In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that God has a reason for everything that happens in our lives, even if we don't understand it. He encourages believers to trust in God's wisdom and love, even when faced with challenges and unanswered questions. The speaker uses the story of Job to illustrate this point, highlighting how Job's perspective shifted from focusing on his own problems to recognizing God's sovereignty and wisdom. The sermon concludes with a powerful reminder of God's infinite wisdom and understanding, emphasizing that He is far beyond human comprehension.

Good morning, brothers. I'll ask you to turn, please, to Job chapter 38, if you would. We have just been singing and praying the indispensable principle that we might see the Lord. So I don't see a need to repeat that because that's our hearts. That's what we've been praying. And so if I can begin this last session with a benediction, I'd like to begin with a benediction. I was reading 2 Thessalonians this morning, and this benediction struck my heart. And so I'll read the benediction, and then I'll turn that into a prayer. And with that, we'll begin our study. Here's the benediction from 2 Thessalonians 3.5, and it says, May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. What a benediction. Let's make it a prayer, and then add faith to the prayer by saying amen. Our Father, we do thank you for your precious Word. And now we would ask for every heart here that you would lead our hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. And all that you know that means we ask in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Well, we've had a big chunk of Scripture for a very abbreviated time together. I hope you haven't been overwhelmed, but let's come back now, please, to the book of Job and to the revelation of the Lord. The climax of the book is in chapter 42, 5 and 6, I believe. Job 42, 5, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore, I retract, I repent in dust and acid. The goal of the book, it seems to me, God was bringing Job to that place where he could say with all of his being, now my eye sees thee. The great revelation of the Lord in the book of Job, as I've tried to point out, is by that wonderful title used more in Job than in the whole Bible added together. Thirty-one times, El Shaddai, the God who's more than enough. El, God Almighty. Shadd, the Hebrew word for breast. God, the lover, wanting to draw us to himself, to show us. At all times, in all places, under all conditions. He's not only enough, he is more than enough. In our eyes, brother, we need to see him. Now, you know, at the beginning of the book, just by way of review, Satan charged. He made a double insinuation. He had a charge against Job and a charge against God. His insinuation against Job and all the servants of the Lord, therefore, his insinuation against you and against me was this. That the only reason we ever serve the Lord, choose the Lord, love the Lord, trust the Lord, adore the Lord, worship the Lord, the only reason anyone would ever do that is because God is generous and gives us gifts. And he gives us blessings. And he puts a hedge around us. And Satan suggested if God were to remove the hedge, God would not have a following. His only hope is the carrot to entice us and to draw us. And then he made an insinuation against God that comes out of that. And his insinuation was this. God, you are not intrinsically wonderful. You are not attractive. You are not worthy. There is not enough in you to cause someone, apart from your gifts, to love you for you, to choose you for who you are. And so the message of the book that God is more than enough rises out of that insinuation. Is God enough when the hedge comes down? Is God more than enough when the hedge comes down? Well, that is the distinctive message of Job. Now, we've seen that human wisdom tried to answer the wrong question. And when you answer the wrong question, you can't get the right answer. If the question is not the question, the answer can't be the answer. And then when they touched on the right question, they gave the wrong answer to the right question. You've got to have the right question, and you have to have the right answer to the right question. The question that they were asking is, why do the godly suffer? Why is Job suffering? What's the mystery of suffering? The book of Job does not answer that question. It doesn't attempt to answer that question. And the more they ask the question, the deeper into confusion they got, because God doesn't answer that question. The three friends of Job gave what they thought was their right answer to the wrong question. They said the reason people suffer is punishment. They're sinners, and God punishes. Job thought he had the right answer to the wrong question, and he said, no, God doesn't have a reason. He's capricious. It's arbitrary. For no reason he did this. One day he just decided to set me up as his target. And so he just began to pick on me for no particular reason whatsoever. And then as he meditated on that, he got into a deeper hole and more despair. And then he said, God was wrong to do that. He shouldn't have done that. And pretty soon by the time it was all over, God was his enemy. And he went into a deep, deep despair. What a sad state of heart. Then last night, enter Elihu. Bless the Lord for that brother. He was also answering the wrong question, but he had something they didn't have, those other three friends. He had direction. And direction is better fire than any answer you can ever come up with. He couldn't give Job an answer, but he gave him a direction. And for the first time his eyes began to look toward the Lord. Elihu claimed that he had a word from God, that he had a revelation of the Lord. And his revelation of the Lord, if you read his speech, his message was the teacher. And so for the first time he introduces this, Job, maybe it's not punishment for something you've done. And surely it's not arbitrary. Maybe God wants to teach you something. And so he began to unfold. He didn't know what it was. And so he gives these, I found seven. Maybe he wants to teach you this. Maybe he wants to teach you this. Maybe he wants to teach you this. Maybe this. But Job, has anyone asked, where's God, our maker, who gives songs in the night? And for the first time