What is interesting about these rock groups is how they decide who is going to be the lead singer.
Illus: Someone suggested they did it this way.
Someone starts off as a guitar player but he can not play. The group then gives him some sticks, puts him in the back, and calls him a drummer. When he does not work out as a drummer, they take away the sticks, put him up front, and call him the lead singer.
Every time I hear these singers, it makes me wonder what they did with the money that was given to them for their singing lessons.
The only thing that is more obnoxious than these men and women screaming into microphones, are the people who pay good hard earned money to hear them scream.
I love to listen to good musicians and good singers, but I have no tolerance for these NOISE MAKERS.
In April of 1994, I found it interesting to read of a rock singer by the name of Kurt Cobain who ended his career and life by committing suicide. He was the lead singer of the group called "Nirvana." His suicide prompted a lot of questions. Why would a fellow do such a thing? He seemed to have it all as a rock singer. He had:
• A thriving career in rock music
• Dedicated fans
• Plenty of money
• A beautiful wife
• A 19 month-old daughter
SO WHY DID HE KILL HIMSELF? To many it made no sense. But as you examine this man’s life more closely, it begins to make sense. He was a professed humanist. This tells us why he committed suicide. He believed that there was no God and there was no meaning or purpose to life. He was the center of his own universe, and he was bitter, so why stick around?
A lot of folks think if they can get the world’s riches, they can rid themselves of THE TROUBLES OF LIFE!
Everyone has trouble, the POOR and the RICH. No one is exempt from trouble…I MEAN NO ONE! Often the rich have more problems than the poor.
• A poor man can walk away from his house and leave the doors unlocked, because he does not have anything a thief would want to steal.
• A rich man better lock his house and buy a good security system because thieves are looking for ways to get into his house to steal what he has.
Illus: Did you hear about the rich man that owned a lumber store? A thief that was always stealing went to confess his sins to the priest. In the confession booth he admitted that for years he had been stealing building supplies from the lumberyard where he worked.
The priest said, "What did you take?" He said, “I stole enough lumber . . .
• To build my house,
• To build my son's house,
• To build houses for our two daughters, and
• To build our cottage at the lake."
The priest said, "This is very serious. Stealing is always wrong. I can understand you stealing to build a house for you and your children, but a cottage at the lake…that’s ridiculous!”
Sarcastically the priest said, “Did you build a retreat in the mountains also?” The thief said, "No, I haven't yet, but if you can get the plans, I can get the lumber."
Many of us do not have the worries that the RICH person has because we do not have to worry about someone stealing what we do not have. Listen, life is filled with trouble, it does not matter if you are RICH or POOR!
Job 5:7 says, “Yet man is born unto trouble…”
Tragedy usually comes suddenly and unexpectedly. We live each day finding ourselves saying, “Here trouble comes again!
• On her seventh wedding anniversary, the husband of one Christian lady called her up and told her he was going to leave her. He did leave for another woman. She was completely caught off guard.
• Some people go to work one day and find out they no longer have a job.
• Some people feel great today, but suddenly they are experiencing pain in their body, and in a few short weeks they are buried.
Job is right, if you are born into this life, you are going to have trouble AGAIN AND AGAIN!
In some ways our lives are like Job, because it seems trouble just keeps coming. But here is the good news; even though trouble comes into our life, we can be victorious.
Job is a good example of that in the scriptures. It seemed like every time he answered the door, there was someone there telling him of more trouble that entered his life.
In this sermon, I do not want to focus in on all the trouble Job experienced. I believe it would be more worthwhile to look at what kind of a man he was before he experienced all these things!
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Because if he was not the kind of man he was before all this trouble came into his life, most likely we would not be reading about him in the scriptures.
Let’ s look at:
I. HIS CHARACTER
Look at Job 1:6-8, "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?"
It is nice when folks say nice things about us, but it is awesome when God will say nice things about us.
(1) IT IS NICE TO HEAR A TEACHER SAY SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT HER STUDENT
Illus: Eight-year-old Nina brought her report card home from school. Her marks were good...mostly A's and a couple of B's.
However, her teacher had written across the bottom: "Nina is a smart little girl, but she has one fault. She talks too much in school. I have an idea I am going to try, which I think may break her of the habit."
Nina's dad signed her report card, putting a note on the back: "Please let me know if your idea works on Nina because I would like to try it out on her mother."
(2) IT IS NICE TO HEAR A SPOUSE SAY GOOD THINGS ABOUT THEIR SPOUSE
One of the reasons that some say bad things about their spouse is because they believe in a double standard. It is all right for the husband to sit there with the remote control to the television, flipping channels, but woe be unto the woman who would do such a thing. HE WILL NOT HAVE ANY NICE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT HER!
