Post by Get off of TMB on Jan 26, 2020 12:31:27 GMT -5
Tharold Sylvester - 1964-03-25 - Special Mtg. - Santa Marie,
Job 19:25 –“I know that my redeemer liveth”. There are some that believe the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. We do not know when Job lived, but we do know how he lived and what God was able to teach him without the Bible. Some of those people saw the truth of God more clearly than we do with all of the instruction that we have in the Bible. God had to teach them and open things up to them step by step. Jesus said, “They shall all be taught of God”. John 6:45. When a Job said, “I know that my redeemer liveth”. Jesus had not come, but yet he said, “I know”. Jesus came the first time and they put him to death. He is coming the second time and is still living. Everything connected with the Gospel is still living. What God has provided in Christ is stronger than death. Jesus gave evidence of undying love. The first thing he did after he was raised from the dead was to help his disciples.
Our faith must be tried. Job’s faith was tried in 7 different tests and through everyone of them he gave evidence of a living faith. We may think our battles are stronger than Job’s were, but as we look at his tests we can see that our battles do not measure up very much.
(1) Test of prosperity - Chapter 1. Job recognized that his children may not have been what they should have been and so Job rose up and offered burnt offerings according to them all. In spite of all the prosperity God had given him, he knew there was sacrifice and that it was necessary to pray even for his own. There was no loss of vision in Job’s prosperity. People sometimes lose their sense of values and eternal things. The test of prosperity is as great as the test of adversity, but Job did not lose his integrity, purpose or honor. The world is prospering and sometimes God’s people might have a little more than they know how to handle. There is a tendency for people to get taken up with superficial things. Do not lose your vision. Where is the line between true religion and false religion? The most deadly thing is dead truth. The line is drawn by the place where God is with us and where He is not. If God is not with us, we will have to say that it is false, but if He is with us, we can take our place among the true. He wants to be with us, but there are some things God
will not tolerate nor dwell with and some things must be forsaken. Satan entered the picture and said that the reason Job was faithful was because he was being benefited materially. God gave Satan the opportunity to test Job and Satan went to work – but God proved Satan to be a liar again.
(2) Test of lost -- Job lost all of his possessions in one day – it was all swept away. How did he react to that? He said, “The Lord gave and the Lird can take it away. It was His”. Job realized he was only a steward. There was no hardness in Job’s heart. There was faith in Job’s heart to see that God has a purpose behind what happened. Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, accomplishes the impossible. There was no hardness in Job’s heart.
(3) Test of sorrow – Job’s sons and daughters were slain – all 10 of them, but God did not forsake Job. Job had something God had given him that death and loss could not take from him. There was no bitterness in him.
(4) Test of physical suffering – Satan stretched forth his hand and touched Job’s life; brought forth boils on him. Job was suffering inwardly the list of his possessions and children and now even his wife turned against him. She told him to curse God and die. Job gave her a good example even in suffering. It is a real test for people to lose their health. Faith is something God gives to people that will stand by them even through that experience – it is stronger than death. Job said as these different tests came, “I know that my redeemer liveth”.. “I know the way he takes and when he has tried me. I shall cone forth as gold” .. Job saw beyond the test itself. It takes fire to purify gold and silver and it takes these tests to purify faith. The Lord uses drastic measures to stop sone people. Stephen was stoned and it was the means of stopping Saul. God invested Stephen’s life and testimony to help Saul. These tests did something for Job’s faith. It isn’t pleasant to go through tests and most of us shrink from them, but we find His love out in no other way thank in the dark, painful, cruel experiences. This is the fire that purifies people’s faith. It clarifies vision and brings people down to a single thing and purpose and brings them to a channel God would like to see them in.
(5) Test of misunderstanding – Ch. 19:12-19 – Even his wife did not understand. Why was he an outcast? It was because of his faith. There is nothing that will bring misunderstanding between the world and ourselves more than the truth of God. God has offered to share with all of us of His children what he gave to Christ; there is nothing left out. All the promises God gave to Christ are at disposal when we are in Christ. Job faced misunderstanding . Paul said, “This I do for the Gospel’s sake” and did not let those things hinder him & Job didn’t either. Job did not justify himself, Ch. 14:14, “I will wait until my change cometh”. The greatest friend of truth is time. God will prove you to be right and our responsibility is keeping true and in the will of God and having fellowship with Him. Isa. 50:8 – “He us near that justifiers me”. If we try to justify ourselves, we tie the Lord’s hands so that He cannot do it. Can any child of God walk the path of life and finish without being misunderstood?
