In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a plan and following the will of God. He encourages young people to avoid disobedience and mistakes, and to strive to be faithful servants of God. The speaker references Job and highlights the significance of recognizing God's correction and discipline in our lives. He also discusses the need for role models, particularly fathers, to set a positive example and fulfill the will of God in their roles. The sermon emphasizes the impact that following God's plan can have on individuals and families.

I'd like for us tonight, for openness, to look in Job chapter 1. We've been reading and studying in the book of Job, and there are really some valuable lessons that we can learn from the experiences of others. I think some months ago, when we had another study in the book of Job, we were thinking about how different it might have been had the Lord disclosed to Job exactly what he was endeavoring to do through this experience of allowing Satan to come in and to do his utmost in trying to get Job to act in an independent fashion from doing God's will. I see a man, the Lord calls him a righteous man, my righteous servant, is how he puts it. Perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil. That's a good commendation for someone to have the Lord commend you and say those things about you. Had he been privy to all that was to take place, perhaps that would have made it easier. But then that wouldn't be a faith, would it? If we knew exactly how everything was going to fall in place, and tomorrow you'll be subjected to this, and the next day you'll be subjected to this. It would be just a series of trials in which you would seek to prepare yourself for them. But ultimately you would know exactly what was taking place, and maybe you could even see the light at the end of the tunnel. I remember that was one of the things that we kept thinking about in our study of Job. We became so absorbed in that study that we began to feel some of the dismay, the kind of discouragement that can just overwhelm you. When you have the kind of things that he was subjected to, when you are exposed to that kind of treatment and it goes on and it goes on and it goes on, it becomes very hard. And you don't know when it's going to end. It's going to end next week. That helps. Didn't know when it was going to end. Recently in thinking about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the references that he makes to, For this cause came I into the world, for this hour, for this appointment in time, when I will fulfill the will of God, my Father, perfectly, and seeing the carrying out of his will, you discover that a lot of importance has to be laid upon the value of obeying and doing what God wills for our lives. And in a moment we're going to look at that expression, Abba, Father, which is mentioned just a few times in the New Testament, and how it has some application here because in looking at Job's experience, you feel like at times when he was subjected to the kind of treatment that these so-called friends of his sought to lay on him, a feeling of guilt about his private sinful life, accusing him of things that were not true, all of these things, but in that weakened state physically and so discouraged, he's subjected to all of that. You know, you have to have some point in time when you have some encouragement. But I'm not sure that there was ever a time that he ever wavered in his faith and trust in God. He says too many things, and we'll look at a few of them just to tie it together. But the one that stands out in my mind is this. He said, Even if he slay me, yet I will trust him. If it goes to the ultimate, if he slay me, if I see at the end of all of this death, I'm going to still trust him. I'm going to still trust him. Now, to try to draw that into perspective so that we'll get something out of this when we look at the passages of Scripture that relate to the Lord Jesus, I remember James Dobson not too long ago. You know, his field is family, fathers, mothers, children. He made some comments, and he was interviewing a man, and I've forgotten who the man was. But this man raised the question of all the problems that could be solved in our country today if there were responsible men, heads of families, with the family, and carrying out the role that God intended for them to carry out. And they gave some numbers, statistics, about how many single-parent households there are. And so often, dad's not there. And comments were made. If a man that has no intentions and has no character about him as far as responsibility is concerned, and he intends on producing children that he's not going to look after, something ought to be done to correct that. They were talking about sterilization, I guess. I don't know, but there's a desperate need today to stop this business of producing children, and you're not going to look after them and take care of them. Young men and women need role models. And certainly young men today, especially when I think about young men, to have a father, a human father, that sets the kind of example that fulfills the will of God in that role you are playing as a father with children, and your life and what you do and the way you handle that life that you're entrusted with, the way you handle the development of that life, it's all important. But think about it. All of these families, and there's no role model there. There's no father there. What a difference it could make. This man went into great detail to describe what a difference it would make if that role was fulfilled and young men were given that kind of example. What a difference it would make. You know, God doesn't have any children. He doesn't take care of. God takes full responsibility for you and for me. You've been born again into the family of God. You're one of God's children. He's there for you. But you say there are prodigals around too. There are those that won't stay at home. There are those that will not do the will of God. That's true. That's true. But even if you look at a side of this whole issue in which there's a breakdown because of disobedience, that does not provide any excuse for us not wanting to do the will of God. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. I'd like to read just a few verses here in Job. I want us to take note of the fact that there is a lot in this book that lends itself to some of the things that are so essential, I believe, to having a good testimony as believers in the world in which we live today. I know in Job 5.17 it says, Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Happy is the man. And there's not many of us that wouldn't say, Yes, I was corrected. I was disciplined as a child, and I really deserved more. But what was administered, it did have a good positive effect, I believe, on the direction my life took. I was reminded that being a disobedient child carries with it a cost. And you see, when that's missing, when that's missing in a young person's life, they're being denied something that's so important for them. So God knows perfectly how to handle us as His children. He knows when we need correction, need correcting. He knows how to apply that discipline to our lives. Now, somewhere in all of this, the subject of submission to the will of the parent becomes important. But doesn't the commandment tell each one of us to obey your parents in the Lord? We're to respect and obey our parents. Well, God expects us because we're His children, and He's our Heavenly Father. He expects you and me to obey what He instructs us to do. Now, that brings something else into the picture in that all of this suffering, all of the things that happened in Job's life, can he be submissive to that and say, well, if this is the will of God, I will accept it. I will accept it. This was just torment, what this man went through. So how does that submissive attitude to what God does in each of our lives, how does it apply to our lives today? Something that's happening in my life today, in your life today, should I be submissive to that and say, Thy will be done. Thy will be done. We're going to see in just a moment the perfect example in the way our Lord responded to all of this. Peter had a clear understanding of that. He knew that when our Lord was reviled, He reviled not again. When He suffered, He threatened not, but He committed Himself unto him that judgeth righteously. You know, to reach that point where you say, God is unerring in His judgment. He doesn't make any mistakes. If this is what He has entrusted me with in my life, I will accept it. I will accept it. You say, do you have to like it? No, you don't have to like it. But to be submissive to the point that I look upon it as something that is being used to help me develop the kind of Christian character that God desires for me and for you. I read this statement in connection with this because this does come into the picture. You know, sometimes we think we know better than God knows. That's right. Well, I know what the Scripture says, but I think this way I've got it. It'll work out all right. And so we try it. It says, how do you make God smile? Now, you may have heard this. Tell Him your plans. Just tell God your plans. He's already given you clear instructions on what to do and how to do it. And you begin to let the old wheels turn and you're trying to figure out some way because that doesn't really appeal to you and you're going to do it a little different. And as this little cliché says, just tell Him your plans. You know, what God sent into Job's life, I'm positive it wrecked all of his plans. And don't tell me he didn't have plans. This man had a well-ordered life. He was upright and he feared God and all of this. He had seven sons and daughters. He had a family. He enjoyed his family. His children meant something to him. Oh, he had substance, too. 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 she-asses, a very great household, so that this man was the greatest of all the men in the East. He recognized that he occupied a very special place and he acknowledged that the God that he looked to and worshiped, he had favored him greatly in providing all of this. So he did have plans. Do you think that he's the one that made this choice to let God take down the hedge, to let Satan come in, and to let Satan, with bounds as to what he could do, take over in his life? Do you think that was his plan? No. No. You know, if you say, Oh, Lord, make me patient. You want to be made patient? Tribulation worked his patience. I'm not praying for tribulation. Well, Scripture says tribulation worked his patience. It takes adversity. It takes something that is out of the ordinary and pressure being brought to bear upon your life to produce true patience. It's wonderful to see a person that is so patient. I've heard people say, in this group that we have here at Northgate, I'm not a very patient person. I think all of us say that. Sitting there at the stoplight and you just can't wait for that light to change. Where are you going? What's the big rush? I just don't like to have my trip interrupted by having to stop at a stoplight. That's just our human nature. Do you look upon the experiences in your life as some kind of interruption that God has allowed and you're willing to say, as we'll discover in just a moment, that my Heavenly Father makes no mistakes? I have already said, His judgment is not flawed as our judgment is. His plans have a purpose. There's a purpose in everything that God does. And if our purpose is not in line with His purpose, then we're just wasting our time. We're just spinning our wheels and we're going in the wrong direction. So, here we have introduced into the picture something that will be required of Job if he is to survive this whole ordeal. Let's turn to one of the passages, I think, that reminds us of some of this. Just turn to chapter 2 will suffice for right now. And time is running away and we won't have time to get very far with this. Chapter 2, verse 7. We'll start there. We'll just read a few verses. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore balls from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a putscher to scrape himself withal. And he sat down among the ashes, then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? That could be very disturbing. His plans are changed. God's plan is being put into place now. But he still retained his integrity. She said, Curse God and die. That's the natural man. That's the flesh that says, This is not right. This is not just. This is not fair. Curse God and die. But he said, This proves to you the character of this man. Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? And all this did not Job sin with his lips. I mean, that's saying a lot, brother, sister. How many times have we murmured? I mean, over things that we're ashamed to look back upon and say, I murmured over that. I didn't like that. God changed my plans. He interrupted my life. I couldn't go. I couldn't do what I wanted to do. But I finally recognized that that was God's plan and purpose for my life. And yet we'd already sinned. We had already murmured. We had already complained. We had already, in a sense, said, I know better than God does. None of us know any better what is important in our life than the God that created us. And we're His children. Let me emphasize that again. We are His born-again ones. We have been adopted into the family of God. We have been sealed with the Spirit of God. His mark is upon us. His nature is within us. Spiritually, we are alive. We're no longer dead in trespasses and sin. And it's so important that we learn the value of His will be done. Having said that, I think let's turn in the New Testament to a couple of passages that I think are very important. The first one I'd like to turn to is, let's take Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14. These, of course, deal with our Lord Jesus Christ. And it gives you a little insight into His response to so much that happened in His life. Chapter 14. And let us read from just the one verse. Verse 36. Well, let's set the scene. The agony in the garden. This is the first prayer. He went forward a little and fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, Abba, Father. I understand that word Abba is taken from the Aramaic. And it was adopted and added to by Greeks that became Christians. Abba, Father. It's that recognition of a relationship that is just as dear as a relationship can be. It's something like a child that says, Dada, when they first begin to talk. Dada. Mama. Most think that maybe Dada comes first. But here we're looking at something that is so vital in importance and keeping a perspective on something that's so important in our lives. And that is to recognize that God our Father is worthy of our complete, the absolute devotion of our hearts to do His will. You know the Lord Jesus Christ never deviated from doing the will of God. Never. Never. Never. His plan was to do the plan of God. Job had another plan. But that plan was interrupted. And God applied His plan for a purpose. And that's why we have all of this account of how Satan did his utmost to try to discourage and to make this man deny his faith and deny that he would be obedient to the will of God. But he failed, of course. Thank God for that. But the Lord Jesus Christ, Abba, Father, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy holy name hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thy will be done in my life the same way that it is carried out in heaven. I wouldn't deviate from that for a moment because you are my Heavenly Father. You are the blesser of my soul. You are the one that has provided the Savior for me. Abba, Father. These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. All things are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. I mean, it's hard to get us to change our minds when we have our own plans. Don't make me change my plans. I've got my plans already laid out. I've gone to great lengths to make all kind of preparation for the carrying out of my plan. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't have any plans of His own. My will is to do the will of Him that sent me. As a child of God, should I have any other plan than the plan of God? I'm a child of God. I belong to Him. He is the controlling factor in my life as the Spirit of God that I'm sealed with. As I yield and He controls and fills me, He will never direct me contrary to the will of God. Never. I will fulfill perfectly the plan that God has for my life if I allow the Spirit of God to control me and guide me according to this truth, the Word of God. It sounds easy, doesn't it? You and I know it's not easy. Because we've become very clever sometimes. And sometimes we're not following as closely as we should. So often we're following from afar off. We kind of drift away from the kind of communion and fellowship that God desires to have with us. We're walking in another place. I thought about Abraham and Isaac. That's a case that I believe that you have to acknowledge that Isaac was an obedient child. We're not talking about a kid now. We're talking about a grown man, a young man in his full strength. And Abraham is an old man. Physically, it's not even worthy of mention as far as one being a match for the other physically. But there was some respect there. There was something there that had been established that in the life of Isaac, Father, I see some things here that tell us we're going to offer up a sacrifice. But where is the lamb? Where is that sacrifice? And you know the answer that Abraham gave. He said, God will provide a sacrifice. You see, that's trust. That's faith. That's a willingness to carry out the plan of God regardless of what the cost will be. We know from that whole account that Isaac would have been that sacrifice had not God intervened. I think God rewards us when we carry out His purposes and plans. If we trust in Him, if we express that confidence that what He's doing for me and in me is perfect and it's the best thing that could ever happen in my life and it will result in glory and honor being brought to His name, I should delight in doing the will of God. Isn't that what the psalmist says? Psalm 37, verse 4? Delight thyself in the Lord, He'll give you the desires of your heart. Delight thyself in the Lord. Delight in doing the will of God. And don't conjure up in your mind, apart from what is taught in the Word of God, something that you say, well, this is what God has willed. Well, where is it in the book? It's not in the book. I just thought this was a great idea. There are no great ideas that if they don't consign with what is taught in the Word of God, they're not great. It's another one of, it's your plan. It's your plan. God's plan is one that really counts. Turn to Romans. We've got to close with this. Romans, of course, of the Apostle Paul, was a man that I, you know, he's tough. He really is. He's tough. But I'm telling you, he is obedient to the divine command. He is that man that will captivate your soul. Verse 14, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Does that mean something to you and me? I'm a son of God. I'm a son of God. I'm one of God's children. And he takes care of his own. Never does anything contrary to what is his perfect will and for our best. You have not received the spirit of bondage again this year, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. My heavenly Father. He's my Father. I respect Him. He gave me life. He has a perfect plan for my life. I want to have that plan carried out for my life. I don't want to run off like the prodigal into the far country and do all sorts of crazy things that are contrary to the mind and the will of God. I want to do God's will. My heavenly Father. Isn't that what we all need? Don't we need that applied to our lives? The Spirit itself beareth witness that with our spirit that we are the children of God. We don't have any question about it. I know I'm a child of God. Been born again into the family of God. And that Holy Spirit that indwells me bears witness according to the truth of the Word. You belong to God. He is your heavenly Father. Respect Him. Honor Him. And do His will. He has a plan for your life and for my life. He had a perfect plan for the Son of God, didn't He? Didn't He? You know He did. You know He did. And our Lord said, Not my will, Lord. Oh, He got a vision of what was to take place. He knew that there was something ahead that He had never experienced before. He was about to be made a sacrifice for our sin. But the divine plan must be carried out. And God had selected His only begotten Son, the Son of God, to carry that plan out. He did it perfectly. God honored Him. He ascended back into heaven. He was resurrected from the dead. That was God's seal of approval upon everything that He had done. That perfect obedience, it carried with it the seal of God's approval upon it. That's what we desire. That's what I want for my life. That's what you want for your life. Lord, I want to submit to Your will and Your way for my life. Nothing else. Nothing short of that. Your plan is all important. Oh, compress that upon young people. Some of us that are older. And we've been along this pathway for a long time. We've made a lot of mistakes. We've been disobedient many times. Keep those times of your disobedience and going contrary to the mind and the will of God to a minimum. In fact, don't let it happen. Thy will be done. Well done, Thou good and faithful servant. Our Heavenly Father, as we think about this night and what before us has been set, we believe the Spirit of God would impress upon us that You have a divine plan for every one of us in this room tonight. And we are complete in Christ. We're complete, Lord. We have a salvation that is secure for all eternity. Nothing can ever change this wonderful position You've given to us. Children of God. Children of God. Members of the family of God. Oh, let us reverence Your name. Your holy name. Let us live up to all of Your divine expectations for us. You have placed our feet upon the pathway of righteousness for Your namesake. We thank You, Lord. And give us a good prayer meeting tonight together. The request that we hear, may we apply our hearts and souls to Spirit-led prayer for those that stand in need of help tonight. In the name, and for the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus, we ask this. Amen.