Well, it was nearly five years ago this month, as I was in the beginnings of teaching through the letter to the church in Ephesus, that I taught on God's sovereignty in salvation. The text that morning was from Ephesians chapter one, verses three through seven, which says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved. Upon coming to such a text, I found it imperative to address what it means that God chose us in Christ before He laid the foundation of the world, and that it was in love that He, according to the kind intention of His will, predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. While these high and holy truths that God is sovereign in choosing and predestining for salvation does not go away with human choice or accountability, they do exalt God the Father. He is the sovereign. He is the one whom we credit with our salvation. This is why Paul wrote that salvation is to the praise of the glory of God's grace. God is sovereign over all. including salvation, and the church said a hearty amen. In speaking of God's sovereign grace, we come to such well-known verses as Matthew 22, 14, which says, for many are called, but few are chosen. And as Jesus said to his followers in John 14, 17, you did not choose me, but I chose you. These thought-provoking, God-exalting verses help us to comprehend our total reliance on God for his saving grace. Our salvation, the fact that God has loved us, gave a son for us, called us out of this world and saved us to himself, our salvation is all to the praise of the glory of God's own grace. Well, after that sermon five years ago, A good lady came to me and asked, are you telling me God chooses and predestines those who will be saved? And I said, yes, that's what the Bible teaches. He did that from the foundation of the world. She suddenly snapped and turned around and said, well, who does he think he is? I said, well, God. There are times when we don't understand God or things about God. We don't understand why He does things as He does. We can always rightly answer that He does what He does to the praise of the glory of His grace. That's always true. And His people are the beneficiaries of His acts. But oftentimes we do not understand the means He uses to accomplish His end. Nor can we see the good that He will bring out of a difficult situation. When we're in the middle of difficulty, we wonder what good will He work in this? We can't see how he will bring good out of suffering. It's difficult, but that is part of what makes God, God. He is supremely above and beyond us. He sees the end from the beginning. He is the alpha and omega. He calls those things that are not as though they are and they are. He renders good from destruction. He brings beauty from that which he reduces to ashes. His ways are not our ways. His ways are infinitely higher and perfectly holy. In the ultimate sense, we could ask what could possibly come What good could possibly come from His righteous Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, dying on the cross? Well, we would not have a Savior. We would not have our Lord Jesus Christ if God did not send Him to be the Savior of the world. There would be no resurrection from the dead if Christ had not died to be risen. For there to be a resurrection, there must be a reduction. Jesus died, what good can come out of Jesus dying? He saves the people like us. He's raised from the dead, he's seated at the right hand of the Father. So this being true then, that God brings beauty from ashes, this being true, we must learn as the scripture teaches, 1 Peter 5, 6. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time. Humility before God. Humbling ourselves under his mighty hand does not consist of challenging him or asking who does he think he is, but of bowing before him in worship. Finding ourselves always under his protective hand, even if his hand is heavy upon us. It is in submission to his lordship that we can live a life where we are continuously casting all our anxieties upon him, knowing that he cares for us. 1 Peter 5.7, referencing from Matthew 6. While we may find ourselves like Job, who was wondering why God was dealing with him as he was, challenging God to meet him in court, can you imagine? Or even challenging God like the lady who I told you said so defiantly, who does God think He is? There will indeed come a day of reckoning, when we shall see God as He is, And as we pick up our text in the 38th chapter of Job, for Job that day has come. God, whom Job has questioned and desired audience with, comes on the scene and suddenly the dynamics of the story turns from man's complaints upward to God's glorious being. Instead of God coming at Job's demand, God demands of Job. Instead of Job taking God to court, God takes Job to court. Instead of Job questioning God, God questions him. When God reveals himself, all will know that he is God. His very presence as the all-glorious God will be his own explanation. Nothing will need to be said. All who put God to trial will be put on trial. Pardon me for being so blunt, But when God shows up, every questioning tongue will shut up. As we read, we will know that Job voices not another complaint. As we open to the book of Job and God answers him, with what weightiness then shall we receive these words of God? Of course, with all reverence, We are to receive every word of God, and the church said amen. But to seal these words in our hearts and minds, please recall with me that we widely believe that Job is the first ever recorded book of the Bible, that Job was written before Moses wrote the Genesis