(6) Test of self-righteousness – Ch. 35:2 – When Job questioned some of God’s provision, he was declaring his own righteousness. Job felt he could cleanse himself. People come to meetings and are convinced that this is right, but they are conscious if some uncleanness that stands in their way. They way they want to clean up their life and then present it to God. They should give the Lord a chance to help them put the uncleanness away. It is only reasonable to put away uncleanness – don’t call that a sacrifice. Sacrifice comes in after a person has been cleansed and then they are giving God a pure sacrifice, something out of a pure heart. You cannot purify and cleanse yourself. You can wash your hands, but the purifying of the flesh isn’t the important thing; it is the purifying of the Spirit. It is the easiest thing in the world for people’s spirit to get defiled. We must go and seek the Lord’s cleaning. Heb. 9:14. It is the blood of Christ that purges our conscience. It goes deeper than the surface. It goes deeper than the surface; it goes to the conscience. A good conscience isn’t one that never troubles us. A good conscience wakes us up and makes us do things. God has built that into a person, if they would only pay attention to it. The blood of Christ cleanses us from a guilt conscience. That is why only in Christ can this be possible. He must cleanse our spirit and heart and thoughts. Job 33:8 – Elihu heard Job say these words. The real test of Job was his relationship before God. Elihu made Job face facts and then the Lord spoke to him. The servants of God are watchmen, but they are not policemen. They can tell people what is wrong, but cannot enforce it any further. They can warn people, but cannot do anything to stop you. God stepped in and put things before Job and he came to the place where he saw himself as he was. Ch. 40:4 – What do we have to be proud of anyway? We are just a decaying lump of flesh and if the spirit goes out if it, it is a terrible stench. Ch. 42:3 – Job learned to say, “I don’t know”. God got him down to the place where he was able to teach and show him the things he needed to know. Verses 4-6. He had heard about God, but now he said, “I see you”. Job said, “I repent”. The Lord turned the captivity of Job and his latter days were better than the former. Are all things that God leads people through in vain? Back if it all God is trying to teach you lessons you would learn in no other way. We have the best school, the best comforter, the best guide. It is through bitter and painful experiences that God shows the greatness of his love, compassion and mercies toward us.
(7) The Test of Time – Job lived 140 years. It isn’t the hardness of the way that tests people, it is the length of the way. Everyone of us will be tried and tested before we are through. God wants a tried and tested product. Job did not have the Bible, but he went to God for comfort. The O.T. is the story of people that lived for truth. You will be tested in exactly the same way.
Hymn #226 – “My life is in the Master’s hands to purify and mold; when tested, tried, I’m satisfied I shall come forth as gold”.
Job 19:25 –“I know that my redeemer liveth”. There are some that believe the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. We do not know when Job lived, but we do know how he lived and what God was able to teach him without the Bible. Some of those people saw the truth of God more clearly than we do with all of the instruction that we have in the Bible. God had to teach them and open things up to them step by step. Jesus said, “They shall all be taught of God”. John 6:45. When a Job said, “I know that my redeemer liveth”. Jesus had not come, but yet he said, “I know”. Jesus came the first time and they put him to death. He is coming the second time and is still living. Everything connected with the Gospel is still living. What God has provided in Christ is stronger than death. Jesus gave evidence of undying love. The first thing he did after he was raised from the dead was to help his disciples.
Our faith must be tried. Job’s faith was tried in 7 different tests and through everyone of them he gave evidence of a living faith. We may think our battles are stronger than Job’s were, but as we look at his tests we can see that our battles do not measure up very much.
(1) Test of prosperity - Chapter 1. Job recognized that his children may not have been what they should have been and so Job rose up and offered burnt offerings according to them all. In spite of all the prosperity God had given him, he knew there was sacrifice and that it was necessary to pray even for his own. There was no loss of vision in Job’s prosperity. People sometimes lose their sense of values and eternal things. The test of prosperity is as great as the test of adversity, but Job did not lose his integrity, purpose or honor. The world is prospering and sometimes God’s people might have a little more than they know how to handle. There is a tendency for people to get taken up with superficial things. Do not lose your vision. Where is the line between true religion and false religion? The most deadly thing is dead truth. The line is drawn by the place where God is with us and where He is not. If God is not with us, we will have to say that it is false, but if He is with us, we can take our place among the true. He wants to be with us, but there are some things God
will not tolerate nor dwell with and some things must be forsaken. Satan entered the picture and said that the reason Job was faithful was because he was being benefited materially. God gave Satan the opportunity to test Job and Satan went to work – but God proved Satan to be a liar again.
(2) Test of lost -- Job lost all of his possessions in one day – it was all swept away. How did he react to that? He said, “The Lord gave and the Lird can take it away. It was His”. Job realized he was only a steward. There was no hardness in Job’s heart. There was faith in Job’s heart to see that God has a purpose behind what happened. Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, accomplishes the impossible. There was no hardness in Job’s heart.
