Job Series

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SERIES

8 – JOB

This morning, we are continuing with our sermon series, entitled, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

And we’ve been talking about the fact that if there’s ever been a time for us to have close encounters, it’s now

And we’re going to be preaching on this series until we, as a church, HAS CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

It’s no excuse for us to…

--retreat

--give up

--give in

These are the days of Elijah, declaring the word of the Lord

These are the days of Ezekiel, the dry bones becoming as flesh

There is NO GOD LIKE JEHOVAH!

What West Road Church needs is – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS!

And we’ve been pointing out to you, that no matter…

--who you are

--what you’ve done

--what life has thrown you

--where you are spiritually this morning

You can have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God Almighty

And so far in this series, we’ve talked about…

--Adam

--Abraham

--Joseph

--Moses

--David

--4 Great Women

And next week, we’re going to be talking about DANIEL

But this morning, come with me to the ash heap of a forgotten Middle Easter town, where we hear the moaning and sighing of a man who’s suffering like none before, no none since

And his name is JOB, and we’re going to see how JOB had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God

With that in mind, let’s read…

•Job 42:12 ( KJV ) 12So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning…

•Isaiah 46:9-10 ( KJV ) 9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

INTRODUCTION

Without question, of all the people of the Bible, there’s no doubt but that Job had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God

But when we look at the life of Job, we readily see that IT WAS NOT WITHOUT a lot of suffering

You know, we’re living in a day of the PROSPERITY GOSPEL

Where every time you turn on the TV, all you hear is that if you “sow your seed” you’ll drive a Bentley

One preacher I heard one time say that when the world saw him driving his Mercedes, they would know that He had a good God

And this is a basic and flawed philosophy that…

--if you do right, everything will be great

--if you do wrong, everything will be bad

But time and experience has taught us that this is not always true

Now it’s true ETERNALLY

We know that ULTIMATELY, ETERNALLY, that if you do right, everything will be great, and if you will do wrong, everything will be bad

But we’re not there yet, and when you think of Jesus, He did everything right, but yet suffered greatly

And we never learn this truth more, than when looking at the life of JOB

Now, I’ll admit, everything about the book of Job is hard to understand

It’s hard to understand the age old question – WHY DOES BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Also, just reading the book of Job can be difficult, especially from chapters 3 through 37, as the dialogue between Job and his 4 friends are especially difficult to follow because it was recorded in Hebrew poetry, and so it takes a couple of readings to get the gist of the thought

I do suggest when reading Job, getting a modern translation or paraphrase, such as The Message, or the New Living Translation

But the overall them of Job is clear – and that is that no matter

--what happens to you

--what you face

--the tragedies in your life

--the things you loose

You can have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God Almighty

And so, for a few moments, I want us to look at the life of Job, and I want to break his life’s story down into 4 parts

First of all, let’s look at…

1. JOB’S IDENTITY

Who was this man called Job?

Some have even said he was a fictitious man because its so hard to believe that all this tragedy could happen to one person

But that’s not true

The opening line to Job says…

Job 1:1-3 ( KJV ) 1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;

In other words, he was a real man and according to Genesis 46:13, we find out that he is the grandson of the patriarch Jacob, born to his son Issachar

The prophet Ezekiel mentions Job alongside of Noah and Daniel, and if these men were real, so was Job

Even in the New Testament, Job is mention in the book of James, where James says…