I preached this sermon in the fall of 2000.
Job 1 & 2
Introduction: Timothy Seidu lost his 26 year old sister.
Proposition: We can trust God because He is sovereign, good, and wise.
But in order to trust God, we must first know God.
This morning I would like for us to examine the life of Job to see how we can trust God. What was is that Job knew about God that allowed him to trust God in the midst of the most trying of circumstances?
Illustration: If someone were to call you on the phone, whom you did not know nor had met ever before, and ask you to tell him your credit card number, you would certainly not give it to him. Why? It is because you do not trust him. You do not know if you can trust someone if you do not know who he is. But, if you son or daughter were to call you up in an emergency and ask you for your credit card number, you would feel more comfortable giving it to him. Why? It is because you know him and judge him to be trustworthy.
There is here a very important truth, namely that a man cannot trust God until he knows that God is trustworthy. Many Christians go through life with fear and doubt and uncertainty about the future, questioning why bad things happen to them and wondering if God really cares. Many become bitter angry with God. Ultimately the problem boils down to a lack of trust in God that is rooted in a poor knowledge of God.
Is God reliable? Can He be trusted? The Bible teaches that He is reliable and that we can therefore trust him.
What makes God trustable?
· Three compelling reasons that you should trust God:
1. He is the sovereign, omnipotent controller of all things.
2. He is the good, loving protector of His people.
3. He is the wise, omniscient planner of all things.
We cannot trust God until we know and believe that these things are so. When faith is absent, so is knowledge. A true knowledge of God is the fountain of all the duties of the believer. We must know God in order to trust Him.
Let us read Job 1:1–19
Job was definitely a man who experienced some trials and difficulties in his life. But notice how Job responded to these trials. His response was one of trust in his God.
Job 1:20–22 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Notice the incredible response of Job to these very difficult trials in his life. How was it that Job was able to trust God, even in the midst of some of the worst imaginable hardships? That is what I would like us to turn our attention on this morning. What was it that Job knew about God that allowed him to have such a confidence in Him in the midst of these difficulties?
I believe there were three powerful truths that Job was absolutely convinced of about God that gave him that confidence in him.
Truth #1 – God was in absolute control of the events that happened to us.
Is God in control when bad things happen? This is a difficult question for many people. Some say that bad things happen by chance, that God does not control them. But if this were true, how could one trust God when bad things happened? Notice the following verses of Scripture.
Amos 3:6, “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?”
Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord
do all these things.
The Bible is clear in ascribing to God absolute control over all things. He controls kings, men in general, the forces of nature, and everything else. Nothing is outside the control of God.
1. God was in control of Satan.
– Job 1:6–12 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. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou 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. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
– Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
· Notice here that Satan could do nothing to Job but what God allowed. Satan had no control or authority. Nothing could possibly happen to Job outside of God’s will for him. That Job realized this powerful truth is clear from his response.
2. Job ascribes to God the bad things that happened to him.
– Job 1:21–22 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
– Job 2:9–10 9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
The author of Job, to emphasize that what Job was crediting to God was not false, adds immediately following Jobs confession, “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly”, and “in all this did not Job sin with his lips.”
Job 12:9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
The sovereign hand of God clearly controlled all that had happened to Job, and he knew this to be true, but that is not all that Job knew. If this were all he knew about God, this would not be a very comforting truth, in fact, it could be quite scary. But Job also knew that God is good.
Truth#2 – God loves his people with an unfailing love demonstrated by his commitment to pursue their good.
Job realized that everything he had was from the hand of God. He gave God the credit for all that he had, “The Lord giveth.” But Job knew that God was not good just because he blessed him materially. God may or may not bless his people with an abundance of financial goods. This is not however this is not what we mean when we talk about God loving us and being good. God always pursues the highest good of his people. But what is it that we mean when we talk about pursuing our good. It is our spiritual good with which God is concerned.
Romans 8:28–29, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Paul here reveals for us what this good is for which God is working things together. It is our growth in Christlikeness. God brings trials and difficulties into our lives to mould and shape us to be more like Christ, to help us to love God and trust him more. God’s goal is always our spiritual good in all that happens to us, and this is what Job knew to be true.
Psalm 34: 8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”
Notice here that the goodness of God is tied directly to trusting God. Only those who are convinced of God’s love and goodness will be able to trust in Him.
Perhaps one of the greatest passages on this subject is found in Paul’s epistle to the Romans.
Romans 8:31–39, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Unless a person is convinced of this true about God he will have constant fear and worry about the future. What will happen to me? Notice though the inseparability of this truth with the preceding one. If God is good but not sovereign, we have a God who wants to do us good but cannot. If God is sovereign but not good, we have a God who can and does do what he pleases, but may not be too favorably inclined to us. Praise God that we have a God who is both sovereign and good. But that is not all that Job knew about God. For this by itself does not make a God we can trust.
Truth #3 – God in His infinite wisdom knows and has planned the best possible means for accomplishing that end, namely our good.
The third truth about God is that of His wisdom, namely his knowing and planning the best possible means to accomplish the best possible end. This truth about God means that he makes no mistakes. There is never any thought in God that he should have done something differently that He did. He does not mess up. All his actions and ways are perfect. He never fails in accomplishing good for his people.
Job 9:4 He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
Job 12:13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
Job 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
Job 36:5 Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.
It is interesting how all these verse in Job tie together God’s wisdom with his strength or sovereignty. Not only does God know the best thing for us, but he has the ability to accomplish it. God’s best is not always what we have in mind.
Illustration: A guy I talked to this week who was kicked out of school became bitter at God.
This is a truth however that we often will question. We wonder if God really knows what he is doing. We think that we could do it a better way.
But eventually Job began to doubt God’s goodness and his wisdom. As this trial went on, Job began to question God, thinking that bad things only happen to bad people. Why would God be allowing these things to happen to me? He was not trusting God as he should, and he began to think that God was wrong in allowing these things to happen to him.
Job 10:1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?
After Job had vented his complaint before God, God answered Job.
Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
Job then replies to the Lord in shame for his sin.
Job 42:1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Job eventually recognizes that God that he is totally sovereign, loving, and wise. He began to trust God again because of it.
Conclusion:
We can and must trust God because he is sovereign, good, and wise.
– In His sovereignty, God chooses the best possible means to bring about the best possible end.
– In His love, God desires the best possible means to bring about the best possible end.
– In His wisdom, God knows the best possible means to bring about the best possible end.
Which of these three truths about God are you questioning this morning?
Until you are convinced of these three truths about God you will not be able to trust him. You will be plagued with doubt and worry and fear. You will lack the peace and confidence that God wants you to have.
But once you convinced of these truths, let come what may. There is nothing that can shake a believer who is convinced of these three truths. There is no need for worry, no reason to fear or doubt. All bitterness and anger will flee in the face of confidence in this great God. The assurance that nothing can happen to you outside of the will of God is a powerful truth. And that will is for the good of his people. What a confidence we can have that our God makes no mistakes.
Let me close with the words of the hymn writer:
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour:
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower.
Let us proclaim with the hymn writer that God is trustworthy. Let us trust our God who is sovereign, loving and good.