Mes#: 445-090105
File #: job01-01
Text: Selected passages from Job
Title: Who’s In Charge Here?
Introduction:
· Christmas 2004 will be forever remembered as the Christmas with the most tragic natural disaster in human history.
· People around the world have been witness to this most tragic event.
· We have watched the news casts and we have been horrified to the images we have seen.
· An email that came through from Craig McKenzie, missionary to Penang, Malaysia gave this account. He was preparing for their Christmas Day service just as the earthquake hit around 9:15 a.m.. The church meets in a local hotel
I noticed the windows sort of buckling a bit…then I heard a larg band, like someone dropped a hug steel plate. As I walked out of the elevator I was greeted by the sight of the worship team leaving rapidly. The floor was moving under them. Pastor Craig and the tem evacuated the hotel. That afternoon he picks up the story “About 1/45 this afternoon we noticed some large waves in the distance. We were able to watch the tsunami roll into the bay right in front of us. It was confirmed that people died in Batu Ferrengi just to the south of us. Cars were overturned. One roald had a few boats scattered down it along with sand and debris. The poor, as usual, will suffer the most. We are all OK and are thankful! There are so many in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia who will forever affected. Please pray!
· For Pastor Craig, he talks about their lives never being the same. How can they. How could they live in the midst of such devastation without being forever changed.
· There is a sense where our world will deal with this devastation for many years to come.
· As Christians, we have had our faith stretched. In many ways I have easier answers to the planes slamming into World Trade Buildings in 2001.
· As I was watching one Spiritual leaders interviewed on the evening news this week, he said, “Everyone’s faith has been challenged. It doesn’t matter what religion.”
· That is true. Our faith has been challenged this week. It has been shook, but I tell you today, “Our faith has not been shattered.”
· This week we go to the Scriptures in search of answers to our questions, “Who is in control? Why did God allow this to happen? What do we do next?”
· In search of answers to those questions, we are going to spend the next two weeks grappling with what has happened. It is a series called
“A Christmas To Remember - A Christian Response To The Tsunami”
· So where do we go to find the answers. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Job.
· Job knew what it meant to face struggle and despair. He saw devastation all around Him. He found himself asking the tough questions.
· Let’s pick up this story.
Assurance #1: God Is In Control – Satan’s Power Is Limited (vv1:10-12; 2:6)
· In this passage we learn a lot about our God and the enemy of our souls.
· We learn that ultimately God is the one in control, and Satan, or the “Accuser”, is one who can only ask permission from God to orchestrate his evil plans.
· Our first reaction may be to blame the accuser of our souls. Maybe even allowing this to be cast onto Satan as a Spiritual act.
· In Job we see that Satan was instrumental in causing difficulty and destruction around Job’s life.
· The sickness, the loss of livestock, the loss of his family, the loss of his assets, the loss of his health, all are linked directly back to Satan, the accuser.
· But in all the power that Satan seemed to possess, his power was limited to that which was allowed by God.
· But we must first realize that in all of this
i) Satan does not have ultimate power, God does
Satan needed to ask permission, it was Satan who had to come to God
· The first two chapters of Job demonstrate that although Satan is in rebellion, hi is still accountable to God.
· Originally an angel of God, Satan became corrupt through his own pride (2 Peter 2:4)
· Although Satan attempts to hamper God’s work, he is limited by God. As much as he may wish to be a god, Satan is still a created and finite being.
· He controls people. He has even been able to control people who walked in the physical presence of Jesus. Near the end of our Lord’s earthly ministry, he predicted His own death. Peter resisted the thought that such a thing could happen. Even with the passing of nearly 20 centuries, Jesus’ reaction to Peter is a shock. "Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Matthew 16:23).
· He lies. He is the father of lies (John 8:44) and he "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). He can start with a premise or a practice that is clearly the opposite of what God wants and put a spin on it that makes it sound like you have God’s backing for the most evil deeds imaginable.
· He has universal influence. In Job 1, God asked Satan where he had been. In arrogance Satan shot back, "Ranging over the earth from end to end" (NEB). You cannot go anywhere on this planet where Satan does not go.
· This is not said to make you paranoid about Satan, but so that you might be better prepared to resist the devil and force him to flee from you.
· Satan knows well that there is no ultimate victory for him. The pronounced sentence has only been postponed. But he works to hinder and postpone Christ’s final triumph. We can rejoice in the certainty of John’s assurance:
“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4).
Illustration:
· Writing in Moody Monthly, Carl Armerding recounted his experience of watching a wildcat in a zoo. “As I stood there,” he said, “an attendant entered the cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage.” He observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast.
· In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure. Armerding remarked to the attendant, “You certainly are a brave man.” “No, I ain’t brave,” he replied as he continued to sweep. “Well, then, that cat must be tame.” “No,” came the reply, “he ain’t tame.” “If you aren’t brave and the wildcat isn’t tame, then I can’t understand why he doesn’t attack you.” Armerding said the man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, “Mister, he’s old—and he ain’t got no teeth.”
Our Daily Bread
Assurance #2: God Is In Control – His Ways Are Perfect
· God does not pass the buck onto Satan. God talks about His plan in all of this. Satan thought he was running the show, but in the end, we see God was the one truly weaving things together.
· We might blame this whole event on nature, Satan as we have already discussed, or we might even blame it on countries that should have invested in Tsunami alert programs. But at the end of the day, we see God, in His Sovereign plan allowing these events to unfold.
· It was Satan who needed to seek permission from God. Ultimatly God is in charge.
· Regardless of whether it was Satan, or the natural course of events of our creation, or the fault of negligent officials who should have had a proper warning system in place, God could have stilled the waves. He could have caused a series of events to unfold that would have given people more time to react.