his eyes got off his problem. The three were turning his eyes in here. Look for your sin. Dig deep. Find out what it is. Repent of your sin. And Elihu takes his eyes off of this introspection. Turns his eyes toward God in heaven. And he begins to see the Lord. Now you remember it was in the middle of his message. Glorious thing happened. Suddenly as Elihu was speaking, God started to speak. I personally don't think Elihu stopped speaking. I think that whole message is Elihu. You know how Paul, when we were singing, and all of a sudden he changed the pronoun. And he said, all right, now let's sing you instead of he. And then we just changed the pronoun. Well, we know the words are written, he is Lord. But all of a sudden we're singing, you are Lord. Well, that's what he did here. He just changed the pronoun and now God is speaking. It's really Elihu giving out his message, but he's not hearing Elihu anymore. And blessed be the Lord for that day when anyone who handles this precious book, somewhere in the message, in the beginning, in the middle, toward the end, God takes over and that instrument fades away. Well, that's what happened here. Now this morning we want to pick up at that point chapters 38 to the end of the book. And may God have mercy on us and help us. We want to see what it means and how God brought Job to the place where he said, now my eye sees thee. Because those very principles that brought Job to that place are everlastingly the same. Those are the principles by which he brings me to say, now my eye sees thee. The principles by which he brings you to say, now my eye sees thee. And I'd like to state for you those general, I never know what to call these things because I don't want to reduce God's truth, his living truth, to an outline. You know, first this, second this. They're not stages, they're not points, they're not principles, they're not things. But here I am saying, let me show you four things or three things. They're not that. It's life. It's Christ himself. But God has a general movement. There are stages. And Job was brought through these stages. After God allowed him to trace the futility of human wisdom and be totally confused and baffled by it, as he did then, he will do for us. He will bring an Elihu into our life. Not somebody who has all the answers. May God deliver us from them. But somebody who has direction. Someone who's heard from God. Someone who's seen the Lord. And his vision of the Lord might not be such a great vision, but it's of the Lord. And he gets our eyes looking away and unto the Lord. I have found usually, now don't tie God down, and I don't ever want to tie God down, but usually God waits until you're in some kind of a storm. And usually he waits until you've completely used up and are worn out by human wisdom. You've tried everything else. And when you've almost driven yourself crazy trying to find the answers, it seems like each of us has a different bottom. And God has to bring us to the end, you know, and to the bottom. I'm amazed. You know, I read Daniel, and we've got a record. He was ten times smarter than everybody. Well, if I found a mechanic ten times smarter than all my other mechanics, guess who I'd call first if my car broke down? Well, not them. They had to go through all of the other nine mechanics that didn't work. And finally they said, oh yeah, let's get Daniel. And it seems like we always go through all the wrong answers first. And then Elihu comes and says, who has said? Where's God? Has anybody considered that? And turns our eyes to the Lord. Sometimes God will take a portion of your heads down, not like Joe. He'll trim your little heads, and you'll think it all came down, but it didn't all come down. And when the whirlwind's causing your head to spin and human wisdom has failed, then Elihu comes in and turns your heart toward the Lord. I can't take time to do it, but I know if I could go row by row, you could thank God for some Elihu, some book, some message, some brother, some sister, some young person who God orchestrated and engineered and brought into your life just at the right time, and turned your eyes to Him. And how we praise God for that. Well, let me give another principle on how God brings Job to this place. It's very important to realize that God desires to reveal Himself, not answers. He does not desire to give us answers. He desires to give us Himself. If you look for answers, you're not ready to see El Shaddai. If I'm looking for answers, I'm not prepared to see El Shaddai. You know, it's amazing to read this, stand back and get an overview. For 31 chapters, Job's been crying out, I want answers. I want answers. Give me an answer. Speak to me. Tell me why. I can't live without answers. Untie this knot for me. Unravel the mystery. Why am I going through this? Why am I suffering? And God finally speaks through Elihu's message. And does He give answers? I'm amazed when I read this. He gives 79 questions. He didn't give any answers. He gave 79 questions. Well, it depends on how you count them. I've got 90 questions. I've got 79. I've got less than that. Depends on how you break it up. Sometimes you can take some of those revelations and make several questions out of them. But the point is this, God didn't give Job what he thought he needed. He thought he needed answers, and God gave him more questions. Because when you think you need answers and you search for answers, all you're going to get are more questions. Job started off with one question, and he screamed it for 31 chapters. Why? And God says, alright, let me add to that 79 more questions. That was frustrating. Now, we can't take time to read chapters 38 to 40, but it is a thrilling section. It'd be fun to list all the questions and so on and meditate on those things. Let me give you this general statement about the section. At the beginning, now I think Elihu's still speaking, and he begins to talk about the inanimate creation. And he begins to talk about the creation, questions about creation, questions about the earth, questions about the sea, questions about the weather, questions about the day, questions about the light, questions about night, questions about life, questions about death, questions about storms, questions about snow and hail and frost and dew and lightning, questions about the stars, questions about the