise us health and wealth if we believe in the vending machine God, who dispenses blessings, monetary and otherwise, in accordance with our willingness to give our money to God through their ministries, of course. Avoid such people, false prophets. True worship, he writes, can occur even when we do not understand God or find him in our suffering. God does not claim his rights, excuse me, boy, I better get it right. Job does not claim his rights and privileges. He rightly recognized God owns him. God does not owe us. Job rightly recognized God owns us. He does not owe us. Amen. Blessed be the name of the Lord. His name is blessed always. The name of God is blessed in all things. His name is blessed when He is giving and His name is blessed when He is taking away. And that's because God is the blessed God forever. Our situation does not change the nature and the person of God. Humble adoration we bow for his name is blessed forevermore and the church said amen and amen after glorifying the Lord with the words recorded in the 21st verse the 22nd verse tells us that Job through all this did not sin and did not blame God See here Satan was wrong The accuser his accusation was a false The accuser had falsely accused Job of ill motives, of false and insincere worship, and misplaced fear of God. But Job did not shake his fist at God. Here he does not even ask why. Here he does not bring up his good deeds and his faithfulness to God, but he does what is good in faithfulness to God. Rather than cursing God to his face, Job fell on the ground to humbly worship at the Lord's feet. And note, dear church, neither did Job blame the Sabaeans or the Chaldeans or the lightning or the wind, nor did he blame Satan. Rather than blaming, he worshiped the Lord as the almighty sovereign. God is God. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This brings us to consider number three, our Lord God. As we reflect upon this text, let's consider the Lord our God. Oftentimes, when we face a trial where there is great loss and suffering, we ask, where is God? Where is God? Over the years, Wow, I don't want to think about it. 50 years of ministering the word. There have been times in difficult situations where people will say, preacher, where is God? Where is God in this? We want God to stop the events and even to reverse them. We want it all to stop. It's unpleasant. There's suffering going on. Along with the first question, where is God? It is common then for a second question to be asked. How can God be glorified in this? I don't see any of God's glory in this. How can God be glorified in this? Well, I will say about these two questions and others that when sincerely asked, they are legitimate questions. It's okay to ask, where is God? It's okay to say, I don't see God's glory in this. Where is God's glory in this? That's okay. But we're gonna try to answer those two questions. And to answer these questions, we're going to look at the text of Job. First, in Job chapter one, verses one through 12, I wanna ask you this question. Where is God? Job chapter one, verses one through 12. Well, he's in the heavens. Is he not? And what is he doing? He's ruling and reigning. Thank you. Somebody said it perfectly. He's ruling and reigning. And what is he ruling and reigning over? Well, we can say, well, the sons of God and, and Satan. Yes. He's ruling and reigning over. Thank you. Everything. That's what he's doing. He's ruling and reigning over all things. Well, we have to ask this question. Is this true of God or not? Yes, it is true of God. Psalm 103, verse 19. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all. Amen. Psalm 115, two and three. Why do the nations say, where is their God? Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever pleases Him. Isaiah 66, one. This is what the Lord says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. This is true of God, this is his word. It's not what we suppose God to be, it's not what we want God to be, it's what God is, it's who he is. He is in the heavens ruling and reigning over all things and all peoples, all creatures and all beings. He is ruling over every molecule in his created universe. That's what God is doing. And we see that. We just read from Job 1, 1-12. Now having considered Job 1, 1-12, let's now consider Job 1, 13-22. Again, you're gonna look at the text. In this portion of the text, there is no heavenly scene, is there? God has no conversation with Satan, does he? There is no picture of God, no explanation of God. There is God, God says nothing. As much as we would like God to, he does not prevent Job's trials and does not say a word. In verses 13 through 22, we could say God is silent. We don't see him there. In the first half of chapter one and chapter two, we read as God confronts Satan. But even then, he says nothing to Job. Job knows nothing of God's conversation with Satan concerning him. We'd want to pray, Lord, if you're gonna bring my name up to Satan, please let me know in advance. But God doesn't have to. We're the clay. He's the potter. So we hear of God confronting Satan in chapter one, and then chapter two, the first halves, but he says nothing to Job. Job knows nothing of the conversation God has with Satan. And then for the greater portion of this book, God, if you will, is silent. From midpoint chapter two, all the way until the 38th chapter, God doesn't speak. There is no heavenly sin. With that, I want to ask you a question. Where was God during Job's trial of chapter one? And where was God during Job's trial of chapter two? And where was God all the way through for the months, if not a year or more, through chapter 38? Is God AWOL? Is He absent? This is what the Bible says. I'll read it again, Isaiah 66, one. This is what the Lord says, heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Psalm 103, 19, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. Where is God when he seems to be silent? He is in the heavens