And then next Sunday, God willing, I want to talk to you about the giant of worldliness. The giant of suffering. Job chapter 1 and verse 1. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels and 500 yoke of oxen and 500 she-asses and a very great household. So this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. And his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And it was so when the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that 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 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. The Lord said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and askeweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of 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. 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 from the presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. And there came a messenger unto Job and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them. And the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them away. Yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. And there came a great wind from the wilderness and smoked the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men and their dead. And I am escaped alone to tell thee. And Job rose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground in worship and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb. Naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord in all this Job's sin now, for a charge God foolishly. Let's keep our Bibles open there at Job chapter 1. The giant of suffering. The date was the 15th of February, the year 1947. An Avianca airline bound for Quito, Ecuador, crashed into the 14,000-foot-high towering peak of El Tablazo and then dropped a flaming mass of metal into the ravine below. None of the passengers on that DC-4 that day ever knew what happened. They were all killed instantly. One of the passengers was a man called Glenn Chambers from New York City. And he was on his way to begin a new ministry with the voice of the Andes. Before leaving the Miami airport earlier that day, Chambers hurriedly wrote a note to his mom. He had picked up a piece of paper that he had found on the terminal floor, and he wrote a note to his mom. And that scrap piece of paper was once an advertisement With the single word, why, scrawled across the center. But between the mailing of that letter and the delivery of that letter, Chambers was killed in the aeroplane. And when the letter did arrive at his mom's house, there, staring up at his mom, was that haunting question, why? Perhaps there is no question so tormenting in life as the question, why? Why does a good God allow tragedy to come to His children? Why should that beautiful young girl be stricken with an incurable disease? Why should the child of devoted parents be born mentally or physically handicapped? Several years ago I stood in a little country cottage in County Antrim and gazed at the bullet holes that had shattered that home. A Christian mother had been shot dead by the Irish Republican Army that morning They had come to get her son, and they had surrounded that little homestead. And in the midst of the disturbance, that Christian, that godly mother, rose from her bed, and they shot her through the window dead. And as I gazed upon the tear-stained faces of her daughter, the question was, why? Tuesday the 28th of June 1989, a friend of ours was traveling between Tarryduff and Dundrum. She was going to help her mom entertain a Baptist pastor when she had a serious accident. For six days I sat beside her in the Royal Victoria Hospital and watched her fighting for life as she was helped by a life support machine. And Tuesday, the 4th of July, I was there with her husband and her dad when they told us that she was clinically dead and they were shattered and so was I. And a few days later, I preached at her funeral service to a vast multitude of people and we wept as her two precious children put a flower on mommy's coffin. Why? Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God when tragedy strikes? If God is all-loving, how can he allow human suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God not care? Is the Lord worthy of our worship in the tough times? Or must the Lord buy worshipers with blessings? These are difficult questions. Indeed, in the words of this book of Job, man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. Man, that is of woman, is of few days and full of trouble. Suffering for the Christian may come to us from at least four different directions. It may come to us from the hands of the Lord. The book of Hebrews reminds us, Whom the Lord loveth, he chastens and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And this kind of suffering is not a denial of the Father's love. It's an evidence of the Father's love. Suffering may come to us through the hands of the Lord. Suffering may come to us through the hands of the world. Peter speaks of suffering for righteousness' sake. The Lord Jesus says, In the world ye shall have tribulation. Suffering, of course, may come to us through our own hands. The Lord Jesus spoke of this in a symbolic way when He said, If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. He was speaking of self-imposed discipline. And then suffering may come to us not only through the hands of God, not only through the hands of the world, not only through our own hands. Suffering may come to us through the hands of Satan. Indeed, were Job's trials and difficulties not the direct activity, the result of the activity of the devil? Job who lived in the land of Uz, just south of the Dead Sea. Edom, we would call it in Bible days. Saudi Arabia, we would call it today. Job didn't suffer because he