When Everything Turns to Ashes

[0:00] If Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass Ass We'll be right back.

[1:00] We'll be right back.

[1:30] We'll be right back.

[2:00] The feedback and encouragement that I received from last week with the Elijah story. And this evening, I don't know how you could do a series called From the Ashes without the story of Job.

[2:14] And there's a lot that we need to cover, and so we're going to dive in tonight. And by the way, Lord willing, next week we're going to shift and look at a few women in the Old Testament.

[2:25] Because I don't know if you know this, but women have problems too. Right? I know that's news to you, but they do. And so we're not just going to look at the men in the Old Testament. We'll look at a few of the ladies as well and see how their life and their plans turned to ashes.

[2:40] But tonight, it's Job. Job chapter 1. If you're able to stand, please do so as we honor the reading of God's Word. Job chapter 1. Verse 1 says, There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job.

[2:55] And that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons, three daughters.

[3:07] He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants.

[3:18] So that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day.

[3:34] And they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them.

[3:45] And he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

[3:59] Thus Job did continually. There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan also came among them.

[4:11] And the Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? And Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.

[4:22] And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? That there's none like him on the earth. A blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.

[4:37] And Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him? And his house and all that he does on every side?

[4:49] You have blessed the work of his hands. And his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has.

[5:00] And he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand.

[5:12] Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

[5:23] We'll stop there, but we'll look at much more. Let's pray. Lord, I am not able to do this. There is so much here in your word.

[5:38] Help me teach your people. Oh God, come and talk to us through your word. We need the truth that is in your word tonight to be equipped to think biblically and rightly about suffering.

[5:59] And so I pray, Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, come and guide us into the truth. And we'll give Jesus all the glory for what is accomplished in this place in these next few moments together.

[6:15] And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. You can be seated. What happened on the night of March 11, 1812, devastated William.

[6:28] It caused him to question his ministry. It caused him to question his life. It caused him to question his future as a missionary. I'm referring to William Carey.

[6:41] And if you're not familiar with that name, Carey was born in England. He founded the English Baptist Missionary Society.

[6:52] He spent most of his life as a missionary in India during the early 1800s. In fact, Carey would become known as the father of modern missions.

[7:04] But on the morning of March the 12th in 1812, everything Carey had given his life to would literally turn to ashes.

[7:16] He woke up that morning to the smell of smoke. Rushing out of bed to find out what the cause of the smoke was, he discovered that his print shop, overnight, had been burned to the ground.

[7:33] Not only did he lose most of the equipment that was in the print shop, but he lost almost all of his lifelong work.

[7:46] Scriptures that he had spent years translating into Indian were lost. Copies of the Old and New Testament were gone. The dictionary that was his major magnum opus, the thing he had given himself to the most, had burned away.

[8:04] There are no digital copies, no online backup, no iCloud, Dropbox, or Jump Drives to retrieve his work. Everything he put his life into turned to ashes.

[8:18] He was devastated. Why would God allow me to lose it all?

[8:32] I mean, Carey's a missionary. He's serving God. He's translating the Bible. He's living his life as much as he possibly can for the Lord.

[8:43] And he, like I know many of you, because I know so many of the life stories of this faith family, he was left with more questions than answers.

[8:54] But when the smoke cleared, God's mercy was seen. Even with all the destruction, a few printing presses survived.

[9:07] Christians from India and Britain answered in overwhelming donations. His printing ministry was back up and running in only two months.

[9:18] And as a result of the fire, the news of Carey's ministry spread to places it had never been before, creating more ministry opportunities than he had previously had.

[9:33] Still discouraged at the task of starting over, a friend tried to encourage Carey, and he told him this, quote, However difficult this may be, a road the second time traveled is taken with more confidence than the first.

[9:55] And after reflecting on all that he had gone through and all that he had lost and all that he had dealt with, Carey wrote this. He said, quote, Perhaps the mission was too much about self-congratulation.

[10:11] And then he said this, The Lord has laid me low that I might look to him. I wonder this evening, Faith Family, if anybody here, whether directly or indirectly, has experienced total devastation.

[10:32] Completely devastated. Maybe you or a friend or a neighbor or someone that you're close to went through a house fire and consumed all of your possessions.

[10:46] Maybe some of you here, you had a business that went bankrupt and left you in financial ruins. Some of you, it was a relationship that you put everything into and it fell apart.

[10:59] Others, it was cancel culture that left your career in shambles. Maybe for you, it was a spouse or a friend or somebody passed away and left you directionless in life.

[11:10] Maybe you're here and nothing has ever gone wrong in your life. And if that's the case, please leave. Okay? There's the exit. Get out. I'm just kidding. All right?

[11:21] I'm just kidding. Okay? Here's my point. I'm not talking about like you went through a little rain shower in life. I mean, you experienced a Hurricane Katrina-like devastation.

[11:35] A season like for Carrie where everything seemed to be lost. You had nothing. You could feel nothing. You questioned everything and anything.

[11:47] If you have ever experienced even but just a taste of that, then you know exactly what happens in the life of Job.

[12:02] And I've got to be honest with you, Faith Family, it is hard to preach this passage. It's hard to preach the story of Job because it is so intense. We have already looked at Joseph and Joseph really genuinely suffered, sold into slavery and falsely accused and forgotten in prison.

[12:20] We've looked at Elijah who faced a lot of struggle serving under evil leadership and was lonely in the ministry and was wanted dead by Jezebel. We've looked at Jonah who he went through quite a bit as well and struggled with the whole nature of who God is, but none, oh, none of them compare to Job.

[12:42] None of them went through the total devastation that Job goes through. This man will literally be in the ashes.

[13:00] Let's look at his story. Verse 1. There's a man named Job. He's blameless and upright, one that feared the Lord.

[13:12] Turned away from evil. There was born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, you probably don't have that verse memorized, and very many servants.

[13:27] So that this man was the greatest of all the people in the east. And his sons would go and they'd hold a feast in the house of each one on his day. And they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

[13:40] And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them and would rise early in the morning and offer a burnt offering according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

[13:55] Thus, Job did continually. This story starts with the life resume of Job. It is introducing you to who this man is, how this man lives, all the things that he has.

[14:12] And there's basically two categories that you could put these first five verses in. First is that Job was a blameless man. That is, he's a man of integrity.

[14:24] Job is sincere and genuine. He fears the Lord. He lives upright. He's a godly man that loves his family. In verses four and five, he's the kind of father that would get up in the morning after his children have just enjoyed a feast the night before and offer a sacrifice for his children just in case they'd sinned.

[14:49] That's the kind of father he is. That's the kind of man Job is. He is as good as you're going to find. Not only is he blameless, these first five verses would show us that he is blessed.

[15:04] The Lord has been good to Job. He has seven sons and three daughters. And of course, in the ancient Near East, family is everything. That is your legacy.

[15:14] That is your inheritance. He's got 7,000 sheep. Aren't you impressed? And 3,000 camel, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and a lot of servants.

[15:26] And again, we kind of brush past that. But in the ancient Near East, man, he's on the cover of Fortune magazine. I mean, this guy is a shark on Shark Tank. He could probably eat all the sharks on Shark Tank.

[15:40] This guy is loaded. And by the way, let me just note, Christian, never apologize for God's blessings in your life. I think sometimes we're so afraid of what other people are going to think that we have evangelical guilt.

[15:57] You know, like if you have anything nice, repent. It's like, no, the Lord was good to Job. He had blessed him. Here's the point. From the way Job lives to what Job has, he is considered one of, if not the text says, the greatest in the ancient Near East.

[16:17] You are not going to find anybody more blameless or blessed than Job. Now, you say, why does the book start this way? Why does the story begin this way?

[16:30] Is this bragging? Is this showing off? Like, Job's better than you. No. It's purposeful to make a few points right out of the gate.

[16:43] Here's the first that I would notice sit on the screen. Job's success could not prevent him from suffering. I don't know if you know this, but suffering doesn't give a rip about your resume.

[16:56] Suffering doesn't care where you went to college. Suffering does not come upon your door and be like, oh no, they went to Harvard. We're going to have to go somewhere else. Doesn't care at all what is on your resume, how much money is in your bank account, how many followers you have on Twitter, Job's success could not prevent him from the suffering he is about to face.

[17:19] But I think even bigger than that is this, and this will preach, is that Job's suffering had nothing to do with his sin. And the reason why this is so important is because how many of us, when we go through difficult times, when we face trials in life, when we have times of suffering, we ask the question, what did I do wrong?

[17:45] What did I do wrong? God, what did I do that you are getting back at me for? Or maybe it's not you, but you watch somebody else go through a season of suffering, and like Job's friends, you assume they must have done something wrong.

[18:02] The author wants you to know from the outset of this book, Job's suffering is not in any way related to Job's sin. There's no hidden sin here that Job is suffering because of.

[18:18] He is a blameless man and he has been blessed by God. So you ask then, what is the cause? What is the cause of Job's suffering?

[18:29] Verse 6. There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, from where have you come?

[18:42] And Satan answered the Lord from going to and fro on the earth and walking up and down on it. And the Lord said to Satan, well, have you considered my servant Job? That there is none like him on the earth and a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil?

[19:00] And Satan answered the Lord, well, does Job fear God for no reason? I mean, 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.

[19:14] But if you stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, he will curse your face. And the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your hand.

[19:27] Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Here's what's happening. Are you with me? The author has just painted the picture of the earthly perspective.

[19:39] He's just introduced you to Job's character and his coin. He has let you know the kind of man he is, the kind of life he lives, the kind of individual that Job is. That's all on the earthly perspective.

[19:52] And now, in verse 6, the author takes you up into the heavenly perspective. There's something else going on behind the scenes. Now, this is for you nerds.

[20:03] Just to note, this is a sermon, not teaching a lesson. And if I had time or if I were doing more of a teaching setting, I would spend more time here.

[20:14] But I am aware, look at verse 6 for just a moment, where it says that the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came among them.

[20:25] I am aware that there is an interpretation that the sons of God is what's known as a divine council. That is a group of other gods, all of which were created, that come to Yahweh.

[20:38] And that Satan, because the Hebrew word here for Satan simply means adversary. Okay? And so, many, there is a belief that this Satan figure is not the Satan figure of the New Testament.

[20:55] So what you have going on here is an interaction between this divine council and Yahweh, and you have this adversarial figure known as Satan who brings these accusations.

[21:07] So I'm just going to note that that's out there. I will tell you I've studied that. My personal belief at this point is that this Satan figure matches the Satan figure of the New Testament, and therefore we are on good grounds to believe they are the same.

[21:26] Okay? I'm just, I'm going to leave it there. If I had more time, I would talk about it, but I'm not. Because it's not, doesn't even really change the main point of what the passage is about.

[21:36] But you can at least impress your friends with, have you heard about the divine council? Anyways, alright. Here's the conversation, and this is the part that really matters.

[21:47] First, the conversation that's taking place in the heavenlies is that God commends Job to Satan. Have you considered my servant Job?

[21:59] He's upright. He's not perfect, but he's blameless. He's a great guy. He fears the Lord. And this leads us to another very important point.

[22:12] Are you ready? Faith, oh, there's going to be so much important truth here for us to get our minds around. Here it is. Notice it on the screen. Job will not suffer because God is angry with Job.

[22:24] Job suffers because God is pleased with Job. to which you want to say, God, maybe don't love me so much.

[22:36] I mean, love me just enough that I avoid your wrath, but don't love me this much. Oh, the author wants you to understand here that this misconception that you have that suffering is coming to your life because God doesn't love you is not true.

[22:53] And not only do we assume when we suffer that we've done something wrong, not the case with Job, we also assume that God's mad at me.

[23:06] God is not mad at Job. He is pleased with Job. Here's the second part of the conversation. Satan then challenges God.

[23:18] While God is pleased with Job, Satan thinks Job is a fraud. He's not serving you.

[23:30] He just likes what you give him. Don't you understand Yahweh, listen, don't you understand Yahweh, you're not worthy enough to be loved just for you.

[23:46] Oh, no. Anybody that loves you only loves you because what you do for them. This is the conversation.

[24:00] Notice this on the screen. It is inconceivable to Satan that anyone could love God for God alone.

[24:13] And I want you to think about why. Satan is so self-absorbed he assumes everyone else is also.

[24:27] How could you love anything other than yourself? How could you love God just for God? I mean, serving God could never be just, that's ridiculous!

[24:41] no chance that this is why Job serves you. In fact, here's how we'll know. Take it away and he'll curse your face.

[24:55] Let's find out if God you are worthy enough to be worshipped for just who you are apart from your gifts. and let's find out if Job's faith is real.

[25:10] Notice it on the screen. Now we are getting to the heart of what's going on here. Job's suffering is not because of his sin. It is not because God is displeased with him. Job's suffering is a test to see whether or not Job's faith is authentic and whether or not God alone is worthy of worship.

[25:29] Are you tracking with me tonight? Do you understand what's happening? What's going on behind the scenes? This is an issue of is Job's faith real and is God worthy?

[25:44] That's what's been put on the table. Now, let me stop here for just a moment. By the way, as I was preparing this this week, it's like this should be a six-week series.

[25:56] Probably 16-week series. Because there's a lot here and I'm going to try not to rush tonight but at the same time not keep you that long. But there is something here that we need to take a moment and talk about because I'm not sure that we talk about this enough.

[26:11] I'm not sure we think about this enough in our own life and that is this. Suffering and the suffering we go through is a way in which we find out whether or not our faith is real.

[26:30] Because if you don't ever have to use it how will you ever know if it's true? I mean if you only have happy days and you never go through the hard ones how will you ever know if your faith can get you through those days?

[26:49] Listen to just a few passages of scripture. I need to get going. 1 Peter 1 verse 6 in this you rejoice though now for a little while if necessary you've been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it's tested by fire may be found to result in the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[27:17] The testedness of your faith that is more precious than gold. James 1 verse 2 count it all joy when you meet trials of various kind for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing.

[27:46] One more Hebrews 11 17 by faith Abraham when he was say it tested offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son.

[28:03] Here's the point notice it on the screen you never know how genuine something is until it's tested by fire. You never know how genuine something is until it is tested by fire and that might be a relationship that might be a friendship that might be a church and it is most certainly true when it comes to faith and what that means somebody say preach preacher because it's about to come out strong that means this notice it on the screen that Job's suffering is not about payback Job's suffering is not about punishment Job's suffering is about purification we're going to filter out anything that's competing against the worship of God alone here's here's the problem here's the problem and it's a problem for me notice it on the screen most of us value possessions more than pure faith you know why you know why I know that you know why I know it about me because and we're not even close to done yet because when I study

[29:25] Job's story here's what I think let me expose here right expose my own thinking about this I read Job's story and I say that's unreasonable this is inhumane it is imbalanced it's unfair Job should not have had to go through this why because I assume that all that he lost wasn't worth what he gained and I need you to put your big boy pants on because we're going in the deep end of the swimming pool tonight all right listen to me listen to me and I'm saying this generically I'm not speaking to anybody situation and I am most certainly not standing up here like I am God and know why God does what he does but I am giving you this example for you to think about and it fits with the story of Job are you listening say yes if you idolize a spouse and that spouse is removed from you for the purification of your faith most of us would rather have the spouse back than the deeper faith and you can fill in the blank on it may not be a spouse it might be a possession it might be a career it might be an amount of money

[30:52] I don't know what it is but what I'm saying here is the accusation that Satan is giving is that faith isn't enough you take all this stuff away he'll curse you because deep real purified faith isn't worth it and you aren't either God so let's put it to a test and let's find out and God says okay and the third part of this conversation is that God commissions Satan he gives Satan permission to take all that Job has but he cannot touch Job another important point of suffering is this notice it on the screen God sets the boundaries of your suffering God sets the boundaries you can go this far you can't go any further let us not be confused for a moment who the sovereign one is here

[32:03] I love what Martin Luther said Martin Luther said this quote the devil is still God's devil he can't move an inch without the permission of the sovereign God but I gotta be honest what happens next is hard to read it is all of Job's life turning to ashes verse 13 there was a day when his sons and 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 Sabaeans fell upon them and took!

[32:48] I alone have escaped to tell you and 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 and while he was yet speaking there came another and said the Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid of the camels and took them and struck them struck down the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you and while he was yet speaking there came another and said your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest 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 die alone have escaped to tell you it is total devastation this isn't a little rainstorm this is hurricane

[33:56] Katrina it's all gone Job woke up that morning to the smell of smoke except it wasn't a printing press being burned to the ground it was his life everything he had all the people that he loved by the end of the day are gone and I would tell you faith family I have in no way no way oh please do not mistake what I am saying I have no way suffered to the depths that Job has suffered but I know the feeling of watching everything you've worked so hard for unravel in a short amount of time and the best way that I can describe it is it feels like a burning and

[34:59] Job's life is being burned to ashes now comes the moment heaven has been waiting on are you with me was Satan right is God worthy is Job's faith real verse 20 these may be some of the most beautiful verses in the Bible then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped and he said naked I came from my mother's womb naked shall I return the Lord gave the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of Yahweh and in all of this Job did not sin or charge

[36:00] God with wrong those are beautiful beautiful words there is no hint of any anger of God there is no self pity I don't deserve this why this happening to me Job does two biblically appropriate things he weeps and he worships he weeps and he worships godly biblical responses in suffering weeping worship worship mixed with weeping this man is broken but he has not turned his back on God and I want to unpack briefly I want to unpack briefly these two things of Job's response his weeping and his worship that is his godly grief and his worship

[37:01] I'll start with his grief the text says that he tears his robe he shaves his head Job falls on the ground he is hurting he's really can you imagine all your life just burned down in a day he's hurting he is in a season of darkness and this is why I suggest that this should actually be a series and not just one sermon is because I don't have time to go through a lot of chapter three and four but Job chapter three and four are chapters of lament they're basically just chapters where Job just puts it out there and I want to give you a taste we don't have time for a lot but just a taste of Job's godly grief of his lamenting look at verse one of chapter three after this

[38:01] Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth Job said let the day perish on which I was born and the night that said a man is conceived let that day be darkness may God above not seek it nor light shine upon it let gloom and deep darkness!

[38:21] Let the blackness of the day terrify it that night let thick darkness seize it let it not rejoice among the days of the year let it not come into the number of the months behold let that night be barren oh no joyful cry enter it verse 11 why why did I not die at birth come out of the womb and expire Why did the knees receive me or why the breast that I should nurse for then I would have lain down and been quiet I would have slept then I would have been at rest in other words Job wishes!

[38:58] He had never been born He curses the day that he was born in fact Job is essentially saying I not only wish I would never have been born but had I been born why couldn't I just have died in infancy why the nursing why why all this and I'm not I'm not trying to just repeat myself every week because I this series I don't think has been a downer because what we've seen time and time again is how God meets us in the ashes so we're coming to good news but give me an hour alright here's my point we've seen with Jonah we've seen with Elijah now we're seeing with Job an experience of darkness and one and one of the things that we've carved out here at

[39:58] Fate Family is this is this is a place where when you are going through seasons of darkness you will not be judged nobody's going to say suck it up what's your problem come on don't you know that Christians always are happy not the ones in the Bible Christopher Ash in his commentary a good commentary on the book of Job writes the following quote Job 3 is a very important chapter for contemporary Christianity oh yes it is this is a version of Christianity there is a version of Christianity that is shallow trite and superficial it's the kind of Christianity that would have Jesus singing a chorus at the grave of Lazarus we have we've met it this easy triumphalism we sing of God in one song that in his presence our problems disappear in another my love just keeps on growing well neither was true for

[40:59] Job yet he was a real and blameless believer the despair of Job 3 is the authentic experience of a man listen Job 3 the despair of Job 3 is the authentic experience of a man affirmed by God at the start chapter 1 verse 8 and affirmed by God at the end chapter 42 verse 7 we need to remember that so we go with Job into his lament godly grief weeping!

[41:46] grieving sorrow was the experience of Job and it has been the experience of many in this faith family amen but he does not just weep he worships he blesses God's name come back in faith family he recognizes God's sovereignty he recognizes that God has the right to give whatever he wants to give and God has the right to take away whatever he wants to take away he has no room in his theology whatsoever that this is somehow Satan's issue God God's the sovereign one it is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away he recognizes that he has never received anything in his life that was not but by the grace of God and therefore perfectly God's prerogative to take it away whenever he chooses to do so he is well aware of

[42:48] God's sovereignty in his life and he blesses the Lord and praises the Lord in his weeping and in doing this Job proves Satan wrong in two ways that Job's faith is real you can take my family but you can't take my faith and as much as I love my family I mean I got up every morning and offered sacrifices for them just in case they made mistakes the night before and sinned against God I loved my family but I need my faith more and God is worthy to be worshipped for God alone now if I'm the author the story stops here and

[44:05] I think you even assume as the reader when you come to the end of chapter one that was probably as hard as I've ever read but at least it's over but it ain't over in fact what you discover in just a matter of a few verses is that chapter one was only round one and Satan comes back to God look at verse four of chapter two Satan answered the Lord and said skin for skin all that a man has he will give for his life but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse you to your face and the Lord said to Satan behold he is in your hand only spare his life and I don't know if you're like me but you read those verses and you just want to say no he's had enough enough is enough the man has been through way too much but

[45:15] Satan doesn't think that the loss of his career and the loss of his family and the loss of his money is enough oh no his health must be included and God in his sovereignty permits Satan to touch his skin but not take his life and here's what's left look at verse seven 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 he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat where in the ashes and so devastated is Job at this point that his wife tells him you can read it in verse nine and ten curse God and die Job get this over with curse God and die throw in the towel and as a friend of mine shared with me you wouldn't want someone recording your worst words in your worst moment and putting them in print for everybody to study hundreds of years later right so be gracious to this woman her words are wrong and

[46:36] Job will rebuke her for them but let me just say this if Job's wife came into faith family we would grieve with her we would not say to her you know your theology is terrible you know Pastor West offers a systematic theology class you should take it no this woman has suffered and I will not excuse her words but we will be gracious for she has suffered significantly and so here we are faith family left with a man that has lost everything he has sores all over his body his wife is telling him give up throw in the towel and he is laying in the ashes alone blindsided confused hurt searching for answers and yet here it is look at the last phrase of verse 10 in all this

[47:41] Job did not sin with his lips! here's the main lesson now you can start timing me I'm just kidding I'm just kidding here's the main lesson here's the big takeaway from the book of Job and it's this notice it on the screen God alone is enough and quite honestly that statement is not even accurate God alone is more than enough he is more than enough that's the core issue it is not Job sin it is not God being angry at Job it's this question if life is stripped away from you will God be more than enough it forces you to ask the question what do you truly value in life because anything and I do mean anything can be taken away from you but

[48:49] God is always with you and the question that you have to answer is are you good with that if that's if he's all you have you have more than enough I've noted this in my notes and this is on the screen I'm almost done peace peace is not found in the answer to why peace is found in being near to God and some of you are here tonight just for that very slide you're not going to find peace in getting the answer of your why peace is found by being near to God in fact I'm convinced that if you got the answer to why you might actually be more confused than comforted because the point isn't getting the why the point is getting near to God and having your faith purified and worshiping him as enough and more than enough well as

[49:49] I've shown you each week I am almost done I promise is that God meets us in the ashes amen I mean whether it was Joseph or Jonah or Elijah God is at work God is with us in the ashes this should be an entire another sermon in fact I'll just give you the points of what the sermon would be but I'm going to end with this and that in the grief in the frustration in the questioning God through a series of many chapters will comfort Job and there are four at least four things this would be the sermon if I had the time to preach it there are at least four things that you're going to see at the very end Job 40 through 42 that come out of the ashes here they are number one Job learned a lesson of humility Job learns the lesson of humility look at

[50:50] Job 40 and verse 1 Job 40 and verse 1 and the Lord said to Job shall a fault finder contend with the almighty he who argues with God let him answer it then Job answered the Lord and said behold I am of small account what shall I answer you Job learns that God is the one who is in control and Job learns that he is in the big scheme of God's plan of small account he is humbled second is he learns the lesson of sovereignty he learns the lesson of sovereignty this is chapter 42 I'm almost done going fast Job answered the Lord and said I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted let's just get this out of the way

[51:54] God as if you needed to be reminded you are in control of my life I am not he learns that through the ashes!

[52:05] Number three Job experiences God with more intimacy and this is what you know I heard somebody was watching a game I gotta stop but just let me keep going for just a second I was watching a game the other day and one of the broadcasters says talking about an athlete that got injured and made his way back and he said there's something about an athlete I love that walks with a limp that is that knows what it's like to be pushed to the ground but gets back up that they become a different kind of athlete you know what a Christian that has been through the ashes and come out the other side has a different kind of intimacy with God look at 42 verse 5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear but now my eye sees you and

[53:11] Job by going through the ashes is going to experience an intimacy with God he never would have had without it and here's the last thing God or Job was restored back to prosperity Job is restored back to prosperity I'll just read verse 10 of chapter 42 and the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed with his friends and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before in fact the very last verse of the book says Job died an old man full of days you think and a whole lot of scars and stories to tell faith family like William Carey Job experienced real devastation he knew the smell of smoke he knew what it was like to see his life burn up around him but let me ask you this question as I close why do we struggle so much with a story like

[54:25] Job why is this hard for us it's because we have a hard time accepting that an innocent man would suffer like this how can a man who did nothing wrong be the target of so much wrong and if you find yourself struggling with that then you're starting to actually understand what the story of Job is ultimately about you see the suffering of Job is simply preparing you for the crucifixion of Jesus for on the cross a sinless man will suffer on the cross a man who had all the riches of heaven will become poor on the cross Jesus will be encouraged to quit and come down but he will refuse to do so and while God would not allow Job to be put to death God would allow

[55:26] Jesus to be put to death in order that you might live and yet like Job through his sufferings Jesus would be resurrected and that is why faith family listen to me when everything turns to ashes the only hope you have is look to Jesus because faith family he's not only enough he's more than enough and all God's people said amen pray with me pray with me God thank you for your word to us tonight thank you this has been intense very intense but this is in the Bible you have given it to us for our learning and instruction and pray that we are encouraged even with a hard story like Job's we're encouraged with the truth that purified faith is more precious!

[56:29] than gold and God you are more than enough for us and I pray that you would help us get rid of the misconceptions we have about suffering and that we would think about suffering biblically rightly!

[56:47] and that by your grace and only because of your grace we would worship you in our suffering! In Jesus' name we pray!

[57:01] Amen! Amen!