The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. Luke 8:24 (NIV)
· God has the power, and who are we to question His ways.
“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, Job 38:8 (NIV)
O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. Psalm 89:8-9 (NIV)
· You notice through the book of Job that God does not answer anyone with a “yeah but…”
· He does not say, “well actually, for your information, it really was someone else’s fault.”
· He does not apologize, he does not grovel and ask for forgivness.
· He is obviously fully aware of the course of events and all the ways he could justify or pass the buck, but he doesn’t.
· Later on in Job, one of Job’s friends, Elihu shares these words with his friend.
“God is mighty, but does not despise men; he is mighty, and firm in his purpose. Job 36:5 (NIV)
i) We do not need to justify God’s sovereignty
· Sometimes we may want to make statements in all of this about the sinfulness of man, the nature of our fallen world. All those things are true. And God allows us to self destruct.
· But be careful that you don’t weaken God to the point where He becomes a slave to our sin and self will.
· God allows certain things to happen, and he saves us from others. Who really knows the mind of God.
· We don’t need to justify God’s sovereignty because he makes no apologies for Himself.
· Job gives us a rare insight as God speaks to Job in the first person. Direct conversation.
· For us to try and understand why God would allow something of this nature is difficult to grapple with, but at the end of the day we make a statement that Job made at the end of the book
· It is easy to say God is in control of the weather, as long as nobody gets hurt.
· But God is in control despite the outcome. We have to believe that.
· Was God only in control when people were miraculously saved through this event. Or was he also in control when people narrowly missed grabbing hold of a tree that could have saved their lives.
· Was God in control when a child was narrowly swept from her mother’s arms.
Why do you contend with Him? For He does not give an accounting of any of His words. Job 33:13 (NKJV)
You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. Job 42:3 (NIV)
· We don’t know why God allows this, but we do know He gives us the strength and grace in the midst of such struggles.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV) :
”It’s difficult for us to understand God’s eternal purpose in everything that we see happening around us. But we can know this. Everything that happens on this earth is under His control. Everything. And sometimes, every once in a while, He lets us see a little portion of that plan, allows us to understand some of His thinking.” — Bonnie Ricks
Illustrations
· A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was inquiring of the older preacher.
· The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.
· The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry. But because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. It wasn’t long before he realized how impossible it was to do so.
· Noticing the younger preacher’s inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite the following poem...
UNFOLDING THE ROSEBUD
It is only a tiny rosebud, A flower of GOD’s design;
But I cannot unfold the petals With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly, When in my hands they fade and die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud, This flower of GOD’s design,
Then how can I think I have wisdom To unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in Him for His leading Each moment of every day.
I will look to him for His guidance Each step of the pilgrim way.
The pathway that lies before me, Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments, Just as He unfolds the rose.
Assurance #3: God Is In Control - It Is OK To Ask Questions
· We need to ask questions at this time.
· Careful not to
· There is a mystery to human suffering. And a natural response is to come to God and ask the question, “Why?”
i) In your questioning, don’t try and make yourself look good.
· When we turn to chapter 32, we see a young man’s response (Elihu) and his response to Job, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.
Then the wrath of Elihu… was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. Job 32:2 (NKJV)
· It is ok to ask the questions, because it is through the questions, that we can draw close to God and see.
· God in his sovereignty is big enough to listen to the questions that concern your heart with all of this.
· Of course we may not get all the answers, but we need to know that the questions need to be asked.
· In the quietness of your intimate moments with God, ask the questions why?
· Read through Habakkuk. He asks questions like, “How long, Why, Are you not from everlasting, WHY WHY WHY????
Assurance #4: God Is In Control – We Need To Come To Him In Repentance (Job 42:6)
“I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” Job 42:5-6 (NLT)
· At the end of this whole scenario, we find Job in a time of repentance.
· Every deadly calamity is a merciful call from God for the living to repent. (John Piper) That was Jesus stunning statement to those who brought news of calamity.
Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:4-5 (NIV)
· How our world needs to repent in these days. How we need to use this as a call to repentance
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
· We can not know the reasons behind what has happened, we may never fully realize it this side of heaven.
· But may the point of every deadly calamity be to trun and repend.
· So many have missed this opportunity.
· Some of you have seen the people sun bathing on the beaches, tourists who have resumed their living for pleasure amidst the destruction and death all around them.
They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. Revelation 16:9 (NIV)
· May we repent this day.
Conclusion:
· This message may have created more questions than answers. But may we cling to God in these days.
· May we realize that he is still in control.
· A Malaysian tuna ship rescued an Indonesian woman who drifted for five days in the Indian Ocean after last week’s tsunami swept her out to sea from her home on Sumatra island, an official said Monday.
· Melawati, 23, was spotted alive Friday while clinging to a floating sago palm tree in waters near Aceh province , said Goi Kim Par, manager of the Malaysian International Tuna Port. Melawati uses only one name. She suffered leg injuries because of being bitten by fish at sea and was extremely weak, but remained conscious and arrived for medical treatment Monday afternoon at Malaysia’s northwestern Penang island, Goi added.
· Penang Health Director Azmi Shapie said Melawati — who survived by eating the tree’s fruit and bark — suffered trauma and would be given counseling before being handed to the Indonesian consulate in Penang .
· Ship crew members said that Melawati had waved frantically to draw the trawler’s attention She cried throughout her three days aboard the trawler, they added.
· It is hard to imagine the horror of what this woman went through. Yet she held on and amazingly enough the source she was holding on to so tightly was also her source for food. So many times in life it is all we can do to just hang on...and when we do we discover we have enough to survive and that help arrives just when we are at the end of our endurance. Continue to pray for those that have been devastated by the tsunami and for those that are working so hard to provide help.
· Cling to God and know these assurances that God is in control…