had done anything wrong. Job suffered in spite of the fact that he was doing everything right. He was a man who was marked by a great faithfulness. He was a man who was marked by a great family. He was a man who was marked by a great fortune. He was a man who was marked by a great fame. He was a man who was marked by a great fever. And then in one day, he went from being a prince to being a pauper. He went from hero to zero. He lost everything. Job learned. firsthand what it is when life isn't fair. No man in the Bible, outside of the Lord Jesus Himself, suffered more than Job. Outside of Jesus Christ, no man suffered more unjustly, more unfairly than Job. And in Job, dear friends, we will learn valuable lessons that will stand us in good stead when the boss comes to us someday and gives us that slip. that terminates our employment, when we will sit in the surgery some day and the doctor will break to us the bad results of that consultant's report, when we will get that tragic phone call, when the police will call at our door, when we will receive that e-mail, that text message, we'll discover that life isn't always fair. Now, I want you to consider with me very briefly this morning the life of Job. And there are three words that I want you to get in your mind. The first word is the word misery. The second word is the word maturity. The third word is the word mastery. Misery. What God did to Job. Maturity, what God did in Job. Mastery, what God did for Job. Look at the misery that Job experienced, what God did in Job. Look over to chapter 2 verse 13 for a moment. This is his friend. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights. And none speak a word unto him, for they saw that his grief was very great. His grief was exceedingly great. During the Great Depression, the stock market collapsed. They called it Black Monday. Job had the blackest of all Mondays. He lost his fortune. And then he lost his family, the people that he loved, the things that he loved. And then he lost his fitness. As the devil began to deal with his body, and then to add insult to injury, he lost his friends. He said, my kinsfolk of Thiel, my familiar friends, have forgotten me. And in one day he went from sunshine to rain, from joy to pain, from blessedness to brokenness, from insolation to isolation, from happiness to heartache. That was Job. And before we try to investigate the why of it, we need to understand the how of it. You see, Job's trials were activated by a satanic force. Look at verse 8 of chapter 1. The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and askeweth evil. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for nothing? Have ye not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of 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." We learn some interesting things about the devil here. We learn that Satan does not have the presence of God. He is not omnipresent. He can only be in one place at one given time. We learn that Satan does not have the perception of God. And the Lord said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? You see, God knew Satan's heart, but Job didn't. Satan cannot read your mind this morning. He cannot know your thoughts. Only God knows that. We learn that Satan doesn't have the presence of God. He doesn't have the perception of God. He doesn't have the power of God. Look at what he says in verse 9. How did he know that God had put a hedge about Job? He knew it because he tried to get at Job, but he couldn't get at Job because of the protecting and the protecting hedge of the Lord. I want to tell you this morning that the devil and his demons, Legions can attack you, but they cannot attack you without the permission of the Lord. The psalmist says, the angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear Him and delivereth them. You'll notice that in the midst of it all, Satan asks a very telling question. Verse 9, "...dost thou fear God for nothing?" Satan's accusation is this. Nobody is good without a cause. Nobody loves the Lord, says Satan, for the sake of loving God. Job served God because God served Job. The devil said, in effect, Lord, I know why Job serves you. He serves you because you have blessed him. You have enriched him. Job serves you because you've been so good to him. You take away his wealth. You take away his health. You take away his family. You take away his fortune. You see whether Job serves you or not. Perhaps the book of Job should not be why does bad things happen to good people, but why are godly people godless? I mean, is the Lord to be worshipped this morning because of who He is? Or is the Lord to be worshipped because of the things that He gives? Is God worthy of our worship this morning, even if He doesn't bless us materially, financially, domestically? If God never gave you one blessing, would you still serve the Lord? Would you still worship the Lord? I have to ask myself the question, if God didn't bless me materially, financially, spiritually, would I be as excited about worshiping the Lord and reaching the lost and loving the Savior? Here's a legitimate question. Do you love the Lord because you expect God to bless you, or do you love the Lord because you want Him to bless you? I mean, would you worship? Would you serve the Lord? Would you love Him this morning if there was nothing in it for you? I heard about a mother who was exasperated with her five-year-old boy. They had been giving her trouble all afternoon. She said to him, Would you please straighten up and be good? The little boy looked at his mommy and said, I will if you give me five dollars. She looked at him and said, why can't you be good for nothing like your dad? The reason Satan attacked Job was to prove that he wasn't good for nothing. That he