Simple Faith

Guest (Male): How much loot will we be taking to heaven? Here’s Pastor Bill Henry.

Have you noticed that some of the godliest people we know suffer greatly? I can think of quite a few people that fit into that description, and that would certainly describe Job as well. It doesn't take long to realize that bad things do indeed happen to godly people. We know that, in part, because of this wonderful book of Job.

Job suffered more than any of us probably have, and today on Simple Faith, Pastor Bill Henry will take us back to the first chapter. We’ll see that while Job was certainly not sinless, he was definitely blameless, even with great wealth. Why did he undergo such suffering? We're going to find out. Here's Pastor Bill Henry.

Bill Henry: Have you ever seen a tapestry that's being made in needlepoint? It's very interesting. You look at the underside and it's just a whole garble of thread. That’s what we see as human beings. We see, even in our own lives, just this garble of thread. I don't understand this, Lord. What's happening over there? What's happening in this other part of the world? What's happening with that person? What's happening in my life? But you turn it over and God, you see, is at work.

We see this, and be careful because I know a lot of people—even though Job isn't going to do this, at least here at this point, he does go on to question God later on in the book of Job—but maybe that's describing you today. Maybe you've been through something or maybe you're going to go through something and you're going to be tempted to go in that direction, to curse Him to His face because you lose something.

If you are angry with Him, be careful because that means our affections towards Christ are being given to someone else or something else. We’re putting them higher than our love for Christ or even equal to our love for Christ. We cannot have anything or anyone that takes up that same love for Jesus. That's where the anger can only come from, because if we love Him supremely, even though we might be sad these other things happen, we still love Him supremely.

Look at verse 12. And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So the Lord's telling Satan, "Go ahead. You can do what you want with Job." So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. The Lord gives Satan permission. "Go ahead. Do whatever you want to do with Job, only don't touch his person." You can't touch him physically, you can't touch his health or his life, but everything else is open game.

Now, here's a good question. Notice now, Satan came to Him and says, "Oh, he's going to curse You to Your face. Take all these things away." And what does the Lord say? "Behold, go ahead. All he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person." Here's the question a lot of people ask: why? Why did God give Satan this power? Why did God allow this to happen? Why does He allow it?

Here's the answer, and there is an answer to this: we are not privy to the why. We are not told the why, only that the Lord allowed it. Again, so many times we don't know why things have happened. We don't know why the Lord allows this to happen, or maybe will happen, or is happening perhaps even in your life right now. There are going to be many things that happen in our lives that we just don't understand why.

That's one of the things that this book is really about. The book of Job is basically that Job is going to come to a point where he finally does ask God why. God is going to put him in his place, basically telling him back, "Who are you to ask God why? Are you on equal footing with God? Are you His equal?" When we start to ask God why, that means that we have some expectation or some thought of equality with God, that we can question His motives and question who He is. So why does God allow it? We don't know.

But look at verse 13. Now there was a day, so Satan has this permission, when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 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."

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." Now, notice how Satan’s not holding back. The oxen are gone, the donkeys are gone, many of his servants are gone, and the sheep are gone.

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." Now, the Chaldeans were known as fierce warriors and fierce invaders from Mesopotamia. So they came in, they raided, they took his camels, and struck down more of his servants, those tending them.

Notice it's one thing after another, by the way. It's "while he was yet speaking," "while he was yet speaking," "while he was yet speaking." So it's boom, boom, boom. Look at verse 18 again. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their older brother's house, 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."

Now not only has Job lost all those other things, now this wind blows and all of Job's children are killed, all 10 of them, as they were celebrating. There are no words. Let us note two things here. First of all, let us note the ways that God allowed Satan to attack Job. Notice there were different ways that God allowed Satan to attack Job. Notice, number one, through evil men, the Sabeans in verse 15. Number two, from fire from heaven in verse 16. Number three, through more evil men, the Chaldeans in verse 17. And then number four, through a great wind.

It's interesting to note in spiritual warfare how the enemy attacks us, and we can learn from this tonight. There are ways that the enemy will come at us that God allows him to come. Again, first we see something that was used twice here. We see nature, but we also see something that was used twice were men, evil men, wicked men. Satan loves to use wicked people, evil people, to do his work and to attack God's people.

Secondly, when we talk about these evil people, it's interesting that that's how I've seen Satan attack most times. I've seen much more destruction within the church done by people who are within the church that are really wicked people, and they attack the church from the inside. Some of us here have been the victim of some of these things, whether it's gossip, hurt, or slander within the church. People who are supposed to be Christians who are not living according to the Word of God.