account. As a concession, even if Job was not the very first written book of Scripture, it most assuredly was among them. So in the book of Job, as a book of wisdom, we have God's very early, if not the earliest written revelation of God Himself. And of all Scripture, in Job 38-41, we find the longest recorded dialogue of God in the entire Bible. These words of God, these questions that he asked Job whereby he unveils his unsurpassed majesty are to be received with all holy awe and reverence. These pride crushing, stern and humbling words are to be received by us so as to minister to the Job that is in each one of us. Who here hasn't identified with Job in some way? who hasn't questioned God in his ways, who hasn't wondered about the fairness and the justice of God. These words then are to minister and to correct the fallenness that is in each of us, that we might surrender to God, humbling ourselves under his mighty hand, knowing then as he did for Job, that he will exalt us at the proper time, which will be also to the proper degree. God is perfect, therefore he is perfect in all his dealings with us. If we receive these words of God, we will receive Him. And if we receive Him for who He is, as He is, as He does, then He will be glorified and we will be His very, very blessed people. So with Bible open to Job chapter 38, we stand in an outward display of inward reverence, the inward reverence we have for God and His written word. Reading from Job chapter 38, verses one through four, then we will turn to chapter 40. This is the word of the Lord, Job chapter 38 verse one. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man and I will ask you and you instruct me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Please turn to chapter 40 verse one. Chapter 40, verse one. Then the Lord said to Job, will the fault finder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it. Then Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I am insignificant. What can I reply to thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. Let's bow before the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we come to you this day seeking your help, for you are God and we are not. You are the Almighty One. There is not another like you. You are holy in righteousness, perfect in justice, pure through and through. There is no sin nor darkness in you. And we, Lord, are fallen people who have sinned. We come before you, Lord, pleading with you that we will get a glimpse of you today, that we will see you as you are, and in the light of you, see ourselves as we are. That we would not be a people who question you or wrestle with you or who rebel against you, but we would submit to you because you are the great God, the only wise God. that we would bow before you because you gave your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to be born on this earth a baby, the God man, to live a sinless life, to fulfill the law to perfection, and then to die on the cross for sin, but not his sin, for our sins. That the great exchange could take place, that as we come to Jesus in faith, believing in him, surrendering our life to him, submitting ourselves to him, that our sins are counted against him as paid for on the cross, and his righteousness is credited to us, and that you then see us as holy and blameless. You are the sovereign God. We bow before you. By your spirit, speak to each of us through your word. In the name of Christ, I pray. And all of the church said, amen. God bless you. Please be seated. Well, as I outlined this morning, we have number one, God reveals Himself to Job. That's in chapter 38, verses 1 through 3. Then secondly, God questions Job concerning cosmogony and meteorology and zoology. And then God asks of Job, and Job answers God. God answers Job, but rather than Job questioning God, God questions him. By this God proves himself to be the supremely infinite being who has finite Job under his sovereign lordship. Upon hearing from God, Job is humbly silenced. So God reveals himself to Job. After all the chapters we've read, after all the words spoken by Job, Eliphaz, Zophar, Bildad, and Elihu, with all the long months of sufferings that have passed, the scripture suddenly sounds with a spiritual sonic boom saying, then the Lord answered Job. As God answers Job out of the whirlwind, all the voices of men fall silent. This mighty manifestation of God was an attention-seizing demonstration of Almighty God's power. On rare occasions in the days of old, God spoke out of some type of a supernatural event, such as Moses, whom he spoke from the burning bush, the burning but unconsumed bush. Why did God reveal himself in such a way to Job? We remember what the scripture says. No flesh can see God and live. God came to speak in Job in a veiled manner so that Job knew it was God to answer Job, but not to destroy him instantly. God said, chapter 38, verses two and three, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Job, who are you that you've been talking to me the way you have and saying the things you have been saying? You and your friends. Now gird up your loins like a man and I will ask you and you instruct me. God is not going to be questioned by Job. God is the judge, not the defendant. Pardon me. Allergies. In answer to Job, God is saying, who are you, Job, old man, who misjudges my wise counsel? You question my counsel? You speak many words, but they are without knowledge. Indeed, Job did not know of the heavenly encounter between God and Satan. He did not know that it was God who brought his name to the attention of the