WHEN JOB SAW GOD

Job 42:5

Sunday Morning Sermon

July 26, 1998

Fair Avenue Baptist Church

The story of Job is a remarkable story.  It has only been in the last year or two that I have really studied this book.  I have outlined the entire book and took several pages in my Bible study book.  The more I studied, the more I learned.

Job was a good man - God said so.  I wonder if God could brag on us.

God bragged on Job in Job 1:8:

“none like him”

Are we just about like everyone else?

“a perfect man”

a very spiritually mature man

“an upright man”

a good man

“one that feareth God”

Do we fear God?

“escheweth evil”

Do we hate evil?

Then why do we allow it in our homes?

Job was quite a man.

Such a man that God bragged on him.

Such a man that God let Job go through many trials.

Job went through the trials,

He lost all his possessions:

7,000 sheep

7,000 @ $30 = $210,000

3,000 camels

3,000 @ $100 = $300,000

500 yoke of oxen

1,000 oxen @ $400 = $400,000

500 donkeys

500 @ $250 = $125,000

Job lost it all,

Over ONE MILLION DOLLARS in today’s dollars of livestock, and those are probably low estimates.

He lost it all.

Job went through the trials.

He also went through the heartaches,

The heartbreaks.

He had seven sons, all killed...

Three daughters, all killed...

All but a few of his servants killed...

It takes a lot of servants to take care of 11,000 head of livestock, maybe several hundred.

Many trials,

Many heartaches,

And then his own body was attacked,

He had boils all over his body (2:7-8)

And lastly, his own wife turned on him (2:9)

And yet,

“in all this did not Job sin with his lips” (2:10)

With all his trials, tribulations, and tears,

With all his personal battles,

With his wife turning on him,

Job passed the test.

Even his friends turned on him,

They accused him of sin, but it wasn’t sin,

They accused him of so many things,

They even accused him of pride, but it wasn’t,

Yet Job did nothing wrong.

I sincerely doubt we could lose it all,

Lose all our children,

Lose all our possessions,

And still not get mad at God,

And not turn from God.

I’ve seen it happen.

I’ve seen good people,

Good, decent folks,

I’ve seen them go through some trial,

Some tribulation,

And quit on God.

Get mad at God and blame everything on God.

Job was a very good man,

He came through it all,

Losing his children,

Losing all his children,

With his wife turning on him,

With his friends turning on him,

He came through it all,

He did right,

AND HE STILL HAD NOTHING!

He still had no children,

He still had no possessions,

He still had nothing,

But he stayed right with God.

Now, that was my introduction.

And we come back to our text in Job 42.

Job came to a point and time in his life where he had a greater realization of God and God’s great salvation.

Sadly, it took Job losing all his children,

Losing all his possessions,

Going through all the trials and tribulations,

For Job to come to a greater realization of God.

And when Job saw the greatness and magnitude of God, IT BROKE HIS HEART.

“I abhor myself” (V. 6)

He saw the righteousness of God,

And he saw his own sinfulness,

And he hated himself for his sin.

“I abhor myself”

“I hate myself”

He was so taken back by his God that he repented and sat in dust and ashes.

When Job realized the greatness of God,

When he realized the omniscience of God,

It changed his life.

He saw God,

It broke his heart,

He repented,

It changed his life.

But wait a minute!

He was already a good man,

He was a man that God bragged on,

He was already a good Christian,

But when he took a close look at his life,

When he saw God,

It changed his life.

TODAY,

We haven’t had near the trials Job had,

No where close to the heartaches,

And, yet, we quit on God for a lot less,

We get mad at God for much smaller reasons.

When was the last time we realized how great our God was and how sinful we are and our hearts were broken?

So broken we repented,

So broken we fell to the ground,

So broken we literally fell in repentance?

Has there ever been a time when we came to a point in our lives where we realized the greatness of God and our unworthiness and fell down in repentance?

Job was a much better Christian that any of us are,

He went through more trials than any of us have,

He went through more heartaches than any of us have,

But he was still broken by his sins, and his sinful nature,

BUT WE AREN’T.

And even though Job was a great Christian,

He still had a tender heart toward God,

Why don’t we?

“But now mine eye seeth thee.” (V. 5)

I’m afraid that only time and eternity will get a hold of our hearts, and then and only then will our hearts break.

I’m afraid we have reached a point in our Christianity where we think we are too good to repent.

We think we are doing good enough that repentance is not necessary.

But Job did,

His heart was broken,

He repented,

WHY?

Because he saw God.

Maybe we need to see God today,

Maybe we need to get a better look at God,

Maybe we need to have our hearts broken,

Maybe we just need to see God.