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Good Morning! It’s a real privilege for me to be able to be
here with you. Thank you for inviting me
to share about Apaxtla, México.
Actually, the privilege to share with you from God’s Holy Word is more
exciting than anything else. His Word is
amazing. There is great comfort and direction
to be found in His Word. That Sunday
morning I preached in México it was quite cold, 55-58 degrees! Since the Church doesn’t have heat or walls
it was a surprise to me. I wanted to
give you a feel, if possible, for the way La Iglesia Biblica de Apaxtla (the
Apaxtla Bible Church) does church, so if you have a Bible, and are comfortable
reading publicly, I will call on a few of you for Bible reading.
I remember getting a phone call
once. A good friend of both mine and
Jose was calling and he needed advice.
He was teaching Sunday School and had a place in Scripture to teach
from, but was unimpressed with the message.
He just couldn’t find anything substantive to share from that passage. After a few minutes on the phone we both
agreed that there was way too much to teach in only one class on this
passage. How did that happen? I call that God’s Sovereignty at work. I am no one special. But by God’s grace he used me in that moment
to encourage a brother in the Lord. I
have also seen others encourage myself in the same way. Walking in God’s Sovereignty removes the
burden of Daily living from your shoulders to His. The story of Job tells us about how God
worked in the background of Jobs’ life.
Job was a very wealthy man… Well, why don’t I just let the Scriptures
tell the story.
Job 1 There was a man in
the land of Uz
Did you notice the character of Job? The Scripture is careful to record for us
this information. You need to know that
Job was not a sinner. It is true that there
is none righteous, yet Job’s life was not one of habitual sin. Listen to what
comes next:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, and
Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you
come?” Satan answered the Lord and
said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
8 And the Lord
said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him
on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from
evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all
that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his
possessions have increased in the land. 11 But
stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your
face.” 12
And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your
hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from
the presence of the Lord. [2]
Look
at the authority which Satan has been given!
Does that frighten you? It
shouldn’t! It was given by God, and it
can be taken by God. All that Job has is
in the hand of our adversary, Satan. What
you should really be considering is this;
God boasted about Job! Wouldn’t
you like to think that the Lord might brag on you! That you might even be thought of by the
Lord! Does that surprize you? We like to quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.[3] but we rarely think
that God is up there in the heavens considering us?! So God gave Satan the authority to do evil to
all Job has. Let’s see how he uses that authority:
13 Now there was a day when
his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s
house, 14
and there came a messenger to Job and
said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down
the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to
tell you.” 16 While he was yet
speaking, there came another 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.” 17 While he was yet
speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and
made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the
edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your
sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s
house, 19
and behold, a great wind came across
the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the
young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” [4]
What
tragedy! Why would God allow this to
occur? This doesn’t seem fair by any standard. On a feast day of some sort, four independent
troubles befall Job. First the Sabeans
attack the Oxen and donkeys. Next the fire of God consumes the sheep. Next comes the Chaldean raid on the
Camels. Lastly, at the feast itself the
house falls and kills everyone! Here we
have a man who was living a righteous life, a life so righteous that even God
boasted in him, and God allowed this?! And
what did Job do?
20 Then
Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and
worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I
came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord.”
22 In
all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.[5]
The Scriptures record that Job was good in all his
responses to all this tragedy. He
worshiped God! WOW! How could he do it?! By trusting in the Lord. You and I get the inside scoop. We know what Job did not know. We know why God allowed this to happen. And consider this, Job did not let God
down! He could have simply been angry
with God, “Why are you doing this to me!
Don’t you love me?” In a way, someone might say he had
every right to question God. I can tell
you that in my own life I have questioned God’s purposes for me many
times. It’s frustrating to have your
life interrupted by tragedy, or other unforeseen events. We want to have control don’t we? And when our plans are interrupted we get
mad.
Let me ask you a question. Why do we want control? Isn’t it because we think we know what is
best? Isn’t it because we think our
plans are right? Perhaps it is simply that
when we try to take control of our lives, we are not yielding them up to God. To yield our plans to the living God is to
acknowledge that we don’t know best. I
am not the best architect of my own life.
What we
need to remember is that whatever events occur in our day by day living, God is
really involved in all of it. Right down
to the smallest detail. And our righteous
living does not necessarily factor into the events. We’d all like to believe that if we read the
Scriptures, pray, and live by them an honorable life which God would respect,
that we’d earn the right to a good life here.
In fact that’s what the world teaches us. But the life of a Christian is not marked by
ease and comfort. In fact it’s most
likely tougher than before. Our Lord
Jesus said, John 15:20 Remember the
word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you.[6]
I’d like
to hope that perhaps the Lord Jesus is up there in heaven, boasting in the way
his children are living, despite the persecution or troubles we face.
Let’s continue Job’s story:
Job 2 Again there was a day when the sons of God
came to present themselves before the Lord,
and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord
said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on
the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 And the Lord
said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him
on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from
evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to
destroy him without reason.” 4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that
a man has he will give for his life. 5 But
stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you
to your face.” 6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in
your hand; only spare his life.”