In 1 John, John basically says, "Look, they're not of us because if they were of us, they would not have gone out from us." These are those who come in by stealth. I remember reading four or five years ago there was an article where there was some guys that were actually literally purposely going into churches to try to liberalize the church on purpose. They'd go to this church for months or years and be whispering in people's ears that this sin isn't that bad or that pastor is pretty bad. They were doing this on purpose.

Be careful of this because the enemy loves to do this. I always figured when we got in the ministry that it would be the attacks from the world, and yes, they have come. But more hurtful attacks have come from within the body of Christ, and it's really sad. People that you've loved, you've trusted, and poured into.

So that's the first way these evil men and women come. Then the second way that we see Satan attacks is through nature. Very interesting to me. Notice first it's fire falling from heaven. This perhaps could be lightning, we don't know. And then secondly, a great wind.

I remember years ago a storm called Hurricane Katrina. It came and it just basically leveled terrible damage to the city of New Orleans. It is a city that celebrates wickedness like a lot of other cities don't. And I remember during that whole thing in the aftermath that some people were saying it was God pouring out His wrath on the city of New Orleans because they celebrate so much wickedness. Well, that actually could be.

But also, it could have been Satan being allowed to test believers, believe it or not. Because again, what we see here is that God will allow Satan to do certain things with nature. These things happen. Again, for me, I don't know about you guys and gals, but always: why? Why did You allow these 10 kids killed? Why did You allow these things? But again, in the scripture, I don't know of any scriptures that tell us to ask God why.

My old pastor used to say this, great wisdom by the way: never trade what you don't know about God for what you do know about God. In other words, we know that God is love. 1 John 4:8 and 16 and other places in the Bible. We know that God is holy. Leviticus 19:2 and many other places. We know that God is perfect and sinless. Hebrews 4:15. We know that God is good. Exodus 34. We know that God is working all things together for good to those who love Him, those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28.

So when we know these things, that God is love, we may not understand why He's allowing these things to happen in our lives. But also remember Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." That's how God thinks towards us, especially His children. So we may never know the whys this side of glory, and maybe not even on the other side of glory. I know people come up and say, "I got a list of questions I gotta ask the Lord when I get up there." Man, if you're thinking about a list when you get up there, I just can't wait to fall at the feet of my Jesus and thank Him, worship Him, and praise Him.

So the second kind of question I wanted to ask you is, how would you react to all of this? Before we get to Job's reaction, if you had all these things happen to you. Number one, you lost your income. That would be like us losing our jobs. And then number two, you lost your savings, as the camels, the oxen, and all the things. You lost your savings or maybe your retirement. Also, you lose your cars, your transportation, the camels. And you also lose all of your children. What would your reaction be? What would my reaction be?

Look at verse 20. This is Job's reaction, and again, this is to me the reason why this is here in the Bible. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. What? He worshiped? Look at verse 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."

Dude, now notice, he did more and you might miss this because it's not of our culture. Notice it says Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head and fell on the ground. To tear his robe, to shave his head, those are how they mourned in those days. Job was mourning. He was grieved. He was sad. And yet, the first thing he does in his mourning, notice, is to fall down on the ground and worship God. To fall down on the ground and worship God.

And then I love what he goes on to say. He reminds himself that he came into this world with absolutely nothing and he will take absolutely nothing from this world when he leaves. Notice verse 21. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return." Man, what a wonderful reminder for all of us here tonight. Guess what? You're not taking any physical thing to heaven with you. Not one physical thing, not one person. Now, we can plant seeds and hopefully the Lord will help us to bring people with us in that way. But we're not taking anything from this world to heaven, only that which we've planted ahead of time in heaven.

Matthew 6:19, Jesus said this: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And so Job is reminding himself as he's worshiping God. "Lord, I came with nothing from my mother's womb. Lord, when I die, I'm going to leave with nothing." Remember, you never see a U-Haul following a hearse.

And if you do, guess what? People 50 or 100 years later will dig up that U-Haul and see what treasures you buried. So just remember again what a wonderful reminder for all of us to be storing our treasures in heaven beyond the grave. And again, what a wonderful reminder for us, and maybe you've lost loved ones. Maybe you're still grieving the loss of loved ones. Maybe you've had things happen with work. Maybe you're going through trials or you've gone through things you can't grapple with, you can't understand. Look, here's the thing: give glory to God.