accuser. He did not know that rather than being unfairly punished as he thought he was, he was being proven as a true worshiper for the glorious exaltation of God. Well, God knew the end from the beginning, and that he would restore Job, and he would satisfy his soul, which I'll read about next week. Well, God knew Job would come to glory, and the Lord saying, but now my eyes see thee. Well, God knew that his plan for Job was for his welfare and not calamity, to give him a future and a hope. Job, being finite, did not know it. Therefore, when Job spoke, he spoke presumptuous words without knowledge. Job didn't know what he didn't know. But God knew, and God knows all, amen? So God challenges Job. He tells him to gird up his loins as one prepared for battle. Job is to stand like a man and be ready to give an account to God. God, in gathering Job's undivided attention, says, I will ask you, and you instruct me. God by this intends to assure Job that he, God, is the creator, master, who being perfectly just, is over, through, and in all things. And by this, he will bring Job to a place of humble contrition. Job, hearing God's word, will come to repent for that which he has spoken in challenging God. Secondly, God questions Job concerning cosmogony, Cosmogony is the study of the origin and development of the universe. God goes back to the beginning when he created the earth and he asks Job verses four through seven, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding, who set its measurements since you know, who stretched the line upon it, on what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang with together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Where were you? God wants to know where Job was when he was creating the earth, when he spoke, and that which was void and without form came into being and into order. He asked Job to tell him what he knows about setting the measure of the earth, fixing the earth's course, suspending the earth in space. He hangs the earth on Nothing. What did God create the earth from? How did he call that which was formless and void into being in order, Genesis 1-2? Job, where were you when the angelic beings sang with shouts of joy at my creative exploits? Where were you, Job? Answer, Job was not. And if Job was not, if Job is finite, how then does God question, how then does Job question the counsel of the God who was and is and is to come? How does Job question the wisdom of the infinite, eternal, almighty God who is the great I Am? God is the one who forced the seas up from the depths of the earth. God is the one who set the boundaries for the waters saying, this far you shall come in no further. As we were in Hawaii a few weeks ago, I was marveling at the power of the waves crashing against the shore. I wondered as the ocean without reprieve pounded against the rocks and yet the rocks stood firm and held the water in. Then I observed how the powerful waves crashed the shore and rushed up the sandy beach. No powerful rocks, just little tiny pebbles, grains of sand. And what would happen to those waves? They would lie down and retreat. The sands tamed the pounding surf. Who ordained that? God and God alone. Or do you think it just happened? In the beginning, God created, and it is his creation. And he set all things in order. God asked Job, who enclosed the sea with doors? Who said, here shall your crowd wave stop? It was God, not Job, and it was not you, and it was not me. Has Job ever called the morning to light and ordered the time of the dawn? Who set the earth on its axis so as to rotate that there is day and night every 24 hours? David Allen writes, Job has never organized and on launched a new day, therefore how can he speak about the governance of the universe? Can Job administrate justice in such a way that the wicked may be broken in their power the same way that tectonic forces shape the face of the earth? No, end quote. God shakes the world as he pleases. The same God administers justice as he pleases. at the time and the place he chooses. God sees all, he knows all and deals with all because he is the omniscient, omnipotent, one who is great and mighty. He is God, we are not. All the world, when God asked Job, verses 16 through 18, have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell me if you know all this. And of course, Job does not know all this, and neither do we. How then can Job and we ourselves stand and demand that God give an accounting to us. How can we say, God, why did you make me like you did? God, why are things like they are? God is God. We are not. God asked Job about the sunlight and darkness. What is the source of light and the nature of darkness? How do these opposing realities exist in perfect harmony? What is their source? Do you, Job, guide light and darkness in their paths? Have you set the course of the sun and the moon? Did you decide to mark time by an immense, stirring, burning ball of gases and a quiet, lifeless, earthly satellite we call the moon? who showed Job his humble state of being to remind him of his rightful place, God says, with what seems to be sarcasm, verse 21, you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great. It is to say, as I've been saying, Job, you are not God, I am. Now, God questions Job concerning meteorological things, God already asked if Job had journeyed to the source of the sea. Now He asks if Job has traveled to the place where snow and hail are stored up by God to dispense as He wills. Why does rain and hail fall as it does? Because God, for His own holy purposes, causes it to. God alone