didn't serve God because of what he could give to God. But he served God because of what he was getting from God. In effect, Satan is coming into the presence of the Lord and saying, Lord, you bought Job off. You paid him to worship you. He owes it to you. Job is worshiping you because of what you've done for him. Job's trials were activated by a satanic force. But then, look again, Job's trials were allowed by a sovereign father. For even though Satan was behind all of this, behind Satan was God. And my dear friends, it was God who allowed Satan to attack Job's possessions. The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. Then he allowed Satan to attack Job's person. The Lord said unto Satan, He's in thy hand. Save thy life. You see, while Satan was the immediate cause of his trials, God was the ultimate cause, for these trials were allowed by a sovereign God. Indeed, is the sovereignty of God not the prominent theme in the book of Job? It is more than a book about Job. It is a book about God. God controls Satan's power. God controls man's circumstance. God is God. He will do as He pleases, when He pleases, with whom He pleases, without consulting His creatures. And He will do it for His own glory and the ultimate good of His people. You say, where is God when tragedy strikes? He's on the throne. And He's working out His purposes for His glory and our good. You say, well, why do the righteous suffer? Stephen Lawson says the righteous suffer because God, according to His infinite wisdom, chooses for them to suffer. Dr. Sidney Baxter says behind all the suffering of the godly is the high purpose of God. And beyond it all is an afterwards of glorious achievement. Look at what Job says in verse 10. He is answering his foolish wife. He said unto her, Thou speakest chapter 2, verse 10, as one of the foolish women speakest. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God? And shall we not receive evil? Shall we not receive adversity? You see, Job's God was not some heavenly Santa Claus who sits on the edge of heaven, dropping down little gifts upon his children, saying, Please take this. I want you to be happy. That's not our God. The sovereign God of heaven disposes and dispenses what brings glory to Himself. And my dear friends, whether we like it or not, God not only comforts the afflicted, God afflicts the comfortable. He not only allows good to come into our life, He allows adversity. Do you want to know why this morning? Because God is not so much interested in my happiness, He is paramountly interested in my holiness. Was Job not a better man for going through what God allowed? Indeed, though he lost a lot through this soul-crushing experience, he gained far more than he lost. And through this furnace of affliction, he perseveres. He becomes more mature. He becomes stronger. Are there not times when we just have to stand back and rest on the faithfulness of God? Knowing that God is too wise to make mistakes, God is too loving to be unkind, God is too powerful to be denied in His purposes, One of the greatest hymn writers of the Christian church was a man named William Cowper, and William Cowper suffered greatly, especially from depression. In fact, he almost committed suicide on one occasion. And it's to William Cowper that we owe some of the greatest hymns of the church. The last hymn he wrote in 1774 speaks of the mystery of God's design behind our adversity. Kuiper wrote, God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scorn is working clean. God is His own interpreter and He will make it clean. The misery that Job experienced, what God did to Job. Notice, secondly, the maturity that Job expressed, what God did in Job. You see, every trial and trouble is a test. Job knew that. He said, but he knoweth the way that I take. He knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And every time a trial and a trouble comes into your life, the Lord is simply saying, will you continue to trust me, to serve me, to love me or not. Remember what Peter says in this, He greatly rejoiced, though now for a season, if need be, yearn heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it may be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. You see, my friends, the faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted, Until your faith and my faith is put to the test, we don't really know whether it's authentic faith. All that glitters is not gold, and all that believes is not faith. It's only by testing that we can determine the real character of our faith. Phil's faith was tested. And through this testing, his maturity was revealed. Let me say two things very quickly. His faith was tested by his friends. Look at chapter 2 and verse 11. Verse 11, Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon them, they came, every one from his own place. Job had at least three friends. I'm not sure whether I've even got three friends or not, but Job had three. You know, times of prosperity bring out people who want to be your friends. Times of adversity show the true color of those who you thought were your friends. Now, these friends came to sympathize, but they instead to scrutinize and then to sermonize. They took one look at Job and they said, Job, we know what your problem is. There's sin in your life. They believed in a health and wealth gospel. They believed that if a man really loved the Lord and trusted the Lord, that he would be healthy, wealthy and wise. Their theology taught that suffering is always the result of sin. In effect, they said, if you're not rich, it's because you're not right. If you're not healthy, it's because you're not holy. I want to stress this morning that I believe that if you're a child of God, you're going to suffer if you sin. I believe that. David