constellation. And then as he finishes the inanimate creation, he moves to the animate creation. Questions about man, questions about the brain, questions about the birth of a child, questions about animals, questions about the hippopotamus, questions about the crocodile, questions about lions, questions about goats, questions about deer, questions about ox, questions about the horse, and then he goes to the birds, questions about the hawk, about the eagle, about the ostrich, about the raven, question after question, one after another. And you say, God asked all these questions to show how stupid Job was. Well, I think he succeeded in that, but that's not why God asked the questions, to show how stupid man is. Now, did Job end up saying, I am insignificant? He surely did, but God was asking those questions to show how wise he is, not how insignificant man is. If we seek for answers, brother, I promise you, you're going to end up with more questions. And then you're going to go to another counselor and say, what I need is this, and then you'll read how-to books on victory, and how-to books on rest, and how-to books on abiding in Christ, and all that, and you keep on, I just need answers, settle it one more time, tell me what it means to be crucified with Christ, tell me what it means now, what is all this identification truth, and how can that be true of me, and I live like this now, and question, question, question, and God says, you want to ask questions? Here, I've got some more for you, how about this and this? When you read the book of Job, just on the level of earth, you've got to be amazed at how much information is in this book, how much they knew back then, the subjects that are dealt with, you know, Job's not only the oldest book in the Bible, it's the oldest book in existence, they've never found a manuscript any older than Job anywhere, it's the oldest book, and when you read a chapter like chapter 28, and all of this on the wisdom of God, and the mining, and how they were, they knew so much, it's just amazing how much they knew, and how much they didn't know, well, there's very little information, as I read this, in chapter 38 to 40, from what was mentioned in the debates, I'm not a mathematician, but I listed it all out, I do my studying in charts, and I get all these charts, you know, I have these big rolls of paper, and I have a big desk, and I roll it out, and I just use that whole thing, and sometimes I stand on a chair, and I just look down at it, and try to get it all together, it's amazing, I figured out about 80% of what Elihu shared, Job had already confessed in the debates, he's not learning anything new from Elihu, he already knew all of that, this is not new information, now, I'm just going to machine gun this, but I want you to get the idea, in chapter 9, Job speaks of God, in verse 4, as wise in heart, mighty in strength, I'm just going to go through 1 to 12 here, he's the one that moves the mountains, and shakes the earth, and commands the sun to shine, and not to shine, who stretches out the heavens, and tramples the waves of the sea, who made the constellations, he said he does unfathomable things, without number, he's sovereign, in chapter 10, verse 5, he said his days are infinite, they're not the days of a mortal, don't think Job doesn't know God, he knows all this stuff, with the hearing of the ear, Job 26 speaks about the spirits, and the place of the dead, and shield, and how God knows all of that, the clouds, the rain, he hangs the earth on nothing, he makes a boundary for the light, and the darkness, and the sea, the pillars of heaven, shake at his rebuke, and after he describes creation, he says, these are the fringes of his ways, Job knows God, chapter 28, the one who understands the way, and path of wisdom, who sees everything under the heaven, who weighs the wind, knows the waters of the earth by measure, limits the rain, he says, every time God sends lightning, it hits his target, he makes a path for the lightning, don't think Job didn't know God, in fact, I was shocked to see how much Elihu knew about God, and Bildad, and my dear friend Zophar, how much he knew about the Lord, it's amazing, Eliphaz said in chapter 5, he does unsearchable things, wonders without number, he made the rain, he exalts the lowly, he frustrates the shrewd, he saves the oppressed, he counts the stars, he walks on the vault of heaven, Elihu knew God too, and so did Bildad, chapter 8, he does not pervert justice, 25 too, dominion and awe belong to him, there's no number to his hosts, his heavenly troops, he calls the stars dirty in his sight, and even Zophar said this in 11.7, God is unlimited, his depths cannot be discovered, he cannot be restrained by any, and so I want you to see that what Elihu is saying, this is new information, and now for the first time he's got something new, no, he had that, most of it, there are new illustrations of wisdom, and might, and control, and eternity, and power, and so on, but these boys have a good theology, they are cardinal, they are orthodox, they have their theology now, there's a verse in the New Testament, and an expression that means a lot to me, and it's Ephesians 4.21, he says, you did not learn Christ this way, if indeed you've heard him, and have been taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus, I love that expression, King James says, the truth, as it is in Jesus, you see, for Job, there was a disconnect, there's the truth, and there's the Lord, God says, you've got to see the truth in Jesus, you can't have that disconnect, let me illustrate it from the New Testament, you know that great revelation of our Lord Jesus, in Revelation chapter 1, oh my, what a revelation that, you know, he had his head was white as snow, and white as wool, and his eyes were like a flame of fire, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his voice was like the thunders of many, many waters, and his face was shining like the sun when it shines in full strength, he had a long robe that went down to his feet, and a golden girdle about him, and his feet were like brass when they're being in the furnace, and so on, and in his hands he held the stars, and he had the keys of death, and Hades, and all of that, it's a marvelous vision, and they say, well, each one of those is picturing an attribute of the Lord, and so his hair, his white hair just talks about his eternity, and his infinity, and his eyes of fire, that's omniscience, and he knows everything, and his mouth, that's his authority, the word of God, the sword of the spirit, and the sound of mighty waters, and so on, and his robe is the priestly robe, and his face shining, that's the glory of God, that's a wonderful vision. The same one who wrote that on the level of earth, the apostle John, also wrote the gospel of John. Now, when you go through the gospel of John, do you see anything of what was pictured in that vision? Say, his hair, his white hair, that's his eternity. Did he ever say, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the same was in the beginning with God? Isn't that the unbeginning beginning? John already knew about his eternity. And his eyes were like a flame of fire. And didn't John write in the Gospel, he needed not that any should testify of man. He knew what was in man. He already knew that. And doesn't the Bible teach in the Gospel of John that he's almighty? Indeed it does. No one takes his life from him. He's got the authority to lay it down and to take it up again. Insecurity. He's holding the seven stars in his right hand. Doesn't the Bible say that no one will pluck them out of his hand, and my Father who gave them is greater than I, and no one will pluck them out of his hand? And his face shining in glory. Didn't he say, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten. He knew all of that. John had a great theology. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting in the Gospel that John had no fellowship with Jesus. He surely did. He had wonderful fellowship. He reclined on the breast of our Lord Jesus. But something happened in Revelation. Listen to Revelation chapter 117. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man. He placed his right hand on me, saying, Do not be afraid. I'm the first, the last, the living one. I was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and Hades. John wrote in the Gospel all that you see in Revelation. He had it already written out. But when he saw the truth in Jesus, when he saw it in Jesus, he fell down on his knees. He fell down on his face like a dead man. Something was different about having the truth and having the truth in Jesus. And when he saw the truth in Jesus, he just fell down. What he already knew when he saw it in the person of the Lord Jesus, something happened in his heart. And it was something like that that happened to Job. Job didn't need to learn Hebrew or to learn Greek or to go to Bible school or seminary or have more information. He already had the hearing of the ear. He had all of the information. But somehow he needed that disconnect to be cured, and he needed to see the truth in the person of the Lord Himself. See, he had the truth over here and the person over here. He was sound. He was theological. He had the right truth. Now, I told you yesterday that I believe Elihu continued his sermon when God broke in. What was, I don't want to leave God out, but if you just take Elihu continued his sermon, what was he preaching about? In other words, what was the theme of his message? If a person gets up, he ought to have something in mind what he's going to say. And Elihu had a message. And as you go through the message, go through those 79 questions, what is he teaching? What is Job hearing? I know he's hearing God, but what is the message? What's the prevailing theme of these chapters? And as you go through the message, you can see a great recurring emphasis. I think the first question that was asked gives the key to the whole message. Chapter 38, verse 4, were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. That expression, if you have understanding. Job, what do you really understand? What do you really know? As you go through the message, fact after fact about which Job and all men have no understanding. No understanding. I told you yesterday at the beginning of his message he had seen God as the teacher. And now he's going to end his message. Does he keep saying he's the teacher? No. At the end of his message, he's the teacher at the beginning of the message. And now he's showing what a wise teacher he is. He's the one with understanding. He's the one who's wise. It's a sermon on the wisdom of God. It's a sermon on how much God knows and how transcendent He is and how far beyond man's understanding. It's thrilling to go through this. And he begins to talk about his wisdom when he created the universe and the morning stars sang together. He talks about the wisdom of God when He made and then restrained the seas. When He created the sun and the solar system and how it's in perfect balance. He begins to show God's wisdom in that and His wisdom about every living thing and all the way from man down to the insects and so on. His wisdom when He made the light and where does light come from and how does it work and all about light and all about darkness. His control over the weather and how He's in charge of all of that. Question after question after question on how, I don't want to use that word but I have to, how smart God is. How brilliant, how wise, how infinitely wise. He talks about the constellation. He talks about the creation of the human brain. He says all the waters that are on the earth, all the waters in the oceans. If you were to divide that up into drops, how many drops would there be? He said God knows. He knows how many drops. And then He pictures all the mountains and He weighs them all and all the earth and then all the masses and all the constellations. How much does mass weigh? God knows. It's a sermon on the wisdom of God. Wise enough to feed the animals. I love Job 39, 14. He says an ostrich lays an egg, puts it in the dirt and the ostrich is stupid, just walks away. He said who watches over that egg so some animal doesn't come and step on it? God does that. That's the wisdom of the Lord. He goes on and on and on about the wisdom of God. Now you say doesn't He talk about power? Oh yeah, He talks about other attributes of God. His control over behemoth and over leviathan and power in the horse and all of that. He talks about that. He talks about God's goodness, about how He feeds His creation and protects His creation and oversees His creation. He talks about that. But if you're going to understand how to get to El Shaddai, you've got to see that this message on the wisdom of God, He begins to see how wise God is. Now let me set this before you brothers. I speak as a fool, but if God were only good, I know that's hard to imagine. This picture, He has no other attribute. He's just good, that's all. If He were only good and nothing else, would there be pain on the earth and sickness and suffering and retardation, affliction, hardship, injustice, oppression? If God were only good, you see if God were only good, none of those things would be on the earth. But because He's also wise, He's good and wise, He can allow the things that He hates, He can allow the things that He hates, because He is so wise, He can rule the good and overrule the evil and come up with His own purposes. And His wisdom becomes everything in this matter of suffering. What book in the New Testament mentions Job by name? It's the book of James. That's the end of Job. It's our last chapter. What's the first chapter talk about? See the first half chapter talks about suffering. It talks about testing and trial and endurance. And then He says this, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. Why does He reveal wisdom in terms of suffering? I would think if any of you lack strength when you're suffering, let him ask of God. If any of you lack patience, let him ask of God. If any of you lack comfort, let him ask of God. If any of you lack sympathy, let him ask of God. But He says, no, when you're suffering, you need wisdom. What is that all about? There's a similar verse in 1 Peter 4, 19. That's a book on suffering, 1 Peter. It's a book on suffering. It's a book on suffering. And He makes this comment. He says, therefore, those who suffer according to the will of God shall commit and trust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what's right. I say, Creator? If I'm suffering, why do I need to know God as a Creator? I'll amend the verse. If any of you suffer in the will of God, let him entrust his soul to God as a sympathetic high priest. That's how I would have written it. Sympathetic high priest or a comforter, or a strength giver, or a loving father, or a mother who embraces you when you're going through suffering. Why Creator? Why wisdom? Well, I'll give you one answer because when you're going through it, God's taking your heads down. I promise you, you don't have what it takes. But you have Him who can create what it takes. You need to see God as a Creator. I'm going to let Job answer the question for himself. Go back to Job 42.2. After hearing this message on the wisdom of God and how wise the teacher was, he says, I know that you can do all things, and no purpose of yours can be changed. Job, I thought you said he didn't have a purpose. I thought you said he did it without a reason, without a cause. Now all of a sudden, he says, I know God can do anything, and no purpose can be thwarted. Because now he sees it. He's taken all of that truth that he had with the hearing of the ear, and he's put it into his God, his person. He has seen it, and he says, God is wise. He knows why. He's been asking why, why, why. And now his eyes have been turned to the Lord, and he says, He knows why. He's the wise one. I don't need to know why. I have Him who knows why. I have God, and if you have God, you don't need to know why. And suddenly it becomes enough to Job to draw near to the Lord, because he could trust Him for his wisdom. He's no longer saying it's arbitrary, it's without a cause. God is capricious. He's just set me up for some reason. He says now, God has a reason, and nothing can stop it. I don't know what it is, and I don't care what it is. God knows what it is, and that's enough. And all I know is, it's not inconsistent with His wisdom, and it's not inconsistent with His love. Brothers, do you believe when anything comes into your life, it is not inconsistent with His wisdom, and not inconsistent with His love? You say, but I don't know why. You don't have to know why. He knows why. And that became a great resting place for this brother. And his eyes were open. He said, now my eye sees you. You'll know why. You're the wise one. You are in control of the whole universe. I don't deserve that you should come down to me. I challenge you to come down, but you didn't. Who's taking care of the galaxies while you're here? God, you came down and talked to me. He's amazed with the goodness of God, and He's amazed with the wisdom of God, and He settles it now, and He says, I don't need to know why. I know who. It's enough that He knows why. He still doesn't know why what is going on in his life is happening. But what He does know now is, it can't be thwarted. It can't be stopped. It can't be restrained. God has a purpose. And for the first time, He's saying, God has a purpose for this. I don't know what it is. I don't want to know. He knows what it is. And what a resting place He found. In a moment, by seeing the truth in Jesus, He found His rest. Now, this is a great turning point for Job. The debates have had their ministry. The falling hedge has had its ministry. Dear Elihu has had his ministry. And now He says, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear. Now my eye sees you. Did you notice this important fact that verse 5 comes before verse 6? Mark it. That's important. Verse 6 tells of Job's repentance. Verse 5 tells of Job's revelation of the Lord. The revelation of the Lord comes before repentance comes. Don't try to mix that up. Don't just read this la la la. Don't say, now I want to see the Lord. And so the way He did it, His hedge came down. I will start self-denial and asceticism and take my hedge down. Don't you take your hedge down. If God wants it down, He'll take it down. Don't think just by doing what I used to do. I'm going to get close to God. I give up desserts. I'm going to get close to God. I'm going to give up my vacation. One time a brother offered me, it wasn't brand new, but very new, a new car. And I said, no, no, I'm just going to stick with my jalopy. I thought it was more spiritual to drive a jalopy than a nice car. I turned it down. And I was driving around. That thing was held together by the last coat of paint. And I thought that was being spiritual. No, that's not being spiritual. I want you to turn just for a minute to Job 22. That's the error that Elihu made. I'd rather Eliphaz. He has such spiritually sounding words. You don't forget this is human wisdom. Don't you trust what Eliphaz says? You say, yeah, but that sounds spiritual. Examine it. Examine it. Don't trust what Bildad said. Don't you dare trust what Zophar said. Job 22, 23, if you return to the Almighty, you'll be restored. If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent, place your gold in the dust. The goal of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, then the Almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you. Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God. Now, doesn't that sound spiritual? Wow, what a statement. Place your gold in the dust. Even if you have the gold of Ophir, place it in the brooks and then God will become your gold. The Almighty will be your gold. What's wrong with that statement? I'll tell you what's wrong with it. It's impossible. You can't place your gold in the dust. You love your gold. You can't place the gold of Ophir in the brooks. You can't do it until the Almighty becomes your gold. Once the Almighty is your gold, it's easy to put your gold in the dust. Revelation comes first. Eliphaz was trying to put repentance first. If you repent, if you deny, if you give up, if you surrender, put your gold in the dust, then God will be your gold. No, God must be your gold first. And then in the wake of that, it's as easy as pie to surrender because all those things we think we're giving up, we discovered to be rubbish. And it's not a struggle to give up rubbish. Look again at 42, 5 and 6, please. I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear. Now my eye sees you. The first reality of really seeing the Lord is repentance. That's the first outworking. Now God's not going to repent for you, but seeing the Lord makes your repentance real. God guarantees the reality of your repentance if you see Him. Job saw himself in the light of the Lord. That's new covenant repentance. A lot of people talk, we need to repent, we need to repent. But they don't know new covenant repentance. Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 18 and 19, after I was turned, surely then I repented. The turning comes first. I've got to see the Lord first, and then repentance follows. Now the Bible's clear that Job repented. And so the question comes, of what did he repent? He repented of what? Well, you go through the debates, you don't have a hard time finding stuff to repent of. Because Job was really losing it there for a little while. In chapter 32 and verse 2, you know he justified himself before God. Maybe he repented of that. Self-vindication. Chapter 32, 1, he's self-righteous. In fact, through all the debates, he just claimed his own righteousness. You think a man should repent of self-righteousness? Maybe he repented of that. In chapter 40, verse 8, will you condemn me that you may be justified? I went through the debates just to pick up the expressions that Job in his despair used of God. He not only said that God was his enemy, and God was against him, and God had done wrong, he called God a mocker of the innocent, a destroyer of man's hope, an oppressor, a persecutor, one who invents pretexts against the innocent. You think language like that needs to be repented of? Say, Job repented. Chapter 23, 2, he calls complaining a mockery rebellion. My complaint is rebellion. Did Job ever murmur? Did he ever gripe? Did he ever complain? Do you think he needs to repent of that? What did Job repent of? Read chapter 3. Do you think there's any self-pity in Job? Do you think that needs to be repented of? No doubt, all of those things, self-justification and self-righteousness and self-vindication and condemning God and harsh words and complaining and impatience and self-pity, and other things. He mocked his friends. That wasn't very nice. He had some terrible things to say about his friends. He prayed prayers that he should repent of. He despaired of life. He despaired of God's gift of life, wished he had never existed and so on. But I don't think that's what 42 verse 5 means. When he says, I now retract, I now repent, I don't think he had those things in mind. He isn't saying, I've been self-righteous and I've been complaining and I've been griping and I've been trying to defend myself. That's not what's on his mind. What did Job repent of? And I believe it was his sin of supplementing God. Remember I told you he gave two answers to the question? Here's the question, is God enough when the hedge comes down? His first answer was, yes, if I also have the reason why. And I think that's what he repented of. I'm sorry Lord, I repent that I ever tried to supplement you. That I ever said you're enough, if with you I get an explanation. You're enough alone and I repent that I ever asked why. Now included in that, I have no doubt, he repented of self-righteousness and self-vindication and self-pity and a complaining spirit and strong words against God and all of that. But God just looked at that as wind. Remember the words of one in despair are just words to the wind. So now we ask him again, Job, why are you suffering? And here's his answer I believe. Ed, don't you know that God's ways are higher than our ways? Higher than heaven is above the earth, his ways are higher. I don't know why I'm suffering, but he knows why I'm suffering. And I have him. And I know that he has a plan. Nothing's going to stop the plan. Nothing's going to thwart his purpose. He can do all things. Nothing in my life is inconsistent with his wisdom and with his love. I don't know why. But Ed, don't ask me that again, because I don't care why anymore. I have him and he knows why. In passing, if you just glance at 42.7, I was confused by that. God said to the three friends, you've not spoken of me what's right, as my servant Job has. And then I go through the debates and I said, Lord, weren't you there? Didn't you hear those debates? How can you say Job spoke what was right in those debates? I don't think he's talking about the debates. I think he's talking about the repentance. Job spoke what was right in the repentance. See, those other three guys didn't repent. And that's why they had to offer the animal sacrifices and so on. I want you to remember that at this point, Job had not received one leaf of his hedge back. When he saw the Lord, when he found his rest, when he said, now my eye sees thee, when he repented from asking why, when he saw El Shaddai, at that point, he did not have the slightest expectation that anything would ever be restored. The hedge did not matter. He didn't repent so he'd get his hedge back. He didn't know he's going to have another 140 years added to his life. At that time, he didn't know it. All he knew was that God is enough. And if I know who, I don't need to know why. Lord, forgive me for all of this other stuff and for supplementing you. Now my eye sees thee. Isn't that how God does it in our lives? He shows us how futile human wisdom is. He brings Elihu into our life. Somebody points us to the Lord. We begin to see that God knows and God's in charge and God's in control and He's sovereign over everything. And I don't have to know. I can just rest in Him. One more thing, brothers, and then we'll wrap up the weekend and pray that God will tie up all the loose ends in our hearts. The only reference to Job in the New Testament, as you know and as you told me, is in the book of James. James chapter 5, verse 11. We count those blessed who endured. You've heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is compassionate and merciful. I like the way that King James words it. It says, you've seen the end of the Lord. Well, when you read the book of Job, you wonder if you've seen the end of Job. But that's not the end as it's used there. The end is that the purpose God had in mind, the outcome. You've seen the end, the outcome, the results of the Lord. I'd like to show you as we close the blessed outcome of the Lord in Job's life. When a person finally settles on El Shaddai, the God who's more than enough when the hedge comes down, he not only shuts the mouth of the enemy and all of his insinuations, but he also fulfills God's glorious end, the results that God has in view. Let me suggest by way of analysis three blessed results, the end of the Lord. The first is this, the Lord was blessed. The Lord was blessed. Now as far as the record goes, Job didn't even know there was a Satan. As far as the record goes, Eliphaz didn't even know there was a Satan. As far as the record goes, Bildad didn't even know there was a Satan. As far as the record goes, Zophar didn't even know there was a Satan. As far as the record goes, Elihu didn't even know there was a Satan. So when you come into all this trial and spiritual warfare, they're starting from a different point than we start. They didn't even know there was a Satan. This was all between God and Satan. That happened up there. He's the only one that knew. This is for him. This is all about him. He's the only one that knew. And when Job settled on El Shaddai and said, my eye sees thee, what a blessing it brought to the heart of God. Now I told you the second part of El Shaddai is breast. Did you ever see a mother nursing a child? You say, oh look at that child, so content. Look at that mother, so content. That mother looks down at that baby and her eyes are just smiling. She's so happy. I know when my daughter was nursing her child, sometimes she got frustrated because the child wouldn't eat. And you know how God has made a woman and her breast was filling up. And she said, if he doesn't eat, I'm not going to eat. This hurts. When we don't draw from El Shaddai's breast, it hurts him. He's so full and wants us to come and draw. He's in pain. And so the first blessing, the outcome of the Lord is that the Lord Himself might be blessed. Now let's say that you suffered in a way that no one ever knew of it. You're not like Johnny Erickson or some of these David Ring or Jim Elliott or some of these wonderful saints who have been recorded and you have books. But you suffered and no one ever knew of it. Would that be a waste? You say, well I went all through this for nothing. No, the Lord knows about it. And how blessed He is when you draw near to El Shaddai and draw from Him. It's not a waste. So the biggest part of the blessing is God's Word. And then the second part of the end of the Lord is from God to Job. Job was blessed. I love those wonderful words in chapter 42.8. The Lord accepted Job. Oh, that's precious. A great deal of attention is placed on the fact that Job got a double blessing. You know, from 7,000 sheep to 14,000 sheep and 3,000 camels to 6,000 and 500 yoke of oxen to 1,000 and so on. And some would say that because everything was doubled it's probably just poetry. In other words, it wasn't 6,003. It was exactly 6,000 and so on. Well, to me that just shows the wonder of the Lord. That He could do it exactly and the power of the Lord. I don't have a problem with that. Especially you see that with His seven sons and three daughters. In chapter 42.13 it says He got seven more sons and three more daughters. And so someone says, how come His children weren't doubled? Well they were. He didn't lose the first ten. And if someone of your loved ones who is a Christian dies you don't lose them either. Don't say I lost my father, I lost my mother, I lost my wife. You lose something if you don't know where it is. That's when you lose something. His kids were in heaven. He got ten more. He got double kids as well. The Lord blessed this and God even controlled the sex of the child as it's being born. You don't know what your wife's carrying. Your boys know. They won't tell you. You don't know. God knows. It's already been controlled. Glorious. Send me an email. I don't think the real blessing for Job was the double physical blessing. In other words, if God came up to Job and said, here's my plan Job. Tell me what you think of it. Yeah, I'm going to have you go through this, but at the end you're going to have 7,000 sheep. He said, wow, are you kidding? All I have to do is go through that and I can get 7,000 sheep? Wow, what a deal. He was not going to do that for 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels and 500 yoke of oxen or anything like that. He wouldn't do that for a million cows. The double blessing is a picture of something better. It's the firstborn. I don't know if you've read Stephen Kahn's book on Job. Have you read that? What is it? The Splendor of His Ways. If you don't have that, read that because Brother Kahn takes that whole idea of the double blessing as maturity and sonship and moving into that glorious. That's the real blessing. For Job he had seen El Shaddai and now God is blessed and Job is blessed and it's that spiritual blessing. When he settled on the Lord alone, he wasn't looking for a reward. It wasn't a physical thing. I get so upset when I hear some of these folks. They've always got their hand in your pocket and they're constantly trying to make it sound spiritual because it's a faith promise plan and it's a seed faith kind of thing and send in your money and give to the Lord, here's my address and all that kind of thing. This is a spiritual blessing. So the first part of the blessing is to the Lord Himself. The second part is to Job. But there's a third part. He was a blessing to the world. It was from God through Job and now it's to the whole world. This same woman that said, curse God and die, whose voice belonged to the wind is now blessed by God. Her youth is renewed and she becomes the mother of ten more. What a glorious, glorious blessing that is. And it says a lot about them coming back together too in their own union. According to 42.11, he was a blessing to all his family, his brothers and his sisters. His testimony was restored. All who had known him before, now they're not throwing insults at him, they're throwing gifts to him. God turned it all around. And wouldn't you expect after those debates to be a little upset with those three guys? He has no animosity, no vindictiveness. You know what I was surprised to read? I thought it said, and God said, pray for your friends. God never said pray for your friends. Now he told the friends that Job would pray. He knew that. That was Job's idea. It wasn't God's idea to tell him, pray for his friends. But his heart had been so moved and he says, before I was arguing with my friends, now I'm going to pray for my friends. That's the same thing that happened to Stephen when he was being stoned. He just prayed for his enemies. If it weren't for a verse like Matthew 5.44, when your enemies persecute you, you pray for them. They'd never get on a prayer list. But praise God, then we know God's will. Get the impact of what's happening here. By God's instrument, Elihu, his heart has been turned to the Lord. By God's grace he came down. And Job didn't deserve it. We don't deserve it. And he revealed El Shaddai to him. And by a miracle God produced a repentance in him. And now God is blessed. And Job is blessed. And his wife is blessed. And his kids are blessed. And his relatives are blessed. And his neighbors are blessed. And did you notice at the end what Job is doing? He's offering sacrifices and he's praying. What's that? That's a priest. He's become a priest. God has turned him into a priest to minister to others. May I suggest brothers, I wouldn't be surprised. Now hear me out on this. I wouldn't be surprised if everything Job went through was because of God's great love for Eliphaz, for Bildad, and for Zophar. You say, would God let Job go through that for them? Let me give you this illustration and then we really will wrap it up. 2 Peter 2, 6-9. He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly hereafter. And he rescued righteous lot oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men. For by what he saw and heard, that righteous man while living among them felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. You get the impact of that. You say, why did God send down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah and five surrounding cities? You say, because they were very wicked. They were sinners. I'm reading here about a guy named Lot who was righteous. And I said, didn't you read your Old Testament? Righteous? Isn't he the one that offered his daughters to the homosexuals to be violated? Aren't his children the results of an incestual relationship? Righteous Lot? Isn't he the one that chose by sight and decided to have Sodom over against the blessing of the Lord? How I misjudge. When you look with these eyes, I'd have put Lot in hell and Judas in heaven. Just from the outside, that's what I would have done. But God says, no. There's a righteous man there. I can see what you can't see. He looks worldly. He looks like a backslider. I see my servant Job. And then he said, I'm going to rain down fire and brimstone. I'm going to destroy seven nations. And then he adds this. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Did he do that for Job? I mean for Lot? Did he destroy all those people just to deliver his backslidden kid out of temptation? That's what it looks like. And I think Job might have gone through all of this because God loved Eliphaz and there's no other way to minister to them. And now Job, his life has become redemptive. Brothers, our lives are redemptive. It's not for you, what you're going through. It's for them. It's for others. And God, you're expendable and I'm expendable. He's not willing that the ungodly should perish. But precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. And that's not only when they die and go to heaven. That's when they die to self. Even now, you're expendable and I'm expendable. And when God brings something into your life and when He tears down your head, it's enough that He knows. And the end of the Lord is that God's going to be blessed with this. And you're going to be blessed with this. And the whole world's going to be blessed with this. And it doesn't matter whether you know or you don't know. And so now we're at the end. And I ask the question again. Is God enough when the hedge comes down? Do you have the truth as it is in Jesus? Oh, may God show us our Lord Jesus. He is infinitely enough. He is satisfyingly enough. For your sake, trust in the Lord. For their sake, trust in the Lord. But for the sake of the one, I don't want to be irreverent, but whose breast is full and full for you, for His sake, will you not say, now my eye sees thee? Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for allowing your servant Job to go through all of these experiences in order that we might know once, finally, and forever that El Shaddai is more than enough when the hedge comes down. How we praise you, Lord. Work in our hearts. Forgive us, we pray, for trying to supplement you. May it be from this moment until we enter heaven, Jesus and Jesus alone, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.