causes the light to shine here and there as he wills. He himself causes the wind to blow about the earth as it pleases him. He has his purposes in being the almighty. He fulfills his purposes as he wills and he does it with strength. He cuts the channels of the water to flow. He turns the lightning bolt whichever way He pleases. In sovereign care of His creation, God causes rain to fall in desert places where there's no man to cultivate it, yet God cares for the desert. He causes the seeds to sprout. God our Father is the father of rain who also causes the drops of dew to form. From him comes ice. Frost is born from him above. He causes water to freeze until they are like stone, till the waters are like stone and the deeps are sealed over. This is the mighty work of God alone. God asks of Job, verses 31 through 33, can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth a constellation in its season and guide the bear with their satellites? That's the Big Dipper, by the way. Do you know the ordinances of the heavens or fix their rule over the earth? The answer is no, no, no, no, and no, no. No, we can't do that. Job can't do that. Only God does this. The conclusion is who are you, oh man, to question God? Neither Job nor we or any human can lift our voice to the clouds to command that an abundance of water should fall. We cannot command the lightning to come forth and clap in answer to us saying, here we are, but God does all this. Next time you hear the thunder clap, you know that God is saying, where are you? And they're saying, here we are. God asks, verses 36 through 38, who has put wisdom in the innermost being, or who has given understanding to the mind, who can count the clouds by wisdom, or tip the water jars of the heavens when the dust hardens into a mass and the clouds stick together? The resounding answer is, the only answer is God alone, God alone, God alone, not man, but God alone. Now, God questions Job concerning zoology. Sean O'Donnell writes, from speaking about cosmogony and meteorology, God finally turns to zoology. This lesson centers on animals that man cannot tame, feed, or comprehend. The purpose of this lesson is the same, to remind Job that he is a man, not a God, and as a man, his knowledge and power are quite limited. Not only are God's ways higher than Job's ways, his power is unsurpassed as well. God provides food for the lion as well as the raven, not Job. God knows the time that mountain goats give birth. Of course he does, he ordained it. He watches over the calving of the deer. He ordained the months of gestation and knows the precise time of each birth. God alone develops the strength of the offspring so that they become established and are able to go it on their own. And all this happens out in the open field. They have no shelter. They have no home. Nobody's built them a house or a shed. They're out in the open field, yet God cares for them. The great elk. Of New Mexico, they don't need the intervention of man. God cares for the elk. God knows how to manage his created creatures. God himself set the wild donkey free to roam. It was he who gave the donkeys the wilderness for their dwelling place. Thus, the donkey knows nothing of the turmoil in the city and the commanding shouts of those who would drive them. God alone is the creator and provider, not Job, not you, not me, only God. God does fine without the intervention of man. And what of that beast, the wild ox? God asked, verses nine through 12. Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Or will he spend the night at your manger? Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with ropes? Or will he herald the valleys after you? Will you trust him because his strength is great and leave your labor to him? Will you have faith in him that he will return your grain and gather it from your threshing floor? No, Job, you will not. The wild ox is in the hand of God, not the hand of man. And that's interesting. Job will not, but God does what man cannot do. God entrusts labor to the wild ox insomuch that the ox eats and tramples the ground, preparing to receive what it leaves behind. The ox returns the grain so God may reap from its threshing floor. This man cannot orchestrate, but God has. And what of the ostrich? In verses 13-18, God describes the ostrich in her ways without asking a single question. He just describes her. What an unusual animal God created in the ostrich. God has created her so that she has wings but never flies, but only runs on her two legs. The ostrich can weigh up to 300 pounds and stretches to lengths of eight feet and can run up to 40 miles an hour with strides up to 15 feet. She is the only bird with eyelashes and two toes. The male ostrich joyously flaps his wings not to fly, but to attract a mate. She lays her eggs slightly buried in the sand so the sand will warm and incubate them as she runs off. She cares not that the eggs are easily stepped on or crushed. God says of the ostrich, verse 16, she treats her young cruelly as if they were not hers. Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned. She's not worried about those eggs. Why is the ostrich like this? Why that bizarre animal? Verse 17, because God has made her to forget wisdom and has not given her a share of understanding. Why did God make the ostrich like this? Because he wanted to. So he did. Yet still, Though the ostrich is void of wisdom, cruel to her young, still her species survives by the will of God. She is careless and ignorant, she is foolish and cruel, lacking care for her home, but God preserves the species. Still her eggs hatch, still the young grow. It is God who made her, who sees to her. For her survival, the Lord has given her a gangly maneuverability coupled with the ability to run faster than anything on two legs, faster than a horse with a rider and many four-legged predator animals. She is so fast that the Lord himself says, verse 18, when she lifts herself on high, when she's running and striding, she laughs at the horse and the rider. She can outrun them both. What is the use of this bizarre animal? For what purpose did God create this peculiar creature? And why does God bring the ostrich to Job's attention? Steve Lawson writes, this odd bird, although inferior in intelligence, is superior in speed. Remarkably, she represents the mystery of God's sovereignty which is past human comprehension, end quote. We can't even understand why God would make an ostrich. How can we possibly understand why he deals with us as he does? In part, God created the ostrich, not so we would wonder at the bird, but that we would wonder and marvel at the God who created her. Don't hug the tree. It's God's creation, glorified the God who makes the tree. God uses the foolish things to confound the wise. And if God's wisdom in the creation and preservation of an ostrich is an enigma to us, how then can we comprehend the vast scope of God's wisdom in the creation in the order of the universe? How can we question God's wisdom in his dealing and care of us? When we wonder what an ostrich is to God that he so cares for an ostrich, we are reminded that the psalmist said of God, who is man that thou art mindful of him? Of all created creatures, Only mankind is created in the image of God, and only man has rebelled and sinned against him. Yet God cares for us. He so loved us that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. While having placed the puzzling idea of the ostrich before Job, God goes on to ask him about the horse. God inquires if it was Job who gave the horse its might, or clothed its neck with a mane, causes it to leap, giving the horse its terrifying smort. Who was it? God wants Job to answer. Who made the horse to paw in the valley, to rejoice in strength, to be fearless in battle? Who created the valiant horse so that it does not fear the sword or quiver or spear or javelin? When the battle trumpet sounds, the horse races into the battle with a rage. Who made the horse so bold and mighty? Not Job, not you and me, but God, God alone. From observing God's creative glory as displayed in land animals, God turns Job's attention upward, and God asks, verses 26 through 30, this is the end of chapter 39, is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the cliff, he dwells and lodges upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. From there he spies out food, he sees it from afar. His young ones also suck out blood, and where the slain are, there is he. Joe, stand up and answer like a man. By what understanding that the hawks soar with wings extended with seldom a flap? At whose command do eagles mount up on high, inaccessible places? Who gave the eagle his keen eyesight so that it can see a rabbit from three miles away? Who gave the eagle the ability to dive 100 miles per hour to snatch up its prey and bring it back to its hungry brood? God so designed the eagle that if something dies, his eagles, the carrion birds, clean up the mess by making a useful meal of it. Who, Job? Who did this? Coming to the close of the 39th chapter leaves us rather speechless. Though we are not physically bowed before the Lord, everything within us should be bowed before the Lord. God is God, we are not. Blessed be the name of the Lord, our God. All things are to the praise of the glory of his grace. Well finally, God asks of Job and Job answers God. Chapter 40, verse one. Then the Lord said to Job, will the fault finder, that's you, Job, contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer. As Job previously desired that God meet him in court, it is God who has called Job to court. Though God has not yet asked all his cross-examining questions, of which there are 77 in all, he has asked a majority of them. Since Job has played the fault finder, blaming God for unfair, unjust practices, God demands him to answer his questions. Then the Lord said to Job, will the fault finder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer. Being questioned as he has by God, Job's mind has become clear. It appears in some way that the pain and suffering has been set aside His attention is on God. My little girls, when they were young, they would hurt themselves. And they would come crying about their owie. And it hurts so bad, it hurts so bad. And I said, well, get busy and give your attention to something else. I can't. Yes, you can. Come on, let's get busy. And pretty soon they say, Dad, it works. It doesn't hurt anymore. Job who has suffered so much beyond what we can imagine. We can read about it, but how can we really sense the greatness of his loss? Here he has a sight of God. Here he is hearing from God, and his mind has become clear. His pain and suffering no longer draws his attention. God has his full undivided attention. He understands that God is the divine potter and he, Job, is the earthly clay. God, the potter, has the right over the clay. Job will not talk back to God. Verses three through five, then Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I am insignificant. What can I reply to thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken, and I will not answer even twice, and I will add no more. Awed by God, Job realizes that he and his