(3) Test of sorrow – Job’s sons and daughters were slain – all 10 of them, but God did not forsake Job. Job had something God had given him that death and loss could not take from him. There was no bitterness in him.
(4) Test of physical suffering – Satan stretched forth his hand and touched Job’s life; brought forth boils on him. Job was suffering inwardly the list of his possessions and children and now even his wife turned against him. She told him to curse God and die. Job gave her a good example even in suffering. It is a real test for people to lose their health. Faith is something God gives to people that will stand by them even through that experience – it is stronger than death. Job said as these different tests came, “I know that my redeemer liveth”.. “I know the way he takes and when he has tried me. I shall cone forth as gold” .. Job saw beyond the test itself. It takes fire to purify gold and silver and it takes these tests to purify faith. The Lord uses drastic measures to stop sone people. Stephen was stoned and it was the means of stopping Saul. God invested Stephen’s life and testimony to help Saul. These tests did something for Job’s faith. It isn’t pleasant to go through tests and most of us shrink from them, but we find His love out in no other way thank in the dark, painful, cruel experiences. This is the fire that purifies people’s faith. It clarifies vision and brings people down to a single thing and purpose and brings them to a channel God would like to see them in.
(5) Test of misunderstanding – Ch. 19:12-19 – Even his wife did not understand. Why was he an outcast? It was because of his faith. There is nothing that will bring misunderstanding between the world and ourselves more than the truth of God. God has offered to share with all of us of His children what he gave to Christ; there is nothing left out. All the promises God gave to Christ are at disposal when we are in Christ. Job faced misunderstanding . Paul said, “This I do for the Gospel’s sake” and did not let those things hinder him & Job didn’t either. Job did not justify himself, Ch. 14:14, “I will wait until my change cometh”. The greatest friend of truth is time. God will prove you to be right and our responsibility is keeping true and in the will of God and having fellowship with Him. Isa. 50:8 – “He us near that justifiers me”. If we try to justify ourselves, we tie the Lord’s hands so that He cannot do it. Can any child of God walk the path of life and finish without being misunderstood?
(6) Test of self-righteousness – Ch. 35:2 – When Job questioned some of God’s provision, he was declaring his own righteousness. Job felt he could cleanse himself. People come to meetings and are convinced that this is right, but they are conscious if some uncleanness that stands in their way. They way they want to clean up their life and then present it to God. They should give the Lord a chance to help them put the uncleanness away. It is only reasonable to put away uncleanness – don’t call that a sacrifice. Sacrifice comes in after a person has been cleansed and then they are giving God a pure sacrifice, something out of a pure heart. You cannot purify and cleanse yourself. You can wash your hands, but the purifying of the flesh isn’t the important thing; it is the purifying of the Spirit. It is the easiest thing in the world for people’s spirit to get defiled. We must go and seek the Lord’s cleaning. Heb. 9:14. It is the blood of Christ that purges our conscience. It goes deeper than the surface. It goes deeper than the surface; it goes to the conscience. A good conscience isn’t one that never troubles us. A good conscience wakes us up and makes us do things. God has built that into a person, if they would only pay attention to it. The blood of Christ cleanses us from a guilt conscience. That is why only in Christ can this be possible. He must cleanse our spirit and heart and thoughts. Job 33:8 – Elihu heard Job say these words. The real test of Job was his relationship before God. Elihu made Job face facts and then the Lord spoke to him. The servants of God are watchmen, but they are not policemen. They can tell people what is wrong, but cannot enforce it any further. They can warn people, but cannot do anything to stop you. God stepped in and put things before Job and he came to the place where he saw himself as he was. Ch. 40:4 – What do we have to be proud of anyway? We are just a decaying lump of flesh and if the spirit goes out if it, it is a terrible stench. Ch. 42:3 – Job learned to say, “I don’t know”. God got him down to the place where he was able to teach and show him the things he needed to know. Verses 4-6. He had heard about God, but now he said, “I see you”. Job said, “I repent”. The Lord turned the captivity of Job and his latter days were better than the former. Are all things that God leads people through in vain? Back if it all God is trying to teach you lessons you would learn in no other way. We have the best school, the best comforter, the best guide. It is through bitter and painful experiences that God shows the greatness of his love, compassion and mercies toward us.
(7) The Test of Time – Job lived 140 years. It isn’t the hardness of the way that tests people, it is the length of the way. Everyone of us will be tried and tested before we are through. God wants a tried and tested product. Job did not have the Bible, but he went to God for comfort. The O.T. is the story of people that lived for truth. You will be tested in exactly the same way.
Hymn #226 – “My life is in the Master’s hands to purify and mold; when tested, tried, I’m satisfied I shall come forth as gold”.