suffered because he sinned. For twelve months he carried around in his heart unconfessed sin. He beats it out. His confession in Psalm 51, he says, make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. You see, if you're bound to sin this morning as a Christian, you're bound to suffer. Suffering follows sin just as night follows day. But listen carefully. Though sin is caused by suffering, suffering is not always caused by sin. The Lord Jesus never sinned, yet no one suffered like Christ in human history. You see, suffering is not always a sign that you're not right with God. In Job's case, it was a sign that he was right with God. God didn't pick on a sinning man. God picked on a separated man. God picked on a sanctified man. Now, what Job's friends were saying were really this, if you would be like us, If you would be as holy Jews like us, if you would be as holy as we are, you wouldn't be suffering. Because you're suffering, Job, and you've lost your fortune, and you've lost your friends, and you've lost your farm, you're suffering because there's some sin in your life. The Lord does discipline His children by affliction and suffering. It's never your business or mine to tell the person that. That's God's business. I heard about a preacher who lived out on the west coast in the United States of America, and he came home from holiday on one occasion. And one of his members met him at the station, and the preacher got into the member's car, and he said, well, how's things at home? The preacher said, real bad, pastor. A storm came through the town and wiped out my house. And the preacher said, well, I'm not surprised about that. He said, I've been telling you that God would punish you, that God would discipline you because of the way that you're living. God would punish you because of your sin. The member said, well, preacher, the storm also wiped out your house. It did, said the preacher. Well, sometimes the ways of the Lord are past understanding. Job's faith was tested by his friend. You'll notice that Job's faith was tested by his frustrations. Job asked a very familiar question that one day you'll ask if you haven't asked it yet. Why? He says, Have I sinned? What have I done, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target so that I'm a burden to myself? Many times in this book, Job asked, Why? You know something? God never answered his question. And Job was even more frustrated, not only because of his suffering, but because of God's silence. One time he says, I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God. Job wanted to talk to the Lord. God wasn't talking. You see, God doesn't owe any of us an explanation for what He does. As a matter of fact, when you and I hurt deeply, as Warren Wiersbe says, what we need is not really an explanation from God, what we need is a revelation of God. You think of this this morning. Suppose God had told Job what was going on. Suppose the Lord had come to Job and said, well, Job, you listen for a moment. The devil is going to attack you. I've taken back my protection. I've pulled back the hedge. And the devil is going to attack your possessions. And the devil is going to attack your family. The devil is going to shake you up, Job. And he's going to do some terrible things to you. But I'm going to take care of you. And at the end of the day, you're going to get double of all that you ever had. Would that have been a test of Job's faith? Listen to me this morning. Job was written to help us understand that we don't always have to understand. Did you get that? Job was written to help us understand that we don't always have to understand. There are things that are going to happen in your life and mine that we will never understand this side of glory. But you don't have to understand what God is doing if you can trust God to do what is always right. You see, to God, the most important thing in Job's life was his faith. God didn't need his family. God didn't need his fortune. God didn't need his flocks. God didn't need his fame. He already had all of those. He says in chapter 41, Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. What God wanted was Job's faith. Because without faith is it impossible to please God. You will never know really what kind of faith you have. until you don't have anything but God. You will never know what kind of faith you have until you don't have anything but God. You see, real faith is believing and praising the Lord no matter what. We've got these healing evangelists and they're on Sky Television and they're right across our land and our world and the UK and the United States. And they stand up at the front and they say, well, if you have enough faith, you'll be healed. My dear friends, real faith, authentic faith, biblical faith, is not believing that God will heal you. Real faith is believing God may heal you, but praising Him anyway. You see, if you and I only praise the Lord and worship the Lord when things are good, Your praise is not worth half a hallelujah to Him. I love the way the three Hebrew children responded to the King when faced with a burning fiery furnace. They said, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, but if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy God. I wonder this morning, have you a faith that worships the Lord and serves the Lord? even when things don't turn out the way you had anticipated. Job had got to that place, he said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. What God did to Job, the misery he experienced, what God did in Job, the maturity he expressed, Look very quickly at the mastery Job enjoyed, what God did for Job. You see, through this trouble, God did some things for Job that otherwise he wouldn't have done. And Job learned some lessons that