7 So
Satan went out from the presence of the Lord
and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of
his head. 8 And he took a piece of
broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
9 Then
his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and
die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women
would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.[7]
Again,
what a tragic event!!! Here we
see again the dialog between God & Satan.
And God takes responsibility for what has happened to Job. God says to Satan that he incited Him against
Job without cause. So we know for a fact
that the tragedies which he faced were not a result of sin, but instead were a
result of this heavenly dialog between God & Satan.
Let’s look
at what Satan claims about people. Is it
true? All that a man has he will give
for his life. What does it mean? Simply put, that in a life or death
situation, a man will do whatever he has to do to survive. Is that true?
Brothers & Sisters, let me say to you that if you know the Lord, and
are known of Him, then this is completely false for you. Think about it, for a moment. The Christian knows that the end of his life
here, is simply the beginning of life with Him.
So why would anyone who walks with God, fear the death of his body, when
it’s his soul that really matters. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy
both soul and body in hell.[8]
Consider this now. If you are not a Christian, if you are just a
pretender, and you die, it really is the end for you. There is no hope for you, and then what Satan
said is true for you, that is, all that a man has he will give for his life,
since this really is all that you have to cling to. People, we need to get to the place where we
are willing, without a struggle to give up our possessions, and our rights,
over the a Sovereign God who has our best interests at heart.
Let’s examine Job’s statement,
“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” I
think that this says more about Job, than whatever we might think it says about
God. One way to restate what Job said
might be to say, “What does God owe us?”
We have not earned any good he gives us have we? Actually, except for the grace of God I would
have no hope at all! Let’s now look at
the end of Job’s story as the Scriptures tell it:
10 And
the Lord restored the fortunes of
Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had
known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him
sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of
them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.
12 And
the Lord blessed the latter days
of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000
yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He
had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And
he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second
Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s
daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his
sons’ sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old
man, and full of days. [9]
God
gave him back double what he had lost!
Did you keep count? Twice as many
sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys. What
about his children? He didn’t have twice
as many of them did he? Just 7 sons and
3 daughters? How do you explain
this? The animals have no value after
their death, but people do. The 7 sons
& 3 daughters Job lost were only lost in this life alone. They, like all of us, have value after this
life and will remain eternally in either heaven or hell. So Job only lost his 1st 10
children in this life, and would be able to see them again afterward.
I noticed something about Job’s
story. He never did know what was going
on in heaven between Satan & God.
Brothers & Sisters, it is my belief that God is very much more involved
in our lives than we ever think. It is
easy to acknowledge God in the blessing times of our lives. But we need to begin to Praise God in the
difficult times, during the evil events of our lives.
Let
us look at another passage. It refers to
what we call the captivity of the nation Israel Babylon because of Israel Babylon
What
does God say of His plans for the nation?
They are for good and not evil.
Yet I am here to tell you that though God’s plans were for good, the
things which happened were not good in and of themselves. Many died during the siege against Jerusalem Jerusalem
The captivity of Israel Babylon , then to the
Media, and Persia (modern
day Iran ), on to Greece , and then Rome Babylon palace
of Babylon , 30 and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon
The dream which God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, and which was
interpreted for him by Daniel, came true.
God sent the vision. Then, a year
later, he fulfilled it. What was God’s
objection to Nebuchadnezzar’s rule? It
was his pride. God was offended by his
pride. Listen to the King’s response
once he was brought to his senses again:
34 At
the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason
returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who
lives forever,
for
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and
his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
35 all
the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and
he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and
among the inhabitants of the earth;
and
none can stay his hand
or
say to him, “What have you done?”
36 At
the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my
majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and
I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of
heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk
in pride he is able to humble. [13]
To be humiliated in such a way really changed the
king. What was his response? To praise the most High! This should be our response to trials! Consider it pure joy brothers when you fall
into various trials, write the apostle James.
Consider this: In light of the Eternal Sovereign God, and His certain
Love for you, you can bear the difficulty much easier. Jesus
said, 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light.” [14]
I want to
show you a place in Scripture which will demonstrate faith in God’s Sovereignty. In the book of Daniel chapter 9 we read, “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent
a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the
books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass
before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.[15] Daniel was a 14 or 15 year old boy when he
was taken in captivity. Now, 70 years
have passed and he is 84 or 85 years old and recognizes that the time for the
prophesy is complete! In all the Bible
there are many prayers recorded and Daniel 9 is one of the great ones. Look it up this afternoon. It will astound you. Daniel tells us that he perceived in the books
the prophesy was complete. Are you ready
to be that trusting of God and His Word?
Daniel was. We may not have all
the answers, but God’s Word is complete, and enough for us.
When we
remember the Love of God which He demonstrated for us by dying in our place even
while we were still sinners, we can also remember that same love is with us
today. We only see through a glass
dimly. What a story will be told to us
when in heaven we stand before our King and he shows to us all the ways he was sovereignly
in control! I said in the beginning Walking
in God’s Sovereignty removes the burden of Daily living from your shoulders to
His. I hope this encourages
you. Our God is in control and because
he loves us we can be assured that whatever we’re going through is part a His
Sovereign plan! A plan which we may, or
most likely may never know about, but which will produce for Him, glory! Praise the Lord!!!
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