sufferings are insignificant compared to the Almighty. Job cannot rightly fault God. In view of God's divine supremacy, Job quickly and without question knows that he has no right to complain about God and his dealings with him. If Job is unable to comprehend and control God's creation, how can he comprehend and control God, the creator? Being confronted by God, Job confesses that he has said too much. No longer will Job play the fault finder, trying to reprove God. He's the clay, and he will let the Almighty mold him and make him. It is to say, not my will, but thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I submit to you, Father God. Oh, it was Job who was frustrated at God's silence. It is now Job who finds silence golden. Job is coming about full circle. In chapter nine, verse 14, he was hesitant to confront God as he asked, how then can I answer God? But then he became a little bit bolder, and in chapter 13, verse 22, he said, I will answer. Then in chapter 31, verse 37, Job, in a brazen declaration, said, Like a prince I would approach God. But now that God has approached him, he is humbled. By the will of God, Job humbles himself under God's mighty hand. And Lord willing, next week we will read how God exalts Job at the proper time. Finally then, church. The question is not who does God think he is. God knows he is God and he will always act as God. The real pressing question is in the revelation of who God is, who are you? Who am I? Will you, will I, will we humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, knowing He promises to exalt us at the proper time? That is, will we submit to Him? Will we give our life to Him? Will we obey Him? Or will we choose to live in sinful rebellion, questioning Him and His right over us? Will you and I recognize God as He is, as He has made Himself known to us through the Holy Scripture as the Almighty Creator? And in seeing Him as He is, will we recognize that we ourselves are a created creature and under His just and perfect care? And it follows that to recognize God the Father for who He is, We must also recognize God the Son for who He is. Jesus came, John chapter one, Jesus came to explain the Father to us. You wanna know the nature of the Father? Look to His Son. You wanna know the love of the Father? Look to His Son. Mark chapter 16, verse 13, and following tells of the time, When Jesus asked his disciples, who are people saying that I am? Who do people say the Son of Man is? And the disciples answered him, some say that you are John the Baptist, others say you are Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, are one of the prophets. But then Jesus said to them, he looks them in the eye and says to them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Each of us is fully dependent upon God for his merciful saving grace. Each soul is totally relying on God to make His Son, Jesus, known to us. And here at church, in the Bible, in the inscripturated Word, by the work of His Holy Spirit, God has made Himself and His Son known to us. He has revealed Himself to us as we've read today. Will we, like Job, come to see Him in the light of who He really is, and putting our hand over our mouth, bow low and worship Him as He is in holy reverence? Will we submit to Him? You gonna go your own way? Or are you gonna go God's way? You gonna follow your own path or are you going to follow after Jesus? According to the Bible, the day comes when we will all appear before the Lord and we will see Him just as He is. The Bible says of the crucified and risen Christ, that God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, every knee will bow, those who are in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and that every time, heavenly creatures, earthly creatures, demonic creatures, Every creature, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is why I always say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Humbly submit therefore to God. Believe in his son Jesus as the Savior. Turn your life around now and begin to follow after him. Do what is right before God. and God the Father will exalt you at the proper time. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Please bow with me in prayer. Our heavenly father, your word is strong. It is powerful. And we know that there is salvation in your word. It is my prayer, Lord, that all of us here today, each one of us have heard from you And Lord, to whatever degree we have any understanding that you will cause that understanding to take root in our heart, that we will not be able to forget it, but it'll take root in us, we will receive it and allow it to grow. I pray, Lord, that each one of us will follow after you, that we will read our Bible, that we will read what you say about yourself, and we will believe. that we will look to Jesus as your only son, the only savior of the world, and seeing that he died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and that you caused him to rise again to sit at your right hand, and there he prays for us, Lord, that we will follow after Jesus, that we will believe in him, we will turn our life about and follow you. Lord, may all of us believe in you, Lord Jesus, to be a true Christian, follow after you, be sons and daughters of the living God. May we get a glimpse of you, may we see you as we are, and may we bow low and worship you. May we humble ourselves under your mighty hand, knowing you will lift us up at the right time. Have your way in us, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Please stand to your feet, and let's sing to the Lord together.