otherwise he wouldn't have learned. For one thing, God revealed his fault. It's interesting that for 37 chapters in the book of Job, God is silent. throughout all of us. Job's coming into the presence of the Lord and says, Lord, why? Why? And for 37 chapters, God is silent. He's just watching and listening. And then in chapter 8, he begins to give Job a test. And Job flunked every question. For God reminds Job of his preeminence. He stands back and he says, Job, where was I when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding, Job, I am up here of the sovereign Lord. I created this world. I flung it into space. I can do anything in the world and with the world I choose to do. He reminds Job of his preeminence, and then he reminds Job of his power. For Job says, I know that thou canst do everything. And now Job is beginning to understand that God has not only got the right to do everything, He's got the resource to do everything. Then he reminds Job not only of his preeminence and his power, he reminds Job of his purpose. For Job says, I know no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. And now Job's understanding that God has not only got the right to do anything and the resource to do anything, but He's got the reason for what He does. God has got a plan and a purpose for your life, for my life, for this universe. You know something, when God finishes talking with him, Job says, I have heard thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. You see, my dear friends, we could say this morning that imperfect, sinful man has no right to question the motives or the methods of God. Job! Job, just because you don't see me, And just because you can't hear me, and Job, just because you don't understand, doesn't mean that I am any less God. Job, I am the one who created it all, the one who conducts it all, the one who completes it all. He revealed his fault. And then he renewed his fellowship. He accepts Job. The Lord restores to Job. the joy of his salvation. And then he not only reveals his fault and restores his fellowship, he rebukes his friends. It just shows us that Job should have let God handle his friends in the first place. Charles Stanley, an outstanding Bible teacher in the United States of America, went through a time of difficulty in his ministry. He was being criticized unfairly and unjustly on every side. At that point in his ministry, he learned three things. That people cannot fight three things. One, they cannot fight silence, they cannot fight love, and they cannot fight prayer. You know that one of the greatest ways to handle criticism is not to handle it at all, just let God handle it. God revealed his fault, God restored his fellowship, God rebuked his friends, and then God restored his fortune. Come away over to the last chapter, just for a moment. We're almost through. Chapter 42. And look at verse 10. The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Some people say, well, how did he give him twice as much family? Well, Job really hadn't lost his family. You see, you don't lose something when you know where it is. Old Vance Havner, the old American preacher, who stormed a trail for God across the United States. One Sunday morning, his wife died. Mr. Havener determined to preach that Sunday morning. Somebody came to speak to him after it was all over and said to him, Dr. Havener, how is it that you could preach that Sunday morning your wife died? You've suffered such a great loss. He said, Sir, you don't lose anything when you know where it is. I know where she is. She's in the glory. Job's family weren't lost. They were in the glory. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friend. Someone has said that God often digs the wells of joy with the spades of sorrow. That's true. And all's well that ends well. And the book of Job tells us eventually that whether here on earth or in glory, all will end well for the child of God. Do you remember I told you about Glen Chambers? Going out to the voice of the Andres and his plane was wrecked. And he scribbled that wee note to his mama. Do you know what he had written on the wee note before the plane went down? He wrote these words, God is too kind to do anything cruel. God is too wise to make a mistake. God is too deep to explain Himself. You and I may never know the reason, but when you cannot trace God's hand, you can trust God's heart. I fancy that when Job was an old man, he was sitting on the porch, on the outside porch one night. His grandchildren, his little grandchildren were gathered around him. And he begins to recount the dealings of God with his life, the dealings of God in his life. what God did to him, what God did in him, what God did for him. And all of a sudden he bursts into song and he begins to sing to his little grandchildren. I've had many tears and sorrows. I've had questions for tomorrow. There have been times I did no right from wrong. But in every situation, God gave blessed consolation that my trials only came to make me strong. Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus. I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word. Father, we thank you for the instruction of your Word to our hearts this morning. We think of those in our congregation who are really suffering, Lord. We pray that you would draw near to them. Minister grace to them. Some of them are getting treatment this week. Some of them, Lord, are critically ill. Father, remind them and remind us that the Lord is in control. My times are in thy hand. My God, I wish them there. My life, my friends, my soul, I leave entirely to thy care. My times are in thy hand. Why should I doubt or fear? My Father's hand will never cause His child a needless tear. Help us to trust Thee, Lord, for Your namesake. Amen.