It is always nice when someone says GOOD THINGS ABOUT US! We like to hear nice things said about us even when it is not true!
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger said that he thought about changing doctors, but the doctor keeps telling him he is fine so he does not want to change. He said that if she ever tells him something he does not want to hear…HE IS GOING TO FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR!
We like to have people say nice things about us, but it is awesome when GOD WILL SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT SOMEONE.
God spoke well of Job to Satan. He said, “…there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?"
WHAT WAS THE BASIC INGREDIENT IN JOB THAT MADE HIM SUCH A WONDERFUL MAN OF GOD? The beginning of Job’s uprightness is found in the statement that he, “feared God.”
Have you noticed that God has built a fear in us?
Illus: If you stick your finger into an electrical socket, no one will have to tell you not to do that again. That painful shock that God allows to go through our body, teaches us not to do that again.
Pain is one of the greatest teachers on the face of this earth! A lot of parents do not believe in corporal punishment for a child these days. But look at the price they are paying!
Prov. 13:24 “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
We have a lot of these modern day parents walking around saying, “I do not know what to do with my children.” Listen, many of us grew up in an age when their parents knew what to do with them. And when they got through with them, they knew what to do also! They believed that the PUNISHMENT should FIT THE CRIME! And they put within a disobedient child a FEAR that kept them from repeating the offense.
Illus: One of the problems with our prison system is that men and women can do all kinds of evil, and we put prisoners in prisons with gyms, good food, health care, and computers. The PUNISHMENT DOES NOT FIT THE CRIME!
There was a time when they would take them to a chain-gang camp, put them in some barracks and at the crack of dawn load them into the back of a truck. They took them to a place where guards with shotguns said, “All right, today we are going to dig a ditch from here to there!” When evening came, they were glad to get back in that old truck and when they got back to the barracks, they were too tired to get into trouble. When they served their time in the chain gang, they did not ever want to go back to that place again.
Student today can get in trouble and they know that their punishment will be suspension from school for a few days, and this is exactly what they want, because they do not want to go to school anyway! They have lost their fear of corporal punishment, because we do not have parents today who know how to make the punishment fit the crime.
Fear works wonders in keeping us straight!
• One of the reasons I slow down on the highway is because I fear those men and women with the flashing lights that will pull me over and will give me a ticket that will make me wish I had not driven so fast.
• One of the reasons I do not eat like a pig, is because I fear that if I do, I am going to have some serious health problems down the road like other people who eat like pigs.
God’s Word says, in Proverbs 16:6, "… by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
The reason Job was so successful in overcoming the TROUBLES that came into his life, was because he was the man he was before they came. HE FEARED GOD!
We have looked at HIS CHARACTER, but let’s also look at-
II. HIS KINDNESS
Job 31:32, "The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller."
One of the greatest gifts we can demonstrate to others is hospitality. In years gone by, it was a common occurrence for people to open their doors, not only to their neighbors but also to traveling strangers.
Before the days of inns, motels and hotels, a traveler need only knock on the door of a house at sunset and they would be welcome to share the meal and spend the night in security and comfort. Sadly, in the main, those days are past. Today, it is even rare to see neighbor visit neighbor, let alone demonstrate hospitality.
The New Testament Scriptures teach that we ought to follow Job’s example.
In 1 Peter 4:9, we are commanded, "Use hospitality one to another without grudging."
God especially blesses those who show hospitality toward others that will never be able to return the act of kindness.
Luke 14:12-14, "Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”
The Lord is saying, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Job was a rich man, but he cared for the poor man. Job’s life had been one of great blessing and abundance.
In Job 1:2-3, we find out he was blessed with:
• Seven sons and three daughters.
• His possessions also were 7000 sheep.
• 3000 camels
• 500 yoke of oxen
• 500 female donkeys
• Very many servants
Job was the greatest of all the men in the East.
Wealth has a tendency to make a person proud, self-indulgent, materialistic and unmoved by the needs of others. Job did not succumb to this temptation. Despite his prosperity, Job could sympathize with those less fortunate, those who experienced real hardship and affliction.
Job 30:25, "Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor?"
Job’s heart ached as he witnessed the sufferings of others. Job’s compassion did not end with a feeling of sympathy. He actively sought to assist those whose lives were hard. He actively involved himself in protecting the vulnerable and satisfying the needy.
Conclusion:
The righteousness of Job is very impressive. HE FEARED GOD and HE LOVED THE UNLOVABLE! I submit to you that he could not have made it through the trials he endured had he not been this kind of man….NOR CAN WE!
We see . . .
I. HIS CHARACTER
II. HIS KINDNESS