and he is ruling and reigning over everything, all things, every molecule, every being heavenly and earthly. What is God ruling and reigning over when we can't find him, when we search for him, when we cry out to him, when we don't hear from him? Where is he? He is ruling over all things. And I want to ask you, church, is this true of God or not? Yes or no? Yes. It is true of God. So then as God is in the heavens ruling and reigning over all things and all peoples, all being heavenly and earthly, we ask the second question. How can God be glorified in Job's suffering and by application in our suffering? How can God possibly be glorified in that? In an effort to get these things right, we have to be careful in what we say. When the question is asked, how can God be glorified in this, we have to define what this is. What are we talking about? This. How can God be glorified in this? What do we mean by this? Again, to find our answers, let's examine the story of Job, the latter half of Job 1. Where in the latter half of Job 1 was God glorified? Is God glorified in Satan making false accusations? No. Is God glorified in Satan prompting Sabians and Chaldeans to kill, steal, and destroy? Is God glorified in Satan causing lightning to burn up 7,000 sheep and the servants, killing, stealing, and destroying? Is God glorified when Satan causes a house to fall on children, killing, stealing and destroying? And I will say, no, he's not. He doesn't take pleasure in sin. But God is most certainly glorified when his servant, who has suffered so much as did Job, whom Satan without cause has so violently attacked, falls before God, when Job falls before God and worships him. God is glorified in that. Johnny Erickson Tada said, God will allow what he hates to work what he loves. God was glorified in Job's suffering. Excuse me, God, I will say, God was not necessarily glorified in Job's suffering, but he was glorified in the sufferer's worship. When we're struck down with some sickness, I don't see God in the heavens saying, oh, goody, goody, that makes me so happy. But when we're struck down with some sickness and out from a gravelly throat comes, Lord, I will praise you, I tell you, all the heavens rejoice. We do not say, praise God, look how Satan attacked and ruined Job. But we say, praise God, after all that Job worshiped the Lord. So we understand that when one asks, how can God be glorified in this, we must define what we mean by this. And now let me give you an example. Some time ago, I went to visit a man and his wife where the wife was suffering a terribly debilitating and eventually fatal disease. It was awful. During the visit, the man said to me, preacher, I don't see how God can be glorified by this. I asked carefully, tenderly, but we must speak truth, must speak the truth in love. I asked, by this, by this, by this disease? And he looked at me with a bit of contempt and said, yes, by my wife's suffering. Oh, I responded, I don't know that God is glorified by her disease and her suffering. but he is glorified by your faithful wife's praises. And he is all the more glorified as she remains faithful in worship to him in the midst of her suffering. And he is glorified by those who come to visit and minister and bring food and come over to your house to clean it. And then I asked the man, do you still trust in Jesus? He said, yes, sometimes it's difficult, but yes. And I said, oh, my brother, then God is glorified in you. You know, it's one thing to give God glory when all is well, but to honor him when things aren't well, that's to give God glory. It's one thing to say, look how the Lord has protected me. The hedge of God is around me. Look, praises be to the name of the Lord, amen. But what about when the hedge is down? What about when the waves are crashing against us? Will we then say, Lord, you are my God and I will worship you. I tell you, the believer who comes to that point is the believer who causes heaven to rejoice and hell to shake. It is the sufferer's praises as flowing from a faithful heart that exalts the Lord. It is in that that God is glorified. Dear church, when God is silent, he is ruling in the heavens and he is reigning and he is reigning supreme and nothing escapes his sight. And beloved, when we wonder how God can be glorified in this, lift up your voice and glorify him in that. He is being glorified by your trust and your worship of him. Now let's consider our Lord Jesus. Very quickly, but no less important, we see another way in which Job typified or foreshadowed Jesus. I talked about five points last week. I just really have one point this week. How does Job foreshadow Jesus? In the text, we find Job being stripped of his blessings and privileges. While Job the lesser was robbed of all his possessions, Jesus the greater left the splendor of heaven, not considering equality with God something to be grasped. While Job's possessions were taken from him, Jesus emptied himself, taking on the form of a bond servant. Of course, I'm referring to Philippians chapter four. While Job, the type of Christ, suffered the loss of all he had, Jesus, the true Christ, gave himself willingly, forgoing the splendor of heaven, not seeking the rights of Godship, but humbled himself to suffer as a man. And while Job, in foreshadowing Jesus, fell on his face, and in submission worshiped the Lord, we find Jesus facing the cross, and in submission to the Father, Jesus says what? Not my will, but thine be done. That, beloved, is worship. The account of Job, the lesser, prepares us then, in this light, to receive the gospel account of Jesus, the greater, and I would say to you those words I like to say. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. So finally then, as a lesson to us all, easily glean three defining principles upon which Job stood and passed the test. There are a multitude of principles, but I pull out these three. First, Job trusted in God, not his possessions. Job was known as a godly man, not because of what he possessed, but because he was a godly man and he trusted in the Lord. Job well knew that whatever we have in this life is soon to be gone, soon to be gone. This life is like a vapor, and poof, it's gone. Also with our possessions, beloved. At best, possessions are temporary and quite fleeting, and by the way, unfulfilling. I have a friend, I talked about the Friday morning Bible study. I have a friend at a Bible study that said many years ago, a well-to-do man, a famous rich man came to Albuquerque to hold a conference and tell people how to do business and how to make money. This guy, Larry, likes to tell this story. And they said, somebody said, one question. He said, yes. He said, are you happy? And if not, what will make you happy? And he said, well, no, I'm not really satisfied, this wealthy man. No, I'm not really satisfied. And you ask, what will make me happy? Just a little bit more. And they said, how much more? He said, no, you don't understand. Whatever it is, just a little bit more. Possessions don't fulfill. You can chase possessions to your grave and they're not going with you. The Egyptian kings, the great Egyptian kings, the pharaohs, they thought, oh, I'll take my possessions with them. Guess what? They're not with them now. Grave, grave robbers. Their possessions are in museums. Many of them lost in time. You can go see some of those old pharaohs. They're all wrapped up. What are you chasing? Can it be caught? Jesus says, seek and you will find, ask and it shall be given, knock and it shall be opened to you. Jesus said, seek me and you will find me. All who call upon the name of the Lord, he will hear. He will hear. So beloved, we have to be careful about possessions. We need to understand that everything that we have right now is on loan from the sovereign God who has the right to take it away. We're meeting in this room. Here's a small example. We're meeting in this room. This is on loan to us from God. I don't know, next week, I don't know. It's our plan to meet here. We might have to meet out on the street. We might have to go to somebody's home. What if the home's taken away? Are we going to trust God or say, oh, God has failed us? God, the sovereign, has the right to take away what he has given. We are but stewards of what God owns and places in our care. And as we are not our own, but we are bought with a price, what we have is not our own, but it belongs to God. Oh, be a good steward of what God has put in your care, amen? Be a good steward of it, be responsible. but it is God's and yours to care for. So I want to ask this question. Will you worship this God? Will you worship the God who gives and the God who takes away? God is God. Will you worship him for who he is instead of what he gives? What we say as Job, and we're gonna come to it, Though God slay me, yet will I trust him. Secondly, as Job trusted in God, he trusted in God's providence. If you trust in God, you trust in what God's going to do, what he's going to work, and even how he's going to bring things about. Douglas O'Donnell writes, Job had no idea what was going on in the heavens. He was not privy to the chamber room conversation. And yet he gave God the benefit of the doubt. He knew who was the potter and who was the clay. And as the clay, he did not say to the potter, do you know what you're doing? Rather, he was able to be cracked and battered about because he trusted that he was still in God's wise and just and loving hands. Job trusted in the purposeful providence of God. Following Job's lead church, we should trust that God rules every aspect of the universe, every event in history, and yes, every detail of our personal lives. And so I will ask again, will you trust this God, the sovereign over all? Will you trust him? Thirdly, Job also knew that a new and better day was coming. He didn't know when, even if in this life, but he knew that one day he would be eternally with the Lord, sharing in the resurrection, enjoying eternal life. While we are way off from studying it, in chapter 19, verses 25 through 27, Job says, as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. He's being accused by his friends, And he says, well, as for me, I know that my redeemer lives. And at the last, he will take his stand on earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God, whom I myself shall behold. Well, at times, Job most certainly loathed this life. He anticipated the life to come where he would behold his Lord and his God. When all in this world fails, the hope of glory, and seeing the Redeemer's face, face to face, does not fail. And beloved, it will come to pass. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Trust in Him. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Merciful Lord, great God of ours, Sovereign, creator, giver of life. Lord, what can we do but bow before you because you are God and you alone are God. There's not another like you, not even close. Lord, as we see how you dealt with your servant, Job, and we read how you took your hedge of protection down and Job suffered immensely, We rejoice, Lord, that we see that Job came to praise you and to worship you, and he did not turn his back on you. And Lord, we know the reason he was able to be steadfast was because you put it in him. So Lord, put it in us. Cause us to have this faith that is unwavering. Grant us faith to believe in Jesus and to stand steadfast in the faith. So that come what may, when you bless and when you take away, that we will bow before you and worship you. May it be that in every situation where the world thinks we're done for, we've had it, we can't get up. May it be in that situation that out from under the heap of ashes, we will say you are my God and I will worship you. Let us be that kind of a people, Lord, who glorify you. Be glorified in us, we pray, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the church said, amen. God bless.