You want to get over this, you want to find a peace that is beyond understanding? Remember the peace that God gives is beyond understanding. We’re talking about grace and peace this weekend in our in-depth study. But the peace that God gives, it's beyond human understanding. In other words, the whole world will be freaking out. How can you have peace right now? And Job, they look at the world and they think, "Man, you should be cursing God." Later on, his wife is going to tell him, "Dude, just curse God and die."

And so again, we have to be careful because yes, Satan, notice, Job gives glory to God. He's giving glory to God, but remember, God, he's saying, "God is the one who gave and God is the one who takes away." Isn't that interesting? Because technically Satan took it away, didn't he? But it was God who Job realizes and knows is sovereign and God allowed this. He knows this and Job is acknowledging this. "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

I'm getting to that old age where I look back and I've been walking with Christ a long time. Man, there's been ups and downs in my life, and to be honest, never like there was when I was a Christian. When I started basing my walk upon the Word of God, like no ups and downs like I've had before, but there's still hard things that come and go. Remember our lives are full of seasons. Sometimes there will be seasons of joy and wonder and God is blessing the work of your hands. Other times there will be lean times or even hurtful times. Remember that God allows these things in our lives. Sometimes the Lord gives, other times the Lord takes away.

But we must choose not to respond with our feelings but with our minds, leading our feelings by the Spirit of God into the submission of the Word of God thus unto God. Not choosing anger, not choosing bitterness, not choosing unending sorrow. I've known people who've lost a loved one and still five years, 10 years, 20 years, they're just devastated. It's really sad to see. We can mourn, but we're not to mourn as the world mourns, as the Bible says, as those who have no hope.

And especially if we have a Christian that we've lost. Oh, we're going to miss them because we love them. Or if there's other things that have happened in our lives. They hurt and God understands that. But to me, we're seeing here a secret on how to get through mourning, on how to get through grieving, or how to get through loss or great hurt in your life: praise God. Choose not anger, choose joy. Choose not bitterness, but choose love. Choose not unending sorrow but that peace of God which surpasses all understanding and just lift it up to the Lord. Oh, there will still be times that you cry. There will still be times that you miss. But you instead choose: blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be Your name. Psalm 113:1-3: "Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised." Psalm 34:1 and 2: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Hebrews 13:15: "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." And you could go on and on and on with these beautiful, encouraging scriptures.

Look at verse 22. In all of this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. So in all the losing of his wealth, all the losing of his possessions, all the losing of his many servants, all the losing of his savings and retirement, all the losing of his very children, Job did not sin nor blame God for doing anything wrong. If I can encourage you as we’re getting ready to close, let this be our aim tonight. Let this be our aim by the grace of God, by the power of the Spirit of God, to be as Job was. Let's not blame God. Let's not sin or charge God in wrong when we're going through things.

We live in a world that likes to blame everybody else for what we do. We don't like to take responsibility for our own sins. That's called sin. Just take responsibility and don't charge God with any wrong. "Well, Lord, it was You that did this," or "It was my parents that did that." And maybe those people did sin against you, but not God. In all this Job did not sin, he did not charge God with wrong. This is our aim. We will fail, yet God will never leave us nor forsake us. And if we do fail and we do sin—and we will—just remember these deeply blessed words from 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8 and 9: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Amen.

Guest (Male): This has been Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Today we brought you a message from Pastor Bill from his series in the book of Job. It’s our sincere hope and prayer that you’ve been blessed by the words you heard from Pastor Bill today.

If you’d like to share today’s message with someone, it’s available at our website to either watch or listen, and you can even download an audio MP3 version. We have a large number of Pastor Bill’s messages archived, and you can find them all at simplefaith.org. That’s simplefaith.org. Click the media tab and if you’d like to contact us, just click the contact tab on our website and there’s a tab at the top of our homepage where you can also send us a prayer request.

You can also call us at the church at 833-BY-GRACE. That’s 833-294-7223. And if you’d like to write to us, our mailing address is Post Office Box 55, Battle Ground, Washington, 98604. Here at Simple Faith Calvary Chapel, we have two services on Sunday morning at 9:00 and 10:45, and a great time of studying God’s Word Wednesday night at 7:00 PM. We’d love to have you come visit us, and make sure you say hi to Pastor Bill and let him know you listened to Simple Faith.

For more information and directions, go to simplefaith.org. And you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for joining us today. Be sure to join us next time as our series in Job continues here on Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry. And be sure to join us for the Saturday edition of Simple Faith and our series in 1 Thessalonians. This program is brought to you by Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington.