In The Twinkling Of An Eye

November 8, 2002

I. Introduction:

A. Today’s topic—In the twinkling of an eye

1) Questions:

a) Is there life after death?

b) Is there hope beyond the grave?

c) Is there a possibility that I will see my lost loved ones again?

2) Answers:

a) The answers to these questions will have significant implications how we live right now.

b) It will determine how we are going to conduct our lives

c) It will determine how we are going to relate to one another

d) It will impact how we react and respond to tragedies and pain.

B. We will begin our study with the life of Job

II. Body:

A. The seven trials of Job

1) First messenger—the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword.

2) Second messenger—the fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants.

3) Third messenger—the Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on job’s camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword

4) Fourth messenger—Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on your children and they died.

5) Fifth calamity—Painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

6) Sixth—a disheartening wife

7) Seventh—Three friends who blamed him for all his troubles.

B. Job reaction

1) Job 3:1-4, “After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said, let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, there is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.”

2) Job 3:11, “Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”

3) Job 6:1, “But Job answered and said, Oh that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up.”

C. David’s Pain

1) Psalm 69:3, “I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.”

2) Psalm 6:6, “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.”

D. Weary as Job; pained like David

1) TVs, Radios, and Newspapers

a) Bombing in Bali

b) Shooting in Maryland

c) Threat of war among nations

2) Hospitals

a) Sickness

b) People groaning of pain

c) Faces of depression because of their circumstances

d) Children crying because of pain

e) Parents deeply troubled because of their children

3) Justice System

a) Hollywood star tried for shoplifting

b) Enron CEOs tried for financial fraud and mismanagement

c) Couples filing for divorce because they cannot live together anymore

d) Friends and relatives suing each other for money

e) Single parents filing for alimony from their partners

4) Schools

a) Students bullying each other

b) Students disrespecting authority figures

c) Students shooting their peers and their teachers

d) Teachers neglecting to teach old Christian values

5) Government

a) Leaders accused of sex scandal